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aliasimagines · 4 years ago

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Miraculous: Tales of Kick-Ass

requested by a lovely anon 💕

Dave Lizewski x fem!reader (miraculous au)

warnings: cursing.

word count: 1814

a/n: Dave has a kwami!! Cause if we are going with Miraculous au, we are doing it properly.

“I am here again, live ,with New York’s favourite superhero battling against his archnemesis in the background. But do not worry! I just saw Hit Girl arrive at the scene and they seem to have everything under control.” the reporter, Lizzie Blonde, says through the tv in Atomic Comics. You are not sure when all of this has started, when New York turned into a battlefield for superheros and supervillains. New York used to be normal. Alright, scratch that, New York was always one crazy place.

Not that you mind particularly, you were always a fan of superheroes and comics and to see them, in your city? That was beyond exciting. Not to mention your major crush on kick-Ass.

You took a sip from your milkshake and looked around the comic store. Dave should be here by now. Not that you are surprised he is not here. He is always late nowadays. Marty and Todd fanboyed next to you about hit Girl as you kept looking at your phone and the door, waiting for your best friend to give any sign of him.

In the tv the superhero pair just took out the Motherfucker’s minions. You sigh a bit worried. What if Dave got in trouble? What if he is in that part of the city where the fight is going on? It’s only a few blocks away and if he got hurt it would explain why he is not responding to your messages..

You hesitantly stood up and walked outside the shop. You heard a loud crash in the distance. You bit your lip, debating whether you should go and look for Dave or not. You heard a loud cheer coming from outside, the heros probably won. Again.

You finally decided to go and look for Dave, so you started speed walking toward the street you saw in the news. Maybe you will not only find Dave but see Kick-Ass too!

Of course Dave is more important but.. You saw a green figure flash from one of the rooftops. You gasped, Kick-Ass jumped on a building, only a few meters away from you.

The hero seemed to notice you and waved his hand at you.

You almost fainted, but went to grab your phone to take a picture of him but by the time you looked up he was long gone. You looked around confused but quickly remembered why you came. You started running again, when from an alleyway someone ran into you.

“AAA”

“AAAA”

“Oh my god y/n!”

“Dave! What are you doing here?” you grasp your chest, hoping your heart won’t fall out of its place.

“I could ask the same!”

“I was worried about you! So I came looking and..Are you alright?” you carefully touch his cheek where a small cut is, slightly bleeding. The boy slightly brushes your hand away and tries to hide the light pink flash on his cheek.

“I’m fine, I was on my way to Atomic’s when the fight started and I figured I would be safer here.” he lied effortlessly. You nodded.

“I’m glad you are okay.” you say, before remembering what happened a few seconds ago. “Oh my gosh, Dave! I was walking on the street looking for you and you will never believe what happened! Kick-Ass, The Kick-Ass saw me and waved! Ahh! It was so awesome!”

Dave laughed softly, “I bet it was. Let’s go back to Atomic’s, okay?”

You guys spend most of your afternoon there, talking about the fight and the superhero duo.

“..so in conclusion, I love Hit Girl and she is so awesome. But Kick-Ass? Gosh, he is so hot!” you gesture with your hands. Dave clears his throat and lifts his drink to his lips. Marty rolls his eyes at you.

“You can’t even see his face!” he throws his hand in the air. Dave and Todd start laughing.

“Hey, man, leave the girl alone.” Dave says, slightly nudging your side. “But really y/n, Kick-Ass could be a nerd like me, for all you know.”

“That would be some Peter Parker shit.” you say grabbing a french fry. “But, I don’t really care for his looks, like.. The idea of him? You know? Like he is a motherducking hero for Stan Lee's sake!"

" That's kinda.. I don't know. Shallow? Having a crush on someone you don't even know? " Dave says and barely noticeably tucks a small piece of pizza in his pocket. Before you can say anything Todd beats you to it.

"Well that's rich coming from the guy who was practically drooling over Scarlet Witch in The Ultimates."

"That's a completely different thing."

Todd opens his mouth to respond when the harsh sound of the news channel floods the comic shop. You all turn to the tv and see that New York is once again under attack. Dave furrows his eyebrows.

"Twice?" he asks himself. Before he jumps up from the booth you all are sitting at.

"I just uhm… I just remembered I have to rush home to help my dad!"

"Yo dude, what the heck?" yells Todd after your best friend.

"Sorry, guys I have to run!" and with that Dave is out the door, leaving all his friends including you, confused and kinda upset. He finds the first alleyway and soon his kwami flies out of his pocket.

"Dave? What's going on? We never have to fight twice a day." the little kwami, Kai says. His name is not actually Kai but as he is a lost kwami he never learned what his name is so Dave was the one to give him the name Kai.

"I don't know, little dude but we better check it out."

There wasn't anything big, Chris Damico just couldn't take the fact that he lost again and angrily tried to strike at the innocent citizens of New York in hopes of destroying Kick-Ass too. Instead he ended up getting his.. Well getting his ass kicked.

Dave didn't change back just yet, instead he jumped from rooftop to rooftop to get home. It got pretty late so it would be stupid to go back to Atomic Comics as you guys probably left. He felt bad for bailing on you again. He hated leaving you. Even if he could play superhero and save people. The look on your face every time he rushed away to a fight? Ugh, he hates it.

Dave jumps down to an alleyway to transform back when a girl turns into the alley. Wait. It's not just a girl, it's you!

Dave tries to jump behind trash bags to hide but you already saw him.

"Kick-Ass?" he hears your voice. He sighs and comes out of his impromptu hiding spot.

"Haha, guilty as charged."

"Oh my gosh, we met earlier! You waved at me, do you remember? Ah, of course you don't, you meet so many people every day." you would have kept on rambling if it wasn't for Dave. He tried his hardest not to giggle at your fangirling, that he knows oh so well and said.

" I actually do remember you y/-, random citizen! "

Fuck! Dave curses himself. He almost said your name! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

You did seem to hear anything but the fact that your superhero crush remembered you from earlier. You felt your cheeks heating up a bit.

"You.. You do? Gosh, really? That's so awesome, you are like… ahgh you are so awesome."

"You think so?" Kick-Ass asks, smiling. "Well, you seem like a pretty awesome girl, too. What is a pretty, awesome girl like you doing out this late?"

Dave feels weird talking to you like this, cause you don't know he is actually your best friend but… Dave also finds that a bit helpful? He could never compliment you as Dave, not like this. He would end up blushing and dying from embarrassment. But Kick-Ass? He is a cool dude, who has no problem flirting with the ladies.

"Oh, well I was hanging with my friends at Atomic Comics."

"So you like superheros?" he asks, leaning against a wall in a 'cool way'.

"Oh, yeah."you nod, gulping."I love them."

You slowly mingled in conversation. Dave softly flirted with you every once in a while and you always responded with a sweet smile and some nice comeback. Both of you were so in the conversation, you didn't even bother to pay attention to your surroundings. Dave for example, didn't even hear the beeping, the warning that he would transfer back from Kick-Ass to Dave Lizewski. When he realized what was going on it was already too late. His kwami fell tiredly into his hands.

"Oh shit, oh no, oh shit, shit.. Aah." Dave looked around for help, any help but it was worthless. You already saw him transform. You know.

Dave slowly, terrified of your reaction, gazed over to you.

But you just stared at him.

"Look, n/n-"

"This is some Peter Parker shit." you whispered,still starring. But then you snapped out of it. "What the actual fuck, Dave?"

"I know, I know, I am so sorry y/n! I couldn't tell you and fuck! I am so sorry for flirting with you, it's just I could never have the confidence to do that as Dave and- Ah, I just ruined our friendship and I think I should just leave.." he turned around and tried to walk away but you grabbed his hand and pulled him back. You quickly pressed your lips against his. Dave barely had time to react, he froze. Was this really happening? Is this a dream?

" You are a real asshole, Dave. "you say after pulling away." You are lucky I love you. "

"You what?" Dave asks with his eyes wide open. "I thought you had a 'major crush' on Kick-Ass."

"Well, yeah, but I like you better." you say with a small smile. Before Dave can say anything you spot the tired kwami in his hand. "Dave, what the fuck is that?"

"Oh shit." he pulls out a small snack from his pocket and gives it to Kai who starts munching on it immediately. "He is Kai. He is my kwami, he is basically the source of my powers."

"Uhm, hi." you wave at the small creature.

The kwami looks up at you and then at Dave.

"This is wrooong."

"Shut up, little dude." he turns to you, scratching his back with his free hand. "So, uhm can I walk you home… as not your best friend?"

You shake your head with a laugh.

"I want nothing more." you take his hand and you two walk with huge smiles on both of your faces.

Maybe this was an accident, but at the end of the day Kick-Ass defeated his enemy, saved New York twice, but it was Dave Lizewski who ended up getting the girl.

Here's how I imagined Kai, his kwami (i am no digital artist, i know it look horrible 😂😂) :

taglist: @sethcohenluvr @your-hispanichufflepuff

#dave lizewski one shot #dave lizewski x reader #Dave Lizewski x fem reader #kick ass imagine #kick ass x reader #kick ass imagines #miraculous au #kick-ass miraculous au #gif not mine #aaron taylor johnson #alias imagines

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betawooper · 4 years ago

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rating every demon fight in kny bc i can

non-biased, completely objective rating (more or less) of every significant demon fight in kny based on a number of factors, including:

cleverness of fighting tactics

placement in the story’s timeline

integration of character backstories

cohesive themes between characters

etc

by non-biased and objective i mean i’m not skewing the rating if a death felt fair or whatever

everything past where the anime ended will be under a read more so anime onlys who havent watched mugen train, youre safe lol

oh and i reread the manga like 20+ times (reread the latter arcs at least 40 times, haha hyperfixations am i right?) so be rest assured im not pulling these ratings out of my ass

also ill randomly be bolding certain phrases just to improve readability

anyways let’s gooooo

VS NEZUKO

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou and Nezuko. Tanjirou is fending her off by putting the axe handle in her mouth, keeping her from eating him. End Image Description.]

10/10

i like how realistic it is, because yeah tanjirou would react the way to he did with zero fighting skills against a demon

very clear why tanjirou is fighting nezuko and shows a bit of worldbuilding on how normal people react to their family becoming demons

always nice to see worldbuilding

giyuu is the perfect example of a seasoned demon slayer who’s good at his job, and he juxtaposes tanjirou very well in that aspect

my only complaint is not directly in this fight itself but how nezuko is handled throughout the story as a whole

like bro, it is literally never explained why nezuko is different from demons

could have been easily explained if maybe her family’s ghosts like slapped her hand every time she wanted to eat a person but nope

she’s just built different lol

so yeah youll see future ratings get points docked off bc nezuko unlocks some secret power with no prior explanation other than she angy >:3

VS TEMPLE DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a demon. The demon has a sharp-nailed hand over his neck and there are four text bubbles around him saying “But a wound like this... will heal in no time! See? The bleeding already stopped!” End Image Description.]

10/10

may be more forgettable compared to like rui but still good

tanjirou did exceptionally well in this fight and his ability to think on his feet is once again beautifully illustrated here (trapping this dude’s head against the tree trunk with the axe)

very clever

again, establishes more demon worldbuilding regarding regeneration and still being able to move without their head

and the demons burning in the sunlight thing since nezuko wasn’t able to show that

the ending where tanjirou hesitates to kill the demon also serves to show his sympathetic nature towards demons that will last throughout the entirety of the first 60-ish chapters

we’ll talk about what the hell happens to tanjirou after that

or not, it could honestly be its own post

VS HAND DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a many-handed demon. He has six hands around him, three of them covering his mouth while he chuckles, two of them grabbing his cheeks, and one holding on to the top of his head. There are two text bubbles saying “That’s how many of Urokodaki’s students I have eaten! I’ve decided to kill all of his students!” End Image Description.]

10/10

ooooh probably the first big fight against a demon in the series

oh yeah not doing the two random demons tanjirou one shot in a single blow bc eh

anyways hand demon’s pretty goddamn scary, considering the fact that this is the 5th demon or whatever tanjirou has had to face so far

very nice way to show us how much tanjirou’s innate intuition and all his other random abilities (sense of smell, hard forehead) can come together and help him decapitate this guy

i liked the mini history with urokodaki this dude had and why he had beef with our favorite mentor figure, it establishes that urokodaki was in fact a super good demon slayer and its cool to see that actually shown

i also liked that small moment of compassion tanjirou gave this demon, staying consistent with tanjirou’s established kindness

the demon’s sad tale with killing his own brother very much humanizes him when all the reader has seen up to this point is that this guy is a monster who eats people

sets up the theme of demons just being humans but being victims of circumstance that unfortunately doesn’t hold up as well in arcs past mugen train

VS SWAMP DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou fighting off three horned demons as they appear from below. There is a spiky text bubble saying “Three of them!!!” End Image Description.]

10/10

not my most favorite fight but it still portrays everything alright and im not allowed to let my personal opinions mess with the rating so

i like how tanjirou mentioned the fact that he trained in conditions similar to the bog and explains how he pulled off the whirlpool form

using past experiences to aid him in the present, nice nice

tanjirou and nezuko dont quite work together very well but its yknow the first mission so ill chalk it up to simple inexperience

also the way the muzan curse thingie was hinted at here? fantastic way of showing that little bit of demon worldbuilding

...

oh god, it mentions nezuko being stronger than normal demons

ok its not a problem here per say since i can still suspend my disbelief, but later on it just becomes a glaring problem that gets worse over time

VS SUSAMARU AND YAHABA

[Image Description: Manga panels of Susamaru and Yahaba. The first one is a joyful Susamaru about to throw a temari ball. There is floating text saying “Is she one of Kibutsuji’s minions?!” The second image is an annoyed Yahaba, holding one of his eye-hands to cover himself. There are two text bubbles around him saying “My kimono got all dusty. Tch!” End Image Description.]

9/10

why dont these bitches have a good looking panel together dammit

anyways amazing entrance, the way yahaba used his hand eyes to track down tanjirou is really neat

the synergy yahaba and susamaru have is incredible, its awesome dude, they work extremely well together and it shows

tanjirou actually mixing his water breathing forms together is a god tier move and i absolutely love how he can show off his ability to think on his feet once again

establishing how yushiro’s bda works early on is really well done

establishing tamayo as a fugitive this early on is also super well done

not to get into spoiler territory but both these things pay off

how tamayo ended up defeating susamaru is literally awesome in so many ways

shows off both how smart she is by exploiting the muzan curse

and speaking of the muzan curse, we actually get to see what happens to demons who even say his name, back when it was hinted with the swamp demon

tamayo is amazing dude, and we get some real evidence of the horrible suffering demons go through if they even accidentally attempt to betray muzan :D

...

now heres what keeps this fight from being perfect

nezuko somehow grew stronger against susamaru’s temari

with no explanation

which could have been easily explained if tamayo was like “oh yeah the drug also boosts a demon’s strength temporarily”

but nope

god, i just dont like how gotouge handles nezuko’s power boosts throughout the series bc like i said before

no explanation is given anywhere

this is a huge issue, this isnt a pokemon game, you cant just kill demons and get exp at the end of every battle, level up, get some sweet stat bonuses and move on

(actually if gotouge established that this is how nezuko grew in power, than all my complaints about this would be gone, im not even joking)

anyways i get that nezuko is supposed to be “special” but thats too vague of a descriptor

how the hell is she special? ya gotta be more specific and stick with that explanation or that suspension of disbelief is going to disappear

VS TONGUE DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a four-eyed demon with horns and a long tongue. He is crawling in an awkward position, one foot in front of his tilted head. There are two text bubbles around him saying “Heh, heh! I’ll slurpy slurp your brains out through you ear!” End Image Description.]

10/10

not much to say, showcases zenitsu’s true abilities really well

nicely done

VS HORNED DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a big, single-horned demon. There are three text bubbles saying “You dodged! You’re awfully lively for a human! It’ll be a treat to carve away your flesh!” End Image Description.]

10/10

would have ignored this fight if not for the fact we havent seen inosuke fight before

it definitely shows how very fast-paced and wild inosuke is

no complaints here lol

VS KYOGAI

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kyogai, a demon with tsuzumi drums attached to his shoulders. There are four text bubbles around him saying “Why?! Why does everyone keep sneaking through my house? It’s so aggravating. It’s my prey! It’s my prey! Found in my territory!” End Image Description.]

10/10

establishes marechi blood pretty early on, once again expanding the worldbuilding of kny which is always cool

interesting terrain where it’s always shifting, tanjirou once again proves his ability to adapt really quickly by altering one of his forms to work with the turning room

(man, i wish the form mixing/form modification thing carried on throughout the rest of the story, but it really didnt which is just a shame)

the injuries tanjirou had prior to this mission actually affecting him was a nice touch

oh yeah, kyogai gives us more worldbuilding (which is always nice) regarding the 12 kizuki, and the aspect of him being cast out due to being weak shows a lot about muzan’s indifference towards his own demons if they arent strong

his backstory being a failed writer once again humanizes kyogai as a former human being and not just a monster

tanjirou shows his sympathy and compassion again by not stepping on his written work and complimenting his bda

well, tbh tanjirou’s actions kinda came out of nowhere but its a very minor thing and not enough to dock a point off, like it didnt affect the outcome of the fight that much if at all

(so if you see future battles where points are docked off for things not logically making sense, its bc whatever nonsensical concepts were integrated into the fight actually turned the tide of the battle and thats a big no-no)

very good fight and if you remember how kinda bad tanjirou was at accurately slicing the swamp demon, you can see that he’s already improved leaps and bounds

im so proud of him

VS MOTHER SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou and the Mother Spider Demon. There is a light shining down from the top right on to the demon as Tanjirou slices her head off, rain following in his wake. There is floating text saying “Water Breathing: Fifth Form - Blessed Rain After the Drought!” around them. End Image Description.]

10/10

i mean does anyone disagree?

all the demon slayers getting their necks snapped by her threads was pretty horrific, probably more horrifying than anything else we have seen in the entire series if im gonna be honest

the death scene is probably the most beautiful one in the series

it reveals a water breathing form that we havent seen before thats the 5th form

as far as i know, no other breathing style has this merciful sword stroke so it shows a lot about the original water breather and what they might have been like

but enough about them, really the focus is on tanjirou bc this is like the best example by far of how kind and sympathetic he is to demons

dunno what else to say, its perfect

VS SON SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Agatsuma Zenitsu performing Thunder Breathing 1st Form: Sixfold on a spider-like demon. Zenitsu is crashing through the roof of a shed, and a zig-zag path is left behind. There are sound effects all over the panel, saying “Bam!” in large font. End Image Description.]

10/10

chose a picture without a huge spider on it bc i would like to not scare myself half to death

anyways extremely amazing fight, showcases zenitsu’s immense talent and skill, adapting the 1st form of thunder breathing to be a more versatile move

theres a moment where his backstory with kuwajima and kaigaku were revealed and his hidden insecurities are out in the open which is super nice and further develops a character weve only considered as comedic relief until now

the anime made the backstory scenes and the killing scene so much cooler

while there is no thematic connection between zenitsu and the demon, it really isnt necessary to keep this fight interesting

anyways another pretty much perfect fight

VS FATHER SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou and Inosuke slashing at the Father Spider Demon. The demon has blocked Tanjirou’s sword with his arm, and Inosuke is slamming both his blades down on the demon’s other hand. End Image Description.]

10/10

again, not my most favorite fight but it does everything right

i do have to say it was excellent how gotouge hyped up the father spider demon to be the big bad, only just so the plot twist later takes the readers by surprise

nicely done

VS DAUGHTER SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kochou Shinobu and the Daughter Spider Demon. Shinobu’s back is seen and her haori looks like a butterfly’s wings keeping her afloat as she holds her stinger blade out to the side. The demon looks surprised as blood gushes from her side, arm, shoulder, chest, neck, and forehead. There is floating text on the panel, saying “Insect Breathing - Butterfly Dance - Caprice!” End Image Description.]

10/10

first time weve seen shinobu and her fighting style

what i love most about this is how much it shows her true character, appearing as a carefree and naive individual so she seems underwhelming

then bam, reveals exactly how dangerous and uncaring she is of demons, listing out the specific ways she would torture the daughter spider demon in grotesque detail

her using poison to take demons by surprise is also super clever and brings back the worldbuilding established way earlier about wisteria being poisonous to demons

amazing integration of that concept

anyways this fight really encapsulates who shinobu is as a character and thats why it gets a perfect score

VS RUI

[Image Description: Manga panel of Rui holding his hand out directly towards the viewer. There are two text bubbles around him, saying “Give me your sister. If you hand her over quietly, I’ll spare your life.” End Image Description.]

8/10

not only is it a super scary fight but there is a deeper conflict between rui and tanjirou, what it means to be family

they are opposites in the sense that while tanjirou believes love is what makes a family, rui’s subconscious desperation for an unbreakable bond drives him to use fear to keep his “family” together

excellent juxtaposition of their values, and this is only further emphasized when rui expresses out loud what he was going to do to nezuko

i also like the symbolism regarding rui’s bda, how he uses threads or the “familial” bonds to cut up his fake family with it if they act out of turn or annoy him

super neat detail

alright what i dont like about this fight is nezuko (again)

mostly her unlocking her bda to turn the tide of the battle bc her mom was like “yo, wake up, your brother is going to be killed”

feels... forced ig

her bda in general is confusing and not consistent

man, i wish i could make a stronger argument for this but i do believe the problem stems from the fact that we dont ever know what nezuko is thinking, and what she thinks of tanjirou specifically

if she even cares for him as a sibling or if shes only going along with what her family is saying to her, things like that which would have been fixed if gotouge actually gave her thoughts some screen time

so the action feels pretty shallow

im also conflicted over tanjirou somehow remembering how dance of the fire god works

on one hand, hes using past information and applying it in the current setting so he doesnt die, which is understandable

but on the other hand, this was a teeny bit random?

i think what could have fixed this is if there was a scene in the beginning of the series where tanjirou was performing it himself, like practicing before he actually had to do it for new years

so that when the rui fight rolls around, it would have felt less like throwing dry spaghetti at a wall

but yeah

overall super good fight, giyuu ending up having to kill rui instead of tanjirou was super good in that tanjirou didnt become a pillar this early in the series and to show how strong giyuu is

there are some odd bits regarding the ultimate “beheading” of rui using nezuko and tanjirous supposed bonds but it doesnt kill the fight entirely so it deserves its pretty high score

***under read more is manga-only fights so beware***

VS ENMU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Enmu holding his hand out directly at the viewer, with a mouth on the back of it. There is floating text to the top right of Enmu that says “Whispers of Forced Unconscious Hypnosis!” End Image Description.]

9/10

id say this fight is definitely overshadowed by the dream stuff prior to this but its pretty good in its own right

enmu fusing with the train was kinda confusing, like when was it established that demons could fuse with objects?

this worldbuilding element doesnt even appear again so yeah thats why it loses a point

how the kmbk gang end up defeating enmu is pretty sweet though, tanjirou using dance of the fire god to sever the neck bone was really nice and shows that him using the breathing style in the rui fight wasnt a one time thing

while kyojuro’s role was smaller in this part, the next part makes up for it so i cant complain

anyways ye, almost perfect score but its pretty good

VS AKAZA (MUGEN TRAIN)

[Image Description: Manga panel of Akaza holding his hand out to the viewer’s left. There is a text bubble saying “Why don’t you become a demon?” End Image Description.]

10/10

this encounter is literally amazing okay?

after the crew kills the big bad, it seems like everything is fine

but plot twist, upper moon 3 appears out of nowhere

this is the first time the reader has seen an upper moon, let alone the 3rd/4th strongest demon in existence and the way gotouge handled this twist is fucking amazing

kyojuro’s death scene really shows just how human even the strongest pillars are against demons with incredible power

its just

amazing

VS OBI DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panels of the obi-like demon. The first image shows the obi hung in the air and strung over each other like decorations, with women-shaped patterns in its folds. The second image is Hashibira Inosuke fighting the Obi demon which now has lips and eyes. There is floating text in that panel saying “Breath of the Beast: Sixth Fang - Jagged Gnaw!!” End Image Description.]

10/10

on to red light district

this fight is admittedly super forgettable and not very interesting at least compared to the main fight with daki and gyutaro

but it wraps up the sub plot of the women and uzui’s wives going missing so it gets a perfect score for not messing that up

oh and it establishes the stretchy neck thing daki has going on which is very good

VS DAKI AND GYUTARO

[Image Description: Manga panel of Daki and Gyutaro. Daki is sitting on Gyutaro’s shoulders. There is a text bubble on the top right that says “The two of us are one, after all.” as well as floating text that reads “The power of the irregular siblings...!? Next issue lead color and the fight reaches its climax!!” End Image Description.]

8/10

love how this battle challenges tanjirou’s sympathy and kindness towards demons, just simply bc daki and gyutaro are horrible people

(too bad nothing came of this, which ill explain in the hantengu portion)

daki and gyutaro are very good villains and kept this fight super interesting from start to finish

uzui acting as a foil to gyutaro is nicely integrated and properly shown with how jealous gyutaro gets over seeing uzui’s perfect form and stature

tanjirou not only mixes forms but mixes breathing styles as well, which is so fucking awesome

(too bad it was only used like once throughout the entire series, its quite unfortunate)

the super high tension right after inosuke gets stabbed and tanjirou wakes up was expertly portrayed and handled, it felt like the kmbk gang and uzui were actually going to lose

super awesome

the tanjirou and gyutaro parallels are expertly portrayed, with how gyutaro taunts tanjirou over failing to protect his little sister, and the more visual thing where tanjirou imagined his own neck underneath his blade, that was super duper nice

the ending is extremely tense and emotionally gripping, gotouge did a really good job with that artistically too

the demon mark acquisition scene was surprisingly not frustrating, considering that it wasnt really explained prior to the battle

i do think it has to do with how it was explained later just exactly how they worked so its not just some random thing gotouge pulled out of their ass

so pretty good

what i dont like is nezuko and her full power demon form

first of all where the fuck did that come from? she just got angry and suddenly shes as powerful as an upper moon

how?

that doesnt make sense???

her extremely quick regeneration makes no sense

her ability to manipulate her blood’s properties makes no sense

and it doesnt even appear again so what was the point of that existing

none of this is even explained later which annoys me

that one part where tanjirou sings a lullaby to her to calm her down was alright ig but nezuko in this fight makes me extremely irritated and frustrated

just ugh

VS HANTENGU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Hantengu opening a shoji door. He is crawling inside, his hand in a gnarled, unnatural position. There is a text bubble saying “Eeeeeeek.” End Image Description.]

1/10

swordsmith village

this fight can go fuck itself /j

no but seriously it has so many problems that it would be shorter to name its redeeming qualities (which ill do later)

first off, the nezuko full power form thing again

i hate it so much with a passion

again, where did her ability to regenerate instantly even come from???? this is never explained, ever

and why did she cut herself on tanjirou’s sword anyway

did she somehow know that it was going to turn red if she burned it?

gotouge what the fuck, there is literally no reason why nezuko would do that and we cant even read her mind to see her thought process

gotouge hates nezuko, i swear

remember when i said uzui is meant to be a foil to gyutaro in the rld fight? its pretty obvious that those two are opposites, it was nicely done

... what the hell does mitsuri’s insecurities about strength have to do with whatever the fuck hantengu has going on (which is basically nothing)?

so no meaningful connection between mitsuri and hantengu

theres no meaningful connection between tanjirou and hantengu other than tanjirou getting pissed off for like the second time

also tanjirou’s thing with being kind and sympathetic to demons was entirely dropped at this point

but instead of it leading up to a corruption arc of some sorts, it just doesnt

like honestly if something actually came of that anger he exhibited in this arc and from red light district from this point forward story-wise, i would have counted this as an amazing writing decision

but it literally doesnt so who cares

(god, i really start to hate what happened to his character after this )

and genya’s revealed motivation also doesnt fit at all with hantengu’s thing, he’s not a foil, not a parallel, nothing, there is nothing

tanjirou being the catharsis for development for mitsuri and muichirou, who he has only talked to like twice

theres definitely a better way to handle those two’s developments without his help

like gotouge, you have a big cast of characters, use them lol

i want to kick hantengu in the face for being boring as fuck (at least his clones have cool looking weapons)

doesnt even have a proper backstory, just a single spread of him being blamed for shit as a human

like... thats it? this is upper moon 4 what the hell

theres no clever form mixing here at all (regarding tanjirou) which probably would have helped with foreshadowing the 13th form for dance of the fire god/sun breathing better

also gotouge established that as tanjirou’s thing and now he doesnt do that stuff anymore which sucks

oh hey remember when tanjirou actually learned how to do zenitsu’s speed boost thing?

if you didnt, i dont blame you bc it literally doesnt appear again, ever

you could argue that he adapted it into his “waltz flash” technique or whatever the fuck that is but the way it was integrated into this fight was like throwing dry spaghetti at a wall

which is just a shame bc its meant to be representative of how tanjirou and zenitsu are good pals but the way it was utilized is forgettable as hell

i absolutely loathe the crimson blade concept as a whole and im mentioning this now bc its going to come into play why future instances where this goddamn thing comes up again causes points to be lost

its inconsistent as fuck ill tell you that

at least some yoriichi stuff appeared here and not shoved into the final battle with everything else

so the yoriichi stuff later didnt come out of absolute nowhere

genya and mitsuri’s unique fighting styles expand the kny worldbuilding just a little more which is always nice

tanjirou got a cool sword out of this which would have been cooler if him and yoriichi had a deeper connection that was actually explored

but we didnt get shit so whatever

other people getting demon marks being revealed here is also okay so that again, the final battle isnt filled with absolutely everyone getting their marks at once

demon marks have their own slew of problems but its not as bad as the fucking crimson sword shit

god i hate the crimson sword shit

...

dude this section needs a tldr, even i cant sit and read through my shit

TL;DR - this fight sucks and crimson swords are bullshit (more on this later)

VS GYOKKO

[Image Description: Manga panel of Tokitou Muichirou and Gyokko. Muichirou is looking to the left while Gyokko is looking to the right, both with their backs to each other. There are mist clouds billowing in the foreground and background, as well as a slash mark going across Gyokko’s neck. End Image Description.]

7/10

this fight suffers from the same lack of cohesive themes through characters like the hantengu battle bc the antagonist is given nothing

but its better

we havent actually seen mui fight before so theres no consistencies that the reader has to keep track of for now

and there arent like 10 characters in the fight so this fight gets a lot of points just for being a lot more coherent

i do like that this fight shows just how good mui is that he can defeat an upper moon by himself

mui’s backstory is neat

gyokko’s bda is very interesting too

... thats pretty much it lol

ye, anyways not the best fight but not the worst fight either

VS KAIGAKU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kaigaku holding the hilt of his blade with one hand. There is two text bubbles around him, saying “...As usual, you’re still shabby. It’s been a while, Zenitsu.” End Image Description.]

9/10

alright on to final battle arc

theres some good fights and then some really sucky ones, but this one was pretty incredible and very emotionally charged

theres a clear reason why zenitsu and kaigaku are battling each other (kai betrayed the corps and inadvertantly caused the only parental figure in zenitsu’s life to die, and zenitsu is rightfully pissed off about that)

the visual yin-yang symbolism is awesome too

zenitsu winning due to using the 7th form he created himself (which i have reason to believe was inspired by tanjirou) was the perfect ending to the fight, really couldnt ask for anything better and is a perfect example of how much of an effect tanjirou has had on zenitsu

the 7th form is what tanjirou’s waltz flash should have been lol

what keeps this fight from being absolutely perfect is lack of development prior to this conflict

(since the final battle arc is basically a culmination of all the hinted developments through the series, im going to actually factor in how much and how well these conflicts were foreshadowed)

anyways if we had actually seen zenitsu, kaigaku, and kuwajima actually interacting with each other and showing how they were essentially a family (not just through flashbacks), it would have made zenitsu placing the responsibility of killing kai onto himself a lot more tragic

but like, apart from brief flashbacks where zenitsu actually met kaigaku off screen and that one thing all the way back in natagumo where both kuwajima and kai were introduced, thats pretty much it in terms of thunder family development

so yeah its underdeveloped for sure

also one random thought, i personally think zenitsu should have gotten his demon mark in this fight, it would have been cool to see

VS AKAZA (INFINITY FORTRESS)

[Image Description: Manga panel of Akaza’s face. There are two text bubbles around him, saying “Okay, let’s get started. It’s time for the feast.” There is also floating text saying “The inspection of the strong has begun...” as well as a simple box on the lower left, denoting its the end of chapter 147. End Image Description.]

6/10

oh god please dont hate me for this

ill list the good things first how about that

this conflict was foreshadowed perfectly in mugen train, you bet the readers were expecting a tanjirou vs akaza battle after the death of kyojuro and gotouge delivered

akaza’s power is shown extremely well with how many close calls tanjirou and giyuu had while fighting him

akaza eventually giving up on his own volition was really nice and fit into the context of the battle very very well, like sure tanjirou and giyuu wouldnt understand why he gave up but us readers do know

akaza is a really good character and a good villain

now notice how im only mentioning akaza and not giyuu or tanjirou in the good aspects

bc those two are eh

no form mixing at all from either tanjirou and giyuu

i know i said form mixing was kind of tanjirou’s thing but you’d think giyuu would have gotten more creative with his moves once akaza said that he was getting predictable

(well he said he “ran out of water breathing forms” but same thing)

so its kinda bland lol

speaking of giyuu, his whole thing with his insecurities of being weak wasnt handled well (it was sort of immediately brushed off in pillar training, and its unclear what part of his character arc he was in)

like sure him announcing that he’s going to protect tanjirou is cool but it feels like he was haphazardly dropped into the tanjirou and akaza conflict

isnt he supposed to be both their foils? that wasnt really explored that well in this fight and theres no deep meaning behind him even being here just analyzing what he did in it

he could have been handled better or even given more focus is what im saying

the anatta state came out of nowhere, im sorry okay? just bc inosuke like barely hinted at not being able to sense grandma hisa bc she had no fighting spirit and tanjurou magically taught his son how to achieve this state doesnt mean it was properly integrated into the fight

if the anatta state was actually explored prior to this battle, i would have given it a pass but it just feels like a cheap and poorly developed trick to get around akaza’s technique development (which is overpowered as fuck might i add)

gotouge should have just given akaza a plausible weakness to his technique development instead, especially since they dont use or even mention the anatta state after this

the transparent world shit makes no sense but ill elaborate on that in the koku battle analysis

oh and this thing doesnt affect the score but why wasnt there a “yoriichi visage overlapping” moment when tanjirou was fighting akaza? hes an upper moon, he should have gotten those visions but he didnt

for some reason

anyways this battle was alright and has good set up but the middle and end parts didnt hold up as well bc random concepts were thrown at us without prior explanation or development

VS DOUMA

[Image Description: Manga panel of Douma licking Shinobu’s butterfly pin. There are two text bubbles around him saying “Anyway, tonight is a good night. Such fine feasts keep showing up one after another.” End Image Description.]

9/10

damn, such an amazing fight

the build up to this was properly foreshadowed

shinobu finally showing her true anger after hiding it for so long is amazing

douma is a super interesting character and fantastic villain

shinobu showing off her true power and determination against douma was sooooo nice

shinobu’s poisonous body plan is so clever and so interesting

if i was to rate the shinobu part of the fight alone, it would have gotten a 10/10 no question

the reason why its knocked down a point is because of the kanao and inosuke part

dont get me wrong, the way kanao is able to hold her own against douma by herself is pretty cool, how shes meant to parallel douma with their similar struggles surrounding human emotions and demonstrate how she has grown as a person, how she regains the ability to cry

that shit is cool, inosuke also getting in touch with his emotions after learning what happened to his mom was super neat as well

however

bc this battle takes place in the final arc with everything else, there wasnt proper build up regarding many things, the kotoha reveal especially

so inosuke feels kinda forced into the kanao shinobu and douma conflict, similar to how giyuu felt forced into the tanjirou and akaza conflict

its quite unfortunate bc if the kotoha stuff was actually explored prior to the confrontation, this “forced” feeling would have disappeared

i know some people have suggested that the douma fight should have just been its own arc, and i very much agree, it would have certainly helped fix this problem regarding inosuke and kotoha

last random thought, i wish shinobu, kanao, and inosuke got their demon marks

VS KOKUSHIBOU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kokushibou looking directly at the viewer, holding the hilt of his blade as if he’s going to pull it out. There are text boxes around him saying “This... is Upper Moon One... He’s so different compared to the other Upper Moons. He looks so dignified and majestic.” The text boxes are narrated by Tokitou Muichirou. End Image Description.]

5/10

this fight is... mediocre

at least theres a more tangible connection between muichirou and kokushibou

even though that was handled kinda poorly

tbh there really was no point to revealing that mui is koku’s descendant like at all, it just had no significant bearing to the plot of the fight

sanemi’s backstory being here is... okay ig?

idk the whole shinazugawa conflict has fundamental problems that i just cant think of any other place to put it without changing the entirety of canon

the marechi blood concept coming back was nice though

genya is there

him getting his bda was cool and helped turn the tide of the battle in a satisfying way (before kicking the bucket but thats not the focus here)

gyomei is a hollow husk of a character who barely got anything at all

but his fighting style is extremely cool and conveys his immense power very well

oh and him and sanemi are amazing at working together, like better than giyuu and tanjirou, and better than kanao and inosuke

theyre that good yet pretty much nobody acknowledges it which is sad

koku himself is pretty interesting and pretty tragic, very nice villain

but everyone together?

gonna be honest but this is such a random collection of characters, there was basically no foreshadowing that these four were going to go up again kokushibou, they are not that connected very well

i know there was this one post that focused on the theme of family that was common in all 5 characters in the fight but its just not enough

it would have been more cohesive if gotouge emphasized gyomei, mui, sanemi, and genya being like different aspects of yoriichi coming together to kill kokushibou hundreds of years after yoriichi failed to kill him

lmao its not like the 4 of them defeated koku with the power of family or friendship, they just smacked him over and over with a flail, shot him with magical bullets, and stabbed a crimson sword into his abdomen

wouldnt have been too hard to switch over to koku’s pov and go “damn these bitches are like my stupid brother”

...

speaking of crimson swords

i fucking hate the crimson sword concept oh my god can i complain about it now? im gonna complain about it now

unlike demon marks, the crimson blades werent even given any proper conditions, you just hold the stupid thing hard enough and it somehow imbues it with magical properties with no logic behind those properties

what part of crimson swords completely destroys a demon’s body in an instant? even muzan didnt go through that process when he was almost killed by yoriichi so where in the goddamn fuck did it come from

it could be explained bc the sword was left in the same spot for a long time but this tactic doesnt even appear again in a meaningful way (didnt kill muzan when tanjirou and giyuu held the sword together) so what the fuck was the point of having this even exist

its so underdeveloped and confusing and i hate it

the transparent world stuff is also confusing as shit and its pretty much never explained how they work aside from the vague “close your mind” advice, like why did it exist, it did nothing to help the present day demon slayers

its just so... poorly integrated

yeah anyways this is around the same rating as the akaza fight but a little worse bc there wasnt that strong set up beforehand

VS KOKUSHIBOU (SENGOKU ERA)

[Image Description: Manga panel of a bag getting ripped open, pieces of a wooden flute tumbling out. End Image Description.]

10/10

easily 10/10

this fight shows the tragedy of kokushibou giving in to his envy and hatred, when yoriichi cries over seeing his own family commit terrible attrocities against the people he wanted to protect

and yoriichi dies, now carrying the fact that he couldnt even save his own brother from the influence of muzan on his conscious forever

what a sad ending for yoriichi

and after koku angrily slashes apart yoriichi’s corpse, having him find and keep the flute he gave to him when they were kids to the present day gives him a small shred of humanity in the midst of his monstrous anger

VS NAKIME

[Image Description: Manga panels of Nakime. The first one shows a low quality version of her playing her biwa. The second one is a close up of her eye. There are spiky text bubbles saying “It’s Upper Rank... 4!” End Image Description.]

0/10

no nakime backstory

not even a goddamn fight

forgettable

useless

VS MUZAN

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kibutsuji Muzan in his white-haired, mouth-covered form. There are text bubbles around him saying “Not a single one was of use to me. I will crush the demon hunters tonight. I’ll massacre them all right now.” End Image Description.]

1/10

._.

i have many complaints but ill try my best to not make this another hantengu rant section lol

first off, obanai deserved better

im serious, this poor dude was forgotten until pretty much the end when we finally get a backstory out of him

and then he died

what a waste of a potentially amazing character

mitsuri getting taken out early was ehhh

pretty sure someone else made a post about her supposedly being extremely strong but she was nerfed in this battle which i agree with

literally none of the pillars work together very well, like remember how i praised sanemi and gyomei for being super coordinated? lmao that doesnt exist anymore

you could say this is caused by desperation though and you wouldnt be wrong, its just boring to sit through

that causes issues bc this now basically requires the crimson sword and transparent world concepts to be there to spice things up

but in this fight, they do nothing in the long run (except for tanjirou using the crimson sword at the very very end)

youve already heard me talk about why those two things are super shittily integrated and i cant be bothered repeating myself so moving on

kanao, inosuke, and zenitsu

they... exist? they didnt do much tbh, which i guess is the point but like, now its boring again

nezuko could have been used as a potential way to raise the stakes and make things interesting again (like “ah shit, muzan might actually be unkillable if he gets nezuko but its okay bc shes not here- oh fuck shes here this is not good”)

but nothing came of her running off except confirmation that she became human again so whatever

uzui and shinjuro are useless, why werent they at the fight?

like they could have followed nezuko and contributed to the battle even a little but they just didnt and now theres literally no point to them appearing in this arc at all

wasted potential

tanjirou

i wish him going absolutely apeshit had actual substance behind it, like it being a part of his character arc or something

i remember having this one theory that he had a corruption arc (due to dropping his kindness thing towards demons) and i wanted this to be true so badly

but it doesnt exist

not with how the series ended

god

the only thing that saves this fight from being complete trash is tamayo’s poison thing being amazingly executed

and the part where everyone got blasted away, losing limbs and shit, that made things a little more interesting again

but thats it

VS MUZAN (SENGOKU ERA)

[Image Description: Manga panels of Kibutsuji Muzan, Tamayo, and Tsugikuni Yoriichi. The first one has Muzan and Tamayo, while the second one has Yoriichi pulling out his sword. There are text boxes saying “And the moment I met him, I understood that I was born into this world to defeat this man.” End Image Description.]

9/10

finally something good again

while short, that’s just the nature of all of yoriichi’s battles with demons

anyways pretty nice, theres a clear reason why this battle exists (shows the scenario that made the original breather get super close to defeating muzan in detail)

adding tamayo here was a nice touch

my only complaint is that it seemed extremely coincidental that yoriichi somehow developed a breathing style specifically countering muzan’s multiple organs without even knowing prior that he had all those brains and hearts floating around freely in his body

like thats kind of ridiculous, even for yoriichi whos supposed to be “blessed by the gods”

could just be me though

VS TANJIROU

[Image Description: Manga panels of Kamado Tanjirou in his demon form. The first image has his eyes closed. The second image has his eyes opened and the tumor on his face almost completely faded. There are text boxes around him saying “You will destroy the demon hunters in my stead.” End Image Description.]

1/10

hoo boy

ok first off, demon tanjirou lasted for 2 chapters

thats it

2 chapters

so thats already a problem

i am aware its meant to parallel the beginning of the series but also its ridiculous how completely vague and rushed this entire thing was

nezuko doesnt do shit through not just this battle but this entire arc which i already explained so not gonna go into it further

kanao magically having a demon cure on her made very little sense

the scene where tanjirou leaves muzan in purgatory is pretty but if you look at it in the context of everything else, its ambiguous and confusing

(if someone could explain it and see how it connects to the original theme of “demons just being victims of circumstance,” i would love to hear it)

actually you know what makes me so mad about this “fight” as a whole? there was so much potential to do more with this concept

and im not talking about him escaping and nezuko becoming a demon slayer roleswap au (even though its a pretty cool concept)

him becoming a demon could have been a metaphor for his lost kindness and sympathy towards demons halfway through the series

it could have been a punishment for letting his anger towards muzan cloud his judgement

it could have symbolized literally anything about him losing his humanity as he got stronger

but those three things are just scenarios from my head, they dont exist in this series just based off of what weve seen from these two chapters

its disappointing

the only thing keeping this from getting a 0 is the one part where inosuke couldnt chop off tanjirou’s head bc he cared about him too much

that at least shows inosuke had grown as a character

everything else is just meaningless and convoluted garbage and “convoluted” is not what you should be aiming for if this is supposed to be the ending of your series

IN SUMMARY

early kny is very good, later kny is questionable and the ending is just a mess of wasted potential and disappointment

i get why gotouge had to have the transparent world ability, crimson blade ability, and the demon marks appear before they all appeared on yoriichi but theyre all just so underdeveloped and terribly handled in the battles they are used, it makes me want to kick a wall

like lmao, i could literally think of so many ways they could have been properly integrated, hell, im even writing a whole goddamn rewrite using my ideas for these three things (link to that is in my pinned)

just, god

if you want to debate over these ratings, my ask box is open ig? idk

#kny #kimetsu no yaiba #kny meta #demon slayer #my writing #long post

98 notes · View notes

alehaj15 · 5 years ago

Text

King and his Queen

Klaus Mikaelson x reader

Imagine: You and Klaus are on your way to your friend, when suddenly you take part in a car crash.

Warnings: car crash, torture, Klaus being… Klaus

Autor’s note: I didn’t want to split this in two, so it’s a little longer. Enjoy :)

MASTERLIST

’‘I’ll be back soon. It’s just a few miles away and I promised her I’ll be there.“ you told Klaus before putting more of your clothes into your suitcase.

’'Why am I not allowed to go too?” he asked trying to persuade you to stay “I won’t cause any trouble, I promise.”

’'You do realize she doesn’t like you, right?“ you turned on him with hands full of clothes.

’'Besides, don’t you have a city to run?” you asked ’'Just don’t set it on fire while I’m gone.“ you chuckled and a smirk appeared on his face.

’'You call me as soon as you get there, alright love?”

’'Don’t be so scared, I’m a hybrid too, I know how to take care of myself.“ you opposed.

’'But not the original one.” he smirked “Just promise you’ll call, please.”

’'Fine, if it calms you, I’ll call . Can I get my suitcase now?“ you asked and signed him to move, because he was standing right between you and the bed on which was your over-filled suitcase. He moved and you tried to zip it, but vainly.

’'Little help here Nik?” you looked at him and sat on the suitcase.

’'Is it true? You, the independent hybrid and in need of my help.“ he joked and helped you immediately.

’'Oh please, don’t act like it bothers you.” you said “You’ve always loved to be my hero.”

It was true, he would help you with anything, anywhere and anytime. He would even breathe for you. When the suitcase was closed, you picked it up and headed to the front door.

“Can I give you a lift at least?” he still tried “I’ll come back, when I’d be sure you’re safe.”

’'If you insist on it that much, fine.“ you replied actually quite glad he treated you like royalty.

He took that suitcase for you and put it in car. You grabbed the handle of the car door and pulled it to open it. You sat on the frontseat, fully ready to spend next seven hours with him locked in a moving car. Despite your unconditional love, he was sometimes able to drive you extremely crazy. He sat on the driverseat and started the engine.

’'Shall we?” he asked and looked you in the eye.

You nodded your head and the car left the mansion.

After the first half hour, you fell asleep.

You woke up when the car stopped at the gas station.

’'I’m sorry love, didn’t mean to wake you up. I’ll be right back. Do you want something from the shop?“ he asked

’'No, I’m fine, thanks.” you answered with your eyes closed and your body curled up to keep yourself warm and comfortable.

He gave you a cute smile and left. After a while, you were back on the road.

’'So, why is this friend of yours so important, we travel across states because of her?“ he started.

’'She is my friend and needs my help, isn’t that enough?” you replied.

’'Sweetheart, you have many friends and we don’t drive to them as soon as they call. So do tell me. What is so special about her?“ he continued.

’'She was my only true friend, before I met you and all you supernatural beings. Before I knew I’m one myself too.” you explained.

’'You didn’t know she is a werewolf, did you?“

’'Neither of us did. If she didn’t try to protect me at that time, we would never know. I feel kinda guilty about it. She killed and triggered her curse just because of me. If a wasn’t so stubborn and went right home— ” you continued explaining when Nik cut you off.

’'You’re not to blame, love. I’m sure that’s a thing we all can agree on.“ he said ’'How did you react, when you learnt it?”

’'I freaked out, as any normal person would do if they were me. But I didn’t leave her, I tried to help her even though I was terrified. And she did the same with me, after my trigger. She’s the one I went to remember? She helped me.“ you confessed.

’'I’m still not quite alright with the fact that you left.” he replied.

’'I had to leave, you know that.“

Suddenly, you heard tires squeaking and a huge crush.

———————————————————————

”(y/n)! What a pleasure to finally meet you.“ you heard some masculine voice getting closer to you. You were in chains, sitting on the ground like some prisoner. When you opened your eyes, you looked around and searched for Niklaus. You saw him nearby, also chained up. His eyes lit up when he saw you were awake.

’'I guess we have a lot of catch up to do.” the stranger said as he came to you.

’'Who are you?“ you asked through pain caused by mixture of vervain and wolfsbane flowing through your veins.

’'Tyler, what is all of this supposed to be?” Klaus asked, in quite clam tone according to the situation, before now not-so-unknown person could make a sound.

’'You know, you made my life living hell back in the day.“ Tyler started ’'I’m here to do the same to you. You know, the plan was to kidnap only (y/n) and torture her, but since you’re already here, you can watch.” he said and stabbed an iron rod inside your stomach. You screamed from pain.

’'See Klaus? How does it feel to see your beloved suffer?“ he asked with anger.

Nik tried to get out of those bloody chains, but in vain. Tyler’s minions beat him down as soon as he made even a small move.

’'What do you want from us?” you asked catching a breath through the pain you were in.

’'That’s quite simple, darling. I’m just gonna torture you till your death.“ he turned on you.

’'You’re wrathful with me, leave her out of this!” Nik tried to save you “Let me out of these chains and let’s finish this, you coward!” he raised his voice in frustration of you getting hurt because of him.

’'That’s the problem Klaus!“ he shouted ’'You didn’t leave Caroline out of our problems, why would I do that with (y/n)?”

’'So this is what it’s all about, you’re mad at me, because Caroline left you.“ Nik smirked.

’'Not just that, I also had to broke every bone in my body multiple times, to break your stupid sire bond and let’s not forget that you tried to kill me too. So take this as my vengeance for all of that.” Tyler replied and stabbed your thigh with another rod. You didn’t even had the power to scream, all you left out was sigh.

’'You’re gonna regret this.“ Klaus said as his eyes turned yellow and veins under them popped out.

Tyler looked at him. Just like that, Klaus broke free and started to kill everyone who crossed his way to Tyler. You somehow managed to rip off that cannula from your arm and tried to pull out those rods. You heard Tyler’s people dying, one by one. You got rid of one of the rods and threw it away. Almost everyone’s heart in the room was ripped out. Only you, Klaus and Tyler were there. Nik grabbed him by the throat and pressed him against the wall.

’'I shouldn’t have listened to Caroline, I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.” he said. You collected all your strenght and somehow hobbled to them with one of the rods in your hand. Nik turned on you.

’'He’s all yours (y/n).“ he gladly moved slightly away still holding Tyler by throat.

You ran the rod through his stomach. Seeing you were weak, Klaus helped you and got it even deeper and then he bent the rod so Tyler couldn’t get away so easily. You nearly passed out from the exhaustion, but Klaus caught you.

’'I got you love, I’m right here.”

’'You’re always there for me, Nik. Thank you.“ you sighed and he bit his wrist to feed you his blood. You accepted immediately and drank. You could feel your form getting stronger and stronger with each sip.

’'How are you able to actually love him, after everything he had done?” Tyler, nailed to the wall, asked.

You stood up and came to confront him “Because all the bad things he’d done, were to protect him and his beloved.” you defended your love.

Klaus’ eyes fell on you and you could say he was pleased by your words and your understanding.

’'Oh please, he killed his own parents, not just once and he kept daggering his siblings all the time.“ Tyler snorted ’'As far as I know, he locked you too, more than once.”

’'I don’t know why are we even talking to you. Isn’t that rod deep enough?“ you asked sarcasticly and pushed it deeper inside his torso. Seeing Tyler suffer was making you a little less upset.

’'Alright, that’s enough. Goodbye, Tyler.” Klaus stated and he immediately ripped Tyler’s heart out and threw it away. The silence was too loud. You looked at Tyler’s body, but then remembered you were supposed to be somewhere.

’'Can we get out of here now, please?“ you turned on Klaus, who’s eyes didn’t leave the dead body in front of you both.

’'Hey, are you okay?” you asked in concern.

’'I’m sorry, I failed you, love.“ his eyes fell to the ground.

You cupped his face and turned him to face you ’'You didn’t fail me, Nik. Look at me, I’m alright, you see?” you comforted him “I’m fine. We’re fine.”

’'I don’t deserve you, (y/n).“ he stated with a tear growing in his eye.

’'No. Don’t say this. I love you, Nik, I’d always do.” you tried to prove him wrong “Look, if you didn’t go with me, I might be dead by now. You saved me. Again.”

’'You wouldn’t be in danger in the first place if it weren’t me.“ he argued.

’'Niklaus Mikaelson, we’ve already talked about this. We can’t split up. You love me, don’t you?” you got worried.

’'I do, that’s why it hurts me to see you suffer because of me.“ he replied ’'You’d be better without me.”

’'No, I’m not doing this. Get your ancient ass here and let’s find some phone and call Elijah to come for us, since your car is destroyed.“ you commanded.

’'I’m serious (y/n)!” he raised his voice as you were walking away

’'So am I.“ you raised your voice too ’'I’m not leaving you. Not at any cost. I’ll be with you always and forever Nik.” you turned on your heel, vamp-speeded to him and kissed him. He placed his hands on your waist and held you tight. Like it was the last time.

’'Don’t you dare to walk away from me.“ you threatened him between the kisses. He chuckled ’'How could I abandon my queen?’'

’'Finally, you’ve realized it.” you recalled.

’'And what is it, love?“ he asked.

’'That you do not have any other choice.” you laughed and kissed him again with your hands wrapped around his neck.

’'Now, how are we gonna get home?“ you asked playfully.

’'First of all, let’s get out of here, and as soon as we find a telephone booth, I’ll call Elijah and Freya would perform a finding spell.” he suggested.

’'Great, and then I’ll call Cora to let her know about us getting back on our way to hers as soon as possible.“ you added.

He placed his hand around your waist and he pulled you into a hug on the go. Both of you chuckled.

#klaus mikaelson #klaus mikaelson x reader #niklaus mikaelson #niklaus mikaelson x reader #klaus mikaelson fluff #niklaus mikaelson fluff

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rufousnmacska · 5 years ago

Text

Secrets and Confessions Part 5

A Crescent City Ruhn-Hypaxia fic

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

*****

Part 5

*****

Ruhn was in the process of sorting through a pile of probably useless tech when the knock came at his door. Expecting Bryce, he yelled, “No one’s here.”

The door opened to reveal Tharion Ketos, wearing a tailored suit and a smug grin.

“Fuck,” Ruhn grumbled. “What the fuck do you want?”

Ketos walked in as if he owned the place, pulling out a chair and taking in the room with curious eyes. The books on the seat were moved to the desk, atop a precarious stack of papers. “Hello to you too. Do you always swear so much?”

“All the fucking time,” Ruhn said, not bothering to return the greeting. He left the junk and turned to face Ketos. “Who let you in?”

“Your band mates.”

“What?”

Ketos wrinkled his brow. “Aren’t you three in a band or something? The way you all dress made me think-“

Ruhn growled. “What. Do. You. Want.”

The mer held up his hands in a peace offering and leaned back in the chair. “I’m here to discuss some things.”

“This better be Aux related because if it isn’t, I’m throwing your ass out.”

“Well I’m in luck because it is about your Aux unit.”

He hoped Tharion couldn’t see the disappointment on his face. He’d heard nothing from Hypaxia in the last few days. And he was too much of a coward to contact her, even though his control was eroding. He was embarrassingly close to calling her. Signaling for Tharion to go on, he sat on his bed, willing himself to concentrate.

“How many of your Aux unit would follow you?” the mer asked. “Hypothetically. Rough numbers.”

“To overthrow the asteri? Or to overthrow my father?”

“Both.”

Ruhn barked a laugh as Ketos was apparently done with the bullshit. He held the male’s sharp gaze as he thought about it. Just a few weeks ago he’d wanted to be involved with the rebels. Had even considered this very question, on many occasions. His Aux unit was comprised of the best of the Valbaran Fae. The strongest and smartest. All of them would follow him against the asteri.

Against his father though …

“Are they mutually exclusive?” He didn’t give a shit about his father. But he wasn’t sure if he was ready to lead a coup either.

“Not necessarily. If you can suggest a way to do one without your father becoming an equally bad replacement, I’m all ears.”

“Shit.” He really didn’t need to say anything else. The rebels might not know the extent of his father’s plans, but they had to have a good idea. They’d be idiots to not have a plan for the power vacuum if they were successful against the asteri.

Tharion stood and straightened out his suit jacket. “You can think about it. Let me know.” He headed for the door, and just as Ruhn was about to break and ask about her, Tharion said, “She wanted to tell you. Since the Summit. I know you understand why she couldn’t.” He made a vague gesture in reference to the ever-present cameras and recordings throughout the city. “And I know you understand that it was for your safety as well as for ours. Now, I can’t speak to anything personal between you two. But Hypaxia is the last person in the world to manipulate someone. Even for this cause. She’s the moral compass of the operation. And if you can’t get over whatever bullshit betrayal you’ve concocted in that pierced head of yours … Well, I guess it’ll be your loss.”

Ruhn said nothing as Tharion opened the door and started out. But the mer wasn’t done. With a wink, he said, “Your loss might be my gain.” And before Ruhn could throw something at him, he shut the door, yelling back, “Call her you fucking idiot!”

He laughed. He couldn’t help it. “What the fuck just happened?”

A buzz came from his phone and he rolled his eyes. The evening check in.

Did you clean your room yet?

For fuck’s sake Bryce. What’s with this obsession about cleaning?

It’s a good distraction when you feel like shit. Believe me. I know.

The truth in that made his annoyance fade. And made him feel bad for wallowing in self pity for so long. She’d survived much worse than a break-up. Considering where they’d been less than a year ago, barely speaking, fighting when they did … He smiled, glad that she was hounding him.

He sent her a photo of the progress he’d made, which he thought was pretty good. She disagreed and told him to get back to work.

As you wish your highness.

Don’t fucking call me that.

Ok your highness.

If you keep it up I’m coming over to supervise.

He sent a princess symbol with a heart. The heart always worked to end her tirades.

Laying back on his bed, he stared at his phone, wondering if he should take Tharion’s advice.

Tomorrow, he thought. After I straighten some shit out.

In the meantime, he went out into the hallway and shouted for Flynn and Dec. They came up after getting rid of the drunk fae and shifters they’d had over. Luckily, Dec was stone cold sober, and Flynn was close enough.

“How many from the unit can we trust?” He didn’t need to go into more detail. They knew everything he did about his father. Hel, they knew everything about him.

Everything except the truth about the Oracle’s prophecy. Which now seemed like it might be a good thing. If ending the bloodline meant ending the threat posed by his father, then Ruhn had no problem with his destiny. He’d proudly sacrifice his title if it led to a meaningful peace for Midgard.

His fingers itched to call Hypaxia and tell her exactly that.

But just then, Dec began rattling off names. Tristan nodded along, a far off look in his eyes that meant he was planning. And so Ruhn began planning too.

*****

The room was much emptier than Hypaxia had been expecting. Instead of a table surrounded by all the upper echelon rebels and their seconds, a lone figure sat at the far end. There wasn’t a single ashy blonde hair out of place on Jesiba Roga’s head, and her eyes were as unforgiving as the sharp edged nails she tapped on the table.

“You’re early,” she said by way of greeting. Hypaxia almost let out a breath of relief, thinking that meant there would be more coming. But the witch had seen, or sensed, her reaction and said, “It’s just us today.”

Sitting a fair distance away, she said, “I was told the full group would be meeting. Did I receive incorrect information?”

Jesiba didn’t answer, just took a drink from a glass that held a golden brown liquid. It looked like scotch, but Hypaxia didn’t know for sure. And she wouldn’t, as the witch didn’t offer her anything, alcohol or otherwise.

Hypaxia was tired. Already tired of the political bullshit required not just in her role with the rebellion, but as queen. Technically, regardless of what she’d renounced and who she now claimed to serve, Jesiba was one of her subjects. Hypaxia wasn’t stupid enough to order her to do anything. But for Cthona’s sake the witch could show a little respect. If not to her queen, at least to another person.

The grin that twisted Jesiba’s mouth made her remember where she was. Remember her place. Queen or not, she wasn’t in charge here. But she’d be damned if she played the good little witch to this sorceress.

She suddenly thought of Ruhn, realizing his fondness for cursing had rubbed off on her. Ignoring the pang in her heart, she returned Jesiba’s smile.

“I assume you are aware of the various prophecies at play here,” Jesiba said, the unspoken “girl” successfully conveyed in her condescending tone.

Refusing to be baited, Hypaxia simply said, “I am the Witch Queen.”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Which means you’re aware of what role your lover is to take. Or, is it former lover? I’m afraid I haven’t kept up on the state of your affairs.”

Wanting to roll her eyes at the stupid double entendre, she let it and the insult go. “Of course I am aware. That is why I want him recruited.”

“Still?”

“Still.”

Jesiba ran her finger around the lip of her glass as she studied her. It made a wavering, melodic sound that left Hypaxia thinking of Ruhn again, and his sensitive hearing. She’d never considered herself a good singer, but he adored her voice. Whether she was speaking or singing, humming or moaning, he would sometimes close his eyes in appreciation.

“The union of the sword and blade is not something to be left in the hands of the fae. The Autumn King is a fool if he thinks otherwise.” Jesiba’s brusqueness tugged her out of the soft memories.

“The Prince is not a fool. And he is not a minion of his father.”

Those cold gray eyes were like shards of ice and Hypaxia felt her skin prickle. She knew Jesiba was skilled in all kinds of power. Witch magic as well as whatever ghastly practices she’d learned from the Under King. But Hypaxia had been taught by her mother, by the wise, old witch elders, and by the other ancient beings hidden in their mountains. Jesiba’s attempt to enter her mind would not work.

“I have nothing to hide Ms. Roga. Why don’t you just ask me your questions and we can both return to our work.”

The witch smiled that knife-like grin again, giving off a fleeting look that Hypaxia thought might be admiration. At her ability to keep Jesiba from shuffling through her thoughts or her bluntness, she wasn’t sure.

After another drink, Jesiba said, “Danaan is necessary. I don’t like it, but he’s necessary. As critical to our goal as his sister.”

At the mention of Bryce, Hypaxia caught another quick expression on the witch’s face, like that of a parent worried for her child. She’d seen it often enough on her own mother’s face to recognize it.

Jesiba continued. “Mirrors of the starborn siblings begot by Theia. Both of Theia’s daughters inherited their mother’s power, but not equally.”

Hypaxia wanted to argue that Ruhn had more to him than met the eye, perhaps even his own eye. But she didn’t. Those powers were his to wield. His to understand and develop. He’d kept them hidden for a reason and it was not her place to reveal them.

“Bryce is the horn,” Hypaxia said, knowing the prophecies as she’d already stated and hoping to shorten Jesiba’s lesson. “She will open the rift so we may dispose of the asteri and then seal it.”

“It’s not quite that simple.”

The previous disdain in Jesiba’s tone had returned. Her own annoyance bubbled close to the surface. Hypaxia knew damn well that it wasn’t that simple. The asteri were ancient, immensely powerful beings. “So why is the prince necessary? Beyond the sword?”

“The sword isn’t his.”

That stopped Hypaxia and she couldn’t help the shock that settled on her face. “What do you mean? He pulled it from the stone in Avallen.”

“It calls more strongly for Bryce. For her starlight.”

She held Jesiba’s icy stare, thinking, remembering the prophecies and the visions she’d just claimed to know. Running through all the arcane knowledge passed on from her mother. When it hit her, she felt her eyes widen. And saw another brief look of approval cross the witch’s face.

“He is the blade,” she whispered.

The approval disappeared as fast as it had come. Sorrow, genuine and unexpected, met Hypaxia’s gaze now.

Despite all her training, this had been a detail left unexplained. Either unknown by her witches, or unspoken.

The blade did not truly exist. Not literally. It was a metaphor. And like Helena’s sister, Theia’s lesser known daughter, the blade was to be the sacrifice.

Prince Pelias had killed the younger sister himself with the Starsword, joining her fractional amounts of starlight to his own to ensure the rift was sealed.

Jesiba had known.

“I am sorry to be the bearer of such news,” Jesiba said, having the grace to continue looking sorry.

Hypaxia sat, silent and unmoving. Ruhn was to die for this rebellion to succeed.

She’d been under no illusions that most of them, or even any of them, would survive this. She wasn’t foolish. And yet, she’d allowed herself to fall in love with him. Let him become such a huge and necessary part of her life, that she didn’t want to imagine her life without him.

“He knows,” she croaked. “About the rebellion. He caught me meeting with Tharion and he overheard …” She trailed off. Jesiba wasn’t reacting. Which meant she’d already heard about it from Tharion. “Why are you telling me this? Why now?”

“Against my better judgment, I like you. I will never recognize you as my queen, but … I am pleased that you are leading the witches.”

Hypaxia didn’t reply, not sure if the admission was a veiled slight against her mother.

“Hel,” Jesiba went on with a harsh laugh, “I even like Danaan. You two are a good match.”

“Then why? Why refuse me every time I asked to bring him in?”

“I should think that is clear. Though, maybe my reputation has outgrown itself. I may be a coldhearted bitch, but I’m not entirely heartless.” After a pause, she said, “I knew you were growing close to him. Even if his role in this won’t be borne out for several years, making you live with that knowledge was not my first choice. With the loss of your mother still fresh, I didn’t think you should have to deal with another death.”

Another death.

Unbidden, a memory of her mother consumed Hypaxia. It was from shortly after she’d been diagnosed with her illness. Queen Hecuba didn’t look sick, which made the news harder to bear. And she didn’t seem concerned about the death sentence she’d just been given. Instead, she was calm and cool, like always, smiling at her daughter.

You will get through this, her mother had said, insisting on comforting others instead of seeking it. There will be worse to come. More battles to fight. But you will prevail. And at the end, you will not be alone.

At the time, she hadn’t considered that what her mother was saying might be prophetic. But now, she knew. It had been a vision. And while the words seemed vague, to a witch’s ears, they were anything but. From a mother to a daughter, the deeper meanings were obvious.

She blinked to find Jesiba still staring at her. Still examining her. There was no attempt to probe her mind again, just genuine curiosity. And anticipation.

“That’s not going to happen,” Hypaxia said forcefully, expecting some sort of dismissal. But Jesiba just smiled. What Hypaxia had once seen as contempt on the witch’s face, she now saw as respect. It was still that of an elder towards a student, a superior to an inferior. But it was there, genuine and appreciated. And it made her sit a little straighter.

“Good. That’s what I wanted to hear,” Jesiba said. “Bring him in. And do whatever the Hel it takes to get around that damn blade prophecy and make sure he lives. I’ll get you access to all of my resources.” Seemingly without thinking, Jesiba added, “You’re not the only one who would be devastated by his death.”

Bryce, Hypaxia realized, feeling stupid for not making the connection sooner. The only person Jesiba seemed to care about, despite her ridiculous threats to turn the woman into whatever low creature struck her fancy.

Jesiba rose to leave and reached the door as Hypaxia said, “Wait. If he agrees to become involved, I’m not hiding anything from him. He will be told everything.”

The witch shrugged. “That’s your call.” But her eyes narrowed and the air seemed to crackle around them in warning. “Telling Bryce is mine.” And with that, she was gone.

Under her breath, Hypaxia said, “You could have at least given me an idea of how to tell him.” Then, with a deep sigh, “Fuck.”

To be continued...

*****

Tagging @itach-i @queen-of-glass

Thanks for reading! If you’d like to be tagged let me know :)

Fanfic masterlist

#crescent city #ruhn danaan #hypaxia enador #house of earth and blood #tharion ketos #jesiba roga #bryce quinlan #ruhnpax #sarah j maas #secrets and confessions #my writing #i have no idea where i'm going with this fic #but i need the distraction from all the awfulness in the world right now

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flameofchaos · 5 years ago

Text

Whispers in the Dark - The Slayers Fanfic

Warnings: none (I suppose)

Beta: @naiokiara <3 (this girl is a treasure)

Chapter 3

Of the group of adventurers, Princess Amelia first appeared downstairs, as always with a broad smile on her delicate face, and stretching her body happily.

“Good morning!” she waved to the innkeeper and two still-a-little-sleepy waitresses. “Birds are singing with the first rays of sun and there is not a single cloud in the sky. The day is SO BEAUTIFUL, I want to dance and… Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Xellos!” The dark-haired girl finally noticed a very sour expression on the Mazoku's face, as her positive energy literally filled up the room. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“No hard feelings, Miss Amelia.,” The demon almost immediately returned to his usual innocent and polite smile, already tasting the sweet flavour of regret from the princess. The poor girl was so pure and good that she was even worried about how her happy attitude could be unpleasant for a Monster. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. I assume the others still aren’t up? They are missing such a wonderful morni-” She bit her tongue at Xellos’ eyebrow’s twitch; “Oh… I mean, Miss Filia will be angry that we still aren’t on our way.”

The demon’s face was now literally angelic. “She tried to wake you all up by knocking on the doors, but I decided my friends deserve good rest… so I have thrown a silencing spell on your rooms, so that no one could disturb you. I suggested that Miss Filia take a refreshing walk meanwhile.”

“And what did she say?” Amelia took her seat on the other side of the table.

“Should I omit filthy words?”

“Of course!”

“Then she said nothing," Xellos took a sip of tea.

“Hello there,” Gourry joined them, yawning like he was ready to swallow them for breakfast. Zelgadis was just behind him, visibly not happy with the fact the Mazoku was still here.

"What has happened, Xellos? Aren’t there people other than us whose existence you can poison with your presence?" The chimera sat next to Amelia, as far away from the Monster as was possible. Even after so long, he wasn't very fond of the demon. The fact that in the past Xellos burned, with his eyes, a precious manuscript that may have contained a remedium for Zelgadis’ cursed look (the Mazoku insisted there wasn’t any useful knowledge, but could the word of a demon be worth anything?) still burnt Zel painfully.

"I couldn't deny myself such a delicious breakfast as your helpless anger, Mr. Zelgadis," said Xellos, with a voice sweeter than chocolate, looking at the chimera with slightly more open eyes in a way that forced Zelgadis to move uneasily in place. He snorted and waved for a waitress if only to break eye contact with the demon, but halfway to their table the girl was attacked by Lina, who practically yanked the menu from her hands.

“Those five things! Double portions!” She ordered, pointing at the card.

“But maybe your friends would like to choose by themselves, Miss?” the waitress mumbled, overwhelmed with the sorceress' confidence.

“You understood me wrong. It’s only for me. I’m starving!” Lina passed her and placed herself on a free chair between Xellos and Gourry.

The blonde swordsman waved. “I want the same! Lina always chooses the best dishes!”

“Sorry about them,” Amelia sighed, a little embarrassed, taking menus for herself and Zelgadis.

“Where is Filia?” Lina finally counted her group and gave Xellos a very suspicious look. “Did you eat her?”

“Golden dragon scales are hard to digest even for me,” The demon answered with a nasty smirk. “Don’t worry so much about her, Miss Lina.”

“I’m not worried about her. I’m worried about my breakfast. Filia is the one who pays our bills. If you did something to her-” The sorceress tried to throw a proper threat, but then she reminded herself who this man at her side was. “-you’d better have enough coin in your pouch, because I am ready to eat everything that isn’t fast enough to run away.”

Xellos sent her a smile. “So I assume you did rest well, Miss Lina. The proper relaxation after a hard day can be incredibly effective.”

The sorceress blushed a little, knowing the second layer in the demon’s words. A fast peek at her friends: Gourry was napping with his head resting on his arms on the table and Zelgadis studied the menu with Amelia, probably happy that Lina��s presence meant that he wasn’t any longer the centre of Xellos’ attention.

��I have a slight headache.” The witch tried not to show her unease, and a thousand questions had been buzzing in her head from the moment she had awakened. The number of holes in her memory seriously worried her. She remembered bathing, talking with Xellos, and the massage of his long skillful fingers on her feet. And later he entered her head. What had he done to her? She had awakened in her bed wearing a nightgown.

“I only presented you with the offer, but it was a little too much for your mind and body, so you lost consciousness in the bathtub,” whispered the demon calmingly. “I took care of you.”

“Don’t read my thoughts!” she snapped at him, suddenly panicked about what might have happened when she was blacked out.

“I don’t, and I can’t, do that. Reading thoughts is impossible even for Mazoku.” The Trickster Priest sounded offended. “But your emotions are behaving like scared wild horses, Miss Lina. I assure you, I didn’t do anything inappropriate to you. I didn’t even take peeks.” Not too many, anyway, he ended in his mind.

Lina’s face was at the moment far redder than her hair, however, she somehow knew he wasn’t lying to her. Probably indeed better he had transported her to bed rather than leaving her in the cold water where she might even have drowned.

This is like ending up playing games with Mazoku, the witch realized sourly. She’d let him get into her head not knowing the consequences and he had touched her naked body, even if he wasn’t interested in using the opportunity.

“My, my, Miss Lina! Are you really so disappointed nothing more has happened?” Asked a surprised Xellos, his smile wider with every second, making the sorceress feel the blood flow away from her face. If she only could block his empathic skills.

“I am NOT!” she hissed through teeth, however they both knew it was a lie.

Xellos’ smug smile made her want to punch him or do anything else that could make this handsome face not so handsome anymore.

Suddenly she felt a touch on the inner side of her palm under the table, tickling like someone was brushing fingertips against her skin. Lina froze, seeing that both of Xellos’ hands were actually busy holding a teacup. Who said that human-shaped hands were the only ones the Mazoku had, and that the shadow under the table was just an ordinary lack of light, not a living darkness? The sorceress cringed.

“If you are so interested in more naughty games, we can discuss the conditions of my offer again, Miss Lina,” purred Xellos… and sighed heavily, as Lina had hit his teacup from below, so the warm beverage was now pouring off of his face. “My bad. I guess you need time to rethink the idea. One more tea, please.” The demon asked the waitress with an apologetic smile, wiping up his face with a cloth the woman quickly had offered him.

***

It was late evening the same day when Lina thought (not for the first time) that Filia and Xellos in one place were a greater threat to the world than a gathering of all four Dark Lords created by the Lord of Nightmares.

The group had ended up camping in the desert because of an embarrassing adventure.

"It is all your fault, you cockroach! You raw garbage! You… you!" Filia's anger finally burnt off and she just drowned in tears, while Xellos’ face was literally a visualisation of the sentence: This time it really (almost) wasn’t my fault! “My dignity has been destroyed! I hate you! Hate you! Hate you!!!”

Amelia massaged the dragoness’ back, pleading with her eyes for Lina's help, but the sorceress could barely suppress her own rage. Her dreams about a cosy room and tasty supper had literally turned into ashes… in Filia’s dragon breath.

"Enough of that! Go sleep! All of you! Gourry, Zel, make a small campfire," she ordered, and something in her voice made the swordsman and the shaman obey without further questions. "I'm taking the first watch near those rocks. Xellos, you are going with me! If I don’t keep you far away from Filia, I will go insane soon!”

“Don’t blame me just because I’m a Mazoku.” The demon followed the redhead girl. “It was all her own fault! She destroyed the town. Filia was the one who chose our path this morning.”

Lina massaged her temples, trying to get rid of her murderous impulses, remembering the quarrel between the monster and dragoness about which way to choose. Xellos’ choice had been definitely rejected by Filia… only because it was a Mazoku’s proposition. Filia was stubborn to a crazy degree, so finally the group had followed her lead and they had reached a nice town.

A wonderful place except one, but important, defect.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell her that dragons aren’t allowed to enter there when she chose that damn path?” Lina yelled at the demon with so much anger that Xellos took a small step back.

“Do you really think she would have believed me? Some people, even dragons, have to burn themselves a little to learn from their own mistakes.”

“But it is MY ass that will freeze now in the desert all night! And you had chosen the right, safe path only because you KNEW she would be in opposition to you. You planned it, didn’t you?”

A smug smile and a light shrug were all from Xellos’ side.

“You aren’t even pretending to be sorry.” Lina sat heavily on sand, leaning her back against one of the rocks.

“Pretending something like that would be an offence to you, Miss Lina. You and I know each other well enough to abandon some false games. Besides, no one there knew Miss Filia was a dragon, but Valgaav’s minions appeared and told that to people in town. She was jailed and they were ready to execute her. Luckily a big bad Mazoku - Me! - appeared to piss the golden dragon off enough that she freed herself from the chains. I was a hero!” He pointed at his own chest happily.

“Filia literally leveled the town to the ground trying to catch you in her rage, you asshole!” Lina ran her palm across her face, tired, knowing the demon definitely had too much fun with this story.

Even from afar the sorceress still could hear the Priestess of Light’s whining:

“I destroyed the town! How embarrassing! What a shame! If only that devil hadn’t provoked me to change into my dragon form!”

“The other outcome would have been you bringing her severed head to the Flare Dragon King’s Temple,” reminded Xellos, sitting low by Lina’s side, to disappear from Filia’s sight. “Don’t worry. People there were fast enough to survive. They will rebuild the town and this time they will be sure to put there also a giant sign: Seriously! Dragons aren’t allowed to enter here.” He burst out with a loud laugh. “Did you see Valgaav’s minions' faces? ‘Oh dear, she REALLY is a dragon’, " the demon parodied the surprised tone of Gravos and Jillas, who hadn’t run quickly enough, and the impact of Filia’s tail had catapulted them high in the air.

Finally Lina chuckled too. Yes, maybe that view had been worth a night under a starry sky, here in the middle of desert. She would have paid to see Valgaav’s face when his servants gave him the report. Anyway, whatever Xellos did, the sorceress just wasn’t able to be angry with him for too long. This damn monster always knew the ways to distract her.

The air was cooler and cooler. The heat of day in such a place quickly changed into cold night, and Lina embraced herself tighter with her black coat.

In the camp, Filia finally got quiet, and one peek told the sorceress that the exhausted dragoness had fallen asleep cuddling herself up to Amelia. Gourry was already snoring near the fire. Zelgadis also was preparing for rest.

Lina inhaled deeply, enjoying the quiet and peace. Xellos’ side was warm and sheltered her from the wind, so she allowed herself to relax a little.

“You can rest too, Miss Lina. I will keep guard.” The velvet demon’s tone made the witch snort.

“I’m on watch also to keep an eye on you, Mr. Evil,” she noted, patting his nose sympathetically. “What if you sneak up to Filia and fill her sleep with nightmares?”

“Miss Lina, don’t give me such delicious ideas. Now how could I resist that?” His white teeth flashed in a grin, and Lina answered with her own bright smile, before she rested her head on his shoulder, sighing heavily.

Xellos was surprised with that sudden show of trust, so he reached his senses into Lina’s aura to check it. The demon suspected she was too tired to be fully on guard, or maybe she believed that their agreement about cooperation against Valgaav was valid. Her feelings confused him a little. The sorceress was tired, of course, but Lina had simply sought his closeness because… she was accepting him as one of her tribe. There was neither embarrassment in her now, nor hostility. Only uncertainty. She was far away from home. These were unknown lands, and Filia was also a stranger to her, unlike Xellos. The Mazoku was something familiar to Lina. She knew he was dangerous as hell and that she can’t believe him, but… somehow he was hers, a stable part of reality, from her point of view.

Xellos considered how to use the new situation to his advantage, but finally he also let himself to put aside his mischievous nature and enjoyed the unusual atmosphere. In this fight between him and Filia over Lina, he was winning at the moment, and the art of manipulation sometimes demanded patience.

“I’m glad you are again with us, Xellos.” The girl’s murmur confirmed what the demon had concluded from her emotions. “Like in the good old good day.” She was observing stars, but her mind was somewhere else. “So many adventures behind us. This town today reminded me of when we snuck into the city where only ladies were allowed to enter and we forced you, boys, to dress like women,” she chuckled, covering her face in his blouse.

“I remember. Mr. Zelgadis as 'Miss Lulu' was quite popular there. I can recall the taste of his embarrassment.”

“And poor Gourry. Till this day he shivers when he sees a pink dress.” Lina wiped away a tear of joy. “Not to mention you. Martina said later that she had to hide you from others’ eyes because of how sexy you were in that red outfit. With what did you fill those false boobs, huh?”

“Who said they were false?”

Lina choked in the middle of laughing on her own breath and looked at the demon in disbelief.

“Nooooo… Seriously?” she blinked.

“Mazoku don’t have males or females,” the priest winked at her. “Being a shapeless darkness which can take preferred form has many advantages. But I am the most used to the male vessel I have now.”

“That explains those perfect hips in that red dress too. How many convenient secrets do you have, you beast?” Lina enjoyed the new fact to the point that she was biting the fabric of Xellos’ coat so as to not awake her friends with laughter.

“As many as I need. I am always open to new experiences. Even those including your lovely but sharp teeth. Do you remember that my clothes are part of me?”

Lina immediately straightened her back and cleared her throat. It was quite dark despite the stars and the faint light of the nearby campfire, but the Mazoku’s eyes could easily notice a deep blush on her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, but then shivered when, away from his closeness, cold attacked her fragile body. In the next moment she found herself in the previous position as the demon wrapped her shoulders with his arm, pulling her to his warm side. Lina stopped breathing when she felt how that which looked like his “coat” moved itself too, covering her tightly.

“We don’t want you to change into an icicle, do we?” Hypnotizing amethyst eyes with vertical pupils flashed a little too close for Lina’s preferences. “What is it? You have goosebumps? Just like then, in that doll tower. You were so scared there, because of that little horror story I’d told you all the evening before. Scared of ghosts, ha! If you could have known then that a real Mazoku was just next to you. What a silly adventure. I adore those times when you all didn’t know who I was and were acting so boldly. I remember Miss Martina protecting me, a poor victim, from the rage of cruel Lina Inverse.”

Lina’s stiffness slowly vanished as she noticed that Xellos is still in a talkative, rather harmless mood and she adjusted her position under his arm, looking for comfort, resting a cheek on his chest. Somehow it hit her a lot when she noticed the lack of a beating heart sound. Her brain reacted nervously to the conflict of expectations and reality.

“Oh, my apologies. Next to you, Miss Lina, I’m not so on guard about the human form in such detail. Take it as a compliment that I feel good with you.” The demon finally noticed her confusion, and a moment later, the girl caught the slight beating under her ear.

A cheater among cheaters, she rolled her eyes.

"Poor Martina, you broke her heart! She was so devastated when she discovered that her charming prince was a monster.” Lina still could feel the satisfaction from seeing the annoying princess of Xoana's face in the moment she had understood the awful truth about her chosen man.

"Miss Martina was so funny and delicious! And full of energy in many ways." The demon sighed dreamingly.

Lina raised her head to look at his face suspiciously.

"Did you and she… you know…"

Was there really a sparkle of jealousy in his redhead sorceress? "Curiosity killed the cat, Miss Lina.” The witch gasped, surprised, when she felt a light kiss on the tip of her nose, and she wrinkled it in a lovely way, ashamed by the cold feeling of wetness that his lips had left on her skin.

Lina suddenly became aware that most of the intimate moments in her life (all of them unplanned), she had experienced with Xellos, and it didn’t help her to feel better.

Him and his teasing games…

"I'm asking only from a scientific point of view." She added quickly. "I wondered if it was possible for your race to-"

"Engage in a sexual act?" Finished Xellos with a low voice that made the girl’s heart drum. He laughed quietly. "Some kinds of knowledge you have to earn." His fingers ran lazily through long red locks. "Mr. Zangulus was gifted with Miss Martina's innocence during their wedding night. It was not her who I am interested in."

The demon's words confused Lina more than everything else. It wasn't a clear declaration, she tried to convince herself, ignoring the tips of his nails gently caressing the skin of her head. The sorceress realized that his hand was bare again.

"So there is a woman you are interested in?" She asked, regretting it in the next moment.

"The fact it is a woman isn't important for me. Human mating rituals aren't natural for my kind."

Lina felt suddenly very uncomfortable. The creature next to her looked exactly like a human, but it was only an illusion. To be honest, the Mazoku race was a great mystery even for those who spent all their lives studying black magic. They were evil. They were darkness. And power. Especially power.

"What's happened, Miss Lina? I thought we are talking from… a scientific point of view?" The thumb on the arm he was using to embrace her body brushed her cheek. His cruel lips were smiling mockingly. Oh, how he was enjoying the moment of the storm of her emotions now: the desperate wish to withdraw from this embarrassing moment, to distance herself. And fear… yes, she was scared of him again.

"Yes." She mumbled with an offended tone. "Only from a scientific point of view."

The monster giggled, calmingly massaging the sorceress' shoulder to give her more warmth.

"From a scientific point of view humans aren't constructed to fly, but they do that using spells like Ray Wing or Levitation.” He pointed. "Mazoku don't need intimate acts to breed like humans, but… unknown terrains are always very tempting to explore. Am I not right?" He played with one of her red locks, slipping it among fingers.

"Enough of your seductive tricks," she tried to push him away, but it would be easier to move a mountain than Xellos’ arm.

"It wasn’t doing anything like that. Should I show you my seductive side, Miss Lina?" he whispered, grabbing her chin and pulling it up, so she looked straight into his gleaming demonic eyes. The sorceress became as if paralyzed, when she felt his breath on her own mouth. He smelled of black magic. She could easily recognize this scent, heavy but fresh, like thunder ready to strike a tree in an open field. "You awoke curiosity in me, and a curious Mazoku is rather hard to get rid of." His lips brushed against hers when he spoke. Suddenly it became definitely too hot for Lina. Growing panic took control over her and she reacted like always, with a burst of anger.

"Let me go, you awful…!" A mistake. In the moment she opened her mouth, his tongue slipped inside, teasing hers and withdrawing before she was able to bite him.

"Mmm… you are more delicious than I thought." The beast murmured huskily and then chuckled. "What’s with that terrified face? I was only teasing you."

Lina slapped his cheek.

"Oh, dear." He caught her wrists before she could hit him again. "Watch out, sweetling." Amethyst reptilian eyes started to glow delicately. "Violence is a language in which I am better versed than you."

Lina breathed fast, trying to fight down her own fury. Again he had done with her as he pleased. Monster!

The sorceress snorted, giving up. It wasn't possible to win with Xellos, so she sighed and laid her head back on his chest, observing stars and remaining silent. Soon his hand returned to caressing her hair.

She still could taste the flavour of him on the tip of her tongue. It was like little lightning, tickling her taste buds in a rather pleasant way. Lina wasn't able to compare it to any other taste she was familiar with. Slowly the sorceress calmed down.

"Asshole." She said, resisting licking her lips.

"And still you like me as I am, Miss Lina." He noted, sensing that the girl was now more amused by her own helplessness than angry with him.

"Oh, shut up." Lina yawned widely. It was too comfortable to lie like that by his side. Warmth, the softness of his clothes which weren't clothes, the soothing caresses of his fingers in her hair. She started to get sleepy.

Then she felt it. His aura brushed against hers in a delicate but demanding way.

"No way. Not again. I’ve had enough of that for now." She refused with a tired voice and Xellos withdrew his astral parts obediently.

"For now," he whispered, and kissed the forehead of the drifting girl. "There is always a new day, like you, humans, say."

#whispers in the dark - xellina fanfic #xellina #xellos #lina inverse #the slayers

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sleepyxdarling · 5 years ago

Note

What would Kai, Hawks, or aizawa do when their darlings water is breaking during a fight?

This was fun to do! Also I did all three cause...yeah

Aizawa

"I don't understand why you don't want to be apart of this? Do you not care?"

Those words made the poor teacher want to slam his head against a wall til he couldn't feel pain anymore. He loved you..god he adored you more than anything in this universe but you were a pain in the ass to him during this last month of pregnancy.

"I don't see the big deal..why does it matter which onesie our daughter wears leaving the hospital?"

His voice was dull and full of confusion as he watched you pack your bag to take to the hospital tomorrow. He didn't quite understand the difference between the green onesie with brown paw prints or the blue one with carrots and bunnies. This made you frustrated...no from the look on your face you were more furious which meant he was going to sleep on the couch.

"what do you mean? We will be taking pictures! It matters! How could you say it doesn't?!" Your shrieking only made aizawa let out a long sigh since he knew you weren't always like this and the stress and fear of a baby made you weird.

"calm down [name]..just pick one already" normally his low tone would relax you but you were so worked up that you were crying...holy fuck. Aizawa had no idea what to do so he tried to pull you into a hug only for you to hit his chest weakly.

"you are such a jerk! I mean this is something important and you say it's not! You...you are the worst! You're so sluggish sometimes that I can't help but get so-" as you were yelling you touched your stomach and felt something wet between your legs along with water under you.

"wet...?!"

Your remark made the male chuckle lowly "I make you so wet..?" He purred out before he looked down and saw the puddle before your cry of pain was the next thing he noticed.

Aizawa quickly zipped the duffle bag up and slung the strap on his shoulder while gripping your hand and guiding you quickly to the car while sighing and looking at his wife.

"the bunnies were cuter..."

Kai

There was no way he was letting you buy those dumb fox overalls for his son. He loved you and even let you go crazy on the nursery by making it all fox theme but he had to put his foot down.

"foxes are dirty..[name] our son isn't a dirty fox" his voice was full of disgust at the thought of his baby prancing around thinking he was some feral fox boy.

"it's so cute! It has a poofy fox tail attached on the back!" Your squealing did not convince him and at this point he didn't want to make a scene at the store but you weren't listening.

"[name] did you hear me? I said no. Put it back right now or else."

Any normal woman would be shaking at his low growling tone but he must have forgotten who he married. You calmly put the outfit back on the rack before turning to the man who at this moment pissed you off.

"Kai..I am NOT one of your little minions. I am your wife. Not a slave and I won't have you make all the decisions" your stubborn behavior was the reason he loved you but he wasn't a man to back down just cause you said to.

The male grabbed your arm roughly "I let you pick the room theme..I let you choose most of the baby toys and clothes and all in asking for is to not have our son dress as a filthy creature. You aren't being fair [name]" he spoke low to you clearly not wanting a scene but you couldn't take his rudeness and snapped.

"I don't get it! Why not?! It's adorable! Just cause you are dull and boring doesn't mean he has to be! I know he is your son but you can't control everything! I think it's cute so we are getting it!"

Now.. normally if you two were at home Kai would be impressed by your couraged..and slightly turned on but this time it was different.

"you will get that outfit when he gives me a sign that he wants that and so far I'm not seeing anything" his sneering was met with your glaring before a rushing feeling escaped you and you found yourself making quite the mess from your now broken water.

Kai looked at the liquid touching his shoes and he would have gotten upset if his son wasn't about to be born in a few hours.

"k..Kai.." your crying voice of pain made him pick you up and storming out to the car before putting your in and driving to the nearest hospital.

He had to make sure to go back to this store and buy that dumb outfit when this was over.

hawks

When it comes to fighting you and hawks don't really argue and when you do it's over quick but this one was quite intense. The Truth was that the public didn't know about you and the twins you were supposed to be having.

This meant you both never had a public date or anything which of course hurt you badly but he insisted on having a home birth to prevent going to a hospital..he never asked for this before but it broke you.

"do you hate me..?"

"what?! Oh angelcakes no way! It will just be better cau-"

"cause you don't want the world to know you have a pregnant girlfriend?! Are you cheating on me or something? Everytime I ask you to come with me to buy baby stuff you bail! Why don't you want to be seen with me?!"

Your yelling shocked the pro-hero for sure and he didn't know how to respond but seeing those beautiful eyes fill with tears made him want to scream.

You were his sweet angel and he loved you so much but..he was scared. He was a hero and so his life involved villians who could take you away at any moment. You could be hurt or killed and he would feel responsible, he loved you but he refuses to put you on danger.

"are you even listening to me?! You are such a jerk! Do you even love me!? I know you are a hero and you can get any girl so I must be a game right?!" You were so worked up and he couldn't take it anymore so he yanked you into a tight hug.

Despite your thrashing and yelling he wrapped his wings around you tight while whispering sweet nothings in your ear to help calm you down.

This of course only made you cry and hit his chest before the sound of water spilling on the floor got both of your attention.

Hawks pulled away and slowly looked down before seeing your dress was slightly wet along with the ground.

"m..my water just broke"

Those four words scared hawks so bad that he released a string of curse words before rushing you out the house and in his arms before using his wings to fly to the nearest hospital..

"my girlfriend is having my twins!"

Hawks screamed this while laughing until you both got to the hospital..it's safe to say all if Japan knows who you are now.

#bnha #shota aizawa #my hero academia hawks #kai chisaki #overhaul #keigo takami

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sabraeal · 6 years ago

Text

We Seek That Which We Shall Not Find, Chapter 4

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Written by request for @fade-touched-obsidian‘s birthday. Which was actually the day before mine! But let’s be real here, this is far from the latest I’ve been with a birthday gift...

“I think we might be dealing with a wizard,” Mitsuhide posits as Shirayuki removes the last cursed servitor from the map.

“Wow, you think?” Kiki drawls. It’s been a slog since they left the clearing, one or two of these twisted summons showing up with every step they take towards Laxdo. “I just thought this was the natural fauna of fifth-century Wales.”

He frowns, wounded. “I’m just putting out an idea.”

“Big guy’s got a point, but I think our bigger problem is that this is a, uh--” Obi snaps his fingers, eyes rolled back as he thinks -- “a gestalt game. So sure he’s like, some sweet-ass wizard or whatever, but what’s his second class, you know? Like, I can stab a wizard, but if he’s got armor or something...”

Kiki raises her eyebrows, mouth twitching. “I feel like you are underestimating how hard it would be to kill an actual, competent wizard.”

“Well--”

“That’s played by Izana,” she clarifies.

“Ah.” Obi tips his head, letting it thunk against the back of the chair, which is -- a lot, considering how much throat he suddenly has. Right there. Next to her. “Good point.”

“He could be a sorcerer too.” Shirayuki winces, hoping she doesn’t sound -- desperate. Which is what she feels, for no reason at all. It’s not as if everyone here doesn’t know that this is only her second session ever, but still that urgent pulse coils in her gut, making it imperative that she participates, even if she can only name five class off the top of her head, and two of them are hers.

Obi’s gaze hooks on her, thoughtful, and -- oh. Well. Maybe that could be part of it.

“Or an Arcanist?” she offers, lamely. “I’m not sure what other classes can summon.”

“Witch?” Mitsuhide offers.

“Summoner,” Kiki deadpans.

“Too many.” Zen rubs at his forehead, an annoyed sigh hissing through his teeth. “And his stupid minions have bled us dry before we’ve even reached the castle.”

“Are you going to camp down for the night?” Izana inquires, far too innocently. A shiver rolls down her spine. Shirayuki may not have been playing long, but she knows better than to trust him when he sounds like that, all calm and amused.

“No!” half the table shouts out, only her and Obi left blinking. Zen adds, “Can we ask our new friend if anyone is waiting at the castle?”

A sigh would be too pedestrian for Izana, but Shirayuki can tell he’s disappointed they didn’t take the obvious trap. “When he left, he says, he was the only man standing.”

“Man as in humankind-man?” Mitsuhide asks, a nervous tremor rattling his words. “Or as in like, a not-woman? Or in a more general sense--?”

Izana holds up a hand. “I’m afraid this level of philosophy is beyond him.”

“Or his geas,” Shirayuki murmurs, tracing the wood grain with her finger. Every eye tracks straight to her, and she shrinks. “I’m just -- presenting an alternate point of view.”

“I know,” Zen sighs, “and I hate it. Is there any way to know...?”

“Oh, I’m sure you could find a way.” Izana’s mouth curves, and every head drops to stare down at their sheets.

“I have zone of truth,” Mitsuhide offers, his giant hands clutching at the paper like it’s a life raft.

Shirayuki bites her lip. “But will it get around his geas?”

“Yeah, how truthy can your truth get, big guy?” Obi rubs at his chin. “Is it like...universal truth or something, or just how he sees it? Or how this wizard dude wants us to see it...?”

Mitsuhide’s eyes widen. “I...I don’t know. Let me check the text.”

“I always got good old, non-magical Sense Motive,” Obi reminds them. “That could do the job without wasting a spell slot.”

“Same problem.” Kiki drums her fingers on the table, tick tick tick, mouth pursed in a moue of annoyance. “The truth is relative.”

Mitsuhide grunts. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Listen--”

“Before we get too deep into moral philosophy,” Izana hums, “this seems like an excellent time for a break.”

It’s not until he mentions it that Shirayuki notices how stiff she is, how much her muscles are screaming to move, even just a little. She straightens her spine, just to be mindful of her posture, and every vertebrae along it gives its very vocal opinion.

“That sounds--” she coughs, trying to cover the large crack her back makes -- “nice.”

“But we’re not even at the castle yet!” Zen protests, mouth rounding into a frown.

Izana’s brows raise. “Oh, so you are going to trust you friend?”

Pink flares on his cheeks, his ears. “I-I didn’t say that.”

“Break time it is, then.” Izana lets his mouth pull into an unnerving smile. “I’ll expect your decision in fifteen minutes.”

They do not, of course, discuss the situation at hand.

As soon as Izana sits back in his seat, Mitsuhide is back at the bookshelf, pulling out Ultimate Equipment and a few other glossy companion books she can’t make out the title of. Zen is halfway to the stairs when Kiki calls out, “And where are you going?”

Zen stares at her, wide-eyed; the very picture of a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. “Snacks,” he manages finally. “Since my brother won’t share.”

Izana curls a hand over the tin like a dragon with its hoard. “That’s right, I won’t.”

Zen snaps a hand out. “See?”

“Not you,” Kiki says with a roll of her eyes, tapping at her phone screen. “I meant him.”

She jerks her head, and there is Obi, only a few steps behind with phone in-hand, frozen like a cat caught on the curtains. “Me?”

“No, the third idiot on the stairs.” She arches an inquisitive eyebrow. “Just what are you up to?”

“Uh.” He stares down at his phone. “I gotta...piss?”

“Oh, well then.” She smiles at him, all teeth. “Go right ahead.”

“T-thanks.” Obi takes a cautious step up. “I will.”

He bolts up the rest, and Mitsuhide glances at Kiki with a furrowed brow. “What was that about?”

“Nothing.” Kiki has already gone back to her game, bored. “He’s just calling someone.”

Mitsuhide blinks. “Didn’t he say he had to--” his eyes dart between them -- “go to the bathroom?”

“If he needed to use the little rogue’s room, we have one down here,” Kiki informs him, as if somehow a person could miss a room with a Jacuzzi tub.

“Maybe he just wanted more, ah...space?”

Her eyebrows raise. “I think Obi has probably pissed in bathrooms much smaller than that one and had no complaints.” She grins. “But the cell service is shit down here.”

“Shut your mouth,” Izana deadpans, no heat behind the words. He doesn’t even look up from where he’s making his notes, just continues writing in elegant longhand as he scrolls through the SRD.

“Get a router down here already.”

“And have you ungrateful little goblins even more distracted than usual?” He lets out a huff, amused. “I think not.”

“B-but who would he be calling?” Shirayuki winces when she realizes it’s her own voice that’s speaking, little more than a squeak. Kiki’s chin lifts, and over the edge of her phone, their eyes meet.

“I don’t know,” she admits, each word spoken carefully. “Maybe whoever he wore that getup for.”

Logically, Shirayuki is aware she’s being ridiculous.It just doesn’t help to know it.

She vibrates in her seat for three minutes until she can’t take it any longer, her legs expelling her out of the chair and launching her at the stairs with a lame, “I just remembered, I got -- uh -- group project?”

Kiki lifts her head up and gives her a long, searching gaze. “How unfortunate. I guess you should go handle that.”

“Y-yes!” She nods, far too emphatic. “Definitely.”

“School is very important,” Mitsuhide informs her sagely. “There’s plenty of rooms upstairs. We’ll come get you when it’s time.”

“Great!” she squeaks. “Thanks!”

Her phone is in her hands the second she hits the first floor, Kihal’s smiling face staring up at her. She nearly starts typing right there, but banging rings out in the kitchen and sends her scattering. It’s bad enough that she’s considering this, that last thing she wants is people knowing she’s -- she’s -- doing whatever this is. Phoning a friend for -- for life advice, maybe.

She twists the other direction, circling the grand stair to go down a darkened hallway. Lights flicker on as she walks past them, both cool and yet utterly unnerving, like being in a haunted house only the poltergeist activity is helpful, rather than harmful. It reminds her of the lamp on the second floor of the old B&B, where the wiring was so frayed all it took was a good stomp on the second stair from the top to set it on, only it’s all over the house, instead of in a corner where she could dash madly past.

That urge follows her all the way down the hall, and only the certainty that it would be even more disconcerting to have the lights chase her keeps her pace sedate, little more than a purposeful amble.

It’s not hard to find and empty room in the house; she passes by a half dozen on this hall alone, but every single one is missing a light switch. There’s lamps of course, a handful studding each room with silhouettes that say priceless antique, enough that she wonders precisely how much of this furniture predates Zen’s childhood. After all, there’s isn’t enough Tiffany glass in the world to survive a really determined toddler.

It’s after her second turn that she finally accepts that she’ll just...have to go in one of these rooms, under the cover of utter darkness, and turn one of them on if she wants some privacy. It just so happens that the room she’s next to has shadows shaped vaguely like bookshelves, and something like an antique globe, and -- well, when has a library ever betrayed her before?

She edges in, hooking a foot around what looks to be a suitably over-stuffed wing-backed chair, and sinks into it. One hand reaches out, trembling in the thin light, and quickly discovers that the lamp is missing it’s pull-cord, or a switch, or anything vaguely control-like. She even pokes it, just in case it might be one of those touch-sensitive lights she’s always seeing in Target, but -- no dice. It’s just her and the darkness.

And whatever lives in it.

It’s fine. She doesn’t -- doesn’t need a lamp if she’s just looking at her phone screen. Which is what she does, dumbly, for a good minute, willing Kihal to start the conversation first.

No luck on that one, either.

Hey, I have a question

oh there you are you disappeared pretty quick figured you must have hand your hands full of hot college boy

You mean with hot college bot?

i said what i said whats up?

Shirayuki hesitates, the blunt edges of her nails tapping at her case. She doesn’t even know what she needs to say, why she even thinks there’s something she needs to ask --

I just wanted your opinion on something

is it about boys??? if it isnt just lie to me im thirsty for boy talk let me have this

I guess it could be? It involves a boy

!!!! MORE TALK MORE FASTER

She grimaces. This is -- it’s a bad idea, pure and simple. Don’t read into this too much, okay?

too late, Kihal claps back, far too quickly for human hands to type. Shirayuki will never know how she does that, not without her fingers breaking the sound barrier or something. already looking at bridesmaid dresses. now lay it on me

With a deep breath, Shirayuki just types.

Hypothetically, if someone is flirting with you in character, does that mean they’re interested in you in real life? That sounds so much worse when I look at it, please forget I said anything

.... ok u r gonna need 2 back up this train because this is a LOT of nerd is someone flirting with you?? are you flirting with someone??? are you having verbal intercourse with someone at nerd night with all your other nerd friends watching????

What?? NO I just wanted to know You know, intellectually

you come out swinging with s/t like this and you want me to believe it’s for like personal edification or some shit are you KIDDING ME?? WHO IS FLIRTING WITH YOU SEND PICS

It doesn’t mean anything!

excuse me did u not just text *me* for my exact opinion on this or am i just high wtf

Okay, fair, but I don’t *think* it’s anything

uh huh cool okay i think we all know who should be the judge of that SO SPILL

The phone shakes in her hand, and Shirayuki tips forward, resting her forehead on it. She really shouldn’t saying anything. It’s all just for fun, and she’s just -- just taking things too seriously, like she always does. It doesn’t even matter, it’s not like she even wants something to happen --

I think Obi

cute college boy?? what did he do??? what did he say????

I don’t know It’s all been in-game so I think I’m just reading too much into it Not like it really matters, I just want to know so I know how to proceed I don’t want things to be awkward

JUST TELL ME WHAT HE HAS DONE OH MY GOD

Well, we’ve fallen on each other a bunch, and he makes all those ‘falling for me?’ jokes And Zen keeps saying he’s using corny pick-up lines

like wisteria is one to talk hed use em if he could pull it off

That’s what Obi said!

i like this boy already you should make out with his face

PLEASE FOCUS

im just expressing my opinion but continue if there is more to continue with which i know there is because i can feel you being awkward

Well, he also made a joke about how nice my breasts were

oh hm that was about lynet right

Yes

yeah i was gonna say definitely has to be fictional

don’t blame me blame genetics but what you have is very nice! quality over quantity

Please quit while you’re ahead I just don’t think it means anything I mean, he’s clearly flirting with Lynet, not me

right but she is like an extension of you it might just be easier to flirt with some fictional princess than like actually have to flirt with a real girl who may or may not be interested in him

Lynet is a lady of the realm But I understand your point

ohhhh well thank you MILADY

Oh God, don’t start I only mean that he has, you know Options

Options?

Like adult options Of people to flirt with I’m sure a seventeen year old doesn’t seem that exciting

you live in such a nice world but also isn’t this guy like...20? thats not really a big gap like that’s if you started dating a freshman or something

Right But still

so why does there have to be better options?? youre age appropriate its not like hes old like Izana or whatever

I don’t know He’s texting someone right now Kiki thinks it’s whoever he dressed up for

ok wait a minute back up he dressed up?

I mean, not...*dressed* up But he looks nice

hold up he came to your place dressed all nice?? at 7??

Yes?

and you think thats for...someone else? nvm i can tell this is gonna be a lost cause is anyone else flirting?? does this seem to be a normal thing?? i don’t know what’s normal for nerds

No Well, Zen does stuff too, a little Chivalrous stuff Like not wanting Lynet to put herself in danger Or talk to Beaumains at all

ugh ok well *that* is real

“Are you sitting here in the dark?”

Shirayuki jumps, phone slapping hard against her sternum. “Oh, Zen!”

His hair shines white in the hall light, a halo crowning his head, and she sees his teeth flash as he smiles. “You know, you could turn on the lights.”

“Oh, I...” She’s glad he can’t see her blush in the dark. “I couldn’t find the switch?”

“Switch?” His mouth ticks up into a grin. “Lights on.”

The room goes from night to day with a speed that leaves her blinded. She throws up a hand, trying to chase the afterimage from her eyes, but -- “Ow!”

“Oh! Lights off.” Zen lets out an awkward chuckle as they cut out. “Sorry, I get a little excited showing these off. I should have warned you.”

“It’s fine,” she says weakly, rubbing at her eyes. Even in the dark, they still sting. “I just have to get used to--”

Her phone buzzes, which is a strange feeling, so close to her chest. Like it’s having a competition with her heart over who can inconvenience her more.

“Are you...” Zen hesitates, eyes glued to her phone, tongue coming out to wet his lips. “Do you need to...get that?”

“No!” she squeaks, clenching it in her hand. “We were done any--”

Buzz. Buzz buzz. Buzz.

Buzz.

“Are you...sure?” he asks, eyebrow arched in a way too like his brother.

Shirayuki shuts her eyes, wishing the floor would just...open up and swallow her now. She can’t just...check with him here. Not when they were just talking about him. The last thing she needs is him catching whatever Kihal’s opinion is over her shoulder. With her luck it would be some sort of -- of short joke.

“Yeah, just...give me a minute. To wrap up.” Under her hand, her phone is blessedly still.

“Sure, just come back downstairs when you’re ready,” he tells her. “Izana says it’s about time to start.”

“Right, yeah.” She nods. “I’ll just be...a sec. I promise.”

He walks out of the room, and she scrambles to her feet, sparing one last glance at her phone.

“Oh,” she breathes. “That is not -- that’s not going to be helpful.”

ok since we can’t use wisteria as baseline normal for you know REASONS i guess the only way to find out if cute college boy is serious is to flirt back or make out with his face you know my vote

Thanks. Super helpful Great advice

that may be sarcasm now but im screen capping this for your wedding for my speech

Raised voices float up the stairs as she stands at the top, phone clutched in one hand and heart in the other. There’s no reason to hesitate; it’s not as if she’s going to -- to take Kihal’s advice. She only wanted to know if it meant something, so that she didn’t...encourage something she didn’t mean to.

After all, flirting for fun is one thing -- not that she would, the way she breaks out into a blush the seconds she makes prolonged eye contact with anyone, but she understands people do -- but she doesn’t want to break hearts, or whatever else Busha might call it with a wink over her tea. She just wants to be informed.

And now she is, sort of. So she should be able to just walk down these stairs and act like a completely normal person.

“Does anyone know where Shirayuki is?” Izana asks, disinterested. “We should begin soon.”

“I can go find her!” Zen’s chair scrapes as he stands.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, milord.” Obi’s drawl drags like silk as he speaks, as if every word is laden with innuendo. “I’m on the end here. I’ll go find my mistress.”

There’s no noise when he gets up, just a pound of her heart and there he is, frozen at the bottom of the staircase, gold eyes rounded as they meet hers.

“Oh,” he breathes, and then his face comes alive with a grin. “There you are, Miss.”

“Yeah,” she manages, voice trembling. “Here I am.”

“Is Shirayuki up there?” Kiki calls out. “Tell her to come down already. I want to get cursed and solve mysteries.”

“Please,” Izana soothes, “as if I would curse you.”

“It’s no good,” she minces, “I’ve played this game for three years.”

Obi lets out a huff of a laugh. “Well, you heard the lady.”

“I did.” She finds herself smiling back, hopping down the stairs to meet him. “Also, my name isn’t miss.”

His grin is far too close. “You’re right. My lady.”

“Are you done flirting?” Zen snaps, arms folded across his chest. “We’ve got a castle to save.”

“Who me?” Obi splays a hand on his chest as she walks past, and winks. “Never.”

She takes her seat beside him, smiling down at the table. Maybe...

Well, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to flirt a little.

#obiyuki #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #Dungeons & Dragons AU #my fic #ans #this was actually going to contain the next part of the Laxdo arc #but I KINDA GOT CARRIED AWAY #too much fun in the lead up #and I added A LOT to Kihal's texting #because i personal adore her roasting shirayuki #next chapter will be more HIGH ADVENTURE though #and awkward flriting #PERHAPS :3

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years ago

Text

594-595: "Formed! Luffy and Law's Pirate Alliance!" and "Capture M! the Pirate Alliance's Operation Launches!"

After seeing what the Strawhats are really like and realising what he’s got himself into, Law has longing visions of the apocalypse.

That look on Law’s face.

You all know the one I’m talking about.

The one that started as a sweatdrop and morphed into a full-blown look of: I deeply regret this but am in way too deep to back out now.

I watched that scene three times. Pure gold.

If You Keep Telling Everyone About Our Plan, Maybe

So I think I misjudged Trafalgar Law.

Maybe.

Still not one-hundred percent certain Law does not have another hidden agenda but... I am about seventy percent on board with the fact he has good intentions. At the moment. Like Robin said, pirate alliances are marked by betrayal, so this could change in future. (But I don’t want it to. I like Law as a good-ish guy.)

Like Nami, I was also was not expecting Luffy to accept so quickly. Maybe at the end of the arc, I thought. Have no idea why I even entertained that daft idea. This is Luffy we’re talking about.

Law sold it as best he could without giving Oda’s entire plot away. “I’m not saying we can beat the Yonko right away. There is a chance, if we do it step by step. What do you say?”

Luffy’s daft but not an idiot. He asked Law to which Yonko he was referring. I’m guessing that was important because I honestly can’t see Luffy going against Shanks unless something really serious puts something between them. I was pretty damned interested in Law’s answer, so when Oda used that favourite trop of his: a sudden howling blizzard carried away Law’s voice, I laughed like a drain and cursed Oda and his teasing ways.

Fine. I get it. I won’t know at least until after this arc.

I also liked Luffy’s reasons for accepting Law’s offer of alliance. One, it sounded like fun. Two, he thought Tra-guy was a good guy. And three, even if he wasn’t, he had his Strawhats, who had spent the last two years training to become stronger (with the implication they could kick Law’s ass if the misbehaved).

This totally won over the Strawhats. They sort of melted into a puddle of giggling, flattered, enraged goo. Law was standing there staring like, “Wtf are these people?”

Still, as a gesture of goodwill, he unshambled all those who were able to be restored to their bodies. I am guessing is because of plot. Chopper and Franky are back to normal (Chopper had to leave with Law for a reconnaissance mission to Caesar’s lab). However, Nami and Sanji are now inhabiting each others’ bodies (because Sanji was not nearby to be restored to his own. I’m guessing you’ve got to be in Law’s Room).

Law was also not keen on the experiment kids. They were a pain. A liability. Forget about them. He’d heard from Caesar they’d been drugged. Chopper and Nami protested. They knew about the drug. They had already decided to take the kids back to their families. Law revealed the World Government have been trying to turn people into giants for hundreds of years. Why? In order to manufacture soldiers to increase their military might.

Apparently, Caesar wants to perfect the process first and outsmart Vegapunk and the World Government. (Okay, so Caesar is not still working for the WG after all. Is he that wealthy he can fund himself or is another faction bankrolling him? Maybe the Yonko Law is talking about defeating?)

Law was still unconvinced helping the kids was a good idea. “Are you willing to stay here alone?” he asked Nami.

Luffy, the Best Captain, jumped in. He would not leave anyone behind. If Nami and Chopper wanted to help the kids, he was fine with that. Sanji felt responsible for the Samurai Guy too. So Luffy would stay with them.

Usopp was so funny here. He leaned over Luffy’s shoulder and gave Law some Strawhat Context. “You think an alliance is a cooperative relationship just for some common goal, don’t you?”

Um... yes, Law answered.

Ha. Well Luffy’s idea was different. It’s like being friends to him. And if Law was thinking of taking control, it would not be that easy. Once Luffy feels sure about something He Will Not Back Down. His selfishness, Usopp said, was as formidable as a Yonko. (”That must he hard,” Luffy said. xD)

At that point, I think Law reached his Strawhat Saturation Point. These people were like freaking aliens to him. But whatever. He’d agreed to an alliance. So he laid out his plan of action. While the rest of the Strawhats took care of the samurai, he would go research the drug behind Caesar’s back. He needed the Strawhats’ doctor. Chopper was strapped to his hat. xD

Then, when that was clearly undignified, his back.

Before Law left, he issued a warning. Caesar wanted the Strawhats and the G-5 Unit dead. Until Caesar gets what he wants, he will not stop attacking. If any info leaked about him being on Punk Hazard, Caesar would lose his perfect hiding place. This is high stakes stuff for Caesar. He will fight tooth-and-nail to win. Not only that, he is a Logia type Gas Gas Fruit user who owns weapons of mass destruction with a 300 million bounty. Law cautioned anyone who couldn’t use haki to stay away from him.

Useful intel to have, to be honest. Thanks, Law.

And it was thanks to the conversation that I now know Zoro and Sanji can also use Haki. Did I miss that or is that completely new thing?

After that, came the part of the episode that was my Absolute Favourite. I definitely did not see this coming. Before Law left with Chopper, Luffy said, “So we’re gonna kidnap the Master, right?”

“Not for any money,” Law said. “To raise havoc.”

Despite the Strawhats asking, he would not tell them what lay ahead before they even successfully kidnapped Caesar. Focus on the job at hand. He would spill all later. Then said, rather ominously, “When we get Caesar Clown, things will move whether you like it or not.”

Ooooooooooooooh....

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH.

Now this is a juicy nugget of plot. I also do not think this has ever happened in One Piece: defeating the arc villain in order to kidnap him, use him as a catalyst and trigger some nefarious skullduggery in the New World with a view to taken down a Yonko.

Caesar Clown must be really something. I guess if he is an inventor and purveyor of weapons of mass destruction, his services will be in demand within certain sections of the OPverse.

This is cool. I was a bit miffed when I realised this arc would end quickly as it has been great so far. You guys were right. This is an intro arc that seems to lead on to bigger things involving Trafalgar Law’s crazy idea.

Also, I cannot wait for Chopper to lay eyes on Caesar Clown for the first time. Chopper is gonna have to exercise some wicked self-control to not smack him for mistreating those kids. Chopper also asked Law an interesting question: if Law was so strong and could reach Caesar Clown that easily (because Law had just Roomed himself round to the lab’s back door), why could he capture Caesar himself?

Law deflected, as he always does. “I cannot because of a problem I have. That’s why I need help from you guys.”

A problem? Must be a pretty big problem.

And by the way, where are your crew, Law?

I am making myself suspicious again.

I need to just believe in Law, like Luffy does. Because the arc villain is making a move.

And That Move Is Called Smiley

Smiley.

Cannot get over that. xD

Caesar, you crack me up.

He’s probably one of those deranged scientist types who give their hellbeast creations adorable names. Everyone flees from the tentacled abomination that is Mr Binky Sparkle-Pants. Everyone knows Candy Smoochy Schmoo will devour your soul.

This one is called Smiley. Smiley is a sentient, hill-sized conglomeration of incredibly toxic waste left over from the chemical explosion four years ago. Caesar gleefully explain to Monet that when he escaped custody and returned to Punk Hazard about three years back, he did not purify the island of the poison gas (*the* only good deed he had left to his name!) I mean, why would anyone do such a wasteful thing? All that poison lying around? That H2S gas he had invented that killed everything on the island in second? It’s Free Real Estate, right?

What he did was (probably) use his Gas Gas Fruit (thanks for the confirmation, Law!) to gather all the leftover poison gas and compress it into a monster, which he secured in a vault on the burning half of the island.

And he called it Smiley. xD

I guess Caesar has a sense of humour?

At any rate, this squamous behemoth was unleashed by the gang of unfortunate fodders who were trying to break into a vault at the end of the last episode. I knew they’d meet a sticky end. I just didn’t know how sticky.

They tried to call their wonderful Master to report they were being killed by a poisonous monster.

Sympathy? In MY Laboratory? Get the FUCK OUTTA HERE!

But Caesar was in the lab, heard the DDM, was all like, “ugggggh, so needy!” He told his main minion not to pick up the call. Why? The fodders would just be screaming “Help, a monster is killing us! Save us!” How annoying, right?

And you know what else was annoying? The amount of visitors. Ugh. So many. Caesar seems to work in euphemism a lot because all he said was, “You can stop gathering test subjects now. We have enough.”

I’m guessing that’s code for “these freeloading Strawhats and Marines have overstayed their welcome. Time to die!” He had a jolly good lol to himself while Monet studied quietly in a corner (she must have learned to block out the cackling by now or she would get zero work done).

Caesar’s knowledge of how to manipulate human nature was summed up when he said, “People tend to forget tragedies in no time!” That is harsh but true. He knew sooner or later what happened in Punk Hazard would be forgotten by the majority, leaving him free to practice his wicked experiments with impunity.

He really is a piece of work, eh?

As of now, Smiley is currently oozing towards Caesar’s lab. Zoro, Sanji and Brook saw it approach on the horizon.

They found Kinemon, by the way! His torso fell into the lake and sank like a rock because he’s a Devil Fruit user. Because of that, the rest of his parts became super weak and he almost froze to death. If Zoro hadn’t found him, he’d be dead. At least he’s finally grateful for the Strawhats’ help. I wonder what he’ll say when he finds out they’re working with Law, the guy who slashed him up? I wonder what Zoro, Sanji and Brook will say when they find out Luffy’s working with Law?”

It won’t be a secret for long, they way Luffy’s going on. xD

NO, WE DON’T HAVE A SECRET PLAN AT ALL. WHY DO YOU ASK?

While Law was sneaking round the back door with Chopper and Smoker and his crew were battling to seize Caesar’s ship, Luffy had a Big Idea. Back at the camp, he whispered to Robin and Franky, the Strawhats who would go with him. (I’m assuming Nami and Usopp are guarding the kids and waiting for Zoro, Sanji Brook and Samurai to return.)

Smoker was having a tough time. Fighting in someone else’s body was difficult. Poor Tashigi kept turning to smoke at random and couldn’t turn back. (You know what? If this wasn’t such a serious situation, it’d be well fun to have a go in a Devil Fruit User’s body!)

Then Luffy arrived with a literal BANG! He cannoned into the snow right at the front door of Caesar’s Lab and roared, “SHOW YOURSELF, MASTER! WE WILL KICK YOUR ASS AND KIDNAP YOU!”

I swear the impact from Law’s facepalm was heard as far as Raftel.

Trip Advisor Review: Punk Hazard

“Arrived on island. Was welcomed warmly by hotel proprietor. Accommodation was clinically austere but the bar was well-stocked. Woke up one morning and I was a centaur. Not pleased. Proprietor maintains he has no recollection of how this happened. Only other guest remains tight-lipped. Refused refund. One star. Would not recommend.”

#one piece #neverwatchedonepiece #nwop #never watched one piece #trafalgar law #caesar clown #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #sanji #usopp #nami #tony tony chopper #nico robin #franky #brook #punk hazard #vice admiral smoker #captain tashigi

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kariachi · 6 years ago

Text

”So, we’re gonna start today’s Martin Mystery rewatches with The Vampire Returns. Should I have listened to more of the Young Frankenstein soundtrack during lunch in preparation? Probably. But here we are instead.

I love how this show always specifies the exact time shit starts going down. For instance, in this episode, 10:32 pm CEST

Good on Lady Soulsucker’s date for paying enough attention to notice when the girl he’s out with grows fangs and her eyes start glowing. You don’t see that often enough.

Aw and then she takes the daintiest bite of apple with teeth bigger than Date-Dude’s face.

I wonder how they got out without being noticed... can’t remember if the vampires in this episode can do the ‘turn to fog’ thing. Sure I’ll find out later.

Diana sitting there with a book and a crowd of impressed young ladies. What are you showing them, Diana? Did you make this book yourself? Did you mother write it? I can’t think of a reason for the ooo-ing and ahh-ing going on otherwise. Either that or you managed to attract a pack of lesbians and they are trying to get in your pants.

...ya know I’m kinda all for the idea that Diana has unwittingly attracted a chunk of Torrington’s lesbian population and they are all trying to smooze in the awkward way that only a young gay can manage.

Also hello Tonio, it’s nice to see you. I’m going to have to include you in this in some way, I believe, given the location and also that this is a fic for nix.

Martin, Martin, sweetie, no. You are not getting that girl. There were actual sparkles coming off her, you don’t deserve that sort’ve quality. Plus, ya know, she sounds like your brand of nerd isn’t her style. I know the saying is “aim for the moon, if you fail you’ll land among the stars” but let’s be realistic for five seconds

Tonio can see this disaster coming from a mile away.

Amber is not having it, solidly unimpressed. I’m shocked.

You think the girls at this school ever rate the boys and just, give Martin a solid 6/10 for effort and moxie alone? “We wouldn’t date him, but at least he’s entertainingly stupid.”

Amber’s look of shock and concern at the idea of Martin enjoying studying. Like she’s about to call in the Psi Psi Psi girls and Diana, clearly their moron has fallen ill. Diana, meanwhile, is just pissed and I can’t decide whether the idea that this is because Martin is lying to get a date or because ‘has he been lying for the past our entire lives’ is funnier.

Though, given we’ll be working with witch!Martin for this it’s not like he’s lying. He just doesn’t like studying, well, anything they teach at Torrington. (Although I am still a big fan of the idea that he’s perfectly bright and just doesn’t apply himself like, at all.)

Martin don’t growl at your sister, you’ll get enough chances to in season 3.

And Amber trying to let him down easy.

“Very rare, and totally irreplaceable” and you, all the way into season 2, are going to work with them, in your office, immediately after calling in Martin- known disaster and Destroyer of Projects? I swear you’d think MOM wanted her crap ruined. After a point you have no one to blame but yourself.

Martin no.

I repeat, MOM, no one to blame but yourself. Most people with an ounce of sense would stow away the shit they didn’t want destroyed when the guy who keeps destroying shit was called in.

Diana no. You’re being sent on a mission not a fucking river cruise.

Introducing, the world’s scariest tunnel of love. First condoms in the water, now people going missing, this dude is just done.

Well Lady Soulsucker just fucking demolished that place didn’t she. Godsdamn, forget shutting it down because people disappeared, shut it down because it’s officially a safety hazard.

Okay, access hatch in the ceiling, that explains that.

...Okay but Martin isn’t entirely wrong with his assessment here? Something strong and nocturnal is right on the nose, and while the werewolf and half-beast-half-humanoid (and I love he uses that word specifically) hybrid guesses aren’t quite right, they aren’t far off the mark. He brought his A game today.

Diana, darling, kids playing practical jokes generally don’t leave fair rides completely demolished in their wake. That is not a normal occurrence.

Java about to eat half-consumed food off the floor like child did Diana not teach you better than that? I wouldn’t be surprised Martin didn’t but Diana?

500 year old saliva. This is the sort’ve ridiculousness I expect from this show. What, did Lady Soulsucker not swallow, spit, or brush her teeth since she escaped her coffin? Was she going around with 500 years of no brushing on her breath? Of course she’s got vampire hypnosis it’s the only way she could get a date.

Vampire goes rwar at children, flees into the sun to escape capture. Also he may need some heavier clothes, those don’t seem to be keeping the sunlight out.

Martin no.

Billy making himself useful. Helping them follow the massive flashing clue that is the vampire’s clothing.

Martin slow your jock-ass down

Martin no, purple isn’t your color.

Okay, can I just say here that Lady Soulsucker looks fucking weird? She looks like a haunted porcelain doll. Or a shitty oc. Here, a theme song to go with her.

Question, why is there a surf shop in the middle of Paris? Is Paris big for surfing? A true French sport?

Oh, yeah, Simone, I forgot her name. It’s very French. Also dude chill.

Diana will not be stopped by some weird hyper-jealous dude.

She also, ya know, looks like a fucking corpse. But yeah, the reflection thing is your first clue something’s up.

He doesn’t see her, he doesn’t hear her, he doesn’t smell the 500-yo morning breath. I claiming him as an anosmiac by the way, the flag is in.

Welp. I can’t decide whether this feeding was more or less extreme than the last one. I mean, this time was pretty fucking hardcore, but last time she demolished an entire fair ride.

Simone, sweetie, have you considered that if you are looking for a specific guy maybe, just maybe, the way to go about it isn’t to just eat whatever random dude happens to be within hypnotizing range? Just a thought?

“He needs help, I’m going in” Martin says right after watching a guy get eaten by a vampire, proving that while he may not be the moron we deserve, he’s the moron we need. Diana, on the other hand, is a voice of reason and doesn’t deserve this shit.

Lucky those clothes were there to break your fall, Martin.

Martin, after dropping from the ceiling into a vampire’s feeding ground, alone: Don’t make me fuck your shit up! Simone, seeing this: Oh yay it’s my moron! Speak of the devil!

Am I saying Gerard was probably just as much an impulsive dumbshit as his great-x-grandson? Yes. Yes I am.

“Clever, and brave.” And a complete moron of a dork. “Just like my Gerard.”

“And just as handsome” it’s nice to see the looks keep in that family? I don’t believe Gerard got the floaty hair though, but his hair looked stupid so really Martin has the advantage there.

Vampire minions are strong, holding back Java with one hand.

Vampire true love is apparently very sparky.

Well Diana, at least you saved the watch.

Martin gets abducted by vampires, Billy immediately must run to the scene.

I’d be impressed with your strength, Java, if those doors hadn’t looked 70% fallen in before you got to them. You could’ve probably gotten the same result from a hearty cough on them.

Gerard=Martin w/o floaty hair or modern fashion. Don’t know why the portrait is in black in white.

You’d think Billy could’ve taken the thirty seconds to read a brief overview about the woman while he waited for Diana and Java, but no.

No wonder Gerard looks weird, there’s not even a splash of warm color in that outfit. And warm tones don’t do Simone any favors. Coordinate your fashion better, people, you’re vampires for fuck’s sake! What would Mike say!

How do we know about genes from a 15th century vampire? Also I note she says ‘relative’ and not ‘descendant’, but I’m not in the mood to dig into that.

Billy you are literally a galactic conqueror, but your big boy underwear on and get in the basement.

Let’s be real, Diana, that’s just a sibling thing. You go into horrible places to save them so you can give them hell about making you go to a horrible place to save them.

How many minions has Simone gotten together? Like, the clan hasn’t been renewed yet, so... When did she get the time? It’s been like 24 hours

Okay, that explains new guy A, what about B and C over there, who look like they stepped out of Robin Hood? where they sealed in with you? Is this the old crew?

Simone, queen of the night and motivational speeches.

Martin you can’t just call on a specific guy, poor thing probably had a heart attack. “Fuck, my Lady’s new consort has beef, fuckfuckfuck” but no, you just want some fucking fries. And Simone is fucking loving it.

Okay, so we know some of them sleep upside down.

It’s nice to see vampires can still be active sleepers.

Hissy vampires on all fours

Vampire!Martin is perfectly fine with being an evil trophy husband

Vampire!Martin standing there like “yeah, you rule the underworld, babe, rocking it!”

“Do you know how much grief I’ll get at Torrington if my stepbrother comes back a vampire?” Would it really be that much more than you get just for having him as a stepbrother in the first place?

A vampire lord consort and yet still, at heart, an annoying brother

Simone: Get me back my fucking moron and we’re all screwed!

Tell me that’s like, Diana or Java’s dirty sock because I’m fairly certain even Martin doesn’t deserve to have his own stuffed in his mouth

And Simone becomes a massive fucking bat beast. Fur, muzzle, little winglet-dealies, big ears, big teeth, no tail...

Okay, yeah, Java’s sock, cool

Those are some seriously dirty windows. Or, well, were.

Sunlight burns everybody but also burns Simone to fucking ash right quick. Which then removes the curse on her victims.

Also I wanna know more about this apparent vampire gene. It is of much interest, especially given next episode will be dealing with werewolves and in some folklore werewolves when killed become vampires, so...

Martin. No.

Amber really. Either you were setting him up or you yourself are dense as teak.

Oh Martin... stick with spies and monsters, honey

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cuthie · 5 years ago

Text

The Hero of Northrend

Cuthbert could see his heavy breaths rise into clouds as he leaned his back against a teal icy wall. His lungs were already working overtime, his thighs burning from the speed at which he had come down the frozen cavern way. Sweat coating his forehead, Cuth dabbed at it with the crook of his left elbow before reaching back for a hood that was no longer there. Much of his armor and concealment had been torn to shreds by the dozens of undead he had managed to escape. Lowering his arm back to his waist, he frowned. Everything ached. Not just the pain from the torn wounds, but just the ache of absolute exhaustion. He had come out here alone, had bragged that he was the best man for the job even. He didn’t need nobody, right? And his arrogance had cost-

Long brown elven ears picked up on the human’s faint footsteps. Without so much as a single thought, as was his usual pattern, Cuth turned the corner of the cavern wall and thrust his right hand forward. A pulse of black magic shot from an aura of shadows around his palm, casting out towards a pale robed figure. In the blink of an eye the magic had transformed into a gelatinous black and purple ooze, splattered against the human’s eyes and sticking to him in a clinging gooey mess. The man in the dark robes cursed, raising a staff adorned with a horned skull, channeling his next spell. It didn’t matter. Cuthbert was too fast, too strong, too ‘sneaky’. The quel’dorei had used the blinding magic to conceal his movements as he ran forward and sunk his shortsword through the necromancer’s guts and rising up into his chest. There was no heroic pause, that had already cost Cuthie several wounds tonight. No gloating, no dancing. Making sure his foe couldn’t let loose another word of incantation, Cuth had already used his offhand dagger to slice through the man’s throat. Crimson trickled across the line drawn in the flesh as Cuthbert withdrew both blades and kicked the dying evil-doer down onto the frozen rocks. First, Cuth looted the body, not even bothered as it twitched, dragging it’s nails against the ground in it’s final death spasms. That was adventuring one oh one. Always loot. A few coins, some snacks, a large collection of.. Random shit like twigs and powders and.. Whatever. Cuth just grabbed everything. Next, he used the fallen human’s robes to clean his blades. As he did, a dizzy wave went through him, almost knocking him down beside the dead man.

The hairs on the back of his exposed neck stood on edge, as an aura of unknown magical affinity split the fabrics of reality aside, allowing a masked entity to glide through. Cuthbert held his hand against the icy wall for balance as he stood back up, looking across the dead necromancer towards who the elf referred to as ‘The Benefactor.’ “If you could just magic your ass in here at any time, why ask someone else to deal with this shithead?” Having been running from danger for the last four hours, Cuth was not his usual jovial self.

A soft monotone voice replied, neither masculine nor feminine in nature, “My apologies. I was predisposed, but I was entirely confident of your success. You certainly didn’t defeat the cultist and his minions to prove anything to me, as I have always held faith in my subjects, but perhaps tonight you have emboldened yourself. Though, admittedly, your colleagues will be pleasantly surprised. The gifts bestowed upon you act as a boon to our own cause.”

Cuth wouldn’t have been able to understand half the fancy talk even if he hadn’t been on the brink of passing out. “Yeah? Well, thanks. I -am- awesome, I know. Just.. woo. Out of breath. But the cultist is dead, check for yourself. Took a bit, he had a lot of tricks.”

The Benefactor shook their head, “I was made aware the moment you struck the killing blow. You did me proud, Cuthbert Danger Allbright. Perhaps your organization’s training has benefited you more than your magic?”

Cuthbert smirked, for he loved it when people used his full name. “What? No. I mean, I like’em and all, but we haven’t had any real world practice besides a few fights here and there. Oh! And there was this.. This thing that we fought. It kind of looked like you. Not in body, you know, but in magic. It used the same kind.” There was a pause of exactly nineteen seconds before The Benefactor spoke again. “The Kalimdor Collective had an encounter with someone of my origins? Interesting. What else have they been investigating, the shattering of the veil?”

Side by side, the two walked towards the cave’s exit as Cuthbert blabbed every single detail he had learned about his new guild. In return, The Benefactor clasped the high vale elf by his shoulder, sending a warm gentle wave of mending magic through the boy’s body. Wiggling his long blue eyebrows, Cuthbert grinned, “You wanna head back to my place?” Understanding Cuth’s peculiar means of conversation and compliment, The Benefactor merely pat the elf on his head, “You’re a good man, Cuthbert. Allow your feelings to guide you, do what you believe is right. I fear the worst for you is yet to come, but with my aid, we will overcome.” With that, the otherworldly creature opened another portal. Not for the first time, Cuthbert gave a thumb’s up before slipping through. This time, he would appear just outside the Argent Tournament’s gravestones. Cursing the biting winds, Cuth once again reached for the hood that was no longer there. Shit. He needed to find some new digs and get all the blood off what was left of these.

#WRA RP #wrarp #world of warcraft #Wyrmrest roleplay #Warcraft Roleplay

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ayma-nidiot · 5 years ago

Text

In the White Light - Prideshipping fic Chapter 5

Also on AO3.

Chapter 5 – This Mask That I Have Become

He didn’t know and didn’t care about such trivial matters as “time” and “human interaction” anymore. As the most powerful monster out of the many roaming Domino City, Seto Kaiba didn’t care anymore. If one of Dartz’ many minions dared to challenge him, he would strike. If a human – even one he had met before – was foolish enough to get close to him, he would strike. As desperately as he wanted to hide – if not to avoid unnecessary fighting, then to hide his curse – creatures of this world would not leave him alone. Kaiba had always been annoyed by those he deemed as less than and wanted to get away from them most of all. All, that was, except for Dartz and his minion Rafael. But in the course of his own madness, he had forgotten why it was he only wanted to fight these two individuals in particular.

Unfortunately for Kaiba, this was not to be, for as he intended to land in a forest in the distance, he heard familiar voices below. “Kaiba! You better be out here somewhere, jackass!”

“Joey, please…” Téa warned. “After we just left Rex’s and Weevil’s soulless bodies at the hospital, don’t you think you could have a little more compassion for others?”

“He’s not at KaibaCorp.” Tristan came running. “We’ve been looking for a week now… Where could he be?”

“Uh… Guys?” Joey pointed towards the sky. “Don’t look now, but there’s a big scary monster coming this way!”

“And? Is that really new?” Tristan asked. “Shouldn’t we be used to that by now, o mighty keeper of the dragon Hermos?”

“Speaking of dragons, get out of the way!” Yami Yugi barely ducked himself and his friends in time to avoid a beam of light.

“Yo, yo, yo, check it out!” Joey’s voice mixed excitement and fear. “It’s the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!”

“But what is it doing here?” Téa jumped back. “Just great…”

Yami Yugi took a bit longer than the others to get up from duck position. But he did not take long to recognize the monster before him, and completely froze at the sight of him. “Ah!”

“Yug, what’s up?”

“Yugi, we have to move!” Téa insisted. “Or… Or fight back, or something! Don’t you have your dragon Timaeus?”

“Well, if Yug’s not going to do anything, then I guess it’s up to me!” Joey slammed the Claw of Hermos onto his Duel Disk. “Protect us, Hermos!”

“Joey, wait!”

“Come on, what do you got, hot stuff?” Joey smirked, ordering Hermos to attack – and to his fortune, Kaiba fled immediately after just one shot. “Hah! ‘Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon,’ my ass. More like ‘Blue-Eyes Big Chicken!’”

“Now that that’s taken care of, can we please continue looking for Kaiba?” Téa suggested.

“I second that notion,” spoke Tristan. “Yugi, aren’t you going to come with us?”

“…Everyone, I think that Kaiba’s gone for good this time.”

“Eh? What do you mean, Yug?”

“He won’t be coming back…” Yami Yugi punched the concrete and began to cry. “And I’ve failed him. I’ve failed both him and Yugi!”

“Come on, Yugi, not again!” Téa knelt down in consolation. “Okay, so maybe you did fail our Yugi, but… You’re going to make up for it, right? Why else do you think we’re searching for Kaiba?”

“And what do you mean, ‘you’ve failed Kaiba?’” Joey snorted. “If anything, he failed us! Probably just sittin’ in some comfy office while us plebeians have to do the hard work.”

“Up you get, Yugi. Stop beating yourself up. We all make mistakes, don’t we?”

“Thank you, Téa…” Yami Yugi looked in the direction in which Kaiba flew off. Kaiba… Flee from me if you want, but I will see you again.

Meanwhile, Kaiba returned to the roof of KaibaCorp, having run out of other hiding places. He figured that if he couldn’t really hide anyway, he might as well stay on his home turf, complete with his private jets.

And right then and there, Mokuba had the same notion.

“Gee… Hah…” It was apparent that Mokuba had been running; he leaned against the ledge of the balcony to rest. “I don’t know who’s scarier, those bodyguards, or the monsters all over the- Seto?”

Too surprised by his little brother’s appearance, Kaiba didn’t bother to fly or even look away.

“Seto!” Mokuba started running to his elder brother, giving him a hug while crying tears of joy. “I knew you’d come back! Oh, man, running from the bodyguards keeping me from this place was worth it! I’ve… I’ve missed you, you know. Even though you can be a little mean sometimes. Can you please not run away like that again, Big Brother?”

Kaiba nuzzled his head into Mokuba’s face while the younger brother petted him.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot… You can’t talk when you’re a dragon, can you?”

Curling his tail around, Kaiba lightly massaged Mokuba’s back.

“Aww, you don’t have to worry about me! Roland and the others patched me up. And then I ran away from them again right after. Some grateful little brother I am, huh? Haha!”

“Yes, please don’t run away from me, so I can properly take your soul this time!” sounded a voice from the balcony entrance.

“Alister!” Mokuba rushed in front of Kaiba and blocked Alister’s path. “You’re not going to touch him! I won’t let you!”

“Kaiba, I know that you’re in there. Duel me so that I can finally have proper vengeance on Gozaburo!”

“Graaaaar!” Kaiba’s eyes and sapphires glowed, showing his intent to attack.

“What, you can’t duel me in that form, can you? Then, pray tell, how do you plan to retrieve the soul of Yugi?”

Kaiba… Seto Kaiba, you must duel him.

For the first time in a week, Kaiba felt his consciousness return. Who… Who is… Someone is speaking to me? But whom?

It is I, your guardian dragon Critias. You have to duel this man – not only to help stop Dartz, but also to give yourself a sense of peace.

Uh… Kind of hard to put a Duel Disk on a dragon’s arm. For that matter, I don’t have arms in this form. And how am I supposed to declare any attacks if I can’t speak?

Then you’ll have to change back into a human.

Excuse me? I need to destroy that Rafael for what he’s done!

You can’t win the trust of the pharaoh, not as you are now. If you can get your emotions under control, I’m sure it can be done.

But without the pharaoh, how can I…

Kaiba, you have a strong soul, and that’s why I’ve chosen you. I know you can do it. You want to see the pharaoh again, don’t you? I saw that look in your eyes when you fled from him just now… You didn’t really want to flee.

You’re right… Kaiba became surrounded in a white light. If I can’t become human again, then I can’t tell the pharaoh that… that I…

“Hmm…” Alister watched with curiosity. “That’s more like it.”

“Seto! Oh, thank goodness!”

When Kaiba had completely reverted forms, the first thing he said was, “Mokuba, get my Duel Disk.”

“Y-You got it, Big Bro!” Though he wasn’t comfortable with his brother dueling in these conditions, Mokuba went back inside the plane to fetch this item.

“So why the change of heart?”

“I just want you out of my life once and for all.”

“Here you go!” Mokuba handed the Duel Disk over.

“Little boy, you might as well get back in that plane so you can see your brother lose his duel.”

“So you intend to duel in my plane?”

“Precisely.”

“If I’m not going to lend my plane to the Dweeb Patrol, what makes you think I’m going to risk it for you?”

“Because how else are you going to look for them while dueling me?”

“!!”

“I’m sure you know that you need the pharaoh and the others to save the world. It’s killing two birds with one stone if you ask-”

“Okay, just shut up already!” As Kaiba lifted both himself and Alister up to the top deck, he spoke to Mokuba from a window, “Go and find a safe place to hide. Or better yet, stay here.”

“No! You’re not going to run away again! If you have to do this awful thing, then I’m coming with you!” Without a need for permission, Mokuba ran up the stairs and up to where the duel was about to take place.

“You little imp…” Despite how worried he was, Kaiba couldn’t help but smile at his brother’s devotion. “What am I going to do with you?”

Alister felt disgusted by what he was seeing. Starting up his Duel Disk, he declared, “If you’re done with the brotherly love, then it’s time to duel.”

“If you want a duel…” Kaiba began as he readied his own Duel Disk, “Then you’ve got one.”

“As the challenger, I’ll start,” Alister declared. “I summon Science Soldier in defense mode. That’s all for now.”

“Heh. Then, I’ll take you out… with my X-Head Cannon!” Kaiba declared on his next turn.

“Then I counter with my Cyber Soldier of Dark World in defense mode. I place one card face down, and end my turn.”

“You must be saving all of your luck for the end. Unfortunately for you, I don’t play that way… Here’s Y-Dragon Head! Attack the Cyber Soldier of Dark World! And now, X-Head Cannon attacks your life points directly! I place a card face down. Now that I’m done punishing you, I believe it’s your move.”

Upon drawing his next card, unfazed by his rough start, Alister spoke, “So, Kaiba, what was that you said about my luck? That I save it for the end?”

“What are you playing at?”

“No, my luck begins here and now.” Alister laughed as he held the card he just drew in his hand.

“Don’t tell me… Did you just draw what I think you did?”

“Yes, and in case you forgot about it, let me jog your memory… Hahahaha!”

“Mokuba!” Kaiba turned sharply around. “You need to get out of here!”

“Huh?”

“I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!” No sooner had Alister smashed this card on to his Duel Disk, when light and wind began to kick up. Mokuba, unable to hold his footing, flew into the nearby stairwell and passed out instantly.

“Mokuba!” Kaiba looked up. Without his control, the top deck of the plane began to open up. Wind whipped his face as the Seal rose him and Alister into the air.

“Ah… Isn’t this fresh air nice!”

“Alister, cut the crap and the magic act this instant!”

“Aww, but my magic act is just getting started!” In addition to the high-speed winds, shadows began to kick up. “For my first trick, I’m gonna need some help from the Orichalcos…”

“Hmph. How boring.”

“Oh, I’m sure that you’re not going to be bored in a few seconds, when you get to experience the same kind of pain I felt.”

When the shadows had engulfed them both, Mokuba had finally come to. “Where… Where are they? Heeeey! Seto! Are you- Aieee!”

The plane tilted sharply to the left, and Mokuba held onto the rail. “Alister… He must have deactivated the autopilot! I have to go do something…”

By the time Mokuba got to the cockpit, the plane straightened slightly, giving him a chance to turn on the radio. “Mayday! Mayday! This is KC-1! Anyone! We’ve lost control! I repeat, we’ve lost control!”

So spoke Mokuba as he frantically pushed every button he could in the hopes of contacting the outside world.

#yugioh #prideshipping #kaiba x yami yugi #kaiba x atem #fanfiction

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mishamoonberry · 8 years ago

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A Change in Attitude

ERASING IMPOSSIBILITY CHAPTER 17 - AO3 / FFN

This chapter doesn’t have Oro-chan-san angst just yet, haha, I think it will appear soon in later chapters.

Thank you so much for your support!

Enjoy reading!!

17 days after Team Minato’s bell test

“Ugh,” is Obito’s eloquent reply to Minato-sensei’s announcement this morning after our daily warm-ups. The boy’s shoulders are sagging, his expression conveying exactly what he thinks about Minato-sensei’s words. “Minato-sensei, why must we take that mission? Another kind of D-rank is better than this!”

“Idiot,” Kakashi rolls his eyes, crossing his arms together as he stares at Obito rather distastefully. “You can’t choose every mission by yourself, idiot. You do what you’re given.” Though judging from his grimace when Minato-sensei announced it, he’s not particularly happy about the mission either.

Obito rolls his eyes in return, his expression somehow mirroring Shikako’s usual ‘I-am-so-done-with-everything-right-now’ expression, in which it’s a clear indication that he’s spent too much time around the Nara. “Yeah,” Obito stresses out, sounding a bit sarcastic, “but they’re D-ranks. Lots of civilians order D-ranks, so there are plenty we can choose from!”

“There’s nothing wrong with catching the cat, Obitobi-kun,” I decide to butt in, chirping happily. My hands are clasped around each other behind my back, and I have to restrain a cackle when Obito sends me a totally betrayed look.

“That’s because the cat likes you, Rin-chan,” he almost whines, his arms flailing about, “the demon almost destroyed my goggles the last time around!”

“I hope it gets destroyed today,” comes Kakashi’s soft mutter from beside me, and I have to elbow him in the stomach lest he says it aloud, making him grunt in a mix of surprise and irritation. Thankfully, it seems like Obito didn’t hear what Kakashi said, and thus no more arguments happen at the moment.

“Ranran isn’t that bad,” I try to placate, watching in amusement as both of them grimace the very moment I said it. The white feline may or may not be this era’s Tora the Demon Cat, considering she is owned by the Daimyo’s young wife, as well. She really isn’t that bad. The last time Team Minato had to catch her, she was willing enough to come to my arms when I tried to crouch and offer her some catnip. I might or might not have placed a soothing genjutsu on her though. Mikoto-sensei’s teaching on Genjutsu really helps a lot in times like this.

Oh well.

What Obito and Kakashi didn’t (and still don’t) know won’t hurt them.

Though I’m pretty sure Minato-sensei knows, judging from his amused glance at my absolutely sweet smile. Seems like I can’t get anything past him. Granted, he’s a Jounin, so… No surprise there, I guess.

He’s still a sadist, though.

He knows neither Obito or Kakashi fancy the cat catching mission. One, Kakashi is a dog person. Two, Obito holds a grudge over the Goggles Scratching Post Incident. Three, while tracking it is easy enough, considering Kakashi’s skills, catching the cat is the main problem in the mission.

I bet Minato-sensei laughs his ass off when the mission ended, the last time around. He didn’t help at all, saying it was a good team exercise and we even spotted him eating dango while watching us, the asshole.

“Alright, alright,” Minato-sensei claps his hands, finally taking charge before any more arguments can happen and breaking my thoughts about the past. “No complaining. A mission is a mission. Let’s finish this quickly, okay?”

Cue groaning ensues.

I smile.

They’re so easy and fun to rile.

19 days after Team Minato’s bell test

“Eh?”

The green chakra around my hands dissipates into nothing as I falter, staring up wide eyed at Kishimoto-sensei. In the Mind Palace, Rinny lets out an equally surprised noise, less because of Kishimoto-sensei’s ability to make both of our concentrations falter, but more because of what he chose to say to the both of us. The older man doesn’t seem to notice my sudden distress as he simply smiles easily and gently like usual, his dark brown eyes meeting my own without any hesitation.

“Like I said,” Kishimoto-sensei says, “I think it’s best if you avoid Oro-tan for a little while.”

“Eh?” I said, again, probably with a dumb expression.

That’s… Really unexpected.

I… Isn’t Kishimoto-sensei good friends with Oro-chan-san? I hastily ask Rinny, who seems to be rendered speechless as much as I am.

I don’t know, Rinny answers, shaking her head, there isn’t any character named Kishimoto in the series but… Kishimoto-sensei calls him Oro-tan, and he seems to be comfortable around Orochimaru-sama, so I thought…

This is really weird, I furrow my eyebrows, and really scary. Why do you think he tells us this all of a sudden?

Um, the Inner hesitates, maybe something happened?

“Uh,” I say outwardly, agreeing with Rinny to ask Kishimoto-sensei on what kind of shit happened to make him said that, “did something happen between Oro-chan-san and you, sensei?”

If anything, Kishimoto-sensei seems to brighten. “Oh, no, no! Nothing of the sort, really,” he waves his hand, “I just heard some rumors, that’s all. You’re my cute little student, and I don’t want your reputation to be stained because of the rumors surrounding Oro-tan.”

“What…?” I breathe out, finding myself very surprised.

“Just do as I told you to, okay, Rin-chan? It’s for your own good.”

For my own good? I can’t help but repeat a bit sardonically inwardly, even though I manage to nod at him, making him smile.

Perhaps—

Perhaps if Orochimaru really is beyond saving at this point of time—when he’s too deep in his experiments, in his desire to know more, to have more—then it really will be for my own good to stay away from him.

But is he really? Beyond saving, that is. Has he really fallen that deep already?

I’ve heard rumors circulating around Orochimaru before, mostly on how creepy he looks and how inhumane his knowledge as well as his repertoire of jutsu, but it’s very weird for Kishimoto-sensei to be wary of the rumors now, because I’m sure as hell those rumors have been around for quite a good while. Especially since Orochimaru looks stone faced whenever those rumors appear—as if it’s nothing of the ordinary, as if it’s to be expected from the people around him—and how he seems to shut himself off more whenever the rumors are within our hearing range. That’s why I always make it a point to scold whoever I find to be talking shit about him. Not only it probably puts me in Orochimaru’s good books—if he even has any—it also causes the miniscule tension in his shoulders and the stony look on his face to melt down completely into something more… soft.

Some shinobi will say I’m hallucinating, but there were certain instances where Orochimaru looks relaxed and completely at peace with himself.

Those are the moments when I was always reminded how human Orochimaru could be, can be.

And would have he stopped being human, the very moment he finds no reason to? As far as I am aware, Canon Rin never had any sort of interaction with Orochimaru whatsoever, and there was never shown an entity called Kishimoto Masashi in the series ever. But Canon world barely covers anything anyway, with how much plot holes it has, and perhaps, perhaps, the equivalent of Kishimoto-sensei did exist in canon.

Kishimoto-sensei is? Was? Close to Oro-chan-san, I mull over, frowning a little bit. If, say, someone who was close to Canon Orochimaru left him behind because of some rumors, would that be the catalyst that set him off the edge?

I’m perhaps guessing things too much here, but I really cannot help but to grasp on the last bits of hope that Orochimaru is not beyond saving. Not yet. I feel like Jiraiya, at this point, or even Sarutobi Hiruzen, for still believing in the good of Orochimaru, for still hoping for a positive thing from the Snake Sannin—

If he really is beyond saving, Rinny says, cutting off my thoughts, what would you do?

I pause.

If he really is beyond saving… If he really, really, has become something similar to the villain that gave Sasuke the Cursed Seal in Canon world, there’s only one thing that I know I would do.

I would run the hell away from him.

He’s Sannin, and I’m just a Genin. I can’t capture or kill him. I’m not in the other Sannin’s or Sarutobi’s caliber. I would just get myself killed if I try to confront him (which shows how suicidal Naruto must be, to throw himself at Orochimaru in his rage and bout of irrationality).

And I… would be sad.

Disappointed, maybe. Because I still believe that Orochimaru can change, somehow. That the soft, insecure man I’ve seen in passing from time to time is there and living and that he still has some good in his heart, somewhere.

Still, there’s not much point in thinking about it now.

I still do not know Orochimaru’s current state. But the last time I’ve seen him, he’s still as normal as ever. I am going to have myself stick with my last Probably Not Reliable assessment of him: that he’s still redeemable and can be steered away from being a traitor, somehow.

I’m not going to let a rumor and a warning from someone who believes on rumors change my perception of Orochimaru. Not even if Kishimoto-sensei is my teacher whom I respect and trust.

It will simply make me more careful, of course; because there are usually small truths within rumors.

Still, whether Orochimaru is beyond saving or not, I will only know when I see him next time.

21 Days after Minato’s Bell Test

“Yahoo, Minato’s little minions!” A familiar voice calls out from the corner of the training grounds, and I perk up. My gaze instantly goes to the source of the voice, Kakashi, Obito and Minato-sensei doing the same. While Obito blinks in confusion at the newcomer, Kakashi simply stares, looking as if he’s restraining a sigh.

Minato-sensei and I, though, we’re grinning widely. The only difference is that Minato-sensei looks more lovesick and dopey than I do.

(I miss the assessing look Kakashi throws at me the very moment he sees me going all goo-goo eyes on Kushina, as well as his furrowed eyebrows when he catches an idea on what’s going on with me at that very moment).

I have to restrain a snort. Hopeless, this one. He’s so whipped, I can see it in his expression.

“Kushina-san!” I greet her, cheerful. The red haired woman approaches us with a grin, her hand already reaching forward to ruffle my hair gently. “What are you doing here?”

“I was bored,” comes Kushina’s answer, “So I thought why not visit Minato’s little minions. I see you’re still as grumpy as ever, Kakashi-kun,” she glances at Kakashi, giving him a teasing smile. Kakashi harrumphs in retaliation.

“And I haven’t met the other minion yet!” She moves toward Obito, bending down to look at him in eye level, watching in amusement when Obito yelps in surprise. “Yo, kiddo, I’m Uzumaki Kushina, Minato’s girlfriend.”

Obito’s expression clears, then, lighting up as if he has some sort of an epiphany. “Oh! I’m Uchiha Obito!” He says, “It’s nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san.”

“Eh, just call me Kushina,” the jinchuuriki waves her hand flippantly, “How about Kushina nee-chan?” She glances at me, “You can call me that too, Rin-chan”.

I brighten up. There is no way I’m gonna pass up this chance! “Kushina-nee-chan!” I exclaim happily.

“Kushina nee-chan, then,” Obito seems to like Kushina too, because he’s smiling as he says it.

Then, the rest of us stares at Kakashi.

The boy looks a bit uncomfortable, but glances away as he says, “…Kushina-san.”

Kushina exaggeratedly pouts, scooting over to poke Kakashi in the stomach. The boy jumps a little, glaring lightly when I snort.

“You’re no fun, Kakashi-kun!”

“…Whatever, Kushina-san.”

“Tch,” Kushina clicks her tongue. Though she’s obviously still in good humor, considering how she still looks happy (and very, very pretty, oh gosh) as she stands up, smacking Minato’s shoulder. “You’ve gotten yourself cute little minions here, Minato!”

“They’re my student, Kushina…” Minato says with a laugh, rubbing his shoulder.

“Students, minions, same thing,” she ignores Kakashi’s mutter of ‘it’s different’ and grins, her hands positioned on her hips, “anyway, you’re not planning anything particular for them today, right?”

Minato blinks. “Well, no, not exactly. Why?”

I have a bad feeling about this. And beside me, Kakashi seems to share the sentiment, considering how he is staring at Kushina warily, as if expecting her to suddenly pounce him or something.

“Well,” Kushina sounds super cheerful as she stares us down, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “I wanna play tag.”

The three of us are frozen, and even Minato-sensei seems to gulp. Either out of fear or arousal, I do not know, but either way, I totally understand him at this moment. Kushina looks predatory¸ and for a second I wonder who is the true sadist in the relationship: Minato or Kushina. I don’t have time to dwell on that more though, because she moves into a stance, causing us three genins to be more alert than before.

“I’m gonna be it,” she grins at us, meeting our eyes one by one, “you have five minutes to escape and try to hide. Starting from now.”

We run like our asses are on fire.

XXX

So.

Both of them are closet sadists.

Aside from the fact that Minato-sensei seems to be torn between being worried for our lives or being very turned on at the sight of his girlfriend stomping us to the ground, he still chooses to sit back and watch everything unfold, with a lop sided smile, while eating dango.

And Kushina seems to hold back when she’s catching us, but not enough.

Seriously, she uses her chains to hold Kakashi down on the ground!

Despite myself being tired as fuck and sore, I can’t help but grin and laugh and just in sheer awe.

She’s so cool. Kushina-nee is so cool.

It’s still terrifying though, and she even cackles while attacking us with her chains.

The rest of the afternoon is spent with screaming and yelling children, and a cackling Red Hot Habanero.

Author’s note:

Hello.

I want to apologize for the long wait and the short chapter. As I have mentioned in the latest announcement, I’m having problems both in real life and in writing itself. Making long chapters is beginning to be very taxing for me, whose mind tend to wander here and there most of the time.

I’ve told you this before and some of you have kindly answered my question, therefore I’ve decided to make each chapters shorter than usual. I used to produce 5k-7k words each chapter, and it’s VERY tiring for me. From now on my chapters will be 1k-2k in length, more if I get lucky, and I hope that you can still like my story despite that. Updates will perhaps be faster as well; mostlikely once every two or three weeks.

#erasing impossibility #naruto #misha writes

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shirtlesssammy · 8 years ago

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Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell: Savor it because we won’t see Cas for over a month Recap

Then:

In which writer, Davey Perez, continues to ascend to the Fan Throne of Goodness vacated by the much missed Robbie Thompson.

Now:

On a camping excursion in the wilds of Nebraska, a young woman, Gwen, attempts to split firewood against the grain, her boyfriend, Marcus, is busy watching nature on his iPad, and the audience realizes -with or without monsters- this cute city couple is DOOMED. Before their imminent demise, they talk about her acceptance to a veterinary school out-of-state, and the ability to make a long-distance relationship work. On the premise of getting more firewood, the boyfriend wanders away to practice his proposal speech. Gwen stumbles upon the ring. And unfortunately for Marcus, a hellhound stumbles upon him! He just makes it back to camp before getting shredding to pieces. Gwen stands paralyzed but eventually gets the wherewithal to slash the invisible beast with the ax (also against the grain --the hellhound lived, even if Gwen escaped.)

RIP Marcus.

At the bunker, Sam and Dean and Lucille are just getting back from an epic hunting trip. (Fun Fact: Boris had to stop watching The Walking Dead just when Papa Winchester showed up. Too many sads.) It seems Sam keeps finding new jobs through a new computer program, aka, Frodo, aka, Mick Davies. So I see Sam hasn’t told his brother of his little allegiance yet. Dean’s ready to go, after all he has baby wipes in the car to remove any residual siren gunk, but Sam insists he shower first.

Dean acquiesces but insists he’s going to use Sam’s fancy shampoo in retaliation. (Boris is willing to hand-wave Dean’s lack of cleanliness for himself due to his overwhelming need to hunt and forget about his mom issues, but getting monster gunk in Baby? That cannot stand.)

The boys make it to the scene of Marcus’s demise, finishing phone calls as they exit Baby. Sam (talking to his mom): “Let us know.” Dean (talking to Cas): “Love you too.” Oh wait, scratch that, reverse it. Sam fills Dean in on their mom’s recent hunt with the Brits. Dean fills Sam in on more angel killings (like, doesn’t that warrant a drop-everything-and-help-Cas situation? Finding the nephilim seems WAY more time sensitive than bear attacks, but don’t mind me, I’m just a bitter Cas girl.) (Natasha: raises hand in solidarity.)

Speaking of Cas, or Agent Solange...

He’s at a diner, investigating the death of a waitress. Herb, the diner’s manager, believes she was killed by a Reptilian alien, you know, like the Queen of England. Cas is dismissive but Herb has proof and pulls out a tape! Man, this whole scene played like a goofier episode of The X-Files. It gave me happy feels. It also reminded me of Ronald Reznick and Mandroids. (And I love the silly reference to Misha Collin’s weird thing with the Queen.) In any event, they watch the video, which consists of Kelly Kline’s confrontation with angels and her rescue by Dagon, and her yellow eyes. “Like I said, reptilian,” Herb confirms. Cas takes the tape and leaves.

At the campsite, Sam and Dean hear about Gwen’s strange account of the attack. They were attacked by an invisible wolf. “Invisible dog. Sounds like a hellhound to me,” Dean concludes, and Sam agrees, as they head out to interview Gwen.

Once at Gwen’s house, the brothers disagree on how they should explain the situation. The much handsomer brother spitballs telling her the whole disturbing and unbelievable truth, but Sam says they just need to lie, a lot.

Of course, by letting in Agents Clapton and Baker, Gwen unknowingly lets in the hellhound. They tell her that a bear killed her boyfriend. She is not in danger, but Gwen doesn’t believe them, and tells them to leave. And the hellhound attacks! Sam and Dean burst in and shoot the hound, but it escapes out the window.

Crowley. Oh Crowley, what are you doing with Lucifer? You’re a smart demon, Fergus. But this seems...ill-advised. Yet he continues to hold Lucifer prisoner and taunt him. Lucifer isn’t too concerned. “I’m still gonna peel off your skin and eat your soul.” Lucifer makes it clear that they both know that the chains that hold him are just a temporary situation. “I’m already 10 steps ahead,” Crowley reassures the audience. He then meets with Demon #1 and #2. There’s a lot of Hell business to handle.

Back at Gwen’s, Sam and Dean tell her the whole disturbing and unbelievable truth --a hellhound just attacked her. Dean’s admission that they’ve tangled with hellhounds in the past is an understatement. *crying in corner over sad season 3 feels* The boys tell her that hellhounds only go after people who have sold their soul to a demon. They ask her to recall anything in her past or Marcus’s that they might have done unknowingly. Her answer is a firm “No.” The brothers call in the big guns for a conundrum like this: Crowley.

Summary: Dean calls Crowley “Peaches”, and Crowley is still pissed about the whole Gavin thing. Dean asks about the hellhounds and Demon #1 and #2 admit that Ramsey escaped. Crowley pops over to the brothers without hesitation.

Outside the diner a new angel, Kelvin, confronts Castiel. He’s looking for Kelly Kline as well and suggests that they partner up.

Back at Gwen’s house, Crowley unhelpfully introduces the hellhound as “THE Hellhound.” Sam squints inquisitively. Well, God created posies, koalas...

...and hellhounds! He wanted to make God’s best friend but ended up with a vicious beast instead. Rather than killing all the hounds, Lucifer rescued Ramsey, a pregnant hellhound. Loyal to her first master, she’s the one hound Crowley has never been able to control. As to why this wayward hound is after Gwen? Well, she did whack it with an axe. You could say that hound has an “axe to grind.” (Shows myself out.) Everybody looks exasperated at Gwen when instead, IMO, they should be high fiving Gwen’s bad ass self for sticking an axe in a hellhound and surviving the encounter. Anyway, everybody - even Crowley - is ready to saddle up and put an end to Ramsey.

“That mutt’s head, mounted on my wall - good for the brand,” Crowley says, explaining his participation.

“A hellhound gunning for revenge,” Dean snarks. “Just when I thought this gig couldn’t get any weirder.”

“It can always get weirder,” Crowley tells him, weirdly. (I APPROVE of this message and also your weirdly significant look, Crowley...and by extension Andrew Dabb / Davy Perez?? That is a damn fine motto right there.)

Back in Crowley’s palace, two demons open up Lucifer’s cell with a key they purloined from Crowley’s pocket. They walk in to find Lucifer trussed up and mouth gagged.

(At this point there was a commercial break during the broadcast. I feel compelled to tell you that I spent the whole commercial break cursing Crowley’s stupidity for locking Lucifer up with simple chains that open with a key. Crowley! Who is always so clever when it comes to self-preservation. Anyway.)

The two minions immediately begin fawning over Lucifer - and complaining about Crowley. He killed everyone involved in “the cage project.”. Minions 1 and 2 set Ramsey free as a distraction so they could bust Lucifer out.

Back in the woods Dean pulls out two holy-fire-treated pairs of eyeglasses. Dean and Crowley will patrol the woods for Ramsey while Sam drives around with Gwen in the Impala.

Dean settles a soulful look on Sammy. “Take care of her,” he implores. Oh Dean, you big soft package of cotton candy! Don’t worry! The Winchesters always find a way to save the day! While we’re all clutching at our hearts, Sam realizes that Dean was referring to Baby - not scared little axe-swinging, hellhound mauling Gwen. “Imagine she’s a beautiful woman,” Dean tells him. (The rest of us: side eye.) Okay, great talk, Dean. He heads off into the woods with Crowley as Sam drives away.

Boomeranging back to Castiel, he’s parked in a bar with Kelvin sipping waters. (Bartenders must HATE angels.) Heaven’s running along in an orderly fashion but the angels want him back to help with their nephilim problem. Castiel has the most field experience, after all.

“I think you overestimate me,” Cas says, profoundly underestimating himself (as is his way lately).

Kelvin begs to differ and suggests that having Heaven waiting in the wings when the wee human Winchesters fail is just smart strategy. Plus, as a bonus, if Cas does Heaven a solid then he can go back to coming and going as he pleases. Cas doubts Kelvin’s ability to actually follow through on any of the promises he’s spinning, so Kelvin drops his power card. Kelvin is just a messenger from Heaven - Joshua can restore Cas to his rightful place in Heaven. Go on, emotes Cas, turning towards Kelvin.

“Imagine it, Castiel. For you to come and go as you please. Part of your family - your true family again.” Cas looks at him in consideration. (Me: Noooooooo Cas!)

Back in the palace, Lucifer is suffering through the worst Hell-torture of all: irritating minions. They finally finish outlining their list of demands. Well, one of them has a long list of demands. All that Minion #2 cares about is “Making Hell great again.” (Me: laugh cries)

At last they unlock Lucifer. Stupid STUPID minions. Minion 1 disintegrates in a puff of fire and ash. Minion 2 offers himself up. “My life is yours to devour!”

Lucifer: “See, now you just made it weird.” POOF.

In the woods on the hellhound hunt, Crowley flirts with Dean. He’s all “those glasses bring out your eyes” and “remember that fivesome we had when you were a demon?”

Dean and Crowley marvel at a Winchester and the King of Hell working together yet again. “You saved Cas,” Dean says, at last thanking Crowley for saving the day a few episodes ago.

“Just to spare myself the Winchester man pain,” Crowley snarks.

Dean sees something in the woods - it’s Gwen’s boyfriend’s body, dragged back to Ramsey’s den. The hellhound’s den is empty!

For Science

And back to the Impala, where Sam drives along merrily with Gwen who succumbs to the Impala’s magical confession and introspection powers. “This is all my fault,” she mourns. She asks Sam to pull over so she can vomit. When she returns she confesses that she wanted to break up with her boyfriend, but she still acted like everything was perfect between them. “Why couldn’t I just tell him the truth? I lied to make things easier.”

Sam weeps along with her (internally) and reflects upon his own lying lies with Dean. He finally pulls himself out of his miserable slump and looks up to see Ramsey snarling in front of them. (Me: Hit it with the car, Sam! Wouldn’t be the first dog, amirite?)

Ramsey busts up Baby a bit, then Sam grabs an angel blade and heads out to kill the dog. The glasses get knocked off of his face during a scuffle and things look bad for our hero. Then Gwen comes out and knocks the hellhound off of Sam like a fucking bad ass.

This gives Sam just the distraction needed to climb to his feet. When the hound rushes him again, he stabs her with the blade, killing her.

When the four regroup, Dean castigates Sam for his damaged car. A relieved Gwen gives Crowley a giant happy bunny hug. Sam thanks Crowley with actual words and feelings and Crowley zaps out. “He seems nice,” Gwen says, chirpily.

Crowley heads straight for the palace where Lucifer’s torture chair is empty! He finds Luci in his throne room. I’m yelling ZAP OUTTA THERE CROWLEY WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU when Crowley snaps his fingers and Lucifer’s magical archangel wings fizzle out.

“I’m always ten steps ahead,” Crowley reminds Lucifer. He had his vessel fixed up and heavily warded. Lucifer’s meatsuit is his prison! (Me: punches air in joy at this development) Just as Crowley learned not to underestimate the Winchesters, Lucifer really has to learn not to underestimate the MacLeods.

Crowley dusts off his hands, steps over a whimpering Lucifer, and settles onto his throne. Crowley’s going to rip apart Lucifer’s child in front of him, and then he’s going to continue his revenge. (I’m guessing with more torture-by-irritating-minion.)

Elsewhere, the boys are just making it back to the bunker when Cas calls. He has a lead on Kelly Kline. (Hooray!) Cut to Cas, getting out of his truck and walking into...fuuuuuuuck...a playground. While I’m freaking out, Cas tells the boys about Dagon.

They hang up and Dean frowns at the phone. “He sound weird to you?” Dean, your worried husband rader is SPOT ON.

There’s no time to reflect on that, however. Sam gets an alert from the Men of Letters about another case. He decides to come clean to Dean, telling him that instead of a computer program feeding him cases, he’s been getting jobs from the BMoL. Sam tries to explain his position and apologizes for lying to Dean.

Dean hates it, but he agrees that they work with people they don’t trust all the time. Hell, they just worked with Crowley. So he’ll work with them on one condition: the second something feels off they both bail.

The phone rings again. “It’s Mick,” Sam says, holding up his phone.

“Pick it up,” Dean says, not radiating any kind of deep man pain at all.

Boris: Overall, on the surface, I felt like things were a bit off this episode. Dean seems to be taking all these lies and deceptions really well. What’s he thinking? Is he going along with Sam and Mary because he doesn’t want to lose them? Suddenly Sam has another family member to choose--and in a way he picked a side. Dean’s gut instinct is usually right --so it hurts to see him cave so easily to Sam and Mary. And Cas? I want to believe that he went to heaven for one final goodbye. Can he find a way to use the angels to TFW’s advantage? So much hasn’t been said after his big confession. He’s said and done SO much for the Winchesters this season, but there’s been very little given to him in return. And, I’m totally on board for cleaning up the ridiculous Lucifer Meatsuit improbability. I just thought it was such a stupid reason for it, but to have Crowley be 10 steps ahead of Lucifer is satisfying to watch. And Sam saved the flipping day again! And started the trials again? He killed a hellhound. I realize it’s nbd for them these days, but it’s, uh, really not.

Natasha: Sam didn’t do the incantation, so no trials. I thought Dean was shocked about Sam’s news - bitter and worried, but also respecting Sam’s right to make his own choices. He’s probably going to angry fix his car the first chance he gets. I agree that Cas trying to get back into Heaven’s good graces is a tired storyline by this point. What I’m hoping is that Cas appears to agree because he sees the tactical advantage of using Heaven’s resources. After all, he just saw two angels confront Kelly Kline...they must have some resource that’s beyond him to find her. Furthermore, he seems intrigued by Joshua’s involvement. I think Cas wants to know who’s on the game board. I’m hoping that Cas gathers intel and heads down to the Winchesters when he’s put together a solid plan. However, there are definitely parallels between the Winchesters/BMoL and Cas/Heaven in terms of our heroes working with people they don’t trust, but that might help them achieve their goals in an efficient manner. Given that Cas is gone for the next 3 episodes leaves us with a ton of questions about what could explain his absence. And the fact that he isn’t telling the Winchesters a thing is breaking my fuckin’ heart.

Who’s a good Quote?

It’s two and two. Doesn't count if you flip ‘em inside out.

Computers. Monsters? Porn? Is there anything they can’t do?

Most sheeple can’t handle the truth. But not me. I’m woke.

Who ya gonna call? Douchebusters.

The FBI, the Man in Black. Well, you know, Beige.

#spn 12x15 #somewhere between heaven and hell #spn recap #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #cas #crowley #lucifer #supernatural season 12

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exosmutxoxo · 8 years ago

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Dorm Disorder (Chapter 2) 🌙

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone for giving the first chapter of Dorm Disorder over 100 notes! I didn’t expect this series of mine to reach such a peak and for that, I’m endlessly grateful to all my lovely followers

Character Appearances: OCs, Kris, Luhan, Chanyeol, Amber, some BTS members

Warnings: Mentions of claustrophobia, social anxiety, PTSD, abusive parents, flashbacks, light violence

Word Count: 8426

NOTES FOR UPDATE: 100

Chapter 1 | CHAPTER 2

By the time the mess has been cleared up, it’s nearly eight and none of us have eaten dinner yet. Chanyeol emerges from upstairs with Sophia in his arms and comes to sit next to me on the couch. We sit in silence until I finally ask, “Does that happen often?”

Chanyeol bites his lip. “Kai…he’s been having a rough time. For years, in fact”.

I’m focused on Chanyeol now and I don’t really like where this is going. “Why?”

“He never really told us the full story but his post-traumatic disorder hit the severe stage late last year. I know how he feels because…well, I have just recovered from a disorder myself”.

I smile at him. “I’m glad you’ve recovered. What disorder was it, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Social anxiety”.

I nod understandingly and Sophia crawls into my lap, grinning up at me. I stroke her hair and turn my attention back to Chanyeol whose normally-cheery expression has turned to a solemn one. “About Kai…” I begin, “is he on medication?”

“Yeah. He’s been taking them, that’s why he isn’t so bad now. We’ve seen worse last year”.

We hear the click in the lock and the door swings open as Kris enters, pulling off his shoes and setting his cello case on the floor. “Hey”, he says.

“Hey”, Chanyeol resumes his cheery self. “Dude, are you up for dimsum tonight?”

Kris laughs. “You guys haven’t eaten dinner yet? Alright then, I’ll get the car ready. Where’s Kai?”

“I won’t be going”, I say hastily.

Sophia lifts her head from my lap and chimes in, “If jiejie isn’t going, I’m not going either”.

Chanyeol and Kris finally leave the dorm, leaving me and Sophia and Kai behind in the empty living room. Kai goes up the stairs, leaving Sophia and I alone, for which I’m glad.

I lift her up to a sitting position. “Okay Sophia, remember our earlier conversation about Lulu? Can we talk about him again?”

She nods eagerly, her pigtails flapping forward. I take a deep breath. “Alright, so you said Kris gege said Lulu is a troublemaker. What does he mean by that?”

Sophia frowns in concentration. “Kris gege said that Lulu is a bad man. He does bad things and he also told me to stay away from him. But I like Lulu a lot”.

Ciara, he isn’t what you think he is.

Nobody is.

Of course Luhan isn’t who I think he is. I’ve known him for oh, I don’t know, a total of forty-eight hours? But that doesn’t mean I know who Kris is either, for that matter. Who the hell does he think he is, trying to paint Luhan’s name in a bad light? I realize that my hands are balled up into fists and I force myself to uncurl them. Don’t let the disorder take over you.

Sophia is looking up at me curiously. “Lulu is nice”, she insists, trying to put emphasis on the last word.

I pull her into my lap. “You like him, don’t you Sophia?”

She nods vigorously and I squeeze her to me. “That’s all that matters”.

Because children always tell the truth, don’t they?

“Bro!” Suga calls from the corner table in the club where the whole gang is seated with him. He waves and Luhan waves back, manoeuvring his way through the throngs of people.

When he finally reaches their table, they scoot over to make space for him and he slumps in the seat, sighing loudly. They look at him questioningly, Jungkook already prepared to deal out the cards for their usual game of blackjack. “What’s up?” Suga asks.

Luhan takes the lit cigarette Namjoon is holding out to him and inhales deeply. “My dad is coming after me for money again. After so many years of treating my mum and I like horseshit, he still has the nerve to come back and demand from me as though I owe him something”.

“Why don’t you just give him a sum and tell him to bugger off?” Suga suggests.

“What bloody sum? I won’t have anything left for myself at the end of it”.

“Bro, what are you talking about? You’re from a wealthy family and you’re earning big bucks because of our band. Just give him fifty thousand and tell him to get lost”.

Luhan remains silent, the cigarette dangling from his lips like the gangster he portrays himself to be. But is he really one? Or is this another something to take his pain away? He exhales absently, his thoughts drifting away once more. “Why should I give him anything? He left when I was eighteen and as for the wealthy family thing, that doesn’t even count. My mum is enjoying her own life with another man and we haven’t talked to each other for the past seven years. Hold up, who the hell am I kidding? We probably haven’t had a proper conversation ever since I was kid because she was so busy quarrelling with my ass of a father”.

The gang listens to his rant quietly, arms folded. “You know”, Namjoon finally speaks up, “you never really told us why you don’t just ignore him”.

There it is. That hard-hitting statement that Luhan has been praying no one would say. However, before he can come out with a shitty excuse, a scream is heard from the exterior of the club and a group of six men come storming up to Luhan’s table threateningly.

“Lu!” The head of the group roars and from behind him, Luhan can already sense that his own gang is as stunned as he is.

The man goes right up in Luhan’s face and yanks at the collar of his leather jacket. “Thought we couldn’t track you down, eh? Well, we’re standing here in front of you in flesh and blood and I think you owe us something”.

“Luhan, what the hell is going on?” Namjoon asks, standing up.

The group of men turn their attention to Namjoon and grin. “Well”, one of them say, “your friend here has gotten involved with us so-”

While the group is distracted, Luhan aims a rock-hard punch on the chin of the guy gripping onto his collar. Instantly, he feels his knuckles split and the guy howls in pain, blood spurting out of his mouth and onto the floor. Luhan is disoriented for a moment, the memories and flashbacks clouding his brain. He sees sixteen-year-old him in the exact same predicament back in high school. It was after school hours and he owed a gang a huge sum of money but he couldn’t afford to pay them back because he refused to take any money from his parents. One of the gang members had lunged at him, triggering a fight. Even in his teenage years, Luhan was angry. Angry at life. He’d thrown a punch at one of the guys and somehow, the fight got even more serious until a teacher overheard them and pulled them apart.

Now back in the present, Luhan blinks from the sudden flashback and narrowly avoids being hit by one of the guys. His own gang hurl beer bottles at his attackers and suddenly, Luhan is lifted up from behind and thrown onto the table. The table explodes under his weight and he curses, wiping away the blood that’s seeping underneath him. He gets to his feet and throws punches at his attackers but they’re too strong for him and his gang; Namjoon is kicked in the stomach, Jungkook receives an elbowing at the back of his head and Luhan himself gets punched right across the mouth.

“Guys, we gotta go!” Jungkook yells from somewhere in the distance and Luhan can see why he said that; the group of men are pulling out knives from their pockets and advancing on them like how a wolf would approach its prey. Luhan jumps up and bolts for the back door of the club, the rest of his gang hot on his heels. They hop on their bikes and speed off down the road. Luhan’s heart pounds furiously and he knows that he’s been busted. His father’s minions have tracked him down after so many years. Bloody, bloody hell.

After tucking Sophia in for her bedtime, I wander downstairs once more, idly wondering what to do now. Kai went to bed early and Chanyeol and Kris are still not back from dinner so I’m left to my own devices.

Toying with the pack of cigarettes Kai passed to me earlier on, I pull on my sneakers and quietly leave the dorm, locking the door behind me. I make my way down to the fairly empty town square, lighting up a menthol cigarette as I do so. The town square is deprived of people as it’s already past eleven and I’m glad for that. The food stalls are shut and the street buskers have all packed up and gone home but I still stop by each stall to study it carefully as though it’s open.

Then I’ll move on, exhaling a cloud of menthol smoke into the cool night air. The little red bracelet on my right wrist catches my eye and I hold my wrist up to stare at it; although it wasn’t given by him personally, it still reminds me of Luhan. With all of the chaos that I had endured in the past few hours, with Kai having a breakdown and destroying all of the glasses in the kitchen, Chanyeol revealing that he had suffered from a disorder a short while ago and Sophia confiding in me about what Kris thinks about Luhan, our little outing seems like days ago.

I linger by the fountain for a while, my thoughts going hazy for a moment. All I can focus on is the cigarette between my fingers and the murky images clouding my mind. The bracelet dangles from my wrist, hovering over the scars embedded into the tender skin. I yank my jacket sleeve over it, not wanting to think about why I even self-harmed in the first place.

Then I really start to think; images of a leather jacket, fair skin and tight jeans fill my head and I inhale deeply, allowing the cigarette smoke to clog up my lungs the way my mind is clogged up with those images. It gives me a temporary high feeling and I wonder if this is how my mum felt when she was a junkie. However, as soon as the cigarette starts to run out, so does my temporary happiness.

Luhan pulls up in front of the dorm, his heart in his throat and the blood roaring in his ears. He’s still in a state of shock from being attacked by his father’s minions and his gang had advised to go straight back home to have a good rest. So here he is. He stares up at the dorm building mournfully, feeling a bit weirded out. It’s been so long since he last returned to the dorm before midnight and it gives him a strange sense of déjà vu; when he was younger, he never really went home before dusk although he had practically everything in that huge ass mansion that he used to live in with his parents back in China. His mum still stays there up to today but she’s probably in Paris, eating macaroons at the top of the Eiffel Tower with her new boyfriend at this very moment.

To Luhan’s surprise, he feels a pang of hurt in the pit of his stomach and his chest starts to tighten. Although it was tremendously horrible when his parents were together and always at each other’s throats with his father slapping his mum around, it feels equally horrible that they have moved on with their own lives so quickly, leaving him behind as usual. Even when the divorce was settled and his dad had packed his bags and moved into his new girlfriend’s house, his mum had never made the effort to open up to Luhan although it was only the two of them left in that bloody huge, empty mansion. His childhood was full of neglect, swear words and abuse instead of bicycles and sandboxes and it had just pushed him further and further into that black hole of depression. Poor, little rich Lulu.

Luhan is snapped out of his thoughts when he hears the pitter-patter of footsteps coming from behind him. He tightens his grip on the handles of his bike, ready to flee the hell away should it be one of his father’s minions coming after him. The shadow approaches him and he tenses instinctively…until he catches a glimpse of a chopstick pushed aggressively through the girl’s bun that’s piled on top of her head. He relaxes against the seat of his bike, smiling at her although he’s suddenly self-conscious of his split lip and the bruises along his jawline.

Ciara smiles back but that smiles start to fade, replaced with a frown as she notices the state of his face. He holds his breath as she comes closer to inspect him, brow furrowed. “What happened?” She asks.

“Assassinating did not go so well tonight, apparently”.

She smirks and lets out a chuckle, the little dimple prominent in her cheek. “Yeah?”

“I guess so”.

“I’ll take your word for it, then”.

Luhan can’t help but grin shyly. “So why are you out so late?”

“Eleven is not late”.

“True. Tired?”

“Nope, I function better at night”.

“Well then, lets go”.

I stare at Luhan for a while, trying to figure out if he’s being serious or not. I’m used to going out late at night by myself but now that someone else is offering to go with me, I’m at a loss for words. And again, it’s like seeing myself in that other person. Warning bells go off in my head when I recall what Sophia told me about Kris saying stuff about Luhan but somehow, I find myself ignoring those bells and stepping closer to him. “Where?”

“Anywhere. The world seems so much more interesting at night, doesn’t it? Late night adventures, late night conversations, late night snacks. Everything sounds so much more beautiful when you add the word ‘night’ to it”. He’s weaving his words in the most beautiful way again and I feel myself smiling, the warning bells long gone. But there’s a catch.

“I can’t leave Sophia in the dorm. Kai’s inside but he’s asleep”. I’m surprised at how concerned I am for a child I barely know but I’m growing to like Sophia a lot so I guess it figures.

An understanding look passes Luhan’s face and he nods. “Alright. We’ll go in and keep an eye on her until Kris gets back”.

I’m about to agree when a car pulls up beside where we’re standing. Chanyeol’s car.

Chanyeol and Kris get out of the car, immersed in their own conversation but they stop when they catch sight of Luhan and I standing there. Chanyeol gives us a cheery wave and hops up the two steps to unlock the door to the dorm and makes his way in, yawning loudly. Kris lingers behind, his wary gaze hovering over the two of us as he slowly walks his way around us to get into the dorm. The door swings shut behind him and I roll my eyes, turning back to Luhan. He holds out a helmet to me, smiling, and I take it and smile back.

For nineteen years, no one has ever made me feel so comfortable in their presence and the fact that I’m an experiencing this at such a late age makes me feel like as though I’ve missed out on the greater things in life.

So here I am, just casually sitting on a rooftop garden while staring out at the night lights of Vancouver with a cute biker boy next to me who’s chatting away about life being better at night. I’m enjoying this feeling way too much and that anxious feeling is coming back to haunt me again; having deep talks with people I barely know is not something I do often because due to my upbringing, I learnt to keep my distance because I don’t want to experience what my mum went through with my un-dad-like father.

But now, as I listen to Luhan’s soft, vanilla-y voice rambling on, something deep in me has been unlocked. He’s talking a lot but he’s not revealing anything about himself, which intrigues me. We’re skimming on the surface by not going into the personal details about each other and I’m interested in what he has to say, whether it’s about his personal life or not. I want to lose myself in him and forget about what my past has to say. I just want to listen to him. And talk to him. And listen to him somemore. Oh God, communication has never felt so good.

Luhan has fallen silent, snapping his gum, the winterberry scent of it filling my nostrils and reminding me of menthol cigarettes. Without thinking, I pull out the pack of cigars Kai gave to me and offer it to Luhan. He raises an eyebrow, smiling as he pulls out a stick and lights it up, thanking me as he does so. I light one up as well and we sit in companionable silence, inhaling and exhaling into the breeze.

“Do you ever wonder what’s the point of life? Why are we put on this earth, only to die at the end of it?” I ask so softly that I doubt he even heard me. But he does. And I’m anticipating his response, eager to hear more beautiful words tumbling out of his rosebud lips.

“Well”, he begins, “life is a mystery. And it’s our job to figure out how to solve those mysteries before the time comes for us to leave this world”.

I consider that carefully. “You always have a way of making everything sound so deep and meaningful”.

“Sorry”.

“Don’t be. I like it”.

He chuckles quietly, blowing a perfect smoke ring into the air. “Have you ever had a boyfriend?”

“Boyfriends are overrated. Why give your heart to people when you can devote your whole soul to something that doesn’t break your heart, like music? But going back to your question, yes, I do have a boyfriend, although it’s not exactly human. My violin has never broken my heart or screwed with my emotions, unlike the people in my life”.

“That sounds so beautiful, to be honest. I like it when you talk passionate to me”.

I feel myself flush scarlet. Is he flirting with me? There was a teasing tone to his voice but not in the way like he’s laughing at me; it’s more like he’s just so sincerely happy that he can’t contain the cheekiness in his tone.

“Don’t mind me asking, but are you a virgin?”

Luhan frowns, revealing the adorable little dimple in between his eyebrows. “Nope. I’m a little too old to be a virgin, don’t you think?”

I say nothing, too inexperienced in that area to make a comment. To me, sex has always been as overrated as having boyfriends; so it makes you feel good, as people claim. But then what? It’s just a temporary high, just like cigarettes and alcohol, so why do people give up their morals and values to allow another person to use their body? My whole life has always been a huge “and then what?”.

When I was younger and the divorce was through, I was just thinking, and then what? What’s gonna happen to my father, what’s gonna happen to me? When I used to cut myself on my wrist, I was wondering, and then what? What was I gonna do about my scars? How was it going to help me to take away the pain completely?

So now, as I gaze up at Luhan’s angelic face which is reflected by the night lights in the distance as he stares out at the city life, I start to wonder what’s going to happen next.

I’ve just met this incredible cutie who happens to ride a bike and wear all leather and have a smile that resembles honey and a talent of weaving his words into the most beautiful sentences ever constructed and my brain feels like it’s clouded with cotton candy. I’m incredibly lost and confused and intrigued all at once and it’s all because of one smile. One deep conversation. One person. I’m digging my own grave by having deep, soulful conversations with a person I barely I know and the problem is, I don’t mind falling into that grave. I don’t mind at all. In fact, I want to fall in it.

And all I’m thinking is, and then what?

Mondays. I hate that word almost as much as I hate school. For the whole weekend, I’ve done nothing except lie in bed after that deep, soulful night with Luhan on Friday and occasionally practice my violin. But other than that, I’ve been wasting my time by wandering around the dorm in a daze, thinking about nothing in particular.

Chanyeol had noticed how spaced out I was and we spent some time together, talking about stuff on the surface and I had requested for him to play a tune on his guitar. He’d agreed and the two of us sat on the window seat of his room for two whole hours, discussing about music as he strummed various tunes. He’s a gifted guitarist, that boy. After the whole hoo-hah on Friday evening with Kai freaking out and breaking all the glasses and Chanyeol suddenly confiding in me about his own social anxiety as well as Kai’s post-trauma disorder, I suddenly saw the dorm painted in a different light; it’s like the dark side of this “home” has suddenly been revealed and it makes me feel comforted for a strange reason. It’s like I blend in somewhere, for once. An eerie bond has formed between Kai, Chanyeol and I over the weekend, whether we like it or not, and I’m okay with that.

But it’s Monday and my alarm is screeching in my ear and my eyes are still sewn shut with sleep. School starts in an hour and the mere thought of it already exhausts me.

Forcing myself to sit up, I slap the alarm off, crawl out of bed and sleepwalk to the bathroom. Even in my half-dead state, my mind is still racing with the thought of going down to the kitchen and seeing Luhan once more; it’s a similar feeling to how I felt in the past whenever I came home from school, anxious to find out if my parents were fighting or whether my father had been drinking. But right now, it’s not as scary. I’m getting that stupid cliché “butterflies-in-my-tummy” feeling and I just feel dumb. When I’m done with my shower and finally making my way down the stairs and in the kitchen, a tidal wave of disappointment crashes over me when there’s no sight of a leather jacket, tight jeans or a smile like honey to welcome me into the kitchen or wish me good morning.

Feeling furious at myself, I turn on my heel and stomp out of kitchen, pull on my shoes and my violin case over my shoulder, leave the dorm and slam the door behind me.

Luhan knows he’s in deep shit the moment he steps into the deserted club and sees his gang waiting for him at their usual corner table, their arms folded tightly across their chests. His leather jacket suddenly feels like the weight of the world on his shoulders and he tugs at it to restrain it from sticking to him like a second layer of skin. The last time he saw his gang was on Friday night when they were on their bikes and racing away from his father’s thugs, leading to them splitting up and going back to their homes to avoid further trouble.

But Luhan lives for trouble and that’s exactly why he came down to the empty club in the daytime because he knows they’ll all be waiting for an explanation for him. And give it to them, he will, because Luhan is no coward. Or is he?

“Guys”, Luhan says, giving them a nervous smile. “Hey”.

“Lu”, Namjoon responds sharply. “Explain. Now”.

Luhan swings his gaze around, studying his surroundings to avoid all eye contact with any of them. The stage that they always perform on seems to be mocking his lack of ability of telling the truth to his own friends and he squirms, gazing at Suga’s drums and his electric guitar leaning against the nearby speaker.

“Well…” He begins calmly, sliding his hands into his pockets in case any of them saw how his fingers were trembling. “It was nothing, really. Those guys…they were just part of some stupid punk, frat-boy gang back in high school. I used to get into a lot of trouble with them back then so I guess they’re back for more. Why they pounced on you guys, I have no idea. I’m really sorry”.

Luhan, you lying, manipulative bastard, he thinks to himself grimly. He’s going to need to smoke his way through a whole pack to lift this weight off his shoulders.

His gang says nothing, their mouths set into emotionless, grave lines. Luhan shifts from one foot to the other uncomfortably, until Suga speaks up. “We were scared shitless, man. What the hell did you do to make them so hyped up about killing you?”

Luhan smiles queasily, unable to absorb the fact that they actually bought his shitty bullcrap. He’s feeling horrible about lying to his friends, of course, but breaking the whole story to them will make things messy and the last thing he wants is for them to get hurt again. Plus, he’s not ready to tell them the entire sob story. He probably never will be. “Nothing much. I was young and rebellious so that pretty much sums up my high school life”.

They laugh together good-naturedly. “Bro, you still are”, Jungkook smirks.

Luhan smiles wistfully. “Yeah. Yeah, I still am”.

I have no damn idea why I’m here again but somehow, I ended up making a beeline for the music room on the second floor where Kris is playing on his cello. I want answers directly from the source and when I want something, I always get it. For the entire weekend, after having a little heart-to-heart with Sophia on Friday evening, I’d been thinking and overthinking about what she said about Kris mentioning to her that Luhan is a troublemaker.

Ha. Kris doesn’t even know me that well so he doesn’t know the true definition of troublemaker.

The deep, mellow sound of his cello fills my ears as I near the music room and I pause for a while, allowing the pure music to cleanse my soul. Then I twist the knob and push the door open quietly, peeking in to make sure the correct person is inside. Sure enough, it is.

Kris catches my eye and smiles up at me, continuing to draw his bow across the strings as smoothly as Kai’s dancing or Luhan’s laughter. I watch him as the music pours out of his soul, represented by that particular instrument that’s resting in between his legs. Honestly, I’d not expected to be living in a dorm with three other musicians and even the thought of it pleases me.

Kris finally draws out the last note passionately and sets his bow down delicately, turning to look at me. “Ciara”.

“Kris”. I step through the doorway, folding my arms thoughtfully. “About the last time we spoke…”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to bring up the topic of Luhan so rashly, especially since the two of you are so close”.

I laugh, but not in a you-are-so-fucking-hilarious way; it’s more of like an are-you-fucking-kidding-me way. “We’re not. You don’t even know me that well and when you do, you would know that I’m not close to anyone. Anyone. Now that we’ve gotten that clear, I’m here to ask you something”.

My harsh, domineering tone seems to have traumatized Kris, judging by the pale and stunned expression on his face. He clears his throat awkwardly. “Okay”.

“What did you really tell Sophia about Luhan?”

The hard-hitting edge of my question causes Kris to stop in his packing of his cello. He zips up the case and slowly gets to his feet, his height towering over me. “What did she say?”

“Something along the lines of a troublemaker”.

“Oh. Look, can we leave this place and then talk about it? I can’t think straight at the moment”.

“Alright”.

We wander out of the school gates, Kris dragging his cello case behind him while I deal with my own violin. The two of us cross the bridge that overlooks the river that snakes its way downtown and I wait expectantly for him to carry on from where we left off.

He takes a deep breath and begins. “Yes, I did say that. I just didn’t like the thought of her getting too close to him”.

“Why? What has Luhan done to make you think like that?”

“He didn’t do anything to me directly. It’s just…I don’t really approve of him”.

“Sophia likes him. She’s a child and when children like someone, it’s a good sign. Plus, she’s your little sister. You’re overreacting, Kris”.

“That’s because she doesn’t know that he’s always out late at night and doing God-knows-what. And yes, she’s a child. That’s the whole point, Ciara. She’s so young, what does she know? How would she know that her dear little Lulu is probably getting into trouble every night?”

I remain silent but my mind is screaming with a whole load of incoherent thoughts. Deep down, I know that Sophia isn’t as naïve as Kris makes her out to be. I saw that look in her hazel brown eyes that night when Kai was having a breakdown and I know that she fully understood what was going on. She’s not stupid, she’s sensitive to how people act. I was in her shoes a long time ago.

“So why did you tell me to be careful of him?” I ask softly, stopping in the middle of the bridge and looking up at Kris directly in the eye.

He frowns. “Because you should be. Ciara, he wears all black and has multiple piercings and he rides a bike and smokes and stays out all night. Doesn’t all of that sound dodgy to you?”

That familiar sense of rage rises in me and it brings me back to the times when I would be so angry at everything in my life that I would punch or break something.

“So what if he wears all black? Why can’t he? I dress in a non-girly fashion, why don’t you say anything about that? You and I both have multiple piercings on our ears. You even have a small tattoo on your arm but I don’t judge you for that. Kai and I both smoke as well. And so what if Luhan rides a bike and stays out all night? Maybe he prefers bikes to cars and that doesn’t really concern you in the first place. As for the staying out all night, why do you care? It doesn’t bother you in any way so why are you judging him for that? He’s twenty-six, he can do whatever the hell he wants. You’re clearly contradicting yourself here, bro”. I pause for breath, still bristling with irritation. If only Kris knew how screwed up my family is; he would be judging me until pigs fly.

Kris grits his teeth in annoyance. “I think we both know who has been with Luhan for a longer period of time. You don’t know him at all, Ciara. I’m telling you this for your own good”.

“How do you know what’s good for me or not?” I shoot back. “We’re not more than three years apart so don’t even dare to say you have more experience. You don’t even know me at all, you don’t know what I’d went through for the past many years so don’t you fucking dare to tell me what’s good for me. Anyway, if you know Luhan so well, tell me what he does when he’s out all night. Go on”.

Kris is carefully avoiding eye contact with me now. “I rather not tell you that”.

“Bullshit!” I snap. A few passer-bys turn and stare at us curiously, eyebrows raised but they hurry away when I glare at them. “That’s just utter bullshit. You don’t even know him that well”.

“If I don’t know him that well, why the hell would I have been in the waiting room of the therapist’s office back in Singapore where I saw you? I was waiting for Luhan, that’s why. He was in the midst of a therapy session, Ciara”.

My heart misses a beat. Luhan in therapy. Gosh, we’re more alike than I thought. Instead of being horrified or whatever, I’m more intrigued than I have ever been. Why was he in therapy? What dark secrets does he have? How can someone so bold and confident of himself possibly be so fucked up in the head that it landed him in therapy? I have so many questions but this is not something I’m keen of discussing with Kris, who is still frowning down at me. I look up at him.

“Okay, then”, I say quietly, feeling a major bipolar moment coming on that is making me feel strangely calm. “Thanks for the information”.

Luhan stubs his cigarette out in the ashtray by his elbow and stands, pushing his chair back. It’s four in the afternoon and the entire club is deserted at this kind of time, besides for him and the bartender polishing glasses behind the bar. His gang had told him farewell and vamoosed a short while ago because they were going to hang out with their girlfriends downtown. They had pleaded with Luhan to go along but Luhan had declined.

One reason why he wasn’t so keen on tagging along with them was because he was the odd one out, the only one without a girlfriend. He’d never really thought about having a serious relationship due to his commitment issues but the real reason is because he doesn’t open up easily and he’s still waiting for the right one to come along. Sure, he’s had a lot of sex in the past few years but to him, that wasn’t opening up.

His definition of opening up is having someone to talk to about his past, his air-headed mother, his abusive father, his mental disorder and just anything under the sun. He wants to share his thoughts with the right one and to get to know the other party well and talk about scars, dreams, ambitions, feelings and aspirations. Luhan didn’t and still doesn’t understand the definition of love due to his family background but he wants to find out. The problem is that he doesn’t know how, which is why he turns to sex, cigarettes, alcohol and music to numb the sliver of hurt in his heart.

Running a hand through his tousled black hair, he steps up onto the stage, plugs his guitar into the speaker and cranks it to warm up. Then, mustering up a deep breath, he turns the volume of the speaker up and cranks his guitar furiously, allowing the angry, electric tune to wash over him and cleanse his soul. He goes on, cranking a tune that fills the entire club and bounces off the walls like the demons in his head.

His heart is in his mouth, sweat forming on his forehead and at the back of his neck as he lives in his own rock-filled paradise, getting high off the satisfaction of spending time with his beloved instrument. Music gives him the sort of high feeling that sex or cigarettes don’t and for that, he’s glad. For just a few minutes, it’s just him and his guitar in their own world. No one else. Just him and the music washing over his entire body.

As Luhan pushes open the door of the club and steps out of his musical sanctuary into the outside world, the sunlight blinds him temporarily and he squints, stumbling over to his bike.

Hopping on, he rides his way downtown to his therapist’s office, his hair fluttering in the breeze. It’s a sunny afternoon in Vancouver and for a while, Luhan loosens his grip on the handles of his bike and leans back a bit, closing his eyes and enjoying the wind whipping against his sweat-drenched face from his earlier rock moment back in the club.

An image of a chopstick stuck aggressively through thick, black hair and defensive dark eyes pops into his mind and his eyes fly open as he narrowly swerves his bike to avoid collision with a car. Sucking back a sharp intake of breath, he accelerates and pulls up outside the building of Amber’s office, shaking his head to clear the thoughts. He swings off his bike, adjusting his jacket and wandering into the reception area, pushing his sunglasses up. Kitted out in his bad-boy outfit, Luhan looks like a Greek God compared to the dull-looking secretaries milling about the building, sipping from Styrofoam cups of cold coffee.

He makes his way further into the waiting area, his black boots thudding against the wooden floorboards threateningly. As he breezes past the reception desk, he can sense the receptionist gawping at him, her jaw slacked and neatly-plucked eyebrows raised with interest. Luhan smiles to himself, carefully looking straight ahead and avoiding eye contact at all costs. He was never really used to flirting with girls and he didn’t plan to start. Girls flocked to him like moths to a lamp and he preferred to keep it that way rather than going around and flirting like a pretty boy.

He hurries past the practically drooling receptionist and knocks on the door of Amber’s office. Amber is his therapist and she is cool, unlike the therapists he’d endured in the past. She was probably a hippie in her past life and she has tomboyish hair and kind, blue eyes, which makes her look approachable and cool.

“Come in!” She calls out sunnily and Luhan pushes the door open and steps into her airy office, already at ease. “Luhan!” She smiles. “It’s been a while. Sit down, dear. Chinese tea with no sugar, right?”

Luhan’s smile widens. “Yes, please. Thank you so much”.

Amber waves her hand in the air dismissively, pouring Chinese tea into a little cup for him. “I would offer you vodka but I finished it all last night”. She laughs uproariously and Luhan joins in, taking a sip of his tea and thanking her once more.

Once Amber has calmed down from her little joke, she slips on her trendy specs and gazes at him expectantly. “How have you been, Lulu?” She asks softly, laying a comforting hand on his knee.

He sets the cup down on the table and sighs. “Well, we have a new dorm mate”.

Amber grins. “That’s great. Is he nice?”

“It’s a girl, actually”.

“Really?” She furrows her brow, deep in thought. “What a coincidence. Just a week ago a new girl came into my office and she was talking to me about being in a new dorm. She got posted here by her past therapist. Really pretty girl. So nice as well”.

Luhan nods, clasping his hands in his lap. “Yeah, our new dorm mate is nice too. Anyway, Amber, I have something really important to tell you”. He takes a deep breath and leans forward, glancing at the door as though somebody is going to bash in any moment and kill him. “I got into a fight on Friday night”.

Amber’s mouth forms an O. “What happened?”

“Remember when I told you that my dad was coming after me for money? Well, for the past few years, I’ve been ignoring his demands. Why should I give him anything after how he treated my mum and I? So one night, I was mad drunk and still furious at him so I got involved with some guys to go after him and tell him to leave me alone. I thought that would solve all of my problems and he would stop bugging me but he twisted everything around. The joke’s on me now, Amber, and I…I don’t…” Luhan trails off, trying to regain his breathing. His hands have curled up into fists and he just wants to smash something.

Amber notices this and pats his knee comfortingly. “Go on”, she says quietly.

“I didn’t mean any harm, I just told those guys to tell him to stop bothering me. I paid them, of course, but my dad has so much more money so naturally he has more power than me. So he offered them a larger sum than what I paid them and told them to come after me and…yeah. I’ve been on the run for the past few years but they tracked me down and now I’m stuck”.

“How did they find you?”

“I’m the talk of the town, Amber. The band has been a huge hit so my name appears everywhere all over the state of Canada and I’m not surprised if even my mum knows about it. She just doesn’t care, of course”.

Amber is frowning now. “Luhan, this can’t go on. You’ll be seriously hurt if you don’t tell someone. You need to ring up your mum and tell her what’s been going on behind her back. Although your mum and dad are divorced and living in different countries now, they’re still your family and she deserves to know what the two of you have been doing for the past few years”.

“She doesn’t give two shits about me. That’s why I left home in the first place to come here”.

“Of course she does. She just doesn’t know how to show it or maybe she’s waiting for you to make the first move to open up”.

“You’ve been my therapist for the past seven years. You’re the one who knows me best and you know that I don’t open up easily”. Luhan gets to his feet and paces around the office, running his hand through his hair anxiously.

Amber is watching him silently, chewing on the tip of her pen. “You remind me of her so much”, she says softly. “She’s always pacing around my office, full of energy and anxious thoughts”.

Luhan pauses for a moment, sort of relieved to be talking about someone else although he has no idea who they’re talking about. “The new girl you met last week?”

“Yeah. She’s exactly like you, carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her family is pretty bad as well, although she rarely talks about them. She goes out into the outside world with a vengeance, as though she refuses to let anyone hurt her, just like you. No wonder they always say the saddest people smile the brightest and the most broken people are always intent on making others whole. People like you and her are so beautiful to me, you know? Luhan, you’re a bright and handsome young man and the last thing I would want is for you to get hurt. Talk to your mum, okay? Please? You don’t have to do it immediately, do it when you feel ready. If you don’t want to, it’s alright. I just want your mum to know that she has a beautiful and confident son who might need some help. Grab this opportunity because sometimes in life, you don’t get second chances”.

Luhan can’t help but smile at Amber’s touching words. “Thank you, Amber. That means a lot to me. I would love to call her when I’m ready but the real problem is that I never will be. I’m not as confident as you think I am. I am not who I portray myself to be. But then again, nobody is”.

I made the dismaying mistake of deciding to walk all the way back to the dorm, even after Kris offered to make a call to Chanyeol for him to pick us up. I had ignored him and walked on and eventually Kris had flagged down a cab to head to his next destination.

I have nothing against Kris, really. I just need some alone time to digest what he has just blurted out to me. Wandering down the pavement and plucking at the petals off a flower I just picked up, my thoughts start to drift again.

Luhan in therapy. That boy, who dresses like a gangster and rides a bike and has a smile like honey, goes for therapy sessions. It makes zero sense to me and I love it. I love how he’s so unpredictable and usually I hate it when I have no idea what’s going on. But when it comes to him, I love the many surprises and twists and turns and unexpected things. He makes unpredictable seem like the most beautiful word.

By the time I finally arrive back at the dorm, the petals of the flower are all gone and I’m drenched in my own perspiration. I let myself in, pull off my shoes and set my violin case on the floor, exhaling slowly.

To my utter surprise, Luhan is home and helping himself to yoghurt in the kitchen. Automatically, I smile at him and he smiles back, revealing the guilty smudges of strawberry yoghurt on his pearly-white teeth. “Hey”, he murmurs.

“Hey”, I say. “You’re back early”.

“Really? This is early to you?”

“It’s five in the afternoon. You always come back at five in the morning”.

That adorable smirk again. “Two weeks”, he says softly, “and you already know me so well. I’m impressed, Ciara”.

“Do I?” I tilt my head to the side carefully, studying the fullness of his lips and his fair skin. He’s prettier than I am.

He shrugs. “Maybe. But then again, I am not who I portray myself to be so…”

“Nobody is”. A sense of déjà vu washes over me as I recall saying the exact same thing to Kris. Strange, I think, looking at Luhan is like seeing a reflection of my younger self.

Luhan chuckles. “Exactly. Anyway, I’m back early because I want to ask you something”.

“Go ahead”.

Suddenly, he looks nervous and shy, running a hand through his silky black hair. My heart backflips into my throat as I watch those creamy fingers travel through each lock of his delicate hair.

God, what is wrong with me?

“Well”, he begins hesitantly, “I’ve got a performance this Friday and I was just wondering if you would like to come and see me”.

“Luhan, why are you so nervous? I would love to”. Deep down, I’m elated that he decided to ask me to go along to see him; although he’d played for me when we had our little outing two weeks ago, seeing him performing live is a completely different thing altogether. Plus, I’m all psyched up to hear him sing as well.

The anxious look on his face clears and is replaced with a relieved one. “That’s great. The performance starts at seven and it’s at The Red X downtown. So…I’ll see you?”

“Of course. It’s a promise”.

The entire week flies past in such a flash that I don’t realize it’s already Friday. It’s only when I’m on the way home from Amber’s office that it dawns on me that Luhan’s performance is tonight. Internally, I smack myself. Why am I so eager to go to his performance when I barely know him?

A flutter of confusion washes over me; I’m not someone who trusts people easily but I feel compelled to reach out to Luhan although Kris’ words of warning are still ringing in my ears. Plus, the fact that Sophia likes Luhan adds to my feelings of inner conflict. Who to trust? Can I even trust any of them?

Almost instantaneously, I can feel the flashbacks threatening to engulf my mind once again. I pause by the sidewalk and clamp my palms over my ears in an attempt to block the voices out, squeezing my eyes shut.

Don’t you dare think about your father. Don’t you fucking dare, Ciara.

A shudder passes through me and a passer-by glances over at me with concern. “You alright, dear?” She questions.

“I’m fine”, I say, hastily hurrying away to avoid any more questions. I practically run back to the dorm, suddenly feeling that familiar sense of claustrophobia due to the number of people around.

Letting myself into the dorm, I’m greeted by Sophia’s welcoming squeal. She flings herself into my arms and I squeeze her back, relieved to have a sense of warmth for once. For so long, I was used to being welcomed home by swear words and screaming so it’s nice to have a change.

Sophia fiddles with my earlobe, admiring my piercings. “Jiejie, you’re so pretty”.

I laugh. “Sophia, by any chance do you need spectacles?”

She pouts at me, her lower lip sticking out stubbornly. “I’m not joking. I want to be like you, jiejie. You’re my inspiration”.

I gulp, hating the thought of Sophia growing up to be like me. She won’t want to be anything like me; troubled, screwed-up, bipolar, claustrophobic, a smoker, a drinker, someone who hears voices in her head. Someone who can’t even love herself, let alone anyone else.

“Don’t say that”, I snap. “You won’t want to be like me, Sophia”.

“Yes, I do. You’re amazing”. She smiles at me now and I can’t help but smile back. “Where are you going, jiejie?” She asks, seeing how I’m not budging from the front door.

“I’m going to see Lulu in a while”, I say softly, gently tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

“Lulu is amazing too”.

“You’re amazing to Lulu as well”.

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