#I only do ‘crossovers’ with AUs for the shits and giggles with friends

[aidaita]

What would the royal kids (including quirrel) reaction about the snatcher and bell, this is a Hollow knight x A hat in time crossover

I don’t do crossovers Anon, I’m very particular with crossovers in general so I’m very very picky with it

[stickynotelovers-art]

Nimona and ROTTMNT crossover.

I want to say first that if you haven't seen @/hatekawa's Rottmnt Nimona AU, please go take a look. It is wonderful!

[Warning for ROTTMNT movie and Nimona spoilers]

It would be absolute chaos! I'm imagining it would be post-movie ROTTMNT, don't know why but that's just what came to mind. I think for Nimona it would be some point between Ballister and Nimona meeting and shortly after them exposing the Director.

Mikey and Nimona would be immediate friends I think.

Raph and Nimona would get along well, but I think the shapeshifting would be a little shocking at first for him. The rest of the turtles would go banana's over it and want her to transform into them while Raph just kind of screams internally.

I'm also thinking post-movie Raph would connect with Nimona a lot. It would have a pinch of angst because this would be Raph who's trying to feel like himself again after the Krang. Nimona reassuring Raph that he's still himself no matter what would just be so good. ;-;

And then there's Donnie who would just be invading Ballister's personal space constantly, not only to mess with his robot arm, but also he wants to steal Ballister's armor for his own aesthetic. Ballister's just trying not to freak out at there now being human-sized turtle people appearing out of nowhere.

Not pictured, but still causing trouble, is Leo running around like a maniac at the Institute and just creating all types of mischief for Ambrosius and the other knights.

Mikey: Hey, does anyone know where Leo is?

*Explosions in the distance and smoke coming from the Institute building. Ballister suddenly getting a million texts and phone calls from Ambrosius about a rampaging lizard thing causing havoc by teleporting all over the place while screaming about doing it for the shits and giggles*

Donnie: ... I have an idea.

[numberonetacostan]

CHEESY N TACO SHLD B FRIENDS N I NEED SOMEONE 2 HEAR ME ON THIS BC TH ONLY FRIEND I HAVE WHOS INTO II HATES HIS ASS. ne way

i like t think tacos laugh at balloon stupid pun in s1 e2 was genuine and she just really likes shitty puns no matter how much she denies it. which causes cheesy t follow her around bc shes like one of th only ppl who does n when i thought abt it they actually developed a fun dynamic. he annoys her sm but in a silly way. theyre th most INSUFFERABLE duo in th hotel everyone has t look out whenever theyre hanging out. they also hurt people without meaning to for similar reasons! for some reason they both have th main example of mic?

I put them tgether in a danganronpa II crossover au so thats where i imagine most of their dynamic but honestly theyre really fun in general i DO NOT THINK I HAVE TH PROPER WORDS ATM but please acknowledge th potential of them being little shits tgether

Hello there!! Welcome, and thank you for sharing your headcanon!!!^^

They're certainly an interesting pair!! I can see Taco liking puns, if they're clever enough, but I can not see her admitting to it lol. She would hold in any and all laughter, unless it came from someone she really trusts like Mic. Cheesy is quite persistent, so I can see him potentially getting a giggle or two out of Taco, though I don't her appreciating the "yo mama" jokes he's apparently taken a liking to. Overall I think they could get along pretty well in smaller doses, but Cheesy would just be too much for Taco. Between Pickle, Mic, and Mepad, Taco definitely seems to prefer a more low-key sort of person, yeah? Too much silliness and noise would probably discourage her, between reminding her of her s1 persona, contributing to her habit of deflecting through humor, and getting her worked up without a chance to decompress, I think.

Please don't let me discourage you at all though!!! Even if I don't see them being close in the same way you do, I can see that you're really passionate and excited about the duo and that's great!!!!!!^^ Please enjoy it!!!!!

[marichild]

tysm for the tag @vryivs !!

Fanfic Writer Interview

How many works do you have on AO3?

104 as of right now lol. that number will go up very soon…

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

there are more important things than words between us — my stupid friends to lovers gyubrik fic that I wrote on impulse for ricky’s birthday lol

something that has become absolutely clear — my (badly written) take on That cave episode in assassination clasroom

the truth and kindness behind those eyes — I genuinely wrote this for shits and giggles. it’s my (again, badly written) take on how thorfinn and canute grow less antagonistic(?) in the prologue

for me, like the real me — the trans!karma fic I wrote just because I could. I suspect people like this for the cute karmagisa and my thinly veiled karma and gakushuu are actually besties material agenda.

what’s the lie? what’s the truth? — I…have nothing to say except I just wanted to put a romantic spin on the karmagisa fight. it’s not a good fic. at ALL. on my defense I was like fifteen…

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

oh, absolutely! getting comments always makes my day; I’m super happy when I get them so of course I have to reply. I mean, it’s already taking time out of their day to leave comments, so I must respond. especially when they provide their own unhinged thoughts!! comments are so fun…guys always leave comments authors LOVE IT. if we didn’t want them we’d leave them turned off <3

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I can already hear sophia crying in my head….definitely if my desires come true (oh, how I wish I could attain that). literally put poor ma jingxiang through the WRINGER and left him in pieces by the end. I promise I love him guys

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I usually write happy endings tbh but I suppose for eternity, we will stay — I put junminjae through emotional rollercoasters for 30k words and finally let them be cute boyfriends via secret love letter lol — or PERSONALY…couldn’t even become a nobody. because gender feelings and finally being accepted + feeling gender euphoria for the first time + getting with the girl you’ve ben pining for like a year and half after. that’s very deeply precious to me.

Do you write crossovers?

I mean I do have my enhypen servamp au bc I mean. enhypen and vampires. and the only vampire anime I’ve ever seen…give blood-stained wings a peek if you can people <3

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

lol yeah on my only eremika fic some weirdo had to be racist to me (which I deleted) and another weirdo was being mean about the ship (which I kept for shits and giggles lmfao).

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

not that often and I haven’t published 99 percent of it! and like vry I also write the cinematic kind lmao. except for my only published pwp, which is just…a horny mess. being greyace means I have to be in a very specific headspace to write smut 😔🙏

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that I know of!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

twice! such a crazy experience when people want to translate YOUR FIC. btw.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope! this is just because I’m very specific about the visions I have and no opportunities have ever come up, unless you count the madlibs event on the 86 Fanfic Events server haha.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I have a LOT, but the ships that have stuck with me throughout the years are zukka and eremika <3 atla and aot in general are some of the fandoms that stick to me very closely having been a big part of my fandom experiences in general. zukka is more just because sentiment, but eremika. spending YEARS riding the SS Eremika and praying for them and then 2021 gifting us with Those chapters. Yeah.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

hmmm probably the markhyuck long distance relationship au. unsurprisingly, it was inspired by broken melodies, but I’ve lost most of my steam on it. sadly.

that being said, another wip I’ve lost steam on but MAY pick up is the seongjoong…what do I even call it. inspired by inception, both the movie and song, au? lol.

What are your writing strengths?

I’ve been told that I’m really good at drawing out emotions, so I suppose sensory, vivid writing? I’ve also been told this is a thing that happens when English is not your first language, lol. I will admit that I’m good at writing emotions, at least. just not sure about placing…or timing…

What are your writing weaknesses?

action writing, probably. for all that my favorite media involves some kind of fighting — see: the shonen/seinen genre, also the fantasy & stuff I like — I’m not…very focused on the actual action even if I’m able to appreciate a good fight scene. I should work on that.

I also think I have a good bit of work to do when it comes to, like, the background description? I still have to go back and edit so that the characters aren’t in a blank white room lol.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

that it can be jarring, tbh. the line I draw is at honorifics and formalities that don’t really have English equivalents such as hyung/noona/-chan/-kun and all that. I’m also fine with like a word or two that doesn’t really translate as well or isn’t commonly used in English — for example, I always refer to dazai and chuuya as soukoku in both description and dialogue simply bc it flows better to me, or I refer to atsushi as “weretiger” in description and indirect dialogue about him, but default to “jinko” when it comes to akutagawa actually talking to him. or it could just be me going like “mat-hyung” instead of “oldest hyung.” it really depends.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

definitely atla and definitely zukka! they were such a big part of my life as a kid, it’s been fun exploring them again. maybe one day I’ll write something!

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

probably my one and only sasunaru fic, and my heart loves you again, simply because it’s…imagery and characterization speaking, one of the only times I reread just to imagine it all again, especially because naruto is a consistent fandom for me, if not always at the forefront.

the other one is probably careless as could be, because I have SOO many thoughts about sigma+ chuuya + humanity and also I adore them both. genuinely in terms of description, in terms of character study….it’s such a fun fic. I wish more people read it LMAO but alas.

tagging (this is all /nf btw)

@blackwaves @justadino-ig @zukkaoru @hollow-lime-green @anticidic

[exhausted-eternally]

Fic Writer Interview

Saw Topsy did this and it looked like fun so now Imma pester y'all with one.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

35, currently, and only 1 is for a fandom other than The Lego Movie lmao

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

496,195 over the course of 6 years

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1- Reboot To be honest, I'm kind of baffled by this one. I started it just when covid was really starting to take off, lost where I was going with it before I was even halfway through writing it because I got SO swamped with work that writing was taken off the stove entirely for a while, and a lot of it was honestly just half-assed to get it finished but so many people LOVE it. I don't think I'll ever stop scratching my head about it, but at this point I've just accepted that it's my most popular fic ever. 2- Atonement Still ongoing and without a clear ending in mind yet. I had 2 ideas I was wanting to play with when I started it- wingfic, and house arrest. I've been having fun with it so far. 3- Prizes, Plunder, and Adventure This one was actually written based on a friend's doodles & half-finished ideas. I took them & ran with them as far as I could lol. I'm honestly happy that this one's in my top 5. 4- Hot Spring Another one that I'm kind of baffled by. It's a oneshot that's barely over 400 words. People like their coppernauts fluff, I guess lol 5- Time Travel Troubles This one was based on a prompt a friend gave me when I complained that I wanted so badly to write but had 0 ideas, lol. Of all my oneshots, I'm glad this one made it into my top 5.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Most of the time! Sometimes I can't think of a response though, and once I got overwhelmed with like 25 comments on one fic in one night from the same person so my brain kind of short-circuited lol. I definitely read and cherish every single one though.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don't really do angst tbh, so none of my fics really have angsty endings.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

That's a tough one to pick, I always write happy endings. XD; I guess I'll go with Starting Over Again.

7. Do you write crossovers?

Sort of; honestly I think they'd qualify more as AUs than proper crossovers, but sometimes I just get bit by a bug to write all my favorite characters in some other media settings for shits & giggles. Murphy's Law (Skyrim), Space Shenanigans (Star Wars), The Stranger (Myst), Octan Nights (1001/Arabian Nights), and Hollow Heart (Beauty and the Beast)

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah, when I first started posting Murphy's Law on ff.net. Honestly it just made me laugh, it was so obviously some kid doing a shit job of being a troll.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I tried once. It was SO awful that I ended up deleting it and swore off ever trying again.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. The fandom I'm in is pretty small so no one's bothered to translate any fics in it, at least as far as I know.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Oh, eons ago when I was still just a little baby birb. I wrote a pitiful attempt at an OoT fic with 2 of my cousins that never got far. All my works since have been solo.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Coppernauts. C:

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Lord I have SO MANY. Think I'd pick Tech Support though (with a much better rewrite to boot, so no link for this one. If you want to read the atrocious original, you'll have to hunt it down yourself :P).

15. What are your writing strengths?

I'm told I'm pretty good with characterization. I'll choose to believe it. ;3

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Describing literally anything. I am terrible for just... not doing it. Which is something I REALLY need to work on if I really want to reach my 300k goal with The Umiran Amulet.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

There's only one language I can speak in any capacity, so I just stick with English. If it's something that's meant to be in another language, I just italicize it. Only every once in a blue moon will I use a word in another language, like if a character is swearing in their native tongue, and only if I'm absolutely 100% certain it's the right word.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Ocarina of Time. It was the fic I mentioned earlier that I wrote with my 2 cousins.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I don't really have any, at least at this time. I am very, VERY slow to move between fandoms & ships and am probably still going to be quite happily writing for TLM even when there's literally only 5 of us left lol.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I'd have to say The Atlantis Expedition, which was my first ever fic for the TLM fandom, and the first one I'd ever finished period. I have others that I love just as much, but this one will always have a special place in my heart.

[hiemaldesirae]

please. I'm begging you for more crumbs about VADD!Shen Jiu and also that Roxana AU you have from that art post you did of the two.

As a VADD AND SVSSS fan, especially as a fan of the original villains— please. I AM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH FOR MORE. I'm actually in the process of outlining a crossover with the original goods of both.

God, the Roxana one as well— please, PLEASE TELL ME SJ IS ROXIE HE'S SO ROXANA-CODED SOMEHOW. GIVE HIM BUTTERFLIES AND POISON AND— *gets knocked out*

by the way, LOVE your artstyle. scratches an itch i did not know existed in my brain. your chibis as well. they're so cute!!

oh you have no idea how long ive waited to talk about them. this mayyy get a bit long so ill leave it under the readmore.

disclaimer: i intend on finishing these fics so what im going to be talking about is inspirations and unfinished / abandoned ideas and other ideas i have for the works instead of anything relating to the plots themselves

for svadd, sj is a lot more complicated than he appears to be on the surface. im not so sure if what i have written currently is what i /want/ exactly because i know i want his character to go a certain way. the relationships between him and his modern-day friends is one meant to parallel the in-game "shen qingqiu" sj compares himself to and in much the same way, mirror the way that sy contrasts himself with sqq in canon: but instead of being condescending and viewing sqq as a one dimensional character, sj is able to appreciate his nuance while still being rightfully angry over his actions

to me, sj is supposed to be an unreliable narrator who constantly enforces his own thoughts. he tells himself over and over that he misses his home and that he wants to go back, that he absolutely needs to- but then, he turns the other way and finds himself being sucked even deeper into this different one.

i also really wanted to explore how sjs dynamic with a lot of the characters would be affected knowing that they were "based off" his real friends, but again im not very confident with how it came off lol

there was a lot of points in the story where i attempted to add in foreshadowing for the ending i want the story to take... in any case, it definitely wont go the same way as vadd, though i did toy with the idea of a "version" of sy being the main villain haha

(it might still happen for shits and giggles)

as for the roxanna au there are a lot of things ive wanted to do with this au and its good that i havent posted because it means i can keep revising til i come up with something good lol

its a liujiu au with some bingyuan / cumplane thrown into the mix (the cumplane is overwhelmingly toxic btw bingyuan is the healthy one out of the two here 😭) where yes sj is xana !!! he really just makes such a good manhwa villainess haha

i had been puzzling over what i wanted his motif to be-- after all, sj is typically associated with the simplicity and calming bamboo so the glittering butterflies wouldnt work with him- but after some deliberation i decided with using moths for him :3c still subject to change ofc but i think im happy with this as is

the story is somewhat similar to how roxanna goes but surprise sj isnt the transmigrator here! (and honestly, roxanna wouldve been sm better if xana hadnt been a transmigrator... or maybe i just think that because it was only used as a convenient plot point for her to know crucial info. sigh.)

my outline of how the roxanna au goes is basically this:

lqg fucks around and finds out

sj who has been seeing dreams of the "book" sy read knows what will happen to his family if lqg dies

etc

at the same time: sy, transmigrator, attempts to make sure his only surviving older brother lives to a long happy life and the only way he can secure this is by fucking up that hack author

also i killed off qi-ge and idk if i want him to come back. he'll be like the stereotypical dead anime mother for this au lmao

hmm and i think thats all i have to say for these aus... thanks for giving me a chance to ramble on haha ~ much appreciated !! and thank you for the compliment, im flattered!! 🥹🥹💕

[crosshimes-fanwritings]

Tiny Robot Crush + Their Builders

Fandoms/Series: Zatch Bell and Professor Layton Rating: T Crossover AU: Vacantverse Canon Settings: Post-Zatch Bell Anime (References to Manga) and NWOS (Profssor Layton) Warnings: Slight Misogyny, Dirty Expressions, Strong Language Summary: Suzume built a tiny robot out of boredom in Eggmuffin's workshop one day and weird stuff ensues. Word Count: 2209

Suzume was bored in Eggmuffin's workshop, waiting for Luke's and Layton's return. They were currently investigating the case of that one ghost gunslinger. So she built her own tiny robot, following Luke's instructions. Inventions weren't new to Suzume. Kiyomaro built her a Gash robot when she was in middle school. Suzume had handmade things out of boredom or affection for Kiyomaro. Suzume frowned at the thought of Kiyomaro. He was also in Steam Bison. His only purpose was to assist the incompetent precinct with a case that had something to do with a Japanese criminal. Suzume hoped the criminal wasn't her father turning rogue.

Suzume's father was a high-ranked police detective, and Kiyomaro was her ex-boyfriend. Those were the details that Suzume left out when she explained her situation with Luke. Those details were irrelevant. Luke didn't need to know about her father's occupation. And he definitely wouldn't care if she dated Kiyomaro in the past.

"Hey, kitten! Whatcha ya doing here, hanging out with old ass Eggmuffin?!"

Suzume groaned in annoyance. That cocky voice belonged to Hector Goldman, one of Luke's classmates and self-proclaimed rival. Great. He also brought his friends, Derek, James, Thomas, and Eddie.

"Oh, please go away. I'm working on something."

"You heard the young lady. Scram away from her, punk." Eggmuffin said.

"Shut the fuck up, old man!" Hector countered. "I can talk to Triton's bitch how I want!"

"What did you call me?!" Suzume quickly turned around and faced Hector with a disgusting expression. "I ain't no one's bitch!"

"Yet, Triton left his stupid ass robot with her!" Derek snickered, pointing at Coindar, who sat on Suzume's shoulder, observing. "He programmed that robot to shoot anyone who tries to take his bitch away from him!"

"Hey!" Coindar stood and glared at Derek defiantly. "Untrue! Keep away!"

"Yo, man! Ya pissed off the robot! Let's get the fuck outta here before he snitch on us to Triton!" James laughed.

"No one isn't leaving until I get my shit!" Hector yelled.

"And here's your shit, Goldman!" A violet-haired girl emerged, tossing a pillow bag full of building materials. "Apologize to Miss Mizuno before you leave, asshole."

"I ain't apologizing, Marina!" Hector whined.

"Oh, can it, kid. Leave." Suzume scowled, giving Hector a shoo-hand gesture.

"See you around, baby!" Hector winked at Suzume before picking up the pillowcase and exiting Eggmuffin's workshop with his friends.

Being the last ones to leave, Thomas and Eddie gave Suzume repugnant expressions such as tongue waving and blowing lips.

"Disgusting!" Marina threw an empty can at the boys but missed when they shut the door. "UGH! Those stupid boys are so gross!"

Suzume took a deep breath and refocused on building her robot. Coindar hopped off her shoulder and landed on the desk, observing her. Marina and Eggmuffin also focused on their respective projects in the workshop.

"Coindar, should you be with Triton and Mr. Layton?" Suzume asked, wondering why Luke's robot was even here with her.

"Luke Triton instructed me to oversee your project, Miss Suzume Mizuno," Coindar answered politely. "And I wish to witness the birth of a new entity similar to me."

"How cute," Suzume giggled. "You're cute, just like your inventor."

"Was that a compliment for me and Luke Triton?"

"And I thought you have a limited vocabulary."

"I'm still learning."

"True. Just learned from decent people, Coindar. Not Goldman and his friends."

"Absolutely!"

To think Suzume would be speaking to a robot to pass the time once again.

'I should have brought Gash robot with me. He and Coindar would have gotten along.'

Again. It was a good thing Suzume didn't bring her Gash robot. When Suzume left Japan, she left her middle and high school years behind. She didn't want to be reminded of her bittersweet teenage experiences.

"What are those water drops coming out of your eyes?" Coindar's voice was full of concern.

"It-It's nothing." Suzume wiped her tears away.

A week later.

"Hello! I'm Carolina! I'm Suzume Mizuno's traveling companion! I'm also built by my said mistress!"

Suzume's expression had turned pale. Oops. Her robot's first words were in her native language. Luke and Layton just stared at her bland new pink and white robot with cute pink bows on its head, confused with the sudden Japanese language. She was carrying her tiny robot in her arms.

"In English, please," Suzume said to her robot.

"I know no American English," Carolina declined politely, also in Japanese.

"The only thing I understood is her name," Luke commented. "Carolina, as in the Spanish pronunciation."

"Carolina sounds much cuter in the Spanish pronunciation, Triton. That's why I chose the Spanish pronunciation."

"Yes. A cute name pronounced cutely was given by a cute lady." Luke murmured.

"Ehhh?!" Suzume raised an eyebrow, flustered by Luke's response and his rosy cheeks.

"Miss…Carolina…" Coindar's eyes were heart-shaped.

'What the hell?!' Suzume was taken aback by Coindar's unusual eye shape. 'What is Triton teaching his robot?!'

"I don't mean to trouble you, Miss Mizuno." Layton cleared his throat. He gave her an apologetic smile. "May you translate what Carolina greeted us?"

"Sure, Mr. Layton," Suzume said, ignoring Luke's blushiness. And Coindar's weird curiosity about her robot.

Since Carolina was still a developing tiny robot, Suzume taught her American English words with the help of Marina since Suzume still felt unconfident in her English despite studying the language for three years in high school.

"I want to stay with Miss Carolina, Master!" Coindar pleaded, his eyes shaped sad.

"She is sleeping, Coindar. The Professor and I need your help to search for stolen coins for a cilent. A gentleman should not disturb a lady in her beauty sleep."

"I still wanna stay!"

"Your robot must be malfunctioning, Luke…" Layton commented, concerned with the way Coindar was behaving.

Suzume had a feeling that it wasn't a malfunction. Coindar may have grown an attachment to her robot like an older sibling wanted to protect a younger sibling. The possibility of two tiny robots sharing an affection was just too adorable for her to resist.

"Kawaii!" Suzume burst out in her native language, cupping her cheeks with her hands. Her eyes were twinkling in euphoria. 'Wait, why I'm blushing?!'

"Hawaii?" Layton and Luke blinked at her. They thought she said the name of an American state.

"No! I'm saying cute in Japanese!" Suzume smiled joyfully. "Carolina and Coindar would be a cute pair together!"

"Ah," Layton said. He doesn't know what else to add to the conversation.

"……." Luke has his eyes turned away, covering his mouth. His cheeks were entirely pink.

"Your heart rate is increasing, Master," Coindar reported. "Your brain is releasing-"

"We need to go, Professor! Stay here, Coindar!" Luke quickly turned around and walked out of Suzume's guest bedroom.

"Luke!" Layton called out to him. He tilted his top hat at Suzume and smiled at her gently. "I apologize for Luke's sudden leave. We shall return later."

"Of course. Be careful, Mr. Layton. I'll keep an eye on-"

And Coindar was already sleeping next to Carolina on Suzume's bed.

"…Coindar." Suzume looked at the two robots. "Would you look at that, Mr. Layton?" She smiled softly.

"This is a very intriguing sight to see. Steam Bison is full of surprises, is it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I can't keep Luke waiting. Goodbye." Layton smiled. He left Suzume's bedroom, closing the door behind her quietly.

Suzume sat on her bed carefully, not to wake Coindar and Carolina. Suzume gazed at the ceiling, wondering what to do next. She still hasn't found her father yet. The only information she had about her father's presence in Steam Bison was vagued.

"Oh, you should check out Japantown. Your father may be there."

"We have too many Japanese tourists every year. We can't tell 'em apart."

"Do you think your old man was kidnapped by the Ghost Cowboy, Miss?"

Suzume hoped Gunman King Joe was irrelevant to her father's disappearance. She did not want to drag Luke and Layton into her case further than they already had.

"Your heart rate is increasing, Master."

So, Coindar could also tell when someone's heart was racing. But why did Luke suddenly become nervous when Suzume mentioned their robots being cute together? Why did his eyes turn away with a sudden shyness from her?

'Triton does have no reason to be nervous around me. Something is weird going on.'

There was a knock on the door. It was Flora.

"Miss Mizuno, we need to prepare tonight's dinner."

"Coming." Suzume stood.

"AHHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! HANDS OFF!" Carolina's voice suddenly screamed in broken English.

"GAH!" Coindar's voice groaned.

'What in the actual fuck did just happen?!' Suzume turned her attention to the two tiny robots. An embarrassed Carolina curled into a ball, and a sored Coindar laid on his stomach with his legs twitching.

"There. You have it." Suzume frowned at Coindar. "He hugged Carolina without her permission."

"Coindar." Luke furrowed his eyes at his invention, obviously displeased. His arms were crossed. "Apologize to Miss Carolina. You should know better than to embrace a lady without her permission."

"I'm sorry," Coindar said to Carolina with a sad, guilty expression.

"Hmph! Don't try it again!" Carolina turned her head away from Coindar, still embarrassed and upset. Suzume can imagine Carolina was pouting. "Mistress, protect me from this….this….this…."

'Don't say it. Please don't say it.'

"……..creepo!'

"CREEPO?!" Coindar jawdropped.

"Now, you've done it, Coindar!" Luke facepalmed in shame.

Layton was observing in silence with his arms folded. Suzume wished he could say something to clear the awkwardness in the library. Suzume glanced at Luke. Why was he staring at her? Why was he even blushing? Suzume was uncomfortable with Luke's abnormal attention to her.

"HMPH! Your master is making my mistress uncomfortable!" Carolina suddenly spat out at Coindar. "Is he also a creepo like you?!"

"HUH?! Luke Triton is NOT a creepo! Take that back!" Coindar countered, getting upset now.

"HUUUUUUUUH?!" Carolina fired back. "Learning new vocabulary now, are we?! Well, how about you just FUCK yourself?!"

Silence occurred. Layton gasped. Luke gaped. Suzume bemused. Coindar shocked. Carolina pouted.

"HA HA HA HA HA!" Hector's voice burst out in laughter from outside of the window. "I was right! We can teach these robots new words!"

Suzume bit her bottom lip. Her left eyebrow twitched. So, someone has been teaching her robot a few English words that should NOT be used in public. Now, she was PISSED big time.

"Goldman…." Suzume turned her head slowly at the window where she found Goldman peeking in, having a cocky smirk on his face and surprised! His friends were also there. "…HOW…DARE YOU-" Suzume leaped out of the window and chased after the rowdy American teenage boys. "TEACH MY ROBOT SUCH WORDS?!"

An hour later, Suzume lay on her stomach on her bed, her face on her pillow. She was now exhausted from all that chasing.

"I'm actually impressed," Luke commented. He was sitting at her desk.

"Impressed about what?" Suzume groaned.

"Like, how would you able to run with high-heeled dress shoes?"

"It takes lots of practice, Triton. Nothing impressed about it."

"But, you could have broken your ankle."

"Triton," Suzume sighed. She sat up on her bed, hugging her pillow. "I told you before. You don't always have to worry about me. I'm a young adult here. I'm still embarrassed with how I acted towards your classmates earlier. I could have handled the situation. I'm almost five years your senior, for freak's sake, Triton."

Suzume has forgotten that she was a nineteen-year-old university student. What was she doing, behaving like a wild teenager? Again, Suzume was still a late teen. So, maybe she kinda did have an excuse to react so immature. When she gazed at Luke, he was still sitting on the chair, his hands on his lap. His gaze focused on her. His cheeks reddened.

"…….." Suzume downcasted her eyes. 'This is awkward. I don't even understand what is going on. Why does my chest feel tightened?'

"I don't care if you're my senior," Luke finally spoke solemnly. "You're special to me."

"Ehh?" Suzume was dumbstruck by amazement. 'Wait, what? Me? Special?'

"Because I-"

"Yo, Luke! Marina's and Hectorina's here! Coindar's acting weird around Carolina again!" Tweeds' voice spoke out after he knocked on Suzume's door.

"DATE ME!" Coindar's voice shouted.

"I KNOW NO DATING!" Carolina's voice shot back.

"We should be taking care of our robots, Triton." Suzume sighed in grief, standing up and tossing her pillow aside.

"Good idea," Luke muttered, glaring at the door.

'Huh? He's upset at Tweeds for interrupting our alone time?' Suzume blinked.

"…." Luke darted his eyes at her. He snatched his cheek with his fingertip. "I'm just glad I finally got it out of my system."

"About me being your special cilent?" Suzume chuckled. "I'm actually flattered by your honesty."

Luke just stared at her with a blank expression. He sighed and slumped his shoulders. He was very disappointed.

"You wouldn't even understand."

"Understand what?" Suzume smiled brightly. "We're client-detective friends!"

"….Forget it." Luke left her bedroom, leaving a stunned Suzume alone.

'It's just only me, or is he really trying to tell me something?'

Suzume blinked. Then, she shook her head.

'Probably nothing.' She left her bedroom.

[saym0-0]

trying again. okay.

polymechs is very much a thing i think,, basira gets called to the institute to investigate a very serious murder and stuff but also has to avoid eye contact with jon(ny) so they dont start giggling

after basira gets hired/held ransom tim starts coming in and bringing lunch for the whole archives for no reason beyond wanting to fuck with the other assistant who before this didnt know jon and basira even knew each other. maybe they do the funny bit where he pretends to cheat w jonny but its really healthy happy poly. the possibilities are endless

i think tim would take her name also (tim hussain) this is not because i dont want to figure out how to contort gunpowder into a real last name nope definitely not (it is)(also i think its funny)

also they exclusively refer to him as her wife, when asked why they say its bc tim wore the dress at the wedding and thus deserves the title. also i think basira/ashes will use she/they bc theres something uncomfortable using she/her for ashes exclusively

simply because im not in the mood for angst im gonna say ts was always a Stranger, only they didnt notice for like a week because they were sleep deprived college students and by that point they decided collectively that it was good enough company to Just Not Really Think About It. so they know its some kind of sentient wooden doll with potentially nefarious intentions but they dont really care very much?

as for the other mechs, i dont think any of them are really involved with The Spooky beyond a mark from the stranger each and probably also noticing a little more than the average person off the street

marius is in med school, and takes great glee in adding 'yet!!' after he gets not-a-doctored

ivy works in a library and is consistently mad about jonnys job as archivist ('one day, jonny. one day im going to follow you to work and get that damn archive sorted.. >:(' )

tbh i Dont Know what most of them r doing in their own lives. they show up to perform shows, torment jon(ny) in fromt of his coworkers, and have like cute romance or smth then disappear again

i think jonny and nastya are childhood friends (maybe met a couple years after the web leitner thing) but they've been calling each other siblings since before any of the others met them

with georgie i think shes monogamous but since the mechs polycule is like. open im not sure the exact terminology she dated jon(ny) in college just like. separately from the rest. shes homies w all of them though

maybe they shared a flat in college and carmilla was their landlord & neighbour that sounds really funny actually

atp im more making a regular human mechs au instead of a tma crossover but we ball im having fun

also!! with the exception of jon(ny) and basira/ashes their names & personalities are exclusively based on mechs canon, im not gonna start using actual names because that just leans a little close to rpf for me (mcyt fandom trauma 😔) and they all have mostly human first and last names anyway so im keeping them

like with the georgie bit any tma ships are also possible!! idk which ones i want to include yet (probably jmart or polychives) if any but i do think it would be funny for someone to be like 'shit! hes taken! :(' like four times with different people over the course of a few months then realising 'wait a minute.. maybe my boss doesn't go through partners like candy and is actually polyam. maybe i do have a chance!'

okay this is actually making less sense the more i write so im stopping here you get the jist

need more mechs x tma aus with mechs ships, i feel like this is an unexploited form of comedy. this is entirely because i think ashes-is-basira and ashes-and-tim-are-married are two things that can and should coexist

[jenohi]

stranger

PAIRING ▸ Watanabe Haruto x fem!reader

GENRES ▸ pining, high school au, lacrosse au, I’m not really sure what genre this is lol

WARNINGS ▸ traumatic events?

SUMMARY ▸ When Haruto moves halfway around the world the last person he expects to see is you. His former nemesis...or so he thinks.

PLAYLIST ▸ Still Don’t Know My Name by Labyrinth

WORD COUNT ▸ 9626

UNIVERSE ▸ YG High; Treasure Lacrosse Team

A/N ▸ I’ve decided from here on out all my stories will probably fall within the same universe. I only really have like 4 universes in mind so I’ll label them just so you know. Also, I’m looking to add some art to my stories to bring them more to life but I am useless at graphics/edits, so! If you’re really into making graphics/edits and you enjoy my work please please PLEASE reach out to me!!! I would love to work with an amazing artist! <3 <3 Plz enjoy.

A/N 2 ▸ This story is like a lot of crossover with Jeongwoo’s story but I hope I was able to bring justice to Haruto’s character and bring his story to life. :P ok now enjoy for real realz.

You were the prettiest girl Haruto had ever known in his life. But to him, you were also his rival. You always managed to score just a few points higher than him on each exam, each quiz, each assignment. To him it always felt like the teachers liked you more, so he made sure your classmates liked him more. The thing that made him really mad was that you were so unbothered. You were ambivalent to him and you didn’t even know his name. If you really were strangers and never sat in the same class he could understand. But you had been in the same classes for years. Each time you spoke to him, you politely asked for his name. As if you were strangers.

When his parents told him that his family was going to move to another city, far enough that he would have to transfer schools, he had mixed feelings. This was his last chance to confront you. To understand why you’d never bothered to remember his name, but each time he approached you he found you furiously scribbling in a notebook. Although he resented you for not knowing his name, he could never get himself to disturb you when you looked so stressed scribbling whatever it was in your notebook.

What Haruto didn’t know is that you did notice him. You noticed the handsome, tall, skinny boy that was always in the corner of your line of sight. But you had no idea what to say to him. So you never approached him. He was a stranger.

Haruto wished he could forget you. He was a bit uncomfortable transferring to a new school at first but thankfully, three other boys had transferred with him. Asahi, Mashiho, and Yoshi had become literal brothers to him. The school also had a transfer students program and he made a new friend, Hanbyul. She was a chatterbox and sometimes she could literally chat his ear off, but she was also sweet and helpful. But she wasn’t you.

But that didn’t matter because Hanbyul had another guy on her mind all the time anyway. “You know we’ve just been friends for such a long time and lately, I’ve started to...I don’t know. I feel different. Nervous. Is it normal to feel nervous around your best friend?”

“I don’t know. Is it?” Haruto responded.

“No, I suppose it isn’t. But he probably doesn’t feel the same way. I doubt he’s ever even thought about me in that way.”

Haruto felt someone nudge him, he turned to see that it was Asahi. Haruto leaned over to hear what he was going to say. “Is she talking about Jaehyuk’s brother?”

Haruto nodded.

“Jaehyuk talks about his little brother and this chick all the time. She’s so off the mark. The little brother definitely has feelings for her if Jaehyuk is anywhere near the mark.” So both parties had feelings for one another but both parties were too chicken to say anything to each other. And for no good reason.

In a way that reminded Haruto of himself and it pissed him off. He knew that spending so much time with his new friend would raise suspicions but he didn’t care. He knew that spending so much time with her pissed Jeongwoo off. It didn’t take a genius to recognize it when they went to the Big Bang Concert together.

Haruto thought he was going crazy when he spotted you a few spaces over at the concert. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to make sure it was really you. Haruto stormed over to you once he decided that it was in fact you. He had spent months thinking about what to say to you if he ever saw you again, he wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. Haruto didn’t even think to tell his new friends where he had gone.

You saw a tall, handsome figure approaching your direction. You took a second to check him out, but then turned back to the performers and continued to enjoy yourself. Your parents were reluctant to let you go out to this concert on your own but it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that you wanted so badly. You smiled sadly at what might happen when you woke up tomorrow.

“I didn’t know you were a fan of Big Bang.” You heard a voice from behind speak into your ear. You jumped in surprise and turned around to see that it was the handsome stranger you saw sauntering your way earlier.

“Hi, what’s your name?” You asked with a polite smile on your face. This is probably exactly what your parents were worried about, creepy men that would try to approach you. You started to think about the best way to remove yourself from the situation safely. The now unamused expression on his face alarmed you.

“When are you gonna cut the shit. You know who I am.”

You looked at him puzzled. “I do? How? From where?”

Haruto felt something in his chest crack. “I used to go to school with you. You’re Y/N right?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s me.” You furiously racked your mind trying to remember what you had read but your memory came up blank. You couldn’t help but cringe and turn away. This is why you tried your best to keep to yourself and away from people. You looked up to see Haruto staring down at you with a curious expression. “I’m sorry I don’t remember you. You said you used to go to school with me? You don’t go to school with me anymore? Can I get your name again? I’m really sorry. I’ll try and remember.”

“My name is Haruto. I don’t go to school with you anymore. I transferred to a new school a few months ago.”

“Oh, I see.”

Haruto wasn’t sure how to feel when he realized you actually had zero recollection of him. For some reason seeing you up close and seeing you really trying to remember him made him feel a bit sympathetic. He couldn’t understand why. It still totally irked him that you didn’t know his name. But something told him to sit down with you and get to know you.

“Well, do you like your new school?” You asked, looking up at Haruto. Your heart was beating hard and fast. You prayed that your face wasn’t flushing.

“Why don’t we just enjoy the rest of the concert for now and we can grab a late night meal after the concert?” Haruto proposed. His own palms were sweaty and his heart was beating fast.

You thought about it for a second, then nodded and smiled. Haruto felt like the world had a glittery filter for a second. He’d always acknowledged that you were attractive, but up close smiling at him, you were drop dead gorgeous.

“Awesome.”

After the concert, the two of you walked side by side as you left the crowded venue. You noticed Haruto took a second to text someone on his phone. He caught you snooping and laughed as you turned away. “It’s fine. I was just letting the friends I came with know that I was gonna head out with you.”

“Oh, if you need to get back with them it’s fine.” You said, maybe hanging out with Haruto was a bad idea after all.

“Not a chance, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. I’m honestly curious to know how you are and how things are back home.”

Your face flushed at his words. You couldn’t remember the last time you had spent time with a guy like this. Was this a date?

“Alright. Then what are you in the mood for?” You asked, pulling up a list of restaurants that were still open at this hour.

“What’s available now? What are you in the mood for right now?” Haruto looked over your shoulder at the menu as he asked.

“Um, what about McDonald’s? I’m not that picky and there’s not that much open right now.” you said.

Haruto stared at you with wide eyes, were you always this cool? So the two of you made your way to the closest McDonald’s and debated which was better, Coke or Sprite. To Haruto, Coca-Cola was non-negotiable.

“How is your new school?” You asked Haruto, munching on a few of your fries. “Do you like it?”

“What are you doing here?” Haruto interjected.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re not in Japan. This is far from home. Why are you in America?”

“Oh, I’m uh- I’m visiting family. I’ve actually transferred to a school around here for the time-being as well.” You jumped in surprise when Haruto shrieked.

“You’re here now? Like for good? Like you go to school here? Where?”

You giggled at the questions he rained down on you. The way he asked you with his cheeks full and eyes wide was rather endearing. “Yes I’m here now. I’m actually, uh, home schooled for the time being.”

“Oh, interesting. Why are you homeschooled? I remember you were always really good at school.” Haruto said before he shoved another chicken nugget into his mouth. The irritating thought that you were always better than him at school, just by a little popped up in his mind but he pushed it away. That didn’t matter anymore. He had your attention now.

You felt your face flush. Even with your condition it was true that you maintained your good grades. So Haruto must have actually known you back in Japan. You eyed him again, when he caught you staring at him you turned away. Haruto smirked.

“Enough about me. Tell me about your friends. You said you came with friends from your new school right?”

“Well I’d say one of them is actually who I’d consider a friend. The other one is a mutual friend. A childhood friend that has feelings for her.”

“Her?” it slipped out of your mouth. Haruto’s smirk reappeared and his eyebrow jumped up when he looked at you. You looked away, what was this funny feeling in your chest? It was weird.

“Our school had this transfer student program and she just happened to be assigned to me. She’s really cool, I’m not into her like that and she’s not really into me like that. She likes her friend.”

“How do you know?”

“She told me.”

“Oh. That feels like something important. Like a secret.”

“Well, I told her a secret as well.”

You stared at him. He didn’t indulge in the secret. Haruto was wholly focused on sipping the last of his Coca-Cola before putting it down on the table and letting out a sigh.

“Well so what’s going on with them now?” You asked.

“Hopefully, they both pull their heads out of their asses tonight. I gave them time alone so the best case scenario is that they just talk it out. The dude, Jeongwoo, I actually met him for the first time tonight and he’s a cool dude. It would be nice to have more dude friends around here.”

“You don’t have any guy friends?”

“I do. There are 3 other transfer students from Japan and they’re all dudes and I’m friends with them. Actually, Americans like to play this sport. Lacrosse? My friend told me to try out for the team and I think I might. Mashi, Asahi, and Yoshi agreed to try-out as well so it’ll be fun.”

You nodded, you had no idea what lacrosse was and you didn’t think you would be that interested to learn either. “I should get home.”

“Right of course.” Haruto said, getting up. “Where are you headed? Let me call you an Uber.”

“No, it’s okay. I can actually walk back home from here.”

“Oh really? Well, at least let me walk you back.”

You hesitated for a second. Would it be smart to show this guy where you lived? But then you shook it off, he seemed pretty harmless throughout the night and you trusted that he knew you from school in Japan. So you agreed.

“Do you have to be home-schooled?” Haruto asked.

“No, I don’t think so.” you answered.

“Would you be interested in attending school in person again?” Haruto could feel the devil on his shoulder kicking him. What was he doing? He had already gone to school with you before and the fact that you always did just a smidge better than him drove him nuts.

“Um, I haven’t really thought about it. Why?”

“You should consider transferring to my school?”

Your eyebrows shot up. “What?”

Haruto stepped back a bit and raised his hands. “It was just a suggestion. Honestly, I struggled a bit when I first came here. I can’t imagine how lonely it must be to be here and just be home-schooled so I figured it might be nice to have some sense of community.”

“Um, I’ll think about it.” You weren’t going to think about it. You looked up and breathed a sigh of relief when you saw the familiar apartment complex. “This is me. You don’t have to walk in with me. I’m gonna go now.”

“Wait.” Haruto said. You turned around to look at him, a thin smile on your face. “I, uh, I had fun.”

“Yeah, this was nice.” You said truthfully.

“We should do it again sometime.” Haruto said. You stared at him, he looked perfectly composed to you. But his heart was practically beating so hard he thought it might fall out of his chest.

“Honestly, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

Haruto felt a heat and anger flare up in his chest. But he did his best to tamp it down and get it under control. This was literally the first time you had acknowledged his presence. He put a smile on his face. “Well, then maybe we’ll just run into each other again sometime.”

“Maybe, it’s all up to fate now. Good night Haruto.”

“Good night Y/N.”

The second you made it back into your room you pulled out your diary. You scribbled the notes you had logged into your phone throughout the day as quickly as possible. Briefly reliving each moment as you wrote them down. By the time you had gotten to the end of the list and began to recount the concert you could feel your eyelids getting heavier and heavier and your hands writing more and more frantically until suddenly, you crashed.

The next morning you woke up and read your notes. You squinted at the last thing you had written. Your handwriting became illegible near the end. ‘Haruto?’

The next morning Haruto woke up and smiled at the memory of you. Asahi and Mashiho eyed their roommate as he pranced around the living room and kitchen smiling and singing. But nothing could bring Haruto down. Well until he saw his friend looking depressed as hell.

“Dude what’s up?” Haruto asked. “Did you and Jeongwoo figure your shit out?”

“Uh, about that. Well, no.”

“No? What do you mean no?”

“Well what about you? Did you run into her?”

“Nuh uh, this isn’t about me. You literally had the perfect opportunity to make something of it. To make a moment! Did you guys have a moment?”

“Yes, I think we did. But I got scared. I don’t want to lose Jeongwoo as a friend, but at the same time I don’t think he has any feelings for me like that. I just, I think I need space. Maybe if I just distance myself from him a bit then I can get over my feelings and…”

“No offense, but that’s the stupidest thing I think I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“Well I don’t care if you think it’s stupid. This is my decision and my decision is that I don’t want to see Jeongwoo for awhile. Ok? I’m not ready for the conversation. So you better get used to seeing me more often!”

Haruto sighed as he watched his friend storm out of the room. He turned around and exchanged looks with Asahi. “Did I say something wrong?”

Asahi shrugged. “Honestly, I think you’re valid. I think her logic in avoiding Jeongwoo is pretty dumb. The dude’s in my gym class. Honestly, he’s chill. I don’t think he’d react badly to her if she confesses regardless of how he feels.”

“I should probably find her and apologize anyway.” Haruto said, exiting the room. Eventually he found his friend and they sat together in the cafeteria.

“Sorry about what I said earlier. I’ll admit it was kind of harsh. But honestly I can’t say I understand your logic at all.”

“It’s fine Haruto. You seemed extra happy when you walked in this morning. Who was the friend that you saw at the concert?”

“It was her. Y/N.”

“No way! Isn’t she in Japan?”

“That’s what I thought too. I was so shocked to see her.”

“What did you say to her? What did you guys talk about? Did she recognize you?”

“That’s the thing. The best part of it all was that I actually had her attention. You remember I told you about how she never acknowledged anybody right? She was always reading her notebook in the hallway. In the past when I spoke to her she never even knew my name! She had to ask me every single time. But this time, there’s no way she wouldn’t remember me!”

“Your relationship is weird. But I guess that’s sweet. What does she write about in her notebook?”

“I don’t know. Why does it matter? She knows my name now!”

“That’s another thing. You went to school together for years and she never remembered your name? Why?”

“I don’t know.” Haruto said. Now he was grouchy. All the questions that had been brought up to him were valid, but these weren’t things he wanted to think about.

A few weeks before the lacrosse tryouts in the spring Haruto went to the hospital to get a physical done.

Once he was done he stumbled into a small cafe right next to the hospital. When he saw who was manning the cash register he rubbed his eyes and looked away and looked back a few times to make sure he wasn’t being deluded. When he was confident that he wasn’t going crazy he stood up and walked over to the register.

You saw a tall, handsome, and skinny guy walk up to the cash register. You cleared your throat and stood up straight. “Hello, what can I get you?”

“Y/N! It’s fate. We ran into each other again!”

“Again?” You put a smile on your face and thought of a response. “Hey, it’s so good to see you! How have you been? What’ll you have?”

“Do you...remember my name?”

You felt your heart picking up speed and your palms beginning to sweat. But you kept your composure. “Of course, let me take your order and we can chat for a second.”

Haruto beamed. “Okay, then I’ll just have an Iced Americano.”

“Okay, that’ll be $3.30. The ice machine is in the back so I’ll be right out in a second. You rushed to the back of the cafe and pulled out your diary and flipped through the pages, reading the entries as quickly as possible. Out of the corner of your eye you noticed a torn piece of paper that had slipped out of your bag. You picked it up, it matched the paper in your diary. You flipped it over to see that it had a name written on it. Haruto.

Was that this guy’s name? Who was he to you? Darn it, why hadn’t you written more?

You quickly filled the cup with ice and walked out filling the cup with cold brew. You grabbed the marker and scribbled Haruto on it. You walked back over to the cash register. This guy’s eyes were practically glittering in anticipation. Was it normal for someone to get this excited over a coffee?

“I’ve got one iced americano for Haruto?” you said.

If his eyes were glittering before, they were practically flashing light strobe lights at a nightclub now. A matching beaming grin on his face. “Yes! Y/N it’s fate. We ran into each other again!”

“Right. Yeah, of course. What are the odds.”

“Do you have a minute?”

“Um, I’m working right now. I’d rather not get in trouble. Maybe another time?”

Haruto swiveled around, eying the cafe. “It looks pretty empty to me. I don’t think you’d get in trouble if you came out for a second just to keep me company.”

“Still…”

“Is your manager even here right now?”

“No.”

“Then come on. Just come out for a second.”

You looked around the cafe, cursing at how vacant it was. You tugged at your sleeves for a second before answering. “Fine.”

You followed Haruto out from behind the counter. He walked over to a table and pulled a seat out from underneath the table. He smiled as he waited for you to sit down. You walked over to the table and turned around. Haruto slid the chair underneath you as you moved to sit down. Once you were seated Haruto ran around to the other side of the table and sat down.

“How are you? How have you been?” Haruto asked.

You stared at the boy sitting in front of you. He was so handsome. “I’m doing well. How about you?”

“I’m good. I was in the area because I needed to go to the hospital.”

Your ears perked up. “Why were you at the hospital?”

“Why do you wanna know? Are you worried about me?”

You didn’t say anything. You just stared at Haruto. Haruto cleared his throat and looked away for a second. “I’m just playing with you. I went to get a physical.”

You nodded, tracing the patterns on the tablecloth.

“I needed one for lacrosse tryouts.”

“Lacrosse? What is that?” you asked. Haruto thought the way your nose scrunched in confusion was adorable.

“I told you about it last time! Remember? It’s this sport that Americans like to play. I had never heard of it in Japan either.”

You didn’t remember. “Right.”

Haruto couldn’t understand the dynamics of the conversation. He watched as you avoided eye contact with him and intensely focused on tracing the pattern of the table cloth. Then you would stare out the window of the cafe, it almost appeared as if your eyes were glazed over. “What are you always writing about in your notebook?”

Your head spun over to look at him so fast, you thought you might have gotten whiplash. “What?”

“Your notebook. I remember in school back in Japan I always saw you either writing things down in a notebook or reading the same notebook. What’s in it?”

“Um, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“Why? It can’t be that bad. I promise I won’t laugh no matter how embarrassing it might be.” Haruto said. Leaning forward over the table so that he was in your face.

“Forget it.” You said, leaning back and looking away. You glanced over at your bag that was perched far back behind the counter and breathed a sigh of relief. “Look. I gotta go. I’m supposed to be working right now. I think you should go now as well.”

You stood up from the table so quickly that the chair you were sitting on toppled over. You didn’t bother to turn around and pick it up. You walked back towards the counter without looking back.

Haruto watched you as you walked away. He narrowed his eyes when he saw you grab your bag and walk to the back of the cafe. There was only one thing on his mind as he walked out of the cafe. Your notebook. What was in the notebook?

You frantically flipped to today’s page in your notebook. In all caps with your boldest, darkest black marker you wrote at the top of your notebook. ‘Beware of Haruto. Tall, Handsome. Asked about notebook.’

Then you shut the notebook and exited the back room, breathing a sigh of relief when you noticed that the cafe was vacant once again. You walked over to the cafe table where you had previously sat and picked up the chair that had fallen over when you had left the conversation.

The next day at school Haruto was deep in thought. What could possibly be so important about a notebook? When Hanbyul shoved him, Haruto shrieked as he fell out of his chair. “Dude, what the hell is your problem?”

“What are you thinking about? You look like you’re thinking so hard that your brain might break.”

“Do you have an important notebook? Is that like something girls do?”

“You mean like a diary?”

Haruto snapped his fingers and looked up. “Yes! Exactly like one of those. Do you have one of those?”

“I did when I was younger. I don’t keep one anymore though. Why do you ask?”

“My friend. The one from home, Y/N? I think she has one. I asked her about it yesterday and she got all dodgy and weird.”

“Ah, well. Back when I did keep a diary it held all my dirtiest secrets. I don’t think I would want to share it with anybody or for anybody to know about it. Not even now, and as an elementary schooler I really don’t think I had any secrets worth keeping.”

“It was so weird. She got so defensive over it. I didn’t realize bringing it up would be such a touchy subject.”

Hanbyul shrugged. “Different things matter to different people. Are you ready for tryouts? They’re coming up soon aren’t they?”

Haruto nodded. “Asahi, Mashiho, Yoshi, and I have started going to that gym that you recommended. Lacrosse is actually pretty fun. Mashiho is the best though. Are you coming to tryouts?”

“Of course I am. I’m practically making you go so it’s only fair that I be there to see how you do. I reserve the right to totally make fun of you if you embarrass yourself though.”

Haruto rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever.”

Soon enough it was the first day of lacrosse tryouts. Haruto had frequented the cafe that you worked at in hopes of getting the chance to speak to you again. Unfortunately, what he didn’t know was that you had quit the job and diligently stayed home and studied.

Haruto was agitated at the thought of not being able to speak to you again. When he tried to sit down and rationalize it himself he couldn’t make sense of it. A year ago he despised you for not knowing his name. You know his name now, right? What more did he want from you?

“Haruto? Haruto! Hello? Are you even listening to me?”

Haruto turned to look at Hanbyul. “Honestly no, sorry. What’s up?”

“I feel bad for how I treated Jeongwoo. You were right, avoiding him was not the right thing to do. But why hasn’t he said anything to me?”

“Look I can’t tell you what’s going on between the two of you any better than you can. My assumption is that he’s a bit hurt and confused at the moment by how you’re acting and he doesn’t want to make things any worse than they are.”

“Can’t you say something to him?”

“Me?” Haruto looked up from his stick that he was re-taping. “What do you want me to say to him?”

“I don’t know. Just...just get him to react.”

Haruto scoffed. “If you want me to do that I can but again I feel like it’s not going to produce the results that you want. Like I think if I say anything things are gonna go really sour so I think you should think long and hard about this.”

“Haruto!”

“Look, I gotta go. Tryouts are starting.” Haruto said, turning away and walking onto the field. He didn’t miss the hard stare coming his way from Jeongwoo. Haruto ignored them and focused on his gameplay. Lacrosse had actually become really cathartic for him and he found that he really wanted to make the team.

Haruto noticed that the coaches seemed to be reacting favorably to how he was playing. He also realized that Jeongwoo was also really good but he played really aggressively, like he had something to lose. At the end of practice Haruto figured his hunches must have been correct because the coaches called him over to speak with him.

“I’m sure you know Varsity tryouts were this morning, all of your friends from Japan did great as did you and so we’re thinking about pulling you up to varsity. So tomorrow I want you to come early and try out with the varsity team, alright?”

Haruto beamed and nodded.

“Good work son.” The coach slapped Haruto on the shoulder. He did his best not to fall over. Thankfully the coach didn’t notice.

Haruto walked off the field and headed towards the school parking lot. Just as he pulled his phone out to call someone for a ride home his phone pinged, he tapped on the notification to see that it was a message from Mashiho.

Mashiho: Haruto have JV tryouts ended?

Haruto: Yes, I just finished

Mashiho: Cool. Have you found a ride home yet?

Haruto: No, do you know anyone who can come get me?

Mashiho: Ya, a lot of the guys on varsity can drive. Junkyu is over now but he offered to come pick you up.

Haruto: Junkyu?

Mashiho: He’s trying out for the varsity team. He’s cool. Kinda goofy but cool. I’ll come by with him.

Haruto: Alright, thanks dude.

Mashiho: Np.

Haruto checked the time on his phone before putting it back into his pocket. 6 P.M. Would you be at the cafe? The last few times he had gone by he hadn’t seen you. He put the thought away when a car appeared in front of him. The window rolled down and Mashiho cheered when he saw Haruto. “Get in the car! You smell!”

“Shut up and unlock the door Mashi.” The car door clicked open and Haruto hopped into the backseat. There was a large dude sitting in the driver’s seat who kept fidgeting with a bunch of random controls.

The guy turned around with a giant grin on his face. “Hello! I’m Junkyu. You must be Haruto! Nice to meet you!”

Haruto bowed. “Hello. Yes, I am Haruto. Nice to meet you as well.”

“Ruto! How were tryouts?”

“They were really good. Coach pulled me over at the end of tryouts and told me to come early tomorrow morning and try out with the varsity team.”

“Damn! You must be so good!” Junkyu said from the driver’s seat. Haruto tried not to be concerned by the way Junkyu was driving. His head kept swiveling from left to right. “Did you guys play sports back in Japan? All of you were insane at tryouts today!”

“We all played football. I think Mashi and Yoshi played basketball as well.”

“Football? Do you mean football football or soccer football?”

“Eh?”

“Do you kick a ball or do you carry a ball?”

“You kick it. Duh. Why would you carry a ball? That’s just dumb.”

“Americans call a totally different sport football. Don’t worry about it too much. But it’s awesome that you guys are so good.”

“Well to be fair, we were told about that Lacrosse Club and we had a few training sessions every week leading up to try outs.” Mashiho said.

“Ahh! How’d you hear about that? A few of us have been playing on their club teams for a while.”

“My friend told me about it. She’s the person responsible for me in the foreign exchange students program. Hanbyul?”

“Oh! I know who you’re talking about. Her brother was a legend at this school. He was a top recruit since his sophomore year here. But right before the most important game of his senior year he tested positive on a drug test and he couldn’t play. It totally turned him, his team, and the school around. He got dropped by the college that was recruiting him. But I heard he struck a deal with a pro-team and I guess he’s been training with them. The dude was in a league of his own.”

“Damn. That’s insane.”

“Yeah, our school takes lacrosse pretty seriously. The best players at our school get recruited to some of the best schools so it’s a great opportunity.”

Haruto knew there were probably more important things to be thinking about in this conversation but he couldn’t help but wonder if he could get you to come to one of his games.

The second day of tryouts Haruto was absolutely on fire. His shorts were shart, his passes were quick, and his steps were light. The varsity team was definitely of a different caliber but Haruto found the challenge fun. It was nice to be able to play with the rest of the Japanese boys as well.

At the end of varsity tryouts the coach pulled him over, “you were great out there today. How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling alright coach.”

“Up for a few more hours?”

Haruto paused, but then nodded. He wasn’t in a place to argue with his coaches. “Sure.”

“Great. Then I want you to continue through JV tryouts. Grab some water and then head back out onto the field.”

“Alright coach.”

Haruto jogged out to the edge of the field. He was surprised to see Hanbyul sitting at the edge of the bleachers. “What’s up?”

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“What do you mean what am I doing here? I came to watch your second day of tryouts.”

“Are you sure you’re here to watch me?”

“Shut up. Why are you all sweaty already?”

“Coach had me try out with the varsity team today.”

Hanbyul’s eyes widened. “Dang, you must be awesome. The last two boys that made it onto the varsity team as sophomores were my brother and his best friend Bobby.”

Haruto shrugged. “The game is fun. It would be awesome to play on varsity.”

The coach blew his whistle, signalling all the players to come back out onto the field. Haruto turned around and gathered around. Every so often throughout the day Haruto ran back to the bleachers where Hanbyul sat. His bag was stowed away there as was his secret stash of Coca-Cola. It probably wasn’t smart to be drinking Coke in the middle of tryouts but every so often he needed a pick-me-up.

“You need to quash that habit.”

“Yeah yeah.”

At the end of the day the coach told Haruto to wait for him inside his office. So Haruto did just that.

“So what’d you think about tryouts today?” Coach asked.

“It was intense.”

“Yeah, what did you think of the way the varsity team played?”

“They were quicker, sharper, and more nimble.”

“Good observation. Do you think you were good enough to play on their level?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then answer me another question. If you had to pick another player from the JV tryouts today to pull up to Varsity who would you pick?”

Haruto thought about it for a second. The answer was obvious. The only other person who seemed to put up a fight with him was “Jeongwoo.”

“Good guess.” The coach laughed. “I don’t know what they feed you kids in Japan. But all four of you are good.”

There was a knock on the door. Haruto turned around to see Jeongwoo. He smirked when he saw the sour expression on Jeongwoo’s face. But it was gone once he had walked into the room and stood adjacent to Haruto.

“The two of you have demonstrated amazing capabilities and I am considering pulling one of you up to the varsity team. Take this opportunity seriously. Tomorrow is the last day of tryouts.”

The last place Haruto expected to run into you was at the hospital. The last thing you were expecting at the hospital was for a dude to come up behind you and scare you. It was horrible, you can’t remember the last time you screamed so loudly, let alone at a public place.

“What are you doing here Y/N?”

“Uh, I’m-” you hesitated, trying to craft an answer that was vague enough that you wouldn’t have to tell the whole truth but not vague enough that he wouldn’t continue to ask questions. But thankfully Haruto seemed to take it upon himself to fill the silence.

“Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry that I totally misjudged you when I first met you? In fact, I thought I hated you.”

Alarm bells went off in your head. Was it normal for a person to come to you and tell you they hated you? “Uh, thanks?”

But Haruto continued. “But I wanted to say I totally read you wrong. You’re actually really cool. And I wanted to say thank you. For remembering my name.”

That was the first time someone had ever said that to you. You stared at him blankly unsure of how to respond.

“Haruto! Haruto! Haruto! Please report to waiting room 105, the doctor is ready for you now.” The voice over the loudspeaker belted.

“Well, that’s me.” Haruto said with a soft smile on his face. He got up and waved goodbye to you before heading to the back of the office.

Once he was safely out of sight you pulled out your notebook. Your face paled once you flipped through it a few times. You thought about what to do. What did this guy want? You wrote out all these questions in your notebook. Then you came to a conclusion of what to do and wrote that down in your notebook as well.

You ripped out a piece of paper from your notebook and scribbled your number on it. Then got up to the receptionist desk. “Hi, I don’t know if you’re allowed to do this. But when that guy Haruto comes out. Would you mind giving him this?”

You handed the sheet of paper over to her, the receptionist gave you a look and then a wink before accepting the sheet of paper. You figured that meant she accepted, so you waved goodbye and left the hospital.

“Excuse me sir!” The receptionist lady called out to Haruto as he was about to head out of the doctor’s office. What felt and looked like a nasty possible sprain on the lacrosse field just turned out to be a measly bruise.

Haruto approached the reception desk. “There was a young lady earlier. She asked me to give this to you before you leave.”

Haruto looked at the slip of paper. His eyes widened into the size of large gumballs when he realized what was on it. He felt like his heart would explode. But then his mind pumped the brakes, he wasn’t ungrateful, but why did you give him your number?

On the way back home you second guessed your decision at least 30 times. Why did you give him your number? The only reason you could think of was that you didn’t want to not know the guy. Contrary to what your mind and your diary told you. Your heart didn’t want to give him up. Maybe it was selfish and confusing, who knew? But who cared?

Haruto’s excitement was cut short when he finished punching your number into his contacts. Before he could even send a message to you, his phone rang. Hanbyul.

“Hey Hanbyul, what’s up?”

Haruto became alarmed when he heard a sniff and a muffled sob. “Haruto, I miss him.”

Haruto sighed. “He’ll come around soon.”

“Is there nothing you can do to make him come around sooner?”

“Hanbyul. If all goes well he’s going to be my teammate. Plus, what could I possibly say to change things?”

“I don’t know. He probably thinks there’s something going on between us.”

Haruto paused. “Is that why you’re friends with me?”

“No, no I swear it’s not. You’re an amazing person and you’ve been an amazing friend.”

“Hanbyul.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t like what you’re asking me to do. But you are my friend. If you’re really sure this is the way you want to go about it.”

“I’m- I’m not sure. I just need things to change.”

On the third day of tryouts Haruto was in a funk. And it showed. The events of yesterday night haunted him, he was happy to see you but he was sorry for Hanbyul. Haruto didn’t really like to fight with anybody, but he found her requests unreasonable and the questions she asked about you probing and uncomfortable.

It seemed as if Jeongwoo was the same way. Haruto gave into the niggling voice inside his head and said probably he shouldn’t have said. “You’re gonna lose your girl to me and now you’re gonna lose your spot on the team to me?”

It pushed Jeongwoo off the edge and the two of them went at it. Haruto played ferociously and aggressively. As did Jeongwoo. The game ended when Jeongwoo illegally body checked Haruto.

“Dude what the hell is your problem?”

“No, what’s your problem? Your comment back there? Absolutely uncalled for.”

Valid. But Haruto wasn’t going to admit that. “Please. Pull your head out of your ass. You’re hurting your friend. Talk to her.”

Haruto stood by as he and Jeongwoo got scolded for their behavior. Eventually, tryouts ended with neither one ending up on the varsity team. Haruto knew he probably should have been more bothered but he wasn’t. He had other things on his mind.

When Haruto exited the office he saw Hanbyul waiting outside. She turned to look away from Jeongwoo back to Haruto. Tired and hopeful that their saga would end, Haruto smiled and jutted his chin out towards Jeongwoo. Hanbyul smiled and ran after Jeongwoo.

Since the fateful day you have Haruto your number. Whenever he had a free moment he would ask to see you. After each time you saw him, you thoroughly wrote down everything that had happened in the day. You didn’t want to forget.

A few Mondays ago, you went to get ice cream together. “What’s your favorite food, Haruto?”

“Me? Anything unhealthy.”

You whacked him on the arm for that.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“For being a stupid teenage boy. And because I’m jealous of your metabolism.”

A couple Thursdays ago, Haruto asked you if you wanted to go watch a movie with him. The Uber and the weather didn’t quite work out. “Sorry we missed the movie by 45 minutes. But on the bright side, it’s not raining anymore!”

You laughed. “I guess you’re right. What should we do instead now that we’re here?”

Haruto looked around. He pointed at the grassy meadow. “We should just lay down on the grass and look at the stars.”

“The grass is wet.”

“Look, they're selling plastic tarps over at that convenience store. Let’s just buy one.”

“Okay.”

Haruto paid for a plastic tarp and spread it down out on the grassy meadow. The two of you laid on the ground parallel to one another. Until Haruto turned to you “can I hold you?”

You felt your face flush and you looked away. You hesitated for a few moments but eventually Haruto smiled when he heard a soft “yeah.”

So he moved his arm as you lifted your head to rest on top of it. You curled into him as his arm wrapped around your upper body. Haruto’s stomach exploded in butterflies. Your face was on fire. But the two of you were happy, blissful.

Last Friday night Haruto asked you to come to one of his lacrosse games. “Y/N, this is my friend Hanbyul. Hanbyul, this is Y/N.”

“Y/N?” Hanbyul stared at you eyes wide. Like she knew something. She looked like she wanted to say something but she held it in. You wondered what it was, but decided not to think too much about it.

Hanbyul was sweet. She kept you company throughout the game. But she was an aggressive cheer-er. Most of her attention was spent yelling at the field. Her energy was contagious and by the end of the game you were standing on the bleachers cheering “Go Haruto!”

Now it was Saturday and the two of you had finally gone to see the movie that you had meant to see a couple Thursdays ago. You clasped onto the arm that Haruto had held out for you as you exited the movie theater. “That movie was so good! It was so crazy!”

Haruto laughed. “Yeah it was okay.”

“Just okay? You didn’t like it?”

“No, I liked it. It wasn’t bad. But I feel like there were better movies from this cinematic universe you know?”

“Yeah I guess.”

“Which one was your favorite?” Haruto asked.

“Huh?” You looked up at Haruto to see him looking down at you. You turned away. “Um. Would you wanna come back to my place?”

“Huh?” Haruto wasn’t normally caught off guard but this time he was.

“I mean. Not like that. I just, I don’t know I’m not ready for the night to end and I figured since my place is close by we could just go back and chat.”

Haruto smiled. “Yeah, that sounds nice. Let’s go.”

Soon after the two of you arrived at your place, Haruto got situated on the couch and after making sure he was properly settled in. You had gotten up to go fetch your drinks. Haruto spotted your notebook sitting on the edge of the coffee table. He glanced over to see that your attention was fully occupied on making your drinks. Haruto turned back to stare at the notebook. No. The notebook was staring at him. Haruto knew it was wrong. He knew he shouldn’t peek.

But he couldn’t help it. Every time he saw you he either saw the notebook with you or he saw you writing the notebook and every time he even remotely looked in its direction you guarded it with your life. This could be his only chance.

And so, Haruto grabbed the notebook. He flipped through it and saw that it was very meticulously dated. Upon closer inspection he noticed that each entry was timed as well and every timed entry had extensive details about what you saw, what you talked about. Then he flipped backwards and found one page not like the others.

This page wasn’t dated. Instead, it was titled. Haruto. Haruto’s eyes widened. Every line of his designated page was filled. There were things about him on there that even he hadn’t realized he had said. Why had you written all these things down? All these details didn’t seem that important to him. They were like things that were probably easily remembered. Or things you could ask him about, he’d answer if you ever asked him about.

Just as he was about to continue flipping through the pages of the notebook. “What do you think you’re doing?”

An index card fluttered out of the notebook right at Haruto’s feet. Haruto bent down to pick it up. But in a panic you kicked his shin and as he howled and grabbed onto his leg you snatched the card. “What the hell Y/N?”

“No. I should be asking you that. I’ve made it abundantly clear that this notebook is not to be touched. It’s incredibly private to me.”

“What is it? Why is it so important? I asked Hanbyul what it might be and she just said it was probably a diary. What is so special about yours?”

“What is so special about mine?” you were so angry you felt like your head was about to pop. While your head didn’t pop. Your mouth certainly did. “What is so special about mine? This notebook? This notebook. Is my memory. I don’t have a memory.”

You tossed the card at Haruto. He picked it up and read the words on the card as you spoke.

“At age 13 you were involved in a very traumatic car accident. The accident left you in a coma for two weeks. After you recovered from your coma you were diagnosed with anterograde amnesia. From that day on, you no longer have the ability to make memories. The memories you make within a day will only last until you fall asleep wherein your memories of the previous day will be wiped. Use your notebooks to keep track of your days. Use these notebooks to help you remember.”

You could hear your voice waver as you finished reciting the contents on the index card.

“Y/N, I-” Haruto said. The world seemed grayer and grimmer. Everything made so much sense now. Why every time he spoke to you in school you had to ask for his name. Why sometimes you looked confused or blank when he mentioned something or attempted to crack a joke.

“So now you know.” You whispered. You could feel your body start to heave, your breathing became heavy. The gravity of what you had just exposed started to weigh down on you. “You need to leave. You need to leave and never come back.”

“Y/N. I wish you would have told me.”

“Why?” You snarled. “Why would I tell you that? Each day I wake up I can’t even remember who you are. Why would I have told you anything? Just so you could go around pitying me? Telling everyone else about me? Absolutely not.”

Haruto started to feel tears well up in his own eyes. He felt trapped in his own body as he watched your body fail yours. When he saw you collapse something snapped in his head and he got up and picked you up. One arm held you under your shoulder blades and the other below your knees.

“Get. Out.” you said in between wheezes.

“No. Y/N. I’m sorry. I don’t want to. Let me help you.”

“Get. Out.” you said, barely conscious.

“Y/N. You’re scaring me. What do I do? How do I help you? Let me help you and I’ll leave you alone.”

Your eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. Honestly, you weren’t even sure what exactly was going on. Maybe it would be smart to have Haruto call your doctor before he left. “Emergency Numbers. Notebook.”

Haruto placed you down on your bed just as you had passed out. Haruto immediately ran back to the living room and grabbed your notebook that had fallen onto the ground. He flipped through it frantically. What page were the emergency numbers on? He saw them scribbled on the inside of the back cover. He grabbed his phone and dialed the first number listed at the top.

“Hello? Is this Y/N’s doctor? She’s just passed out and I don’t know what to do. I’m in her apartment right now. Someone please come help me.” Haruto hadn’t even realized that tears had been streaming down his face until he saw wet splotches appear on the notebook. He wiped them quickly and sniffed. “This is scaring me.”

“Yes, this is Y/N’s doctor. I’m on my way over. Who is this?”

“Haruto. I’m a friend of hers.”

“Haruto. You did good, son. Just wait. I’ll be there in a second.”

“Doctor. Is she gonna be okay?”

“Honestly I can’t tell you right now. I have to check up on her. Right now I’m in front of her door so you can let me in.” The call ended and Haruto opened the door.

“Is she in her room?” The stout man asked.

Haruto nodded and followed him back into your room. He tried to help the doctor but eventually the doctor turned to him and said “son, just relax. Give me some space. She should be fine. She had a panic attack, something must have worked her up. But she’ll wake up. But, it might be better if you aren’t here by the time she wakes up.

“I understand, doctor.”

The doctor took a good look at him. Then nodded grimly before turning his attention back to you. Before Haruto could leave though he saw a stack of index cards, a roll of washi tape, and a pen sitting on your desk. He was still holding your notebook from earlier. He grabbed the materials and headed back out to the living room.

Before he left he scribbled out a note. Then pulled something out of his wallet and taped it to the back of the index card. He then taped the index card to the inside of the front cover before shutting the notebook and leaving it in the middle of your coffee table. He held in a sob as he got up. How had things gone so sour so quickly?

Haruto walked back over to your room and peeked in. Your doctor was still busy doting on you. So he turned around and exited your apartment. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Junkyu. “Hey, can you pick me up?”

“Yeah of course. Send me the address.” Junkyu said, trying not to be too alarmed by the tone of Haruto’s voice.

Eventually, you woke up. After reading the note that your doctor had taped to your hand explaining the situation you took a deep sigh. What a shit show. You needed to find the notebook your doctor had mentioned in his note.

It was sitting in the very middle of your coffee table. You flipped through the last few pages to read your entries. Your eyes started to water and you felt yourself get emotional. You could sense that you had grown close to someone. You read about yourself and how you felt about Haruto, but who was Haruto? For the most part you had made peace with your situation but for the first time in a long time, you began to feel frustrated. Angry. Cheated of a normal life that other 16 year old girls got to live.

Just as you were about to shut the notebook you noticed there were two index cards taped to the inside cover. The first one explained your situation. It was more or less what your doctor had just explained to you. But the second one was new. You lifted it up to your face and began to read it aloud.

Y/N,

If you’re reading this, I want you to know that you are the love of my life. My name is Haruto Watanabe and I am 16 years old. I met you for the first time in our freshman year of high school back then when we lived in Japan. We were only 14 years old. I used to be jealous of you, how you beat me in school every time even if just by a little bit. I also resented you because I thought you never bothered to remember my name.

By some stroke of fate, we both ended up in America. Whether by fate or not we saw each other a few more times and met up with each other and I really began to fall for you. You are the kindest, most beautiful, and genuine person I have ever met in my life.

I want you to know that even with your condition. My opinion and my feelings towards you have not changed. I want to be honest with you and tell you what I did and I hope in time you can read this and not feel angry.

Y/N, I did something bad. I invaded your privacy. You see, every time I saw you you fiercely guarded this notebook. Everytime I asked about it or possibly glimpsed at it you would react so strongly so eventually the curiosity of needing to know what was in the notebook killed me. And one day when your attention was occupied elsewhere, I read it.

It seemed like a regular diary to me but you caught me in the act and got upset with me. You explained to me your condition and I want you to know I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry I behaved so insensitively. If I were a more selfless man I would have left your life for good. But I am not. I’ve attached my school I.D. to the back of this card. On it has my name, my picture, and my phone number.

If you ever find it in yourself to forgive me. Please give me a call. I will always love you.

Love,

Haruto Watanabe

You flipped the back of the card over. Sure enough there was a school I.D. taped to the back. You pulled the card off and stared at it. The boy in the picture was handsome. He was tall. His height was 6’2”. You scoffed, at least you had good taste.

You saw his phone number at the bottom. You pondered over whether or not to call him, what would you even say to him? Where would he even fit in your life?

These were the questions that ran through your mind as you pulled your phone out and dialed his number. You stared at the numbers as you recited them aloud again. Your thumb hovering above the green button.

[tumbling-darkling]

Midnight Hang-Outs

This is a small crossover between Danny Phantom and DC! (Specifically Danny and Harley Quinn!) Following the prompts from Day 11 and 12 - Midnight and Scars (more of mentioned than revolving around it) Harley might be slightly ooc because I don’t read a lot of DC comics but maybe consider it more of like AU Harley Quinn. Mother hen. She feeds the vigilantes of Gotham on slow nights.

Harley glanced over to the boy sitting next to her on the rooftop of the Gotham Bank, she had been planning to break into it to draw out some fun with any nearby vigilantes but instead she had spotted the scrawniest looking glowing teen she’d ever seen. Well he was the only glowing teen she’d ever seen, but the poor kid was struggling against some freak in a white suit.

He had already devoured about 10 of the breakfast sandwiches she bought from a nearby 24 hour fast food joint, she couldn’t remember the name but her pal, Jeremy, always worked late shifts and gave her most of the grease filled wraps for free. Which she got a total of 20 and was beginning to worry that it wasn’t enough for this endless void. She thought she could calculate this kind of thing better based on Batsy’s kids, then again none of them had powers. That must be the factor throwing her off.

She glanced over him again, taking in his features for probably the hundredth time since she spotted him. White hair that gently wisped around his face like he was constantly underwater, pale blue-green skin with neon green freckles that sparkled like stars in the night, toxic green eyes that matched the freckles, flecks of blue hidden within the irises that shone in the right light. He hand pointed ears and little baby fangs, and his suit itself reminded her of the superheroes she’s faced before, but the material seemed all wrong when she got a closer look. It wasn’t spandex, or that thick armour like fibre that Batsy likes to use. She didn’t know what it was made out of. That flaming looking D was enough to hint at a superhero gig, like Superman and that ‘S’ on his chest. She didn’t care that it was supposed to be a symbol for hope, his name was Superman and that thing was an S, end of conversation.

The kid had taken off those gloves in order to eat, she didn’t blame him though, eating with gloves on was weird, and those white gloves would stain like a motherfucker. What caught her attention about it was the scars. Little one littered this kid's hands, and then there was a ligament scar coating his left hand. It was the brightest of all the scars, glowing slightly a wicked green as if he was still being electrocuted.

She turned her gaze back to the streets below, “So, what are you doing out this late?” She asked, avoiding sensitive topics like the scar. “It has to be way past midnight at this point.”

The kid glanced over to her, then shrugged, “had to chase Boxy all the way out here, the dude flies fast for a ghost obsessed in boxes.”

Harley glanced back over, noticing the kid now had finished the last of the sandwiches as he looked in the bag for more, shoving the garbage into it once he confirmed there was nothing left, “Boxy? Was that the freak in white?”

The kid shook his head, “nah, that was a government agent. G.I.W, or the Guys in White. Must’ve followed me, cornered me after I was already exhausted from chasing Boxy all over town. Boxy is the Box Ghost, blue ghost dude in overalls, fairly harmless but he can be a pain in the ass when he wants to be.”

“Want me to blow the rest of those agents up for you?” Harley asked, leaning closer while flashing a sinister grin.

The kid jerked back, “no! No it’s fine, just caught me off guard! I can handle them just fine, you don’t need to blow anyone up!” He squeaked out quickly, wildly waving his hands around. Harley couldn’t help but grin at the display, he reminded her a lot of Batsy’s kids. Energetic, good hearts (most of the time), think they can handle the world.

“So are you one of Batsy’s kids? Harley voiced her thoughts.

The kid blinked owlishly at her, “Batsy’s… you mean Batman? The Batman?”

Harley shrugged, “yeah, Batsy. He has quite a lot of them so I like to try and stay updated when he gets a new kid. You almost fit the bill, young teen, dark past, though the powers would be new.”

“How do you know I have a dark past?”

“Well, you said you were a ghost, right? Meaning you died and judging by your age, died before you even finished high school. I’d call that a dark past,” she kept out the lingering question of how he died, that wasn’t something you exactly ask someone when you first meet them. “So you aren’t one of Batsy’s kids?”

The kid shook his head, “nope,” he popped the p, “never even met the dark knight before. I barely visit Gotham, well anywhere if I can help it, I try to keep my problems in my home turf.”

“I see, you know what, I should’ve known better. Batsy would never let his kids run around this late anyway,” she hummed. “I did once see him chew a Robin out for fighting crime past his curfew, it got me arrested for sticking around to watch but boy was it worth it!” She laughed. She was surprised that Batman hadn’t gotten to this kid yet, anyhow. He didn’t always stick around Gotham ever since he joined that hero club, but that just meant that this dude had even more of a chance to find this kid. Must be dumb luck or something.

“Batman puts curfews on his sidekicks?” The kid asked, mouth agape.

“Well duh, the guy is all about the well-being of his kids. He has a no killing rule but he gets close to breaking it when one of his kids gets almost killed. He keeps them well fed, makes sure they sleep, I know because I can hear him from across rooftops at times and I fight enough of his kids to notice they aren’t skin and bones like you.”

The kid looked down at his ungloved hands, and she noticed him tracing the pattern of the ligament scar lightly with his other hand. His expression changed as he seemed to run through a series of thoughts before he spoke again, “why did you help me?” He asked, not looking up to meet her eyes, “you are a villain, right? You fight Batman and Robin, and other superheroes too if they face you. You know I’m not a villain, you said so yourself. So why help me? Wouldn’t it be better to just let a vigilante kid get knocked off so you don’t have to deal with him in future crimes?”

Harley felt her heart shatter, who the fuck hurt this kid like this? “I’m not some heartless bitch,” she said in a matter of fact tone, “you and all the teen sidekicks or vigilantes out there are still fucking kids. I have morals, and some villains don’t have the same morals as me, but seeing you getting kicked around by some freak in an alley where no one could see you? That kind of shit rubs me the wrong way. I fight teen heroes from time to time because I know they can handle it, they can fight back and I myself won’t stoop so low as to kill them if I manage to get in a few lucky hits.” She lightly nudged his shoulder, “and it’s not like you’ve personally wronged me or anything. I felt like being nice, helping out. You seem like a good kid, so why not help you out? Maybe one day I can call a favour and you can distract Bats while I kidnap the president?” She joked.

The kid looked up suddenly, sending his hair in rippling waves as he was giving her a wide eyed and the most worried look imaginable. She couldn’t help but let out another laugh, “I’m joking!” She clarified. “But I think we could have some pretty interesting game nights with Ivy. Not illegal game night, more like Uno or something. Maybe just a little gambling.”

The kid relaxed again, “well… uh… thanks. For helping me. And the food. And talking,” he rubbed the back of his neck, looking up at the sky.

“No problem, be sure to come visit again. Hey, maybe I can even introduce you to Bats at some point! Make a big show and pretend you are a villain and then BAM! Just kidding he’s just a glowing vigilante I helped out once!” She stood up, stretching her arms a little, “be sure to take it easy on your way to your home by the way, maybe take a nap or something on the way there.”

The kid nodded with a smile and stood up with her, then paused as shock filled his eyes and he spun quickly towards Harley, “Wait- how do you know I sleep-?”

Harley laughed, “well, I don’t think ghosts normally eat, so I’m assuming you sleep too,” she offered a soft smile, “just take it easy, and hey, if you ever find yourself in trouble.” Harley then pulled out a business card she usually kept for shits and giggles, handing over the poorly designed card to the kid, “know that you have a friend in Gotham who’s ready to help. And who knows how to get Batsy’s attention the fastest.” She winked.

The kid took the card, a confused grin tugging at his lips, “thanks. Hey, uh. I go by Phantom. Since I never really introduced myself.”

“Well Phantom, nice to meet you,” Harley grinned back.

[bastardsunlight]

8, 9, 10,12, 19, 25,26,30,39 (for 39--lao, hanzo, bi-han)

8. Did you have a muse you tried to play, but didn’t feel connected to? Android 17.

9. Did you have muse you tried to play, but ended up dropping for various reasons? (the rpc wasn’t active, you lost interest, etc) Yumeko Jabami—when I added her, I had a mutual who was uncomfortably obsessed with any anime-shaped girl who was his type (he wrote a female OC which was FINE, but the obsession made me kind of squirmy) and so I dropped her on the sly. Not one of my prouder moments, I admit.

10. Would you be interested in playing a crossover? if yes, do you have any limits? I don’t love crossovers, admittedly; I DO prefer to stay within the canon of a muse, if only because I have SO goddamn many of ‘em, which makes me flexible in THAT aspect. That being said, if the other character is an AU version of themselves, rewritten/adjusted to fit into mine’s canon or mine is an AU version for theirs, I’m much more comfortable. I don’t, in general, like writing “nonsensical” (chuck ‘em in and hope for the best) crossovers. My interest dies quickly, especially if I’m unfamiliar with the franchise.

12. What do you think about AUs? Very down with ‘em for most of my OCs, not so much with my canons. ZERO explanation [crumples up coffee shop and whips it out a window]. Maybe what it boils down to—again—is that I have so many characters from so many different types of worlds. If I can’t find one that fits, I’ve got OCs. For a lot of canon characters, they are a product of their environment: change that and you change them and you might as well be writing an OC—which is super awesome on its own, ye ken.

19. Do you have ship bias? Absolutely. If that means I favor certain ships for certain characters—yeah. Obviously that’s based mostly on how they’re portrayed in canon and stuff I’ve HC’d/observed, but shit, sometimes I just like how a certain user does A Thing™ and when we realize “yeah I want that”, it’s like magic.

25. Do you play smut? Do you play it only with characters you’re shipping with, or are you open for “one night stands”? I do indeed write smut. I’ve really only ever gotten the opportunity to do it with characters I’m shipping with ‘cause if you’ve gotten that far with me, it means we’re friends OOC and I’m way more likely to say yes to any propositioning for that kinda stuff. If there’s a logical, in-thread reason for characters to have a one night stand, I’d be down most likely. Thing is, I don’t play a ton of characters who’d even consider that an option—and the ones who do, aren’t doin’ it for great reasons, so if that kinda shit happens, prepare for ragerts and angst. [offers a life preserver in this trying time]

26. Are you multiship? I am, yes. Every ship is its own timeline and if it’s not, they’re successive. I might mention a previous relationship in a thread, but that’s just set dressing for whatever might be happening. I’ve got too many ideas for each character not to be multiship. Now, as stated earlier, I DO have biases—I’m just not exclusive.

30. What are your favorite RP tropes to play? (angst, hurt-comfort, etc…) Anything but basic domesticity (it’s gotta be weird and unexpected domesticity—I cannot elaborate; I barely know what I’m saying). I love writing fights. Oh and the classic “and there was only one bed”. Don’t know why that one gets me but it makes me both giggle and roll my eyes all in one go.

39. What’s a song that reminds you of your muse? Lao Hanzo Bi-Han

munday meme [pronounces it "may-may"]

[snelbz]

Reckoning and Retribution {5}

An A Court of Thorns and Roses, House of Earth and Blood, & Throne of Glass Crossover, Western AU fanfiction.

Based on a prompt sent in for the 4k follower contest {winner}, from Anonymous: “Ok hear me out: WILD WEST AU CROSSOVER”

A/N: Another chapter written with my love, @tacmc​.

Reckoning and Retribution Masterlist

Fanfiction Masterlist

My Ask Box

There weren’t many days Feyre didn’t have to be at the saloon, but even when she did, she tried to spend as much time as she could with her sisters. Nesta had left to run a few errands  before she had to report in to Maeve and she was sitting out back with Elain as she clipped the excess branches off of her rose bushes.

“I’ve never understood how you were able to make such beautiful flowers out of nothing but dust,” she said, gently brushing her finger over a soft petal.

Elain looked thoughtfully at the rose bush she was tending to. “I like to think we were all born with certain gifts. Perhaps this was mine.”

“Agreed,” Feyre replied, gently. “You seem happy this morning.”

“Shouldn’t I be happy?” Elain followed.

Feyre huffed a laugh. “You should, but I suppose I was wondering why. You keep humming a little song as you work. You never hum.”

Elain was quiet for a moment. “What is it you know of the new sheriff?”

“The new sheriff?” Feyre repeated. “Sheriff Whitethorn?”

“Yes,” she said, carefully. “He’s a very kind man, don’t you think?”

Feyre was left staring at her sister’s back. “I guess so… I haven’t really had much time to get to know him, personally.”

Elain hummed contentedly and continued pruning the roses. Feyre waited for a moment and then crossed the garden to sit next to her sister. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Elain murmured, shrugging. She found a couple of roses that were just shy of blooming and clipped back the foliage around it.

Feyre watched her sister, narrowing her eyes. “You never were a good liar.” 

Elain’s cheeks turned pink. “I just...I find him rather handsome.”

Feyre blinked. “Handsome? Who?”

Elain cleared her throat before stating, quietly, “Sheriff Whitethorn.” 

“Sheriff Whitethorn?”

“Are you going to repeat everything I say?” Elain asked, with a shy giggle. 

“Yes, so I can make sense of the words coming from your mouth,” Feyre said, but her voice was light.

“He just…seems like a good man, and I might like to spend time with him,” Elain admitted.

Feyre raised an eyebrow, picking up the spare shears and beginning to prune the neighboring bush. “I wasn’t aware you two had spent enough time together to determine whether or not he was a good man.”

Pretending not to notice her sister’s obvious snooping, she admitted, “He came by while I was at Azriel’s yesterday.”

“What was he doing at Az’s?”

“Inquiring about the bodies, of course,” Elain said, wiping her dirty hands on the towel hanging from the apron she wore tied around her waist. She’d learned long ago that without both a towel and an apron, she was bound to stain all of her skirts with dust, dirt and other unsavory things as she worked.

Feyre nodded, and asked a moment later, “And what did Azriel think of your interaction?”

With a shrug, Elain said, “He doesn’t know. He wasn’t there when the sheriff arrived. I answered what questions I could for him, though.”

After a beat of silence, Elain looked over to her sister. She was staring at her, chewing on her full bottom lip. “I don’t care for that look,” Elain murmured. “What?”

“Well,” Feyre asked, gently. “What about Azriel?”

Elain sighed. “What about him?”

“We all thought the two of you would end up married one day,” Feyre replied.

If Elain admitted it to herself, she thought they would have, too, but it seemed after years, Azriel either didn’t have the feelings whe thought he’d had or he wasn’t going to act on them. 

But the sheriff, he’d had no issue making his intentions clear.

“Azriel and I have always been close, but he has no intention of marrying me, Feyre,” Elain said, quietly, shaking her head. “If he intended to marry me, he would have by now.”

It was true. They were all beyond the age that their mother had hoped to see her daughters married.

Feyre opened her mouth to protest, but Elain charged on. “I admire Azriel, greatly, but perhaps he is not meant to be my husband, but only a great friend.” 

“And Sheriff Whitethorn is?” Feyre pressed.

Elain sighed, exasperated. “I am only saying that I would not protest to get to know him more. He is handsome, he is kind, he can surely protect me. I cannot stay in this house forever, Feyre. I want to be a wife. I want to be a mother.” 

Feyre couldn’t fault her for those wishes, she, too, wanted that one day. She just wasn’t sure if it would be in Rose Creek. “Just…be careful, please. He may seem to be a good man, but we’ve really only just met him, Lainy. There may be skeletons in the closet we don’t know.”

Elain nodded, beginning to cut full roses from the bush. She pricked her finger on a thorn more than once, but she didn’t stop. The small hurt was a part of her everyday life now. “I understand that, and I will. Believe it or not, I can protect myself, you know?”

Feyre refrained from telling her that she’d never shot a gun, much less used it when she had to. Instead, she said, “He usually comes into the bar on Thursday nights. Just so you know.”

Elain’s eyes lit up, as she realized what day it is.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

It had been a long morning and Cassian was near his breaking point. He had no help, had delivered a stillborn calf in the middle of the night, and had one too many glasses from the saloon the night before, which resulted in a constant, pounding headache behind his eyes.

Now, he had spent his morning working his land beneath the warm sun.

He was tired, frustrated, and wanting another glass of ale to keep his hangover at bay. 

A neigh broke him out of his inward moping. As he looked over at his horse, he arched a brow. “Yes?”

The mare huffed, shaking its head.

“I don’t need a break, I’m just fine,” Cassian muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Besides, it’s your stall I’m improving.” 

The lock had broken days before, and although he was certain (insert horse’s name here) would never leave her master, he felt better when the gate was secure.

Horseshoes slowly clip-clopped in the dust before Cassian was nudged in the shoulder. With a sigh, he looked into the face of his old friend. “Fine. A short break, but only because you won’t take no for an answer.” 

The horse’s stall wasn’t far from Cassian’s house, so he left her there as he crossed the vast landscape to where his little home sat.

Only to find that he had guests. 

Guests that he wanted as far from his property as possible.

“Can I help y’all with something?” He asked, stopping by the small steps leading up to his front door.

The couple turned and Maeve Alastair and Erawan Black looked him over from the dusty hat atop his head to the old, muddy boots at his toes. They couldn’t have kept the sneers off of their faces if they’d really tried. Cairn, Maeve’s hired muscle, leaned against one of the pillars keeping his roof in place, whittling away at a chunk of wood in his hands.

“Mr. Nazari, I don’t know if we’ve had the pleasure of a proper introduction,” Maeve crooned stepping forward, holding her hand out. “I’m Maeve Alastair.”

Cassian knew her very well. No matter how much he disliked the woman standing in front of him, his manners won out. “Nice to meet you, ma’am,” he said, shaking her hand. He tipped his hat to her companion. He hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting either Erawan or Hybern Black, but Aelin’s words from the previous weeks rang in his head.

This is a lot of damage for a person to inflict. This is brutal.

Of course it is. Because it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to scare the shit out of you, Cash.

If Aelin was right, the Black brothers were trying to run him off of his land, land that his family had owned, worked, and poured their blood, sweat, and tears into for three generations.

Over his dead body, he thought.

“We’d like to discuss a business proposition with you,” Erawan said, stepping forward. “Do you have a moment to talk to us?”

No, he thought, I really don’t. But he sighed and said, “Sure, come on in.”

He stomped up the stairs and entered the home, one of the largest ones in the small town. They followed him, Cairn included. “Can I offer you anything to drink? I don’t have much, but…” He held up his hands, gesturing around to his barren kitchen. The house may have been large, but that didn’t mean it was filled.

“No, thank you,” Erawan replied, and when Maeve nor Cairn said nothing, Cassian assumed that Erawan was answering for all of them. “We won’t be taking up too much of your time.”

“Very well,” Cassian said, leaning up against the wall of his den. “How can I help you all?” 

“We’ve been admiring your land for a while now, Mr. Nazari,” Erawan continued, his voice laced with a compelling drawl. “You see, we’re trying to expand our businesses and feel your land would be of great value to us.” 

Cassian took a deep breath so that he wouldn’t seem too eager to shut them down. “And what business is it that you’re hoping to expand?”

Cassian was fully aware of Maeve’s business and wanted nothing to do with it. 

“Is it necessary for you to know such a thing?” Erawan asked. His voice was light, but his eyes were hard. “Surely you simply want our money and nothing more.”

“I do not want your money, Mr. Black,” Cassian replied, simply. “And, you cannot buy my land, it is not for sale.”

“You won’t even entertain our offer?” Maeve said, laughing softly. Cassian got the distinct impression their first tactic was kindness, their second akin to childish bullying, and the third…

Well, if Aelin was right, he knew what the third would be.

“There’s no price I can put on this land,” he said, simply. “This has been Nazari land as far back as I can remember, and it will remain Nazari land if I have anything to do with it.” Erawan opened his mouth to say something else, but Cassian cut him off. “I don’t mean to be rude, but if that is all your visit was in regards to, I’ve got a stillborn calf to bury.”

The sickly sweet smile on her face didn’t match Maeve’s reply at all. “That’s a shame.”

“We’ll be in touch, Cash,” Erawan said, with a tip of his black hat.

The fact that he was calling Cassian Cash had him thinking that Erawan had certainly done his research on the rancher before stepping onto his land. 

“We’ll be in touch,” Cassian agreed, and tipped his hat as Erawan and Maeve slowly turned toward the door and back out into the bright afternoon. 

As Maeve followed Erawan out the door, she looked over her shoulder and said, “Do consider our offer, Mr. Nazari. We will pay generously.” 

Cassian nodded but said no more as Erawan and Maeve trekked back toward their carriage. 

He waited for their companion to make his way toward the door, as well, but the large man remained where he stood, just inside of the entryway. 

“Your party is leaving,” Cassian said, meeting Cairn’s eyes. “I’m sure you’d rather ride with them back to town than walk.”

“And I’m sure you’d like a nice little wife to take care of this place,” he said, taking another chunk of the wood out with his knife. The blade was too sharp and too long to whittle, so he took the presence of the man and his blade as what they were: veiled attempts to threaten him. “Too bad she’s a whore.”

Cassian’s nostrils flared as he took a calming breath. It was the only reaction he allowed.

“Well, that and the fact that she has no idea you exist.” He moved toward the door, toward the still open carriage he could see through his kitchen window. “I’ve never had my fun with her, I just might have to. Unless, of course, you consider Ms. Alastair’s offer.”

Cassian let no indication of his utter rage show, although his blood was boiling within his veins. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He lifted his chin as Cairn showed his unruly smile. “And you should know that I do not take well to threats, even if they’re pointless.”

“I can hold my own,” Cairn assured him. “I also keep my word, Mr. Nazari.” 

“I am going to politely ask you to leave my home,” Cassian said, trying to keep the growl from his voice. 

Cairn’s grin only widened, and it had Cassian sucking in a breath to keep himself calm.

“Very well,” Cairn said, at last. “Remember to consider Miss Alistair’s offer. I’ll come by in a few days to collect your final answer.”

“I’ve given you my answer, sir,” Cassian snapped.

The man tsk’ed a few times. “May want to reconsider that answer, then.”

Without another word, Cairn was out the door.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

The town was as dusty and dry as Rhysand’s letter has made it out to be. Hypaxia was glad for the clouds that blocked out the sun as she stepped out of the carriage that had brought her from Lunathion.

It was a bustling town, at least at this hour, even though small. Much smaller than Hypaxia was used to.

It was a charming change of pace. 

“Pardon,” Hypoxia said, reaching out to the first person she saw. “Could you point me to the saloon?”

The woman turned around, eyeing Hypaxia curiously. “Who’s asking?” 

“I was walking there myself,” the woman said, smiling brightly.

Even though that smile sent a chill down Hypaxia’s spine. 

“Care to join me?” she asked. “Miss…” 

“Enador,” Hypaxia supplied. “Thank you...”

“Miss Alastair,” the woman supplied. “Follow me, Miss Enador.”

Hypaxia inclined her head, and after she asked her driver to bring her bags to the inn she was staying in, she was walking by Miss Alastair’s side down the dusty road. 

“What business do you have at the saloon, Miss Enador?” Miss Alastair asked. When Hypaxia didn’t answer, Maeve went on, “You see, Miss Enador, I know everyone in this town. And I know, for certain, that you have never visited this town before today. At least, not since I have lived here. So, I will ask, once more, what business do you have here, Miss Enador?”

Hypaxia lifted her chin. “I am a doctor.”

“A doctor,” she said, looking at her with a judgemental eye. “You’re far too pretty to be in the medical field.” Hypaxia blinked as they continued walking, not even sure what to say. She didn’t have time, as they approached the stairs of the saloon. Miss Alastair continued, “Even so, what business would the doctor have at the saloon, Miss Enador?”

“A friend of mine wrote to me and explained that he knows of a girl who’s in some trouble and thinks she might be pregnant,” she said, removing her hat, allowing her mess of dark curls to fall loose. “I have come to confirm that pregnancy and help the young woman in any way that I can.”

Maeve’s footsteps began to slow. “A pregnancy?” 

Hypaxia gave a curt nod.

“With one of the girls at the saloon?” Maeve pressed.

Hypaxia stopped in her tracks and turned to meet Maeve’s gaze. “Surely you understand that I should not be speaking with you about such matters, Miss. There is such a thing as doctor and patient confidentiality.” 

For a moment, Maeve said nothing. Her silence made Hypaxia nervous. 

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave, Miss Enador.”

Hypaxia laughed, though there was no humor in the sound. “Excuse me?”

“I operate a business inside of these walls,” she said, walking past her, where she’d frozen by the doors. “In which case, I have the authority to bar entrance to whoever I wish from this establishment.”

With nothing to say, Hypaxia’s mouth fell open and she stared at the woman.

“Good day, Miss Enador. I hope you didn’t travel far just to waste your time.”

Entering the building, Maeve left her on the front porch and immediately found the eyes of the barmaid wiping glasses at one of the tables.

“Are you the little bitch who needs to mind her own business?” Maeve asked, pulling a cigarette from her purse and putting it between her lips.

Feyre lifted her chin. “Pardon?” 

Hypaxia stayed on the front porch, although she never entered the saloon. 

“Keep your eyes on the shit you’re cleaning,” Maeve snapped, lighting up her cigarette. 

Feyre’s eyes stayed in Maeve, her expression cold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Her dark eyes narrowed. “I do a service to your sister by allowing her to stay in your house, stay with you and that other sister of yours, when you all pay nothing for it. Tamper in my business again, and you may not regret it, but pretty, little Nesta will.”

“Just as you have a right to stop interference in your business,” Hunt said, coming down the stairs in the corner, “I have a right to tell you not to threaten my barmaid.”

Maeve’s eyes burned as she watched him descend into the main hall of the saloon. “And may I ask what you were doing upstairs, Mr. Athalar? Dabbling on the side?”

“Bringing drinks to your girls,” Hunt corrected, coming to stand behind the bar, next to Feyre. “Figured they’d be thirsty after enduring hell all night.” When Maeve’s gaze turned darker, Hunt said, “Don’t worry. I left the beverages on the table in the hall. Didn’t want to…disrupt anything that may have gone on all night.”

The distaste in his voice was obvious. 

“You’ll watch yourself, too, Mr. Athalar,” Maeve spat. 

Hunt’s jaw locked, but he said no more.

It was Feyre who said, in a perfectly calm voice, “Can I get you something, Miss Alastair?” 

Maeve looked at them both for a long moment, taking a drag from her cigarette before slowly shaking her head. “Just stay out of my business, and we won’t have problems.” 

With that, Maeve was up the stairs, leaving the brutish bartender and his headstrong barmaid on the level below.

She had a problem she had to handle and she needed to handle it fast. Before that doctor returned and Athalar allowed her to see the girls. She knew they were to blame, had no reason to believe otherwise, and she needed to find out which of her girls was expecting an unfortunate surprise in about eight months.

Pulling out the monthly calendar she kept locked in her desk drawer, she ran through the list of her girls, seeing who had and hadn’t alerted her of their monthly cycle. The few days a month of their cycle, they were allowed to be off. Not only could there be sanitary issues, but it gave the girls a reason to inform her of its arrival. It gave them a reason to want to tell her.

Running her finger down the list, she narrowed it down to three possibilities. She wouldn’t confront them tonight. No, it was too close to the time they needed to get ready. She couldn’t deal with emotional distress. Tomorrow, though, they’d be making a trip to Morath and having this little problem...taken care of.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Rhysand was sitting in his office when Hypaxia stormed in, looking perplexed. 

He was instantly sitting up, surprised. “Miss Enador? I wasn’t expecting you for another hour.”

“I arrived early,” she said, with a sigh. “And had an interesting greeting from, who I assume, is the owner of the brothel.”

Rhysand frowned as realization lit up his features. “Ah, Miss Alastair. Yes, she owns the brothel.”

Rhysand offered her the chair on the opposite side of her desk. She gladly accepted it. 

“We’ll talk business in a moment,” Rhysand promised, setting his cigar down on the tray on his desk. “First and foremost, how are you, old friend?”

“Old friend,” Hypaxia smiled, shaking her head. ‘That makes us sound old.” 

Rhysand huffed a laugh. “Not yet. Although, we’re getting there, I’m afraid.”

Hypaxia’s smile widened. “I’ve been good. Busy. And you?”

“Good, good,” he said, leaning back. “How is your mother? I last heard she was doing a bit better, after her fall.”

Her dark eyes fell slightly. “Unfortunately, she passed back in the spring. Nothing that I could do, with modern medicine, was helping. She eventually contacted a healer, from my grandfather’s tribe, but even her belief in the old spirits wasn’t enough to give her the strength to heal.”

Rhys leaned forward, his chair creaking under the weight. “I’m truly sorry, Pax. Your mother was a wonderful woman.”

“She was,” she said, returning his sad smile with a genuine one. “She was proud of what she’d accomplished in her life, bringing peace to these lands was something she was proud of to her last breath.”

Rhysand’s grandfather was the mayor of these lands when the Valbaran tribe attacked, claiming the land belonged to them, by right, passed down by late ancestors. The bloodshed lasted many years, and many lives were long on both sides, but Rhysand’s father, only months into his own tenure as mayor, before Hypaxia and Rhys were ever born, had signed a treaty with the leader of Valbarians, Hecuba Enador.

It was strenuous for a few years, small battles still breaking out here and there. Even some of their own friends and family had ended up in unexpected battles with Valbaran rebels during the war, taking advantage of their focus elsewhere. But finally, under Hecuba’s later rule, a true peace had fallen between them. Not a single attack had taken place in years. And thanks to Hypaxia’s graceful leadership once her mother passed, the calm seemed to be holding strong.

“I wish I could have seen her one last time,” he said, smiling fondly. “Said goodbye, pay my respects.”

Hypaxia only chuckled. “Don’t worry, Rhys. She knew you cared and spoke of you often.”

Rhysand nodded. He knew what it was like to have parents pass away. 

“So, when you sent me your letter, you said it was urgent,” Hypaxia began, the mood shifting.

Rhysand cleared his throat. “Yeah, one of Maeve’s girls believes she is with child. Maeve’s not exactly…forgiving when it comes to that.”

“Forgiving?” Hypaxia repeated. 

“She makes them terminate their pregnancies,” Rhysand said, looking down at his hands. “It’s only happened a handful of times, but it always ends up the same.”

“By the gods,” she breathed. “Does she give them a choice?”

Rhys said nothing, knowing that would be answer enough.

 “That’s just evil,” she whispered. Shaking her head, she asked, louder, “Who’s the girl? I didn’t give her a name, because I didn’t have one.”

“Thank the Cauldron for that,” he said. “That’s at least a blessing. She’ll have to figure it out for herself. Her name is Ansel. She’s one of Maeve’s busiest girls, in her early twenties. She has dark red hair, like wine.”

Nodding, Hypaxia pulled her notepad out and began writing the information down. “I intend to go back to the saloon tonight. If I see her, I’ll try to speak to her, discreetly. If I can’t, we’ll have to find a way to remove Maeve for about an hour tomorrow.”

Rhysand was nodding. “We can figure something out, if need be.”

Hypaxia drew in a deep breath. “So, this Maeve... Has she been in town long?”

“Too long,” Rhysand muttered. “Long enough to be successful and dangerous. She’s in cahoots with the Black brothers, both of whom have horrid reputations in this town and countless others. She’s bad news, Pax, so keep your wits about you when she’s around.” 

Hypaxia nodded, grimly. “I had a hunch she wasn’t exactly good news.”

“She has far too much power for someone in such a small town,” Rhys warned. “Dangerous connections and even more powerful allies.”

Again, Hypaxia nodded, understanding his worry. “I’ll be careful, I promise. Where is your doctor and apothecary? And the general store? I’ve got everything I’ll need, and a little extra, but more is always best.”

Rhysand cringed and his reply gave Hypaxia pause. “The general store is to the south, a couple streets over, the apothecary is next door.” He paused and cleared his throat. “We don’t have a doctor, or even a clinic in Rose Creek, I’m afraid.”

Hypaxia lifted a brow. “No doctor?” 

Rhysand shook his head with a heavy sigh. “Our last one left about five years ago. Been trying to get someone on and off to come here since I became mayor, just like my dad had to do when he was mayor. It’s like the position is cursed or something.” 

Hypaxia scoffed, good-humoredly. “Cursed? I don’t believe in curses.”

“You should,” Rhysand said, leaning back in his chair.

“Are you trying to tell me something, Rhys?” she asked, head tilted to the side. 

“I’m just telling you to keep your mind open,” he sang, and although his voice was light, he really meant it. 

Too much shit had gone on in the last few years for her not to be warned.

She kept her eyes on him for a minute longer than he felt comfortable with, as if she was stripping him bare, looking into his very soul, the good parts and the bad, and—

And then she nodded. “Very well, Rhysand, I’ll stay and open a practice here.”

He blinked, his violet eyes going wide. “You’ll what?’

“I’m going to stay and practice medicine for the people of Rose Creek.”

“Pax, we don’t have the money left in the budget for a salary—”

“I don’t want one, money is not an issue nor an incentive for me,” she interrupted. “I want to do this as a favor to a dear friend who reached out to me for help. I want to do this for Ansel, for her unborn child. I want to do this for the children that I’m sure you’ve lost to the illnesses that have ravaged our lands.” She saw a shadow pass over his eyes and knew she was correct. A tragedy for so many towns, so many families, who’d lost sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. It wasn’t always children, but they had been the one the virus clung to so desperately. She leaned forward and held out her hand. “I want to do this for the good people of Rose Creek. It’s the least they deserve, if what you’re implying is true, and there are dangers in these lands.”

“Trust me, old friend, when I tell you this,” Rhysand said, leaning forward and taking her outstretched hand. “I imply nothing and only speak of the truth.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

The saloon was in full swing.

The girls were down on the floor, making their rounds, and Feyre was pouring the drinks.

Hunt was behind the bar, his eyes scanning the horizon, waiting for something to go wrong. 

Rowan had never found much comfort in the bar, but it was different when Elain Archeron walked through the bar. She was so poised, so wild-eyed and innocent, that Rowan couldn’t help but find her intriguing. 

No, she was not the typical woman that Rowan went for, but maybe that was the point. 

She was sitting with Azriel Draeven and Cash Nazari and a few of their friends, but she didn’t seem interested in their company in the slightest. Not when every time he’d glance her way, she was just doing the same. It became so frequent that he nearly blushed at one point. He’d almost  built up the nerve — and proper alcohol consumption — to go speak to her, when Lorcan dropped into the chair next to him.

“This place is ridiculous,” he muttered.

“What’s got you in bad spirits?” Rowan asked, taking a gulp from his class. 

“Who says I’m in bad spirits?” Lorcan mumbled. 

Rowan just snorted and shook his head. Since Lorcan’s arrival, he’d been helpful, but stubborn and grumpy as shit. As the years went on, that fact remained the same. 

Rowan looked back across the floor at Elain, who smiled and quickly looked away, cheeks tainted pink.

“Really?” Lorcan mumbled. “The tombstone gardener?” 

Rowan’s eyes snapped back to Lorcan. “Pardon?”

“She’s too…” Lorcan paused as he searched for the word. “Sweet,” he finally decided.

“She’s too sweet for me?” Rowan asked, trying to understand his friend, but also to not take offense at his words. He didn’t deserve sweet?

“You know what I mean,” Lorcan said, taking a swig from his glass, even though Rowan really didn’t. “Too proper, sophisticated.” Another drink and he added. “Polite. That’s not the type of woman we take to bed, Ro, and do you know why that is?”

Before Rowan could reply, Lorcan forged ahead. “It’s because she’s not looking for someone to warm her bed, Rowan. She’s looking for a husband, to settle down.”

For a moment, Rowan said nothing, pondered Lorcan’s words. Finally, he asked, “Who said that’s not what I’m looking for?”

Lorcan just stared at him for a long moment, his glass halfway to his mouth. “You want to settle down?”

“Is settling down so bad?” Rowan shot back.

“You want a wife?” He said the last word with a hefty amount of disdain. 

“There is nothing wrong with settling down, Lorcan,” Rowan sighed. “And, there is nothing wrong with marriage.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Lorcan mumbled, downing the rest of his glass. 

Rowan wasn’t going to argue. Lorcan thrived on arguments. Instead, he nodded across the room. “What have you gathered about Arobynn Hammel?”

Lorcan’s gaze followed Rowan’s across the room. Arobynn Hammel sat at a table full of people, laughing and drinking and having a grand ole time. On his lap was a pretty one, one of Maeve’s girls.

Lysandra, Rowan knew.

He blew out a breath as he sat up, finally removing his hat and placing it on the table in front of them. “Not shit. The man’s secrets have secrets.” Rowan looked over at him. “I’ve sent a telegram to Fenrys, asking him to look through the criminal archives covering Adarlan, Prythian, Terrasen, and Lunathion back in Wendlyn. If we’re gonna find anything on him, it’ll be from there.”

Rowan leaned back in his chair and said, “I don’t need to know every detail, just the basics. Who he is, what does he do for a living, where’s he from?”

Lorcan was already shaking his head before Rowan had finished his sentence. “That’s what I’m saying, I haven’t been able to find out a damn thing, save for his name.”

Rowan slowly nodded, processing. “I don’t like how close to Maeve he is. I want to find out why he’s in Rose Creek.”

“Done,” Lorcan said, tipping his glass back and emptying his glass.

“You want another one?”

Lorcan turned, the pretty, little barmaid standing next to their table, a large stack of empty glasses in home hand, and empty plates in the other. He didn’t hide the way his eyes ran over her corset-less waist and loose hair. “Yes. One for him, as well.” He jerked his head towards Rowan.

“No,” Rowan said, shaking his head. “Just the one.”

Lorcan ignored him. “Two more and two shots of Busthead.”

She nodded and was off.

“Asshole,” Rowan muttered.

After dropping their drinks off, Feyre was back around the room, making her rounds. She, of course, checked on everybody, taking glasses and cleaning tables off, but she kept ending up at a certain table.

“Ruhn Danaan, I should have known,” Lorcan grumbled, looking over at the table where Feyre’s fingers were running down Ruhn’s forearm. 

“Have something against him?” Rowan muttered, fiddling with his new full glass, although he didn’t drink from it.

“He walks around this town with a piss-poor attitude,” Lorcan grumbled.

Rowan lifted a silver brow. “And that’s different from how you walk around...how?” 

A boot was reaching across beneath the table and hitting Rowan in the shin. 

Feyre was refilling Ruhn’s drink, yet again, even though he had hardly drunk out of it.

The spark in Danaan’s eyes was decidedly not one of purely friendship, so Feyre’s flirtatious touches were clearly welcome. An obnoxiously drunk man in the corner laughed, and Ruhn’s attention left the pretty barmaid and he turned. So did Lorcan.

Duke Perrington, one of the most foul men in Rose Creek, was among some of his friends, all four rip-roaring drunk, lost in the middle of a poker match. Ruhn’s younger sister sat on his lap, the empty look in her amber eyes one of practiced dedication. She’d been under Maeve’s control for years, Rowan and Lorcan had learned. She knew how to empty her mind and pretend she was anywhere but the present.

The men looked back to Danaan, at the barely concealed rage on his face. Rowan took a moment to look around the room.

Ruhn’s companions were with him, Aelin’s cousin as well, all still covered in the dirt of the mines from their day. Aelin was with Elide Lochan, not far from he and Lorcan, but the resident pain in his ass had not looked his way once.

No, she was focused solely on Arrobyn Hammel.

Arrobyn was still sitting with that stupid little grin on his lips, his arm slung around Lysandra’s waist. Lysandra laughed at every little thing that came from Arobynn’s mouth, although the light of her bright smile never reached her eyes. 

Rowan didn’t know the whole story, nor was he sure he wanted to. He had seen enough of Maeve’s business to know that he wanted to keep far away from it, for a handful of reasons, the fact that Maeve treated these girls like shit and kept them working under unforgivable debts at the top of the list. 

That, and the fact that Rowan believed that paying for sex, especially from someone who didn’t want it, was one of the worst things you could do as a man. 

He looked back to Aelin, at the hatred in her eyes. 

He looked back to Arobynn, and found the need to kick his ass.

“She’s looking at you again,” Lorcan muttered.

Rowan’s eyes shot across the room, to where Elain was watching him with the smallest of smiles.

Even though his own shy smirk was involuntary, Rowan wasn’t sure why his eyes fell back on Aelin Galathynius when Elain blushed and looked away.

Across the room, Feyre stopped at another table. Nesta was sitting on the lap of a young man, who barely looked old enough to be in the bar, much less to purchase time with one of Maeve’s girls. The older man, with him, sneered at Feyre as she paused in front of them. “Everyone okay over here?”

Neither of them noticed she wasn’t looking at them when she asked the questions. Nesta’s tight-lipped smile was her only reply.

“Another ale,” the man said, looking away and writing her off.

Walking away, Feyre said, “Of course,” and as she was heading back for the bar, an arm reached out and grabbed her.

A friend of Perrington’s, Cain, smirked up at her. He looked towards the bar, towards Hunt, and said, “Tell that dishonorable piece of shit behind the bar to get me a whiskey. On the house.”

From where Ansel stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders, her eyes went wide, but she trained her face back into the happy whore she was expected to be.

The man was drunk, she knew it, but she didn’t take kindly to people thinking less of Hunt for his past or the decisions he’d made. “Tell him yourself, if you’re so inclined,” she spat, ripping her arm from his hand.

He stood, grabbing her wrist again, and Feyre lifted her chin. “Aren’t you meant to be this bar’s little whore?”

Feyre’s body tensed, and those around them began to quiet, intrigued by the scene playing out. 

Ansel’s hand slid up Cain’s arm. “How about we go find a corner and I’ll ease your frustration.”

Feyre appreciated what she was trying to do, but she hated that Ansel had to do it. Hated men like the one before her, who paid for girls like Ansel who had zero control over their own lives. 

“Back off, whore, I’m taking care of an issue,” Cain said, shrugging Ansel off as he took a step closer to Feyre, whose wrist he still grasped. 

“If you wish to talk to the bartender, you may tell him yourself,” Feyre spat, repeating her words from before. “Now, let go of me.” 

“I will,” Cain said, his voice low. “Now, go tell your master to get me a whiskey. On. The. House.”

“You’re drunk,” Feyre hissed. “Careful or we’ll throw your ass out of here, and you won’t be welcomed back.”

Cain’s head tilted to the side. “Is that a threat?”

Feyre only smiled up at him. “It’s a promise.”

She tugged her arm back once more and began to walk away when blinding pain exploded all around her and Feyre cried out. Cain yanked her back by her hair, throwing her down on the floor  and stood over her. Heavy footsteps pounded on the wooden floor and Feyre looked up just in fine to see Ruhn’s fist connect with Cain’s jaw. The man must have been anticipating it, even though he did stumble backwards, because he was swinging back right after.

“Ruhn, stop!” Bryce cried, as Perrington was on his feet.

“Ruhn,” Feyre breathed, trying to scramble back up onto her feet.

A shot rang out, the bang! echoing in the room.

Everyone froze, the music died down., 

Feyre couldn’t breath, was terrified as she looked up at Ruhn. Ruhn, who was perfectly fine, who was looking down at Feyre with wide eyes, then back up again, across the saloon. 

Duke Perrington stood with his gun out.

The gun was pointed at Ruhn.

He must’ve been trying to break up the fight, Feyre thought, and as she looked back at Ruhn, she reexamined every inch of his body.

No. He was alright. He was safe.

A gasp broke Feyre out of her thoughts, and she looked over to Ansel.

Ansel, who brought her pale, porcelain hand to her ribs, where it was quickly coated in blood.

She fell to her knees, her breathing quick and shaking.

“Ansel, breathe,” Feyre said, hurrying to her side and catching her before she slumped to the floor. “Keep breathing.”

Someone screamed for a doctor and Rowan and Lorcan were already dragging Cain and Perrington away, Aelin hurrying over to drop in her knees beside Feyre.

Ansel’s breathing was becoming a wet rasp and her eyes were already fluttering shut.

“Ansel, honey, I need you to keep your eyes open,” Aelin said, softly smacking her cheek, trying to keep her awake. If she let her eyes fall shut, both women knew they wouldn’t open again.

With a hard swallow, Feyre knew the doctor someone was rushing to find would never make it in time. There was nothing to do to stop the death looming over them in that moment. Not only the death of an innocent girl who deserved better than this, but of the baby in her womb.

[thegunrafeusedtoshootpeterkin]

A WILD GOOSE CHASE an outer banks and marvel crossover series

This series will contain mature themes such as language,Smut,gore,violence and mentions of abuse so if your underage or this is triggering to you please don’t read this.

Also this is an Au where Topper and Rafe aren’t evil little shits and everyone’s alive

“Your staking our entire fucking careers on a wild goose chase,Fury?Really?first the accords now this bullshit-“Steve was interrupted by Fury. “I know the accords was pretty rough even I’ll admit that but this isn’t a wild goose chase,Steve. If you would’ve let me finish the royal merchant and all it’s gold has been found but there’s some missing pieces.Ward Cameron and Luke Maybank after the gold was found they went completely off our radar and hydra’s with that being said that’s where we come in.” Fury continues his lecture while 3,000 miles away from New York City Y/N and her best friends get ready for midsummers.

“Dude,I’m fucking telling you it’s weird as hell man. He just up and left-“ JJ is cut off by you. “Are you happy he’s gone?” You say voice laced with frustration because he’s supposed to be helping you get ready for midsummers. “Well yeah but-“ You cut JJ off again. “Well it’s a gift from god now which dress the blue or the red?” You say holding up two scandalous dresses that Topper bought for you. “The red one because I want the blue one.” JJ grumbles. “Good boy.” You say winking at him noticing the blush that spreads across his cheeks. “Fuck off,Rafe’s little Princess.” JJ says sticking his tongue out at you so you throw a hanger at him. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry, MoMmA!” JJ says loud and high pitched voice mocking Topper and now your chasing him around your room. 3,000 miles away back in New York City.

“Ok,Ok lemme get this straight we are staking our careers on a bunch of teenagers?” Tony says voice laced with regret. “Wouldn’t be the first time.” Peter mumbles under his breath having flashbacks to the fight they had over the accords. “What was that, petey?” Wade says with a shit eating grin on his face. “Oh nothing.” Peter says turning bright red. “Oh I thought you said something hmm must’ve been a ghost then.” Wade says giggling. “There not teenagers,Tony. There adults.” Fury states giving everyone wry looks. “The youngest is 19!19!” Steve exclaims. “The oldest is 24...25 sorry.” Wanda says rolling her eyes. “You guys do realize I was fucking 16 when I started web-slinging right?”Peter says staring at them in disbelief. “Yeah but that’s different you have super strength there civilans.” Steve says thinking he did something. “You do fucking realize I can literally die on any mission we go on right? I’m just as much of civilian as they are but whatever you say boo.” Peter says rolling his eyes at Steve. “Look at Peter finally speaking his mind. Where was this energy when flash was bullying you?” Wade says laughing at the joke he just made only to get a bunch of pointed looks. “What to soon?” Wade says shrugging. “We could really use these kids they found the royal merchant and they grew up around Ward and Luke.” Fury states mentally face palming at the fact he just called them kids his self. “Well if we need them what are we waiting for let’s suit up.”Steve states.

Alrighty I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. DM me if you wanna be apart of my tag list. @popeheywards @msgorillagripcoochie

[heyyyharry]

My Girl: Harry is too tired so Y/N reads to him

(a My Girl and In Another Life crossover)

AU: actor!Harry, older!Harry, younger!Y/N, childhood best friends, friends to lovers.

Word count: 1.5k

GUYS! I JUST REACHED 7 THOUSAND FOLLOWERS!!! YAYYYYYYY! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FOLLOWING ME 💖 

ENJOY THIS BLURB!

More on my Patreon!

.

“So you haven’t done your homework and now I have to do it?” She dropped the book to her stomach, glaring at him. He was paid to read a book; she wished her job was that interesting.

“I’m playing the main character in the movie adaptation,” he had explained. “I was supposed to read this during the weekend but I’ve been too busy, and the deadline is tomorrow but I can’t find the audiobook.”

“Then read it yourself. It’s not that long.” Not to brag but she’d read books twice as long in one night. He’d be fine.

“I haven’t slept in almost two days, Bambi,” he had said. “If I read now, I’ll fall asleep.” It was true, though. He could fall asleep anywhere anytime if he was too tired. It was a gift and a curse at the same time.

Now he was lying on his side, an arm folded under his head, lazy green eyes boring into her as he pouted. “I used to help you with your homework, Bambi.”

“It’s not even the same thing,” she said, shaking the book above his face. “I have to read all of this tonight. Out loud.”

He flipped onto his stomach and clasped his hands in front of his nose — puppy dog mode activated. “Please, baby, please. I’ll be good," he pleaded. "I’ll do anything you say. Just help me this once.”

“Manipulative.” She weakly slapped his cheek, a smirk tugging at her lips, then she stared at the ceiling and groaned loudly. “Fineeee. I’ll do it.”

“Yay!” He clapped like a seal and drew her closer, kissing her jawline. “Tomorrow I’ll do anything you say. I promise.”

“Psst, I don’t need your promises. You always do everything I say. Often more.”

“Best boyfriend ever.”

She sneered at his own praise and circled her arm, which he lay his head on, around his neck to hold up the book. “This feels like reading a bedtime story to a kid,” she laughed as he nuzzled her chest.

“I’m a kid.” He grinned up at her.

“So you get to call me ‘kid’ every day and when you want to get spoiled you’re suddenly a kid?”

He shushed her with a finger to her lips and said, “Save your voice, baby.”

She shook her head as he snuck a hand under her shirt — his shirt — and cupped her breast. He always did that when he was bored. It didn’t have to be sexual; he simply loved fondling her breasts.

“Start now, Audiobook,” he commanded.

She sighed, flipped the page and cleared her throat as she began. “Chapter 1. The Painting…

“They said in London, you were never far from a museum…”

.

.

.

“Oh my God, I got it, I got it!” Harry grabbed her arm, shaking slightly so she would stop reading and look at him.

She’d thought he’d already read the script. As it turned out, he’d only received the script for the first few scenes. The director wanted the cast to read the actual book and visualised what happened next using their own creativity. Harry would stop her after every chapter to tell her something she’d already figured it out, and she never complained because he looked like an excited puppy.

He glanced up, chin on her arm, giving her a discovering kind of smile. “My guess is that Edward was the one who killed Ann. She’d trusted him but he’d chosen his throne over her. So she put a curse on him so he’d know what it’s like to lose her over and over again. They fall in love in every lifetime, and he never actually has her. He’ll never have her again.” Then, his face turned wondering. “Would you have done that to me back then if you were a witch?”

“Bold of you to assume I’m not a witch.”

His lips stretched wide as he pinched her chin. “Answer the question, kid.”

“I wouldn’t.” She shook her head assertively. “Which is why I think you’re wrong. Either Edward wasn’t the one who killed Ann, or she wasn’t the one who put the curse on them, or both. I wouldn’t want to die over and over again for someone who doesn’t love me.”

“But I loved you back then,” he whispered and pressed his nose into her cheek. “I always have.”

“I didn’t know back then, so it didn’t count.” She stuck up her chin, eyes narrowed at him.

He grinned. “That’s why I have to tell you I love you every five minutes to make up for it. I’m romantic as hell but you call me annoying.”

“You’re a little bit annoying,” she said with a matter-of-fact tone. “Annoying people make their girlfriends read a whole book to them.” She shook the book above their faces, which made him cackle.

“You’re not nice to me so don’t expect me to be nice to you.” He tickled her nipple and she smacked his arm, but it was more like a playful push.

“Now shut up so I can continue.”

“Yes, ma’am.” His dimples reappeared.

When they reached half of the book, they took a short break. Harry had to pee and she had to drink water, her throat was itchy as hell. When they returned to the bed and made themselves comfortable – she lied on her back, holding the book above her chest as he curled up next to her, head on her arm – she cleared her throat and started reading again, her voice noticeably croaky.

He twirled a strand of her hair around his finger and tugged gently to get her attention.

“You know the rule, H,” she said without looking at him. “You have to wait for me to finish before you comment.”

“I actually want to say that you don’t have to continue.”

Her gaze jumped to his face. “Are you tired already?” she asked, slightly perplexed.

“No, but you are.”

“I’m not.”

“You’ll have a sore throat tomorrow because of me, babe.”

“Then so be it,” she huffed stubbornly. “I have to know how this ends. We’re not quitters, Harry Edward Styles.”

“You’re not. I am.”

“No, you’re not. My boyfriend is not a quitter.”

He giggled as she leaned down to kiss his forehead before laying her head back so she could continue where they’d left off.

At chapter five, the main characters finally kissed. She and Harry started cheering like they were watching it on the kiss cam at a sporting event.

At chapter seven, she had to stop halfway to release a long frustrated breath. The antagonist Lillie/Emilié kept getting in the way of the main characters. She felt like Emilié could be Ruby in another life; the thought made her skin crawl.

“Edward is an asshole,” Harry scoffed as she flipped the page to chapter eight.

“No, he’s not,” she argued. “He loves her. It was different back then. A prince had to marry a princess.”

“If I were him, I’d grow some balls and run away with Ann.”

She didn’t comment, only gave him a fond smile and continued.

At chapter eight, shit hit the fan. She completely forgot the fact that she was reading the story out loud. She couldn’t look away from the page or stop for a water break even when her throat was achingly dry. She had to know how this ended.

“Holy shit, I was right! I was right!” She jolted upright when the big secret was revealed and accidentally hit Harry’s head with her elbow. He groaned like a sad puppy and she apologised, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

By the time they finished the book, a new day had begun. She gulped her water, put the empty glass on the nightstand and flopped back down on the bed, lying head to head with him. Instead of going to sleep so he wouldn’t look weary on his first day on set, they lay wide awake and discussed the story. They were satisfied with the ending, though Harry felt so bad for the dead character he’d almost cried at that part. Maybe she should stop telling him to watch Game of Thrones.

“One last thing,” she said as he turned off the light. Her eyes were barely used to the dark so she could only feel him snuggle closer to her, almost resting half of his body on top of hers, one hand under her shirt.

“Don’t fall in love with the actress who plays Ann like you did with the character.”

“Bambi.” He shook with quiet laughter. His voice was barely above a whisper as he replied, “I imagined you as Ann. I can’t fall in love with a different face.”

“Then don’t imagine my face when you kiss the fake Ann,” she giggled.

When he hmmmed, she could hear the smirk in his voice. “You know I never imagine your face during my kissing scenes. I only want to feel that magic when I’m really with you.”

Then, it was quiet again; he’d drifted off as soon as he finished. In his sleep, he kept asking if she wanted to run away with him.

[blewink]

Two Meant To Be //kth

Chapter 1

warnings: honestly nothing really happens this chapter but yknow, richasfuck!reader, richasfuck!taehyung, everyone is richasfuck! ,college!au, eventual smut, skz x bts x twice x red velvet x blackpink (it’s just one member of each group so it’s not as big as it looks)

a/n: this is a pretty big project for me and also a really big crossover. this chapter is more of an intro to the characters so nothing really happens but it was super fun to write. i hope y’all like it- blue 💙

p.s IM FINALLY WRITING ABT MY ULT NENDB

From the outside in, it seemed like you the perfect life, and you’ll admit, you did for a while. You had the perfect friend group and you guys had been friends since highschool too. You had the perfect boyfriend, emphasis on had. You had plenty of money to go around since you had earned many scholarships and started your jewlery business, which had recently taken off. Your friends we also doing really well financially and academically. It really seemed like you were finally taking control of your life, and you were the happiest you had been in a long time. That was, until you caught your boyfriend cheating on you.

After the breakup, you had become massively insecure of yourself and unsure of your path in life. It felt like your life had been completely turned upside down. But, your friends were there to help you through it. If you had describe your best friends, you would call it a healthy balance. Your friend group consisted of four boys and three girls. The boys consisted Chan, Taehyung, Jimin and Namjoon. You had been friends with Namjoon since middle school so you were bound to become friends with his friends eventually. The girls consisted of your best friends Dani, Mina, Wendy, and Jennie. You had been friends with your girls since highschool and once you found out all of you had been accepted to the same college, including Namjoons friends, you spent the summer together and got closer than ever.

You didn’t meet your boyfriend Lucas until your freshman year. When you met him, you thought you had met the man of your dreams. He was respectful of you, he didn’t create problems between your friends like some of your previous relationships. But most of all he showed you that he loved you, more than anyone had ever shown you before. That in its self was what made you fall in love with him. You felt like you were going to marry that boy, that was until the night you came home early and found your boyfriend in bed with another girl.

You were currently at the cafe in you school with your girls. After a full five days to process what had happened, you decided to pour your feelings out to your friends. “I just don’t understand what had happened between us.” You let out a sigh before taking a sip of your iced coffee.” It felt like we had so much connection and passion for each other. A whole years worth of love and trust just completely down the drain for another girl. I will admit, I have been pretty busy for the past 3 months, from working on my business and my classes. We haven’t exactly been, you know, getting it on.” You groan and let your had fall into your hands. Jennie was quick to say something, “Girl! You don’t have time to be sulking over a boy. You’re a badass and you don’’t need a boy to keep you happy. Plus, my birthday is this weekend and were going on the trip to New York and you’re gonna meet so many cuties.” You pause for a second,“Oh shit.” Your eyes go wide and you stop drinking your coffee. “What? Don’t tell me you forgot,” says Jennie. You bite your lip out of embarrassment and nod your head. Jennie lets out a small giggle before saying, “come on, Mina’s been planning this for weeks” You shake your head, “I know, I know. I’ve just been in my head for a while.” Mina is quick to respond, “It’s okay. I know you’ve been busy, you don’t have to come if you’re not ready.” “No it’s okay I’m gonna go. I’m okay now, just needed to rant and talk about it out loud.” You give Mina a small smile.

You realized how lucky you to just drop everything and take a casual trip to New York, but you didn’t grow up like that either. You grew up in an upper middle class family and you didn’t exactly financially struggle. But once you came to college and started your jewlery business, lets just say your class had gone up. Your girlfriends on the other hand had always been bit of the higher class, in other words, they were rich. Their parents being successful and big named people in all kinds of industries, they were just lucky to have been born into it. You always liked that they didn’t fluaunt their money and shove it into everyone’s faces. You had become somewhat immune to sudden or surprise trips to big cities. Knowing Jennie and Dani, you were probably gonna do some shopping today. Then, as if she read your mind, Jennie asks, “so do yall wanna go shopping or?” You all collectively nod in agreement, and get up to leave the cafe.

When you had all gotten to the mall, you decided to split up into pairs and you were now walking around with Jennie. You had first became friends with Jennie back in middle school and you were closest with her. You had seen the dozens of boys who practically threw themselves to her feet and yet she was the only single girl of the group (besides yourself.) You asked her a while ago why she never settled down with a boy and she responded with, “Boys give me attention and I like the attention but they dont give me love. I don’t want to settle for the bare minimum. I realize how many boys I could have dated and had an actual relationship with, but I don’t feel anything with them.I know I deserve love and I know i’ll meet someone, just maybe not yet. Plus the hook ups can be pretty great sometimes.” Sometimes you wish you could be as careless as her.

You guys were on your way to the stationary store to buy some stickers and other cute stationary things when Jennie blurts out, “You know. Tae has been eyeing you for sometime now.” You laugh because she has to be playing with you, but when you look over to see her serious face, you say, “That’s not possible. He doesn’t see me like that.” Jennie shakes her head, “I’m being serious!” You laugh and let her continue. “Last night I woke up and went to the kitchen and I heard him and Jimin talking about you. He was saying how you looked really good at Wendy’s party the other week and how he was gonna beat Lucas’s ass for hurting you. I think he’s gonna try to make a move on you this weekend.” You guys had now reached the store and you felt confused with what Jennie was telling you. “Jennie, friends can say that about each other. Plus, don’t you remember before I dated Lucas, Tae and I were flirting with each other and then it just stopped?” Her face turns into confusion, “Yeah, what ever happened with that?” You reach into the depths of your memory, remembering that time in your life. “Well one day, Tae just stopped flirting back and I didn’t see any reason to trying at something that wasn’t going to happen.” Jennie wasn’t about to drop all hope and she persisted, “Time has passed y/n, you of all people should know that emotions can change over time.” She gives you a face as she looks at you over a shelf in the store.

You didn’t want to think of what could have been or even of Taehyungs handsome being. Wait what? Now that Jennie had planted the idea in you mind you weren’t sure what to think anymore. “Jennie, you’re making me confused. I don’t need this right now.” She sighed, “Right. What you really need is Tae to give you some good dick.” You felt your face go red and the thoughts of Taehyungs bare body against yours flooded your mind. Jennie lets out a small scream, “YOU DO LIKE HIM!! I KNEW IT!” Groaning out of embarrassment, you grab Jennie’s hand and walk out of the store. “Okay fine. I have thought about him a couple times, even when I was with Lucas. But, I don’t want to ruin the relationship we have.” Jennie’s face softens, “Hey I know. I don’t want you to get hurt but I want you to at least try to start something with Tae. I wouldn’t give you false hope, you know that right?” You nod and promise to try. “Now please let me get some cute stuff, I need to keep my aesthetic going and now I have to actually try to look cute for someone.” Jennie laughs and agrees, taking your hand and enterlacing your fingers together and continued shopping.

[hyotenhyakkaso]

LETS TALK ABOUT VERSES

Verses: (Alphabetical order)

A Place In This World Verse: Jou’s babu years to just before he joined a gang

Number One Verse: Bleach verse lmao 

Did It To Myself Verse: UNKNOWN FASJLDFKADS J

Everybody’s Lonely Verse: Jou’s alone in the world and questioning himself and every relationship he’s had. He figures he’s better off alone and everyone’s fine without him so after a vacation he decides to disappear for good. Leaving no trace or evidence that he’d been there at all, like he’s been erased from existence altogether.

Every Heart Verse: InuYasha Au

 Fly away Verse: Breath of the wild Au 

Hiding In Your Hands Verse: (Main Verse): Jounouchi Katsuya is a part snow leopard due to unfortunate circumstances in his childhood. The rest is history however. ..... Yet, while the Duel monsters world is safe, the real world is not. Jou takes it upon himself to make sure that gang activity doesn’t skyrocket and take down those he sees as a threat to the population. He also adopts four children, Pit, Dark Pit, Jaden and Nimue. Finds a brother in Sora and a sister in Elsa and Anna. His life is weird but its his.

Icarus Verse: Jou works for Kaibacorp for shits and giggles and messes with Seto. He thinks they’re friends while Seto is trying to get used to this. (Exclusive Kaibacorpbros verse)

Killing Time Verse: Literally just crossover verses lmao

Leave Out All The Rest Verse: Oops, Jou fell too deep into his gang life again, he becomes a gang leader and eventually dies from it. He’s shown that he does have loved ones that love him back. The spirit that helps him lets him turn back the clock and fix whatever mistake he made. Endless loop until he figures out what he did wrong and how to fix it. 

Loser Baby Verse: Everything from  the original deleted blog falls into this verse unless stated otherwise.

Mr Sandman Man Me A Sand Verse: Absolute crack/chaos

Never Get Used To People Verse: Insane Jou au????? Maybe??????

Ready Steady Go! Verse: Fullmetal Alchemist Au (Will eventually be fleshed out when I figure out wtf is going on)

See Me Through Verse: Kingdom Hearts Au taking place in canon. Between the regular villain of the month episodes, Jou’s fighting his own monsters. Literally! Set with his keyblade Starset, he tries 

Thank You, Next Verse: He fully comes into himself in this au and quits the gang life for good. He goes to college and goes into car manufacturing business. 

Who is In Control? Verse: Jou never leaves his gang leader position, never makes friends with Yugi or Tristan and eventually becomes a bigger problem than Hirotani. No one’s sure who is worse, their previous leader or their current one. The blonds tendency to get himself into danger more often than not nearly get him killed on a regular basis. And he’s starting to realize he doesn’t care if he does.

Verses I’m not sure fall into the above categories or into their own categories: (To be discussed with muns)

Right Here Verse: Exclusive verse with Mutogamingco

Be Somebody Verse: Exclusive Verse with Game-weaver

I’d Lie Verse: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I dunno yet but its like- Exclusive verse with Dungeondicediva

Lullaby for a stormy night Verse: He pretty much unofficially adopts Pit and Dark Pit as his sons and raises them alongside a goddess- (Yeah he’s questioning himself too but he wouldn’t change it)

  Shipping Verses: 

Monster Verse: Exclusive shipping verse for atlantis-prince. However this also contains Atem’s, Mai’s, Joey’s and other’s fights with Jou about getting together with the evil boi. I need to start containing this to this verse, its starting to bleed into other verses- Namely Hiding In Your Hands. 

Must Have Been The Wind Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with Darkheartedprince (?)

Once In A Dream Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with Soraofdestinyislands

The Drug In Me Is You Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with Thiefakefia

Watermelon Sugar Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with Lightheartedwarrior

You Can’t Fight the Moonlight Verse: Exclusive shipping verse with World-duelists: ~I’m in love with the goddess who lives down the street the girl may work at wafflehouse but she dunnt miss a beat (Jaden)~  ~ I want you to remember this when you put yourself down I cannot fear my future now that I have you around (Joey)~

 Character Tags:

Atem (millennium-puzzle-spirit):  ~I’ll carry you home no you’re not alone keep marching on this is worth fighting for you know we all have battle scars (Atem)~

Atem (Sennenpharaoh): ~See that line well I never should have crossed it stop right there that’s the very moment that I wish that I could take back (Atem)~

Akefia (theifakefia):  ~Your secrets keep you sick your lies keep you alive Snake eyes every single time you roll with crooked dice (Akefia)~

Aizen (Bleachintothemultiverse):  ~The world you once created inside your dreams is brought to life as it now leads you and I across the distant sky! (Aizen)~

Bakura (tenacioustheif): ~We could set the world alight there is so much you could be if only you'd join me we’d make one hell of a team (Bakura)~

Byakuya (Bleachintothemultiverse): ~Thousands of cherry blossoms dwindling in the light though I can’t hear your voice keep what I say in mind (Byakuya)~

Dark Pit (WinglessArcher): ~You’ll be in my heart no matter what they say you’ll be here in my heart always (Dark Pit)~

Dartz (Atlantis-prince): ~So I will talk to you the only way I know how to I’ve said my speech through sharpened teeth (Dartz)~

Elsa (Iskrone): ~You can lift your head up to the sky Take a deeper breath and give it time You can walk the path among the lines (Elsa)~

Hanataro (Bleachintothemultiverse): ~Though a thousand words have never been spoken they’ll fly to you crossing over the time and distance (Hanataro)~

Jaden (World-Duelists): ~Live in the now and break your confines take ahold of this precious time glory days cause your life is not to trade (Jaden)~

Jaden (Tenebrosity-bulwark): ~Cause now again I found myself so far down away from the sun that shines into the darkest place Im so far down away from the sun (Jaden)~

Joey (Luckyredeyes): ~I’m alive oh yeah between the good and bad’s where you’ll find me reaching for heaven I will fight and I’ll sleep when I die (Joey)~

Joey (World-Duelists): ~When darkness turns to daybreak go out and see for your sake the people of this world may share your pain (Joey)~

Joey (brooklynxsweetheart): ~ I see your monsters I see your pain tell me your problems I'll chase them away I'll be your lighthouse (Joey)~

Mai (ohmaiwhathavewedone): ~Hey sister do you still believe in love I wonder? Oh if the sky comes falling down for you theres nothing in this world I wouldnt do (Mai)~

Mana (mahoushoumonster): ~Cause you cant jump the track we’re like cars on a cable and lifes like an hourglass glued to the table (Mana)~

Mokuba (Kaibacorpbros) ~Daydreamer kidnap me take me back all the way back to them days runnin around in a gown and a crown barefoot (Mokuba)~

Nimue (Tenebrosity-bulwark): ~The most powerful thing you own is your voice scream above the noise that you’re perfect as you are even when times are hard (Nimue)~

Otogi (Dungeondicediva): ~Here’s to us here’s to love all the times that we fucked up here’s to you fill the glass (Otogi)~

Pit (WinglessArcher): ~Come my child stay with me I’ll protect you and your dreams. Rest my child ‘neath the tree like it’s branches reach for me (Pit)~

Seto (Kaibacorpbros):  ~Icarus Icarus why you so serious serious? You know you gotta let it go cause you're flying too close (Seto)~

Sora (Asorableisms):  ~Though we don't share the same blood. You're my brother and I love you thats the truth. (Sora)~

Sora (Soraofdestinyislands): ~When I’m awake I hide all the chains so you aren’t afraid I can’t stop I cant break I carry the weight for you (Sora)~

Yugi (Game-weaver):  ~I'm just the boy inside the man not exactly who you think I am trying to trace my steps back here again so many times (Yugi)~

Yugi (Mutogamingco): ~I wanted to be like you I wanted everything So I tried to be like you and i got swept away I didnt know that it was so cold (Yugi)~

Updated when new verses form!