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queenshelby · 4 years ago

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THE ARRANGEMENT – SEALING THE DEAL

Featuring: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Words: 3522

Warning: Sugar Daddy, Submission, Smut, BDSM

Notes: I will use this headline to write more smutty encounters between Tommy and the Reader. But they will get a bit heavier in the BDSM department. So if this is not your thing, don’t keep reading.

Requested: Yes

Tag List:

@lilymurphy03 @deefigs @theflamecrystal @chrisevanshoeee @desperate-and-broken @weepingstudentfishhorse @captivatedbycillianmurphy @fookingshelby @livinginfantaxy @rosey1981 @atomicsoulcollecto @peakyboyslover @nerdy4itall @elenavampire21 @hanster1998 @mariapaiva13 @fairypitou @harry-is-my-sunflower

………

The Proposal

Today marks the day you’ve been working for at the Garrison exactly one year. A job you found by sheer accident when you moved to Birmingham.

You had no money when you fled Northern Ireland and were in need of employment. Your parents were involved with the IRA and with a well-known surname like yours, it was difficult for you to find employment.

You always tried hard to disassociate yourself from your parents with whom you did not agree on political matters. They were terrorists and you stood elsewhere on the Irish question.

When you arrived in Birmingham, you were offered a job at the local whorehouse. You declined. The last thing you wanted was to lose your virginity to some filthy married patron who paid you as little as 2 shillings for your services.

When you saw a job advertised in the paper at the local pub, you applied. This is when you met Grace Shelby who hired you.

Grace was there by sheer accident herself, arranging the new fit-out for the pub. She was Thomas Shelby’s wife and no longer worked herself.

She was a kind hearted woman and had been in your shoes many years ago. No one other than Grace believed that you would last in a job like this. But here you were, still working behind the bar and serving alcohol to drunk men.

To your disappointment, Grace had passed away six months ago and your husband Tommy has never been the same since.

For the first four months following her death, he got himself and his family into lot of trouble. The majority of his family members were serving prison time for a robbery. But not Tommy. He was working on their release while continuing to build his family’s wealth.

Ever since their arrest, he attended the Garrison frequently, most often late at night after he had visited one of the up market brothels owned by him.

Of course, he didn’t tell you that, but it was obvious to you. It was his way of coping with life and to stay focused.

You talked a lot. He would often be the last patron at the Garrison and ask you to drink with him. You didn’t drink much, but would allow yourself a glass of whiskey on occasion.

Tonight, was one of these nights where Tommy and you were alone, just talking and drinking.

He walked into the Garrison at 11 o’clock, greeted you and ordered a whiskey.

‘You are early tonight Mr Shelby’ you said.

‘Well, Y/N, things have not been going my way today’ he responded.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ you asked.

‘I rather not’ he responded.

‘Alright, no talking then’ you said with a smile.

‘Do you have a man in your life Y/N?’ he then asked all of a sudden. His question took you by surprise.

‘I do not. Never had. Why are you asking?’ you wondered.

‘No reason. Just curious why a woman like you works in a place like this’ he said bluntly.

‘It pays well, I get good tips. I had a job offer from one of the mistresses at one of your brothels. I declined. I rather serve 50 drunk men a night than fuck ten of them’ you laughed.

‘This seems like a reasonable choice’ Tommy chuckled.

‘So, you ever get bored of them? Knowing that sex is no more than a transaction to them and you are no more than a client must be frustrating’ you asked.

‘How much whiskey did you have to drink tonight Y/N, eh?’ Tommy asked sheepishly, being surprised by the directness of your question.

‘More than a little. It’s my birthday’ you laughed.

‘That’s what I thought. Happy Birthday Y/N’ Tommy said.

‘Thank you, Mr Shelby, but you didn’t answer my question’ you smirked.

‘The good thing about prostitutes is that they do exactly what you pay them to do. They fuck. They don’t expect feelings from you, just money. You are right, it is a simple transaction’ Tommy said.

‘Sounds boring and repetitive. Wouldn’t you rather have someone consistent? The same skilled woman every time, someone who gets to learn exactly how to please you, always around right at your disposal and with no strings attached?’ you asked.

‘I’ve read that, in France, rich businessmen and politicians keep themselves mistresses rather than going to brothels. It’s discrete and it’s safe. The men provide their mistresses with accommodation and visit them for sex whenever they please’ you added.

‘A mistress, eh?’ Where do you think I would find such a woman Y/N? Tommy joked.

‘Well Mr Shelby, I know of someone who would be very interested to come to some sort of arrangement’ you smirked.

‘You realise that I am about twice your age?’ Tommy asked sheepishly, knowing exactly that you were talking about yourself becoming his mistress.

‘I do and this makes it even more interesting’ you suggested.

‘You are quite young Y/N. How many men have you been with?’ Tommy asked

‘None’ you said, causing Tommy to choke on his whiskey.

‘No’ he said firmly. ‘I don’t do virgins Y/N. It’s not my thing’ Tommy added.

‘Think about it, I am like a clean canvas. You can teach me exactly how you want to be pleased’ you smirked.

‘You are clearly drunk Y/N. I shall drive you home’ Tommy said.

And so he did. After you closed up the pub, he drove you to your apartment which was located in one of the worst areas of Birmingham.

As he drove you home, you brought up your proposal again and Tommy appeared more open to consider it at this point. But not tonight, not with you having been influenced by alcohol.

You were an attractive woman, clean and easy to talk to. You worked in the Garrison for a year and he knew you would be discrete and he could trust you.

‘Come to my office tomorrow at noon if you decide that this is what you want and then we talk, eh’ Tommy said as he pulled up in front of your apartment.

You nodded before saying goodnight to him.

The Arrangement

The next day, you attended Tommy’s office as instructed.

‘Y/N, I am surprised to see you’ Tommy smirked as you walked inside his office.

‘You thought I wasn’t serious, didn’t you?’ you smirked as you sat down in front of his desk.

‘Let’s just say, you surprised me’ he said with a grin.

Tommy then went on to ask you what you expect from your arrangement if he was going ahead and agree with it.

You didn’t have many demands other than being looked after financially.

Tommy then advised you that you might change your mind if you know what his desires were.

Thomas Shelby was no ordinary man and he didn’t enjoy ordinary sex, which is one of the reasons he was getting bored with the prostitutes.

He was looking for what some might call a submissive. He enjoyed authority, even in the bedroom.

He wanted to be in charge, always.

With that in mind, you agreed. You were ready to be his and sealed the deal with a passionate kiss.

‘Alright, it’s a deal Y/N. But, to ensure that you understand, you belong to me. You are my property and you are not to fuck anyone else, understood?’ Tommy said as he pulled his lips away from yours, his hand holding onto your hair tightly.

‘Yes Mr Shelby’ you said, biting your lip.

‘You will be available when I need you to be available and you will submit. Is that understood?’ Tommy then said.

‘Yes Mr Shelby’ you answered before his lips met yours again in a hasty kiss.

‘Good. Now, since you are a virgin, the first time, I will take it easy on you’ Tommy said as he kissed your neck, taking in the sweet scent of your perfume.

‘Here are the keys to your apartment. 15 Watery Lane. I will visit you tonight at 8 o’clock and this is what I expect you to wear. Nothing else’ Tommy said as he handed you a small bag.

‘Before I come over, I want you to think of a safe word which you can use at any time’ he added, causing you to nod. He had explained the premise of a safe word to you earlier when you discussed what he would expect from you.

Sealing the Deal

Later that evening, after you settled into your new apartment, you were waiting for Tommy in nothing but the black lace panties he gave you.

He was right on time, letting himself into your apartment at 8 o’clock.

‘Do you like what you see Mr Shelby?’ you asked as he walked through the door.

‘I do, very much so’ Tommy said before he kissed you and ran his hands over your breasts and down to your stomach, making you moan.

He continued the gentle gestures for approximately five minutes, kissing you gently and exploring every inch of your body.

‘What have you decided on for a safe word Y/N?’ Tommy asked after he broke the last kiss.

‘Red’ you said.

‘Red. Very well.’ Tommy said before taking off his jacket, waistcoat and gun holster and placing them all onto one of the armchairs.

He then walked back over to you and gave you one more quick kiss.

‘Now be a good girl and get on your knees. And Y/N... eye contact. I want you looking at me’ Tommy said as he pulled your hair downward to bring you to kneel in front of him.

He kept his hand wrapped in your hair behind your head but clutched onto your skull tightly. You were about to be Tommy’s, in complete submission.

With his other hand he unzipped his pants and slowly pulled out his impressive length. You gasped. This is the first time you saw a man’s most intimate parts right in front of you.

‘Open your mouth’ Tommy instructed as you looked up into his blue eyes.

You obliged and Tommy pulled your head forward and forced your lips around the head of his erect cock.

Your hands shot up to his thighs to try to hold him back but he charged forward, making you take the first few inches of his length into your mouth.

You closed your eyes, trying instantly to focus and control your gag reflexes. There you thought that he was going to take it easy on you. If this was him taking it easy, what would he otherwise be like you wondered.

‘Look at me’ he instructed as he began to notice your eyes fall close.

Your lips were completely stretched around the girth of his shaft as he pushed his cock deeper into your mouth.

Your ravishing eyes opened and looked up at him, his face full of want and desire for you.

As you looked at him you started growing more comfortable as the minutes passed.

You relaxed your grip on his legs and began opening your throat a little for his intrusion.

You kept eye contact whenever you weren’t suppressing a gag reflex. Your mouth soon began to move with his rhythm while your tongue was stimulating him.

After about five minutes Tommy released his hold on your hair and reached down to your breasts, playing with your already hard nipples. You moaned around his cook as he stimulated your breasts and the wetness began to grow in between your legs.

You bopped your head up and down his length, trying to take as much of it into your mouth as you could.

Your hands soon joined your mouth, and stimulated the end of his shaft which didn’t make into your mouth.

‘Is this what you wanted, Mr Shelby?’ you asked.

Tommy nodded politely in between moans, running his fingers through your hair again.

He pushed you down on his cock a few more times, making you take him deeper than before, while he looked down, admiring the view.

‘Good girl, that’s it, take it all in’ he groaned as he guided your head.

You struggled, finding it difficult to breath, but you obliged.

The sight of you taking him like this drove him crazy and, after several more strokes, he pulled your head back up and, without warning, re-entered your mouth with vigor and dominance.

You squirmed below him and your hands moved back to his upper thighs, attempting to press him back.

But Tommy had other ideas and swatted your hands away from his legs.

‘Cross your wrists behind your back Y/N’ Tommy ordered.

‘Tommy’ you pleaded.

‘I make the rules Y/N. You don't get to resist. If you want me to stop, use your safe word’ he said.

With reluctance, you placed your wrists behind your back. Some twisted part within yourself enjoyed this, him taking you like this. In your mind, you were nowhere near at your limits.

Just like this, Tommy took hold of your hair again and thrusted forward into your open mouth, deeper and deeper until he bottomed out in your throat.

You could no longer retain eye contact and he didn’t seem to care as he continued to thrust into your mouth a few more times until he decided to relent.

He soon released the grip on your hair and made you look up at him.

‘Come up, you’ve done well’ he said as he pulled you up towards him and pulled you in for a kiss.

His hands moved in between your legs.

‘So fucking wet eh’ he said as he ran his hand over your soaked panties.

‘Take them off’ he instructed and you didn’t resist and pulled them off in a haste.

‘Now Love, I think it’s time for us to sort out this little issue for yours, eh?’ Tommy said with a smirk.

‘Yes Mr Shelby’ you said nervously, knowing that he was about to take your virginity.

While you always thought about this moment to be romantic, you were at the point where you just wanted it to be over with. You were soaking for him and you wanted him to fuck you just the way he wanted. You wanted to be taken by him, right then and there, regardless of the pain.

‘Shall we go to the bedroom?’ you asked.

‘No Love, right here will do just fine’ Tommy said as he turned your ass on to the edge of the kitchen room table, and gently pushed your back down on to it.

His eyes gazed over your perfect body, taking in the view of your breasts and your soaking wet mound.

‘Open your legs’ he instructed just as he lowered himself in between them.

You weren’t sure what he was doing and watched him nervously as, all of a sudden, he dipped his tongue into your wet slit.

You squealed in surprise, but it was already too late to plead for him not to, his tongue was already murdering your senses.

He sucked and licked over your clit just as you could feel two fingers enter you.

You expected pain, but it was nothing but please when he began to slowly thrust them in and of you.

‘Oh god yes’ you moaned as Tommy worked his magic on you.

You weren’t sure why he was doing this. Wasn’t it all about his pleasure and his pleasure alone? But, when you looked at him, he seemed to be enjoying this. You squirmed helplessly beneath him.

As he circled his tongue over your clit over and over again and carefully pushed two of his fingers in and out of you, you could feel an unfamiliar sensation build up in your stomach.

Soon you we trembling to your own unbidden orgasm. You were already aroused beyond your own redemption.

The intensity or your climax was so all encompassing, that your muscles from your stomach to your knees, spasmed and contracted. Your legs slammed together trapping Tommy’s head in a wrestlers type grip, and his eyes bulged until you relaxed a little.

As your orgasm washed over you, you could feel Tommy grin against your mound.

‘I think you are ready to take my cock now Love’ he said after you came down from your high and he positioned himself in between your spread legs.

Within seconds, Tommy hooked his hands under your calves and lifted them to rest on his shoulders. Now he was ready, you were flat out on your new kitchen room table, and in no position to refuse him.

He held your knees apart. and maneuvered his cock to your bright wet slit. He rubbed it up and down a couple of times before commencing his intrusion.

‘Don’t worry Love, I will be gentle since it’s your first time’ Tommy said as he pressed forward slightly and pushed his cock into your small, warm, and unbelievably tight pussy.

Despite his best efforts, you moaned and screamed at the same time at the intrusion but there was nothing you could do, not now.

‘You can take it Love. I know you can. If you want me stop, use your safe word’ Tommy said as he pushed into you further.

You moaned loudly has his length invaded you and pushed past your barrier, causing you to let out another moan and scream until, finally, he was completely inside of you. Tommy had just about split you in two and you had never felt like this before, you were full and he could feel your body trying to get out of the way

Tommy let you adjust to his size and then began pulling on your hips, before thrusting into you gently.

‘God you are so fucking tight Y/N’ he moaned as, slowly, you began to relax completely.

After several gentle thrusts to, Tommy pressed your knees back together and then he pulled out and rammed it back in again.

You cried out once more, but this time not in pain but, instead, in pure pleasure. You felt him running up and down your love channel and it felt better than anything else you had experienced before. There had been no event in your life that could have prepared you for this.

‘Oh my god Tommy, please make me cum again’ you begged him.

Tommy grinned and didn’t care to correct you on your language.

He began to fuck you mercilessly and rode you past your pain into a world of pleasure.

The unassailable flush of desire and the insane delight of him being inside of you overcame everything you were, or ever had been. As he thrusted in and you over and over again, harder with each stroke, you got lost in the grip of irrepressible lust, a powerful inarticulate lust.

It wasn’t long until he fucked you just the way he wanted, hard and fast. You were ready for it and you took it, every single bit of it.

And, just like that, you could feel another even more intense orgasm wash over you.

‘Good girl, cum around my cock’ he moaned as he picked up his speed and pounded into you.

With one loud moan, your walls contracted and your quivered beneath him. You were a shaking mess and screamed his name as you rode out your orgasm.

Just as you came down from your high, he pulled out of you. He was not done with you yet.

Without letting you recover, he pushed you back onto your knees in front of him.

‘You know what to do’ he said just as he pushed his cock back into your mouth firmly while grabbing onto your hair.

This time, he held your head in place while he began thrusting his cock in and out of your mouth.

Your eyes shut again instantly and unintentionally in order to deal with the gag reflex.

‘Look at me’ he instructed and you obliged, opening your eyes and looking towards his face.

‘I'm going to cum in your mouth’ he said, causing you to nod.

‘I hope this was understood, but I expect you to swallow’ he added and, just like this, with several more thrusts, his warm cum spurted into the back of your throat.

You gagged again, trying hard to allow his warm seed to run down your throat as he thrusted into you until, finally, he came to a hold.

You licked the last of his cum from his hard cock, making sure to swallow every single drop.

‘You did well Y/N’ Tommy said with still laboured breathing.

‘Thank you, Mr Shelby’ you said as you stood up and had a drink from his glass of whiskey.

‘I will see you on Friday, same time’ Tommy said as he zipped up his pants and buckled up his belt.

‘Friday it is’ you grinned with excitement before he gave you a passionate kiss.

‘We will try something new then and I won’t be as gentle with you then’ he said.

‘I am looking forward to it’ you winked as you said goodbye to him.

#tommy shelby smut #Tommy Shelby #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby imagine #thomas shelby #thomas shelby smut #thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby imagine #Peaky Blinders #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders imagine

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sopxhiea · 4 years ago

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Disturbance

Alfie Solomons X Reader

Summary: The scary gangster realizes that there’s only one creature that will not do as he says and his soft spot for the eldest girl grows into something else before he can prevent it.

Part 1

“She’s cranky.”

“Move away if you don’t want this kiss.”

He’s not going to say it.

Not when he watches you fiddle around with the buttons in your hand, the one your younger sister ripped off her jacket the same morning. He will not open his mouth when you come around to talk to him about some shipments and some things that don’t add up. Not even when you’re so close to him, standing right next to his seated form that he can smell the vanilla off you.

Although everyone knows it.

The match was rather uneventful, a test of some sorts for the gangster to make sure he kept his hands to himself. He had behaved, asked after the girls and about you and you’d given him vague information while wearing what he thought seemed like a golden shower. He had gone out to gather himself a few times, leaving a confused pretty lady and snickering Ollie behind.

He was a man that got everything he wanted.

People never said no to him, most of the time they already knew what he wanted anyway but you just toyed with the gangster. A few smiles here and there, a slight touch on his arm and he was feeling some type of way already. He had dropped you off at your house after collecting your sisters and found his eyes searching for you in every little corner.

He was right fucked, as he’d put it.

It’s been a couple of months of you working for the gangster. The workload is significantly demanding and the more time passes, the more jobs he gives you but you don’t dare complain. Your sisters are all in school, some sort of daycare in the weekends whenever you have to work and he’s the one making sure you’re all taken care of.

There’s less screaming in the mornings, as Essie has grown fond of the broad man who shows up nearly every morning with breakfast in his hands. She’s young, and even Lily doesn’t see the way he steals glances your way but Emily, the oldest is not blind and the gangster forgets that. Although he doesn’t mind in the slightest.

The bakery is hot with the changing season, hot to a point where short sleeves do not cut it anymore. The women at the front bakery store have told you to wear skirts, long ones with less garments underneath but you have decided on a dress, nothing fancy but something to get you by around the house as well. It almost hugs you too tight in some areas and you realize this once some bakers start giving you a look but are too afraid to flirt or even comment.

Since you’re off limits.

Apparently everyone knows but you. The workers, the bakers around the front, even Emily but she won’t say a word because she thinks Alfie will take away her going out at night privileges she’s earned by taking care of Lily. You climb the stairs, footsteps soft against the wood and he hears it, almost feels a lump in his throat but decides he’s too much of a man to feel light-headed around a woman, whatever that means.

You knock once and enter, don’t realize the way his eyes are ogling you in the dress you’re in. A smile is apparent on your lips and he knows what day it is.

“Mr. Solomons-”

“‘s Alfie, lass.” he says, like a plea at this point to try and get you stop calling him by his surname. Not only does he want to hear you say his name but the formality does things to him where he has to shift in his pants.

“Mr. Solomons, Lily has that ballet recital today and I was wondering if I could leave early to get ready.” you say and he nods, looking at your eyes the entire time.

He knows what day it is, since Lily has spoken of it so much and you realize the gangster remembers everything, well almost everything, they say. She’s been showing him some moves she’s learned for the recital every morning he’s around and all he’d do was to clap with Essie on his lap.

“When is it, pet?” he asks, the pet name stuck on you after months of working for the man and you don’t mind. If anything, it’s the evident mark on his soft spot for you but you don’t ponder on it too much.

“Around 7, I think. Shouldn’t last too long.” you speak and he throws a light smile your way. His lips are closed this time as he watches you, head to toe and you wonder about how appropriate some things he does around you are.

That is not to say that you’re not oblivious but you’ve been around enough men to know the signs. The way he leans towards you while walking, the small nods he throws your way each time you’re around his perimeter and not to mention Essie telling you that Alfie had been calling you ‘the pretty sister’ for a while now.

But you decide some things take time.

And you speak this time, before he can ang the slight glisten in his eyes do not help. “You want to come with?” you speak, and his eyebrows raise slowly.

He’s a smart man.

Taking care of his late employee’s girls as much as he could, that was smart. Offering them all his help and even visiting them in the mornings, that was smart. Hiring his pretty little daughter who happens to be an excellent bookkeeper to walk around in dresses, that was not smart.

Going to the younger one’s ballet recital, that would not be smart.

He didn’t care for the talk around town, people loved to gossip and he knew it from being around the streets but he figured it would hurt the little girls and her. And he wouldn’t let that happen, it simply wasn’t smart.

But he did want to see you in a different dress, all dolled up.

He wasn’t too proud of the dreams he’d been having, they were mostly daydreams but he’d caught himself envisioning you in too many scenarios that involved a lack of clothing and an expression of pure bliss. He knew the boundaries but the looks you would give him didn’t help.

“Lily would like it.” you speak and it’s the last blow.

And you know it.

Unlike what many would’ve thought, the gangster is not all he was told to be. Sure, he’s scary looking and very cruel to some but not to little girls. He’s soft, too kind at times you find out as you watch him play with your little sisters every morning.

He doesn’t care, he realizes and the words leave his mouth before he can stop himself, although it doesn’t bother him in the slightest. “I’m fuckin’ there, lass.”

------

He can hear the screaming.

He knocks once on the door and braces himself. The man has been to war, seen dead bodies with their brains all over the soil but this, this he has to get ready for. Emily opens the door with a scowl, which then turns into a smile when she sees it’s him. She’s wearing a pretty dress, hair done beautifully and Alfie wonders how the other ones are looking.

“Hello, Mr. Solomons.” she speaks, Alfie can tell you have taught her to speak that day but reckons he can do better.

“Aye, Emily, what did we say about ya’ callin’ me that, hm?” he asks, not swearing although it takes all his might to be careful.

“But Y/N said-” she says and confirms his suspicions. Alfie throws a smile at the young girl before stepping in and realizing the living room is empty, although the screaming has not stopped.

“Eh, your sister says a lot of things, don’t she.” he asks and sits down on his usual place on the sofa and Emily sits next to the gangster and nods. She’s changing by the passing day and Alfie feels like he can’t catch up.

“Good thing she’s pretty.” Emily says in all seriousness and it causes him to burst into laughter, laughter in which Emily joins her.

And that’s when you emerge from the bedroom.

Lily is holding your hand, wearing a purple dress with ribbons on her hair. Alfie can tell she cried from the hiccups that come and go but she has a smile on her lips now. Essie, on the other hand, is still crying as you hold her on the other side. Her dress is slightly different in color, looks wonderful nonetheless.

And there’s you.

Your dress is slightly shorter and completely different in color. The olive green material ends around just under your knees, with a generous look around your collarbones. Your hair is tied, a low bun which Essie threatens to ruin at any given moment. Alfie feels himself get stuck for a second but Emily slightly elbows him so that the brute can gather himself and speak.

“’ello, pet.” he speaks and Lily slowly approaches him, as she sometimes does and reaches for the beard. Alfie lets him, eyes traveling from the little one to you.

“I didn’t hear you come in.” you say, voice soft as you put Essie on the couch next to Emily so you can get your coat and theirs.

“Em let me in.” Alfie says and Emily nods, her youngest sister on her lap.

“Oh..okay.” you say and disappear behind the door. The entire time, Alfie is watching you go and Emily is watching him. She’s amused to say the least.

And that’s when Essie starts crying again.

You emerge from one of the rooms with all their coats. The little one is not coming with you, as your trusted neighbor has agreed to watch her for the night. You dress Lily and Emily dresses herself in their coats and Alfie clears his throat, making you look up at him and he signals Essie and her crying.

Although he’s far too used to it at this point.

“She’s just cranky, I don’t know why.” you say, clearly frustrated as you finally let go of Lily and reach for Essie to put her coat on.

“Tried the bribin’?” he asks with a smile on his lips and you shake your head.

“Well, if you’re talking about giving her sweets to shut her up....yes.” you say and he chuckles with a curt nod.

Then all of you get in the car, with Alfie’s hand on the small of your back and you carrying Essie. You don’t miss the way Emily looks at you, eyebrows wiggling each time she catches your eye but you just tell her to stay put. Then you drop off Essie, with much trouble and get to the recital with a gangster sitting next to you.

----

The recital goes on pretty smoothly, all cheers and smiles as Alfie lingers at the back. Emily claps for her sister, a smile on her lips as she does so but you excuse yourself a little after to get some air as they get ready for the next act. Alfie watches you walk towards the back part through the exit and decides Emily is old enough to take care of herself.

He finds you sitting on the pavement around the back part of the building, breathing deeply as you look around every now and then. He knows you need these moments. Moments of stillness without any screams, without Emily asking you for a dress or Lily’s chocolate covered hands. He knows you love them but the deed is much too strong for you.

“Y/N.” he says, cautious as he approaches you. You’re no longer sitting but leaning against the concrete block.

“Emily’s inside?” you ask, your prior concern always being your sisters. He nods and speaks.

“Yeah, she ‘s.” he says and you nod this time.

You search his eyes then, for something that will tell you why he’s there. It’s easy to grow fond of him, you think, especially when you see him so much but there’s another side to the coin you don’t like to think of. The danger that comes.

“Something wrong?” you ask and see the heaviness in his gaze. You don’t quite know what it is, since he’s not a man easily read but you figure you know a thing or two by now.

He shakes his head and then looks at you. There’s uncertain things swimming in your orbs much like him and he wonders if they’re the same things. Doubts and then turns his face to look at the sky.

“There’s somethin’, yeah..” he speaks and you know better than to interrupt him. “.....somethin’ I really wanna fuckin’ do.” he says and you nod, urging him to go on but he seems to stall for a second. He then speaks, he’s not looking at the sky anymore but you. “But see, pet, there are things yeah, fuckin’ things blockin’ my way.”

he says and watches you nod, understanding but then you stop and a smile graces your lips. It’s not mocking but not sweet either.

And then you speak, not afraid to counter his words. “I never took you as someone who’d stop just because there were....things blocking the way.” you speak and you half-know what he’s saying.

He’s not the most subtle of admirers. You’re not bothered by it, quite the opposite if anything. You know he’s a man of power, known as cruel to some although you’d speak to differ. His lines are all harsh, you’re too soft compared to him so you don’t count on the opportunity of anything happening.

He takes a step towards you, and then one more until he’s entirely too close. You don’t dare move and his eyes are locked into your lips. You are right, he thinks, he’s not a man that stops at anything just because he’s had a couple of doubts. But then, the doubts are worth taking into account if it’s you. He’s all harsh lines and your softness seems unreachable to him.

His eyes look at your lips for a solid second, his entire presence looming over you as you stay still. He’s tall, a bit too tall for you if you’re honest but you just crane your neck and he leans down slightly, you’d know what his lips would feel like against yours.

And then he moves and speaks. “Move away if you don’t want this kiss.”

He’s not a man of doubts, he gathers and yes, there is a lot at stake but he goes after what he wants. Alfie always has and currently, the thing he wants is standing right in front of him and he’ll be damned if he’s gonna pass up the opportunity to kiss the pretty lass.

His lips are soft, unexpectedly so as his hand finds your waist and resides there while the other cradles your skull with a gentleness that seems foreign to him. He kisses you softly before pulling away slightly to see if you’ve moved in any way but sees you staring at his lips, standing exactly still.

Then you reach for him.

He thinks he’s dreamed it until your lips peck his for the last time and you break the kiss. He sees the blush rising on your cheeks, lipstick smeared and hair slightly puffier than before. He doesn’t take a step back, stares down at you as you fix yourself too fast for him to realize what’s happening but he remembers you’re good at fixing people up.

You sigh, licking your lips once more to savor the feel of his lips before you speak. Your voice is breathy and he has to stop himself from assaulting your lips once more. “Come on, then. Emily will be waiting.”

And he follows you like your tail for the rest of the evening.

-----

He’s smiling like a damn fool.

It’s easy to realize that the big scary gangster is not all that cruel. Sure, there is a side to him that’s simply cruel. He’s not the most forgiving when it comes to some either but he also happens to be a huge teddy bear, you think as you watch him handle Essie after you’ve opened the front door to the house.

“Emily, can you take care of Essie for a minute?” you ask, not waiting for an answer from your sister before you drag Alfie by his sleeve to the kitchen. The girls stare at each other for a while before they all move to their rooms, except Lily who waits for you in front of the door.

You close the door, immediately after he enters the kitchen and look at him with a stern gaze. He’s making it obvious, all of it. The big scary gangster has had a stupid grin on his face ever since you’d kissed him and it makes you frustrated.

“What?” he asks, still smiling a little as you stand in front of him, arms crossed and not amused at all.

“Are you going to stop smiling?” you ask, a slight mock to your words as you stare up at him.

He takes a step towards you then, his aim to trap you between his broad form and the door almost achieved before you escape his embrace by ducking under his arm.

“Lass, come ‘ere.” he says with a tone you haven’t heard before and you don’t follow his orders, as much as you want to.

“Alfie, the girls are right outside.” you say, trying to take steps back each time he takes one towards you. Your back meets the cold wall then, a ‘shit’ passes your lips and he chuckles. His breath tickles your face. It’s not that you don’t want to kiss the gangster but the chance of Emily barging in to see the scene is too high to risk it.

But it seems as though he doesn’t care.

His lips are greedy this time, not as soft as they’ve been as he devours you within the short amount of time he’s given. You moan lowly at the way he’s kissing you and hear a thump against the kitchen door which makes both of you stop.

“Let me in!” Lily screams and it makes Alfie chuckle while all you do is glare.

Before you can open the door and pick your sister up, Alfie traps your small frame between the wall and him again and speaks. He’s not daft and knows how he wants to carry this out. His voice comes out muffled between his small pecks.

“We’ll talk once they’ve gone to fuckin’ bed, yeah, I’ll wait, pet.” he says, eyes greedy as he lets you go. You nod once more before opening the door and taking a red-faced Lily in your arms.

She doesn’t say anything at first but then speaks, connecting the dots a bit faster than you’d initially thought she would. She speaks as loud as she can and you swear she’s doing it on purpose.

“What were you doing?!” she says and finger points at Alfie but before he can answer you put her on the sofa and speak.

“Grown-up stuff.” you say and that seems to shut her up for the time being.

Emily then comes in the living room with Essie on her arms, Lily now sitting on Alfie’s lap as he tells the little girl a story about another dog he had. You watch him as his eyes meet yours in the middle of speaking, a childish glisten before he cradles her in his arms and speaks. “Now, time for bed, innit.”

The rest of the night is filled with you running around as Essie screams and Alfie rocks her around. She doesn’t seem to mind the rocking until she almost throws up on him and it makes you laugh entirely too much for an accident. Emily takes care of herself, in bed before bedtime and you take care of Emily in the meantime.

When you walk into Essie’s room, you see her on his arms as he rocks her back and forth, the little one sound asleep. You note the way she’s holding onto his bracelets and how he hesitates to put her in the crib. You give him a small nod and close the door behind you. He pecks your lips once more before taking your hand and dragging you away into your room and murmurs under his breath to not wake the little one. “Time for grown-up stuff.”

----

Tagging: @clairecrive @parkbearum @sourirez @vetseras @mollybegger-blog @babylooneytoonz @peakascum

A/n: Heyyy I hope you liked this chapter, do let me know what you thought and if you’d like to be added to the tag list !!

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nxtsnw · 3 years ago

Note

P1: Please could it be a mikey oneshot leaving a male reader; I leave it days before the dissolution of Touman with the excuse of "I like another person more, I don't love you anymore and I don't want to see you again" it may be that I don't want to hurt him or something like that, in the end ReaderMale! he takes it badly at first but over time he recovers and becomes a famous Idol that is everywhere, not only is an Idol but has a presence in the underworld (something +

°Mikey x Male reader°

plot: After the breakup between Mikey and MaleReader, their two paths split. The reader, after an unexpected glow-up and after both have apparently moved on, meet again, Mickey as the leader of the Bonten and the reader as a very famous idol.

author note: I also read the pt.2! I apologize if I changed it slightly, I did everything possible to respect it. Thank you for the request!

word count: 1k

warning: angst, break up

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

The weather that day was so hot, but it wasn't a pleasant heat, it was quite the opposite. Y/n was going to meet Mikey, his boyfriend for a year now. He noticed his bright blonde hair from afar so he decided to run up to him and hug him from behind.

"Heyy Mikey" he yelled.

"mh" he replied looking at him from top to bottom.

"What happens?"

"I leave you," he said with that a weird calm and his eyes staring at him and waiting for a reaction.

"Ahaha this is funny" answered y/n.

"I'm not kidding, it's over between us, I'm no longer in love with you. I'm sorry, but it's time for me to open a new chapter in my life."

A slight shiver ran down the y/n back.

"Wait, did I do something wrong?"

"No, I already told you, I'm not in love with you anymore."

How was it possible? Why should he leave him like this?.

He could still feel the blond's gaze on him and didn't dare to raise his head. He took a deep breath and mentally slapped himself.

"Goodbye then." he continued without expressing any kind of emotion.

"Goodbye."

So that completely unexpected conversation ended. And for y/n began one of the hardest times ever. Even just to realize what had happened took him several weeks(maybe months), which were lived in a very bad way by the boy.

Acceptance was a hard thing and just as he was returning to the bad habit of smoking he was stopped by a strange man.

“Wait for a second please, don't quit smoking that cigarette. And please, let me take some pictures of you. "

Surprised and scared, the boy decided to walk away.

"Wait up! Believe me, I'm (his name and his surname), a famous photographer ”he continued showing him a tag that confirmed his previous words.

"Please, just a photo?" and so the boy agreed.

So the photo was taken and the photographer came over to show it to him.

At first glance, not even the same y/n could be recognized, he seemed so different from the last time he had seriously looked at himself in the mirror, he couldn't see himself in that photo he had just taken.

"When I became like that?..." he spoke aloud when he was still deep in his thoughts. So much so that the photographer looked at him with a bewildered face.

“Don't like the photo? I'm sorry. Did I make you feel uncomfortable?" The boy shook his head no.

“Oh thank god, I also wanted to ask if you would give me permission to publish this photo on my new photo album due out next month,” he asked, clasping his hands. After he noticed the boy's troubled expression, he continued saying: "You can also receive money and be contacted later by different modeling agencies, I think you have this potential."

A job and some money would not have been bad .. the young man accepted and the two traded their phone number.

But before he could think of anything else, he remembered his change in physical appearance. He immediately went home to look in the mirror. In the street, while he ran, he saw himself in a shop window, he noticed the changes in the body.

They weren't that obvious, but to him, it felt so different, developed. The more he looked at himself the more he was convinced of how much prettier he had become.

Self-conviction? Had he had the famous post-breakup glow-up without realizing it? Was it possible? Was there any entity unknown to him involved?

Arriving at random he noticed even the smallest details of his face, had he always been this attractive?

Thanks to that funny meeting were the beginning of a new life for the boy.

After the photographer's album began to be printed, he noticed his inbox filled with inquiries from various fashion agencies.

They just asked him for a meeting to see if they could hire him, and reading the pay he didn't think twice about accepting.

He came from the first agency that contacted him, and after a short interview, he was hired. It was all happening so fast, the long time after parting with Mikey seemed to have almost vanished from the boy's mind.

In no time at all, he began to have great success in many magazines, and his fandom began to grow. Real people stopped him on the street to ask him for a photo and how beautiful he was. The agencies organized real meetings for the boy's fans.

He met some of his old school friends (with whom he had had some bullying problems) who didn't recognize him in the least...

Everyone had begun to love and idolize him. The creepy and weird thing is that it all happened within 6 months, all that fast? How was that possible? Often y/n stopped to wonder how it was possible, and always tried to find out how it could have happened, but he never found anything rational. ( I'm so sorry, I have never read "lookism" yet, I tried my best to find information <3)

And so winter had arrived, the cold now surrounded him.

He had just finished his shift at the agency and had decided to go get a hot chocolate in his trusted bar. As soon as he entered he noticed a new boy, he was tall with green eyes and dark hair he was really cute.

The boy had been working in that bar for a short time, and it was he who served him. Along with his hot chocolate, he gave to him a note with his phone number, hoping that y/n would contact him.

So that's what he did, he had finally overcome the breakup with Mikey, he was finally ready to start a new life, and finally sentimentally too.

Months and years go by. The relationship between the two boys seems to have improved and thanks to his work he becomes more and more famous. A real Idol, with a little secret, he hadn't yet explained the change that had radically changed his life.

Did some divinity have anything to do with it?

Because of his job he had not been allowed to have a boyfriend, so he had invented and hired him as a "personal bodyguard", so he was able to find an excuse to spend more time with his boyfriend.

They were walking arm in arm under light snow when he saw what he never wanted to see.

There was Mikey. That Mikey. He was sitting on a bench and always kept his lost gaze on some buildings. Was he there on purpose or for simple deals?

He had a hard time recognizing him, Mikey had cut his hair even though he still had that different sheen, but it looked just fine. He was thin and pale in the face, but the most noticeable thing was two dark circles under his eyes that made him look more tired and almost sick.

After a while, Mikey turned to his side.

"Look, let's go if we change our way," he asked his boyfriend.

"Um okay, but what's going on?"

"Nothing, don't worry..." but at that moment he realized that he could no longer escape. He had long since overcome that breakup.

"We can continue from here too," he continued, smiling and taking his boyfriend by the hand.

Meanwhile, a tall pink-haired boy had caught up with Mikey and they were heading in the direction of y/n.

He seemed to be going smoothly until the two ex-boyfriends stopped at the same time.

"Hi Mikey"

No reply.

"Now pretend you don't even know me eh"

Mikey looked up, but this time, in addition to the usual air of defiance, he looked seriously surprised, almost scared?

"Hi y/n, how long has it been?"

But who could know him better than y/n? They had been together for a year, by now he knew that expression perfectly. He knew that at that moment Mikey was confused but he didn't want to show it.

How were they supposed to react?

That question was creeping into both of them, but neither of them seemed able to react.

Did he get over it? What had happened all that time? And who were the new respective partners?

For these questions it will still take some time to get answers and who knows if they will ever have them ;)

I hope you'll like it<3

#mickey x reader #manjiro x reader #manjiro sano #male reader #tokyorev #tokyorevengers x reader #oneshot

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kyratittyfish · 2 years ago

Text

Thunderstruck

Summary: A cabin in the woods, a warm couch, cuddles, a fluffy dog, and no Reapers in sight: Shepard and Joker’s post war happily ever after is looking as relaxing as ever. Until natural forces add to the mix, that is.

Warning: fluff!

Raindrops trickled against the living room windows and for an instant, a bolt of lightning lit up the garden outside as if it were the middle of the day. The dark silhouettes of trees danced against the electric sky, jolted around like feathers by the gushes of wind.

Curled up under a soft blanket with Jeff’s arms wrapped around her and the small cabin’s stone walls protecting them from the storm raging on outside, Angela had never felt so peaceful.

A few seconds went by before the roaring of thunder reached their small cabin, making the glass window panels tremble and Jeff’s muscles stiffen against her side.

“Hey,” she whispered softly, shifting closer to his chest and taking in his warmth and scent. His clothes still held the aroma of lemon curd, a pleasant reminder of the kitchen adventure they’d embarked on earlier in the afternoon. Beneath the sweet smell of baked goods, there was him, the faintest fragrance of his soap, his aftershave, his skin. Fresh, comforting, intoxicating.

Another thunder rumbled through the plump clouds, and Jeff’s body twitched next to her own once more.

“All good down there, flyboy?”

“Uh… yeah? We’re in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, far enough from civilisation that even Hackett can’t reach us to ask you to please free his little nephew’s pet rat from its capsized hamster wheel, and I’ve just had half a whole cake for dinner. It can’t get any better than this, I’d say.”

He adjusted the blanket over her shoulder and planted a light kiss on her forehead. “No, wait, I take that back. It can get better than this. It does. I’m cuddling the Saviour of the Galaxy slash Devourer of Lemon Curd Sponge Cakes slash Hottest Girlfriend Ever. And don’t even get me started on the couch. Reclinable, heated, and real leather.”

He punctuated his statement with a chef kiss and pinched his fingers against the tip of her nose.

She giggled and moved her chin forward to nibble the point of his index finger, but he was quicker and moved his hand away before it met her teeth. With a disappointed purr, she settled for playfully biting his ear instead. That was a trick he didn’t expect.

“Wait wait, I’m adjustable, warm, and covered in skin too. Why does the couch rank over me?”

“Uh, cause it doesn’t describe its features in a way that makes me feel like my surname’s Dahmer?”

With a snort, Angela buried her face in Jeff’s chest. His arm reached around her to rest his hand atop her head and when he slowly ran his fingers through her hair, tiny little goosebumps rose to attention on the skin of her nape.

“Uh. Can’t believe I’m being sidelined by my own boyfriend for a couch.”

“I mean, Ange, you have to admit this couch is pretty awesome,” he said, untangling a little knot in her hair, “but you ain’t half bad either.”

“Eh, you’re quite great too, babe,” she whispered back.

Angela felt his body shift, and the weight of his head resting on top of hers. She dragged one hand across his arm until her fingers found the hem of his t-shirt, slipping below it to feel his bare skin under her palm, no fabric to separate her from his warmth. His heart beat steadily beneath her ear, a slow rhythm that quieted any other sound, shoving her thoughts away until there was only him, her, and the rain.

Her eyelids were getting heavier with each passing second, and soon keeping them open felt like a hopeless battle. For once, this was a fight she was happy to lose.

“You did it again.” She stated, without opening her eyes.

“Uh… Did what exactly?”

“Every time it thunders, you startle.”

“I think you were dreaming cause nope, I don’t.”

As if the clouds themselves agreed to prove her point, the sky outside flashed white and a few instants later every muscle in Jeff’s body tensed with the roaring thunder.

“Aw, crap,” he swore under his breath.

And just like that, all her sleepiness vaporised like a husk hit by an incendiary round. Oh, this was going to be good. Sitting up crosslegged, she turned to face him and cupped her chin in her hand.

“So, let’s see if I understood the situation correctly. Jeff Moreau, the man who led the entire Galactic Fleet against the Reapers and lived to tell the tale, is afraid of storms?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say afraid, it’s more of a, uh, … wariness.”

When the next thunder rumbled on outside, he actually let out a small whimper and jumped a bit on his seat, enough to wake Penguin from his nap on the carpet and perk up his ears.

“Wariness. Right.”

Jeff’s cheek and ears had turned redder than the pixelated mushroom printed on his t-shirt, and the expression painted on his face was that of a man praying for a small relay to materialise over the coffee table and launch him straight to the other side of the galaxy. Or directly into a different one.

He looked pitiful.

“…With a hint of scared shitless maybe?” He offered sheepishly.

She shouldn’t have busted out laughing as she did, and she felt terrible for it just as soon as the fit of giggles escaped through her pursed lips, but the pink flush that had taken over his freckled cheeks, and the way he furrowed his brow at her was simply too adorable to ignore.

“That’s more like it,” she said between a chuckle and the next.

Suddenly, the corners of his mouth twisted into a gloomy half smile, and he stretched his legs out, tapping his feet around to find his slippers.

“Aight, I, uh… need to, y’know. Bathroom... break?” He blurted out, awkwardly stroking the hair at the back of his head. His other hand went to the cushioned seat between Angela and himself, and she grabbed his arm - gently - before he could use it to leverage himself off the couch.

“Jeff? You alright?”

He brushed her hand away, walking away towards the door to the bedroom. The unusual haste in his irregular steps was an eloquent enough answer to her question, way more telling than the scant “yep” he mumbled her way as he hobbled around the sleeping form of Penguin.

Shit. I think I fucked up.

She motioned to get up and follow him into the other room, grab him by his hand and make things right, say sorry for whatever she said that hurt him.

But she knew better.

Jeff needed time to sort out his thoughts alone, and going after him wouldn’t help either of them.

She stopped in her tracks right between the coffee table and the dark red armchair and sank down into it with a quiet sigh. What had gone wrong? They were cuddling and teasing each other as they always did, silly jokes about each other represented a significant chunk of their love language, and neither of them was particularly sensitive to being picked on.

So why? Why had he suddenly gone from joking along with her to being that upset?

She rested her hands on her lap, and cursed under her breath as a hangnail she’d been absentmindedly picking at left a bright red spot on her shorts - come on, those were one of the good pairs.

A soft weight on her thigh and a whimper alerted her of Penguin’s presence at her side. She lowered her gaze and a black leathery snout and two bright chestnut eyes materialized in her field of view.

The pup’s big head tilted to one side when she met his eyes, and he produced another drawn-out whine.

“It is time for your dinner already, Peng?” The rhythmic wagging of his tail against the leg of the coffee table confirmed that yes, it was this late already even before the numbers “20:37” flashed back at her from her omnitool.

“Alright, alright, big boy,” Angela said at the eager dog, who’d already bolted into the kitchen and was jumping on his feet in front of his food bowl, “I’m not letting you starve!”

She opened the refrigerator and searched around for the package of dog-specific lab-grown meat helpfully labeled as “either dog food or frozen peas” and, after a considerable amount of time spent wondering how exactly the fridge managed to turn so messy in the mere week they’d spent in the cabin so far, she took out a portion, reheated it, and generously doused it with kibbles.

The bowl had barely touched the ground before Penguin had half emptied it already. This isn’t a dog, she thought, this is a fluffy vacuum cleaner.

“Try to chew it a bit, Peng! Or are those teeth reserved for tearing apart socks?” She snickered, looking at how the dog’s mismatched ears flopped up and down as he stuck out his tongue to salvage every single molecule of food left in the bowl.

Picking up the empty plate earned her a disappointed moan from Penguin. “Alright, that’s it, the ceramic isn’t edible!”

She’d never been a dog person. It’s not that she disliked them as pets- on the contrary, she found them beyond adorable- she’d simply never felt the desire to have one of her own.

A pet-free life was the standard for a spacer, after all, especially if said spacer was also an Alliance officer. Always on the move, always in the fight, never at peace.

Life on the front line wasn’t meant for a dog.

But that was before the war.

The Angela Shepard that had survived the Reapers wasn’t a spacer anymore. She had a home, one with firm foundations and a slate roof instead of wings, thrusters and a drive core. She had a garden, a tool shed, and even a skycar. She had a bed to share every night with the man she loved. And she had a dog.

A dog who was currently trying to squeeze himself under the tiny space between the floor and the bottom of the fridge, in a fruitless attempt to capture an elusive last kibble.

She chuckled as Penguin snorted at the stray piece of food, and suddenly, it dawned on her.

Just as the sheer adorableness of Penguin had her in stitches now, the sight of flustered Jeff, with that rosy flush creeping up his neck and cheeks and ears, and his green eyes big as a pyjack's caught stealing cookies from a jar, had been so utterly precious that she couldn’t keep herself from bursting out in giggles.

But Jeff didn’t know that.

And what he must have thought after seeing her chuckle till her eyes teared up was that she’d been laughing at him, at his irrational fear, at one of his insecurities.

Behind all his bragging and boasting, Jeff was riddled with self-doubts. His defiant confidence was often nothing more than an act (a very convincing one, that fooled even him, but an act nonetheless), a mask he wore in front of most people to protect himself, to shield his soft, sensitive core.

She wasn’t most people. He didn’t need to pretend in front of her.

Until she’d laughed at his vulnerability, at least.

Shit. I really fucked up.

Hot chocolate.

Hot chocolate never failed to lift Jeff’s spirits.

His favourite Galaxy of Fantasy pro team was just disqualified from the yearly tournament during the semifinals? Hot chocolate would make him forget it in an instant. The Blasto limited edition statuette had sold out before he’d managed to order one? Just place a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of him, and he’d stop caring about the mini figure before swallowing the first sip.

So she warmed some milk and cocoa powder, grabbed his favourite cup from the plate rack - the one with the spaceship that fired red beams when you poured warm liquids in it - and filled it to the brim with the dense, dark brown beverage. She also added a swirl of whipped cream on top, for good measure, and set it on a tray with a handful of cookies.

Balancing the tray in one hand, she tentatively knocked on the bedroom door. “Jeff? May I come in?”

She heard movement on the other side of the door, but no answer. “I brought a peace offering. The dark, hot and steamy kind.”

This time, an hummed “alright” preceded the sound of the door sliding open.

“This is to apologise,” she said, setting the tray on his nightstand. “I shouldn’t have laughed at you earlier on. Shouldn’t have made you feel bad about such a stupid little thing.”

Jeff looked up at her with a cocked eyebrow, ignoring the chocolate cup.

“What?” He asked her.

“I’m sorry. I… I wasn’t even thinking about your fear of thunder when I laughed. It was just… I don’t know. I didn’t realize that was such a touchy subject for you. I just… I thought you looked adorable when flustered, and laughed at that, not at …”

“Ange.” Jeff interrupted her. “Ange, stop. You have nothing to apologize for. I’m not mad at you. It’s just…” he sighed and lowered his gaze, staring at his fingers as he fiddled with the hem of his sweatshirt.

“It’s a stupid ass fear.” He admitted, pulling a loose string from his hoodie and curling it around the tip of his thumb. “You said that yourself, I’m the man who went face to face with the whole Reaper fleet, and I shake like some scared puppy when there’s some big scary noise outside. Come on, that’s pathetic.”

Jeff looked up at her again with a resigned smile that didn’t reach his eyes and reminded her of a sad kitty left in the rain. She grabbed his hand and uncoiled the piece of gray thread from his finger.

“For what it’s worth, I really don’t think it is. It’s an irrational fear. Nothing you can control. Everyone’s got one.”

“Yeah, but thunder? Not even Penguin is afraid of thunder, and he’s a dog! He’s supposed to run off with his tail between his legs and hide behind the couch when he hears thunder, but here he is, napping on the carpet like he doesn’t give a shit!”

“Well, Penguin is a brave boy.”

He perked up, eyebrow knitted together in sudden realization, and Angela had a flashback to seeing a remarkably similar expression of abrupt recognition painted on the features of Salarian professor Mordin Solus. In that specific instance, the eureka moment had been related to a breakthrough in the reconstruction of the Collectors’ phylogenetic tree, but she doubted Jeff’s current new insight would be of a similar nature.

Hoped so, at least.

She had enough of those semi-sentient bugs for two lifetimes.

“Oh my God, maybe he’s deaf. What if he’s deaf? Can dogs learn sign language? Should we ask Chakwas to check his ears next time she visits?”

Almost talking as quickly as Mordin too, she thought hearing him ramble, and the memory of her departed friend added a sour aftertaste to her chuckle. Penguin. Hard of hearing. Right. The absurdity of Jeff’s hypothesis - and the sheer sweetness of his concern - restored the honey like flavor of her amusement.

“Well, try shaking the bag of kibbles around lunchtime, then report back to me.”

A muffled whine coming from underneath the bed betrayed Penguin’s presence, and the perfectly functional state of his auditory system.

“Alright, point taken.” Jeff conceded before finally diving into his chocolate.

“Vacuum cleaners.”

“What?” His question was almost intelligible, his voice muffled by the cookie he was halfway through chewing.

“Vacuum cleaners. My irrational fear is vacuum cleaners.”

“Vacuum cleaners,” he repeated, his hand holding the half-bitten cookie stopping mid-air.

“Yep, you heard that right. Been scared shitless of them since I was a little girl.” Since the time my uncle thought it funny to chase me all around my grandma’s house brandishing that old-school Dyson of his, she recalled. Her mom’s younger brother Pete was, unsurprisingly, the only person who found the whole situation hilarious. Until Grandma heard about it, at least- he wasn’t laughing so much after that. “Apparently, my body grew up, but my subconscious didn’t get the memo, and I’m still scared shitless to this day.”

“That why you insist on doing the laundry and dishes and always leave the floor cleaning to me?”

“Yup.”

“Uh,” he scowled and shook his head. His fake disappointment act had worked on her exactly once, about three years ago, but he still liked to play the role of the offended part as much as she enjoyed going along with it. She squinted at him, crossing her arms in front of her.

“I knew there was a reason beyond sadistic joy in having your physically disabled boyfriend take the vacuum cleaner on a stroll around the apartment.”

“First, you volunteered for that. And second, yup. And that reason is: irrational fears. Does that make me stupid?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say stupid…”

Rolling her eyes and stifling a laugh, she interrupted him halfway through his dragged out ‘but’.

“That was a rhetorical question, don’t you dare say ‘yes’ or I swear I’m going to lock up the chocolate powder for a week.” As if to prove her point, she snagged a cookie off his tray and stuck it whole in her mouth. “Point is, I’m still the woman who saved the Galaxy, who also happens to be scared of vacuum cleaners. And you’re still the man who flew her there in style, against a horde of Reapers, and lived to tell the tale. And who happens to spook when he hears thunder.”

“Alright,” he looked down at his folded hands, and the slightest hint of a blush crept up under his beard until it reached the splashes of light freckles on his cheekbones, “I still think thunder is a stupid phobia to have but… I see your point.”

She gently lifted his chin, stroking her thumb along his jaw, guiding him closer to her until the tip of their noses touched and his warm breath made her skin tingle.

“Well then,” she whispered in his ear. “In that case, let’s be stupid together. The galaxy owes that to us.”

Her lips found his, and if he had a witty comeback ready on the tip of his tongue, she drowned it out as he kissed him.

#my writing #mass effect fanfic #shoker #jeff joker moreau #commander shepard #angela shepard #penguin the dog #fluff #post war fluff #post reaper war #the happy everafter they deserve #one shot

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strawberry--bride · 3 years ago

Text

DIABOLIK LOVERS Haunted Dark Bridal ー Sharon’s Route [MANIAC 09]

Location: Kaminashi City ;; Park

Sharon: Haah, haah...

( I came here without thinking but... )

( Perhaps I shouldn’t have ran away like that. )

( After all, there was some truth in Shuu-san’s words as well. Perhaps I have really gone somewhat delusional from this whole exerpience. )

( However, I really thought thatーー )

*Rustle*

Sharon: ...!?

W-Who’s there...!?

???: Please don’t be alarmed. I’m not here to hurt you.

A figure steps from behind the bushes.

???: So you actually came.

Sharon: ...

( This man...Is he the one who sent me that message? )

( He’s a lot younger than I expected. He only looks slightly older than I am. )

*Flip*

Sharon: This letter. Are you the one who wrote it?

???: Correct. I’m glad it found its way to you! I spotted you feeding that cat a few times, but it was still a gamble nevertheless.

Sharon: Then this photo as well...? Where did you get it!? Did you know my mother!?

???: Oh, my apologies! I have yet to introduce myself, right?

Ahem. My name is Sousuke. Sousuke Takeshita.

Sharon: Take...shita?

( The same surname as...dad!? )

( No, no, no...It’s a very common name! It could be a coincidence! )

Sousuke: My father and your father were brothers. Which makes usーー

Sharon: ...Cousins.

Sousuke: Exactly! I’m so happy I finally found you!

Sharon: W-Why...? I was always told I had no other family.

Sousuke: Well, that doesn’t surprise me.

However, this is no place to chat. Why don’t you follow me to the nearby Church? We can sit down with a nice cup of tea and I’ll tell you everything.

About your past, and your parents.

Sharon: ( Can I trust this guy...? All of this seems so sudden. )

( However, this might be my one and only chance to find out more about the family I never knew I had. )

( ーー It’s not like I have much to lose anyway. )

Monologue

After following Sousuke to the Church,

he handed me a photo album.

Inside were many pictures of my dad,

together with various other people whom are my relatives,

yet their faces were completely unknown to me.

However, that was not the most shocking thing I was told.

What Sousuke would tell me next,

would turn my whole world upside down.

Location: Kaminashi City ;; Church

Sharon: ーー V-Vampire hunters!?

Sousuke: Exactly. The Takeshita family used to be the most active and well-known family of Vampire hunters in all of Eastern Japan.

Our great grandfather in particular really made a name for himself.

Sharon: Then...Dad as well?

Sousuke: ...Unfortunately, uncle never agreed with the activities of Vampire Hunters.

I was still very young when this happened, but I remember how my own Father had a big fight with him.

Ever since, he broke ties with the whole family and I never saw him again.

Sharon: I had no idea...

Sousuke: Of course not. You were still in your mother’s belly back then!

Sharon: Eh? Then how did you get that picture?

Sousuke: Uncle sent it to us shortly after you were born. I suppose it was his final attempt at trying to show the rest of the family that there’s more in this world than hunting Vampires.

I remember father was going to rip it apart but...I stopped him.

Even though I was only a child back then, I was still happy knowing my little niece was born!

It also didn’t feel fair for you, who had done nothing wrong, to be punished for your parents crimes.

Sharon: D-Dad didn’tーー!

Sousuke: Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have worded it that way, huh?

However, I can’t say I agree with your father’s decision. He would call us Vampire hunters cruel and heartless, and said that we were no better than the ‘monsters’ we claimed to kill.

Sharon: ...

Sousuke: I’m sure you’ve experienced it for yourself, haven’t you? I can’t imagine what it must be like to live with those filthy beasts.

But don’t worry, you’re safe now.

Sharon: ...You’re wrong.

Sousuke: Excuse me?

Sharon: They’re notーー!

Sharon suddenly jumps up, clenching her fists.

Sousuke: Nozomー

Sharon: ...Don’t call me that!! My name’s Sharon!

...

Nozomi is gone. She died when my parents did.

Iーー

Sousuke: Please, I’m sure you’re just confused. You’ve suffered so much at the hands of those monsters.

But you have a chance to regain your freedom now! Together, we can slay those heartless Vampires andーー

Sharon: Don’t talk as if you know anything about them!

They may be cruel and selfish at times but...They’re no monsters.

The way Subaru-kun looked at those roses and the sadness reflected in his eyes...That wasn’t the face a monster would make.

Or when Shuu-san sat there shivering in the corner of the music room, my voice not even reaching him. Someone truly heartless could not experience fear like that.

Sousuke: I’m sorry? I don’t quite understand what you’re saying...?

Sharon: ーー Basically! Vampires and humans aren’t all that different from each other.

If both parties tried a little harder to sympathize with the other, I’m sure we could come to a mutual understanding.

Sousuke: ...Heh.

I see. You really are your father’s daughter, aren’t you?

ーー Both of you are a disgrace to this family!!

Sousuke suddenly jumps up and pulls out his gun from underneath his coat.

*Cling*

Sharon: ...Eh?

Sousuke: I was looking forward to finally meeting you after all those years.

However, it seems like I was too late.

You were right. My niece - Nozomi - no longer exists.

I suppose you’ve spent too much time with those monsters, you’re just as tainted now!

Sharon: ...!!

( I want to run but...My legs refuse to move...I’m completely frozen on the spot. )

Sousuke: In which case, it’s my duty as a Vampire hunter to put you out of your misery, don’t you think?

*Ka-chunk*

Sharon: ( ...It’s too late! )

( I’m going to get killed! )

Sousuke: ーー Goodbye, Sharon.

Monologue

While Sousuke’s finger hooked around the gun’s trigger,

I tightly closed my eyes, frozen in fear.

Yet, somewhere deep down,

I felt almost relieved.

Perhaps like this, I would finally be able to atone for my sins,

and reunite with my parents in Heaven.

However, would someone like me still be allowed up there?

I suppose I would find the answer to that question soon enough,

as a loud bang echoed through the Church.

ーー MANIAC 09: END ーー

<- [ Maniac 08 ] [ Maniac 10 ] ->

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #diabolik lovers oc #diabolik lovers custom route #sharon's route #(( I suck at drawing guys so I used picrew ))#(( and drew the rest of the body myself ))#(( since picrew are usually only busts ))

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fanmoose12 · 3 years ago

Text

catch me if you can

Сharacters: Hange Zoe, Levi, Erwin Smith, Kenny Ackerman

Genres: Mystery / Romance

Summary: The Ackerman duo. Just the mention of this name filled Hange with so many feelings. Mostly, when she reread the files of their cases over and over, until her eyes watered, she felt pricking annoyance. Sometimes, when she stared at the dead bodies of those scarce unfortunates who stumbled upon their crimes, she was filled with hatred and a pushing need for revenge. Hange couldn’t deny, however, there were times when she marveled at the impudence of their crimes. And, when she was investigating the Ackerman’s cases and saw just how meticulously planned they all were, she couldn’t help but feel something close to fascination.No one knew who they were. No one had seen their faces, no one knew their true names. Almost everyone knew of their crimes.Hange was determined to unravel every last one of their secrets. She will put an end to their crimes and then she will get the elusive Ackermans behind bars.

Chapter 10/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Сhapter 9

“Come with me, I’ll show it to you.”

Levi glared at the girl, feeling his eye twitch.

That girl, Ymir, he didn’t like her. She seemed cocky, overly confident and just, plain annoying. She also tried to shoot him and Hange. And she had interrupted their argument, which could have resulted in… some kind of consensus. Perhaps, even reconciliation. A revelation of some sorts. But now they were back to square one, and Hange returned to giving him long, mistrustful look.

And the fault, in Levi’s opinion, lied entirely on that irritating girl.

Levi didn’t like her, he didn’t trust her and he was adamantly against her becoming a part of their team.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the one calling the shots. Hange was and she was very much pro Ymir becoming a part of their team. And there was nothing he could do about it, except grit his teeth and put on the fiercest of his scowls.

“Where are you taking us?” he caught up with Ymir in a few, swift strides, reaching her and shoving the door she was going to open closed. Levi now stood right beside her, breathing down her neck. Her neck was all he could reach, because, to make matters even worse, the girl was also tall as a fucking tree.

That meant that she could easily look down on him, and that’s exactly what she did, as she stopped and turned around.

“My place,” she answered flippantly.

“Your place?” Hange blinked a couple of times, her mouth slightly open. The expression was endearing, but then again, there was little Levi didn’t find endearing about Hange. Focus, he told himself, forcing his attention back on the conversation. “So this apartment…”

“Oh hell no,” Ymir cringed. “I don’t live in this shithole. I used to live there, but now I simply give that address for the rich assholes I work for. In case some of them actually have heart and decide to pay the poor girl who lives in a basement more.”

“So you use that apartment to scam people?” he couldn’t help his accusing tone. The idea was smart, yes, and Levi was the first person to agree that rich people deserved to have their money taken away, but he was also petty and looking for a reason to dislike the girl even more.

He thought, even hoped that his biting remark would shame Ymir. But all he got in response was an elbow in his side from Hange, and a vicious, “And you’re any different?”

It wasn’t precisely shame that cursed through him after Hange’s words, but it was something similar, close to remorse.

“Who are you, by the way?” her greenish eyes bored into his, as Ymir loomed over him, hands on her hips. “I don’t remember seeing your detective’s badge.”

“Because I don’t have it,” craning his head upwards to scowl at the girl was starting to aggravate his neck muscles just a bit too much, but Levi didn’t allow this little nuisance to break his focus. “As for who I am… you can call me Levi.”

“I can call you Levi? Well, thank you for your kindness.” Ymir cackled, rather loudly. Levi winced at the volume and clenched his fists at the expression of pure mockery on her face. “But I need to know your full name.”

Levi refused to back down or reveal himself so easily. Especially, since… “You didn’t tell us your full name either.”

“Ymir is all I have,” she answered, crossing arms on her chest. In an instant, all signs of mischief were gone from her expression. Now she was staring at Levi levelly, her face guarded and strict. “Orphans don’t have the pleasure of receiving a surname.”

“Oh.”

The soft, quiet sound came from Hange. Levi didn’t need to look away from Ymir to see that Hange was looking at the girl with mix of sadness and compassion. As ready as he was to loathe the insolent brat, he was feeling something similar, a painful clench of his heart that reminded him of his biggest weakness – his unreasoned kindness and desire to help the ones who need it.

Recently, his kindness led him to a fist-fight in the bar. Levi could only guess where this fault of his would bring him this time.

“I don’t need your pity,” Ymir huffed, seeing the sudden change in Levi’s eyes. “What I need is your full name.”

God, she was so tenacious, like a piranha that had latched itself on his leg. He sighed, surrendering to his fate. It seemed like he had no other choice. So keeping his eyes firmly locked on Ymir's, he said, “I’m Levi. Levi Ackerman.”

As soon as these words had left his mouth, Levi found himself pressed against the front door with Ymir once again looming over him. With movement almost too quick for him to catch, Ymir had taken a knife out of the inside pocket of her leather jacket. Now that very same knife was held tightly in her hand, and its edge was pressed threateningly to his stomach.

Hell, how many weapons she had on her?

“Ackerman?” she hissed, her green eyes shooting fire. The knife moved an inch closer to him. “The same Ackerman that had kidnapped Historia?”

It took him a moment too long to get his wits back. He wasn’t threatened with a knife every day of his life, after all. And, by the time, his composure had returned and he was ready to retaliate, Hange decided to take matters in her hands.

Quite literally.

She took Ymir’s wrist and squeezed it tightly, eliciting a pained groan from her. The hold she had on the knife loosened, and it fell down with a resounding sound, barely missing the toe of Levi’s boot.

“We don’t do violence here,” Hange said, her voice tight. “And no, he isn’t the same Ackerman. His uncle is the one who had taken Historia.”

“So you knew about this!” yanking her wrist out of Hange’s hold and cradling it protectively to her chest, Ymir shifted her gaze, turning her anger on her.

“I did,” Hange confirmed. “But Levi knows nothing about his uncle’s crimes.”

Levi stared at Hange wide-eyed, not quite believing what was happening right in front of his eyes. Hange was defending him? She had just protected him from Ymir?

He wasn’t the only who was openly gaping at her, Ymir seemed to have troubles believing Hange was serious as well.

“So you trust him? You, a police officer, trust him?”

“Maybe, trust is not quite the right word,” Hange chuckled, her serious demeanor shifting to present a bashful grin. “But I believe him,” despite the relaxed expression, her voice was filled with conviction. She did believe him, Levi realized, Hange wasn’t simply putting on a show. The revelation caught him off guard. It also made him recall their recent argument. Perhaps, not everything was lost? “We may be chasing different goals, but I believe it will lead to the same outcome.”

“And if working with me goes against all of your morals,” Levi cut in, reverting Ymir’s attention to himself. “Then we should go our separate ways. The tensions,�� he chanced a glanced at Hange, surprised to find that she was actually looking back at him. “Are already high. We don’t need any more infighting.”

Ymir considered them both for a moment, her gaze switching from Levi to Hange. Worrying her lip between her teeth, she appeared deep in thought.

“Fine,” she conceded at last. “It seems like I have no choice but to work with you.”

“Want to save Historia that much, eh?” Hange wiggled her eyebrows in an obscenely ridiculous way. Levi couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. Ymir seemed to have the same reaction to her antics.

“I owe her. She's in this mess because of me,” she explained, rather gruffly. “And,” a smirk pulled on her lips, reminding Levi that Ymir was an irritating brat who had attempted to shot him, and then had the gall to threaten him with a knife. “She is also extremely cute.”

“Ah, she’s adorable like a princess!” Hange agreed with a wide smile. Despite Ymir being nothing short of nuisance just a minute ago, Hange had now her arm wrapped around the girl’s shoulders, talking with her animatedly.

The two of them walked out of the apartment together, still whispering amongst each other. They seemed to be best friends already, which left Levi feeling oddly neglected.

Gods, just how bad did he have it for Hange?

However, he wasn’t feeling abandoned for too long. As soon as they exited the apartment complex, and Ymir started leading them to the aforementioned her place, Hange left her side and fell in step with Levi.

“Hey,” she started, keeping her eyes locked on the horizon. It showed a pretty sight of the setting sun and the warm glow it emanated, but Hange didn’t seem too interested in watching the light reflected in the windows. She simply appeared determined not to meet his eyes. “During your little clash with Ymir… she didn’t hurt you or something?”

Was it his wishful thinking, or did he actually hear hints of concern in her voice? Whatever it was, it sent an exciting pulse through his heart.

“I’m fine. You intervened just in time. By the way… thanks for that.”

Levi cringed at his own awkwardness. He usually wasn’t that clumsy, clumsiness was a big no in his line of work, but Hange excelled at bringing out that part of him. She made him feel so many contrasting emotions that it was hard to navigate through all of them. Sometimes he felt like he was lost in it, blindly stumbling through the workings of his own heart.

“Well, I couldn’t allow our only way to get to Kenny Ackerman get stabbed, could I?”

Of course, Hange was thinking about the case. That was understandable, logical, expected. And whatever concern he had caught in her voice, it was probably directly related to their case.

Their case, he had to focus on it.

You’re here for Kenny, he reminded himself for the nth time. Kenny, not Hange and the weird feeling she provoked in him.

Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, he kept repeating to himself like a mantra. But with Hange still so close to him, his focus was gradually slipping.

Thankfully, Ymir provided an excellent distraction when she stopped them in front of the shadiest bar Levi had ever laid his eyes on. And, considering the fact that he had grown up in the slams and had just returned from the city, where he himself was working in a shady bar with an awful boss, that was saying a lot.

“That’s your place?” he asked in his most unimpressed voice. “You live in a bar?”

“I work at the bar. And I live right above it. And since my shift starts in less than half an hour,” Ymir shrugged. “I decided to mix business with pleasure.”

“Works for me,” Hange hummed, pushing past Levi to get to the entrance. “What floor your apartment is?”

“Third, the first one on the left.”

“Are you even allowed to work at the bar?” Levi looked critically at Ymir. “I thought you were a teenager.”

“Are you allowed to drink?” Ymir easily parried. “I thought you were a kid.”

Brats and their loud mouths, there was nothing that irritated Levi more. Listening to Ymir’s cackling, he could only grit his teeth. His scowl darkened even more, when he saw Hange high-fiving the insolent girl.

“I’m glad you’re starting to get along,” she chuckled, patting Levi and Ymir on their shoulders. “But let’s move on, there is a girl that needs to be saved.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Ymir mumbled, leading them upstairs.

___

Ymir’s apartment turned out to be a kitchen and a single room that simultaneously served as a bedroom, a study and a living room. In the center stood an old dusty couch with clothes thrown all around it, next to it was a rickety coffee table with a laptop on it, and on the opposite wall, there was…

Wow. So Ymir was that serious about finding Historia?

The wall was covered with newspapers clippings and photos. And the center of it all was the photo of Historia, with various strings attached to it.

“So…” Hange awkwardly shuffled to take a better look at it. “Care to explain all of it?”

“Sure,” Ymir nodded. “But it might take a while. Do you want something to drink?”

“Do you have tea?” Levi asked, subconsciously knowing the answer already.

“Nope, only beer.”

“I’ll have a beer, please,” Hange smiled, and then, to Levi’s horror, she took out the fucking notebook. He was getting sick of it.

Ymir returned from the kitchen, holding three bottles of beer. She handed one to Hange, then turned to Levi, looking him up and down. Levi didn’t like where this was going.

“Do you have an ID, sir?” she asked in the most mocking, annoying voice Levi had ever heard. And he thought that Kenny was the most irritating person in this world. Ymir was proving him seriously wrong.

And Hange’s delighted laugher wasn’t making him feel any better.

“Fuck off,” he snapped, snatching the bottle from her.

“Alright, let’s start,” Ymir waited for Hange to settle on a couch. Then she opened her bottle and pointed it at the photo of Historia. “So you know that Krista Lenz isn’t her real name, yes?”

“Yep,” Hange confirmed.

“And that her father,” Ymir trailed the bottle to the side, following the string to the photo of middle-aged man. “Is Rod Reiss.”

“We… recently found about it.”

“And since an Ackerman is sitting right next to you, I’m assuming you know about Kenny Ackerman as well?”

Before nodding, Hange stole a quick glance at Levi. She turned away before Levi could decipher the meaning of it.

“And you really don’t know where he is?” Ymir directed her question at Levi. “Isn’t he your uncle or something?”

“He is my uncle.” Levi stared at the wall, fixing his eyes on the place where Kenny’s photo should have been. But, apparently, Ymir couldn’t find it, so instead there was a white square with his name written on it. Still, the fact that she managed to find that much information was already an astonishing achievement. It actually made Levi curious… “Where did you get his name?”

As far as Levi was aware, Kenny was obsessively secretive. He might appear carefree and careless, but that was just a façade. He wouldn’t survive for as long as he did if he hadn’t shrouded his identity in the thick fog of secret. The only mistake of his that Levi could remember was his fuck up with Traute, and she was probably already dealt with, in one way or another. So how did a girl find out about him?

“It wasn’t all that hard,” Ymir flippantly admitted. “I was spying on Reiss, and I once saw him talk with Ackerman. It didn’t take a genius to realize everything else. By the way,” she levelled Levi with a hard look. “Thanks for killing my boss. Because of that, I had to return to working at this shitty bar.”

Levi shrugged. He could say that technically he wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger and killed that guy. But Ymir didn’t seem too interested in technicalities.

“If you know about Kenny,” Hange began, biting at her pen. “Then do you know why he had taken Historia?”

Ymir shook her head, shuttering Levi’s hope to easily find the answer to the question ‘what the fuck was Kenny doing’. “I guess he had some fallout with Reiss and decided to use Historia as a leverae. And that brings me to my next point,” the beer bottle travelled upwards, to the photo of a young woman with long black hair. “What do you know about Frieda Reiss?”

“Not much,” Hange admitted after studying the photo for a several moments. “She is Reiss’ eldest daughter, isn’t she? And she’s an aspiring artist, if the memory serves me right.”

“Well, you already know more than I expected. Yes, Frieda is Reiss’ daughter, which makes her Historia’s half-sister.”

“And that’s important how?” Levi asked, smoothly standing up in guise of taking a closer look at Ymir’s crazy wall.

He walked up to it, squinted at the various scribblings, and then moved closer to the desk that stood by the window. He leaned against it, pretending to listen to Ymir and Hange’s conversation.

“Out of all of Reiss’ family, Frieda is the only who gives a damn about Historia. If we want to find out about Historia’s whereabouts, she’s our best bet.”

“You think she knows something?” Hange moved slightly forward, in an attempt to take a closer look at the wall and Frieda’s photo on it. “You talked with her?”

Ymir scrunched her nose, making an extremely displeased face. She took a large swing from the bottle, cringing slightly at the bitter taste. “She doesn’t want to talk with me. We had an argument of sorts.”

“An argument…” Hange frowned. “About what?”

While Ymir was busy forming an adequate explanation, Levi discreetly opened the top drawer of her desk.

Once a thief, forever a thief, that was what Hange had told him? No point in going against his own nature then, Levi thought, as he flipped through the contents of the drawer. Inside there were photos, a lot of photos. A dozen, if not even more. They varied in foreshortening, angle, color palette. And yet the subject remained the same.

It was Historia.

There was a picture of Historia from across the street, enjoying a book inside the café. And a picture of Historia, sitting on a bench in the park and eating an ice-cream. There was Historia smiling, Historia frowning, Historia laughing, Historia… oh. So Ymir got that close to the girl she was supposed to be spying on?

Hiding the picture of two girls kissing, Levi closed the drawer and returned his attention to the conversation on hand.

“I already told you Frieda cares about Historia. And when she found out that I was spying on her father, and, subsequently on Historia too, well,” Ymir ran a hand through her hair. “Let’s just say she wasn’t too happy about it.”

“But?” Hange prompted, notebook clenched tightly in her hand. “You think that Frieda knows something?”

“Reiss definitely knows something, I’m sure Ackerman has contacted him with some kind of ransom note.”

“And Reiss didn’t go to the police, because he doesn’t want the world to know about his connection to Historia.”

“Exactly,” Ymir confirmed. “And if there was actually some communication between him and Ackerman, Frieda is the only who knows about it. She’s in on everything her father is doing.”

“But she’s the daughter of an influential politician and she’s a famous artist,” Hange bit at her thumb, her frown deepening. “How the heck we can get her to talk? Especially if her father doesn’t want to involve the police.”

Ymir grinned. “I’m glad you asked.”

Oh no. Levi didn’t like that smile or that tone. An awful offer was going to be made to them. Or, even worse, that would be a demand.

With his stomach sinking, he sighed and prepared for the worst.

Ymir took a step to the side, revealing the last part of puzzle. It was a clipping from a newspaper article that talked about… Levi squinted… an upcoming gala that was going to be held at the Reiss’ mansion. Great.

“Frieda is the one who organizes the gala and she is the one who will be hosting it,” Ymir explained. “Her father won’t be here, and that will give you an opportunity to get closer to her.”

“But won’t there be a security? How can we get in?” Hange asked. “And how will we convince her to share the information with us?”

“I can obtain two tickets for you. As for convincing Frieda… I don’t think she’ll need much of it. She wants to save her sister, just say you’re from police and she’ll probably share everything she knows.”

“And what if she doesn’t want to talk to us? What if she orders the guards to throw us out? Too many unknowns for this to effectively work out. I say the plan is too risky,” Levi concluded, crossing hands on his chest.

“But we don’t really lose anything,” Hange countered. “It’s a gamble.”

“It’s a waste of time.” Levi argued.

“It won’t be a waste of time with you,” Ymir said. “If you don’t succeed with talking to Frieda, then…” she wiggled her eyebrows, looking at Levi.

Hange shot up to her feet. “Oh no. No, no, no. No! I can’t allow you to break inside and snoop around. It’s Reiss’ mansion! If we get caught, I’ll get skinned alive.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Hange,” Levi rolled his eyes. Now that Ymir mentioned the idea of snooping around, he liked the plan a lot more. “We’ve already broken into someone’s apartment, and nothing bad happened.”

“We almost got shot at,” Hange reminded him through the gritted teeth.

“Then don’t get caught,” Ymir advised. “Ackermans were never caught, right? And you have Ackerman with you. I’m sure,” there it was again, that tiny, irritating smirk. “He’ll do his best to protect you.”

“Fine,” Hange ruffled her hair, looking absolutely frantic. She lifted the bottle of beer to her lips, downing half of it in one go. “Fine, fine, we’ll do it your way. But… I don’t know what to wear to this kind of event.”

“Don’t worry,” Ymir gave her a thorough once-over, going from the head to toe and focusing on Hange’s long legs, thin waist and broad shoulders. She licked her lips. “I’ll find something for you.”

“And me?” Levi asked, glaring at the girl who was ogling Hange so shamelessly. “Do you have something for me?”

“You’re a legendary thief,” Ymir scoffed, barely sparing him a glance. “Steal a suit for yourself or something.”

Fuck, how he hated the annoying brats. There was nothing worse than them.

“If we have planned everything out,” Ymir finished her beer and threw the bottle in the trashcan that, to Levi’s disgust, was already overwhelmed with bottles and empty pizza boxes. “Then I need to go. My shift starts in just few minutes. If you need something else, you can use my laptop. There is a rough blueprint of Reiss’ mansion there.”

“How did you manage to get inside?” Hange said, already taking the laptop in her hands.

Ymir winked, the insufferable smirk returning. “Let’s just say that I’m excellent at getting inside ladies' private chambers.”

The horrible innuendo was bad enough on its own, but Hange’s loud laughter made it much, much worse. Levi could only roll his eyes and scoff, apparently, he was destined to be surrounded by annoying people with terrible jokes.

Well, at least, Hange didn’t look so tense anymore. Perhaps, Ymir’s presence was a buffer between the tensions that had been rising all day. If so, Levi was glad to have the girl around, despite tasteless innuendos and all.

“There is left over pizza in the refrigerator and there is booze under the counter if you need it.”

“And you?” Hange turned to Levi. “I can’t exactly let you go home, but…”

“He can go with me,” Ymir offered. “I’ll pour him a drink, keep an eye so he won’t sneak away.”

Spend the evening with Hange or with the brat who would probably continue to mercilessly mock him, Levi knew what option he would choose, but… he wasn’t the one calling the shots.

Hange was.

“Excellent!” she gave Ymir thumbs up and a brilliant smile. “I won’t be long, I promise.”

With that Ymir grabbed him by the elbow and started dragging him downstairs. Levi could only sigh and surrender.

___

“So,” Ymir poured a shot of whiskey and handed it to him, leaning against the counter and studying his face. The unnatural dark red lighting of the bar made her look even more imposing. The irritating smirk was already in place, playing on her thin lips. “What is happening between you and detective badass?”

Color rushed to his cheeks, and Levi thanked the lighting for hiding the unfortunate reaction.

“Nothing,” he mumbled into his drink.

“Nothing? So what about that argument I’ve overheard and the two of you rolling around on the floor of my apartment? You call that nothing?”

“Eavesdropping is bad,” Levi said, but, despite the biting tone, he lowered his head even further down. That was a topic he really didn’t want to discuss. Especially, with a girl he met just an hour ago. “And we weren’t rolling around, I saved Hange from getting shot.”

“I dig up dirty secrets for a living. Eavesdropping is my job. And you could have just shoved her aside, not jump onto her, you know?”

“Shut up,” he put the glass of whiskey up to his lips, finishing it in one large gulp. The bitter, burning liquid travelled down his throat, making him shiver. He pushed the glass back to Ymir. “Another one.”

“Ah ah,” she wiggled her finger. “I won’t let you have another drink until you tell me what the heck is going between you two.”

“Why are so interested in it?”

Ymir looked around the bar. There was just a couple of customers inside, all of them slowly nursing their drinks and seemingly uninterested in ordering something else. As her eyes shifted from one corner to another, Ymir shrugged. “It’s a slow night. And I have a feeling something juicy has transpired.”

“Alright, I’ll tell,” after all, what the heck he was losing? His dignity? He bid goodbye to it a long time ago. Besides, there was something he wanted to get out of Ymir as well. “But in exchange you’ll tell me what happened between you and Historia.”

“Nothing,” was probably what Ymir wanted to exclaim. Her widened eyes and scandalized expression were definitely screaming that. But Levi raised a hand before she could even start denying his claim.

“I found the pictures inside your desk.”

If he thought that Ymir’s face showed disbelief and anger before, now there was pure rage. “Going through other people’s stuff is bad,” she hissed, her eyes narrowed into slits.

“I’m a thief,” Levi graciously accepted the drink she prepared to him. “Going through other people’s stuff is my job.”

“Has anyone told you how irritating you are?”

“Has anyone told you?”

Looming over him with hands on her hips, Ymir stared down at him. Levi stared back, putting the darkest of his glares.

Ymir was the first one to surrender, breaking the eye contact with a low chuckle. “Alright, alright, we’re both assholes.”

“That we are,” he agreed, taking another sip from his glass. He put it back down softly, the ice cubes clinking together. “So what’s the deal between you and Historia?”

Ymir took a deep sigh and grabbed the closest glass to her, starting to mindlessly clean it with a rag. The silence stretched, the sounds of tense rubbing of the glass taking over. Levi wanted to repeat his question, but then— Ymir finally gathered enough courage to start talking.

“So you already know that I was supposed to spy on Historia. Reiss had an enemy in the parliament that wanted to expose his secret daughter, and, well,” she shook her head and laughed, the sound devoid of mirth but filled with bitterness. “Whatever pays the bills, right? So I found that girl, took a few photos and then I was asked to bring a DNA sample, to make sure that she really is Reiss’ daughter and it isn’t just a rumor, created by his former maid. I broke inside her room at campus, took a hair out of the hairbrush, and I was already leaving when some clumsy idiot bumped into me and I fell down the stairs. And that how I actually met Historia. Unaware that moments ago I was looking through her things, she brought me to her room and forcefully bandaged my sprained ankle.”

“And that’s it? You literally fell for her?” the story made him chuckle. It also made him remember a similar story – a story about bumping into someone on the street, about falling in more ways than just one.

“Well, Historia made sure to call and text me every day for the entirety of three weeks, because she read somewhere that it takes three weeks for the ankle sprain to heal completely. She also personally checked up on me a couple of times, although I’m not even sure if my ankle was actually sprained. But,” Ymir rubbed the back of her neck, and, perhaps, it was the treacherous lightning, but it looked like she was blushing. “I couldn’t exactly say no to a cute girl like this, you know?”

“And? Did she find out who you actually are?”

“No. But her sister did. I don’t know if Historia knows who Frieda truly is, and I don’t know why Frieda is so obsessed with her, but she found me and threatened to use her father’s connections to throw me in jail. I grew up on a street, so there was a lot of illegal stuff I did, and… I couldn’t exactly risk it. I wanted to sneak into Historia’s dorm, you know, have, at least some kind of a goodbye… but when I got inside, she wasn’t there. The next day I found that she was kidnapped.”

Silence fell over them. What was there to say? Tell that he felt sorry for her? That he knew just how shitty she was feeling right now?

Nothing he could say would make Ymir feel better.

“What about you then? What did you do to make our fierce detective glare at you so much?”

“She was the lead detective investigating out heists. And…”

“Ohh,” Ymir sounded intrigued. “So you seduced her? To get the information out of her? But then fell for her along the way?”

“No. I just fell. Bumped into four-eyes on the street and dropped all of my groceries, so she decided to make it up for me. It kinda went up from there.”

“Oh,” the interest disappeared from her voice completely. “And what happened next?”

“And then she got really close to catching us, and I decided to run away, and then my uncle shot her, and then,” Levi spat bitterly, drowning his misery with another mouthful of whiskey. “And then her boss found out who I really am and I left before I could bid her an actual goodbye. I moved to another part of the world, found myself a job, in a bar, if you would believe me, and then Hange found me and demanded I come back to help her catch my uncle.”

“Ow, that’s rough, dude.” Ymir refilled his glass. “Did you the two of you at least bang?”

“What!” Levi was sure his face was as a tomato. He glared fiercely at the girl, desperately trying to mask his embarrassment and save at least some remnants of his dignity.

“Don’t deny that you haven’t thought about it,” she taunted, grinning wildly, victoriously, like a predator who had just stumbled upon an easy prey. Fucking piranha. “Those long legs and wide shoulders, I bet she has abs too, and have you seen that ass, I’d—”

“Shut up,” Levi growled, closing his eyes to get that image of Hange out of his head. Hange did have a very nice body, he’d have to be blind not to see that, but that’s— that wasn’t the reason why he liked her, and even if he did think about her in that way – which, of course, he absolutely didn’t – Ymir was still the last person on Earth he’d like to discuss that with. Well, maybe, Kenny was the last person he’d discuss that with, but Ymir was definitely near the bottom of that list as well. “I’ve never, ever, thought about me and Hange in that way.”

“Well, well, someone is repressed,” Ymir didn’t take mercy on him, her voice becoming even more aggravating. “It’s not heathy for a man your age, you know? You need to learn how to relax, for example, you can sit in the dark room, think long and hard about hot detectives, imagine Hange arresting you, handcuffing you and then—”

Jesus Christ. Levi didn’t think it was possible for his cheeks to feel that hot. They were just as hot as—

Fuck, even his subconscious was working against him.

Ymir was laughing openly now, doubled over the counter and heaving breathlessly. “Man, you should have seen your face, it’s so easy to mess with you.”

“You’re a nuisance, I can’t even begin to understand how your Historia could have fallen for you.”

“The same applies to you, midget. How could someone as hot as detective Hange end up with a crush on you of all people?”

“Hange is too trustworthy and open,” Levi shrugged.

“And Historia is too kind and naïve.” Ymir agreed with a smile that looked too soft on the face of the girl who just minutes ago was mocking him mercilessly. “So what, it was their shortcomings that let us meet them?”

“Or it was fate. Or just dumb luck.”

Ymir grabbed a glass from the behind her, poured whiskey in it and raised it up. “To their shortcomings then. Or fate and dumb luck.”

Levi chuckled, as he brought his glass to hers. Yeah, he could drink for that.

Their glasses clinked, and Ymir’s expression changed, ever so slightly. The grin was still there, but it wasn’t as annoying as it was before. Now, it almost looked friendly. Levi felt his own lips curl up in a smile. Brats, perhaps, they weren’t that terrible after all.

“I’ll go out for a smoke,” he told Ymir, patting his jacket for a cigarette pack. “If four-eyes shows up…”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll tell her that you just went out, don’t worry. I’m not that much of a nuisance,” she winked at him, following this gesture with another fit of boisterous laughter.

Levi rolled his eyes at the display and hurried to the exit.

He breathed a deep sigh of relief when the chill, night air greeted him. The bars usually didn’t smell all that great, and this one wasn’t an exception. The stench of brewery and the general stuffiness of these places were the main reason why Levi preferred to drink at home. He was never one for the company anyway, and his general disgust of bars only added to his alienation.

Besides, he had a long, long day after a long and tiring flight. It was the first time he was left alone ever since he had walked off the plane, and Levi decided to relish that moment, however short it may be.

He lighted up the cigarette and put it to his lips, deeply inhaling the fresh minty smoke.

Fuck… what a day. And it wasn’t even finished yet.

Levi wondered what was going to happen next, was Hange serious about keeping watch on him? If so, how was she planning to go about it? Make him stay at her apartment? The idea wasn’t exactly opposing to him, especially after seeing the mess that Kenny made of their place.

And, Kenny, what a bastard. Couldn’t he at least try to make looking for him easier? It was just one day, and Levi was positively spent. He felt like he could sleep for millennia.

And tomorrow was not going to be any better, with this whole gala shit. He’d be lucky if next evening wouldn’t end up with him sent in prison by Reiss.

However, he wasn’t going to be the only one taking that risk. Hange was going with him, and if she was caught, she could very well lose her job. If that possibility didn’t scare Hange, he wouldn’t let it scare him as well.

Still… a lot of things could go wrong tomorrow. He had to be ready to tackle at least some of them.

With another weary sigh, Levi took another drag of the cigarette, hoping the tobacco would provide a small amount of comfort. Coupled with all the whiskey he had drunk, the cigarette was doing its job fairly well until—

Until the front door of the bar had opened and Hange had walked out, her eyes immediately zooning in on him.

“Levi!”

She called him Levi, not Ackerman, and she did so with a wide, genuinely happy smile instead of an angry glare. She leaned against the wall next to him, bumping their shoulders merrily, and Levi was ready to triumph but then he caught the stench coming from Hange and saw her flushed cheeks and dilated pupils.

So she was drunk. Excellent, just what he needed to end that already horrible day.

“Hange,” he pinched the bridge of his, setting the cigarette aside. Perhaps, he just imagined it. Perhaps, Hange wasn’t actually drunk and her behavior had a completely logical explanation. “Hange, are you alright?”

“Um, sure,” she blinked sleepily, pressing closer to him. She was just a breath away of leaning fully against him. Feeling his heart pound in his chest, Levi tried to stay as still as possible, keeping the contact between them as minimal as he could. His mind decided to suddenly remind him of every stupid thing Ymir had told to him today. Levi never felt so betrayed by his own subconscious. “I’m just tired and a little hungry, and I think I had too much of the rum I found under the counter in Ymir’s apartment.”

And before Levi could react, before he could, maybe, scold Hange for this act of recklessness, she kicked the ground underneath him once again.

“Hey, can I have it?” she pointed to his cigarette, already reaching to it.

Moving the hand with cigarette away from Hange, Levi hesitated. On one hand, smoking could make her feel that much worse, on the other, she could just as well start arguing with him, and that was the last thing he needed today. So he settled on a middle ground.

“You can have one drag,” he allowed, handing her a cigarette.

But Hange didn’t take the cigarette from his hand. Instead, she slightly opened her mouth, as though in invitation.

Fucking hell. Was drunk Hange always like this?

Slowly, doing his best to ignore the trembling in his hands, he lifted the cigarette to her lips. Hange closed her mouth around it, her eyes fluttered shut as she started to inhale the smoke.

Levi watched her, completely transfixed, he never thought that someone could be that attractive while smoking, but here he was…

He was standing close to Hange, so close that he could see every individual eyelash, a small mole at the side of her cheek, the barely visible freckles on her nose, the little scar on her forehead. Her face was illuminated by the blue flickering sign with the name of the bar. The unnatural lighting made her seem even more surreal.

“Fuck!”

The illusion was broken abruptly, when Hange pushed him away and doubled down, coughing fit wracking through her body.

“Shit!” she croaked, in between the coughs. “I didn’t know that thing would be so strong, it’s so—”

“Wait.” Levi was so confused. “You’ve never smoked before?”

“No.”

God, what an insufferable person.

“Then why the hell you’ve asked for my cigarette?”

“Don’t know!” Hange straightened up, spreading her hands. The frantic motion made her stagger. Levi caught her by the elbow before she fell. “I just thought it would feel good. But it didn’t!”

“Idiot.” Levi scoffed. He winced when he realized that there was too much fondness in his tone.

“I’m just tired,” Hange sighed, dropping her shoulders and bending her knees to slide lower off the wall. “I deserve a break, don’t I? I didn’t have one in so long…”

Levi felt like he knew the answer to his question already. Yet, he still asked. “When was the last time you took a break?”

“When you left. As soon as I was discharged from the hospital, I threw myself into my work.”

Ouch. That was probably his fault.

He was contemplating what answer wouldn’t make him sound like an asshole while simultaneously keeping in secret just how much he had missed her during all the months he was gone, when he felt something warm touch his cheek.

He lifted his eyes from the grey, cracked asphalt and—

Cigarette fell from between his fingers.

Hange was closer than she was before, and her palm was resting on his cheek, absentmindedly caressing his skin.

“That thing…” with a feather light touch of her thumb, she traced the already healing cut on his cheek. “Where did you get this?”

“This…” fuck, why Hange’s proximity made it so hard for him to think? His thoughts were sluggish as ever, the neurons reacting with the pace as slow as it was humanly possible. With more effort than he was willing to admit, Levi forced himself to focus. “Would you believe it if I say that I received this thing while defending three teenagers from the local gangsters?”

Hange chuckled, the sound seemed warm enough to shield Levi even from the harshest winds of winter. “That depends… would you believe that, despite everything, a part of me is actually glad that you came back?”

Oh. Levi drew a sharp breath. Whatever he had expected Hange to say, this wasn’t it.

But Hange was drunk, he reminded himself. Hange was drunk and chances were she probably wouldn’t remember this conversation at all. He could take some of the weight off his chest and, perhaps, Hange would be none the wiser.

So he laid his hand on top of Hange’s, and said, “Only if you would believe that I wish I didn’t hurt you. That was never my intention. And I also wish we could have gone on that skating rink date you’ve promised me.”

He expected Hange to lash out. He expected her to push him away and start calling him names. He expected literally anything else but not for Hange starting to recite Shakespeare.

“Oh Romeo, Romeo!” with all the dramatics of the drunken person, she fell against him, a hand flying to her forehead. “Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name!”

“Four-eyes?”

“Sorry,” she laughed, covering her mouth with a hand. Her head laying on his shoulder, she looked up, her eyes sparkling. “It just… It kinda fits, don’t you think? You know if you weren’t Montecchi and I wasn’t Capuletti, perhaps then…”

Perhaps. And, oh, how Levi wished that ‘perhaps’ turned into ‘possibly’ and into actual truth. But— they were who they were, for the better or worse.

And entertaining what ifs would only make both of them more miserable. So before he did something stupid, like press his lips to Hange and taste that horrible rum she was drinking, Levi decided to change the course and the mood of their conversation. He playfully flicked her forehead and pushed her away from him. “I didn’t know that police officers could recite Shakespeare from the top of their head.”

“No one believes me,” Hange whispered with a naughty smile. “But I was a member of the drama club in high school.”

“Did you play Juliette?”

“No, I was Romeo, but,” she winked. “I had a very pretty Juliette.”

“Of course, you had,” Levi had no doubts about it. He did, however, have a regret that he wasn’t there to witness it. Watch lanky teenage Hange jump around the stage, shouting about her love to Juliet and hatred of Capuletti in the most melodramatic fashion possible? What was better than it? “Now, c’mon,” he gently pushed her forward, making sure she didn’t stumble and fall. “Let’s go inside, it’s getting cold.”

“Yeah, let’s—”

Levi’s hand was hovering above her shoulder, but when Hange touched the side of her face and started to slowly crane towards the ground, he had to wrap his fingers firmly around her elbow. With eyes widening in fear, he watched how Hange’s eyes rolled back into her head and she fell limply against his side.

“Hange!” he shook her, but received no answer. His blood started to rapidly turn into ice. “Hange,” he called again, more softly. She didn’t even stir.

Fuck, was she drunk enough to black out? Or did she faint because of the fatigue? Or was it the combination of the two?

Whatever was the case, but he had to, at least, bring Hange back inside the bar. Keeping his hand on her waist, Levi carefully opened the front door and stumbled inside.

All eyes were on him as soon as he walked in. And no one’s stare was as surprised as Ymir’s.

“What the fuck did you do to her?”

“Your fucking fault,” he gritted through his teeth, as he approached the bar counter and pushed Hange on one of the chairs. “She drank too much while she was working.”

“Shit. And what are you going to do now?”

He didn’t have a lot of options. He could let Hange stay with Ymir, he could let Hange crush at his place, or… he could bring her to her own apartment.

The third option was probably the one Hange would be most comfortable with, but there was a tiny problem with it – he didn’t know where she lived.

“She left her bag here while she went outside to find you,” Ymir said, producing the said bag from behind the counter. “Her phone was blowing out all this time, maybe, you should call back? Perhaps, a friend will come to pick her up?”

Levi swallowed. He had a feeling that he knew what friend was calling Hange so insistently. With dread settling in, he took the bag from Ymir’s hands and fished out the phone.

The screen lighted up, showing five missed calls from – surprise, surprise - Erwin.

Fuck, just as he had expected. Just what he was fearful of.

With his insides twisting in a knot, Levi stared at Erwin’s photo, at his relaxed and smiling face. Levi remembered him a little differently. He remembered him as cunning, ruthless and calculating. Their encounter at the precinct was still fresh in Levi’s mind. His words, spoken quietly but with so much authority, were still ringing in his ears.

Leave this city, Levi Ackerman, and don't come back. Stop toying with Hange's feelings and don’t you dare contact her ever again.

As it was evident from the photo Hange chose for him, she saw a very different version of Erwin Smith. She saw him as her caring and kind boss. Levi doubted that Erwin would show the same side of himself to him.

“Would you like to make that call?” he handed the phone to Ymir.

She pushed it back with a short laugh. “I have a feeling that her friend is cop, so, no, I’m not very eager to become his acquaintance.”

Shit. So he had to do it. Fuck, Levi didn’t want to. He really, really didn’t want to.

But he had to do it, for Hange.

That last thought gave him enough courage to unlock the phone and dial the number. He closed his eyes tightly as soon as he did, his stomach was falling lower and lower with each passing beep.

On the third one, his call was answered.

“Hange?” well, now his voice definitely didn’t sound as cold and strict as it did during their last conversation. Right now, Captain Erwin Smith sounded almost frantic. “Hange, where are you? Why didn’t you pick up? I’ve been calling you—”

“Erm,” Levi cleared his throat, shifting his weight from one foot to another. Honestly, he’d rather take on ten more gangsters from Signapore, or have his leg ripped out than continue this conversation. “It’s not Hange.”

“Ackerman.” And there it was, that cold, emotionless tone. Awesome. But now… there was more urgency to it. And much more anger. “Where is Hange? What did you do to her? If you laid even a finger—”

“Jesus, calm the fuck down. Hange is fine.” Except that she wasn’t. Her eyes were still closed as she sat slumped in a chair. “She just… tired herself out. I need you to come and take her home.”

There was a pause, a silence that lasted for a long, long moment. Erwin was probably contemplating if he should trust him or not. At last, he said, “Send me your location.”

He ended the call immediately.

A little shaken after the encounter, Levi thought about his next move, should he wait for Erwin or—

“I would advise against it,” Ymir said, unusually serious. “From what I’ve heard just now, the guy hates your guts. Don’t aggravate the situation any further and don’t make him look for you around the city. He won’t be happy when he finds you.”

Yeah, Levi thought so too.

“Pour me another glass,” he asked, his tone almost pleading. And here he was worrying about tomorrow… and now he could very well find himself sitting behind bars in the next hour.

___

Erwin arrived not even ten minutes later, walking into the bar like he owned the damn place. Last time Levi saw him, he was wearing police uniform, complete with white shirt and dark jacket. Now he was dressed in an unbuttoned coat and grey sweatpants, a combination, which would have looked ridiculous on anyone else. Somehow, Erwin still managed to look formidable.

His eyes were the same icy cold color as Levi had remembered, but, because he was watching him so closely, he could notice the hint of concern that appeared, when Erwin’s gaze landed on Hange.

He crossed the bar in a few short strides, standing protectively over her. He shook her shoulder, then, with more trepidation than Levi would have expected from him, he checked her pulse. The sigh that escaped him was filled with relief, but when Erwin turned to face Levi, none of it was reflected on his face.

“What had happened?”

His voice was quiet, controlled. Even so, the anger was slipping through. Levi suppressed a shiver. He would not let this man intimidate him.

“She exhausted herself to the point of collapsing. Someone must have pushed too much work on her.”

Perhaps, his words were unjust, after all, Levi knew how much Erwin cared about Hange. And he knew that the man did his best to protect her from the burdens of their work. But Erwin didn’t like Levi, and while it was more than understandable, the feeling was also more than mutual.

However, Erwin didn’t seem offended or outraged. He seemed to disregard Levi’s presence completely.

“How much do I have to pay?” he asked Ymir, keeping his hand on Hange’s shoulder.

“It’s on the house,” Ymir replied, almost frantically. If Levi hadn’t been mocked by this girl for the entirety of the evening, he’d say that she looked scared. Even so, it was hard to deny that she certainly was cautious.

“Thank you,” Erwin nodded, “And sorry for the troubles. I’ll take her home now. And you,” he pointed with his chin at Levi. “You’re going with me.”

Levi gulped, but didn’t try to argue. Firstly, he didn’t want to start a scene. And secondly, he wasn’t sure that whatever scene he’d cause, he’d come out of it as a winner.

“Good luck, dude,” Ymir whispered to him. She almost sounded sincere. Did it mean he looked that pathetic?

He reached out to Hange, but one freezing look from Erwin, and Levi pulled his hand back, curling it into a fist.

Fuck, he hoped Hange lived somewhere nearby. Otherwise, one hell of a drive was waiting for him.

Erwin scooped Hange into his arms, effortlessly lifting her up. Her head rolled to his shoulder, nose fitting into the crook of his neck.

In his giant arms, Hange seemed so small, almost vulnerable. As he watched Erwin carry her outside, Levi felt sudden, completely illogical pang of jealousy.

Fuck, now he was just going crazy.

Erwin led him out to the parking lot, where a black sedan was parked.

Levi wanted to help him open the door, but apparently Erwin needed only one hand to hold Hange. As the door to the back seat was opened, he placed her inside, careful not to bump her into anything.

Just before Levi could slide into the backseat beside Hange, pull her head onto his lap, maybe stroke her hair… Erwin faced him once again, his strong jaw clenched and his mouth set in a firm line. “Take the passenger seat.”

Again, Levi complied without another a single complain. The situation was already tense, after all.

As he lowered himself into a passenger seat, Levi felt like his stomach was filled with heavy rocks. As he pulled the seatbelt over his chest, he felt like it was growing tighter with every breath he took.

A moment later, Erwin sat down too, sliding into the driver’s seat and igniting the car. He rode out of the parking lot wordlessly. He continued to drive in the utter silence.

In his life, Levi had enough moments that made his throat seize with worry. He was a criminal, a thief, and their heists didn’t always go according to the plan. But never before he had felt so… on edge. He felt like was standing on the top of the skyscraper, his feet dangerously close to verge of it. A sudden gush of wind, a single uneven breath could send him flying down.

So Levi sat tight, his hands curled into fists at his lap. He stared right ahead, afraid to suddenly meet Erwin’s gaze. He was breathing as quietly as possible, not wanting to upset the fragile balance.

But the balance was ruined, destroyed completely, without a hope of salvation, when they heard a sharp gasp coming from the backseat.

Hange’s head appeared in the space between two front seats a second later. Her eyes were shifting from Levi to Erwin, the gears in her head turning so quickly, Levi could almost hear their movements.

The realization came to her way too swiftly, cruel in its suddenness.

“Fuck,” she took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes with a pained expression. “Erwin, listen, I can explain—”

“You will,” he said, meeting her eyes in the rear view mirror. “After I get you home.”

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, and if Levi thought that the silence was tense and pressing before, this one opened a whole new level. At least, now it wasn’t as quiet as before, because Hange kept shifting in her seat. Levi could practically feel her eyes bore into the back of his head. He would have snapped, would have told her to quit staring like a weirdo, if her unnaturally calm boss wasn’t sitting right next to him.

When Erwin parked the car next to the apartment complex where Hange was evidently living, Levi breathed out a loud sigh of relief. Fuck, it felt like he was holding in a dump for the entirety of the fifteen-minute trip.

Growing up without mother, having only Kenny as a guardian, Levi’s childhood was very different from the other kids. He never shared his classmates’ interests, never went to parties and football matches, preferring to stay at home and help his uncle get ready for his next heist. He never actually had the pleasure to experience the scenario of asking someone on a date. He also never knew the humiliation and shame one would feel if their date was interrupted by his crush’s father. Of course, he and Hange weren’t on a date, and Erwin wasn’t her father, but as the three of them were standing in the elevator, waiting for it to stop at the fourteenth floor, Levi was as worried and mortified as a teenager who got their date ruined.

When they exited the elevator, Hange took the lead, walking towards her apartment with her head lowered and shoulders slumped.

She reached the door and unlocked it, letting them enter first.

“I didn’t expect guests,” chuckling so awkwardly that Levi cringed, she turned the light on, basking her apartment in a faint orange light. “So sorry for the mess.”

Levi would have snort and say that he wasn’t expecting anything else, or he would have scrunch his nose at the amount of clatter that he saw on the coffee table in the living room. However, the presence of Erwin wasn’t exactly making him feel playful.

Hange was either still drunk or the exhaustion was still having its effect on her, but as she walked further into the apartment, she was slightly staggering.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Erwin said, his voice gentler than Levi had ever heard it. With a hand on the small of her back, he guided Hange towards the closed door, where, as Levi guessed, her bedroom was. “You stay here,” he told Levi.

Levi barely resisted the urge to scoff. What, Erwin thought that he was stupid or daring enough to follow? He was certainly not.

After the door after Hange and Erwin closed, Levi continued standing awkwardly in the hallway for another moment. He could faintly hear their voices coming from another room, but they were too quiet for him to understand what the conversation was about.

Ignoring the urge to come closer and eavesdrop, Levi decided to take a look around the apartment.

It was messy – just as Hange had said. Books and papers were scattered around, the coffee table had a a large stain on it, and the couch was peppered with crumbs. But that wasn’t what interested Levi. He was much more interested in learning what her apartment was hiding beyond filth and trash.

Firstly, he headed to the large bookshelf in the living room. As he had expected, there were lots of textbooks there – books on criminology, forensic science, crime prevention and even sociology. The presence of fiction books wasn’t surprising, but the amount of them certainly was. Apparently, the workaholic detective Hange Zoe was also an avid book worm. His lips curling up, he stored that small piece of trivia to the part of his mind that was dedicated to everything he found endearing about Hange.

Next to the books stood a couple of picture frames. One of them showed Hange, squished between two men – Erwin and her other blonde friend, Mike. All three of them were smiling, happy and younger than they were now.

The second photo was of Hange and two adults – her parents, Levi presumed. If the previous photo pictured Hange who was only a couple of years younger, this one showed a much, much younger version. She was barely a teenager there – clad in overalls, with skinned knee, duct-taped glasses and wearing a bright, joyful smile.

Looking at that smile, Levi couldn’t help but smile back.

His mind exhausted and overwhelmed with the events of this day, it started to wander. Levi tried to imagine what would have happened, how different his life could be if Hange had befriended him when they were kids. Would his life be different, though? Or would his upbringing and unfortunate circumstances still bring him where he was now?

There was no way to find out, and that’s why there was no reason to ponder on it.

His curiosity drove him to his next stop, kitchen. He was just about to find out what the great detective Zoe preferred to stash in her refrigerator, when the door of the bedroom opened and closed. Levi heard the sound of heavy footsteps that got closer and closer.

And just like that, his good mood was gone. Just like that, he was on the edge of the skyscraper once again.

When Levi mastered the courage to turn around, Erwin stood at the other side of the small kitchen, hands crossed on his chest. Even in sweatpants and worn-out t-shirt, he still looked as commanding as ever.

“I told you to leave, and never come back. I gave you a chance to escape. Why didn’t you take it?”

Why didn’t he take it? Didn’t Erwin already know his reason?

“I’m sure Hange has explained everything to you.”

“She has.”

And what, Erwin didn’t find her reasoning sufficient enough? Fuck, the blonde bastard pissed him off so much.

“I came because I need to find my uncle and learn what the fuck has happened while I was gone.” Levi said, his anger barely constrained. “My return to the city has nothing to do with Hange or with you.”

Technically, it wasn’t a lie, he did come to look for Kenny. The fact that his and Hange’s goals aligned was a mere coincidence.

“If you have problem with us working together, then go and talk it out with Hange, explain why exactly you don’t trust her judgement. Just don’t pour all of your bullshit on me.”

“I trust her judgement,” in the semi-darkness of the kitchen, Erwin’s eyes flashed brightly, like a lightening during a storm. “I just don’t trust you.”

His anger growing, Levi already had a vicious enough retort, ready to spill out of his mouth. But just before he started talking, Erwin continued, interrupting his tirade. “Hange told me you had helped a lot today,” he tilted his head slightly to the side, considering Levi. “She said that this case can’t be solved without you. And while, I have my doubts about it, it seems that Hange has none. I don’t know what the hell she sees in you, but she trusts you and believes in you. And as I’ve said, I trust her.”

Hange… trusted him? Trusted him enough to tell her boss about it? Did she tell him about it? Or was it Erwin’s own assumption? If so, then, surely, Erwin was mistaken, surely, he got the wrong impression. Could he, though? Could a man as cunning and smart as him misjudge his own friend?

Levi forced these thoughts away, they were pointless and confusing. Right now, he had a more pressing question.

“So now what? You’ll let the two of us continue investigation?”

“I will,” Erwin nodded. “But if you hurt Hange in any way…”

Scoffing, Levi rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I got it, you’ll hurt me.”

Erwin’s lips curled up in a smile that was devilish enough to send shivers down Levi’s spine. “In more ways than just one, Ackerman.”

But the moment passed, and the chilly expression was gone. “Hange is asleep,” Erwin said, pushing the hair back from his face. Up until this moment, Levi failed to take notice just how disheveled the other man looked. Was he that worried about Hange that he forgot to fix his less than immaculate appearance? “She told me that you can spend the night here.”

“Will you be watching over me all night then?” Levi asked, his voice still gruff, but not as biting as it was before.

“No,” shockingly, but Erwin sounded more at ease as well. “I entrust this investigation solely in Hange’s hands. She’ll be responsible for the end result and she’s responsible for you. Meanwhile, I need to catch some sleep as well.”

With that, Erwin turned around, walking out of the kitchen and heading in the direction of the front door. Reluctantly, Levi followed after him, cautiously watching him put on his boots and coat. Erwin’s hand was on the doorknob, when he twisted his face to the side, meeting Levi’s eyes.

“I’m giving you a second chance, Ackerman. Fuck this up and I’ll come for you.”

Levi nodded, expecting nothing less. From now on, he had to be more careful, he was sure that Erwin’s watchful eye would be following him everywhere. Just another complication to the already complicated case.

As soon as Erwin left, Levi walked into the living room, falling down on a couch. The couch was dusty, his clothes were filthy from rolling around on the floor in Ymir’s apartment, but he was too exhausted to go to shower, and he had no clothes he could change in, anyway.

Sleep was calling to him, more insistently with each passing moment. But before he closed his eyes and let himself succumb to the darkness completely, Levi pulled a phone out of his pocket. He came here to find Kenny, he hoped he would receive a clue about his whereabouts while searching their apartment. He found nothing there, but perhaps…

He dialed Kenny’s number.

One beep, two beeps, three, four…

Levi kept listening to the mechanic, measured sound until the call was disconnected. So, Kenny wasn’t picking up. Levi was disappointed, but not surprised.

He saw no reason in trying to call him once again and put his phone on a coffee table next to the couch. His eyes were already fluttering shut, when a loud vibration jolted him out of his semi-sleepy state.

Levi jumped a little, reaching out to his phone. He unlocked it, staring at the notifications with wide eyes.

He received three messages. From unknown number.

He hurried to open them.

Don’t go poking your nose into this wasp nest, Levi

And tell that detective of yours to quit either

Stop chasing after me. Leave before it’s not too late

With his fingers trembling so much his phone almost fell down, Levi dialed that number. The call went straight into voicemail.

“Fuck!” he threw the phone back onto the table, with more force than was necessary. Fucking Kenny and the games he was playing. Hadn’t he said that he trusted him? Evidently, he didn’t trust Levi enough to let him help with whatever shit he had involved himself.

Well, whether he wanted Levi to help him or not, it didn’t matter. Levi was coming after him. And he wouldn’t let Kenny’s lame threats stop him. Nothing would stop him, not until Levi found out what the fuck happened to his uncle.

Hold on for me, Kenny, he thought, on the verge of sleep, I’m coming for you.

#i know i've said it's 10k words monster but now the wordcount is actually 11k #enjoy hehe #levihan

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pandas-pandemonium · 4 years ago

Text

Blood Ties (Part 1) - Yandere! Thomas Andre x GN!Reader x Yandere! Baek Yoon-ho

A/N: It’s here! The first part of the yandere solo leveling fic! Both the mens’ endings have yet to be written, but enjoy this open ended part first.

Note: Only hints of yandere is shown here and nothing too extreme yet

Summary: [Name] is an A-Rank mage in the Scavengers Guild. When an offer to join the White Tiger Guild in South Korea is given, [Name] has to question where their loyalties lie. To their years in the Scavenger guild, or to their childhood friend?

2pm, Wednesday – Thomas Andre’s Office, Somewhere in the United States

“Sir, Hunter [Name] is here for their scheduled meeting,” the voice of Thomas's secretary announced, looking over to her boss who was busy with some paperwork, while the TV blared in the background. Immediately, he lifted his head up, his eyes bright and his grin brighter than ever.

“Oh? Then send them in! What are you even doing? Don’t make them wait,” he said, leaning back in his seat. Despite his cheerful grin, Laura had worked long enough to pick up his slight shifts in mood. She was glad she hadn’t waited any longer, or she might have lost her job right then and there.

“Understood. I’ll let them in,” she replied. It sure was a wonder though, how this A-rank Mage caught Scavenger's Guild Master's attention and interest. After all, the guild had a bunch of S-rank hunters from all over the world. For a mere A-rank to catch the eye of a man who believed in strength more than anything else, she wondered if this person was a false ranker at first, until she checked their guild registry.

[Name] [Surname], an A-rank magic user who favoured the wind element above the more destructive fire or ice elements. They had been in the guild for the past three years, and it was just a year after they joined that Thomas Andre started asking about them. They were even personally asked on a number of occasions, to join the guild master on several raids.

As these thoughts ran through the secretary's mind, Laura quietly watched as the figure made their way to Thomas's desk.

“You wanted to see me, boss?” they asked, looking up at the large man seated at his desk.

Thomas’s eyes softened as he leaned his body towards them, “Yep. Say, we haven’t talked for a while, eh? Something about you going on several overseas business trips?”

[Name] swallowed as they nodded. “It was urgent sir… I’ve had a lot to do abroad lately,” they explained. Thomas only hummed in acknowledgement as he leaned back against the leather chair.

“And tell me, what are these trips for? Last I recall, a guild in England had to hire you about two months ago. Other than that… I don’t think you’ve had any overseas raids,” he said, a large hand stroking his goatee absent-mindedly.

“Uh… personal matters, sir. Nothing concerning the guild, really.”

Just then, out of the corner of the hunter’s eye, they spotted the news channel that was on, featuring a very familiar face, Baek Yoon-ho. Immediately, their eyes widened.

“Wait, Yoon-ie’s a guild leader?!” they exclaimed, almost forgetting about the giant in the room.

“Yoonie?” he repeated. [Name] immediately felt the blood rush to their face as they cleared their throat awkwardly.

“Um, yeah. I used to study abroad in South Korea… Yoonie is just what I called Baek Yoon-ho when were students,” they explained, looking down at their feet bashfully while cursing themselves internally.

“Hm, that’s new. So your little highschool buddy’s a full-fledged guild leader… and a rather famous one at that,” he commented, dark red eyes silently observing the smaller figure in front of him.

“Y-yeah, time sure flies,” they replied. “You don’t have to worry though! He’s a friend, but it’s not like I’ll leave the States for the White Tiger guild!”

Thomas’s face darkened as a threatening smile loomed over his gaunt features, “You’d better not, [Nickname]. I don’t take kindly to my guild members trying to leave, remember that.”

[Name]’s face blanched, and they nodded nervously, “R-right. Of course, sir. So, um… what was it that you called me here for?”

“Ah yes. I did call you here for something…now what was it…” he pondered to himself as he gazed up at the ceiling. “Right! I wanted to invite you for dinner! To catch up with you, talk a little, get to know each other better, ya know?”

[Name] raised an eyebrow, “Well, I don’t have any plans tonight…but this is quite sudden, sir.”

“Think of it as a little ‘Welcome back home’ party for you. All expenses will be handled by me. We can even go on a date afterwards,” Thomas said, his signature smile on his face.

“A-A date, sir?”

“If you have a problem with calling it a date, it can just be an outing. No titles, just us two hunters. What d’ ya say, [Name]?”

[Name] pressed their lips in a thin line as they thought over the offer. Free dinner sounded great, but they didn’t know if they could stand the pressure of being next to such an intimidating figure. Hell, even right now he looked the part.

Taking deep breaths, [Name] weighed their options in their mind, in the end settling to accept. If they rejected him, [Name] didn’t want to think of what could come next. Thomas Andre was a powerful man after all, with status and prestige to his name, and with it, he could do many things with little to no consequences.

“I’ll go. As long as we consider this as just a friendly outing though! I don’t want people to misunderstand,” they said. Thomas’s eyes softened and he reached over to stroke [Name]’s head.

“Good to know. I’ll text you the restaurant’s name and location in a few. You can go now,” he said, dismissing them from his room, much to their relief.

Upon exiting the office, [Name] let out the breath they had been holding throughout the whole meeting. It was so sudden. Two days after they arrived back from Japan on a family trip, the guild master suddenly informs them that he wants to speak with them the next day when he’s free. At first, they had thought he was going to reprimand them, but his awfully cheery demeanour and dinner invite had them second guessing his intentions. What the hell was going on? Then again, Thomas Andre had been like this ever since they met face-to-face, at least a year ago. [Name] could remember one too many incidents when their own raid got cancelled only to be suddenly slotted into some A rank gate to “accompany” the guild master. It really wasn’t like he needed the support though, being a National Level Hunter and all. [Name] sighed, perhaps this dinner would be a good chance to ask why their guild master was so interested in them.

~*~*~

Unfortunately, that dinner never came as [Name] suddenly had to cancel, receiving a phone call from their cousin, telling them that they were awakened and that a recruiter from the White Tiger guild wanted to meet her in two days. Said cousin also asked that [Name] accompany her and that she’ll pay for her ticket to South Korea. Normally, [Name] would have protested, but they had to admit, they were curious. It was also due to the fact that [Cousin’s Name] was someone who [Name] was very close to, and denying her request made [Name] feel guilty. After all, [Cousin’s Name] was there for them when they were awakened. It was only right that they do the same.

That night, [Name] had to make a very difficult phone call to Thomas Andre that they couldn’t make it for their dinner, much to his (not very well-hidden) dismay. When prompted, [Name] could only give the truth, saying that their cousin who was studying in South Korea had called for a last-minute reunion. It wasn’t too big of a deal for [Name], as they were used to having to pack suddenly due to emergency calls for a raid or (as with their previous job as a medical intern working in the ER), urgent calls for assistance.

Thomas, despite his initial disappointment, sounded quite understanding, ushering them to quickly pack for tonight, and that he’ll mark them as unavailable for raids for the next three days or so. Thanking him profusely, [Name] immediately started to pack for the 10am flight the next morning.

~~~~~

Thomas Andre was not happy, his mood worsened by [Name]’s dinner cancellation followed by some small guild leader asking for assistance with an A-class gate somewhere in South America. He shot them down quickly as he went off to have his own solo dinner at the same restaurant he was supposed to go with [Name] that night. How frustrating. Just when he had a clear schedule, the universe decided to screw him over by making other people preoccupied. At this point, he won’t be able to have a proper talk with his little [Name] and it left a bad taste in his mouth.

His bad mood continued until the next morning and well into the night, causing everyone around him to be on edge. It was not until around 1am that day, that he received a phone call from the one person who indirectly caused his moodiness, [Name] [Surname].

“Darlin’! Great to hear from you, are you already in Korea?” he greeted, his loud booming voice echoing in his bedroom, unable to contain his excitement.

“Uh, yes I am. I just reached about two hours ago. Anyways sir, I needed to call you to ask for permission about something.”

Oh, he loved hearing their voice. “Go ahead.”

“Okay, well this is quite last minute, but I need to ask for formal permission to participate in another guild’s raid. More specifically, the White Tigers.”

Thomas almost broke his phone in half.

“And may I ask why you’re joining another guild’s raid?”

“See, it just so happened that I ran into Baek Yoonho when I was accompanying my cousin to the guild. One thing led to another, and they just so happened to receive news of a gate opening in Seoul. It’s a small one, just a B-class. Yoonho and I, along with my cousin and a couple other members will be going.”

“And why have you agreed? You are a member of the Scavengers, you know.”

Silence on the other end.

“Uh…how do I say this… Yoonho might be interested in recruiting me.”

The line went dead, as did Thomas’s phone.

[Name] was sweating bullets. Thomas Andre hung up without a word. He was mad, really mad. Nervously, they looked up at their childhood friend who was with them. His amber eyes looking down at them softly.

“No good?” he asked. [Name] sighed and shrugged.

“I don’t know. He didn’t give me an answer. I just know that he is very, very mad. I don’t know, Yoon-ie, I don’t think this is a good idea…” they said.

Baek Yoonho furrowed his eyebrows. This was upsetting… he meets his childhood friend (and first love) after so many years for only a couple days and then they head back immediately? That was horrible! He had so many things he wanted to talk about, they haven’t even had the chance to properly show them around Seoul and show them how much the city has changed!

“You don’t have to join us… Think of this as just accompanying your cousin on her first dungeon raid,” he said, hoping to reason with them. As [Name] frowned and thought over his words, their message tone rang.

“Oh, it’s Thomas!” they exclaimed, hurriedly opening his text message. As soon as they read it, their face paled and their eyes widened.

“No way…” they muttered.

“What did he say?” he asked leaning over to look at their phone. [Name] shakily showed the text to the other man.

“He says he’ll let me go, but he’ll be flying here by tomorrow night to make sure nothing happens to me…”

Baek Yoonho almost let out a snarl. So, this was how a National Level hunter played huh. Very well then, he’ll agree to the Scavenger guild master’s conditions.

“Tell him he has my word. He can be certain that I’ll protect you to my very best ability.”

~*~*~

The next afternoon, the group of hunters had gathered in front of the department store where a gate had opened. It was astonishing to see an S-Class hunter in front of a B-Class gate, and that fact alone was enough to draw hordes of reporters to the scene, hungry for a scoop. Despite the shouting of questions and demands for answers, the group remained unaffected…for the most part. [Name]’s cousin was observing the whole situation wide-eyed while clinging on to her cousin’s cloak, a signature garment for mages.

[Name] looked over to their cousin with a smile, squeezing her shoulder to comfort her. (They were also trying to ignore the fact that they too, were incredibly nervous).

“It’s the usual crowd, [Cousin’s Name]. Don’t worry too much about it. Once you’re in there, all you need to do is focus on fighting the monsters in the dungeon, and you’ll come out a hero,” they said with a sympathetic smile. [Cousin’s Name] looked at them worriedly.

“You sure, [Nickname]?” she asked.

[Name] nodded, “Very.”

It was then that the clock finally hit 1pm and Baek Yoonho shouted, “Everyone! Get ready to go in!” getting the attention of the remaining crew. Some of which were wondering why they were even here. With an S-Class hunter leading the group, were they really needed? Without a doubt, Baek Yoonho would slaughter every single one of the monsters. He was an S-Rank after all. As if he read their minds, Baek Yoonho turned to the back.

“Remember, I’ll only be assisting you when you’re in a pinch. Other than that, you all will be doing most of the work. Got it?” he said. The three B-Rank hunters swallowed and stood up straight.

“Yes, sir!” they shouted.

With that, the six hunters entered the gate.

The moment they entered, a swarm of bug-like creatures flew out of their hiding place, responding to the intruders. Immediately with a wave of their hand and a shout, [Name] put up a wind barrier, slicing the insects that were trying to get in clean in half. Those that were already in the barrier had to be dealt with by the three melee hunters, one of which was [Cousin’s Name].

Understandably, [Cousin’s Name] was lost, swinging her spear haphazardly. [Name], who was focusing on keeping up the wind barrier, could only shout instructions to her. Thankfully, the other two hunters dealt with the swarm quickly, allowing a brief moment of downtime as they ventured further in.

Soon enough, they came across a giant wasp nest, much to [Name]’s chagrin. Aside from the massive dirt ball in the middle of the cavern, red glowing eyes accompanied with the occasional yellow and green watched from the holes. Quietly, they whispered into their cousin’s ear.

“Remember, watch their movements and then strike. You can do this.”

[Cousin’s Name] smiled back at them, “Thanks, [Nickname].”

The group took in a deep breath and watched the insects who remained hidden in their home. The air was tense as neither side made a move until Baek Yoonho raised his hand, and lowered it, signalling the attack. Immediately, the two melee hunters dashed forward, running up the walls of the hive and stabbing a knife into the nearest wasp. In response, the bugs flew out, poised to kill the intruders.

[Name] inhaled, summoning the energy between their palms, slowly gathering a strong wind. Just as a wasp turned towards them, it was slashed in half by a wind blade along with its comrades. [Cousin’s Name] on the other hand, was thankfully getting a hang of fighting the fast-moving insects, her spear piercing through several at a time. Her footwork was clumsy, but with practice, she would be a great fighter, [Name] acknowledged.

At least ten minutes passed before the soldiers of the hive were cleared out, leaving only the generals and the Queen Wasp. She had finally shown herself, her large insectoid body hovering above the hive. Baek Yoonho’s eyes glowed for a second before his expression morphed into one of shock.

“You’re telling me this is a B-Rank boss?!” he exclaimed, immediately stepping out into the forefront. [Name]’s eyes darted over to their friend in shock.

“What do you mean, Yoon-ho?!”

“This queen can’t be a B-Rank, it’s at least an A-Rank or higher,” he said, his hands curled as his claws slowly formed. “Either way, it’s not something you all can defeat singlehandedly. I suggest the rest of you deal with the generals, I’ll take care of the boss myself.”

[Name] swallowed and nodded. How was this possible? An A-Rank boss in a B-Rank dungeon was unheard of! Alas, they had no time to think over this anomaly, as they were immediately engaged in battle with a general. The general was huge, at least 4 feet tall and [Name] realised quickly that their wind blades barely dealt a scratch against its hard exoskeleton. It didn’t help that it was incredibly fast, and within seconds, [Name] was forced into the defensive, putting up a weak wind shield around themselves as they tried to create some distance from the attacking wasp.

[Name] was huffing, sweat dripping down their cheeks as they continuously threw out wind blade after wind blade. Their mana was dangerously low, and if the wasp continued its onslaught, their shield would break in no time. It was then [Name] made the mistake of letting their eyes wander, and they landed on their cousin, to find them cornered by another wasp. They watched in shock as the wasp whacked away the spear [Cousin’s Name] was wielding and raised a sharp arm to attack.

‘[Cousin’s Name]!!” they yelled out as they summoned a strong gale storm in their cousin’s direction, effectively knocking the wasp away, but leaving themselves open for their enemy to attack. In horror, Baek Yoonho tore his eyes away from the queen and leaped towards the mage, transforming mid-jump and tearing through the general, but not before it managed to stab through [Name]’s arm.

“Damn it! Are you okay?!” Baek Yoonho cried out, dashing to the fallen [Name], who was wincing in pain from the deep wound. [Name] gritted their teeth in pain before nodding.

“It’s just a stab wound. I’ll get the healer to tend to it. You need to get back to the Queen, Yoon-ie,” they said through deep breaths. [Name] was right, the queen was already on her way down, attacking anyone who tried to stop her. If Baek Yoon-ho wasted anymore time, [Name] wouldn’t be the only badly injured one.

Yoon-ho clicked his tongue and got back up, this time in half-transformed state. In two slashes of his claws, he tore through the already weakened Queen, successfully clearing the dungeon. [Name] thankfully, received almost immediate attention from the healer, but unfortunately the healer was only a B-Rank and thus could only stop the bleeding, as they had to reserve mana for the other injured hunters. Aside from that, [Name] received a nicely wrapped bandage around their arm, keeping the wound safe from infections. They could only hope Thomas won’t make a huge fuss about the whole injury, especially after he had made Baek Yoon-ho swear to not let anything happen to them.

As the group moved out of the dungeon to allow the clean-up crew to enter, Yoon-ho looked over to his friend worriedly.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, a gentle hand on their shoulder as he walked beside them. [Cousin’s Name] had sneakily withdrawn to the back of the group to “allow the two some alone time”.

“I already said I am! Don’t worry so much, Yoon-ie. The healer stopped the bleeding, and all that’s left is for the wound to properly close and I’ll be fine in a couple days,” they said, patting their friend on his back. Yoon-ho could only give a half smile as his gaze remained fixated on their arm.

Gosh, he was an idiot. He should have finished up the boss fight quicker instead of letting [Name] try to handle an elite monster by themselves! If he hadn’t saved them in time… he didn’t dare think of how badly hurt [Name] could’ve been. He didn’t care about Thomas Andre’s conditions, he only cared that [Name] was hurt under his supervision.

As soon as the group exited the portal, they were once again bombarded by the press. He groaned. Right, he completely forgot about this nuisance that he had to deal with. With deep breaths, he steeled himself and forced a confident yet reassuring smile on his face. In a calm voice, he explained that there was an unexpected occurrence, but it was dealt with swiftly and that there was nothing to worry about. He was relieved that the press left after that, allowing the group to return the White Tiger Guild headquarters to recuperate.

However, Baek Yoon-ho did not expect Thomas Andre to be greeting him in his own office, seated right behind his own table, much to his annoyance.

~*~*~

Thomas Andre grinned the moment Baek Yoon-ho and [Name] walked in and he stood up to greet the two.

“Hello! You’re Baek Yoon-ho, right?” he asked, in broken (and admittedly rude) Korean, but understandable, nonetheless. Baek Yoon-ho had to hold back a scowl as he muttered to an assistant to get a translator in the room.

“Yes. What brings you here, Mr. Andre?” he replied. He was silently grateful to [Name] for teaching him some English. A man soon rushed in, introducing himself in fluent English as an interpreter.

“I’m here to check in on [Name], like I said I would,” he replied, this time in English. His red eyes then fell onto the bandage [Name] was wearing. “And it appears, you have broken your promise.” The aura around him changed, his face morphed into one of anger. The poor man translating was quaking in his shoes.

“It appears I have. But aside from that, they say they’re completely fine. As you can see, they’re still well and healthy, and I intend to have another guild healer attend to their remaining wounds as soon as possible,” Baek Yoon-ho replied, standing closer to the tall blonde American, his chest held high.

“That is true! Sir, you really don’t have to make a fuss. See! I’m a-okay!” [Name] chimed in, unwrapping the bandage to reveal the slight scab that had formed over the wound.

Thomas hummed to himself as he glanced over [Name]’s injury. “But you still got hurt despite Mr. Baek’s claims that nothing would happen to you.”

“That was entirely my fault. I took my eyes off the monster for a second, and Yoon-ho dove in to save me. Really! If it wasn’t for him, I would have been much worse off!” they tried to explain.

“So, you’re saying you do want to be with the White Tiger guild then, since you’re defending the guild master so much.”

[Name]’s eyes widened, hurriedly protesting against his words. “That’s not what I was saying! I just- Yoonho is my friend and I don’t want you thinking he’s guilty of anything!”

Yoon-ho felt his face warm up, baffled by [Name]’s bluntness. It would make it even better if he wasn’t just a friend to them, but he was glad that he meant so much to them.

Thomas stared the brown-haired man down as he stroked his goatee.

“If you say so, babe. Anyways, I have a proposition for you, Mr. Baek. How about, we decide who’s the stronger one of us here? That way, we’d have a better way to gauge who’ll be more suited to protect them, no?”

[Name]’s jaw dropped. “Hello? I can decide for myself!”

Baek Yoon-ho sighed, “Exactly what they say, Mr. Andre. They can decide for themselves, so if they choose to join the White Tiger guild to be closer with their cousin, then so be it. America is awfully far from their family after all, no?”

Thomas let out a mirthless laugh, “Sure. But it is unfortunate that little [Name] here has wavering loyalties. Think of this fight as more of a…” he thought for a while. “Warning.”

Baek Yoon-ho’s eyes darkened. “A warning, you say?”

“Yes. You see, I don’t like that you attempted to steal one of my guildmates and so by defeating you, I’ll be showing you why you shouldn’t take things that aren’t yours.”

Yoon-ho chuckled, “Very well then, Mr. Andre. I’ll see you downstairs in the Hunter Association’s gym.”

[Name] could only watch in bafflement as the two men made their way out of the office, a bloodthirsty aura hanging around them. Whichever one wins, [Name] knew it wasn’t going to end well.

Choose your winner:

Thomas Andre or Baek Yoon-ho

#yandere #yandere solo leveling #yandere thomas andre #yandere baek yoonho #blood ties #yandere fic #yandere imagines

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rumpledgoldenweaver · 4 years ago

Text

A Weekend Away

Written for the @a-monthly-rumbelling February prompt “I think we’re lost”. Also @fluffapalooza if it’s still open :) Read it on my blog: https://earlyrisingwriting.home.blog/2021/02/14/a-weekend-away/

An opportunity arises for the Gold Boys to spend time together away from Storybrooke’s prying eyes.

Malcolm Gold – he’d adopted his son’s cursed surname, Stiltskin didn’t seem right, it only served to remind him of the anger he’d felt when naming his baby boy. He didn’t want anything to do with the name Peter Pan any more, Gold was a fresh start – was beginning to rue the day he’d agreed to joining his rapidly expanding family for a weekend at Rumple’s forest cabin. It’s like the tree houses in Neverland Neal had explained but on the ground. It’ll be fun Papa, his son had told him through obviously gritted teeth, Malcolm hadn’t missed the discreet elbow to the ribs Rumple had taken from Belle as she’d added that it would be an opportunity to talk away from the scrutiny of the towns folk. Henry had kept a commendable straight face at that remark considering she was referring to at least half of his family. Malcolm liked Belle. She was honest, trusting but not to be crossed. Just what his son needed to keep him in line. It was mainly because of her he’d agreed to come along.

Malcolm had also been grateful to Belle for her advice regarding clothing in this new land. Although Rumple’s suits looked sharp, he didn’t want that many layers. Neal’s clothes were a bit too casual so he settled on trousers Henry had called Chinos, shirts with buttons, thin jumpers and boots called Timberland. Today he was particularly glad of the boots. Rumple had used magic to transport all the necessary clothes, food etc to the cabin, leaving Malcolm, Neal and Henry free to arrive on foot. Henry had been so excited at the thought of a hike through the forest with his Dad, no one had the heart to object.

“I think we’re lost” Malcolm tried to get his bearings however the trees all looked the same, he had no idea how far into the the forest they were.

“Lost Boys” sniggered Neal. Henry snorted which made his father laugh even more.

“Following the leader, the leader, the leader” sang Henry “We’re following the leader…”

“Wherever he may go” Neal joined in, the two of them dancing round in a circle.

“Very funny”

“You have no idea” laughed Neal “Have you seen the Disney film about Peter Pan yet?”

“The what?” Malcolm was still bemused by the popular cultures of the world he now lived in even though he’d got a better grasp of how it actually worked.

Henry grinned the kind of wicked grin Rumple would have been proud of “You’ll love it Gramps, especially Hook”

Neal’s eyebrows rose at the use of Gramps in relation to Malcolm

“What? I call Rumple Grandpa and Malcolm didn’t like Great Grandpa so Mum suggested Gramps”

“Which Mum?” though Neal had his suspicions

Henry didn’t answer but the glint in his eye was enough. Emma had an evil sense of humour.

“One of you must have been to this cabin before?”

“Neal shook his head “I arrived in town not long before the trip to Neverland but Papa and I weren’t exactly on friendly terms back then”

“I haven’t been either, I didn’t know Grandpa was my Grandpa and my mums weren’t about to let me hang out with The Dark One”

“Wonderful”

Neal looked around for minute or two, then as if some secret signal had been given he made an abrupt turn and set off down a path “Come on. It’s this way”

“Rumple will you please stop fussing. We have enough food to survive a small siege. There is no need to summon more”

“Have you ever fed a twelve year old boy? If his appetite is anything like Bae’s at that age then…” he felt a lump rise in his throat.

“Rumple?”

“Then I want to make sure there’s plenty”

“Oh Rumple” she hugged him hoping to both reassure and pull him out of this melancholy. He pulled her closer, nuzzling her hair, whispering a thank you sweetheart. Belle moved to kiss him and for the next couple of minutes there was a feeling of peace between them.

“Hi Grandpa Hi Belle sorry we’re.. oh…” Henry looked embarrassed at interrupting. Belle giggled, Rumple never even turned round as he replied “Hi Henry”

“Are they here?” Neal’s voice carried through the door.

“Er...yes…they are.. here…”

“Is something up?” Neal strode into the living room and stopped dead “Oh for pities sake you two get a room!”

Rumple did turn this time “This is my cabin Bae and my room”

“Not in front of the wee ones eh Laddie?” Malcolm chuckled.

“Indeed”

“Rumple..” there was a warning tone to Belle’s voice “remember what we talked about”

“Hmm”

Ever the diplomat Henry piped up “Is there anything to eat? I’m starving”

“Yes of course Henry” smiled Belle “in the kitchen”

The young boy disappeared, returning within five minutes carrying a plate loaded with burger, fries, onion rings, various dips and salad. Rumple gave Belle a told you so look.

“He obviously appreciates his food” Malcolm watched in amusement at Henry giving the burger his full attention.

“Takes after his father” Rumple nodded towards Neal as he too went to the kitchen and brought back a plate piled high.

Conversation remained light hearted as they ate, comments about both Neal and Henry having hollow legs because of their hearty appetites. Rumple found he was nearly enjoying himself. Nearly being better than not at all as Belle reminded him earlier.

“Where on earth did all the food come from anyway?” Malcolm asked as he debated which of the many desserts to try.

“I summoned it” Rumple replied reaching for a cupcake.

“Magic” Neal raised a suspicions eyebrow.

“Only to bring it here. It’s not magic food. I’ve paid Granny’s chef triple his wages to cook a steady supply especially for us”

“Fair enough” Neal took a satisfied mouthful of cake.

“More tea anyone?” Belle stood up and began collecting the various cups and mugs strewn around the room

“Coffee if you have it please”

“Of course Bae, I’ll put the pot on. Coffee has it’s own magic Dearie” he twirled his arms, turned on his heel and practically skipped out after Belle.

The expression on Henry’s face was priceless.

When everyone had eaten their fill, plates, cups and cutlery washed, dried and put away by hand not magic Rumple keenly pointed out, Henry suggested they watch a film. Malcolm being particularly interested in the idea of a a “moving book” being shown on something called a TV screen. Then began the debate over which one to put on. Whilst there wasn’t a great deal of choice amongst the DVD’s at the cabin, Rumple would be happy to summon whichever was decided on. Mostly it was left to Neal and Henry as they had the widest knowledge of such things. It seemed to Malcolm to be a very complicated process.

“Nothing over a PG”

“Awww Dad! I’m twelve! I can watch..”

“No. Your Mothers would find a hundred ways to kill me, bring me back to life and kill me all over again if they found out you’d watched anything remotely inappropriate”

“Grandpa would protect you”

“Oh no no no” laughed Rumple “Do not bring me into this. I argued with both of them over many things but even I have limits”

“What about that.. Disney thing you mentioned on the way here? Would that be allowable?”

All eyes turned to Malcolm.

“You mean Peter Pan?” Henry looked sceptical.

“Yeah.. that. I’d like to see it”

Rumple and Belle exchanged a look before he got up and went into the main bedroom. There followed the sound of keys turning in locks and a safe being opened.

“You keep Disney DVD’s in a vault Papa?”

“Along with a few other items I was unsure about at first yes”

“Such as?”

“Such as none of your business son” he walked back into the living room brandishing the disc “You can do the honours Bae”

It could, Belle mused to herself long after everyone else had retired for the night, have gone a lot worse. For instance everyone agreed that the physical resemblance between the cartoon and the person was actually rather accurate. They had all laughed like drains at Captain Hook. Belle honestly thought she’d have to give medical attention to Rumple and Malcolm as their hysterics gave way to mighty coughing fits. Neal and Henry sang along with the songs, Never Smile At A Crocodile didn’t go down very well with Rumple at first but he saw the funny side in the end. When it came to Following The Leader, the youngest father and son immediately leapt to their feet and began dancing round the room in a repeat of their antics in the forest earlier.

“So that’s where that song came from” groused Malcolm.

There seemed to be an unspoken agreement to not discuss certain details regarding film versus real life, for that Belle was grateful. She knew the relationships in that room were complicated, messy, quite possibly very unhealthy and could keep Archie Hopper on Rumple’s pay roll for decades. Whilst she believed talking about these issues was healthy, this weekend was not the time or the place. For once no one was arguing, for once certain townsfolk weren’t around to stick their well intentioned (or otherwise) noses in. She wondered if inviting her own father for a weekend here might help ease tensions between him and her boyfriend. Maybe leave it a month or so before she suggested that.

“What are you smirking at?” Rumple came from the en suite, pulled the bed covers back and climbed in bed beside her. Her eyes gleamed with mischief.

“Don’t you dare Belle” he warned, which was the wrong thing to say because of course she dared.

“Never smile at a crocodile..”

“I’m warning you young lady”

“No you can’t get friendly with a crocodile…” she sang between giggles.

“Right then”

And he proceeded to show her how friendly crocodiles could be when they wanted to.

#a monthly rumbelling #fluffapalooza 2021 #february prompt #gold family fic #gold boys fic

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themarchrabbit · 4 years ago

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Thorin/Bilbo + 11 (The person next door is kinda cute...)

“The bloke next door is sort of cute, isn’t he?”

Thorin looks up at his sister, but she’s got her eyes on Frerin. She was interpreting for him then, so Thorin looks at his brother instead. Now that Thorin’s looking at him, Frerin signs an insistence with his eyebrows raised, asking.

He has to think about his answer a minute more than he should, so when he shakes his head, Frerin sarcastically signs that he almost believes Thorin, Dis laughing. “Don’t the two of you have anything better to do?” Thorin asks, both out loud and signing with his free hand.

Frerin shrugs, and Dis puts down her beer so she can speak and sign, saying, “The boys are at school, Frerin offered to order in for dinner, laundry’s hung up, and...” She looks at Frerin, and asks him if he finished whatever he was working on, mouthing along with her signing, and when he nods, she finishes with, “Frerin finished that piece, so no. Not really.”

“Well, find something,” Thorin orders, looking back down at his tablet, where he’s got the plans drawn up. He’s going to need to order more sheet metal.

“Alright then,” Dis says, and stands up, Frerin following when she gestures at him.

And really, Thorin should have expected her to go over to the fence and lean over, calling out, “Hey, you there! What’s your name, then?”

Since it’s Dis asking, and hardly anyone ever ignores her, the man sitting out in the garden answers her. “Bilbo Baggins.” Thorin already knew that. He’d gotten some of the man’s post when he’d moved in a fortnight ago. He’s likely some relative of the woman who used to live there, since he had the same surname, but Thorin hadn’t known her very well before she’d passed away, only having lived here a week himself by then.

“Bilbo, eh?” Dis says, signing to Frerin. Thorin’s resigned himself to watching, making sure she’s not about to make trouble, but he’s surprised when his new neighbor signs to Frerin, asking if he’s Deaf. “You sign?”

“Most of my mother’s family is Deaf,” Bilbo answers, signing as well. “Is that why that one there hasn’t said hello?” He means Thorin.

“Nah, he’s just like that,” Dis answers, turning and winking at Thorin. “He never did learn how to talk to men, especially not ones he fancies.”

Thorin’s going to kill her, one of these days. “Dis, don’t go around telling stories.” He walks over, intent on fixing this before she makes it worse, hitching his chin at Bilbo. “This is my sister, Dis, and my brother, Frerin. Dis was waiting for me to get the house set up before she moved up here with her boys. Frerin is here because he’s a vagabond.” He signs one-handed while he talks, so Frerin makes a face at him, signing that he is no such thing. “He likely won’t leave either.”

“That’s a full house then,” Bilbo replies. “That’s good. I’m afraid it’s only myself and Frodo over here. He’s away right now, with friends.”

"Frodo? That your husband?"

Bilbo looks a bit thrown off by that, but Dis tends to have that effect. “No, Frodo is my nephew. He’s twelve. I’m single.”

“I don’t miss that age,” Dis muses, Frerin agreeing. “My two are fifteen and fourteen. Pair of troublemakers, they are, but they were worse at twelve.” She leans on the fence, and, where only Thorin can see, signs that he’s single, as though Thorin didn’t hear that himself. “Well, if ever you’re in the mood, come over and sit a spell. We’ve all seen one another’s faces enough for a lifetime.”

Thorin catches the way Bilbo looks at him for a minute, before he goes back to his gardening. So do Dis and Frerin.

When Frerin signs that Bilbo thinks Thorin is fit, he cuffs his brother over the back of the head.

#Bagginshield #the hobbit #modern au #prompt fill #sign language

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haikyuuscreaming · 5 years ago

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hello!! can you write something fluff with kenma, please? some friends to lovers if possible. loving your blog 💕💕

OH SHIT SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG SDFSDFJKD this is. 3.5k words roughly and im so sorry idk why my fics always come out longer than 1k words :(((

The first time you meet Kozume Kenma, he’s hiding behind the wall that is Kuroo Tetsurou and you’re both in your first year.

“Oh?” The Nekoma volleyball captain stares you down in the Chem class you share with him. “You’re [Surname]-san, right?”

“Yeah,” You say, never breaking eye contact with him but secretly eyeing the quiet boy behind him. He’s your classmate in a few other of your periods, but not this one. This class is an advanced Chemistry class, placing you conveniently with the second-years and a handful of equally smart first-years. “I need help with the homework and you’re my best bet. Could you help out?”

Kuroo narrows his eyes at you, which you don’t exactly appreciate but you don’t say anything. “You sure you don’t want me to just give answers?”

“I kinda need to understand this to pass the class, so no thanks.”

He hums in approval, like you’ve passed some test, and nods. “Sure thing. I wanted to teach Kenma this anyway.”

Oh, that’s his name… you think to yourself, and you noticed the mentioned Kenma doesn’t look up from his Nintendo Switch, even at the mention of his name. You watch Kuroo turn around to his companion, coercing him, “Kenma, get up, we’re learning Chem.”

“Can’t we do it later?” Kenma’s voice doesn’t hold anything akin to bitterness or complaint- it’s kind of devoid, actually, in a soft and cute way- and you try to tune out the sound of Kuroo scolding him but he’s so loud when he’s right next to you.

“C’mon, we’re about to go home now, we can stay after school a little longer. Plus, we get to teach this lovely lady about nuclei.”

“I’m right here, you know,” you roll your eyes lightly but before you know it, you’re defending Kozume-san. “We can always work it out, um… I dunno, maybe over lunch on Sunday? I mean, it is Friday and this thing’s due Monday and… we can have more fun studying this if we have food.”

Stupid fucking Kuroo only grins. “Oh, so you’re asking me on a date? Kinda bold, if I don’t say so myself, kouhai-chan.”

“Kuro, stop.” Kenma speaks up and his quiet voice somehow speaks volumes. “We can meet with her on Sunday to do it.” And just like that, he retreats to his Switch without another word.

Kuroo turns to you and shrugs indifferently, contrasting his previously provocative and shitfaced attitude. “The man’s laid down the law. How’s boba on Sunday sound?”

The second time you meet Kenma is on that promised study session.

He has inconspicuous earbuds in, his face illuminated by the glowing light of his DS. He has a DS, too? He still looks cute.

And there’s Kuroo of course, but he’s irrelevant to your case unless it has to do with your god forsaken chem homework.

“You want me to go order some drinks next door?” Kuroo quirks an eyebrow. “My treat.”

“Just a brown sugar milk tea, thanks,” You tell him gratefully. Thank god for men and their dead sense of chivalry.

“No boba? You’re crazy.” Kuroo scrunches his nose at you and you wish Kenma would start talking so you could avoid this big, annoying cat. “What about you, Kenma? Your usual?”

“Yeah,” is all Kenma says.

“Alright, see you nerds later,” Kuroo practically sings out, patting both of your heads like an old man, and takes something from Kenma that you don’t quite catch, but it makes Kenma glare at him.

As soon as Kuroo’s out of sight, you find it a little awkward to keep conversation with Kenma especially with his whole gamer complex, but-

Oh.

Kuroo took Kenna's DS.

“Kuroo-san’s pretty bothersome, huh,” you sigh out in an attempt to stir conversation. Lucky for you, Kenma goes along with the conversation without fight, his eyes peering over you like reflective pools of honey.

(They’re really pretty, you think.)

“Yeah,” Kenma slouches down a little bit more in his chair at the mention of his taller friend. “He’s kind of like my second mom… but not really. Always nagging me to do things.”

You laugh at his solemn, depressed answer. “It’s fun to have him around, though, right? He’s kind of funny sometimes-- the rest he’s annoying-- and he’s decently smart even though I’m pretty sure he’s got, what, three braincells.”

To your unprompted delight, Kenma laughs softly at you poking fun of Kuroo, and the conversation between you and him starts piling up into more, and more, and it all feels so short. You don’t even notice Kuroo coming back and hovering over the table.

“Eh? You and Kenma getting along without me? What a shame, you know. I really do get third-wheeled.” Kuroo lets out a wistful sigh akin to an old man and sits down, drinks in hand. “So, who’s ready to study?”

The third time you meet Kozume Kenma, it’s at your mall’s arcade.

You and your friends are playing one of those claw machines, trying to get that really cute Miku figurine and those adorable plushies, wasting all your coins on these sucker games like the dumb teenagers you are. But a glimpse of familiar, two-toned hair catches your eye.

“Hold on,” you tell your friends who’re still busy trying to get that stupidly gorgeous Sakura Miku figure. “I’m gonna be right back.”

You wander your way to the familiar head of hair, and gratefully, your instinct was right. “Kozume-san? What’re you doing here?”

Kenma practically jumps at the sound of your voice, turning around, eyes wide. “Oh. I just got lost from the team. You’re here too?”

“Mhm,” You smile, pointing at your screaming group of friends. “My friends and I are here just to chill out and have fun. You can hang with us if you want!”

He shakes his head, his hair gracefully framing his face. “Nah, I’m fine, thanks.. I’ll just hold out until Kuro sniffs me out or something.”

You furrow your brow- geez, this kid’s gonna get lost so fast-- and you gently clasp the phone he’s holding in his hand. “Can I give you my number? I’ll pick up immediately if you ever call, just give a ring.”

You fail to notice the surprise that flits over Kenma’s face, but he reluctantly hands you his phone and you tap in your number quickly. “See you around, Kozume-san. Don’t get into trouble.”

And Kenma smiles on his own accord, his face lighting up softly like a lamp under moonlight. “You too.”

The fourth time you meet Kozume Kenma, he’s at your house working on an Japanese Lit assignment.

“Oh? Kozume-kun!” You’re pleasantly surprised when your teacher pairs the two of you up. “Nice to talk with you again.”

“Yeah, “ Kenma blinks a little awkwardly and he shyly grins, which you find even more stunning than it already is because he’s usually held up such a calm, unaffected facade. “Uh. So do you want to meet up at… your house for this? So we can do the project.”

“Oh, yeah,” You wave dismissively, beaming at him because this is your chance to get closer with him. “My little brother’s a nuisance, though, so he might bother us. I hope you don’t mind?”

“No problem.. you can text me the address, because… yeah.” You find it cute how Kenma doesn’t want to mention that the two of you have been texting a lot more lately, and the slightest blush tints his cheeks.

“Of course!”

Flash to your house, the two of you are on the floor, slaving over a giant posterboard with paint and art supplies scattered about.

“I hate making movie posters, it’s so tiring…” You groan out, trying to paint Yukio Mishima’s face with the utmost care. “And this book’s so creepy… why would we wanna make a poster of it? He commits seppuku!”

Kenma grins a little bit and he looks really cute, with his hair tied up in the back and his gaze focused on the painting at hand. “You’re so easily grossed out.”

“But he made it so detailed! You're immune ‘cause you play all those gross horror games.”

He laughs quietly, and you think you're going to heaven. “You couldn't even handle Ao Oni, stop.”

You scowl at the mention of Kenma’s dumb horror games. “He’s this weird deformed grape, okay?? It was kinda scary!”

The two of you end up nowhere near finishing your poster, and you collectively decide to put it off for maybe another day. The rest of your day is spent-- c-cuddling? (no hetero, you reassured Kenma, although you were thinking otherwise)-- and playing more horror games, much to your chagrin.

(But it gave you a reason to hug Kenma tighter.)

You can’t even count the amount of times you’ve met up with Kenma now. You’re in your second-year of high school now and your bond with him as only strengthened.

He invited you eventually to walk to school with him, along with Kuroo, and you find out that it was Kuroo’s coaxing to do so. But you’re still delighted that Kenma agreed on, what, the second time Kuroo nagged him about it?

You and Kenma have gotten fairly close. You’ve vented to him, cried to him, he’s shown his emotional side, too. You’ve even gotten a little closer to Nekoma’s god, Kuroo Tetsurou (to which your friends always complain about- “you can’t take all the cute guys for yourself”). But, in your opinion, the most important part is that you’ve been getting closer to Kozume Kenma, who you once thought would always just be the quiet classmate to you. Who would always be your unattainable, close-guarded crush.

"Kenma!” You yell out, rushing over to him with your backpack practically bouncing off of you with each step. “Wait up, would you?! How do you get out of class so quick??”

"I was waiting for you either way,” Kenma mumbles and hunches his shoulders together. “Do you wanna go to my house? I have new games and Kuroo won't be bothering us.”

“Can’t we get snacks first?” You know you sound a little bit whiny, but you’re hungry as fuck, and Kenma’s smiling either way.

“I guess.. you’re paying, though.”

“That isn’t fair at all!”

Eventually the two of you walk to your nearest 7/11 and get chips and snacks before leaving promptly, with you holding your chocolate milk and Kenma sipping apple juice. The walk to his house is full of conversation, Kenma equally engaged as you are. But as soon as you arrive at his front doorstep, the hollow noise of an empty apple juice box makes its appearance.

“You drink your juice too fast!” You tease Kenma lightly as he frowns, unlocking the door.

“You just drink too slow,” he replies and shoulders the door open. The two of you make your way inside and flop onto the couch, Kenma crouching near the TV to boot up his newest game. “Damn. I’m still thirsty, too.”

“Language, Kenma,” You chide him, throwing a pillow at him as soon as he sits down next to you on the couch. “And-” it takes every ounce of your willpower not to turn bright red. “-do you want some of my chocolate milk?”

The silence that follows is very short (probably only, what, a second or two?), but it feels like hours of painful quiet. Kenma blinks at you and the pink that dusts his ears becomes more and more prominent each second.

“Yeah… sure,” Kenma finally says and you beam so wide that you’re sure not even the sun could battle the brightness of your happiness right now. You hand him your nearly untouched chocolate milk and his fingers brush against yours as he takes it, sipping at it cautiously like he was afraid something would happen.

(Oh my god he’s so cute.. he looks so cute… he’s drinking my chocolate milk!! He’s so-)

“Oi, Kenma! My mom told me to pick up some tomatoes from y-” The door bursts open to reveal Kuroo Tetsurou.

You freeze, since Kuroo just witnessed you passing a chocolate milk box to Kenma and the latter sipping at the straw. Kenma kind of flushes, his mouth still wrapped around the plastic straw with chocolate milk halfway up.

“Eh? Sharing drinks now?” Kuroo tsks and shakes his head, a smirk gracing his stupidly arrogant face. “You know, you two could get mono. Or any other communicable diseases. Kinda risky, you know?”

“Kuroo, stop!” You’re wildly embarrassed to be caught in this not-so-platonic situation (in your opinion, at least), before Kuroo lets out a hearty laugh.

“You know, that’s an indirect kiss!”

“Didn’t I say stop?!”

“Ah, youth. Indirect kisses! You put your mouth on the straw, then he did. Romance at its finest!”

You know, deep inside, Kuroo just likes to rile you up, but you still bite the bait. “Kuroo, shut up, please??”

And Kenma speaks up for the first time during the whole banter. “Kuro, the tomatoes are on the kitchen table. Go.”

The Nekoma captain quirks an eyebrow before shrugging and heading towards the kitchen. “Thanks. Don’t do anything risky.”

“Kuroo!”

You and Kenma awkwardly glance at each other-- you note he’s still sipping your chocolate milk-- and eventually he stands off to ward Kuroo off (who keeps chuckling for no goddamn reason).

You two are alone again, and his burnt-gold eyes stare into yours.

“Did Kuro bother you?” His ears are still pinkish, but you notice that he’s still comfortable, although you can see a sheen of sweat starting to form on his face.

“Nah... “ You force your voice to stay level. “Why does he keep doing this?? God, he’s so annyoing sometimes… it isn’t like- it isn’t like we’re dating or anything.” God fucking damn stuttering.

Kenma’s eyes widen for a fraction of a millisecond, and you almost miss it, before he clears his throat. “Yeah. Not like that at all.. let’s just go back to playing.”

The atmosphere morphs into the usual, playful one that is held between the two of you, and you’re becoming proud of how much better Kenma is at redefining conversations and shifting the mood whereas in the beginning he would struggle in topic changes.

You’re so proud of him.

(And you’re kind of in love with him.)

You have a group chat with Kuroo and Kenma, unsurprisingly.

It’s, what, midnight on a school day, and the three of you are texting. Kuroo offers a game of ‘truth or dare’, and you accept out of sheer boredom. Plus, dares are so much easier to do online because you can fake nearly anything.

kuroo >:/: kenma truth or dare

kenma :): i’m not playing

YOU: yea you are !! ur not getting out of this

kenma :): fine

don’t say anything stupid though

kuroo >:/: so whats it gonna b???

Kenma takes a good ten seconds to respond.

kenma :): truth.

kuroo >:/: you got a crush on anyone?

YOU: oooh spicy

kenma :): kuro why

Your heart races a little bit at the comment.

YOU: oh? kenma i thought we were besties :(( why wouldnt u tell me

kenma :): it isn’t that….

kuro you already know why are you asking me that here

kuroo >:/: for my favorite kouhai [name]-chan

YOU: fuck off kuroo we all know im ur fav bc i pay for ur boba

kuroo >:/: fair

You get impatient with Kuroo’s mindless banter, so you end up texting Kenma privately.

YOU: so who is ur crush????

kenma :): why do you assume i have one

YOU: i mean….u wouldve denied it if u didnt have one?

He leaves you on seen for two minutes and you’re about to text him and complain but his reply shoots back.

kenma :): it’s you

And your heart doesn’t skip a beat. No, it just beats even faster.

The blood is rushing to your face, you can feel it, and a smile tugs at your face subconsciously. Your brain’s running a mile a minute, and you’re so outrageously shocked and unprepared that the aftermath of it all hits you just about a minute later.

(What if he’s lying? What if someone made him say that? What if-)

YOU: fr?

YOU: kenma dont mess w me

kenma :): i’m not

kenma :): you wanted to know so yeah. it’s you

kenma :): i like you and idk kuro says it’s “more than just like” and maybe he’s right

kenma :): see u at school tmr

YOU: WAIT KENMA COME BACK ???

You cute little rat, you seeth internally, happiness still radiating off of you. Is this a dream? Oh my god. Kozume Kenma likes me.

… Kozume Kenma feels the same way I feel about him.

The next day, you anxiously wait for Kenma at your doorstep. You even woke up early and had gotten ready as soon as you could, just so you could catch Kenma ASAP.

You slept surprisingly well, despite your anxiety from Kenma, and your body was filled with energy. You check your phone every two minutes, glancing at his ‘good morning text’ and praying for another one.

kenma :))): gm i’m still walking to school with u if you want… i’ll pass by your house just in case

YOU: oh!!!! yea id love to walk to school w u :))

Silence fills your ears as you anxiously pace back and forth from your doorstep to the curb of your neighborhood. You can’t help but worry as your gaze flits across every house, begging for a sign of Kenma.

(What if you’re too late, you realize in panic. What if your efforts weren’t enough?)

But then the sound of quiet-paced footsteps snaps you out, and you look up to see Kenma, standing in front of your house, an adorably shy expression painted across his face.

“Kenma!” You hate how your voice comes out kind of squeaky and high-pitched but you don’t care right now. You practically launch off of your doorstep and bound toward him, settling by his side.

He gives you a shy, adoring look but you can see the anxiety in his eyes as he points forward in the direction of Nekoma. “We can talk while walking, right?”

You smile breathlessly and your fingers brush against his. He smiles at you, and you notice the same pink dusting his ears like when he was sharing chocolate milk with you.

Two hands intertwine and the conversation begins.

You’re in your third year of college now, out on a “boys (and girl) night out”, as Kuroo deemed it.

Kenma’s got it well-made for him, striking good on his company to which you supported him through the entire time, and Kuroo’s on his way to be the scientist he’s always dreamed of being even as a nerdy-jock kid. He claims he’s practically a professional volleyball player, too, just on the side, but both you and Kenma know better.

You and Kenma have been dating ever since your second-year in high school. Which makes it just about… four-ish years now that you’ve been dating.

(Kuroo claims that in your first-year, you and Kenma were basically dating each other spiritually, but you pay him no mind.)

The three of you are out on the beach on an autumn day. It’s pretty empty, despite the warm evening sun that casts a golden shine on the sand and ocean, so you’re all making epic sandcastles in peace.

“We should make a moat,” Kuroo says, already digging out a ring around the lopsided sandcastle.

“We haven’t even finished the castle itself!” You protest, pushing him lightly as you use your other hand to pat down the base of the castle.

Kenma packs sand into a small bucket and delicately places it on top of the half-finished sand “castle” to make a tower. You find it cute how he’s the only one putting in decent effort, so you help him out by packing in another bucket of sand. “Kuro would be a terrible architect,” Kenma comments.

“You right, you right,” You sigh out while Kuroo squawks in protest. Kenma leans on you, out of instinct you think, and you kiss the top of his head gently. Kuroo covers his eyes and complains about his youth and young love before Kenma haphazardly bumps into you. Which leads to the sand castle collapsing.

“Ah- Kenma!” you cry out in panic, sweeping the sand together in a half-hearted attempt to piece it back into a cohesive castle. “Be careful!”

“No, look,” he says quietly, a small smile gracing his face.

“You worked so hard on the base too, to make it big and flat- oh?” You sit up a little bit when you see a small velvet box in the middle of the sand pile.

Kuroo gasps very loudly and you stare at Kenma in shock.

Oh my god. What’s happening, what’s happening, oh my god-

You slowly reach out for the box in the middle of the mess and take it delicately, brushing off the sand clinging to it. Your fingers pry it open with shaking fingers and you feel Kenma place his hand on your arm gently, his gorgeous honey eyes staring at you. The same honey eyes you fell in love with.

You're also in love with the gorgeous, sparkling amber ring that sits in the middle of the cushioned box.

“[Name]. I want to be married. To you. Will you marry me?” Kenma’s voice is soft and sweet but you know with the convincing sureness in his voice that he’s been practicing this line for at least a month and he’s become confident in it.

You start crying immediately (god damn it, you think to yourself) your heart blooming with joy and your entire body feels like it’s about to explode of pure happiness.

You kiss him, full on the lips with tears streaming down your face and he kisses back, his arms wrapping around you and you realize he’s crying too. With the possibly happiest voice you’ve ever used in your life, you cry out, “Of course I will!” on the beach with Kuroo clapping in the background.

Two years later on that beach, you two become the happiest couple on Earth.

#kenma kozume x reader #kozume kenma x reader #kenma kozume #kozume kenma #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #hq x reader

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otterbeesfanficblog · 4 years ago

Text

When neutron stars collide

(Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)

Part 1: Steps Before The Starting Line

Part 2: When a Star Chooses To Shine Part 3: Compare And Contrast Part 4: From Where We Stand Part 5: You Would Be Angry Too...

A/n: Hello dear readers, I'm so glad you decided to read my story. I hope you have fun. Anyway, I wanted to clarify a few things before we begin. Because this is featured in Japan, your in story surname will be first. For your surname, I have chosen it based on your quirk. Many, if not all My hero characters have their surnames related to there quirk. Get ready if you don't already know this, you about to learn somethin'. For example: Bakugou's family name looks like this (爆豪), which is in Japanese kanji. The kanji (爆) means (Burst) which can also be found in (爆発) (bakuhatsu) which means (Explosion). The second part of his surname (豪) has different meanings, one of them being (overpowering). And in short, even his first name roughly means (Win) and (Myself) which really really relates to his need to win by himself and do most things himself. Now that we have explained Bakugou, let's explain you!I've chosen to use (宇宙急増) which is (Uchūkyūzō). The first half (宇宙) means (space), the second (急増) means (Surge or Explosion). From what you learned, I'll let you figure out what your quirk is. Either way, I simply wanted to explain this to you because I thought it was fun to do and I thought some of you would want to know. Japanese is such a beautiful and interesting language. Anyway, sorry for rambling, I hope you like the story!

You had to admit seeing it on tv, movies, shows, cartoons, animes...

The school was a lot different than you had expected it to be.

In all fairness, it was hard to say UA was a good example of what a 'normal' school is like. You may not be the most well versed in what a 'normal' school should be, but a school full of heroes and students training to be heroes was probably not too normal.

Your stomach twisted into a not as you watched all kinds of students pile into the UA for the same entrance exam, breathing in deep and letting out a big sigh you rubbed your face with your hands.

"Am I really doing this...?"

"I asked myself the same thing when I got here!"

You felt your body flinch at the sudden voice next to you, but looking to your side where it came from you relaxed. A little.

Standing next to you with a smile you can only describe as the rival of a golden retriever, was a boy with spiking red hair and red eyes. His teeth were as sharp as the points in his hair, but his eyes held nothing but friendliness in them.

He had a red tint to his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck with a groan.

"This is so nerve-racking, huh? I knew a lot of people would be here but man, it sure is crowded."

You were quiet for a moment, simply staring before you shook your head and realized normal people have conversations with each other.

"Oh, uh, yeah right. Crowded..."

"Sorry, totally blanked!" He held out his hand to you with his smile still wide. "My name is Kirishima Eijiro! Nice to meet you!"

You looked at his hand for a moment, slowly extending yours and giving it a small shake. His hand was warmer than yours and was rough, glancing up from his hand you realized how tall he was compared to you.

You mentally roll your eyes, scolding yourself for sizing up the first person you meet. He seemed nice enough...

"Yeah, nice to meet you too..."

He gave you a shy smile, tilting his head almost expecting something. You tilt your head back in confusion, trying to converse with him with your eyes. You jump a little and felt heat rushing up your neck you your cheeks.

"Oh! Right, my name... I'm Uchukyuzo Y/n."

"Wow! That's such a manly name!" He clenched his fist together in a fist pump motion in front of his chest, looking at you in awe, then quickly backing up and waving his hands around.

"Ah! I mean! Not to say you're like a man because.. you're a girl, obviously! Not trying to say you're manly. Eh-! I mean! Not to say you aren't manly! Just that, ya know, you aren't manly in the sense that you're a man! You're not a man! Well, unless you wanna be! If so - ah- That's awesome!"

You felt yourself grin up at him stumbling, it had been so long since you had talked to someone your age, let alone someone so... outgoing.

It was nice.

"It's cool, Kirishima. It's a compliment in my book, I think you're pretty manly too."

He paused his stumbling and gaped at you, then grin wide so wide he scrunched his face and closed his eye in glee.

"Oh wow! Being called manly by someone on my first day here, no way I'm gonna fail now!"

For the first time in a while you relaxed your body, then watched Kirishima bounce up.

"Oh! Hey, I got an idea! Let's sit together at the exam orientation!"

Grin not leaving your face, you nod with gentle eyes.

"Sure."

"Hell yeah! My first friend! Things are looking up!"

You let out a soft chuckle and let him lead the way while he continued to talk to you, telling you how excited he was to have this chance and how he was definitely gonna make it in. He treasures you that you would make it in too and that hopefully, you two could be in the same class together.

You just let him talk, agreeing with him every so often and chiming in if he had asked you a question or not. It was a little tricky at first, again you hadn't talked to someone your age for a long time, but with his outgoing personality, you quickly got into a rhythm with him.

You appreciated the fact that he wasn't someone to dig into your personal life after you dodged and gave vague answers to him about some stuff he got the picture you didn't talk about it that much.

He didn't at all hold back about himself though, which you found surprising. Everyone you had ever meet didn't really... talking about personal stuff like their life. You had been around people who minded their own business and didn't bother you so... you didn't bother them.

You and Kirishima had come in early so there were lots of seats open. You wanted to sit in the back and Kirishima wanted to sit in closer, so you two decided to compromise and you sat in the middle decently far back.

While more people were filling in seats, you were caught off guard by one of Kirishima's questions.

"Hey, noticed you aren't wearing your school uniform."

You froze and looked at the table in front of you, hiding your eyes from him.

You weren't wearing a school uniform the same reason why you don't have a bag like everyone else...

You were silent for a while and Kirishima was about to dismiss it before you looked up at him again. You gave him a timid smile while scratching at your cheek.

"Ah, I didn't really know I had to wear it. News like that doesn't really get to me until it's too late."

Kirishima looked at you with curious eyes, shrugged then looked at the screen in the front of the room.

"That's okay, I'm sure it won't be a problem. And if it is," He sends you a wink and shoves a thumb to his chest. "I'll be there to back you up."

Your chest clenched at his words, your throat barely letting any air in as you took a shaky breath in, hoping he didn't notice as you turn to the front. You give a strained smile and nod.

"Yeah... thank you..."

The orientation started boisterously by the pro hero and radio star Present Mic, though, no one reciprocated his calls to action. You were a little embarrassed to think you were actually going to respond to him, you opened your mouth to but when you heard nothing from your peers you quickly shut your mouth and slouched.

Then you felt secondhand embarrassment for a curly-haired boy with green hair and freckles as he was called out by a boy with blue hair and glasses in front of everyone.

"I could never..." You mumbled, crossing your arms and trying to hide more in your chair. Kirishima chuckled next to you and smiled.

"There's gonna be some interesting characters here, I'm excited! I mean, I already met you, and you're super cool!"

You looked at him confused, both of you leaning in close to each other so as to not get caught talking.

"But, I haven't done anything."

"You talked to me, that's pretty cool! Most people think I can be... eh, too much." He blushes and rubs his neck in a timid manner.

In all honesty, you only talked to him to blend in, it was only chance that you ended up liking his company.

"Anyway, he said we'll be in different battle centers. Which one are you in?"

You watched him pull out his exam ticket that you were also given when you came in here and looking at it, it said he was stationed at center D.

You reached into your pocket, pulling out the folded ticket, you realized how different yours was from his.

You only had your name, your examinee number, and the battle center you placed, which luckily was also center D. He had his school picture along with other information, which the picture you had to admit was cute. In the photo his hair was black and let down, showing he changed before he got here.

You didn't have any of that because, well... they didn't have records of that.

"Ah, yes! Same battle center! I already know we'd make a great team!"

Putting the ticket back into the pocket of your baggy ripped pants, you chuckle and shake your head at him.

"You do know this is basically a competition right? We have to win points for ourselves."

"Oh, sure, but who said we would have to do it alone? Present mic didn't say anything about not teaming up!"

You supposed he was right, but you had no doubt they would be watching for that too. They most likely wanted to separate friends to get the full potential out of everyone, and you can't do that if you are working with a friend, at least not all the time.

You both went back to listening to Present mic speak, but you weren't at all focused on his words. You glanced around at all the faces around you, some were serious, some were nervous, and some were just plain cocky.

You didn't use your quirk much, not unless you really needed it, which... That's a lie, you used your quirk often, but not at it's strongest. You did that once and...

Looking down at your clothes, you pulled at your baggy shirt and shuffled in your baggy pants. They looked like hand-me-downs from an outsider's view, which in a sense they were. You just hoped no one noticed...

They were the only clothes you had.

------

After you and many other students were bussed to battle center D, your nerves began acting up again and you couldn't help bouncing your leg.

There were a lot of people already showing off their quirks and getting pumped for the exam, you on the other hand couldn't get the sinking feeling out of your chest that you were not only being constantly watched, but also looked down on.

Kirishima had changed into something much more sensible than you, but he pressured you that it wouldn't matter what you were wearing once you got into it. You held tight to those words, knowing that you'll worry yourself into a hole thinking about things you can't fix so you focused on a plan.

Which... wasn't coming to you greatly. Of course, you had thousands of ideas popping off in your mind, but you knew plans can change in seconds, especially for hero work.

"We're gonna do great, then we're gonna get in, and be in the same class, and become pro heroes, and get to be symbols of peace all on our own!"

You chuckled and looked over at the red-haired boy, who you were sure if he had a tail it would be wagging non-stop.

"You sure are confident."

"And you aren't? Come on, once you get into it, it'll be as easy as breathing!"

The busses arrived and let you off, and you let yourself fall to the back of the group waiting at the large doors of battle center D.

Kirishima stood next to you looking more determined than before, which you were surprised because you didn't think he could be any more determined. Looking up at the large door you sighed, then glanced at your hands.

This whole time, you'd be collecting as much as you could and it was making your heart race. You knew you had to release it soon, but you also knew you could still gain more.

"START!!"

The doors opened and your head shot up.

You had this.

You ran close behind everyone else, closely feeling the vibrations of their feet hitting the ground next to you. Kirishima hollered in glee as he ran, grinning so wide it must have hurt. The group started to branch off every which way, but Kirishima stayed on your path with a few other people.

A three-point bot came around the corner and you all locked onto it.

"This one's mine."

There was no room for argument as you high jumped over the group with immense power, landing, then speeding to the bot. Jumping high above it you felt the power in your building as you land on it face, then you smile and started to glow.

"Boom."

You and the robot were surrounded in bright light, then an explosion came from you and the bot, sending a couple of people who were still behind you stumbling. As the light around you dimed, you were surrounded by specs of light that looked like tiny stars. The bot beneath you fell and you jumped off, landing before it and collecting the energy from the vibrations it forced into the ground upon it falling.

You yawned as a sense of tiredness fell over you, looking back you saw a few students still watching you in awe, one of them being Kirishima who looked like he was gonna cry.

"So cool..." He whispered.

You waved at him and began to jog off, calling back to him as you left.

"I'll see you later, Kirishima, get some points!"

Kirishima was right, once you were in it, you were in it. You weren't even really thinking about points even though you knew it was almost the whole point of the test, you just couldn't bring yourself to care about it.

You destroyed many bots and even saved a lot of people who were overwhelmed or just not ready. Time was going down but you were more focused on if this was real.

You've seen what villains could do in real life, they could be anyone, anywhere, anytime. You learned quickly at a young age, life will always be against you, and you have to be ready to fight to be alive.

You came down what looked like the main street, looking side to side. You saw a couple of students downing a few bots, while others stood and looked for more. Out of the dust clouds, you saw a bit of red hair flash into view, then you saw a very focused Kirishima.

He was breathing heavily just as you were, and he was helping someone up from the group, presumably asking if they were alright.

"Hey! Kirishima!!" You waved your arms above you, trying to get his attention. You couldn't help but smile, knowing not only he was your friend, but you were also so filled with pent up power and adrenaline, you didn't care if you stuck out.

He was quick to turn his head after hearing his name, once he saw you from down the street, he smiled and waved back.

Your meet up didn't last long when suddenly the ground started to rumble and shake, you allowed some of the energy from the rumbles to leak into your body. You didn't want all of it, in fear it would be too much, but you also wanted to be ready.

Turning around, you watched a humongous hand come around the corner, bringing with it its body and your eyes grew wide.

"Holy shit... That's a big boy."

The bot stood larger than the buildings and apparently was zero points, but the points weren't what you were thinking about as it easily collapsed a whole building. The collapsed building sent a huge dust cloud your way, you covered your eyes but took in all the energy you could from the blast and the bots movements towards you.

You started to glow as you glared up at the bot.

To you, it was real, very real. It remained you too much of your time as a kid, everything was bigger than you back then, you weren't about to step down from this thing. Especially not after you heard screams and people running away.

"Uchukyuzo! What are you doing!?"

Turning, you saw Kirishima running to your side with a look of our worry.

"This thing is huge and it's not worth points!"

"That's not the point." You glared back up at the bot as it got closer and closer, your body glowed and allowed tiny bits of star-like lights to fall from you. Kirishima looked at you as if you were crazy but stood firm by your side, readying his body and smashing his firsts together.

You watched sparks fly from them as the bashed into each other, seeing his skin turn stiff. His quirk was hardening, that could be very useful.

"Okay, then... I'm with you! What's the plan?"

"Catch me, I've got the rest."

Your eyes glowed and sparkled like a night sky as you smiled at him, you could see him sweating but he nods with determined eyes.

"You got this!"

With that, you crouched and sent a large amount of power through you legs to the ground, sending you flying into the air towards the bot. It wasn't long before you landed on it, with plenty of power still left and power you absorbed from its heavy movements, you knew you just needed a little more before you could to it.

You watched its many eyes glow in response to your appearance, zeroing in on destroying you.

If you were any younger, any less prideful, you would have ran away for sure. This was the thing you would run from as a kid, hiding instead of fighting. Not anymore.

You weren't going to hide anymore, you've hidden enough in your life.

It was time for people to know your name.

You began to glow too bright for people standing by to look at, bright as the sun. You friend down at the bot as you held onto it, hoping Kirishima could actually catch you.

"Let's create a supernova!"

You screamed this as you released all the pent up power you had, simultaneously taking in and expelling that same energy all at the same time. It hurt like a bitch, but you felt that power go right through the bot and a few feet into the ground below.

All that light disappeared, then reappeared with a vengeance, basically blinding anyone who was staring too close. It was silent for a few moments, but then almost a sonic boom came from where you were. A huge burst of wind and power exploded from where you and the bot were.

The bot exploded into pieces, and the sheer power behind the explosion sent you flying upwards. You, along with everyone else watching, saw the large bursts of colorful stars come from the bot as it fell to the ground. You were sent into the air, but soon you felt yourself start to plummet.

You gasped and forced your body to face down to see where you were headed, watching the ground below quickly approach as you looked for Kirishima.

Your heart plummeted into your gut when you couldn't find him, the one person you need to help you not die. You started to use the wind coming at you as a force of power, but you knew it wasn't enough to break your fall so you wouldn't die.

"UCHUKYUZO!!"

Your eyes go wide as you saw Kirishima jump from the window of a building towards you, holding out his arms. You reached out just the same, grazing him at first, then gripping his hands as he pulled you into his chest.

You felt his skin harden all around you, and you knew he was going to try and take the brunt of the blow as he placed himself under you.

You weren't having it.

The ground quickly coming at you, you flipped and had yourself beneath him. His eyes went wide at this, but you just smiled up at him, starting you glow.

Then, you both hit the ground.

Your eyes were tightly shut, your teeth clenched, until finally you opened you mouth wide and let out a breath you were holding in, along with a groan. You heard a groan from your chest, and you opened one eye to see Kirishima slowly getting up from on top of you. He opened his eyes, first blinking and just taking in what happened, then gasping and looking up at you.

"Uchukyuzo! Oh my god, are you okay!?"

You felt one of his hands behind your head, you suspected that was him trying to protect your head from the fall, the other was moved from your lower back to the ground on the side of your hip.

You let him pull his hand out from under your head and you went limp on the ground taking deep breaths as you closed your eyes and groaned.

"I'm okay, are you?"

"I'm fine, why are you asking me that!? You took the brunt off the fall! You told me to catch you!"

"And.." You opened your eyes and started to lean up. "You did, thank you."

Kirishima got off of you and sat next to you as you sat up, rubbing the back of your head before, tiredly turning around to see the mess.

It was big. Pieces of metal were everywhere, speckled stars still fell from the sky as the dust was clearing.

You slowly stood up, Kirishima standing as well and just silently watching you. Not to your surprise, many many students crowded around and stared at you. You looked on at all of them with half-lidded eyes, the adrenaline and power you had before was no longer there and you were exhausted and beat.

"Are... You all okay?"

They all started at you, mouths gaped and eyes wide. From what you could tell, none of them were seriously damaged, which was good. You nodded and put a hand to your stomach in pain, which you then felt your own skin.

Looking down, your clothes were ripped as hell. Your shirt was now a ragged, dirty crop top, and your pant legs were ripped at your thigh and your ankle, making it this mismatched length. Your shoes were as dirty and thin as they always were, if not a few new holes.

"Wow... I look like shit."

You turn to make a joke with Kirishima about how you really should have brought different clothes, but turning you saw him with tears in his eyes and clenching his fist. He tightly closed his eyes and nodded at you.

"So manly..."

You couldn't respond before you heard the overhead voice speak and a siren goes off.

"TIMES UP!!"

For a moment you just stood there then your eyes go wide.

"Ah, shit! How many points did I get! I wasn't paying attention! Did I get enough? How many is enough? I --"

The ground beneath you shifted and the word tilted to the side which made you stumble, you groaned again and closed your eyes.

"Well... shit..."

Then it all went black and you went numb.

-------

"Will she really be okay?"

"You worry too much, young man. She will wake up in no time."

A groan left your mouth as you rolled on to your side, snuggling into the blankets and pillow beneath your head.

"... Just five more minutes."

"AH! You're awake!"

You open one of your eyes to see where you were, the room was white and standing next to you with a sheepish grin was Kirishima, and next to him was a nice-looking old lady.

"I'm awake."

"Dude, you totally passed out at the exam. You freaked me out! You freaked a lot of people out actually!"

"Oh... sorry." You closed your eyes again and yawned, then sat up and rubbed your eyes. "How long have I been out?"

"It's sunset now if that gives you a clue, my dear." The old woman said, point out the window with a chain that kinda looked like a syringe.

Looking at the window, you saw that it was indeed sunset, which made you frown and look at Kirishima.

"Shouldn't you... I don't know, be at home?" After saying this he looked at you with shock.

"I couldn't just leave you here! I would just die wondering if you were okay or not! Can't have my first UA friend die on me!"

"Oh, hush, she wasn't dying." The old lady scolded him, turning and going to her desk as he rubbed his neck with a blush tinting his cheeks.

"Well, I didn't know that..."

You smile at him, throwing your legs over the side of the bed, partly wishing you could just sleep in the bed forever.

"Thanks for worrying about me Kirishima, but you should go home, I'm sure your family must be worried."

He shook his head as the old lady came back over and handed you some small candies.

"Nah, I called them to tell them I was making sure a friend was okay, they know where I am. I'm worried about your family."

You went still at the mention of your family, vaguely shrugging.

"I'm sure they're fine."

"We couldn't find any emergency numbers in your name, my dear." The old lady said, looking at you sadly. "So, we didn't know who to call."

"It's okay, really. Kirishima, you can go home now, you know I'm okay."

He then let out a sigh and ran his hand over his shoulder.

"Would... It be okay if I walked you home? Just to know you're really okay!"

You were about to quickly deny him the offer and even felt yourself thinking of some rude away to make him go home, but... looking at his concerned face and knowing you were the reason he stayed back so late...

"... Yeah, sure."

----

Recovery girl, as you learned she was the school nurse, gave you a new pair of clothes. You thanked her over and over for them, knowing the ripped clothes you had would no doubt go to the trash.

As you walked with Kirishima, you were both quiet. It was somewhat awkward and tense, but that was your fault.

You didn't want him to see your home, you didn't want anyone to see your home. You never let anyone go near your home, fearing judgment and pity.

"So..." Kirishima started, trying to fill the silence. "Your quirk is hella cool, how do you do it?"

You thought for a moment.

"Well... I think I would call it force control. See, I can absorbed any kind of force or power. Some more than others, vibrations and impact forces are easier."

"Uh..." He looked at you confused, so you slowed down and explained.

"Meaning I can absorb vibrations from the ground or if I was hit, say, in the face, I could take that impact energy and use it for my own. I can also take in things like air, light, and sound. Other stuff too but, those ones don't work as fast as the one I mentioned before."

"So," He looked off in front of him. "Are you like, collecting energy all the time."

You hum in though, waving your hand in a so-so motion.

"Well, yes and no. If I really focus, I can absorb a lot of energy. If I'm just walking like I am, I'm collecting but just not as much, just enough to keep me going."

He groans and puts his head in his hands, you look at him in confusion.

"What-"

"Your quirk is so cool! Mine's nowhere near that cool, or flashy! I mean, you explode like a star in the sky! All I do is get hard."

You choked on the air you breathed in and screamed, covering your mouth as you laughed. At first, he thought you were laughing at his quirk, then he realized what he said and his face grew almost as red as his hair.

"AH! I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!!!!"

You both end up laughing for a while, him from embarrassment, you from it being just plain funny. After you calmed down you smiled over at him.

"Hey, honestly, your quirk is fuckin' amazing. The ability to harden your skin like a shield, making it a fantastic defense tactic, while also being able to use it offensively. That's nothing to sneeze at, Kirishima."

He shyly chuckled, looking off into the distance.

"Yeah, I guess..."

You soon came to where you planned on taking him.

"Here we are."

It was a one-story house, it was clean, white, and had a for sale sign on it. Kirishima looked at it then to you.

"You're moving?"

You shrug.

"I move around a lot."

"Oh, well, okay."

You smiled gently at him.

"Thank you for taking me home, you're a really nice guy."

He waves his hand dismissively with a smile.

"No way, it's just the right thing to do. Oh, how bout I give you my number, and we can call each other while we wait for our results!"

You felt your blood run cold as you let out a chuckle, shyly scratching your head.

"Actually, I... don't have a phone."

"Oh..."

"Sorry..."

"Eh, it's okay, I know we'll both make it in any way. No worries."

He began to turn down the street you both came from, turning back with a smile and a wave.

"See ya, Uchukyuzo."

"... Hey!"

You called out to him which made him stop and turn back to you, smiling you shrug towards him.

"Just call me Y/n."

He seemed shocked at first, then gave a huge grin and nodded.

"Sure, and you can keep calling me Kirishima or Kiri if ya want! Bye!"

You waved at him one last time, watching his disappear around a corner. As he did so, your smile vanished and you dropped your hands to your sides with a sigh.

Looking at the house you stood in front of, you glared at it, knowing you would have to switch houses soon. Not because you lived there, god no. It was because you didn't live there, you were just using its mailbox.

If you tried to live in that house, people would start to notice and you didn't want to get in trouble like that again. So, with a sigh, you turn away from the house and venture off to your real home.

If you could call it that.

Making your way to a somewhat closed-off area, you looked to see if anyone was watching, then turned down an alleyway. In the alleyway was a large wooden board set up against the wall, talking the side, you drag it to the side enough to see the narrow space between the two buildings it was leaning on.

You shuffled your way in the narrow walkway, turning and pulling the wood board back into place, then turning and going down the narrow way. Once you were at the end, there was another wooden board, which you move as well. You made your way in the small boxed off area, the shoved the wood back in place.

Turning around, you faced your real "home".

A large tipped over dumpster was where you had placed your back shift bed, made from a dirty, old, and ripped table cloth and a bunched up pile of ripped clothing you couldn't wear anymore as a pillow.

In the middle was the small trashcan that you used as a fire pit, just the left of where you slept held all your canned and stolen foods. It also held a first aid kit you had stolen and a few other things you had 'permanently borrowed' from someone.

The whole place was covered by scrap metal you have found and use as a roof for your little 'home', only enough space to let the smoke from the fire out.

Speaking of fire, you walk over and pick up your fire poker, pushing around the embers that were just barely alive. Looking to your right, you didn't have much left in your pile of flammable items so you put the poker down and decided to let the fire die.

Going to your food pile next, you looked through it. Most of the stuff had to be heated up of the fire you so nicely let die, but your stomach growled in anger of missing another meal for the four-time in a row. You didn't eat at all yesterday and you certainly didn't eat breakfast today, to you picked up the can of peaches and went over to your bed.

You didn't have a mattress, you just used some extra clothes you found here and there. You sit down, you head just barely grazing the top of the dumpster that hid your bed, opened the can and began to eat.

And by that, you just poured the contents into your mouth.

You grew to realize you can't be picky about what you ate, if you did, you'd be dead. Staring into the dying fire, you thought back to the red-haired boy you met today.

You wonder: Was he at home now? Did he have a home to go to? He said he had a family so, that's good. He must have a bed. And food. A home... Good...

"... someone as good as him doesn't deserve this fate..."

After finishing the can you put it off to the side, crossing your legs your slouch and rub your hands over your face. Covering your face your eyes start to have a familiar sting, to which you growl at and shake your head.

Crawling out of the dumpster, you pull down the lid, encasing you in darkness as you curl up. Head resting on the pile of clothes, you pull the table cloth up to your chin and close your eyes.

You couldn't help but imagine how the nurse's bed was so much better than ... this. You gently raise your hand, letting it glow. You released a burst of energy that stuck to the ceiling of the bin and floated all around it.

If you really imagined it, it was like you were floating in space, far away from earth and just... floating.

You willed yourself to close your eyes and hoped that you'd get at least a little sleep before you found out the horrors of tomorrow.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #bnha x reader #bnha x female reader #mha x reader #mha x female reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugou katuski x reader #x female reader

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