#I like the idea that future sight takes a lot more effort than the usual item/person-finding ability hence the extra care in performing it
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fluffs-n-stuffs · 1 year ago
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But which is greater, I wonder; the thrill of an uncharted path... or the joy of who guides them through it?
>>> Next <<< Previous (Destiny Bond; a Pokémon fancomic --- pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4, pt.5, pt.6, pt.7, pt.8, pt.9, pt.10, pt.11, ???)
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raccoon-eyed-rebel · 2 years ago
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Part 26
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Masterlist
Series masterlist
Part 25 🍂 Part 27
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Pairing: Syverson x ofc
Series summary: Life with Sy, what more can you wish for? The most amazing husband and father to a whole litter of cute little kids... Sometimes you wonder "how did you get here?"
Chapter warnings: Pregnancy things, some tension, some fluff...
Word count: 1.4k
A/N: After a short hiatus of *checks notes* nearly 2 months, HERE WE ARE AGAIN! I wasn't in the mood to write this for such a long time, but now... apparently I am. (Maybe it has something to do with @keanureevesisbae's unexpected return to Tumblr with a Spencer Reid fic I'm dying to find out more about...)
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@deandoesthingstome @geralts-yenn @omgkatinka @summersong69 @beck07990 @peaches1958 @sillyrabbit81 @ellethespaceunicorn @livisss @sofiebstar @keanureevesisbae
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“I’ve changed my mind,” you growled. Hugging toilet bowls had never been a hobby, and you were doing it a lot more now than ever before. You had tried to send Sy away exactly once, and failed miserably. Now, he was sitting behind you, holding your hair back while you still tried to hide what you were doing from his sight. You were going to have to become a lot more comfortable with a lot of things over the next few months…
“I wish I could do anything to help, Sugar,” Sy sighed. You could tell he felt powerless and useless. Sidelined. But as far as you were concerned, he wasn’t on the sidelines for this one. He was smack in the middle of all of it. In fact…
“This is your fault,” you snarled as you let your head hang. The echo inside the toilet made it sound extremely melodramatic, but who gave a damn? You had been throwing up almost non-stop for what felt like ages. In reality, it had been two weeks – and you hadn’t been throwing up non-stop, it just felt like it sometimes. Nevertheless, it had been two long, excruciating weeks that had made you really grateful for every day of your life you had spent… God, how to put it... Non-nauseated and happy?
“How is this my fault?” Oh no, poor man. You had definitely been taking out some extra frustration on him - which he didn’t deserve at all, by the way. He was nothing short of an absolutely ideal boyfriend.
“You knocked me up,” you said, pouting at him. A smirk took over his face. You knew that look.
“I did, didn’t I?” Good God. It had taken both of you a few days – and the confirmation by your doctor that you were really pregnant – to get used to the idea a bit, but ever since the news had settled in… The easiest way of putting it would be that Sy was just very proud of himself. And of you, that went without saying, but there was definitely a new level of swagger and attitude surrounding him in everything he did.
He took every bit as much care of you as before – which you occasionally struggled with, still – and now that you were working on a whole new human, he had doubled down on those efforts. And let’s be real; you deserved it. You were building a baby, dammit. At night, his hand had permanently relocated to your stomach. It was a good thing; over the past week or so your boobs had really been giving you hell. You had yet to break the news to Sy that there was a significant chance that particular playground would remain closed for the foreseeable future… He wasn’t going to like that, you were pretty sure of it.
The sound of running water was unexpected, but not nearly enough to actually make you look up. It was the nudge against your shoulder that finally did that, and you saw Sy holding out a glass of water for you. Rinsing wasn’t enough to get the taste out of your mouth, but it sure as hell wasn’t for lack of trying.
“You should drink some,” Sy pointed out. He was right, of course. “Can you get up?” He helped you off the floor and into the shower before announcing that he was going downstairs to make you a cup of tea. You sighed – what else could you do? – not because you didn’t appreciate the gesture, or even because you didn’t want the tea. Peppermint tea usually helped with the nausea, so that was a definite bonus. You were just sad that Sy’s arms wouldn’t be around you anymore, and also sad you couldn’t have coffee.
He returned a little while later. You hadn’t even gotten around to washing your hair yet. Instead, you’d just been standing around, warming up…  
“Do you mind if I join you?” Sy asked. He was already naked in front of you, what the hell did he expect you to say other than ‘ehm, hell yeah!’ Although the flat little hum you let out lacked his preferred enthusiasm, you were definitely still thinking it? Did that count? You decided it counted. Sy seemed to be of a slightly different opinion, raising an eyebrow at you as if to ask you a question. You knew which one, and of course you still loved him.
“Please come here and hug me?” You said, stretching your arms out to him. Sy stepped into the shower with you and held you for all of two seconds before he started kissing you. At first, you tried to turn away, but he wouldn’t let you.
“Sy! I haven’t brushed my teeth,” you said. It didn’t look like this man was going to take no for an answer.
“I’ll happily kiss you anywhere else, Sugar.” He lifted you as if you weighed nothing and kissed your neck. He had shown you time and time again that he could throw you around like it didn’t mean a thing, and you were always really happy about it.
“Sy, not today.” He put you down with a grunt of frustration. You’d been turning him down consistently for weeks now – even before the engagement/birthday party, there had been some time with plenty of reasons not to. Some hadn’t changed – tired, pain, not feeling well – some were new – baby, hormones. It’s not like you wanted to say no, it’s just that you were tired and feeling sick, and it was a hassle.
“Do you even remember how we got in this situation, Sugar?” Sy said through gritted teeth. His irritation rubbed you the wrong way. Yes, you did. As a matter of fact, the memories of your previously very active sex life haunted you in your unusually vivid dreams – and even those weren’t enough to get you to wake up in the mood for sex. And the fact that Sy was pushing for it, really didn’t help. “Sugar, I honest to God just miss you. But it’s fine. Just give me five minutes and I’ll come to bed.” Oh. It was nice to know that he wasn’t just asking because he wanted to get laid, that really helped settle the irritation that had started burning inside you. You got out of the shower and got ready for bed, already thinking about the peppermint tea that was waiting for you on your nightstand, and hoping vigorously that it would help settle the nausea as it always did.
You thought about what Sy said in the shower while you carefully sipped the hot beverage. He missed you. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t miss him, but why did it have to be that? Your thoughts were interrupted by the sounds emerging from the shower. You’d heard them plenty of times before, yet it somehow still felt like a massive violation of his privacy. He’d disagree; it was routine for him, he wouldn’t even stop when you walked into the bathroom before he was done. In fact, you suspected he liked that you took little peeks at him in the mirror, too shy to actually turn around and watch him – and you were pretty sure that if you did turn around to watch him, he’d love that, too.
Your thoughts went back to the issue of his intimacy cravings when the water shut off. He still had to take care of his beard – probably the one thing about his appearance he was a little vain about – which gave you a little time to think things over. There was no doubt in your mind – or anyone else’s – that Sy was a very physical guy when it came to loving you, and not always the best with words. He basically worshipped you, always taking care of you, always wanting to touch you… Why did you treat that like such a bad thing when it wasn’t? The things he did for you… You never got the idea that he was doing them just to get laid. In fact, you never got the idea he wanted anything in return. What if your big guy just wanted to love his woman the best way he knew how?
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qtsickchiq · 3 years ago
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ONLY YOU
with Haitani Rindou
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“What have you done this time Rin?” You asked with a serious tone glaring at the younger brother of the Haitani who is currently sitting in the opposite of you.
You are surprised when you heard about the news. You knew something would happen in that Kantou incident but this exceeds your expectations. You make some time to visit the Haitani brothers at the Juvenile Centre.  
Rindou has his usual bored expression on his face. “It’s none of your business y/n.”
“So this is how you’re speaking to me now huh?” You mumbled under your breath, gaze trailing down to the man in front of you. The young man let out a loud sigh as a response to yours.
“You know what Rin? I’ve enough. Let’s end this.” You whimpered, your fist tighten around your dress.
He raises a brow, trying to catch the things you were saying. “What nonsense are you spitting out now?” He let out frustrated chuckles.
“I don’t see any way we are going to work.”
“Stop, you can’t leave me. Not now.” He hissed, slamming both of his hands on the table.
“Rin, this is not going to work! You don’t even give a damn about me, about our future. Have you ever thought of me in that brain of yours?” You wail as the tears start rolling down on your cheeks. He flinches back, his eyes widen at your words. He was at a loss for words. It’s true, he know it himself. He knows damn well.
You looked at him, teeth gritted, frustration clear in your eyes. “As I thought, let’s end this. I can’t keep waiting for you like this.”
He tried to grab your hand but you end up slapping his hand away. “I’m sorry please- please don’t leave me.” He whimpers. He lowers his head and his eyes were teary, hands slightly trembling.
“I love you Rin, I love you so fucking damn much that it’s hurting me. I just want you to give a damn about me for once.” You murmur as you slowly getting up from your chair, wiping away the tears on your cheeks using both of your sleeves.
“I know.”
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That was the last time he saw you. He hadn’t seen you at all for the past years. It’s been years but he still gets dreams of you. He missed you so much. He missed your soft-spoken voice when you talks to him, your sweet laugh when you laugh at his boring jokes, your honey sweet lips when it touch his. The thoughts of you linger in and out of his mind. He regrets everything he has done to you before.
He can’t stop loving you. Believe him, he tried. He lies awake every night, trying to think of ways to get you out of his mind. But he fails every time. He tried looking for you several times before but you keep on avoiding him. He still waits for you days by days even until today.  
“Rindou, what are spacing out now? Come on, let’s enjoy the drinks. ” A voice greeted his ears and snapping him out of his pondering. Sanzu give a curious stare at him, brows knitted together before a grin emerged on his face. “Come on.” Rindou shrugs, running his fingers through his hair while following his friends from behind. Many years have passed from the incident and he’s in Bonten now. Sanzu drag him away as he passes him a bottle of alcohol.
With the loud music booming at every corner of the club, Rindou can’t help but to let out a sigh. His eyes are wandering around the club. He leaned back at his seat, having his second drink of the night. That is until he could catch a glimpse of you. What the fuck. You walk briskly to the dance floor in your low cut red silk dress draped around your body. You raised softly curved arm, and a myriad of gold bangles jangled to the rhythm of the mounting beat. You are dancing along to the music with a glass of wine in your hand. He keeps his gaze trailing down to you, not noticing the ways the other Bonten members are staring at him.
The older Haitani brother raises a brow, clicking his tongue. “Hey what’s wrong Rindou?” He was only greeted with silence from his younger brother. Rindou plopped down in a chair, his intense gaze fixed on you. Ran turns his head to look at the way his little brother is looking, his lips slowly curving up into a smile as he realizes the things that are bothering his brother “Oh is that y/n?” A loud laugh erupted from Ran.
Rindou shrugs it off as he leaned back at his seat. He flicks the lighter in his hand and watch the tip of his cigarette ignite as he inhale it and blow the heavy smoke from his mouth. It has been years and you are still able to catch his attention from everything. The most beautiful creature he has seen in his entire life. His steady gaze on you gave no indication of what else was on his mind. Fuck, he misses you. He wants to touch you. He wants to stroke your cheeks once again, while looking into your lustrous eyes. But he understands that you hate him now. He doesn’t want to be a bother in your life again. He hurts you once. The last time he made you cry was something he doesn’t want to remember ever again. All Rindou could do was to stare at you as you drown yourself deeper in the glass of wine, giggling. Everything felt so heavy to him.
That is until he notices that there’s a group of men staring at you with their lustful eyes as they are laughing to themselves near the bar. They are pissing him off. He tightened his grip slightly when he saw the men start making their way towards you. Without a second thought, Rindou clears his throat as he stands up from his seat, slowly walking towards you. His hands touched your waist and then he slipped his arms around you from behind and drew your back against his chest. You are too drunk to notice. He shot them a glare.
One of the men yells, “Hey! What the hell?”
“Don’t even think about it” He bits the inside of his cheek, trying to suppress his anger.
“Huh?”
His jaw clenched. “Don’t even think about touching my woman.” His voice is harsh and cold. He harshly grips your wrist, pulling you away from the creepy men. His eyes are flashing anger.
Your lips parted for a second trying to recall the man that is fully dressed in suit. You winced when you recognize him. “Wa-wait…hic…Rindou??”
“Let’s go.” He grumbles under his breath. He pulls you closer as he walks out from the club heading to where he parked his car. You try to jerks your hand away, but his grip is stronger than yours.
“I don’t… I don’t know if I… hic… if I wanna go…?” You mumble to yourself before you stumble forward losing your own balance. Rindou quickly catch you in his arms. He let out a heavy sigh.
“You had enough. Let’s go.” Picking your unconscious self in bridal style, he gently places you in his car.
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The moment you blinks your eyes you were already in an unfamiliar bedroom. Your ears perked up from Rindou’s voice, you take a glance to see the man standing right next to a window talking to his phone. He already changes from his suits that he was wearing at the club earlier to a comfy black t-shirt and grey sweatpants.
A deep furrow ran across his forehead, “Yeah, I already went home. There’s something I have to take care of. See you tomorrow, brother.” He ends the call, placing the phone in his pocket.
You sat up in the bed and look around, with your hand rubbing your head to ease the throbbing in you temples, “Rindou? What’s happening here?” You clutch the comforter to your chest.
“I didn’t lay a finger on you.”
You flinch as you hurriedly look over yourself underneath the comfy comforter. Yes, you are still fully clothes. Rindou let out a loud sigh as he passed you a glass of water.
“Um, thank you for saving me.”  You mumble under your breath. His lazy eyes are staring straight to you. You took a sip of the drink.
He scoffs, “Don’t bother.” He makes his way to a chair beside the bed. “Who the hell think it’s a good idea to drink more than you can handle?” He asked, placing both of his hands in his pockets.
You shot him a glare. Ah! Now you remembered. You were at the club earlier with you friends celebrating the promotion you just got from work. Rindou suddenly stands up from his chair, making his way towards the huge wardrobe in that bedroom. You turn your head to stare at the man who is busy looking for something in the wardrobe. He did change a lot huh. You push the thought from your mind as you can see him coming towards you. He passed you a new freshly clothes.
“Wear this. I don’t think you’re comfortable enough in that shitty dress anyway.”
You narrowed your brows at him. “Excuse me sir? This dress is beautiful okay.”
“Well seems like to me you couldn’t even breathe in that dress.” His brows knitted together, pointing his finger to your dress. Rindou admits to himself that you do look gorgeous in that dress but none of it matters at this moment. He only wants you to be comfortable enough.
You shrug, “Fine.” You grab the clothes from him as you stripping yourself, taking off the silk dress from your body. Rindou roll his eyes as he turns his head away from the sight. You glance down at the shirt that is way too big for you as you sniff it, you can smell his scent there.
You took a deep breath as you turn your head to face him. “So how are you doing now?”
“M'doing fine.” He mutters to himself.
You frown, clicking your tongue.  “What are you doing now?”
“Nothing.” He murmurs as he place a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, his long fingers then searched inside the nightstand and finally emerged with a match.  He lights up a cigarette in his mouth, blowing the heavy smoke out.
You waited for his reply in tense silence, but his response filled you with equal anger. You shot a glare at him. “Rin, I’m talking to you. At least make some efforts in replying.”
“I am.”
You glare at him with frustration clears in your eyes, teeth gritted. “Fuck off!” You curse as you plops yourself on the bed yanking the comforter over your body. You turn your face away avoiding his stare.
Rindou raises a brow at your sudden outburst. He puts out his cigarette as he slowly scoots over to sit next to you. “Language babe, anyway where have you been all these time?”
“Home duh.” You replied sarcastically, rolling your eyes.
“I’m serious now y/n.” He hissed, grabbing your wrist forcing you to face him. His brow knitted together.
“Oh now you know how to communicate properly. Why the hell do you care about me anyway?”
He slammed you down with him being on top of you. Both of his hands stay on the side of your head supporting him. “Because I was fucking looking for you, you dumb woman.” His body stays in between your legs.
You wince as you tried to escape from his grasp, “You what?”
He places his head on his palm, trembling as he stared down at you. Tears burned his eyes and his lower lip trembled, “I was looking for you all these years y/n.”
You scoff, “What the hell are you saying now? I told you we won’t work!” You tried to push him away. Your eyes were filling with tears.
His troubled gaze came back to your face, pacing from your eyes to your lips. “I don’t fucking care. I’ll make it work. I can’t live like this y/n.”
“How the hell you want to make us work if you don’t even give a damn about me before?” The tears are spilling past your eyes as you sob.
“I care about you y/n!” He grabbed your shoulders, pulling you roughly against him and kissed you in a demanding way that roused more anger than anything else. You flinch as you push away from his grip.
“LIAR!!” You scream pulling away to glare at him with tear-filled eyes as you wipe your lips with you hand. “Don’t you dare lie to me in front of my face? You barely made time for me before. Where were you when I need you the most? All you think about is your gang shits and fighting alongside your brother! Have you ever thought of me? How long do you expect me to wait for you?” You began to cry, you sob muffled as you leaned forward against your arms, hugging your knees.
His heart instantly drops to his stomach. “I’m sorry. Fuck, I’m so sorry. I fucking love you, babe.” He slowly lowered his head, gathering you gently in his arms. He pulled you closer in an embrace. “I love you, y/n. I love you so fucking much that it hurts me so freaking bad to not being able to stay by your side. I’m sorry, please forgive me. I miss you so fucking bad. Let me fix this and I know we weren’t perfect but I’ve never felt this way for no one. I care about you. I fucking do. Just for once, please trust me this time.” His warm lips brushed your forehead, peppering it with kisses. Lips quivering as the tears flow from his eyes. You bury your face in his chest.
Your hands making your way to hold his back as you fall deeper in his embrace. “I can’t Rin, I’m married now.” You whispered in his ears.
He jolted away from you, eyes widened from your statement. He gripped your wrist hard, lowering his head to look at you, “You what?”
You let out a giggle, “I’m just joking, you silly.”
He sigh, “That’s a dumb joke, I was about to kill your husband if it’s true.” He frowned as he releases his grip from your wrist turning his head away from you. His lips pressed in thin line.
“Sorry~” Your eyes brimmed with tears of mirth and the smile tugging your lips broke into a grin. You place your hand gently on his hand to pull him back in your embrace. An annoyance huff could be heard as he nuzzling himself into your hair, sliding his fingers down to your hair. He leaned back in your grasp, staring straight into your eyes.
“Say do you still love me?”
“No.” You shook you head with a smirk plastered on your face.
He rolls his eyes,“Y/n…”
“Hold me?” You held your arms out, welcoming him in your embrace. “Of course I still love you, you dumb ass. How can I forget my boring high school sweetheart?” You chuckles as you strokes his hair and kisses his forehead.
He cuts you off, “Shut up.” He was sitting on the bed, legs spreading as he places his hands on the back of your thigh and pulls you forward him. He makes you sit down on his lap, inching his face closer to you.
“But you said you missed me earlier.”
“I do.” He slowly lowered his eyes as his lips touch yours. You surrendered yourself to his warm lips and secure embrace, clinging to him as your heart stepped up pace. He grabs his shirt from the back of his necks, and yanking it off over his head. “You’re mine”, his gaze trailing down to you and his warm lips kissed their way down your neck and across you shoulder. You both fall deeper into the warmth of each other.
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You blinks your eyes, hours has passed. The birds are chirping and the sunlight is peaking through Rindou’s bedroom curtains. You can feel his warmth surrounding you as you can feel his arms around you. You leaned closer to him. You both are cuddling together under his comfy comforter. You glance at the clock showed 9 in the morning.
“Hey Rin~” You face the beautiful man that is snuggling closer next to you. Enjoying the sight before you, he is still half asleep. You brush your fingers to his face gently tucking a stray piece of hair behind his ears.
“Hm?” His voice is raspy from the sleepiness.
You huff your cheeks and lips forming a pout. “I’m hungry, let’s go out for a breakfast.”
His arm is sneaking around you waist gently to hold you closer to him, “M’no. Stay here with me.”
“But, I’m shooo huuungry~” You whines.
“I’ll cook for you later.”
“What?”
“I’ll cook you Katsudon, it’s your favourite right.” He stops, his eyes are wide open after realizing what he just said “Shit” He quickly covering his face with his hand, looking away from your stares to hide the light shade of pink on his cheeks.
You sat in confusion before it finally clicked. “Eh you still remember about that? I mean yes, it’s my favourite since high school. I can’t believe you still remember that.” Wide smile plastered on your face as you pulls his hand away from his face. “You love me that bad huh.”
“Shut up.” He cuts you off by dropping himself on top of you, nuzzling his face on your neck. He’s blushing red. You blink before letting out your giggles. You tried to suppress your giggling, but ended up bursting into laughter
You put a hand on your mouth as you laugh at him. “Say, do you truly love me?” You gently stroke his pinkish-purple mullet hair with your hand.
A scowl appeared on Rindou’s face as he glances at you. “I said it already yesterday.” He mumbles to himself, sighing into your neck and ignoring the fluttering of his heart.
“Come onnnn say it again.” You chime, grinning at him. “Say it.” You giggle softly staring at him as your fingers gently tracing the tattoo on the left side of his naked body.
He let out a loud sigh as he gently pulls your wrist making you face him. He leans his forehead to yours.  He smiles as one of his arm trailing down to wrap around your waist to bring you closer to him. The other hand of his is gently brushing your cheek. “I love you y/n, I love you so fucking much and trust me I won’t ever let you go ever again. You are my one and only. ” You both giggle as you both dozing off in each other’s arms.
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yours truly @qtsickchiq​​
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if-pluto-could-dream · 2 years ago
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Aries
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Synopsis
Aries is the Cardinal Fire sign, known for its initiative, drive and me-first attitude. When undeveloped, they are bratty, overly sensitive, demanding, reckless, impulsive and purely non-empathetic to the needs of others. Sometimes, undeveloped Aries can be as stubborn as a fixed sign. They tend to force their own opinions onto others as fact and refuse to see other perspectives. They are less than civil when faced with conflict and are also reluctant to solve issues and rather let things die off.
When developed, they are inclusive, tactful, inspiring and know how to direct their bursts of energy into conducive endeavours. They fiercely defend their loved ones and are also able to let go of thrill-seeking for a more favourable kind of spontaneity. 
Aries represents the warrior, the leader, the beginning. It is ruled by the planet Mars, the god of war, and is symbolised by a Ram. Not afraid to plough through you to get what they want.
PLACEMENTS
Aries Sun
The Sun is Exalted
Passionate and self driven
Often uncaring of consequences
Don't let things drag them down
Sometimes lack empathy or understanding of human emotion
Often speak or act without properly thinking things through.
Often Kind and bubbly (depending on house placement)
Very defensive, sometimes to detriment.
Tendency to perceive anything negative as an attack.
Big hearts, great confidence.
Sadness extinguishes them.
Aries Moon
The Moon is supercharged. (not a real term, made it up for effect)
Full of energy and drive.
Can redirect their efforts into many mediums of expression.
Often have a very wide range of hobbies.
Very skilled at what they choose to do.
Sometimes lack confidence in their own abilities, and therefore compensate with egotism and overconfidence.
Have a poor understanding of emotional boundaries.
Often express their feelings through emotional performance.
Incredibly kind, understanding and empathetic.
The relationship with the mother or mother figure is a sensitive topic: there is love there, but also a deep seated resentment. Aries Moon has tried to be all they can, but still the mother (figure) pushes them past their breaking point. They wish to be simply acknowledged for what they already are and not what they can be.
The House Placement of the moon will offer more information about this. I may make a series of each moon sign in each house, in the future.
Aries Mercury
Mercury is supercharged.
Aries Mercuries are usually quite good at taking in and maintaining the most vital parts of information. (If I may, most Aries mercuries I know don't really need to study all that hard to pass their exams)
They have a good ability to reason with logical information, rather than emotional.
Most of them have below average or poor grammar, usually due to their ideas being on par with their speed of communication.
Can get very aggressive during verbal arguments, often losing sight of details when in pursuit of a show of power or the title of 'winner'.
Depending on the aspects to Mercury, and the 3H Lord, Aries Mercuries can make deadly debaters.
They also quite enjoy forms of media like Tiktok, Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts. These small, digestible pieces of information that they can easily consume and move on.
This really depends on someone's upbringing, but a lot of Aries Mercuries that I've met have some trouble multitasking. They cannot equally divide attention among tasks. This, of course, does not apply to all Aries Mercuries.
Aries Venus
I apologise, as I do not have a lot of information on this placement because I know very few.
Venus is in Detriment
These individuals often enjoy the chase of romantic feelings rather than the commitment.
Sometimes get too wrapped up in affection and misconstrue it for desire.
Are very straightforward about their wants and needs in love.
May attract individuals who are unavailable or uncaring into their lives, either romantically or platonically.
These natives have a natural allure that draws people in from afar, like the smoke from a cabin when you're lost in the woods.
The individual is extremely kind. Most of them have endured sideways experiences in love.
Though they may act as though their hearts are locked away, in truth, they are usually frozen, and need the right flame to thaw away their worries.
Occasionally enjoy playing a game of cat and mouse.
They need communication for their relationships to work, but very few actively attempt to incorporate it.
Usually have no issue with Public Displays of Affection, but this depends on the Mars Sign of the native (an Aries Venus with a Scorpio Mars could prefer to show affection in private)
Aries Mars
Get angry often, but rarely fully express it.
Mars is in Domicile
Individuals who are often full of energy, and need outlets to release it.
Often have a god-complex of sorts, depending on aspects to Mars (Conjunctions are often more egotistical)
Anger is explosive, best to be watched from afar.
Often enjoy sports, dance, exercise, working out, running, even if they are not very good at it.
Sometimes are callous with their words, or get into arguments often without thinking things through.
Can sometimes be incredibly inconsiderate.
Are usually quite proud of their abilities 👀.
Sometimes are perceived as rude.
Out of all fire Mars signs, I have observed that these ones have an easier time giving energy to their endeavours in a consistent manner. For example: Between Two Swimmers who have An Aries Mars and a Leo Mars, the Aries Mars individual may have an easier time dedicating themselves to practice sessions.
Aries Mars individuals think with their genitalia, on some occasions.
Depending on positions to Chart Ruler and Sun, these people are very self assured and do not compromise their identity for others.
*are quite good in bed*
bye <3
©️ This work is entirely original and should not be reposted without the owner's consent
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norangeyyy · 3 years ago
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Late Night HCs
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Bucci Gang Edition
TW: nothing too extreme, just a little bit of hurt/comfort stuff sprinkled right here and there.
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Bruno Bucciarati
► Bucciarati typically doesn't stay up late at night, he has work and would squeeze all the amount of sleep he can get on his free time.
► Unless he has a lot of things in mind.
► It doesn't matter whether it's a work-related problem, his past, a random thought, or just generally his worries about his future. It will keep him up.
► He'll definitely need someone to be an outlet but if no one's available, he'll just stare at the night sky and distract himself with the moving clouds or finish some of his work until he's too tired to think of anything.
► If you happen to be in the same situation and same place that night though, then make sure that you take care of the trust he has for you when he was at most vulnerable and he will do same with you.
► I personally headcannon Bucciarati to be the type to like those kind of conversations since i highly doubt that he has been so vulnerable in front of anyone besides Abbachio ever since he joined the mafia.
► And even then, he's mostly the one who lifts the spirits up and not the other way around since he's the leader.
► So expect to hear things and words you wouldn't expect to come from the Bucciarati you see everyday come spilling out of his mouth, it'll be a lot.
► Pat his back or better yet, give him a hug and brush his hair while doing so. He needs it a lot since he hasn't really got one after his family fell apart.
► "I feel so much better now, thank you. I'll make sure not to forget about this night. "
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Leone Abbachio
► The night owl of the gang.
► Staying up until 3AM is nothing new to this man, hell, he could even go on a whole day without sleep if he has a lot of things that's bothering him.
► He's the opposite of Bucciarati, he prefers to shoulder his intrusive thoughts alone. It'd take some great amount of effort and trust to make him talk and let it out.
► What he does during those times is either using his stand to replay certain memories that could either worsen his guilt or put him at ease, or just drink until he passes out but most of the time, he does both.
► He could also be listening to some music while he does so but if he's feeling guilty for making Bucciarati concerned about his frequent drinking, then he'll just listen to music and hope that he'll fall asleep and not just keep his eyes closed until the sun rises.
► It works, kind of, but even without alcohol driving him to sleep, he'll always be tired. His sleeping schedule is seriously messed up because he never really cared about it in the first place.
► Would sometimes go out for a walk. Leone is fond of the city's peacefulness when everyone is asleep, with the only thing keeping him accompany is the cold air and the dim light of the lampposts.
► Secretly still has his police uniform and would occasionally take it out just to stare at it or talk to it in a not-so-kind of way as he sees his younger self in it.
► Gets dragged in whatever shit Narancia and the others are up to if he gets spotted. Mostly it's just for a movie night behind Bucciarati's back but Abbachio knows better and expects the unexpected when it comes to the gang.
► Knows what everyone does in late night if they're still up and has seen a lot of ungodly sights.
► Whether it be seeing a sleepy Mista and the pistols chanting a weird prayer to a bowl of cereals or Fugo being dragged out of his room by Narancia, Leone knows it.
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Pannacotta Fugo
► Just like Bucciarati, Fugo rarely stays up late at night and if he does, it's usually just because he's busy.
► Fugo has hobbies like painting and reading, everyone in the gang knows that. It's just that he gets carried way too far sometimes and loses track of time.
► Who could blame him though when the book he's reading is just too interesting or the painting he's currently working on is almost done, right?
► On extremely rare occasions where something unpleasant enough to keep Fugo up at night happens, he'll bundle himself in his fluffy blanket like a butterfly in its cocoon.
► He always does this back when he's still living with his parents, it makes him feel safe from anything that's haunting him.
► And if it's neither his hobbies or problems that's keeping him up, he'll just hear Narancia whispering outside his door or Mista throwing pebbles at his window.
► For the first few times the duo did this, Fugo was still able to resist until he just can't anymore knowing that they wouldn't leave him alone all night.
► "Well, this isn't so bad. "
► He says as he enthusiastically tosses a popcorn into his mouth with his eyes glued all over the lit screen of the TV.
► Movie nights, along with sneaking out to go the nearest convenience store, became a common thing between the Torture Dance Trio™ ever since then.
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Narancia Ghirga
► The type to wake up in the middle of the night and think "Hmm... Everyone's asleep, let's commit robbery tonight!"
► Fugo's sleep paralysis demon.
► Would literally not hesitate to steal chocolate bars with Mista and probably does 3AM challenges with him too.
► Never runs out of ideas to keep himself up at night and is the one who comes up with everything but what he does still depends on his mood.
► If Narancia's feeling a little too lazy then he'll just sleep and most of the time, with music keeping him accompany. But unlike Abbachio, he purposely doesn't wear headphones just to annoy Fugo whose room is right next to his.
► If he's feeling like it, he'll straight up just invite the others to watch a movie or play videogames even though Bruno has already made it clear not to use the TV after 11PM.
► But just as he likes staying up at night doing crazy things with the boys, he also uses his energy left and free time to self-study, as surprising that may sound.
► He may hate reading but he takes advantage of the fact that his brain is much active at night and he doesn't want to depend on Fugo too much. After all, he dreams on going back to school and he's more than willing to be capable enough to do so alone and pass without the other teen's help.
► Will cuddle anything that's near him while he studies but if you give him a plushie, it'll be instantly his favorite and he would definitely use it as a study buddy.
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Guido Mista
► Alright, let's be honest here, this dude wouldn't even stay up if it weren't for his bros.
► 5 seconds lying on the bed and he's already knocked out for a good 10 hours if there's no work he has to do for the day. Make it 8 at weekdays thanks to his mafia-related responsibilities.
► He sleeps like a log so only a combination of shaking him up awake with Fugo and Narancia can make him rise from what seems like a two year coma but is really just a normal tuesday night.
► Will pretty much join Narancia at anything he does but since his last three brain cells are obviously still as half asleep as him, he won't be able to remember that much the next day.
► And once he's out of the room and is already sitting on the couch with the guys, Mista's the type to fall asleep halfway through the movie.
► You can't blame him though, it's 12AM and it seems that Fugo got to choose what movie they'll watch since Narancia already got to choose the other night.
► Unless they're playing videogames or are going out then he won't be acting like a slow ass PVZ zombie with a fried brain. Actually, he'll be hella active if that's the case.
► Active at grabbing every snack each second, that is.
► Actually, it's the pistols who does that but oh well, it's not like Mista's innocent too.
► "I swear it's not me who ate all of our groceries for this month! Right, guys?! It's the pistols! "
► And that, everyone, is how Guido blew their little rendezvous without even trying.
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Giorno Giovanna
► There's not much to be said about this boy since just like Mista, Giorno goes to bed early as he makes sure he still gets the proper amount of sleep.
► He already has a lot of things to deal with at day so of course, by the end of it, he'll be exhausted.
► Nights before exams are excluded because although he may seem like he skips class sometimes, Giorno still knows his priorities.
► Only when he became the head of the mafia did he really started to lose sleep as great power comes with great responsibilities.
► It took a LONG time for Giorno to adjust to a lot of things cause come on, he maybe resilient but he's still a 15 year old teen.
► Not only does he have towers after towers of work but i like to imagine that he still continued his education and used some of the things he learns in class in the mafia, specifically in classes like history or geography class since as a boss, he has to know every nook and cranny of Italy.
► Not to mention that emergencies happen and he always has to be ready to give out orders, even if it means being woken up at 1AM.
► God, help this child because all the things mentioned above are just an understatement of what happens on the first few months of being in charge of Passione.
► "So this is why Diavolo looks like he's about to explode whenever something goes wrong huh. "
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criminalmindzjunkie · 4 years ago
Text
Unlucky in Love
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masterlist
Gif credit to @ogledalo-moje-duse​
Summary: Spencer is unlucky in love - until he isn’t.
Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader
Warnings: swearing, some suggestive content
Word Count: 3.4k
           Spencer Reid is, by most people’s definition, unlucky in love.
           It wasn’t for lack of trying. In his early twenties, Spencer often caught himself fantasizing about being on the receiving end of some great storybook romance straight out of one of the classic novels on his bookshelf. On the rare occurrence where his mind was able to slow down long enough, Spencer would daydream about what his future partner would be like. Would they share his fondness for the written word, or his penchant for foreign cinema? Would they find his tendency to go off on tangents endearing and his less than fashionable style of dress charming? Spencer liked to think so, but the likelihood of finding someone who could accept him despite all of his quirks seemed low.
           But still he hoped, even though he knew hope was a dangerous thing. Hope gave life to the possibility of disappointment – and if there was one thing Spencer did not need more of, it was that.
           Spencer Reid was in love with the idea of love – obsessed with the idea of his soul intertwining with someone else’s. But with his thirtieth birthday quickly approaching and absolutely no prospective love interests in sight, Spencer was feeling more than a little disheartened. It certainly didn’t help that everywhere he turned, love was running rampant. Hotch had Beth, Penelope had Kevin, Jennifer had Will, and Morgan had… any number of possible partners. Emily and Rossi were both unattached, but happily so in a way that Spencer just couldn’t quite manage.
           It wasn’t that he didn’t like seeing the people around him happy – it was just that he couldn’t help but wonder when he’d finally get his chance at love.
           A month before Spencer’s thirtieth birthday, everything changes.
           When a member of Garcia’s victims’ support group goes missing, it’s all hands on deck at the BAU. It’s not that they’d give any less than one hundred percent on any other given day, but as with any case that hits close to home, everyone on the team is in a frenzy trying to put the pieces together. The thing that makes this case different is the fact that people from other departments are quick to lend a hand. It comes as no surprise to Spencer – Penelope is a social butterfly by nature. She made it her business to know and befriend everyone in the building. Her sunny disposition is hard not to love, and her current distress had garnered the support of more than a few non-team members.
           By the time the case wraps up, the bullpen is much busier and, much to Spencer’s chagrin, much louder than usual. The steady influx of people has Spencer’s head spinning and he can’t seem to focus on the papers sitting in front of him. What should take him thirty seconds to read has almost taken twenty minutes, and at this point the words on the paper are all running together. Spencer knows that it doesn’t help that he’s running on less than three hours of sleep, as evidenced by the frequency of his yawns. Worse even is the fact that his coffee cup is empty and no, he thinks, that simply will not do. With a sigh Spencer pushes away from his desk, bones creaking as he stands.
           With his coffee cup in hand, Spencer shuffles to the breakroom. He goes through the motions of preparing his drink, lazily stirring in the mountain of sugar before turning to leave.
           Spencer supposes that if it weren’t for the fact that he was horribly sleep deprived, he would’ve seen you walking down the hallway. But alas, Spencer’s alertness had been compromised by poor sleeping habits, and he isn’t aware of your presence until his body is colliding with yours and his hot coffee is dripping down the front of your blouse.
           “Ouch,” you whimper, and Spencer is immediately overwhelmed with guilt.
           “O-Oh my God, I am so sorry,” he splutters. Without waiting for a response, Spencer’s rushing into the break room and procuring a thick stack of napkins. The part of his brain that controls logical thinking is apparently overrun by the onset of his mortification, and in an act of absolutely panic, he begins to dab at the stains with one of the napkins.
           “I-I wasn’t looking where I was going. I’m so so sorry,” Spencer stutters out, frantically attempting to blot the stain. “I’ll give you money for a new shirt. A-Actually, you should probably take this one off.  The best way to treat scalds is to immediately get the person away from the heat source. You should also run some cold water over it.”
           In his hurry to rectify his mistake, Spencer hadn’t managed to take a good look at you. When his eyes leave the stain in favor of looking at your face, he prepares himself to see anger there. What he doesn’t expect is for your face to be just as flushed as his, with eye brows raised in shock.
          Spencer also doesn’t expect this to be the moment he’s been waiting on his entire life, but one look into your eyes tells him this is it - this is your person.
           Stunned into a stupor, Spencer stills, eyes boring into your own. You’re even more beautiful than he’d dared to let himself imagine, but in all honesty that didn’t matter much. What matters is the fact that there’s a faint hint of smile lines etched into your skin, and your eyes are so inherently kind that Spencer has no doubt that you’re as gentle as you are alluring. Your benevolence is also evidenced by the fact that you hadn’t immediately begun to yell at him, and for that he is thankful.
           Spencer’s revelation renders him unable to form any semblance of thought, and before he knows it almost a solid minute of him gaping at you passes. You begin to squirm uncomfortably under his gaze.
           “I, uh, appreciate the help, and you seem like a nice enough guy, but your hand is on my boob and I kind of make it a point to not let strangers touch the goods. So, if you don’t mind,” you stammer, looking pointedly at his hand that is still pressing a napkin to your chest. Spencer recoils as if he’s the one that’s been scalded.
           “I-I didn’t mean to, um, t-touch your -,” Spencer gulps, “- chest. I swear I was just trying to get the stain out. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he chokes out. Spencer had imagined the moment he’d come face to face with his person a million times, and none of his daydreams had accounted for the possibility of him giving her second degree burns and inadvertently copping a feel. His emotions fell somewhere between mortification and elation.
           “Mm likely story,” you murmur, lips upturning into a smile that has Spencer feeling weak in the knees. Spencer practically swoons. “Do you make it a habit to ask strangers to take their tops off, or am I just special?”
           Oh God, had I really suggested that? Spencer cringes and wonders what good an IQ as high as his was when it seemed to fail him at times like these. Speaking to women had never been a specialty of his, despite Derek’s coaching, and Spencer was floundering to come up with an acceptable response.
           You are the most special woman in the world, probably. Nope – too creepy, and Spencer definitely doesn’t want to scare you off. Not when he’s been waiting the better part of thirty years to meet you.
           I didn’t mean to insinuate that you should take off your shirt, but I also wouldn’t particularly mind if you did. Even worse – that would certainly earn him a stern talking to from HR.
           Spencer decides to go for the honest approach.
           “I-I’m not sure how to answer that.”
           His honesty draws a laugh from you, and Spencer loves the sound so much that he decides then that he’ll never tell a lie again. You shake your head at him and reach for the napkins that he still has clutched in his hands.
           “What’s your name?” you ask him as you continue his earlier efforts to sop up the coffee.
           It’s probably the easiest question he’s ever been asked. That doesn’t stop him from making a fool out of himself, though.
           “I’m Doctor Spencer R-Reid. Uh, I’m Spencer. Y-You don’t have to call me Doctor.”
           Someone please put me out of my misery.
           Your eyes meet his again and he can tell that you’re holding back a laugh.
           “Okay, then, Spencer,” you say as you discard the napkins in a nearby trash bin. “I’m Y/N.” You punctuate your words with an outstretched hand, and before Spencer can think better of it, the usual spiel come tumbling out of his mouth.
           “The number of pathogens passed during a handshake is staggering. It’s actually safer to kiss.”
           Your lower your hand and cock your head to the side.
           “Are you always this forward, Doctor Reid?” you tease him, eyes flashing amusedly.
           “I-I didn’t mean that we should kiss,” Spencer interjects, cringing at the way his voice has suddenly raised in pitch. “N-Not that I wouldn’t kiss you! I-I’m sure that kissing you would be really n-nice. I just meant that… you know. Germs.”
           Are you there, God? It’s me, Spencer. A hole opening up in the ground and swallowing me up would be great.
           To Spencer’s delight, you don’t seem offended in the slightest.
           “I cannot believe that they’ve been hiding you up here, Spencer Reid. I should’ve come to visit Penny years ago.”
           Wait – what?
           “You work here?”
           You nod.
           “I work on the floor below this one – sex crimes,” you explain.
           “For how long?”
           “Coming up on three years now.”
           Three years. You’d been right under Spencer’s nose for three years and he hadn’t the slightest clue. You’d parked your car in the same parking garage and taken the same elevator as he! How many times had your paths nearly crossed in the last three years? If he’d been just a little bit earlier or a little bit later getting into work, might the two of you met earlier? The possibility of it was maddening.
           “Oh, wow. I-I’ve never seen you,” Spencer mutters lamely. But miraculously, you don’t think he’s lame, if your response is any indication.
           “Nor I you, Doc. It’s a shame, too. You’re a funny guy.”
           Spencer Reid has been called a lot of things in his lifetime – funny was never one of them.
           “Y-Yeah. I’m a real riot at parties,” he deadpans.            “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” you hum, and Spencer really hopes that you mean it. “Would you mind escorting me to Penelope’s office?”
           Spencer nods, and the two of you fall in step together. Spencer’s wracking his brain again for something – anything- he could say to fill the silence. Thankfully, you don’t seem quite as inept at conversing as he, and you beat him to it.
           “You look a little young yourself, Spencer. How long have you worked here?”
           “Uh, I’ve actually worked here for almost eight years. I started when I was twenty-two.”
           Your eyebrows raise in shock.
           “Twenty-two, huh? That makes you – what? Thirty now? I wouldn’t put you a day past twenty-five,” you muse, and Spencer isn’t quite sure what to make of that. You must pick up on the conflicted look on his face, because you clarify. “That’s a good thing, Doc. I hope I look as good as you do when I’m thirty.”
           Spencer has to remind himself how to breathe.
           “I’m not thirty yet. Technically I have twenty-three more days. I could have a rapid decline in attractiveness by then.”
           Spencer’s not usually one to try to be funny, but she seems to have a good sense of humor and he wants to impress you in any way he can.
           “I guess I’ll have to swing back by in twenty-three days and find out.”
           The two of you come to a stop in front of Penelope’s office and Spencer tries not to look as disappointed as he feels. He doesn’t want your meeting to come to an end – not when there’s so much about you that he wants to know. He wants to ask about your opinion on books and obscure foreign films and most importantly, Spencer wants to know what you think about him. Did meeting him affect you in the same way it did him? Did you secretly wish to make this moment last, too?
           Spencer wants to say so much, but he can’t. He’s too awkward and too scared and too nervous to find the right words. So instead, he gives you a tight-lipped smile.
           “I’m sorry about your blouse. Can I please give you the money to buy a new one? I feel like it’s the least I can do.”
           “Absolutely not. It’s really not that big of a deal. Didn’t even really care for the shirt, if I’m being honest. Red really isn’t my color.”
           Spencer wants to tell you how wrong you are – that he’s infinitely certain that you’d look irresistible in any color – but he doesn’t.
           You reach for the door knob, and Spencer’s shoulders slump.
           “It was nice meeting you, Spencer.”
           And then you’re gone, and Spencer can’t help but think that he royally fucked up the most important introduction of his entire life.
--
           When Spencer envisioned how his life would look at age thirty, he’d imagined it being a lot different than it is now. He’d hoped to use his intelligence for something great – finding a way to cure Alzheimer’s had been his main aspiration. Yet, here he was, thirty years old with nothing more than three PhDs to his name. He’d accomplished nothing of great significance, and the idea of having wasted his intelligence was eating away at him.
           In short, Spencer Reid was in a bit of a funk.
           It didn’t help that he hadn’t seen you since that fateful day in the bullpen. Spencer had contemplated paying you a visit, but the lingering embarrassment over his actions kept him from reaching out. He didn’t think he could handle how badly a rejection from you would hurt, so instead he sulked around the office and wallowed in his own self-deprecation.
           Spencer’s birthday wasn’t something he tended to advertise. From a young age, he’d chosen to observe it silently. Usually, his mother would forget, and he never really had any friends to celebrate with, so the day was always rather unimportant to him. Perhaps he would order takeout and gorge himself on greasy food while he sat alone in his apartment. It had been good enough for him last year, and he supposed it would have to suffice this year as well.
           He made it a point not to mention it to his coworkers, and the day passed by just as any other day. By the time five o clock rolled around, Spencer was waving a goodbye to his coworkers and heading out the door. As he waits for the elevator, he debates on whether to order Thai food or pizza for dinner.
           Just as he settles on Thai, the elevator doors open.
           “Oh, thank God, I was worried that you had left already!”
           Before Spencer can get over the initial shock of seeing you, you’re stepping out of the elevator and into his space, an excited smile on your lips. And then you’re holding out your hand, and Spencer’s almost moved to tears when he sees you wielding a single chocolate cupcake.
           “I wasn’t sure if you’d like chocolate or vanilla better, so I went with my gut. I get the feeling you’re a chocolate kind of guy,” you say, eyes shining as you look up at him. “So, was I right?”
           “You brought this for me?” Spencer asks, voice barely above a whisper. He can’t fathom it – that you had spared him any thought past your initial meeting. Spencer had surely expected you to forget about him entirely. Either that, or you’d written him off as someone to be avoided.
           You nod.
           “Of course, I did. It’s your birthday. Everyone deserves something sweet on their birthday.” You pause, the smile dropping from your face. “It is your birthday, right? I didn’t miss it, did I?”
           Spencer is slow to shake his head.
           “N-No, you didn’t miss it. I’m just surprised you remembered.”
           You chuckled softly.
           “You’re very unforgettable, Doctor Reid,” you say, and Spencer’s heart flutters in his chest. “And you didn’t answer my question.” You gesture to the cupcake expectantly.
           “Chocolate is my favorite,” Spencer breathes out, raising a shaky hand and taking it from her. “I… Thank you. You didn’t have to do this. It’s not that big of a deal.”
           “Are you kidding me? You’re turning thirty. That’s a very big deal, Doc.,” you argue, and Spencer gives you a tentative smile.
           “If you say so.”
           “I do,” you smirk, before hitting the button to open the elevator doors. “So, do you have any big plans to celebrate?”
           The doors open and you and Spencer file into the elevator together– an event three years in the making.
           “Not really. I was just going to order some food and stay in,” Spencer says before taking a bite of the cupcake. It tastes wonderful – better than a store-bought cupcake could ever be. This cupcake was undoubtably made from scratch, and the thought of you taking the time out of your day to bake something for him makes him feel weak at the knees. Pair that with the way you’re looking up at him and Spencer worries he might collapse.
           “What kind of food?”
           “Thai,” Spencer says around the mouthful of cake.
           “Mm,” you hum. “You know – I happen to love Thai food. And I also happen to not have any plans for the evening.”
           Even Spencer, who struggles to decipher the simplest of social cues, can deduce that you are insinuating that you want to spend the evening with him. He’s thankful, then, that he had already swallowed the bite of cupcake, because there’s no doubt in his mind that he’d have choked on it. Spencer gapes at you, but your gaze is unwavering and your body language gives no indication that you were joking.
           “D-Do… Do you want to, uh, come over?” Spencer trips over his words more times than any grown man should, but in his defense, he isn’t exactly well versed in matters like this.
           “Do you want me to come over?”
           “Yes.” Spencer answers so quickly that it should be embarrassing, but it’s hard to feel anything but happy when you’re looking at him like that.
           “Then in that case, I thought you’d never ask,” you sigh dramatically, and then the door opens up and you link your arm with his. “You know, I was beginning to think I’d never see you again. I’ve been driving Penelope crazy asking about you, Doc.”
           “You’ve been asking about me?” Spencer asks, incredulous.
           “Absolutely. It’s not every day that you meet a guy who has the audacity to feel you up and ask you to undress within the first five minutes. I just had to know more,” you tease, and Spencer can’t help but laugh. Despite the cold air of the parking garage, Spencer feels warm – warmer than he’s ever felt and he knows that it has everything to do with the way you’ve pressed yourself against his side.
           “In that case, I’m very glad I spilled my coffee on you,” Spencer says and you let out a snort.
           “Yeah, I could’ve done without that part. And the part where you called me germy.”
           “I did not mean it like that,” Spencer insists. You hum and detach yourself from him, and Spencer instantly misses the contact.
           “Because it’s your birthday, I’ll let you off the hook,” you announce, making your way to the other side of his car, all while never taking your eyes off him. “And if you’re lucky, birthday boy, I might just be willing to test that theory of yours.”
           Spencer cocks his head to the side.
           “Theory?”
           You nod, and the smile that creeps across your face is the best birthday present he’s ever gotten.
           “You said you thought kissing me would be nice. I think we should find out.”
           Spencer Reid is, by most people’s definition, unlucky in love. But as he steals glances at you on the way to his apartment, his chest swells with a hope that maybe – just maybe – his luck is about to change.
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dudeandduchess · 4 years ago
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"I'm so in love with him/her, I don't know what to do" for Giyuu maybe pretty please with Kyo sprinkles on top. Because two emotionally constipated idiots would definitely flounder 😂
Here you go, Biz! Also, big yes to the Kyō sprinkles 😛🤤
***
Giyuu x F!S/O: Moonlit Confessions (Fluff, Modern AU, SFW Scenario)
Note: This will be a little self-indulgent. But I’ll leave the name spaces as (Y/n) and (K/w) for Kyō’s wife’s name.
“How am I even supposed to tell him that?” (Y/n)’s voice was loud with disbelief and a twinge of panic, knowing full well that a few people had already turned their heads to look right at her. Still, she couldn’t care less about what they thought— and even garnered even more stares when she looped an arm through her best friend’s own.
The materials of their kimonos clashed beautifully; a silky burgundy against an equally beautiful hue of blue— which (Y/n) had worn just to get the chance to earn a compliment from her lover.
It wasn’t that her lover— the usually stoic Water Hashira, Tomioka Giyuu— didn’t like her; but his lack of compliments only stemmed from his tendency to always get flustered when he was with her.
And to make things worse for their situation, (Y/n) pretty much simmered down to the same flustered and stuttering reaction whenever he was near. Especially when she caught a glimpse of those pretty blue eyes of his.
Their friends— the Flame Hashira, Kyōjurō, and his wife (K/w)— didn’t even know just how they managed to go on dates when they couldn’t even go without acting like lovesick teenagers in front of the other.
And that was how Giyuu and (Y/n) had found themselves walking with their respective confidantes, before they were set to meet for the festival. Albeit, it was Kyōjurō’s idea to invite Giyuu on a walk before they met up with their respective lovers.
On (Y/n)’s side, she was so busy panicking about her impending confession that she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Not even (K/w) buying snacks for her had worked, as she only took a small bite before pushing it onto the other woman.
“I can’t just tell him that I love him. He might not return my feelings!”
At that, (K/w) shook her head, before leaning in and flicking her best friend’s forehead. “Kyōjurō tells me that Tomioka-san loves you a lot. And that Kyō saw him smiling when he overheard Kyō telling that story of when you two went out on a date with us.”
“It’s your husband, he could have been making that up to get a kiss from you.”
Instead of getting offended, however, (K/w) only shrugged before smiling right at (Y/n). “Kyōjurō was right when he said that Tomioka-san was going to ask you out for tea, after he met you at our wedding.”
“That was one time, (K/w)!”
The Flame Hashira’s wife merely quirked an eyebrow at that, before changing the topic. “So, where are you and Tomioka-san going later tonight? Seeing the sights? Eating at the stalls? Maybe… kissing behind the abandoned shrine?”
“Gods no. We aren’t you and your walking libido of a husband,” (Y/n) snarked back, which only served to make her snort at the new unsavory name that she could call the Flame Hashira. After all, she had earned the right to tease (bully) him after he had married her best friend. “We’re just going for a walk and then watching the fireworks, and then we’re going home.”
“How boring,” (K/w) teased good naturedly, before turning her gaze straight ahead and subtly making a beeline towards the head of blond and red hair that she saw. “Let’s go by that takoyaki stand, I have to get Kyōjurō some. He’ll be hungry later.”
“You love him too much.”
“Just like how you love Tomioka-san?”
“I don-… shut up.”
***
Meanwhile on Giyuu’s side of things: he was barely reigning in the urge to knock Rengoku out and make a run for it. He was fed up with consistently being badgered by the other man, especially when it concerned his relationship with (Y/n).
“Do you like her? Or do you love her? I’m asking for a friend.” The Flame Hashira had to know, or else his wife would be upset with him. And he didn’t want that, at all. Happy wife, happy life— that was his belief.
That and if he came back empty-handed, then she wouldn’t make that dessert she’d made that he really loved. He didn’t even know what it was, so he couldn’t very well ask Senjurō to make it.
So, pestering Giyuu it was.
“That’s private.” The Water Hashira answered flatly, before picking up his pace— only to groan audibly when Rengoku had easily managed to catch up to him.
“Just tell me, Tomioka! We’re practically best friends since (Y/n)-chan’s my wife’s best friend. Best friends in law!”
Giyuu didn’t know which pit of hell Rengoku had gotten that idea from, but he bit his tongue to keep himself from saying anything mean to his fellow Hashira. It hadn’t ended very well, what with the blond only getting more annoying.
“Tomioka, tell me!” Then came the worst thing Giyuu could think of: physical touch. Rengoku began poking his arm, with every chorus of ‘tell me’.
Even while he walked, the other Hashira kept up with his pace— even if he had already dashed ahead.
He didn’t even know where he was going anymore, just that he was extremely annoyed at his company. He could have been with (Y/n) already, but Rengoku had asked for his help on buying his wife a present.
Now that Giyuu thought about it, the most he had done earlier was look at the lavish pair of earrings that the Flame Hashira had dropped a serious amount of money on.
It was only then that he figured that he was being toyed with. And he was pissed. His time had been completely wasted— when he could have been with (Y/n) earlier.
“Tell me, Tomioka!” Kyōjurō piped out once more, before going to poke the other Hashira’s arm once more.
However, before the blond’s finger even made contact with Giyuu’s haori, his hand was immediately slapped away. “I’m in love with her! I’m so in love with her, and I don’t know what to do, Rengoku! Does that satisfy you!?”
Red-tinted irises widened a fraction of an inch for a second, before they darted over to a spot behind Giyuu. And the latter didn’t even need to look to know who was there, as Rengoku looked like that he was the cat that got the cream— a lovestruck cat at that.
“There’s my gorgeous wife! Come here and hug me, my love!” Kyōjurō had almost all but forgotten Giyuu in front of him, as he stepped around the other man so he could open his arms for his wife.
(K/w) didn’t fail him, catching on to what he wanted to happen, and dragging a reluctant (Y/n) closer to a speechless Giyuu. Not even digging her heels into the ground kept (Y/n) anchored in place— and she could only watch in wide-eyed horror with her heart pounding so hard in her chest, as Giyuu got closer and closer to her.
Until she was standing right in front of him, with (K/w) and Kyōjurō slowly inching away from them while entangled in their hug.
“We have to… uh… start kissing behind that shrine!” Came the Flame Hashira’s excuse for leaving, which had his wife slapping his arm before biting her bottom lip to keep herself from bursting out in laughter.
Both (Y/n) and Giyuu didn’t even know how much time had passed with them standing on a relatively unpopulated part of the path, not even having the courage to look up at each other and reveal just how red both of their cheeks were.
And it was so filled with a tense silence that even Giyuu couldn’t take it. He had faced countless demons before, yet none of those compared to confessing his love for the one person in his life whom had made him happy.
The one person whom had made him forget all of the painful things in his past, and erased all of his fears for the future.
(Y/n) was so special to him that he couldn’t even begin to describe how much his feelings amounted to; all that he knew was that she was everything he could ever want in life— and all he saw was him and her growing old together in the future.
He was sure that he wanted to be her everything, just as he was sure that she deserved more than a shy and borderline cowardly confession.
So, after taking a deep breath, he finally looked up at her without the commotion that the Rengokus brought with them; only to feel his heart leap up to his throat at how breathtakingly beautiful she looked in her kimono— which was the same shade as his eyes.
Giyuu couldn’t help but want to melt on the spot, yet he fought the stiffness in his legs and began to close the distance between them. Until he was standing right in front of her, with his hands gingerly reaching out and wrapping around her own.
And he was glad that he wasn’t the only one who was nervous, because he felt just how cold and shaky (Y/n)’s hands were.
Slowly, he began to caress her knuckles with the pads of his thumbs— all in an effort to get some warmth into those clammy hands of hers.
However, just when he thought that he had fully taken her ethereal beauty in, the moment she looked straight at him took his breath away; since those eyes of hers looked positively beautiful, especially with the way that the moonlight reflected off of them.
“I love you… anata.”
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timefospookies · 3 years ago
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Gimme ur moon child information 👹👹👹👹
HERE ARE THEIR GIFTS 🦟🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗🦟
(I only listed a few of them cuz there’s too many Moon Children and I don’t have power ideas LMAOAO)
Matt (Ifrit): Teleportation
- Developed at age 18
- Can teleport to any place as long as he can visualize it clearly
- It’s hard to travel long distances, but with practice, it’s achievable
- If his destination is not visualized clearly, or he becomes distracted, he could quite literally get torn apart
(one limb ends up at a lake and another ends up in a desert. y’know how it goes HDISKJD)
- It requires mental strength
Rosa: Future Sight
- Developed at age 7
- Usually the visions came at random moments, but with practice she managed to control having them at will
- In real time, one full vision lasts from 1-2 minutes, and she can see up to 24 hours of the future in it
- In rare occasions, she can see a flashes of years ahead, but these visions are out of her control and usually come in her sleep
- Takes a lot of mental energy and is very draining, causing migraines if she looks at the future for too long
- Sometimes it’s hard to stop having visions and she may need outside stimuli, but usually going in and out is purely willing oneself and focusing
Alex: Shapeshifting
- Developed at age 12
- Can turn into anything, ranging from an item, to animals, to other humans
- He can only turn into things he’s seen before
- It requires flexibility, and he should stretch before transforming
- Otherwise, he could rip a muscle or crush his organs HDJSJJ
Kevin (Insidiae): Tracking
- Developed at age 13
- When he closes his eyes, he can sense the presence of any living mammal around (there’s a radius that limits it, but idk what it is yet)
- If someone theoretically got killed by an undetected force (*cough* BEN), the presence of that person would go out like a candle light in his head
- It just need concentration and quiet, but there’s no real downside
- Requires good sense of direction and mental strength
Rem: Healing
- Developed at age 12
- She can heal herself and others injuries but can only heal others from sickness
- Can heal injuries very quickly (although the time differs depending on the severity of it)
- The effort that it takes to heal can vary as well on the severity
- She can heal herself just fine, it drains her a bit, but it’s not terrible
- The only catch to her healing others is that it’s basically an exchange. She can heal another person, but in doing so, she receives the injury/sickness they have
(ei: you have a bruise on your leg, she heals you, but in the process she gets a bruise on her leg)
Spencer (Duskworld23): Aura Sensing
- Developed at age 12
- They can constantly see the emotional aura around any person
- There are colors assigned to the each emotion and they’re usually mixed, unless one is stronger than all the rest, in which case that color would dominate it
- So if someone’s angry BOOM they would see a red shine around the person’s body, maybe blues and purples in between for sadness and fear idk
- No side effect other than maybe mistrusting people’s intentions? When they say one thing but feel another way
- Requires emotional intelligence
Nekko: Telekinesis
- Never got to fully develop it, but she did show signs of starting to develop telekinesis
- Could only move small objects, like spoons and paper
- It takes mental and physical strength depending on what it is she wants to move
- Had she gotten more time, she would’ve eventually been able to move bigger things like tables, rocks, houses even
- Also would’ve been able to move sentient things like humans and animals!!
David: Invisibility
- Developed at age 14
- Can will it to happen. He just has to think about it and BOOM he’s gone
- Pretty cool until you realize he goes blind for the period he’s invisible 💀
- “This is lame…” -David when he got his gift HDJSJD
- Requires mental strength
Daniela: Agility
- Developed at age 13
- She had always been a sportsy kid so it made sense that she got this
- She’s got superhuman coordination, speed, reflexes, coordination and strength
- The downside is that she gets physically hurt very often, be it from running, breaking something, or straining a muscle
- Requires physical stamina and flexibility to have best results
Maerlie: Illusions
- Developed at age 12
- Can only make illusions based on what she knows about her target: any thoughts, dreams, memories, things they like or dislike
- They have a range and if you step out of it the illusion falls apart
- There’s individual illusions and group illusions which means the illusion either only affects one person, or several
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theodora3022 · 4 years ago
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Selfish Deeds (Yandere! Gojou Satoru)
Summary: Satoru just wants you to be free of danger. If you are so knowledgeable why can’t you understand that he only wish the best for you?
A/N: This is just one snippet of many out of a collection(haven't decide the name just yet)...Since I have not read the manga(anime-only for now) so I just got a vague impression of what Gojou has been through, but that does not stop me from writing him like the cocky bastard he is. Hopefully it is not too OOC(as if yandere variant itself is not OOC enough pfttt) The reader is a stubborn psycho because that is what I am :) Will there be some future pieces that involves nsfw elements? I got a few ideas but no promises.
I blame @popi-the-fatui for my Gojou brainrots. You got your revenge on me by making me attracted to this dubious man. Word count: 1.6k
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Warnings: Female pronouns, Possessive behaviour, DELUSIONAL behaviour, non-consensual touching, power inbalance, general yandere content, slight mention of confinement and violence(This is not a healthy relationship dynamic!!!), reader is not a soft UWU girl, kthis is so self indulgent *buries myself into the bottomless pit of shame
It has been nearly fifteen minutes since the headquarter disconnected the call, yet you are still staring at your phone screen with disbelief.
You were supposed to travel to another city for a mission tomorrow, they had notified you of this mission a week ago.
You already got your luggage packed, and your theoretical research on the objective is thoroughly done. Then they dare to inform you: they have found a more suitable candidate! Right on the day before your departure too.
Your curse techniques have already limited you to more of a supporting role for most situations. There are not plenty of missions available for you to begin with. While you are content with educating the fresh blood of the community in classrooms the majority of the time, you still long for field actions every once in a while. It is an essential part of being a Jujutsu sorcerer after all.
Both you and the soft-spoken secretary who made the call know this is nonsense. The higher-ups recognize that you are one of, if not the best sorcerers available when it comes to reconnaissance and espionage.
Letting out a sigh of immeasurable frustration, you swore to yourself that you will find out who is the conductor of this humiliating turn of events. This is going to be difficult since you do not recall having any issues with any of the administration staff recently.
There is no reversing this misfortune, but at least you can be aware of who is responsible for such violation of conduct.
He is only doing this to protect you.
Gojou Satoru tells himself as such, at least.
He is aware of how unfair it is, to make someone less capable to take on the job. But he cannot risk your safety. The man has already got used to your company, and he is not willing to just let you disappear from his field of view for more than a week. Sure, you might have not admitted how much you like him yet, but it is just too endearing to see you flustered at his flirtatious words.
Although there have been some difficulties with rescheduling, he managed to use his connections to exclude you from that first-grade mission at last minute. On the bright side, the sorcerer cannot wait to lend you an ear to vent about how conservative and unfair the higher-ups can be. Maybe you will even say yes to a trip to the newest local bakery! You need some sweet treats to cheer yourself up, don’t you?
But Satoru has never thought about how you specialize in putting two and two together. (understandable since he never saw you in action before).
------------------
Strange, you are not near the usual area in the library.
Sensing his footsteps, you opened your office door before Satoru had a chance to knock.
“We need to talk, Gojou-san.” That expression is new. This is the first time he sees you genuinely angry, which is to be expected.
But somehow he got a bad feeling about this.
You did not even invite him to sit down, instead just standing next to the floor window, arm crossed, with your back turned to him.
“Why would you do such a thing?” You have to use up all of your self-control to prevent yourself from having a full blow-up right at Gojou Satoru. Maintain composure. But it is easier said then done.
Does he think this is funny? To sabotage someone else's sorcerer career like this? You knew you should have kept him out of your daily life, as he is nothing but trouble to you. But you made the mistake of choosing to tolerate him, and some superficial part of you might even enjoy his dallying words a bit too much.
To the extent, you overlooked some red flags. This is a grievous error indeed.
Shit, now that he vaguely remembers what role you play on missions.“(y/n)-chan, what are you saying-” He knows you always act in supporting positions, however, he has overlooked your actual abilities and curse techniques. You collect intel and spy on enemies, how could he forget that? “Don’t play dumb with me. You got your ways, I got mine. There is no use denying what you have done. I thought you out of all people would understand what it means to be a sorcerer.”
This is a violation of protocol, changing mission assignments at the last minute. However, you know this man would not be receiving any solid punishment should you decide to report this. They would say there is “no harm done” and you would just receive a pitiful apology. Suppose you cannot blame them though.
They need Gojou Satoru, the Jujutsu community needs his prowess to keep innocent people safe. He will remain in the system no matter what.
Why are you questioning his motives? Does he have to spell it out for you? Letter by letter?
“You are not a skilled combatant, (y/n)-chan. What if you got yourself hurt?” Or even worse, killed. It scares him to think that you could be gone one day, how he would walk by this office corridor and never sees you sitting behind the desk ever again.
Not much in this world could send Gojou Satoru a chill down his spine, yet the thought of you dying is now on the list. He knows how petty this is, you wouldn’t be the one doing the actual exorcising after all. But the if, the slight possibilty.
He cannot allow that to happen, not ever. Even that means angering you and getting yelled at.
“What am I, some normal lawful citizen? I am a sorcerer just like you, Gojou-san. Putting ourselves on the line for innocents is part of the deal.” You let out a few short, sarcastic giggles, narrowing your eyes at him with fury. “It’s funny that you, out of all people, fail to understand that. If I am needed I will do what I must. If this is some sort of sick joke, stop it already, not funny. ”
Blunt, unrelenting stubbornness. Not like that’s news for him, Satoru has lots of experience with that since the day your path crossed. Although he finds this quality to be adorable most of the time, it can pose major problems like the present.
Oh, he is not angry at you. Satoru is more outraged at himself, don’t you worry. On the contrary, he is rather intrigued by your sarcastic remarks! However…
Instead of walking towards where you stood near the window, the man decides to take a turn towards the door.
That flashing panic within your eyes did not escape his sight.
The illusion figure you were projecting near the window dissipated instantly once he got your left wrist in his hand. Concealing yourself and projecting illusions, a rare techique indeed.
“Clever tactic. Making yourself invisible, projecting a faux illusion to distract me, leaving the door open and staying close to the exit. Your curse techniques are impressive. I almost got fooled, job well-done (y/n)-chan.”
The grip on your wrist suddenly tightens, you have to bite your lip to hold back a hiss of pain. How can he still flash that casual, playful smile when committing such atrocity? Those damned cerulean blue eyes too, you are ashamed of how you tremble and (internally) swoon at it at the same time.
Efforts to get away would most likely be futile, but you have to try. “See, you underestimated your opponent. I do see why you are good with lurking in the shadows now. Do you have any idea what I am capable of though?” Such delicate hands, it would be a shame if they were to bruise.
It’s unnerving how easy it looks for him to maintain a solid grip on your wrist while you pull back with all of your might. You know Gojou Satoru is strong and all, but this simple demonstration of strength is devastatingly effective. “Let go of me, you bastard!”
To your surprise, he softens his grip and you finally distanced yourself from him, panting and guarded. “Who are you to decide what I should and what I should not do? I made it crystal clear on the first day that I do not like you for the slightest.”
You know the walls are thin and coworkers might heard you, but you will have to worry about it later. It is, sadly, a matter of fact that you are somehow attracted to him, but that does not give him the right to use it against you. You must not give in to the temptation.
“You are pretty slow on the uptake for someone so smart. I was thinking of doing this naturally, we can go on normal dates to coffee shops, amusement parks, or even the museum if that is what you wish for. But now I see you do not know how much you mean to me.” Do you think Gojou-san is only flirting with you for the fun of it? It might have been the case in the beginning, but that is not the case since...recently.
He did not stop you again when you turned away, giving him one last menacing look and disappeared from his sight, even if he could see the faint trace of your curse energy. You will return to him and apologize after you calm down, he is confident about that. You value your job way too much to quit.
Then he could finally pull you into his arms, saying he does not mind and forgive your childish tantrums. Satoru does not plan to lock you up in a cage or anything(yet)! The students adore you and they need your guidance. Your clan is insignificant compared to his, your influence? Does he even need to consider that?
Gojou Satoru would always achieve his goals by whatever means possible. You are no exception to this.
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chosonore · 4 years ago
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part two | yearning
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yearning [noun. a strong feeling of wishing for something, especially something that you cannot have or get easily]
pairing: kamo noritoshi/f!reader
summary: your relationship with noritoshi was like a game of cat and mouse; no matter how hard you tried to escape from him, he would always find his way back to you.
wordcount: 8.2k
content/warnings: friends to enemies to lovers, language, somewhat suggestive, noritoshi is kind of a dick but i promise it gets better so please don’t lose faith in him, we’re somewhat following the timeline of the anime/manga so spoilers ahead!! but what follows afterwards is purely pulled out of my ass lol, lowercase intended [UNEDITED]
a/n: hello, here i am again with a super long chapter ( ˙꒳​˙ ) it is so incredibly messy and i’m so sorry if it gets confusing for you; this just really shows how sporadic my writing process is, i have some guidelines that i follow but sometimes venture off my path when i suddenly get a new idea. nevertheless, i hope you can somewhat enjoy this chapter. feedback or just your thoughts are much appreciated! for those that are waiting for the ~steamy~ content, it is coming next chapter hehe. as always, stay safe everyone (´。• ᵕ •。`)
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"noritoshi, could you just stay quiet today? i'm really not in the mood," you sighed as you entered the training grounds. the exhaustion from the mission the day before was clinging onto your bones, heavy and admonishingly. the normally exciting sparring lessons seemed dreadful, knowing that all students were to practice today. to practice the balance within the team, utahime had claimed the week prior as she was reprimanding your lack of discipline when it came to noritoshi. stubbornness ran in the family; you refused to back down when someone was hurting your pride. said stubbornness came back to bite you - instead of taking a break to fully recover, you claimed that you would be fine with the help of your reverse curse techniques.
as the days came and went, the yearly tournament slowly approached. after the devastating defeat last year, everyone was on edge and determined to beat tokyo tech. well, that excluded todo, he was just looking for stronger opponents it seemed. noritoshi, on other hand, appeared to be more agitated than usual - if he wasn't barking orders at the other students, he would criticize their fighting styles. you knew he wanted to win the tournament at all costs, to prove himself worthy of the position as the kamo clan head. but he was too rigid about it, rarely accepting help and haughty when questioned. you've been avoiding him as best as you could and of all days, today had to be one where you could not. opponents would be swapped every ten minutes so everyone could practice with another student - facing noritoshi for ten minutes was easy. so you thought. 
"can't promise anything, princess," noritoshi retorted smugly and pat your head like he usually did when he was trying to get a reaction out of you. life always found a way to prove you wrong. for some reason, noritoshi had made it his goal to get under your skin as much as possible on this particular day and it worked. it was childish to engage in this banter but you couldn’t help it. the feeling of not being taken serious by noritoshi had always bothered you. it almost seemed like he wasn’t considering you equal to him, always looking down on you. being stressed wasn’t good, your mother had always reminded you, so it was best to remain calm and collected.
stay calm and collected, calm and collected, you repeated in your head. gritting your teeth, you slapped his hand away and jogged away from him towards todo. at least he'd leave you alone while you were near todo - probably to avoid todo getting mad at him and not wanting to hear about takada-chan again. he was the ultimate and fool-proof shield. the taller male was walking at a leisurely pace in front of you, leading the group as per usual. you caught up to him, slowing down so it didn't look like you just jogged all the way here. away from the menace that was noritoshi. todo glanced at you suspiciously before subtly turning around. a guilty groan left your lips. of course he knew, he always knew. as the unlikely friendship was blossoming between the two of you, you rapidly realized that todo was far more perceptive than he would ever let on. even though he took lighthearted jabs at you, he didn't care enough to intervene; it was a mutual understanding. in a way, you appreciated that he treated you like everyone else, not once had he tried to approach you about your deteriorating relationship with noritoshi.
upon seeing the unlikely pair, miwa speed up as well to join them. even though todo scared her to no end, your presence eased her nerves a little. after all, you weren’t scared to put him back in his place when he was being dramatic. she nudged you gently in greeting, nervously clasping her sword in front of her. "do you think we'll win this year's competition? we've been training a lot, so i hope i can show off some of my skills."
"never say never? even if we lose, it's a good experience to learn from," you replied wryly. while the students of the kyoto tech were strong and coordinated well with each other, noritoshi and you could easily destroy the balance. he didn't know when to stop, persistently pushing your boundaries and you fell for his tricks every time. as long as you could work out a strategy that involved working alone or with a partner that was not him, you'd be fine. your safest bet was to work with miwa since you were both sword users and have practiced together extensively. if noritoshi and you exhibited enough chaos to tear the world apart, miwa and you represented the perfect balance when fighting.
"you're our secret weapon though!" miwa exclaimed excitedly, elbowing you gently. "no one knows you can heal, so we'll use that to our advantage."
"uh…"
"what? don't tell me you-"
"i've asked yuta about advice before," you interrupted her, scratching your head sheepishly. "he's one of the very few people who can use reverse cursed techniques, so i asked him to give me some pointers and how to use it more to my advantage."
when yuta participated in the competition the year before, you were absolutely mesmerized by his level of skills and how he had supposedly mastered them in such a short amount of time. of course you hadn't told anyone that you were talking to him - everyone was still salty about the defeat and would, undoubtedly, have crucified you on sight. truthfully, you didn't understand why everyone was so hellbent about hating the students of your sister school. weren't you all colleagues in a sense? yuta was nice and respectful towards you, always trying his best to explain you how to implement his tips. along the way, you might have developed a tiny, fleeting crush on him but never acted on it. it was only a crush after all and you didn’t feel certain about it not being a mere distraction from your feelings for noritoshi. perhaps it was the way he made you feel, the way he treated you like noritoshi used to before. you couldn't even deny it, you missed your old 'toshi. when you looked at him now, it hurt you, seeing all the traces of gentleness having left him.
"really? you never told me! what is he like? he looked like he was really nice but there were moments where i was really scared of him. well maybe not him but rather… that curse."
"uh, yuta is actually not that scary. he's really helpful and always there for you when you need advice. i think i've improved a lot since we've started talking." you made a mental note to thank yuta again if you got to see each other anytime soon. apparently, gojo had sent him on a mission overseas a few months back and ever since, your exchanged messages grew to be rather sporadic. still, you appreciated that he made an effort to text you every now and then to let you know how he was doing and in turn, also asked about your wellbeing.
"fraternizing with the enemy, i see," noritoshi's voice rang out beside you, dangerously close to your ear. it made you jump in surprise, not having sensed him earlier - your hand automatically shot out to hit him, only for him to catch it in time. you shot him an annoyed glare. beside you, miwa and todo glanced at each other, silently agreeing to ignore the squarreling pair.
"i don't see how that's any of your business."
"it is if it jeopardizes our chance at winning," noritoshi narrowed eyes at you in suspicion. of course he didn't trust you, you were nothing but a mild inconvenience to him. you didn't owe him an explanation, not today and not in the future. any friendship or friendliness between you was long gone. refusing to look into his eyes, you attempted to tug your hand away from him but instead accomplished the exact opposite as noritosh tightened his grip. "what did you tell him?"
"he only helped me with training, that's all! it doesn't concern you anyways so-"
noritoshi was irritated, you could tell. the anger was rolling off him in waves, intimidating even you. why was he so annoyed by the fact that you asked yuta for advice? it wasn't even farfetched - the only other alternatives were gojo and ieiri, both of which you hadn't mustered up the courage to ask yet. wasn't it in everyone's best interest for you to become a great healer? noritoshi would know best - he was the driving force behind your ambition, the sole reason why you worked to the brink of exhaustion just to show him that you didn’t need his help, that you were worthy of a higher rank.
"i don't want you to hang out with the tokyo tech kids, especially not with him."
"wait, what?" you gaped at him in disbelief. "is this just because you have personal beef with some of them? leave me out of this, i just want to improve and you don't get to tell me what to do." with that you shoved the taller male, stomping past the other students towards utahime who was looking at you in disapproval. you missed the upset frown on noritoshi's face as he followed you, wanting to reach out but stopping midway. it wasn't the right time or place to let you know why he didn't want you around them, not yet. seeing you hang out and being relaxed with everyone else but him hurt him, oh how it hurt him. he wanted you close to him, only see him, talk about him excitedly and with stars in your eyes like you did when you talked about yuta. and yet, he couldn't let you know. the only way to keep you orbiting around him was to play these silly games, rile you up and drawing a reaction out of you. it was the only way to make you pay attention to him. and so he did.
calm and collected, my ass, you thought two hours later. of course todo and noritoshi had completely eviscerated the rest of the students with no mercy, leaving everyone in a sour mood. whatever strategy your team would have for the tournament was probably thrown out the window, the two of them would take care of it anyways. not that they would stand a chance against yuta.
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“yuta isn’t here?” the disappointment in your voice was palpable. you did look forward to meeting yuta again, thinking that he might have come home from his overseas trip for the tournament. but you supposed getting to know the other students wasn’t too bad, you were interested in the first years and their skills. they certainly looked more approachable than your classmates. miwa told you how todo and mai had met two of them a few weeks prior and promptly started a senseless fight that was then stopped by the second years. it landed them in the water as utahime gave them a lecture - while she didn't tolerate the childish behaviour, everyone else seemed to turn a blind eye to it. noritoshi had scoffed in disapproval upon hearing the news, uttering something about not wanting to associate with dimwits like them. 
"nope, he's still overseas. it doesn't matter anyways, we'll still beat you without him," maki replied with a confident grin, arms crossed as she took in the kyoto tech group of students. regardless, you broke out in a sprint and jumped, engulfing her in a warm hug. while you two didn't talk as much as yuta and you did, you were still friends. she was a source of inspiration to you, a master of all kinds of weapons whom you deeply admired. maki gave you some awkward pats before pulling away to introduce you to the first years - megumi, yuji and nobara. the younger students were wary of you, most likely because of their encounter with todo and mai. you couldn't hold it against them, their intensity and stubbornness was something you had to deal with daily after all. you silently cursed the two brash students before taking a deep breath and extending your hand to the ones in front of you.
“hi, i’m y/n, nice to meet you,” you introduced yourself with a friendly smile, visibly relieved when they shook your hand and introduced themselves. especially nobara seemed to be eager to get to know you, fussing over your uniform and inquiring about your skills. you were glad they welcomed you, not wanting to cause any more trouble than would undoubtedly arise for the duration of the tournament. while megumi seemed to be cautious and more reserved around you, yuuji and nobara already treated you like their friend. subconsciously, you envied them for the wholesome friendship dynamic as it reminded you of what you used to have with noritoshi. the fleeting thoughts left as soon as they made an appearance in your head, disappearing when nobara grasped your hand and pulled you towards the buildings to show you around. unbothered by the reactions of your fellow kyoto tech classmates, you followed her - their energy was stifling and the tournament didn't start until later in the day anyways. it was useless to stay with your group and practice, you'd only overexert yourself.
“y/n.” noritoshi called after you sternly, glaring at you when you turned to look at him - ever since stepping foot into the estate, he was moody and more serious than usual.  it was probably him being tense about the tournament, the spirit to win deeply ingrained in his bones. none of the other students seemed to be bothered by the presence of the tokyo tech students, so why should he? ignoring him, you continued your journey until you felt a force harshly pulling you back by the fabric of your hoodie. intuitively, you could tell it was noritoshi. 
"noritoshi, let me go," you snapped at him irritated, struggling to free yourself from his grasp.
"we have things to discuss, did you forget that?"
"i don't want to," like a petulant child, you gave him an angry look as you stood your ground. tension filled the space between you, tethering on the edge of anger. why was a normal conversation never possible with him? and why did he treat you like a child? you let up when megumi appeared to your side, shooting noritoshi a warning glance as he attempted to remove his hand from yours. even though he didn't know what your relationship was like, he stepped in regardless - you were impressed by him. even if noritoshi remained calm, he was a menace to deal with afterwards.
"she said no, didn't you hear-"
"get your hands off of her." noritoshi growled at megumi, the sudden influx of cursed energy that was surrounding him made all students in close proximity freeze. you couldn't hide you shock either, he had never been this threatening towards someone else. he might push boundaries to the extreme, knowing that he could away with it due to his bloodline and family name but he had never outright threatened anyone that didn't do his bidding. with those words he pulled you towards him, wrapping his arm around your waist protectively. paralyzed, you blankly stared at him. his cursed energy was suffocating you, never had you experienced this amount of pressure. not only that, the unusual closeness set your heart ablaze, burning down the walls that you'd carefully constructed around it.
"you're being ridiculous," megumi challenged the older male, unbothered by the strong pressure. he didn't understand why noritoshi was making a big deal out of this. surely he didn't consider megumi a threat? noritoshi's hold on you strengthened and with panic you realized the blood-red markings appearing on his face, he was being serious, oh god he was going to rip megumi apart-
"hey hey, stop it you two," panda's voice snapped you out of your trance and seemingly noritoshi's as well as he wacked his arm. "you just got here and you're already stirring up trouble, are you not ashamed?"
noritoshi simply scoffed and let you go, his cursed energy dissipating with the movement. the rest of the students were as stunned as you were, no one daring to make another move until the tension evaporated. todo was the only one who looked rather annoyed, smacking the back of noritoshi’s head as he started to tell him off - noritoshi, however, kept walking past him towards the dorms that they were staying at for the week. it was almost like there was steam coming off his head as a result of holding his anger in. nobara gaped at you in surprise, pointing at you accusingly. “i didn’t know that was your boyfriend!”
you spluttered in horror, quickly reaching out to her to try and cover her mouth so she wouldn’t say anything incriminating. “n- no you got it wrong! we’re not together, not at all! i hate noritoshi,” you floundered, hastily trying to set the record straight. nobara didn’t look like she believed you, pushing your hands away while giggling. she wiggled her eyebrows at you, whispering at you about how lucky you were to snag such a handsome guy although she thought that he really didn’t have to overreact like that because megumi was harmless. covering your face in embarrassment, you turned away from her and caught a glimpse of an amused todo winking at you.
“i’m serious, nobara!" whatever whining you did, the two of them didn’t let up, making you wonder what you ever did wrong to deserve this scrutiny. as your last resort you grabbed nobara's hand, dragging her along towards a secluded area in the estate. being the subject of the earlier conflict was already troubling enough, you didn't want the other students to get the wrong idea by her wild speculations. nobara was still giggling when you arrived, pinching your arm playfully.
“c’mon, it’s impossible that there is not something between you! did you see the look on his face? i don’t think he would have cared had it been any other person,” she gushed excitedly, her face lighting up in glee. with no doubt, nobara enjoyed poking her nose in other people's business, seemingly having a knack for sniffing out the hidden. a dejected sigh left your lip. a younger you would have jumped in happiness after finally receiving noritoshi's attention but the present you knew better. there wasn't more to it, you told yourself and yet, a tiny sliver of doubt made its way into your mind. could he really have been so bothered by another male being so close to you? todo didn't count, obviously.
"no, there's nothing to it, i promise. we don't have the best relationship anymore and mostly fight. i mean yeah his reaction was really uncharacteristic but…"
"anymore?"
"noritoshi and me grew up together and were childhood friends. i- i didn't agree with his antics as we grew up and we drifted apart after that and now… hate each other? he’s just unbearable and we don’t get along. everyone at kyoto tech knows that so they’re mostly ignoring our fights. and it’s childish, i know, i know..." 
“are you sure? like super duper sure? because it didn’t look like it to me,” nobara contemplatively rubbed her chin. the wheels were turning in her head, something didn’t quite add up. even at first glance, whatever you said made her feel doubtful.
“trust me, i wish it was different too. i mean i used to like him a lot and it makes me sad and i wish we could at least be civil around each other. but he just makes me so angry,” your ramblings stopped nobara’s thinking - so that’s what it was. normally, nobara really didn’t care about other people’s business but this was too juicy to pass up. how far could she push it to make you realize?
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why was the layout of all these buildings so confusing? and why were there so many buildings to begin with? you’ve been wandering around for at least five minutes now and you still couldn’t figure out where the hell yuji’s and megumi’s rooms were supposed to be. they didn’t even have any signs around. at this point, it didn’t matter if it took longer than anticipated - the others could wait. nobara had insisted on having a small get together the night before, to get to know each other and play some card games. you couldn’t refuse, it’s been a while since you just hung out with friends without any quarreling. there was no harm in getting to know you future colleagues, even though your classmates were treating them like criminals. so instead of going herself and much to your dismay, nobara had sent you to fetch the other two students, claiming that you would be fine if you just stuck to the measly sketch she’d made for you. most of the rooms you’ve already knocked at remained empty so you couldn’t be far from their rooms, you concluded.
stopping in front of the last remaining door of the corridor, you took a deep breath. this had to be one of their rooms. slowly, you raised your hand to knock at the door when it was suddenly yanked open, startling you in the process and making you drop the piece of paper you were holding. what you weren’t expecting was coming face to face with noritoshi who looked at you as equally confused. he was the last person you wanted to see today, not wanting to confront him about his actions earlier. you couldn’t wrap your head around it; why had he overreacted in such a way? it wasn’t like you were in danger or in need of protection. for a brief moment, you thought that there was a sliver of strange possessiveness. you couldn’t quite place the emotions in his eyes, it made you shudder.
“oh uh, sorry. i was looking for yuji and megumi and this is very obviously not one of their rooms. sorry again. i’ll take my leave,” you awkwardly stammered, taking a step back. noritoshi’s figure was towering over you and in a rare moment, you felt intimidated by him. perhaps it was the dark look in his eyes that told you that he was not thrilled by what you just told him. before you could react, he swiftly grabbed your arm and pulled you inside his room, trapping you against the door.
“w- wait!” you protested weakly, pushing at his chest until his face slowly came into your vision. you couldn’t help but stare at his lips, watching them move as he was talking to you. your ears were ringing, you couldn’t tell what he was saying. the close proximity was suffocating and yet you craved more, not wanting to let him go.
“y/n? did you hear me?” 
“huh?” snapping out of your trance, you looked at him dumbfounded. noritoshi was frowning at you, slightly concerned about your state as you didn’t answer him. just then you finally got a proper look at him. it was a rare sight; noritoshi wearing casual clothes, a simple oversized shirt and shorts, and his hair down without the bindings. feeling nostalgic, your heart clenched. he looked like his old self, the ‘toshi that you loved dearly.
“i said, i don’t want you around them. i don’t- i don’t like seeing you with them,” noritoshi repeated with a strained voice. he placed his hands beside your head, inching closer to you.
“what- noritoshi, you don’t get to tell me who i can hang out with! last time i checked, we’re not even friends anymore so where do you get the idea that you can do this? what’s the big deal ab-” you didn’t get to finish your sentence when he pressed his lips against yours clumsily. you seized up in shock, not returning the kiss as a whirlwind of thoughts entered your mind. holy shit, he was really kissing you. but you hated each other, so why? why, why, why. when you didn’t respond, noritoshi pulled away in panic, spluttering apologies as he moved away from you. your emotional world was in chaos, all the buried and forgotten feelings for him breaking the dams and flooding your senses until the yearning became too much. you were reminded of the conversation you had with your mother years ago - you still wanted him, missed him. you wanted him by your side. desperately, you reached out, fisting the fabric of his shirt as you leaned up to kiss him. noritoshi caught you in his arms, wrapping them around you as he fervently returned the kiss. he was holding you like he was afraid you would dissipate into thin air, frantically pulling you in. his hands were roaming, discovering the expanse of your body.
his touches left you feeling delirious, high on pleasure. a mewl left your lips, pleading him for something, for more. your hands moved higher, feeling his chest and broad shoulders before you wrapped your arms around his neck. his name left your lips in breathy sighs as he peppered kisses down your jaw, pulling the collar of your shirt to the side to gain more access to the expanse of your neck. suddenly, you were hoisted up and pressed against the door as noritoshi held you by your thighs. you struggled to wrap your legs around his waist, to distracted by his relentless ministrations. by the time he's left multiple hickeys on your neck, you were whimpering mess. noritoshi's breath was taken away at the sight of you in his arms, lips swollen from the kisses, the glossy eyes, dishevelled hair and the hickeys that were slowly becoming more visible. he couldn't understand how carelessly you were letting him proceed when you supposedly harboured a strong dislike for him. nevertheless, he enjoyed it and wanted to savour the moment, ingrain it into his memory so he'd never forget why he was treating you like a nuisance.
a loud knock resounded from the door, followed by someone shouting: "noritoshi? has y/n been here?"
out of sheer shock, you shoved noritoshi away from you and nearly fell as you attempted to detangle yourself from him. he caught you in time, signalling you to stay quiet as the person outside was still shuffling around nervously. you slumped against him limply, letting your head rest against his chest. his heart was beating erratically. it made yours fill with pride as you could tell that you had the same effect on him as he did on you. still, the precarious situation suddenly dawned on you - you'd just made out with your sworn enemy and, yes you used to have a crush on him, enjoyed it very much. and by the looks of it, he would have continued if you hadn't pushed him away. the entire ordeal greatly confused you; was noritoshi just playing around with you? it couldn't be, he had initiated it after all. the cold treatment he usually gave you didn't match with his actions just now. you couldn't get close to him, not when he gave you mixed signals. you wanted someone who cherished you and was always sincere so you wouldn't have to second guess their actions.
"huh, i guess noritoshi's already sleeping. we'll have to check somewhere else, i hope she didn't get lost," the person outside mumbled as you stayed silent. the sound of shuffling was heard, then steps away from the room. you stayed put until you were sure they were gone and gently removed yourself from noritoshi's grip, not looking him in the eyes. he didn’t move, letting you go willingly.
“i’m sorry, i don’t know what came over me,” you apologized with a pained voice. “please forget that it ever happened and uhm, please don’t tell anyone.”
noritoshi’s eyes widened at your pleas, moving to stop you from leaving so he could explain himself to you. “y/n, wait, i can ex-”
hastily, you stumbled to open the door, dashing away from him until the building was out of your sight. you poorly hid behind a tree, sinking to your knees as you buried your face in your hands. what the hell. you just made out with your childhood friend turned enemy. your buried feelings were all over the place and your mind just couldn’t stay still. it messed with your outlook as well as your image of noritoshi, distorting and twisting it until you had to rethink your relationship. maybe all this time, you subconsciously hoped that he would return back to his old self and somehow give you an explanation. never having received closure on the end of your friendship, you would even forgive him for the sake of your relationship. were you this shallow? no, you simply harboured a lot of feelings for him. you weren’t able to tell what his thought process was - was he even interested in you? did he see you like that?
“there you are,” you lifted your head to see gojo walking towards you with his hands stuffed inside the pockets of his pants. you almost didn’t recognize him as he simply wore a pair of sunglasses and let his hair down. “the others are looking for you. what are you doing out here? trouble in paradise?”
“n-no! i just needed some time away from everyone to- to catch my breath,” you exclaimed indignantly and perhaps too hastily you realized when gojo smirked at you knowingly. why did everyone assume that there was anything between noritoshi and you? was it that obvious?
“uh huh. that’s not what your neck says,” gojo pointed out while wiggling his eyebrows and offered you a hand to stand up. “he really doesn’t like any competition.”
“fuck,” you cursed quietly, covering the hickeys with one hand while taking gojo’s with your other and pulling yourself up. it was embarrassing enough to meet one of the teachers like this but it was even more embarrassing to know that your teacher had seen the aftermath of your makeout session. 
“i’m not gonna tell anyone, if that’s what you’re concerned about. although it would certainly be funny to tease little noritoshi,” gojo was giggling and you knew he was greatly amused by the entire situation. it almost reminded you of nobara. you groaned in frustration as you trailed behind him towards the girls’ dorms. you needed to hide your neck so no one would question it or grill you until you confessed; the potential embarrassment was mortifying.
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your group strategy was already falling apart when todo suddenly disappeared in the depths of the forest, not caring about your teamwork in the slightest. normally, it would frustrate you a lot more if you weren’t already preoccupied with your own troubles. todo would be fine anyways, the remaining group members could work on a strategy on their own. as mechamaru and mai were discussing, you shot a glance at noritoshi. he looked as deadpan as usual, probably not listening to the discussion as he worked better on his own and it was more or less decided that mechamaru and him would be moving on their own while the others would team up. otherwise, you couldn’t tell whether he was bothered by what had transpired between you the night before. on the contrary, he looked calm and composed, probably more focused on his goal than anything else. and for some reason it bothered you.
when you’d returned to nobara’s room last night, gojo had helped you make up an excuse. while dramatically gesturing around, he’d told them that he intercepted her journey towards the boys’ dorms to recruit you for training, claiming that he wanted to teach you more about reverse cursed techniques. although he saved you from scrutiny and embarrassment, you couldn’t help but feel like he might use it as leverage in the future. it was gojo after all, he was unpredictable. absentmindedly, you agreed to whatever plan the others had schemed and grabbed your sword, getting ready to move to your assigned position with miwa. while you had heard of the other students’ skills, you weren’t sure where to place their levels as there was always room for surprises. underestimating opponents was a beginner's mistake. the bell rang out, signaling the start of the tournament; with swift movements, the group members dispersed and slowly moved towards the "enemy".
in the distance, you could already hear loud explosions - it was probably mechamaru happily blasting away his opponents. you gritted your teeth in annoyance, the blasts were too loud for you to make out anyone approaching you. and as you predicted, someone was taking advantage of the noise to stalk up on you. barely being able to block the blow with your sword, you found yourself opposite of maki who was grinning at you. the challenging glint in her eyes told you that she wasn't going to go easy on you but you welcomed it. it was a good opportunity for you to grow and hone your sword wielding skills.
however, it proved to be more difficult to defeat maki than you'd originally anticipated. in mere minutes, maki had already disarmed miwa, leaving her defenseless and you were hanging on a bare thread. your grip on the sword was weakening, laboured breath making your ears ring. it was frustrating, knowing that after all those months of rigorous practice, you still couldn't win a fight. giving up wasn't an option, at the very least you had to give it your all.
"c'mon, you can do better than this!" maki teased you as you ducked away from the swipe of her spear. it missed you by a hair's width and left you scrambling to create more distance between you so you could heal yourself. maki's relentless hits didn't give you any rooms for it - you really had to learn how to constantly apply it to yourself without losing time. from the corner of your eyes, you could see that miwa had picked up the phone. she was probably calling for help, you thought and dished out another hit towards maki which she skillfully dodged. instead, she delivered another blow to your legs, making your knees buckle from the force. you used your sword to support you and took another breath before you tried to lunge at her. in the distance, miwa suddenly collapsed, making you stop mid-move and took another hit from maki that took all the air in your lungs.
"eyes on your opponent, y/n. you know better than to get distracted in a fight, you could've been killed in a real fight," maki reprimanded you as you coughed heavily, gasping for air as you slowly got back up. you were unsteady on your feet, not having enough energy to even heal yourself. conflicted by whether you should face maki again or help miwa, your eyes were flitting between them. maki took advantage of your uncertainty, dealing another blow to you that knocked the sword out of your hand. as your last resort, you kicked at her feet, trying to get her to fall, only to have her pin you to the ground.
"you're going to have to practice a lot more to beat me in the future," she sighed, picking up your sword. panic welled up in your chest - the sword was the only way you could possibly somewhat win this fight but even subconsciously you knew that it was over. reaching out for the sword in desperation, your vision was clouded with tears. it was frustrating, so so frustrating. why couldn't you be as talented as her? or have fast reflexes like noritoshi? why were you ordinary, not being able to make any progress no matter how hard you try?
"i know but i can't give up now!" you defiantly retorted, pushing at her with all might. "i have to win, i just have to show my skills for once and prove myself, i- i-"
even maki softened up at your heart wrenching sobs, easing up on her grip. you both knew it was over. you were probably already eliminated from the tournament, with no other possibility to redeem yourself. she knew that you tried your best and never once underestimated her but something irked her. it was your motivation, your driving force.
"y/n, there's no shame in losing. that's how you grow, make mistakes and learn from them. you tried your best, it's not easy to stand against me for so long."
"i know but there's- i'm still not where i need to be! look at how much progress the others are making in comparison to me! i've been practicing day and night and still, no one is noticing me. i'm just a measly healer and i-"
"y/n." maki cut you off sternly. "is this your motivation? proving yourself to others? you'll not be able to improve if you keep fighting for others. you need to start working on yourself, for yourself. you don't owe anyone anything. but you have to realize that trying to satisfy other people's needs will only make you unhappy and hinder your growth."
"i'm unhappy with my skills! i keep telling myself that it's okay, that i have a rare cursed technique but sometimes i just wish i had a flashy technique or be as strong as you. i don't want to be looked at as if i need protection, i don't want it! i just-" you hiccuped, sniffling again as you wiped your tears with the sleeves of your uniform. "i just want someone to acknowledge me, want him to accept me as an equal…"
"who?" maki's cold look made you freeze in your movements. you didn't mean to let that slip. no one needed to know that the entire time, you were vying for noritoshi's attention. but she was right; there was no point in giving it your all if it wasn't for yourself. it was a silly, childish dream of yours to be equal with him again. he was far out of reach and you couldn't catch up to him.
"n- noritoshi," you admitted in defeat. maki saw right through you, there was no point in lying. she raised her eyebrows at you but didn't question it further. after all, you hadn't told her about the background story. unless nobara had done so, you wouldn't doubt it.
"i'm not gonna ask you why. but this is my advice, do not fight for somebody else. if you relentlessly work on yourself for your own benefit, you'll see progress a lot faster. your technique might not be flashy but it is powerful, remember that. you're a valuable asset to every team," she concluded and pulled you up, awkwardly patting your back as you still sniffled. maki opened her mouth to tell you some comforting words but froze when another extremely loud boom resounded near the entrance of the estate. your eyes widened at the sudden influx of cursed energy - there was no doubt that a high-level curse had just entered the school grounds. you turned to maki to tell her the news but she'd already moved, pointing to miwa.
"take her to a safe place, you can't stay here! in your state, you wouldn't last against such a strong curse," maki yelled at you as she disappeared in the woods. you scrambled frantically, not wanting to be left behind. while you were useless for the tournament, you could at least still be of assistance against a curse. miwa was still laying on the ground, unmoving. you shook her gently, scared that she was seriously hurt. it seemed like she was just sleeping instead; you were relieved. throwing her across your shoulder, you winced in pain but persisted nonetheless. you had to get her away from here, who knows what curses were roaming around. your senses were flooded with the stench of blood and debris, the pressure of cursed energy, the loud rumbles. you couldn't tell where the others were but you hoped they were safe.
a loud thud startled you and you stopped, ready to draw your sword until realization hit you that it was utahime that was inspecting you. determined, you thrusted miwa's limp body towards utahime. 
"miwa will be okay, she's just sleeping! i'm okay too, don't worry, please just take care of her and i'll check on the others!"
"y/n, don't be stupid! you're injured and in no state to help others." utahime attempted to convince you; you shook her off stubbornly, insisting that you were fine.
"what if the others get hurt? i have to help them or at least warn them!" your resolve was firm and unwavering that even utahime couldn't convince you otherwise. slipping out of her grasp, you sprinted towards the source of the cursed energy. from far away you could already see the damage that the curse had caused. multiple buildings were torn apart, trees dislodged and- were those branches rapidly growing out of the ground? you watched in horror as the branches whipped around, following running figures on the rooftop of one of the buildings. upping your speed, you jumped towards the group to aid them. as you neared them, you could make out inumaki, noritoshi, and megumi fighting against the curse, maki trailing close behind. 
they barely stood a chance against the curse, every hit that they dealt, the curse would come out unscathed. "what's the deal with that curse?" you asked, panting as you joined them, coming to a halt behind inumaki. megumi was yelling something but you couldn't hear him as noritoshi turned to you and shoved you out of the way.
"y/n, what are you doing here?" 
"helping you guys? what the fuck does it look like?" you yelled back exasperated. why was he mad at you in such a situation? they needed any helping hand they could get to defeat the curse. while you weren't useful in fights, you could at least provide continuous healing. noritoshi didn't have any time to reply as the curse lashed out again, dodging it by jumping to the side. you stayed close to inumaki, swiftly healing him when he collapsed from the rebound of his cursed speech. you clenched your jaw, not wanting the others to see that you were slowly running out of energy and strength. next thing you know, a body was hurled through the air, landing near you with a thud. your heart filled with dread when your eyes fell onto the figure, recognizing noritoshi.
"y/n, heal them as best as you can and get out of here! take them to the teachers!" maki yelled out and this time you obeyed, too panicked about noritoshi's state. you were thankful that inumaki had enough energy to run after you'd healed him - hauling noritoshi's tall frame around was already difficult enough but even more so when you were exhausted. as you neared the gates, utahime was already running towards you with a concerned look on her face. you were glad that she was nearby, it meant that gojo and the other teachers were close and could defend you.
"what happened?" utahime worried but you couldn't reply. falling to your knees, you gently laid noritoshi on the ground. the injuries looked bad, there was blood everywhere. you had to stop the wound on his head from bleeding but your trembling hands were preventing you from doing so.
"i- i don't know, i just- i think the curse hit him and now he's unconscious and he's losing so much blood and-"
utahime pinched you firmly, snapping you out of your panic. she was already holding a cloth to noritoshi's temple to stop the bleeding. patting your hand, she told you in a gentle voice: "heal him if you still have enough strength but don't overexert yourself. ieiri will be here soon." 
nodding frantically, you placed your trembling hands on his abdomen and let your cursed energy flow. the strength was slowly leaving your body but you had to save him. you had to make sure he was okay, he couldn't die, not like this. regret was bubbling up inside you; what if this was the last time you would ever get to see him?just as you felt his energy responding to yours and saw his hand moving slightly, you couldn't hold yourself upright anymore. the last thing you saw was utahime reaching out to catch you as you collapsed.
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you woke up with a startle, gasping for air as you sat up abruptly. sunlight was flooding the room and it felt uncomfortably hot on your skin. you pushed the blanket back but stopped halfway in your movement. your entire body hurt, muscles burning and screaming for more rest. and yet you couldn’t stay still as you remembered the previous events. how long were you out for? was everyone okay? gritting your teeth, you slowly moved out of the room. again, you were faced with the endless maze that was the tokyo tech buildings and stopped in your tracks, not sure which direction to go. you let out a sigh of relief when you spotted yuji in the distance, waving at him to get his attention.
“y/n!” yuji ran towards you, frantically gesturing towards your room. “you’re supposed to be resting! what are you doing here?”
“is everyone okay?” you croaked, now realizing how dry your throat was.
“yeah, ieiri did a good job of healing everyone! some of us are still resting though and so should you.”
“no, i… is noritoshi okay?”
“noritoshi? oh, you mean the guy with the long hair?” yuji nodded, curiously eyeing you as your shoulders dropped, the stress rolling of them. “yeah, he’s still recovering though. ieiri said that his injuries were probably the worst so he’s not allowed to leave the bed.”
“can you take me to him?” you asked with a small voice, doing your best to muster up a puppy face. yuji sighed, scratching his head sheepishly. you could see the conflict in his eyes, that he was thinking about rejecting your request. in the end, he shook his head in defeat and motioned for you to follow him. a small grin found its way onto your lips - yuji was just too nice, he couldn’t say no when people ask him for favours. the walk to noritoshi’s room was silent, neither of you knowing what to say. you knew it was selfish of you not to ask him about his wellbeing more or visit the others but you just had to see for yourself that noritoshi was okay. yuji stopped in front of a door, pointing at it.
“this is his room. he might be sleeping though… my room is down the hall so if you need me to accompany you back to your room, just call me.”
you thanked him quietly and watched as he retreated. taking a deep breath, you knocked at the door and waited for a reply. a few moments passed before noritoshi’s voice rang out, giving you the okay to enter. gingerly, you opened the door and entered the room. noritoshi was sitting on his bed, reading a book as if nothing had happened. you looked at him bewildered. he didn’t look like his injuries fazed him at all. despite the bandages around his head and arms, he remained calm as if nothing hurt. 
“noritoshi,” you breathed out, taking a seat on the chair near the bed. he didn’t spare you a look, keeping his eyes on the book. “i uhm. i’m glad you’re okay! when i saw you in that state, i was so so scared that i could lose you… i did my best to heal you, i know i didn’t do much but-”
“i didn’t need your help,” noritoshi snapped at you, placing the book on his lap. “i would’ve been fine without it.”
you were stunned. why was he so agitated? after you initial shock, you huffed in frustration. “what the hell, you could’ve died! i was trying so hard to keep you alive and you react like this? i know you don’t like me but even this is a low blow for you!”
“it wouldn’t have been a problem if you hadn’t inserted yourself into everything! you’re not helping anyone, just dragging us down; everything could’ve gone well if it wasn’t for you standing in the way,” noritoshi countered as frustrated, this time actually looking at you. you stared back at him in disbelief. you saved his life and he had the nerve to shot you down like this.
“does it really hurt your ego to admit that i was actually helpful? we were friends at some point so why do you insist on being such a dick? and here i was, finally thinking that we were getting somewhere- for fuck’s sake, we kissed and-”
“leave.”
you stopped rambling. the tired tone in his voice, the deadpan look on his face; he was serious. you couldn’t believe him. tears welled up in your eyes as you leaped from the chair and hastily exited the room, slamming the door in anger. 
you never wanted to see him again.
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p.s: yes nobara gave you a wrong sketch of the buildings what about it hehe
taglist: @milkteeboba​
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iphoenixrising · 3 years ago
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(6am/Prime Girl back to the super random chaos again haha) B A B E I serously caNNOT - I read your post about some AUs you’d like to get to and?? The Civillian CEO one literally spoke to my SOUL???? I’m just picturing Tim, fully aware of the Batfam’s identities (because he may have followed in his parents’ footsteps, but that didn’t stop him from his hobby when they were gone) starting to deal with some of this corruption, and then Dick and Jason are s o enraptured by Tim. Because this isn’t a Tim that is docile or subtle about anything.
As a CEO, Tim loses none of his sass or cleverness. When he sets his sights on someone, he does not hold back.
And his tech and detective skills would totally come into play, of course - after all, so much to dig up, so little time. (And those computer classes he took in Highschool and college? Absolutely paying off)
And Lucius would obviously stay with WE, but I can imagine Tam meeting Tim, this young, vigilant and untarnished CEO with so much to do and so many expectations, and rolling into the fray.
Tim, having grown up in these environments, knows how to wear his masks, to smile as he snatches information from tipsy gala-goers, to draw plans out of the elite of Gotham like it’s child’s play.
So maybe Dick and Jason see him at a gala one day. They’d known about him before, of course - but Tim Drake only became CEO about a month ago, so they were expecting the idealism to die sooner than later (like it does with most Gothamites)
However, they watch as he works the crowd, smile glinting in a way that verges on too-sweet and p, laughing as a mogul talks of some sort of Organisation they’ve set up involving the homeless, and -
The man is in prison the following week, charged with many counts of trafficking, and he’d miraculously ended up in a court that couldn’t be bribed -
Oh, yes, now they’re interested.
Anyways, so Tim starts running into Bruce’s wards a little more, of course. They try to be subtle about it, but Tim is very well aware of them and knows that he’s either being investigated or he’s some weird form of civilian city-cleanup entertainment (and wow, maybe he was flattering himself)
But they start wooing bit by bit, and our boys have maybe one combined subtle bone in their bodies, and Tim, here, has had so much practice with people that he realizes very quickly what their intentions are.
Instead of confronting them, though, which may lead to questions and turn them off from him (because they only wanted sweet but fierce normal CEO Tim - there’s no way they would want him as he is -) he decides that ‘hey, isn’t this an opportunity?’ And begins to help himself to their help.
Maybe it’s a file on some shady business dealer he’s left out ‘accidentally’ when they come over for coffee, or maybe it’s a hint here or there about a drug circulating on the down-low to a very specific group of people, or even notes on a cop he’d noticed a discrepancy with.
Dick and Jason are always so interested, after all, and Nightwing and Redhood are always so willing to help out a plain, ordinary CEO with his worries.
Everything could come to a head one day, however, when Tim might slip up somewhere due to lack of sleep and get caught in something. With little other choice he might call Dick or Jason and ask for help, and, well?
Wouldn’t they just find their little civilian detective so much more interesting?
(*coughcough* ANYWAYS - I hope you’re doing well!! Love love you and all your works, fren! I really hope I haven’t overstepped any bounds with this short thing inspired by your au, but I honestly just love your writing and this concept!! Many many hugs to you and kiddo!<333)
Prime Girl babe!
I was so happy when I saw your message in my fucking inbox and then, then, you bring this to my table? This buffet of clever, sassy, civilian Tim getting all kind of comfortable with hot vigilantes because he absolutely takes no shit when it comes to corporate bribery and corruption, is one of those CEOs that pretty much refuses a pay raise and puts it back into the company, that pushes for more than the standard 2% for his hard working employees, that makes sure they're donating to the right causes in Gotham, demands to see change whenever they support a cause? (The only reason the skate park keeps getting rebuilt after any number of shitty bad guys blows it up is because Tim can't stand the thought of a Gotham without one. Same for the several rec centers all over town.) And you, you, put this in front of me like an offering to the Gods of the Muse that Tim not only knows, but he takes perfect fucking advantage of it to use them strategically in bed and out to make sure the underground criminals, the blue collars, the corrupt politicians, cops, and judges, get their fucking due with minimal effort and no bodily harm in his future?
And like this idea isn't good enough by any stretch, but let's just have a nice CEO facing down one of Gotham's crime syndicates because he absolutely fucked up and he's done good things so this isn't a bad way to go–
When the skyline breaks in and a whole lot of pissed off vigilantes take the scene.
I'm not going to say the Red Hood isn't utterly vicious, or that one of his clips isn't rubber bullets. I'm not going to say Nightwing is banter-less once he sees how beat-up Tim is, the blood oozing from the cuts on his face, the deep bruising and swelling. I'm not going to say how merciless Robin is when he sees the usually clean cut CEO an utter exhausted mess.
Nor am I going to say how much they all coddle the fuck out of him for the next few weeks, stalk him in his office, his home, his commute to assure themselves he's okay, he's healing, he isn't in anyone else's hands–
except theirs.
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iceeckos12 · 4 years ago
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time travel snippet
little time travel au oneshot. season 5 jon travels back in time to season 1. from the perspectives of tim, martin, and sasha. 3.5k.
i dont think i need to tag anything, but please let me know otherwise.
Tim wakes up that morning, and it’s just like any other day.
Well—no, okay, that’s a bit misleading. Today is his first day working as an archival assistant, so he’s one part nervous, one part that breathless, exhilarated feeling you only get when you’re about to do something unfamiliar that may or may not redefine your life for the foreseeable future. When he says “it’s just like any other day”, he means that he wakes up, and he’s a normal person doing normal people things like eating a healthy breakfast and going to work.
(So, no. In short, he doesn’t realize that today is the day when It happens, that big, life-changing event that you think will Never Happen To You.)
He gets out of bed, stumbles into the bathroom. Washes his face of whatever residue that’d built up during the night, tries to scrape away the evidence of his nightmares, smiles big and bright at the mirror to see how successful his efforts were. He’s betrayed by the traitorous bags beneath his eyes, but that’s okay. Sasha taught him how to wield concealer as a shield whenever his past wore down his armor.
He shoots twin finger guns into his reflection, making soft pew, pew! noises that are almost too-loud in the hush of the bathroom. Then he turns on his heel and walks away, sauntering and humming along with the chorus of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5.
He gets to the Institute twenty minutes before he’s supposed to—not because he’s trying to impress his boss or whatever (he and Jon have known each other long enough that there’s no point). It’s just, Jon will probably want to make some sort of game-plan before the actual workday starts. 
The poor man had been relieved to an almost comical degree when Tim had said yes, I’ll come with you to the Archives. It’s painfully obvious how out-of-his-depth Jon is with the whole “Head Archivist” thing. Tim’s honestly baffled as to why Elias had singled him out for the position in the first place, considering his lack of qualifications.
But, whatever. It’s fine! Tim and Sasha will be there to help him—although the third assistant is a bit of a problem, considering that they know absolutely nothing about him. There’s no guarantee that this Martin Blackwood won’t report inadequacies or mistakes back to Elias. If that’s the case, Tim and Sasha will have to be Jon’s safety net, which is partially why Tim is hoping to talk to Jon before anyone else gets there.
He also wants to talk to Jon because he just knows the man is probably working himself up over all of this. Maybe reassurances won’t do away with the source of anxiety entirely, but at least it’ll remind Jon that he’s not alone, and that he can count on Tim and Sasha.
As expected, when Tim gets there he can see a sliver of light pouring out from the cracked door of the Head Archivist’s office. He selects a desk and sets his bag on top of it, noting a set of strange gouges in the fake wood with a raised eyebrow, and then an internal shrug. The Institute issued laptop is near the far edge of his desk, and his collection of pictures are strategically placed so that he can see them all clearly.
His eyes linger over the image of him, his mother, and his brother. Their smiles are almost perfect replicas of each other, like someone took a mold of one of their faces and recreated it twice over.
Briefly, he closes his eyes. Then he shakes himself, releases a slow, steadying breath, and goes to check on Jon.
Tim’s not sure what he’s expecting to see when he goes into Jon’s office.
(That’s misleading too, though. He’s not sure if Jon will be visibly calm or upset, if he’ll be on his laptop, if he’ll be picking at the skin around his fingernails, as he so often does when he’s stressed. He is expecting Jon as he is and always has been—a twenty-some year old going on sixty, who wraps his gruff, grumpy demeanor about himself to protect the soft, vulnerable core he likes to pretend doesn’t exist.)
He comes up to the door, and the soft rectangle of light that emanates from beneath the door paints the tips of his shoes gold. “Jon?” he calls softly, rapping his knuckles against the frame. There’s a soft rustling noise—papers maybe? but no audible response, so he shrugs and pushes the door open. “I’m coming in.”
Tim steps inside, a quip instinctively readying itself on his tongue—but then his gaze lands on Jon, and he freezes dead in his tracks.
Even years later, he still vividly, viscerally remembers the moment he saw Danny standing on the stage underneath the Royal Opera House, the way he’d looked...not quite right. The wrongness had been subtle, so much so that it had been unnoticeable upon first glance, upon second glance. The longer Tim had looked though, the more obvious it had become, exposing all the little faults in that almost-perfect recreation of his brother.
Looking at Jon now, it’s the first and only thing he can think of. Because—yes, there’s the long, silver-streaked black hair, there’s the rich brown eyes, there’s the pair of spectacles that make him look far older than he actually is. But that’s where the similarities between the Jon he knows and this Jon end.
Jon’s always been a small man, but his feigned haughtiness makes him seem much bigger than he actually is. Except—except this Jon looks smaller somehow, his shoulders curved protectively inward, like he’s trying to present less of a target. And there’s something about his face, too—his expression is too sharp, too much—
But the worst of it is his eyes. There’s something very wrong with his eyes.
Who the fuck are you, and what have you done with Jon? He doesn’t say it out loud though, just keeps staring at Jon, a heady mix of terror and horror making any sort of reaction impossible.
After a moment Jon’s lips thin, contorted by some distant cousin of displeasure, and he rises to his feet. Tim stumbles instinctively backward, his breath escaping him in a sharp gasp that’s immediately swallowed up by the apathetic stacks of books and papers surrounding them. He’s struck by the fact that if he dies here, it’s unlikely anyone will notice; he’ll become just another set of marks gouged into the desk, willed away with an uneasy shrug.
Jon freezes, lips parting subtly, as though he were about to speak. Tim feels his breath catch in his chest, unable to shake himself out of the clouded stupor his mind has fallen into.
In the end, Jon says nothing. Just releases a long, slow breath of air and sits back down, pushing his chair close to his desk. The motion looks heavy, tired, as though it takes far more energy than it should.
“You—you should go,” Jon rasps, and there’s something off about his voice too, though Tim can’t put his finger on why. He can’t cobble together enough of a train of thought to make sense of any of this, all he can think of is that clown ripping Danny apart—
He stumbles out of Jon’s office, sits down at his desk. Stares down at the cheap, fake wood, at the gouges that have marred the otherwise pristine surface. Puts his head in his hands, and tries to will his heart to stop pounding in his chest.
-0-
Martin’s heard things about Jonathan Sims.
He’s not usually the type to pay attention or encourage gossip, as the vivid memories of his classmates tittering cruelly whenever he walked by still leaves a sour taste in his mouth.The problem with the Institute is that the employees get bored pretty easily. Though most would consider academic research into the esoteric and the paranormal to be fairly interesting, it’s still academic research. And the subject content can get to be a bit...repetitive. There’s only so many gruesome statements you can read without thinking, oh great, more meat.
So the employees gossip a lot, and while Martin usually tries to keep his head down and avoid it, it’s difficult not to overhear some things. And from what little he’s heard, he’s...a bit concerned. Rude and unsociable has frequently been mentioned, as have arrogant and unnecessarily finicky, and worst of all, a bit of a stuck-up know-it-all.
Normally he tries not to put too much stock in office gossip—he’s well aware that the grapevine tends to exaggerate one’s most undesirable traits—but if any of it is true, then he might just be in trouble. It was hard enough being a library employee when his boss wasn’t even paying attention most of the time. If Jon is as exacting as they say, it might be enough to expose the fact that Martin has no idea what the fuck he’s doing. And if that happens, then he might get fired, and he can’t get fired, he needs this job, he can barely keep up with his mum’s medical bills as it is—
Calm down, Martin tells himself firmly, pressing his hand against his sternum, as though that will be enough to quell the rising panic. It’s only your first day. Maybe he’s nice, and we’ll actually be good friends.
(With his luck? Yeah, right.)
The Institute looms in the distance, growing closer with every terrified, grudging footstep. A shiver runs up his spine at the sight of its imposing presence, a dark, ugly blot of a building against the backdrop of the iron grey clouds.
If there’s one thing he’s good at though, it’s keeping his head down and muddling through until he’s able to figure out what is actually expected of him. He can twist and fold himself into whatever role they need him to fill, as he has done so many times in the past. Not easily perhaps, but he has always managed. The alternative is untenable, after all.
So he takes a deep breath, and shoves his panic down as deep as possible. Lifts his head and forces a smile onto his face, like a good attitude will be enough to protect him from his boss’s wrath.
He could really do with a cup of tea.
Martin trudges down the stairs, giving the blank walls, the old-fashioned carpet, a dubious look as he does. The Archives themselves are as he remembers it—he’s been down here a couple of times when Gertrude made a request for something specific, but—
He pauses when he notices a man sitting at one of the desks, his face buried in his hands. His shoulders aren’t shaking and his breathing is even, so Martin doesn’t think that he’s crying? He’s just….sitting there, his stillness so perfect it’s almost inhuman.
“Hello?” Martin calls softly, cautiously, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet.
The man looks up, revealing a very handsome face and brown eyes so dark they may as well be black. His cheeks are dry but his eyes are bright and a little wild, and his mouth is pressed into a small, tight line. He doesn’t speak, just keeps watching, blinking dazedly in Martin’s direction. Martin gets the feeling that this person isn’t entirely there at the moment, like a house in which every room is lit, but there are no people inside.
He swallows and shifts nervously back and forth, trying to decide whether or not to call for some backup. Eventually he sets his bag on the floor and shuffles a bit closer. “Um—are you—is everything okay?”
The man blinks rapidly, some semblance of awareness creeping back into his gaze. He shakes his head slowly, pushes his short, gelled hair back from his head. His hands are trembling. “I’m...yeah, I’m fine. It’s—everything’s, it’s…”
But then his gaze lands on something over Martin’s shoulder, and all the color drains out of his face, his mouth shutting with a painful sounding click. Martin quickly spins around, searching for whatever could’ve scared him so much—
There’s someone standing in the doorway of Gertrude’s office.
There are so many things that one normally takes in upon first meeting another person: their hair, their skin color, all the little wrinkles and marks that give you the briefest insight into their life. Martin looks at posture first, tends to check if a person is intentionally looming, or if they’re making themself smaller.
But all Martin can see are the eyes.
There’s—two of them he thinks, but two is such an arbitrary number when the thing you’re applying it to doesn’t ascribe to human values (he’s not sure how he knows that—how does he know that—?). That horrible, terrible gaze is an unerring arrow, all-encompassing, all-consuming, piercing the deepest corners of his mind. It hurts in some distant, nebulous way he’s not even sure he comprehends—
Then he blinks, and the sheer terror, that feeling of the horrible, violating exposure of everything that he is, abruptly snuffs out. What’s left is just a person, wispy and small, his slight frame fairly drowning in a chunky, cable-knit jumper. He’s leaning against his doorframe, his eyes—two big brown ones, rich and unfathomably sad and more than that, human—drinking Martin in, his lips parted in a soundless gasp.
“Um—” Martin glances over his shoulder, and almost leaps out of his skin when a land falls heavily on his shoulder. The man who’d been sitting in the chair is standing just behind him, a strained but polite smile on his face.
“Hi Jon,” the man says, an undercurrent of a warning in his voice.
Martin glances between the two, his confusion growing with every passing moment. This is not what he was expecting when he first came into work today, and the uncertainty makes him feel strange and off-kilter.
The person in the door swallows once, twice, then straightens, one hand still gripping the doorframe like it’s the only thing keeping him upright. When he speaks, his voice is soft, tentative, a little ragged around the edges. “Tim. It’s, um...it’s good to see you.”
“Martin Blackwood, was it?” Tim continues, injecting a bit of cheer into his voice. It takes Martin a moment to realize that he’s being addressed, and he shoots Jon—this is Jonathan Sims?—an uncertain look before nodding slowly. “We’re happy to have you on the team.”
“O-Oh?” Martin squeaks, then grits his teeth and bodily forces his voice back into its normal range. “I’m—um, I’m happy to be here?”
“Good,” Tim says through a grin that looks more like a grimace, giving Martin’s shoulder a friendly pat. The look he shoots Jon is a dark, mistrustful thing. The look Jon gives him back is fragile, vulnerable, that winds the tension in Tim’s shoulders so tight it has to be painful.
Jon’s gaze flickers to Martin, just for a second—and then he disappears into his office, leaving the door cracked behind him.
Tim and Martin stand there for a second, staring at the door. Tim’s still tense as a bowstring, and his grip on Martin’s shoulder is almost uncomfortable. The air in the Archives feels stuffy and too warm, and there’s a strange prickling sensation on the back of Martin’s neck, like he’s being subjected to close scrutiny.
Then Tim sighs and lets go of Martin’s shoulder, a little of the tension bleeding out of him, and without it he looks small, deflated. He goes back to his desk and sits down, booting up his laptop without a word of explanation to Martin.
Martin stares at the back of Tim’s head for a moment, a number of questions clamoring around in his brain—what the fuck was that? What’s wrong with Jon? Why are you so obviously suspicious of him?—but the words won’t come. Breaking the silence feels...sacrilegious, somehow. Every breath of air sticks against the back of his throat.
In the end, he doesn’t say anything either, just sits at his desk and takes out his Institute-issued laptop. Stares blankly at the screen as the machine slowly, laboriously, comes to life.
-0-
Sasha’s not entirely sure how to interpret the tense atmosphere that has descended over the Archives.
The first day she’d arrived a couple of minutes before she was supposed to, prepared to follow Jon’s direction and help him adjust as best she could. (Her feelings about Jon’s promotion...didn’t matter. She didn’t like it, but it wasn’t his fault that Elias was an old-fashioned misogynist.)
But when she’d come down the stairs, Tim and the assistant she didn’t know, Martin, had been seated quietly at their desks. They’d both had the same distant, shell-shocked look on their faces, like they’d received some shattering, horrible news. Sasha had sent Tim a confused look, but he either hadn’t noticed it, or hadn’t wanted to explain.
She hadn’t even seen Jon that first day, just received a polite email asking her to start organizing the statements according to the system which he’d devised.
It’s been almost three days, and nothing has changed. Oh sure, they’ve all started organizing the statements as directed. Tim cracks jokes, Martin tiptoes around them and makes copious amounts of tea. That strange tension that makes the hair on the back of her neck stand up, like the world is holding its breath in anticipation, hasn’t faded though. And while she doesn’t know Martin all that well, she knows that something’s still up with Tim. He seems more subdued than usual, keeps sending uncomfortable looks in the direction of Jon’s office—
—which hasn’t been open since that first day. She hasn’t seen Jon at all either, no matter how early she arrives or how late she stays. The only proof she has that he’s still alive is the polite email she periodically receives, detailing some specific task that he wants for them to do.
Even then, his emails are...odd. She’s not sure how she can tell, but they feel...awkward? Stilted? Like he’s only half-aware of what he’s typing, or like he’s only asking them to do things because he feels like he should, not because he has any actual goal in mind.
Normally she’d be frustrated by this, would complain bitterly to Tim about Elias passing over her for someone who obviously doesn’t properly appreciate the position they’ve been given—except that she knows Jon. He’d made a point to explain the situation to her himself, an apologetic twist tucked into the corner of his mouth. More than that, he’d asked her to follow him to the archives, saying that he wanted the two people he trusted most, her and Tim, to come with him.
He respects her too much not to take this job seriously.
The strangeness of the archives is only emphasized by Jon’s complete and utter lack of presence within it, but she doesn’t—she doesn’t buy that. She doesn’t believe that he’d just suddenly decide not to do the job he’d been so anxious to excel at. 
More damning than anything is Tim’s complete, utter silence regarding Jon’s strange behavior, but whatever he knows about it, he isn’t saying anything. Martin is willing to talk, but he seems to be as lost as she is.
“I—that first day, Jon…” Martin shrugs, shooting a nervous glance toward the door leading to the archives. He’s been spending a lot of time hovering in the break room making tea, not that she can blame him. “He—I mean obviously I don’t know him very well, but he seemed...upset?”
“Upset,” Sasha repeats dubiously.
Martin lets out an exhausted sigh and turns away, waving a dismissive hand. “Look, I’m not entirely sure how to explain it. He just—okay, so, bear with me for a second, but he reminded me of this guy who used to live in my neighborhood.”
Sasha backs off, folding her arms and leaning against the counter. “Okay?”
“There was this little old couple that used to live in my neighborhood. They were—they were really sweet! The husband used to give candy to us younger kids. But um—sometimes you’d see him sitting in the rocking chair on his porch, and it was like...he wasn’t entirely there? Like, he’d just sit there for hours, rocking and staring at nothing. That’s—that’s what Jon’s expression reminded me of.”
Martin gets more animated the more he talks, Sasha notes; his hands move in broad, sweeping gestures, his expression twisting into an expression of extreme concentration. The moment he finishes he deflates again, tucking his hands into his armpits self-consciously, a hedgehog curling protectively in on itself.
“So, yeah,” he finishes eloquently.
“Huh,” Sasha says thoughtfully.
She gets back to her desk. Looks over at Tim, who’s studiously working through a box of statements, his mouth set in a neutral, concentrated frown. Takes a deep breath, letting the taste of dust and old papers sit heavy on her tongue.
Then she opens her laptop and starts looking through the catalog of cursed items that are currently being held in Artifact Storage.
(She doesn’t think that she’ll find anything, but—but just in case.)
-0-
They all get the call the next Monday morning: Elias Bouchard was found dead in his office.
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magnoliabloomfield · 3 years ago
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Possession 13
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Nikola spent a lot of time in her room until her period was over, the boys were just too loud even when they didn’t mean to be annoying, and she was still a bit too embarrassed to face Gally. Not only had he helped her clean the blood from her sheets while he was shirtless, she’d also made that weird, hormonal declaration to him from her balcony. But she wouldn’t take it back either because it was true, Gally was just about the sweetest person in existence even if he did have a hardened exterior, or didn’t express himself with tremendous amounts of warmth. The things he did were always just right in his own unique way.
The attention most boys gave her felt meaningless since she was the only girl. It was hard to feel special without other options to be chosen from. Did they like her personality? Did anyone like her with their brains or their heart, or just their hormones?
She wanted to think Gally cared for her beyond the superficial, but she feared the day another girl would show up that he might like better than her, or they got out and there were so many to choose from, what if he didn’t really want her but was settling because she was all there was? But that’s how life was. A small world with one girl and one Gally.
She was supposed to work on some mending that day and went to Gally’s work bench for a pair of scissors. He wasn’t anywhere in sight even as she scanned extra hard for him. She did notice Shawn looking her way and quickly averted her gaze. She grabbed the scissors and looked for a scrap of paper to leave a note on. Gally didn’t like his things going missing, so she was going to let him know she had them and where she’d be if he really needed them back. As she searched she noticed something.
Moving some things out of the way she saw drawings, somewhere between a sketch and a doodle, and it was all of her. She was shocked at how good the drawings were, but even more shocked by how beautiful the artist seemed to think she was. She’d caught some glimpses in rusty mirrors and still water, she didn’t really look that good. She couldn’t fool herself, this was Gally’s table, Gally’s stuff, so it had to be Gally’s drawings. Honestly if he saw one of his builders doodling away he wouldn’t stand for it or keep it around.
She bit back a huge smile before she covered it back up and looked around for his to-do list, maybe that would tell her where to find him. But what would she do when she found him? Say ‘hey, I saw your drawings of me,’ …then what? She just wanted to see him, just be around him, even without a reason. When she did find him he was in the dead heads with the other builders looking for any trees that could come down, or branches for fires or tools. He was busy and there was no privacy, she couldn’t play off going to see him as anything but going to see him just because she wanted to.
~~~
At dinner Gally got a huge surprise. Nikola was sitting at his usual table. It felt like his heart did an extra big thump when he saw her there in the evening glow. He saw Newt make a dash for the table as fast as his limp would let him, looking ready to be entertained by Gally who he claimed was ‘totally whipped’, whatever that meant. They were saying hello to each other as Gally sat down across from her.
“Hey,” she greeted him with a smile in front of all the other boys. “Did you get my note about borrowing your scissors today?”
“Yeah, I did,” he nodded, glancing at Newt who was watching them like they were a compelling tennis match. “Thanks for putting them back.”
“I saw your sketches,” she said innocently enough but there was flicker in her eyes that made him freeze.
The sketches. The sketches of her, she saw them, oh crap.
“They’re really good, I think you could make a perfect greenhouse if you had the glass for it,” she went on, but her eyes told him she wasn’t really talking about the greenhouse. Strange too was that she didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest.
Gally swallowed despite not having taken a bite of food yet. “Thanks. I like to plan ahead for future possibilities.”
“You never planned for this possibility,” Newt smirked as he pointed at Nikola.
Gally shrugged. “You can’t plan for everything.”
“Very true,” Newt admitted. “I mean, you were quite worried about the effects a girl in the glade might have, but nothing terrible has happened yet and you seem to get along thick as thieves.”
Gally gave Newt a hard stare.
“He does like to keep the chaos organized, doesn’t he?” Nikola conspired with Newt, a well meaning tone in her teasing. “Honestly, what would you do without him?”
“Better question is what you’d do without him,” Newt countered. He had spent enough time with her to realize who she fancied, no matter how stoic and subtle she tried to be.
“Oof,” she got a thoughtful look on her face. “Well, I’d be homeless.”
Newt laughed and even Gally cracked a smile.
“I might be under someones thumb, too,” she went on. “Without Gally advocating for me to get on the council. I wouldn’t have my swing!”
“Yeah, I heard about that,” Newt said looking right at Gally with an almost taunting grin.
“But all that sounds pretty terrible,” she waved it off. “It’s not just about the things Gally has done for me, or what I’ve gotten from him. He’s my best friend.”
“Is he now?” Newt asked in surprise that sounded more genuine than teasing. Meanwhile Gally could feel that he had gone absolutely, unsubtly red.
“He is,” Nikola smiled, looking at Gally as she answered Newt’s question, watching him adoringly as he bashfully avoided her gaze with red cheeks and ears as he pushed food around on his plate.
“I have bad news for you, love,” Newt sighed. “Gally’s best friend is me. Isn’t that right, Gally?”
Gally looked at him with one raised brow but didn’t say anything which Newt found very amusing in itself. But then Newt gave a sigh as if the fun was over.
“I know it’s- well actually I can only try to imagine how hard it is for you being the only girl here, and how there are so many normal and fun things you should be able to do… but this place is anything but normal. I get it, I don’t mind the fun and the teasing, but there are some who might. I know it’s not fair, but try to be a bit more careful. I really would hate to see either of you get hurt if someone got the wrong idea.”
Nikola looked thoroughly chastised even though Newt had spoken so soft and kindly.
“Right. You’re right,” she nodded as she looked down at her lap and bit her lips. She looked back up with just a ghost of the smile she was wearing before. “I guess I got away from myself there. I’ll have to work on that.”
Gally felt his heart sinking in his chest. He knew Newt was right but he didn’t want her to become reserved and shy away from him just to try and keep peace with some jealous shanks. She’d done all this just because she had seen his sketches of her, had he made her that happy to begin with?
“I guess I’ll go ahead and turn in then,” She said with a shine to her eyes that he hadn’t seen on her before, but he recognized it still because even boys cried.
She said goodnight and took her plate to the kitchen before heading to her house without looking back. It was all going on behind Gally’s back and he couldn’t look at her without making it obvious, but he watched Newt watching her, his longer hair hiding his gaze from others around him.
“I’ve gotten it all wrong haven’t I?” Newt sighed after Nikola disappeared from his view.
“How’s that?” Gally asked, suddenly not so hungry anymore.
“I think you’re the one who has her wrapped around your finger,” Newt clarified making Gally blush again against his will.
“I don’t,” Gally tried to argue quietly and just earned a disbelieving look.
“You best be very careful,” Newt warned. “No one says anything around you because they know you’re protective of her, and you can beat them to a bloody pulp, but there are some boys who would be very sore if she was taken. I know you can take anyone one-on-one but I don’t know if you could take them all at once, and I’m afraid it could come to that.”
“Who is saying what about Nikola?” Gally demanded.
“Oh god, it’s mutual pining,” Newt sighed to himself tiredly as he rubbed his face. “I’m not going to tell you that because you can’t act like you don’t know and you’d end up in trouble any way. For her sake and yours just tread carefully.”
“I don’t want things to go backwards. She trusts me, she knows I’d do anything to protect her,” Gally spilled without meaning to.
“If you’re willing to do anything than do this, just back off a bit when others are around,” Newt suggested.
When Gally didn’t say anything to that Newt just shrugged and took his dishes back to the kitchen. Gally sat there at his table alone, deep in thought and murky, unhappy feelings. He stayed there so long, Fry came over himself to take his dishes to the wash. He sat there till all the others had gone to bed, knowing his thoughts would keep him awake anyway.
~~~~~
A few days passed where Nikola and Gally did the last thing on earth they wanted to do and kept their distance most of the time. But when they did get a chance to interact they both made an effort to subtly assure the other that it wasn’t personal, that nothing had changed between them.
Nikola was sitting up in her house with various scraps of things arranged on her floor and was figuring out how to recycle them into something useful when Newt called up to her. She went out on her balcony and frowned when she saw his face.
“I need you to come with me,” he said apologetically. “It’s a gathering… of sorts.”
Her heart plummeted. She was shaking as she tried to go down her ladder and it made it difficult. She didn’t say anything as she walked with Newt, her mind racing with so many things at once and her stomach feeling twisted beyond untangling.
When she stepped inside she saw Alby, Gally, and Shawn. She narrowed her eyes slightly at the latter even though she was trying very hard not to give any of her emotions away. Gally didn’t seem happy with him either and Alby just looked completely impatient. Nikola just looked at him, not willing to say a word until she knew what was going on.
Alby reached out and handed her a piece of paper. “Did you write this?”
She looked at him doubtfully as she plucked the paper from his hand and then looked down to read it, immediately seeing it was not her handwriting before she took in what it said. “No, not my handwriting,” she said quickly and passed it back.
“Read it, will you?” Alby said as he pushed it back.
She sighed but complied.
“It’s time for me to wash my sheets, why don’t you come and help me get them real good and dirty first? It was so fun last time.”
She hid her disgust and tried to morph it into confusion instead. She looked at the boys standing around her. “What the shuck does that mean?” she asked Alby like it was Greek to her.
“Shawn says he saw you and Gally washing your sheets very late one night, and Gally wasn’t fully dressed. Said you seemed very… close,” Alby explained, glancing at Shawn who had clearly orchestrated this whole thing.
“And the first conclusion you jumped to was that we were screwing?” She asked Shawn directly, as flat as possible. “No wonder you faked a note, if that’s all you’ve got to support that theory.”
“She didn’t deny it,” Shawn pointed out smugly to Alby.
“Right, because I was up late one night, I was washing my sheets, and Gally was helping me,” She admitted easily. “That all happened because I started my period in the middle of the night and had to clean blood off myself, my clothes, and my sheets before the stains set.” Everyone but Gally looked uncomfortable as soon as she said period. “And before he tells you he saw me write this note to Gally, I did write Gally a different note about taking the spare scissors when I did the mending. I can get the med journal and show you an example of Shawn’s hand writing and my own if you want, but Newt also heard me talk to Gally about the scissors that day as well.”
Newt nodded to that and Alby threw an unhappy glare at Shawn’s now pale and unamused face. “I think we’re good here, you two can go,” He said to her and Gally, his gaze still fixed on Shawn.
Gally had fixed Shawn with a glare of his own and didn’t seem to be going anywhere, even as Nikola headed toward the door.
“Gally,” Newt said with a warning tone.
Gally let his arms uncross themselves slowly, eyes fixed on Shawn for as long as he could before walking away and following Nikola out the door.
She was out there squinting in the sun waiting for him.
“At least that was easy right?” she commented as they fell into step with each other. “I know that means it’ll only be worse the next time though. I’m sorry Gally-“
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” He blurted, some of his anger at Shawn coming out in his tone with her. He stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath to calm down, then looked up to see her anxious face staring up at him. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” he repeated more softly, “And neither do I. He’s an idiot, and I don’t care what else he does, you’re my friend and I’m yours and I won’t allow any amount of childish jealousy to change that.”
His fists were clenched and his heart pounded in his ears. Nikola’s eyes were wide and he saw her swallow before she nodded vigorously.
“Yeah, absolutely,” she agreed. “Same here.”
Neither of them realized what it would take to keep that promise to each other.
Masterlist
@frequentlychangingfandoms @quackquackbi @poulterjonas @crazysheeplyca @pre-google @gladerscake @neilox @thesuitkovian @carp3d1em @cottoncandy-dreamxd @emilyhadenbaker
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xenia-cenia · 4 years ago
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Chongyun x Fem!Reader - Strength
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A/N - I forget how many days since I finished the Mondstadt part of this series... I had to start Liyue with my boi. My beloved. He <3
Also fan fact: Chongy means gum in Britain so it double works for Chongyun cuz he’s so dang good :) 
Trigger/Content Warnings: ghost mention, bad parents, food mention, we hurting Xingqiu today lads, fear, light swearing, kidnapping (kinda?)
Word Count: 2,937
Request: No
Summary: You’ve been plagued by demons your whole life. He’s never seen one. What will happen when you meet?
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Ghosts, spirits, and demons.
You were no stranger to the unknown. They often whispered secrets of their lives into your ears as you slept. Many exorcists had come and went. They all charged thousands of Mora, only for their promises to fall short. 
Your family was desperate. These whispering strangers grew stronger with each passing day, they began to claw and destroy your family. In one last-ditch effort to keep the (L/N) legacy alive, you were thrown to the streets. 
Many weeks passed, your survival depended on the kindness and naivety of strangers. They invited you into their homes, promising happier times and brighter futures. 
But just like before, they lied.
The whispers turned into yells, the yells into shrieks. It was positively unbearable. Madness constantly danced at the edge of your vision, you wanted nothing more than to give in.
It all changed, however, when a boy with light blue hair and cat slit pupils paused at your trembling form.
“...are you okay?”
Your head snapped up and you looked the boy up and down. He looked nothing special, light clothes and a melting popsicle in his hand. Your eyes focused on the popsicle and you unconsciously licked your lips as you imagined how good it’d feel to have real food in your mouth after... 4 days? 5? You’ve lost count.
He looked between you and the popsicle for a few seconds, sighed heavily, and handed it to you. As you nibbled on the popsicle, he uncomfortably shifted his weight between his feet and waited for you to finish. 
When you were done with it, he cleared his throat and began to rifle through a small bag that was slung over his shoulder. A few moments later, he pulled out a trinket that was engraved in gold.
“You’re (Y/N) (L/N), right?” His voice was soft as he handed you the item. “Take these. It’s a talisman, it should keep the demons at bay.”
Taking the talisman in hand, you flipped it over a few times and considered the boy carefully. Hundreds- no, thousands- of exorcists have tried their hand to free you from the demons who chose you to haunt. What would make this boy any different?
“It’s not like they’ll ever leave.” You mumbled to yourself.
For a moment he looked almost excited, but quickly hid it with a stoic expression, “Can you still hear them?”
You paused. What an odd question. Of course, you could still hear them, why, they were...
“...silent.” You looked up at him, partially horrified, partially euphoric. “They’re silent.”
He sighed to himself, “I see.” The boy stretched and began to walk away, believing his job to be done.
But the moment he left your eyesight, the voices came back louder than ever. 
“Why did you try to get rid of us? Don’t you love us? We love you! Stay with us. Stay with us. Stay with us.”
“Stay.”
A scream fell from your lips, you gripped and pulled at your hair, trying to regain the peaceful silence you had mere moments ago.
Cold hands on your shoulders, heavy breathing, and the scent of various herbs and old paper. You opened your eyes and saw the somewhat panicked cat slit eyes staring at you.
“They came back.” You breathed.
He sat next to you and went deep into his thoughts. For half an hour, the two of you sat there in silence. You relished it, taking in and memorizing every hint of life you hadn’t been able to hear before. He hated it, remembering each time his pure positive energy stopped him from performing his job. 
“Can I...” you finally spoke, breaking the silence, “come with you?”
The out of the blue comment surprised him, but not a hint of that surprise showed on his face, “Why?”
“They’re quiet when you’re here. I never realized how good the quiet was.”
He considered it for a moment, looked at you, “Fine.”
You sighed in relief, “Oh, thank the Archons...”
“But.”
“Oh no.”
“You have to help me get my friend Xingqiu back.”
You blinked at him. ‘Get him back’? Was he in danger? Was he kidnapped somehow? You knew a bit of fighting but not enough to go raid a camp full of stronger, more trained adults.
“He keeps pranking me. I need to get him back.” The boy shook his head solemnly, “Every day he tells me that I’ll finally see a demon. Every day he makes fun of me when I get back.”
“Oh!” You tried to fight the smile that was building on your lips, “Okay. Yeah, I can do that. I, uh, sure. Okay.”
He stood and shook the dirt off his clothes, “We aren’t too far from Liyue Harbor. That’s usually where he stays. It’ll be about uh... a 12-hour walk.” 
“12... hours...” you squeaked. You shook the nervousness away and managed a shaky smile, “You never told me your name.”
The boy paused a moment, “Chongyun.”
You and Chongyun walked in synchrony after hour 3. He kept his distance but always made sure to be close enough so the voices wouldn’t return. Chongyun found you to be eerily calm considering your situation.
Xingqiu told him that you’d been abandoned by your family after years of the spirits gaining strength and losing patience. For the first time, Xingqiu seemed panicked. He begged Chongyun to set out to find you. 
Who was Chongyun to say no? 
His original plan was just to give you the talisman and leave but... this might work out better. The way Xingqiu had described you, it was obvious you were someone close to his heart. Maybe he’d be happy to see you relatively safe and sound. Chongyun liked the idea of that. 
“...yun?”
Chongyun turned to face you, barely feeling your hand grip onto his sleeve. 
“What is it?” He internally winced at how cold he sounded.
“Thank you.” You let go of his sleeve and ran your hands up your arms, “It’s been... ah. Just, thank you. Could you tell me more about your friend?”
“Xingqiu? He’s... hm. He’s really smart. He helps me think of ideas to finally see a demon-”
“You’ve never seen one?” You interrupted him. “Why would you want to see one?”
He slightly puffed out his chest, “It’s my duty as an exorcist to continue the family lega-”
“Screw that! You’ve been blessed! I wish I had that.” You kicked a small rock that lied in your path.
Chongyun sighed heavily. He’s seen this reaction many times over the years, “It makes my job harder.”
“How? Just sit still and bam! Demons gone!”
“I have to draw and describe them in The Field Guide to Demons and Beasts. Not being able to see them makes it... hard.”
You exhaled, “I still wish I had that power.”
“It’s...” he shook his head. “Nevermind. We can talk about it later.”
The two of you walked the rest of the way, with some snack breaks, in silence. 
As you arrived in Liyue, you caught sight of a navy blue haired boy anxiously pacing in front of the entrance. You paused, narrowed your eyes, thought for a moment and when the realization set in, you cried out in glee.
“Xingqiu!” You yelled. The boy looked towards you and quickly dashed in your direction. As he came to a stop, he gripped your hands and smiled happily at you, “Oh, Archons, how long has it been?”
“4 years? When I heard how your family sent you out, I knew I had to do something!” He tightened his grip on your hands as his smile fell. “Are you alright? Are you injured anywhere? Are they...?”
You sighed and let your grip loosen, “I’ve been better. They’re a lot quieter when I’m with him.” You nodded towards Chongyun who was awkwardly standing while chewing on a popsicle.
“Did you get to see them?” Xingqiu asked Chongyun.
“No,” he spoke dejectedly. “There’s has to be at least one demon who isn’t as strong as it, right?”
“It?” You looked between the two boys.
“My ‘power’.” Chongyun specified.
“Ahhh,” you nodded, “well. I’m utterly exhausted. Xingqiu, can I stay at your place tonight?”
“Su-”
“You can stay at mine.” 
You and Xingqiu both looked at Chongyun, surprised by his sudden offer. 
“It’s only to make sure the demons don’t come back during the night.” He spoke, digging his toe into the dirt and suddenly very interested in a nearby bush.
“Can Xingqiu stay with us? I just... well, I don’t really know you.” You nervously laughed, “I’d just feel more comfortable if he were there.”
“In that case, let’s just skip the walk and stay at my place. I’m sure Father wouldn’t mind.” Xingqiu looked between the two of you. You looked at Chongyun, who was still entranced with a nearby bush and waited for his response. After a few moments of silence, he nodded his head.
The three of you walked the streets of Liyue, the further you got the more familiar it felt. Dogs who always licked at your heels, tourists surprised at the food, children laughing and chasing each other. 
You stopped walking and looked around in awe. The boys, caught up in conversation, hadn’t noticed. 
Is this how it feels like? To not be afraid? You almost didn’t believe it. No, you definitely didn’t believe it. They were gone, it was quiet. You couldn’t feel their warm claws digging into your shoulders, nor their cold breaths on your cheek. Anything you wanted to do you could. The voices and demons would never bother you again as long as-
“Why do you keep trying to leave us?” 
You gulped, sweat beading at your brow as you spun around. No, this isn’t right. 
You got rid of them. They’re gone. It’s been half a day and you hadn’t heard them, you’re free. So why...
“Listen to us. We just want to keep you safe. Don’t you want that too?”
...why were they back?
Why did you feel their nails beginning to pierce your skin as rose petals slipped down your shoulder? Why could you hear their melodic hums in your ears as their tongues tied and twisted around you? 
Your eyes were unfocused, your legs were shaking, you swallowed every bit of spit that lingered in your mouth but your throat still ran dry. You could almost hear pounding footsteps; could almost feel a boy with navy blue hair pushing through the crowd until his hand wrapped around your wrist and yanked you forward. 
Your feet were moving. That much you knew. Where you were going and why they were moving were two separate matters entirely. Slowly, the voices were replaced by panting and their burning claws melted into cool metal.
“...huh?” you spoke as you gathered your senses. Why were you sitting on the streets of Liyue? You looked around and felt your shoulders immediately relax as you saw Xingqiu. “Xing... Xingqiu?” 
He was holding your left hand tightly, trying to manage a reassuring smile despite his panicked eyes. You looked to the boy pressing the cold circular object against your shoulder.
“What’s...” you yawned, “What’s happening?”
“I, uh, we got wrapped up in the conversation. We thought you were right behind us.” Xingqiu looked at the ground guiltily, “You just about passed out.”
You looked up at Chongyun, taking note of the determination in his eyes. “I guess I’m kinda stuck to you for a while, huh?” You laughed sadly.
He froze and looked down at you, his eyebrows knitting together as his lips turned into a tight frown, “I don’t think that makes me stuck to you.”
“True, you could always drop me off at... well, anywhere.” You rested your head against the wall you were propped up against, “It’s not really you who's stuck.”
Chongyun shook his head, “That’s not what I meant.”
A soft blush covered your cheeks, “Oh.” 
Xingqiu looked between the two of you and quickly bit his tongue. 
“Don’t interfere, Xingqiu.” He chided himself. “Your childhood crush is nothing. It’s been 4 years! They just met anyway.”
He shook the anxiety away and tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. All old crushes die out eventually, he’ll be fine. 
He was not fine.
It’s been 2 months since your arrival and he’s found himself as head-over-heels for you as he was 4 years ago. He took every opportunity he could to spend time with you. He was jealous of Chongyun, and he hated it. 
Chongyun got to spend all day with you. Chongyun spent hours training with you and planning ways to beat your demons. 
Chongyun was his best friend! It’s fine! Your just his friend, it’s okay! He’s okay with that!
“Mmm, okay I think I get it.” You spoke, pointing at a book that was spread between you and Chongyun, “This is for healing and that’s why we need it.”
“We also should bless it in pure rainwater.”
“Chongy, do we need to wait for it to rain here? Who knows how long that’ll be...” 
Chongy.
Chongy.
A nickname. You gave Chongyun a nickname. Why didn’t you give him a nickname? Xingqiu found he could no longer ignore the feelings building in his chest. He tore through every book in his collection, nearly memorized every declaration of love. 
For 20 minutes a day, you were alone. You and Chongyun were testing your tolerance and slowly but surely, it was growing. That was good news all around. Xingqiu took these measly 20 minutes as an opportunity. He knocked on the door to your room and waited for a response. A few minutes passed and he grew anxious. He announced his presence and let himself into your room. 
It was eerily clean. Xingqiu called your name a few more times and grew more and more confused as he couldn’t find a trace that you had ever been there. He sat on your bed and jumped when he heard something crunch beneath him. 
Right where he sat, a note was lied out.
Chongyun and Xingqiu -
I’ve decided I’m going to try to go back home.
I know you’d try to stop me... so I figured it’d be best to just run for it. I think I’m enough now. Enough for them.
 I’ll use the skills we went over and I’ll control the demons! They’ll be so happy. 
Thank you for helping me.I’ll write again when I arrive so you know I’m safe. Feel free to visit!
-(Y/N)
Meanwhile, you knocked on the door of your family's home. The entire trip over you’d been practicing what to say to them. Your mother opened the door and gasped when she saw you.
“(Y/N)?” She whispered, her eyes wide. “How are you...?”
“I’m back.” You sheepishly smiled. “I, ummm, I spent a lot of time getting control of them. I think I’m better now. See? They’re not even here!”
“S-Stay here...” she half-jogged deeper into your house and didn’t return. You awkwardly stood around, twiddling your thumbs, not even noticing the shovel about to hit the back of your head and knock you unconscious. 
When you woke up, your hands were tied behind your back and you were surrounded by the damp scent of rotting wood. It was dark and your head hurt.
Where were you? This isn’t right. You had been going home. No, you were home. You saw your mother. Why are you here? Are they afraid? No. No, that doesn’t make sense. 
You did your best. You thought it was enough... wasn’t it enough? The voices had stopped. You made friends. You...Tears bloomed in your eyes as you harshly bit into your lip. 
You thought they’d love you if you came home the way they wanted. Why didn’t they love you? Where was Chongyun? Where was Xingqiu?
You missed them. You wanted Chongyun to sit next to you like he always does. You wanted to hear him enthuse about exorcism. You wanted to lie your head in his lap and tease him. Just like you always do.
“Chongy...” you muttered to yourself. “I lo...”
A loud crash upstairs forced a gasp from your lips. In horror, you sat silently and hoped the house wasn’t getting robbed. The yelling, banging, and screaming wasn’t easing your nerves.
You sat as still as you could, hoping that whoever was up there wouldn’t hurt you. Praying even. Light flooded the room which made you wince and turn away. “(Y/N)?” A familiar voice called.
You looked in the direction of the voice and let the tears fall loose. There, at the top of a staircase, stood Chongyun. The light behind him made him look like an angel.
“Ch... Chongy!” You yelled. He raced down the stairs and looked at you. “Chongyun, Archons, I’m so happy to see you.”
He worked quickly, untying your hands and letting you collapse into his arms. “Xingqiu and I came as fast as we could...”
You gripped onto his shirt and held him closer, “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“I thought... I thought they loved me.”
“I know.” He drew loose circles on your back with his finger, “I know.”
You rested your head in the crook of his neck and let the scent of various herbs and old paper engulf you.
Xingqiu, who had just finished fighting your parents, stopped at the top of the stairs and smiled at you two. It was the first time he’d seen Chongyun able to touch someone without his congenital positivity overflowing... 
Maybe you were helping him just as much as he was helping you. 
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heyitsyn · 4 years ago
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White Carnation
Ex!Iwaizumi Hajime x Reader
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a/n: iwa-chan being your ex is so painful and numbing
huhuhu angst isnt my forte but this is an exception bc chi is my sista
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anon request: ex-boyfriend/childhood friend iwaizumi would be super angsty but i have no idea what they’d fight about ,, now imagine if after being kitaichi’s manager/medic, reader becomes karasuno’s medic/temporary manager (until kiyoko got recruited),, then she couldn’t come to the seijoh practice match so she has no idea her team fought her ex,,, only to find out during inter-high and everyone’s like wtf??? that spiky haired ace is your ex?? meanwhile kageyama’s like “yall didn’t know?” — chi
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ong this finna be painful
so
its always been the three of you
with living across the oikawas came great perks
even way before you could remember, you were always with the 2 other boys: your neighbor across your house, tooru, and his best friend who practically lived there, hajime
hajime first saw you when you were covered in dirt after you were trying to catch a butterfly for tooru at the back and oikawa pushed you out of the way into a puddle of mud when he saw a bug
iwa stared at you then immediately said ‘my name is iwaijumi hajime. i think youre really pretty’
yep thats really how it went
and poor babie didnt know how to pronounce his ‘z’s yet so it sounds like ‘j’s :(
while tooru liked you because you werent like other girls who stayed inside and played dolls instead playing outside
you played with him at his back yard with the volleyball he owned and always made him laugh and have fun
iwa liked you because you didnt shy away from bugs, instead you were braver than tooru and even helped iwa look for any beetles and caught them for him to keep as pets
they liked you because you were like them
you were like one of the bois
but that kinda hurt you in the future
as you all grew up, you started going through yanno teenager things
like you started to have crushes
specifically on your best friend, iwaizumi hajime
thankfully tooru didnt see you like that and still saw you as one of the bois and saw you as that annoying twin sister
but unfortunately, iwa did too
every time you made an effort to do something to emphasize that you were, hello, a girl, he would laugh and tease you
‘hehe i didnt think you even knew what a dress was!’
was his comment when you came over wearing a yellow sundress with flats
tooru, who you shared these secrets with, gave you a worried glance but you smiled, covering up the hurt
‘meh. my mom forgot to dry my clothes so i had to wear these old clothes’
no, they werent old
they were just bought yesterday with the intention of finally being recognized as girl and complimented
but the person it was for, couldnt even be bothered to remember that you werent just one of the boys and that you possibly wanted to be told that you were pretty or cute
your other best friend noticed your quietness and he stood up from his crouching position and placed a hand on your shoulder, making you look at him
your teary eyes made him sigh but he grinned at you
‘its really pretty, y/n-chan! you should wear it more often! pretty things deserve to be seen and complimented’
god why couldnt you have a crush on oikawa tooru instead
why did it have to be towards the boy who was too caught up with catching bugs and playing ball to ever see you differently and has never said a single praise towards you?
‘what do you think, iwa-chan? isnt she pretty?’
oikawa hinted but hajime remained his eyes on the tv as the players hit the ball, too distracted to even be bothered to look at you
‘she looks the same’
he mumbled and your nose stung and eyes watered, looking down to hide the wobbling of your lips
‘its okay, kawa-chan. can i wear your clothes for now? i dont like this dress thats why i never wore it’
oikawa tried to stop you but you were already straight up the stairs and towards his room
he angrily stomped over to iwa and slapped his arm, startling the other boy and him snarling in pain
‘what the-’
‘youre so dumb. youre so mean. i wonder where she went wrong and what she saw. seriously’
he ranted and moved to sit back on the floor but not before kicking iwaizumi, making him fall on his side
‘OI KUSOKA-’
‘so whos winning?’
your voice interrupted iwa’s mid-scream and he looked up from the floor to see you wearing an alien hoodie and a pair of basketball shorts that were a little too loose so they drooped by your knees
your originally curled and elegantly braided hair was now pulled up into a bun by a scrunchie that you left around the house from years ago
there was a bit of redness around your eyes and iwa scrambled up to check if you were okay since your face looked swollen
‘oi, did you eat something weird? your face is all red so youre probably having a reaction’
he fretted and you watched as his hands glided across your face and held you by the shoulders to take a closer look
‘yea, a reaction from a bad reaction’
thankfully iwa was too busy checking to hear oikawa snarkily whisper and you sent him a glare that made him quiet down
‘haji-kun, im fine’
you dismissed and side stepped to go sit next to oikawa, completely brushing him off
now iwa was confused
you would usually smile up at him, say ‘aw~ are you worried about me, haji-kun?’ then skip over 
not frown and act so coldly
‘oi, y/n, what-’
‘lets go to the bakery! theres a sale going on there!’
oikawa shouted which made you jolt in surprise
he knew of his best friend’s beginning interrogation but he knew you were too upset to be bothered by hajime’s questions
‘they have a buy one get one sale on milk bread! and those-those treats you like! theyre on sale too!’
omg oikawa is a real one 🥺
oikawa blinked harshly at you to go along with the act and you stuttered and nodded
‘uh-eung! yea!’
that was probably the moment that iwaizumi started noticing
except he thought it was a pining between his best friends rather than you towards him
ofc iwa was a loyal friend
he thought that you and oikawa were two people who were crushing on each other yet too afraid to say anything
tbh he shouldve seen this coming because duh you were an incredibly pretty girl and oikawa was the handsomest guy in the whole area!
it was almost,,, natural for you both to gravitate towards each other
maybe thats why,,,
he started to distance himself to give you both the space and want without him in between
maybe thats why,,,
he started to feel these feelings of,, jealousy?? like he started to feel a little scared and honestly he wasnt sure who to be jealous of bc he knew once you started dating, you’d both be too busy to hang out with him
maybe thats why,,,
he was no longer your friend 
iwaizumi hajime became a simple stranger you would just pass by in the hall
it happened around the 2nd year of middle school
you and oikawa were still close friends but you have drifted away into not being as close while you and iwaizumi became,,,, distant
basically strangers
the boy you used to dream about when you were 8 and dreamt of marrying once you were old enough
he was no longer him
before, you and iwa were actually really close without oikawa
like you would hang out when oikawa was too busy with takeru
you both would go to the arcade and play games with no fear of oikawa whining and complaining to take turns
you had a lot of fun together and yet, all of a sudden, everything stopped
because iwa knew how,,, possessive oikawa was
he thought that if he were to continue being friends with you, he would risk losing his best friend out of jealousy or misunderstandings and he didnt want that precious bond to be ruined by a girl
even if that girl,,,
was you
thats why it was so awkward when you came over to oikawa’s house after so long and seeing him there, eating breakfast in the kitchen
your best friend didnt want to tell you that iwa spent the night bc quite frankly, oikawa was already fed up with this
you think he didnt know?
you think he didnt know that iwa distanced himself due to an unknown misunderstanding?
you think he didnt know that you also distanced yourself due to being hurt as he casted you aside?
and oikawa was also worried
he didnt want to ever bring up your name with iwa bc to be honest, he didnt think iwa even liked you all that much
he thought that iwa only tolerated you for so long bc you were the only girl who wasnt in love with oikawa and knew you long enough to be comfortable w you
but babie oiks is misunderstood that :(
he didnt want to ever bring up his name with you bc he knew how sensitive it was for you and how sad and pained you were when he suddenly stopped even replying to your texts
one time when you cornered him, he looked angry and gently pushed you back and quickly walked away 
no he was scared that oikawa could see you both and misunderstand
‘just,,, stay away from me, okay? its better this way’
god you wanted to scream at him and shout at him and punch him but he kept silent and refused to answer your questions and refused to acknowledge your existence
you were so confused and you were just so hurt and eventually, you became indifferent to him and treated him the same way
anyways
you stepped into the house, not even bothering to shout your arrival and quickly wandered through the hallway before turning the corner to go to the kitchen 
but you stopped, seeing the familiar hair with olive eyes eating breakfast on the kitchen island, also stopping with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth at the sight of you
your gazes clashed and you blinked before your lips formed into a thin line, turning and going to the fridge and look for food
iwa wasnt surprised
he figured you were both getting closer to dating and you were already basically living in his house
it all makes sense
BRUH THEYVE BEEN FRIENDS SINCE THEY WERE LTR BORN LIKE BLS THEYRE JUST SIBLINGS
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE
‘h-how are you’
he mumbled, trying to fix the awkward silence while cursing inside of how long oikawa was taking to shit
you hummed, taking a water bottle and slamming the fridge door shut, harder than necessary
‘oh, now you see me?’
you really didnt mean for it to be a snarky comment but it came out before you even realized what you said
he winced
‘listen, im-’
‘oh? youre here, y/n-chan!’
oikawa’s voice cut him off and he returned back to his bowl of rice, leaving you standing there furrowing your brows
you shrugged, already knowing that hajime was like this, so you turned to look at oikawa with a wrinkled nose at the sound of the toilet flushing
‘tooru, did you drink straight milk again? you know how it makes your stomach upset’
you chided and tooru turned red at the implication of his dookie
‘o-oi! y/n-chan! of course id know if i was lactose intolerant!’
i just think how funny it would be like the irony of his love for milk bread yet being lactose intolerant at the same time 
he huffed and you nodded but not exactly believing him
‘kay kay’
you teased and walked to the living room but oikawa caught you in a headlock and he ruffled your hair while you complained and whined to let you go
you were giggling as tooru was giving you noogies, feeling the tension leave your body
all while iwa was watching
maybe it was because he stopped hanging out with you and havent seen you like this for almost  a year
so carefree and so happy as you scored higher than him at the hoop game and he would begrudgingly let you hug him when he managed to win you a doll from the claw machine
but yea he definitely forgot your smile
he forgot how it looked like bc the last time you met gazes, you sent him a hurt glance and looked away and he knew he deserved that
god he hated it
but no, he was doing this for tooru
he was doing this because his best friend liked someone who actually deserved him
but dear god why did it hurt
iwa was starting to wonder if he made the right choice
he could easily handle you two dating
right?
maybe that was when iwa started to realize,,, he was starting to feel different towards you
the time apart definitely made him remember why he was friends with you
you weren’t like those girls he saw in tv or outside with the frilly clothes and the makeup and the fancy hair
no that wasnt you
you were different
you were too lazy to even pick out a cute outfit, opting for comfort with one of their sweatshirts and sweatpants
you preferred to chase after butterflies rather than sitting inside bc hajime’s adventurous spirit latched itself on to you too
you would usually climb the tree to get the volleyball that got stuck up in the branches bc tooru was too scared of heights and you wanted to prove your strength and capability
god you were so different
what if you liked him instead?
iwa startled himself with that thought in the middle of eating and caused him to choke on his rice
tooru noticed him coughing violently so he grabbed the water bottle from your hand and threw it straight towards the boy
iwa snapped the cap open,not caring where that water came from, and chugged it down before sighing in relief after the quite scary situation
you then realized what happened and you turned red, speedwalking into the living room
oiks totally didnt do that on purpose and he was doing the lenny face at you before switching masks and wearing a worried one for iwa
‘iwa-chan! you need to slow down!’
he chided and iwaizumi yelled at him to be quiet, completely clueless to the fact that he just shared an indirect kiss with you
but you did and lordie did you hate it
from then on,,,
iwa was just seeing you everywhere
iwa saw you from his classroom when you would go hang out with your new friends outside 
he noticed you not even being too loud, only speaking up when asked while the others opted to continue talking about nonsense you probably gave no care about with how you secretly rolled your eyes
those moments made him laugh
the next time you both ran into each other was during his morning practice
oikawa phoned you in the morning while you were getting ready, saying he accidentally left his knee pads at home and he was already at school but you werent so he wanted you to bring them to him
you knew damn well that iwaizumi hajime would be there but you didnt care because youre not even friends anymore after he just dropped you like that
YES SISTER WE DESERVE BETTER
so thats why you found yourself pushing the metal gym door open at 6 in the morning and shouting oikawa’s name
his eyes brightened at your voice and he dropped the ball to run towards you by the door
‘oh my god thank you so much, y/n-chan!’
he shouted and hugged you out of excitement while you cringed and hit him to get off of you
‘ew dont touch me trashykawa’
you mumbled and he whined, finally stepping away with a pout
iwa was watching you both from the side and he blinked, wondering if you were trying a new hairstyle
if not, then you changed something bc currently, you practically glowing to him
he watched you scold oikawa for being forgetful and him begging for forgiveness but also thanking you before he was scoldede again by the coach
but the coach was relieved that he could finally play with the proper equipment and not risk anymore injuries
oikawa was already bidding you good bye and you were about to turn to leave when you finally met the many gazes of iwaizumi hajime
your eyebrows unconsciously furrowed together and your lips turned to a frown then you sharply turned and walked through the doors
unbeknownst to him, oikawa watched as his best friend’s face turned hurt at your expression and remained staring at the door you just went out of even when you were already gone
‘iwa-chan, lets get to practice’
after that 
iwa has concluded god has decided to be mean to him
bc who was giving him these weird heart attacks and tummy aches at the simple sight of you?
literally he ignored you for a good time yet now hes noticing you again?
what kinda unfairness-
but you proved to accept his previous behavior by not even giving him a single glance anymore
that made him sad so iwa would sometimes stop doing what hes doing so he could freely stare at you laugh at something a classmate said during class
thats totally not creepy iwa lol
he doesnt even know hes doing it sometimes bc hes so absorbed on trying to figure out the answers of his questions
but the worst was when he got caught
you sat at the very front and oikawa and iwa sat at the back 
it was lunchtime and you were eating with a few girls and a guy from another class and yall were laughing and talking together
iwa had oikawa and these other guys makki and matsukawa from the class next door to eat lunch with
can i please just dream that our third year seijoh boys were actually friends since the very beginning like pls and thanks
oikawa was rambling about how some girl giving him cookies the other day when he noticed iwa not listening but staring at you while moving his chopsticks around
poor iwa-chan was confused as to how even with messy hair, you still looked beautiful?
like no matter what angle or how you turned, the light always seemed to hit you perfectly to accent out your features
how was that possible?
‘-and she just-iwa-chan? iwaizumi?’
he called out and said boy jolted, eyes widening at the confused, bored, and knowing eyes
‘hm?’
‘oh? were you looking at y/n-chan?’
oikawa teased and the gojira fanboy waved his hands around to deny that statement
but makki chuckled and leaned in
‘hm, wouldnt blame ya. shes really pretty you know? some guy in our class saw the girls ranking and shes in the top 5′
okay iwa was angry
was it because everyone else noticed how pretty you are?
was it because you were part of this list?
was it because his own friend said you were pretty?
why did he even care anyways?!
oikawa smirked at the clenched fist under the table and decided to poke fun even more
‘oh really? well, it doesnt really matter because its always the girl’s decision right? but most of the time, their choice is utter trash’
the meme duo shared a confused look
‘hah? what are you going on about, oikawa’
oikawa internally apologized to you after what hes about to do because hes so tired and exhausted of having to be so careful and walking on eggshells between you two
so he did an oikawa move
‘yanno how y/n-chan and i have been friends since we were little ducklings right? so ages ago, like ages ago, little y/n-chan had a crush on this brute bc for some reason she thought he was brave or something and apparently thats appealing to girls rather than the nice and gentlemanly type. but of course, yanno how this goes, he pooped up and now hes stuck on doing this weird stalking staring thing. right, iwa-chan~?’
okay im sorry i take it back oikawa is a bitch
iwa shook
you,,, had a what on who?!
a crush on him?!
is he the brute?!
so it wasnt oikawa?
it was to him?
then why did you act like that?
why did you both act like that?
‘what’
iwaizumi mumbled and he met oikawa’s pointed gaze
‘hmm,,,, you dont have to worry about it anymore though since theyre not even friends anymore. but listen to me and listen well, makki, mattsun, if you hurt a girl even once, theyre never going to forget it. my sister said that apparently theres this little voice in their head that tells them that theyre going to get hurt again and thats where their trust issues begin to develop and--IWA-CHAN WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!’
iwa was already out of his seat and straight walking towards you and your group before stopping beside your chair
your friends quieted down at the sight of the known boy and you blinked then turned your head to see him, your eyes instantly turning dark and looking away immediately
‘what the hell do you want’
you hissed and natsu almost choked on his rice ball if it wasnt for another girl patting his back
‘it was me, right? all along, not oikawa, but me?’
his meek voice made you look up in confusion
‘what are you talking-’
‘you chose me instead him’
then it was like a click that you realized what he said
‘how did you know’
‘i-i’
he stuttered but was cut off when the teacher finally arrived to announce the end of lunch and iwa was forced to go back to his seat
the whole class time, you would sneak glances back and iwa would be staring at his paper while oikawa would wink at you and give you smirks
OH GOD HE TOLD HIM
after class you stomped up to the brunette haired boy 
‘how could you?! why did you tell-’
‘lets talk, y/n? please?’
iwa was holding your arm and you glared at him before turning away and walking away
oikawa patted him on the shoulder in good luck and whispered,
‘get your girl’
the rooftop ledge looked really delicious right now
no words were exchanged so you were both just silent with you staring at him while he was looking off to the side
‘so what? now you know and so what do you want?’
you spoke first and iwa guiltily met your eyes
‘everything was,,, a mess. i misunderstood and i didnt communicate and i,,, messed up’
he mumbled the last part but you caught it perfectly causing you to scoff
‘damn right you did. so now you know and then youre going to do the cliche thing they do in those dramas where you magically profess your love for me and-’
‘hey y/n lets date’
you froze and looked at him shocked with wide eyes and jaw dropped
‘excuse me? who are you to say that?!’
you shrieked
‘first you think i have some big crush on tooru and this caused you to basically drop me like a damn pencil and second youre asking me to date you? iwaizumi hajime i thought you were always the smarter one. what the hell are you spouting you damn imbecile-’
iwa did the only thing he thought of
he quickly leaned forward and pecked your lips
he saw some guy do it in a telenovela that his mom watched a week ago and that was how the girl got silent so iwa thought it would be smart to shut you up that way
and it worked
bc you were so conflicted: angry, confused, sad, happy
you was the whole range of emotions in one second
‘i was stupid. and i was dumb. i wanted to give you and shittykawa space because i thought he liked you and he would be mad and misunderstand if we continued hanging out without him. but you shouldve told me you liked me, baka. maybe i wouldve come to like you back’
iwa rambled but your eyes watered and you huffed, slapping him across the face but pulled his collar to kiss him again
tbh iwa was shook bc he got 2 kisses in a row today and hes never been kissed before and its from this really pretty girl
‘how dare you kiss me and still not like me’
you seethed when you pulled away
but iwa held your hands
‘im starting to come to. give me time and i’ll accept your confession’
and give him time you did bc you finally were able to try and mend that friendship again and soon, you were already starting to fall back in love with him 
but iwa also
during the end of your 2nd year, iwa nervously tugged you to the rooftop and you smirked
‘what? you gonna profess your love for me haji-kun?’
you teased and expected him to laugh and smack you gently but he didnt
he turned red and he looked down at his shoes as he magically produced a flower out of nowhere
‘please accept me, y/n!’
he shouted while holding out the single white carnation
your eyebrows scrunched and you grabbed the flower from his hands before punching him weakly
‘stupid! stupid haji-kun! i already accepted you! since we were five! how could you not see my feelings’
you whimpered, trying to hide the blush on your face but he smothered you to a hug, making you both topple over in the process
you had the cliched term of ‘summer love’
of course you still hung out with tooru but you both would hang out other days just you both
like you and iwa liked going over to some old playground by your house and you both would watch the sky on top of the slide assembly while talking about stupid stuff and the future
‘haji-kun, do you know what you want to be when youre old?’
you asked and he turned his head to look at you but you were focused on the stars
‘gojira’
he simply replied and you giggled, reaching over to hit his chest
‘baka. you cant be gojira-san’
iwa found himself giggling with you before he reached down to softly interwine your fingers and hold them up to look at them
‘hm, i dont really know. maybe a volleyball player. or someone in the volleyball team, i dont know’
you hummed, knowing him and tooru’s shared love for the sport
‘i wanna be a doctor. i want to save lives and help people and make money too! my mothers friend offered to intern me but apparently im still too young’
you pouted
iwa listened to you but then a lightbulb rang in his head
‘oi, y/n’
he started and you looked at him
‘you can be our manager. or medic. or doctor person. that bastard is going to push himself even harder because naoki-senpai gave him that damn position and he might kill himself trying to beat that farmer dude. besides, shittykawa is going to be the captain next year and i’ll be vice so youd easily get it anyways. so you in?’
you blinked at him before breaking out to a smile
‘eung! i wanna see my baby play what he loves!’
iwa’s face contorted to disgust
‘bABy?! iM nOt a BABY! im A mAn!! mAN!!’
‘mhm, okay. my mans, haji bara arms is my mans’
your relationship is very balanced with the perfect ratio of crackhead and seriousness and understanding bc as we ALL KNOW EVERYTHING STARTED W A MISUNDERSTANDING
like if he accidentally said something that hurt your feelings like that dress incident from years ago btw you brought it up to him and told him you were practically traumatized by that and he kept on apologizing and appearing at your doorstep with a white carnation in apology you would gently tell him bc communication is K E Y and he would tell you sorry and you guys would understand and make up
you guys were so lovey dovey that ltr oikawa would fake gag and throw up to the side when he catches you guys even doing things like holding hands
like bls he sees that flesh to flesh contact and he wretches his breakfast
‘ew, its the settling down for me’
‘its the flatness of the ass for me’
you stuck your tongue out while he pouted and iwa looked so proud like oml
you guys were still at the honeymoon phase where everything was peaches and rainbows and it continued until your 3rd year
as mentioned above, iwa basically gave you the managerial position
like yall were walking to school during the first day talking about how worried yall were at passing your classes when suddenly he was all like ‘ill see you in the gym later?’
you smiled and blinked confusingly
‘hm? you want a cheerleader there, baby?’
he flushed red at the nickname and furrowed his eyebrows
‘baka, stop calling me that’
you giggled and dodged his gentle smack but he grabbed your hand and pulled you close to his chest
‘i thought we already agreed that you would be our medic slash manager? i mean, it could give you experience for the future right?’
you rested your chin on his front to look up at him and your face held a teasing smirk
‘hmmm~~~ haji-kun just admit it. you want me to be there to cheer you on~’
you teased and nuzzled your cheek on him
iwa scoffed but he couldnt help a soft smile appearing
‘i mean-yea, but its for the future so ill help you every way i can’
‘oya? the future? will you marry me in the future, haji-kun?’
‘MARRY?! HOW DID YOU GET MARRY OUT OF THAT, BRAT’
‘AAWWWWW DONT BE SUCH A TSUNTSUN HAJI-KU-ACKDKJFSLKJNOT THE HAIR!!!’
sure enough you were at the gym after school
the coaches knew you werent a fangirl of oikawa bc hes seen you since the very beginning and oikawa clears you are actually a sister to him and you were fit for the job
ofc hes captain and someone as good as oikawa was going to get what he wants
the gym was full of newbies and recruits hoping to get into the powerhouse team and your eyes scanned to find those ridiculously pretty olive eyes that belonged to your beloved-
‘HAJI-KUN~~!!!’
you waved and shouted loudly, gaining his and everyone else’s attention as well
the underclassmen cooed and awed at you bc their senpai who was famous for being really pretty was in the building
‘waaaa its l/n-senpai’
‘shes so pretty’
‘oMG shes righT iN FroNT oF me!!’
yea you get the gist
the poor ‘haji-kun’ was shrinking under the attention and was growling at oikawa’s teasing look but he begrudgingly held his arms out for you to run into them and snuggle into him
‘hmmm i missed you, haji-kun. im really sad we’re in different classes this year. but then again! i can be here with you!’
you pouted and he ruffled your hair affectionately
‘why else do you think i offered it brat’
oikawa rolled his eyes and gagged before taking your arm to the coach so he could sort you out
‘honestly! not in front of the children, okay?!’
but everything was quickly resolved and you were finally officially their manager/medic
you did managerial duties and you were the go-to when someone falls harshly or gets hurt in any way
in between homework, school, reading medical books, and practice, you and iwa havent spent a lot of time together and tbh that was quite straining your relationship??
like it was something that you saw coming and you both even had a talk about it but you still feel like you didnt prepare enough when it did come
one day, it was monday and there was no practice so you and iwa were walking home together
he squeezed your hand occassionally and you would sing and hum while walking
and omg his heart would balloon up when you would smile up at him and giggle when you would catch him staring
he honestly thought youd both hang out and just lay on the couch, snuggle, yanno the routine
but once you pulled out your textbooks, notebooks, and pens, he was confused
like he even held your hands and stopped you from pulling anything else out
‘y/n? i thought we were,, watching a movie or something?’
you blinked and shook your head
‘i need to study for a test and i still need to memorize how to treat a sprain, haji-kun. there’s more important things to do right now. maybe later?’
more important things?!
more important than showering you with love?
more important than even spending a second with him?
now, dont get him wrong, iwaizumi hajime was by no means a clingy and possessive boyfriend
he understood the boundaries and he understood the priorities
but dear god its been WEEKS since he even hung out w you since your entire schedule seemed to throw him out of loop and acted as if he didnt exist
and now, he was aggrivated and irritated and he wanted nothing but to just cuddle his girlfriend
you noticed his huff and pout but he remained silent
you quirked an eyebrow and placed your pen down
‘haji? whats wrong?’
his eyes snapped to you and you knew now he was angry
‘oh? were you able to spare a few seconds for dear old me?’
you were taken aback and you knew there was a fight brewing so you hid your growing irritation and calmly put your things aside
‘hajime, what are you on about?’
you pried and he looked shocked, almost offended
‘what am i on about? what am i on about? y/n, do you know the last time i even came over? the last time i held you and just talked?’
his voice got louder by every word and you quickly stood up 
‘dont you dare raise your voice at me, hajime. if we have a problem, we talked over it calmly. we dont yell or shout, nothing gets resolved. we talked about this’
but he scoffed
‘talked? when was that? when did we actually just talk? hm? because I sure as hell dont remember it’
youve only seen hajime angry once and it was when you lied to him to go spend time with oikawa
okay in your defense, oikawa was having a panic attack and he begged you not to tell iwa because he didnt want to be scolded by iwa even though you kept telling him that iwa wasnt like that
and theres a reason as to why its only been a one-time thing because iwa was known to have patience that was as long as the damn nile river
except for oikawa bc it seems oikawa just cuts that patience by a million
and when he finally snaps, its when he couldnt take it anymore and he finally gets loose
when iwaizumi hajime was angry,  you really done it
you didnt really know how you handled that anger so you were at a loss and you were feeling conflicted and pained at the way he looked at you
‘h-hajime,,,’
you started and he looked at you expectantly
‘well? when did we last actually talk outside the school premises y/n?’
there was that inner witty voice of yours that wanted to say ‘right now?’ but you held it in bc he was completely serious
‘hajime, please understand. i-i dont want to let anyone down! my grades! the team! i-’
‘but what about me, y/n?’
he tiredly asked
‘do those things-those people- matter more than me? and i really really dont want to ask that but im so so confused y/n’
despite sounding manipulative, you knew iwa was feeling defeated and he couldnt help but ask those questions and sound so desperate
so you scrambled to sit next to him on the couch and held him against you
‘of course you matter to me-haji you mean everything to me, you understand? god, if an adult hears me theyd think im crazy but i love you, hajime. i love you and im so sorry if i ever made you feel that way because i really didnt mean to, okay? im so sorry’
you sobbed and he turned to fully envelop you into his arms and he sighed contently, remembering how good it felt to have you right there
‘no, im sorry, doll. i was being clingy and i didnt mean to lash out, i-’
you slightly let go and cupped his face
‘nonono you were perfectly valid. what you felt was perfectly reasonable. i havent been a good girlfriend lately, huh?’
you sadly smiled but he kissed you, holding you even closer
‘youre always a good one to me. always. just with a not good schedule but we can fix that, right?’
SORRY I REALLY DONT KNOW HOW TO WRITE A FIGHTING SCENE BC ITS ANGSTY AND I DONT DO WELL WITH ANGST BC IT MAKES ME CRY 😭
tbh that was really your only big fight
even when you guys graduated middle school, you both were still quite happy and you both worked hard to make time for each other
HOWEVER
when high school arrived, you both had chosen an extremely hard decision
you chose to go to karasuno while oikawa and iwa went to seijoh
which was a,,,, hard and difficult decision
in fact, you both didnt have a fight per se, just a disagreement that ended in like 30 minutes lmao
tbh its so scary and concerning of how rarely you both have bad times and how quickly it gets resolved
BUT THEN AGAIN THIS IS AN ANGST REQUEST SO ILL OF COURSE BRING IN THE SADNESS
you were busy with karasuno and you were actually taking college courses since you wanted to have a good record if you ever wanted to get into a medical field
that meant you had a lot of homework and most of your time was spent with schoolwork or interning for that family friend mentioned earlier
and you were also a manager for the volleyball team bc karasuno is a butt and they require you to have an after school club
so that meant,,,
no time for iwa
and fate just so happens to hate you bc the days you did have off, he would be busy with volleyball and he wouldnt be able to spend time with you
even weekends were like that
eventually, you both went for 2 months with no contact, just a few text messages and calls
and that strained your former strong relationship
and you knew that iwa was getting angry again with how he even typed his responses
‘want me to bring over snacks for the team?’
‘its okay. wouldnt want you to waste time or anything’
like that type of bull
you were getting increasingly worried because you havent had a good proper time to talk to him about it and you didnt want to fight over the phone
your best friend, kiyoko, noticed your anxious ticks and she snapped you out of your current daydream
‘hey? y/n? you okay?’
she gently asked and you blinked before nodding
‘mhm. just,,, thinking’
but she didnt buy that lie because you went back to chewing your lips and eyes even watering
‘i can revise your notes for you, y/n. and the team isnt doing anything big so i can handle it. you just go see him after school bc i cant handle you being sad anymore’
kiyoko gently smiled and you almost cried bc finally! you were able to clear your schedule enough to go visit your boyfriend
at the end of the school day, you bolted out of there and you were running and huffing all the way to seijoh bc you really wanted to talk to him as soon as possible
the gym was clear in view and you smiled, looking forward to seeing your beloved boy, when you saw him and oikawa being surrounded by girls
now keep in mind, youve suffered through middle school with oikawa and you were his best friend and has known him since you were a toddler
so you know of his looks and the attraction it brought him from all the females
so that didnt really bother you 
but what bothered you was the horde of girls that stuck on to your boyfriend and he didnt even look bothered
just,,, blank
not even pushing away or feeding into their actions
just,,, standing there
‘haji?’
you called out and as if he had a built-in sensor for you, his ears twitched and he swiveled to look at you
‘y/n’
he breathed out and you smiled gently
iwa quickly moved away from the girls and he grabbed your hand so you both could go somewhere else to talk privately
the back of the gym was quiet and you leaned against the wall, iwa joining you shortly
‘how-how are you?’
you asked and he scoffed, totally surprising you
‘is this how we are y/n? asking each other questions as if we’re friends who are meeting for the first time in a while? wait--actually we are arent we?’
you grimaced and looked to the side, knowing he starts his stages of anger with being passive aggressive
‘haji,, please understand’
you pleaded and swiveled to stand in front of him
iwa didnt meet your eyes, instead shoving his hands in his pants pockets and eyes trained to his shoes as he kicked rocks
‘y/n, ive been trying,, for months ive been understanding. please dont ask me to understand anymore’
he snipped and you sniffed
‘im doing this because-because my grades are starting to matter! my future is resting on these years! i have to-’
‘dont you think i know that?!’
he cut you off harshly
your eyes were shaking at his attempt to calm himself down and his trembling hands
‘dont you think i know that you are doing this for that? because ive known you since i was five y/n and i know you would push everything-everyone- else aside to reach a damn goal of yours. no matter the cost, as long as you get it, right? well youve always been like that and somehow i still accepted that yet years later here we are’
iwa waved his arms around to accentuate his point and hurt was bubbling inside your chest at a subtle jab at your flaw
‘well im sorry mr. volleyball ace player! im not talented in any area so i have to depend on my studies to get me a future! so fck me for trying to survive and create a life for us!’
‘us?! how is this for us?! y/n we cant even last a single year being apart and youre already thinking ahead of the future?!’
‘im doing this for you! for us! just wait hajime! we will be happy-’
‘I DONT CARE IF ITS FOR THE FCKING FUTURE! I WANT TO BE HAPPY WITH YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! AND WHY DOES THE FCKING FUTURE MATTER SO DAMN MUCH WHEN WE CANT EVEN-’
‘BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND I WANT TO BE WITH YOU!’
you shrieked
‘HOW CAN YOU LOVE ME IF YOURE NOT LOVING ME?!’
he huffed and harshly wiped away tears that fell
your lips trembled, hands shakingly reaching out to grasp his arms
‘ha-hajime,, don-’
‘should we break up?’
was he asking you this right now? 
seriously?
‘what?’
you whispered and he finally looked up to let you see his pained eyes
‘y/n do you know what day it was yesterday?’
he asked and you blinked, looking everywhere as you tried to remember any important events
‘t-tuesday?’
that seemed to snap his patience 
with an angry grunt, he turned to punch the wall and crouch to hide his face in his hands
‘damn it, y/n’
he whimpered and your heart broke as you could hear his cries
then it clicked
anniversary
it was your 2nd anniversary
and you completely missed it
completely forgotten
you shrunk back and let out a cry before placing a hand over your mouth to muffle your cries
‘ha-haji-’
you sniffled and you tried to go closer to him but he wiped his eyes and stood back up
‘y/n lets break up’
iwa requested with a cracked smile
your eyes widened and you ran to his chest, wrapping your arms around him as if you let go, he would disappear
‘haji, we can talk about this! we cant-please dont do this-i can fix this-’
‘we will only hurt ourselves even more if we continue this. i dont want us to hurt anymore y/n. so please, for once, listen to me’
your heart shattering cries filled your space and he didnt think it was this hard until he finally said it
it was a decision that he has been hanging around for a while and even consulted oikawa about it
‘iwa-chan, if you love y/n so much, its best to let her go. dont make you both suffer anymore’
‘i cant-hajime youre it for me-please dont leave-’
you hiccuped and continued to sob
but iwa remained a pillar and squeezed you tightly against him
‘darling i believe we were meant to be. but we just did it all wrong. when the time is right, lets start over again’
he whispered, finally breaking down with you in his arms
-------
iwaizumi hajime became a taboo word for you
even with oikawa, he swore and vowed to never say either of your names and made sure that you would not be around the area when iwa would come over
like even when he knew iwa would just stay inside, he would be constantly on the lookout to make sure you both didnt see each other
the last time was when you both saw each other in the morning as you exited your house to walk to school
it must’ve been a few months after the breakup and even oikawa felt the raw pain hovering in the air
it was suffocating and oikawa had to motion you to walk because if you both stayed even a second, someone-or both- would start crying
you continued like that for years until you reached your third year
you continued being part of the volleyball team as the medic while kiyoko was the manager
the new recruits were causing up a storm and you were particularly fond of your kita kouhai kageyama tobio
‘kageyama? kageyama tobio?’
you asked once you caught sight of the familiar looking blueberry
he looked up and recognized you as his former manager
‘l/n-senpai!’
he shouted and you ran up to give the boy a hug
‘gosh! youre so tall now! i remembered when you were wee tall!’
you teased and ruffled his hair
‘uh-you know him, y/n?’
suga asked and you nodded
‘eung! we went to the same middle school and i was a manager there’
‘she was friends with iwa-’
ope
something flashed in your eyes 
kiyoko knew that name bc of how you were so depressed about it for 2 years and she started shouting random nonsense, scaring the 2nd and first years
‘y/n! we got new medical tape!’
she sang out and you perked up
‘finally?! we dont have to use duct tape anymore?!’
you excitedly ran over and everyone was both shook that kiyoko was loud and two, you were actually excited over medical tape
kageyama shrugged and continued on training
he kinda figured something happened so he never said anything or asked you anything in fear of upsetting you
and when it was announced that you were going to a practice match with seijoh, kiyoko actually told you she would cover it to make sure you dont see him there
‘its fine, y/n, i got you’
but ofc, you couldnt skip inter high
ltr an event when anyone in the team could get injured so you forced yourself to just ignore it and go
you did a good job of hiding whenever he was in view until the time they actually faced each other
you were walking alongside kiyoko and settling some things down at the bench when you felt his stare
you grimaced at his intense stare and the entire team mistakenly took it as him being interested in you
‘HAH?! LOOK AWAY YOU BEANSPROUT!’
noya growled
‘YEA! DONT LOOK!’
ofc hinata echoed
the 3 seijoh third years exchanged looks of unease when iwa sighed and looked away
‘oi! dont do that, boke!’
kageyama chided and hit the orange boy with a water bottle at the head
hinata whined and glared at him
‘that porcupine was looking at l/n-senpai! he wants to steal her!’
‘boke-’
‘doesnt matter anyways. we broke up ages ago’
you tried to say it jokingly but they couldnt miss the crack in your voice
‘hah?! he broke up with you?! you?! goddess l/n-san?!’
tanaka raged and noya had his own face of shock
the famous seijoh ace dated you?!
this handsome bara arms muscle buff man had the priviledge to date you and yet broke up with you?!
‘yall didnt know that?’
kageyama questioned and everyone glared at him
‘how do you know’
‘i just did. i didnt want to say anything for this same reason that you guys didnt know and she wouldnt want her business out there’
he simply replied and continued filing his nails
you looked up and smiled
‘it doesnt matter anymore. it was years ago so its fine’
‘L/N-SAN WE WILL AVENGE YOU!’
‘WE WILL! WE WILL!!’
the three stooges swore and you smiled softly, ruffling each boy’s hair
‘then go out there and make me proud’
but we know how this goes
they lost and you were so devastated for the others and you dropped your bag to go and comfort a crying hinata
‘sshh, dont cry dont cry. im right here’
you cooed and he accepted your embrace, hugging you tightly
once he finally calmed down, you were able to get him to a good enough condition to walk to the bus to go home
you went back to get your bag when you found something on top of it
a single white carnation
and a small ripped piece of paper that said,
‘my name is iwaizumi hajime. i think youre really pretty’
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a/n: iknowiknowiknow i died but im not back to life and this request was lowkey difficult and i dont think i did a good job w it because angst always gets too angsty for me but i couldnt resist giving this a sad ending like bls!!! and uwu im still working on that oikawa route bc ya girl cant decide how angsty she wants it to beeee and i have like 4 different versions of the route in my drafts hehehe,,,, but i hope yall liked this and uwu ive never been in a serious relationship before so i wouldnt know what to fight about and came up with this:(
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blitzturtles · 3 years ago
Text
Title: Goldie
Rating: Teen and Up
Fandom: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (Future Fic)
Pairing(s): JotaKak
Summary: “I was going to replace him if that ever happened. Shit.”
“You-- what?”
“Well, I didn’t actually expect it to happen,” Jotaro pointed out. He carefully removes his hands from Kakyoin’s midsection and hesitates a moment before moving away entirely. He makes his way over to the aquarium and winces.
Notes: Vent fic after losing one of our dogs this weekend. Fic features minor animal death, so please be careful.
-
“Goldie isn’t moving!” Jolyne announces from the doorway of the kitchen while Kakyoin is busy brewing coffee. It’s early, too early for Kakyoin to be awake, and certainly too early for Jolyne to be having a crisis, but Kakyoin nods as he allows himself to be dragged along. Surely Goldie is merely sleeping. Too still for an energetic child like Jolyne. Only he sees it the moment he rounds the corner. Where Goldie is indeed unmoving. Worse, Goldie is on his back, floating rather than swimming.
“Oh,” Kakyoin breathes before he can stop himself, and Jolyne must see it in his eyes because she breaks into a loud sob that strikes Kakyoin to the core, where panic is already building. In all the time he’s spent desperately consuming books on parenting--an attempt on his part to catch up on missed time--none of those books had ever once mentioned how to deal with a child’s first death. Much less one that surrounds their beloved pet fish.
“He’s dead!” Jolyne all but wails, and Kakyoin can’t exactly argue with that, though he wishes he could think of something to say.
“Jolyne--” He starts, and it’s a very strong start if he does say so himself. His voice is relatively steady, and he gets her attention focused on him rather than on the upside down fish. But then he falters at seeing her eyes filled with tears and tracks already down her cheeks. There’s a thickness in his own throat now. One that makes swallowing difficult, but he does his best to clear his throat, so he can make another attempt. “Goldie might be asleep. We just--” He cuts himself off with a near howl as her little foot stomps no less than three of his toes.
“He’s dead!” Jolyne shouts it this time. More anger now than overwhelming grief, though her eyes shine in the reflection of the aquarium’s light.
Kakyoin opens his mouth to say something, but she’s really got the unfortunate aim of her father. What would be nothing to anyone else is a shot of pain up frayed nerves, and it travels from the tips of his toes to the base of his spine so quickly that it nearly drops him to his knees. He tries again to speak, but she’s gone in a blink. Off around the corner and disappearing passed the doorway of her bedroom before he can form a single word. Jotaro’s sliding to a halt outside of their bedroom door at the same time, apparently jolted awake after all the ruckus.
“What the fuck?” Jotaro asks, making his way to Kakyoin quickly. He rests one hand on his stomach, for Kakyoin to lean into, and the other on the small of his back, ready to catch his husband should his knees buckle entirely.
“Goldie,” Kakyoin says, waving a hand vaguely toward the offending animal.
Jotaro looks confused at first, but he’s perceptive enough to at least look in the aquarium’s direction when he hears the name of Jolyne’s beloved pet fish. “Oh shit,” he breathes, and oh shit, indeed, Kakyoin thinks. “I was going to replace him if that ever happened. Shit.”
“You-- what?” Kakyoin demands, breathless still and utterly in disbelief.
“Well, I didn’t actually expect it to happen,” Jotaro pointed out. He carefully removes his hands from Kakyoin’s midsection and hesitates a moment before moving away entirely. He makes his way over to the aquarium and winces. “He’s not that old. I wonder-- anyway. I was just going to replace him. She’s too young to deal with this shit.”
“You can’t just lie to her about death,” or maybe he can. Kakyoin’s the step-parent here, and, again, none of the books said anything about how to deal with a definitely dead fish (even the Marine Biologist agrees with his initial assessment, which means there’s no getting out of this.)
“She’s six, Nori,” Jotaro scrubs a hand over his face. Then both. His fingers rake through his hair after that, and he pulls at the ends. All of it is an attempt to clear the last of sleep from his mind and allow his brain to think past the fog. None of it works.
“I know,” Kakyoin sighs. He doesn’t like this either. He remembers his own childhood and growing up relatively sheltered from at least that one aspect of the brutality that is life. “What do we do now?”
“I have no idea,” Jotaro admits after a moment, and that makes Kakyoin slump. Both in defeat and in relief. At least he isn’t alone in this. There’s no chapter he skipped over or paragraph that he skimmed. Neither one of them knows what to do, and suddenly that’s worse than the idea that Kakyoin’s gone and fucked all of this up on his own. If neither one of them knows what to do, then they’re both screwed.
“We should talk to her?” Kakyoin offers, more questioning than suggesting.
Jotaro nods after a moment. “Yeah, yeah, I guess so. Did she--”
“It’s not a big deal,” Kakyoin says quickly, waving a hand in Jotaro’s direction and dismissing the question before it can be asked. Jolyne’s upset. Overwhelmed and struggling to process her grief. It doesn’t totally excuse the behavior, but Kakyoin doesn’t think she meant to actually stomp on him so much as whatever happened to be in her way. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than the malicious alternative.
“Still,” Jotaro says after a moment, like he isn’t sure that he should be getting onto her, despite his own words. “I guess we should address the fish thing first.”
“Fish thing first,” Kakyoin agrees.
Jotaro makes his way to Jolyne’s bedroom. The door’s wide open, and there’s a distinctly child-shaped pile in the middle of the bed, hidden under a mountain of blankets and pillows. The effort would be more effective if not for the obvious trembling and the equally distinct sobs. His heart aches in his chest, and he sincerely regrets letting Kakyoin get up before him. If he had only caught sight of the damned fish before Jolyne…
“JoJo,” Jotaro calls in a soft voice. It’s enough for her to stop moving, but not enough for her to poke her head out. If anything, it’s almost like she’s trying even harder to hide from him, despite clearly being spotted. “Jo, we need to talk.”
“I’m sorry,” Jolyne says immediately. She scoots sideways, closer to the wall and further from Jotaro, but the man is quick to grab her before she makes contact with her skull. She lets out a startled yelp and instantly pops her head out from under the blankets on instinct. It all but breaks Jotaro’s heart to see the tears and snot smeared across her face, and her hair is somehow more of a mess than it usually is in the morning.
“It’s okay,” Jotaro starts before pausing and rethinking his words, “Well, it’s not, but we’ll talk about that later, alright? You’re already forgiven.” He won’t let that hang over her head. Not when she’s already in her own little hell. Struggling to deal with the loss of her favorite fish. Jolyne loves all the fish in the aquarium. Has given them all names, but Goldie is--was--her’s. Picked by her hand and bought with her own money.
Carefully, Jotaro pulls his daughter into his lap. He fixes the blankets so that they remain bundled around her. She’s like Noriaki in that she likes the constricting sensation of something being wrapped around her. Something about the weight of it seems to soothe their nerves. Jotaro’s never been one to question it. With Noriaki, it just makes sense. What with his Stand. For Jolyne, he figures it’s related to her age.
“I know this is a lot for you to deal with right now,” Jotaro says, barely refraining from wincing at his own words. He sounds too impersonal, but she’s quiet against him, aside from the sniffling and hiccups, which means she’s at least listening.
The rest of the conversation goes about as well as he expects. There’s a lot more tears and snot--most of which ends up on his nightshirt. Then there’s the questions. Plentiful as per usual with his daughter, but also painful in a way that he hadn’t been prepared for upon waking up. Then, of course, there’s the guilt of her taking her anger out on Noriaki. (“I really didn’t mean to,” she swears, and Jotaro reminds her that it’s her duty to explain that to Kakyoin herself.)
Overall, Jotaro thinks it’s not his worst moment as a parent. (That honor still goes to the day he explained that he and Marina would no longer be living together.)
They decide to go find Noriaki together, and they make it as far as the fish tank before Jolyne bursts into another round of tears and turns toward Jotaro with her arms raised. He doesn’t think twice about scooping her up and carrying her past the aquarium. Her head buries against his neck, and there’s a fresh wetness that makes his heart ache duly in his chest. Maybe replacing the fish would have been as much for his benefit as it would have been for her’s.
“Oh, JoJo,” Kakyoin says with a voice that sounds like he’s hurting for her as much as Jotaro.
Jolyne reaches out for him without fully letting go of Jotaro. She knows better than to put too much weight on Kakyoin, but the three stay like that for a while. With the two men pressed close and their daughter held between them.
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