#I think about how Dick is fine with letting Dick fight in a tournament to the death everytime people say he is Damian's father

[littlefankingdom]

AU where Jason's trauma around his Lazarus Pit's dip and his protective instinct as a sibling are stronger than his pride, so he snitches to Bruce about Damian and the tournament to the death Dick is letting him do.

Bruce: You are both grounded.

Dick: I'm an adult, B, you can't ground me!

Bruce: You encourage your brother in a death's tournament, try me.

Tim: I can't believe Jason is the responsible one.

Jason: Why are you surprised? Contrary to this clown, I know how it is to get a bath in the magic green goop, and it's not pleasant. Zero stars, would not recomand, and don't want any of you to go throught.

Steph: Aww, you love us!

Jason: Shut up!

Bruce: Thanks Jason for contacting me before Damian died.

Damian: *mumbling* I did died and came back on the Island, I'm fine.

Bruce & Jason: WHAT?!

[mothwingwritings]

Idk if you’re into omega verse but omg I just thought of it being applied to Yujiro and poor omega reader goddamn 😭 (I think I may have gone a little bit too far on this one ngl, also I’m half asleep so sorry for any issues..)

Nasty nasty Alpha Yujiro who takes advantage of poor little you. Who would have thought he’d ever encounter such a rare beauty? Omegas were practically extinct in the baki universe, the world full of hardened alphas made no room for the sweet soft omegas. And yet here you were against all odds.

From the moment he met you, he’d made the promise that he would never spread his seed through out the world.

Nay, he was going to hammer in his children into your fertile womb as you cried out in overstimulation. You would carry all of his offspring for the rest of your life. That was a promise.

While many of his past devoted lovers would have been flattered by his devotion, you were anything but.

Sure Yujiro would disappear on some days but no longer than a week.

But on the days he were in your house. It’d be a constant running away and fighting off the lustful touches of Yujiro.

The dreadful “Honey~ I’m home!~” had you cringing so hard as thick muscular arms surrounded your waist.

Having to take showers with the Ogre that always ended with you pressed up against the glass mirror as Yujiro crowded you against it.

Having your favorite clothes torn to shreds as he tried to make “love to you”.

Waking up in the middle of the night to see the humongous man deep in your guts as he ruthlessly pounded into you.

And when you went in heat…oh boy.

You’re horny 24/7 and you won’t fight back at all? Just lil ol you whimpering about how much it hurts and that you need something inside? You’d let the older man kiss you and cling onto him needily. His poor little omega!

Yeah, Yujiro loves your heats.

This man keeps a track record of when your heats are around the corner. It doesn’t matter if he’s in another country or across the globe the globe away from you. If he sees you have started your heat, he’s running like a madman with the nastiest smirk that has people running away screaming. They all thought he was out to murder someone (ya ur lil meow meow)

Out of spite you decide to hook up with some random beta when your heat starts up. Which immediately back fires when Yujiro has said man tied up as he watches you get plowed down by your real alpha.

“My little omega, have I neglected you so much that you seeked out some limp dick beta to satisfy you? I guess I’ll have to you more attention to keep you satisfied, huh?”

You know Yujiro is going to show you off. I mean, who wouldn’t?

He’s pulling up to the tournaments with you sitting on his shoulder clad in a thin bikini. Your looking away from the many lustful looks directed at you, all while Yujiro basks in the jealous looks he receives.

They all look so angry at him, but yet…too intimidated to muster the courage to say anything to him. Yes this was a fine idea.

He’s got you wearing a pretty diamond collar with the letters “Property of Ogre.”

Every time you both return from such fights, it didn’t matter if he came back angry or happy both were valid reasons to fuck you in the entrance your home. After that he would ravage you on any surface in the house.

He was going to get so many babies out of you.

Me reading this ask loool

You must have read my mind anon, I was just musing the other day on how I want to some day take a stab at writing an ABO fic and the Bakiverse would be perfect fodder for it. 😌

But God... Yujiro would be the worst fucking Alpha. That man could track you down from miles away, knowing where you are at all times should he need you. And he has such intricate knowledge on basically every aspect of you and your life that it goes beyond concerning, it's downright invasive. It takes no time at all for him to claim fuck you, giving you no time to really sus him out or get to know him before you've become irrevocably his. He's now your bonded partner, and you are not at all thrilled with that.

When yujiro comes to claim you he attacks you with such a bestial, feral intensity that you are afraid one day your body won't be able to take the abuse he inflicts on it, giving you serious concerns over whether you will survive the mating process. You got lucky the first time, but what about in the future? How many pups does he plan to pump inside of you? The thought keeps you up at night. You don't even want to parent his offspring, let alone be demoted to his breeding stock to be fucked full again and again and again. You would have chosen ANY alpha other than Yujiro, but now this was your lot in life-forced to not only be his mate, but bear his children, creating new versions of this monster to roam the planet. Would they grow up to be like their father, or would you have any hope of raising them to be decent, loving people?

Also, I feel like your body will just constantly be marked up everywhere. His mating bites don't stop at the scent glands, and you usually end up looking like you just left a 12 round boxing match on the losing side instead of a mating session with your alpha. :(

And when you are in heat its the absolute fucking worst. Lusting after Yurjiro, your entire body aching for him to desecrate and destroy you, your insides burning white hot for his touch. Only your alpha can cure you of this all consuming sickness that plagues you, and you turn into a whiny blubbery mess when Yujiro is around, pleading and begging for him to claim you. It's absolutely dreadful how much you yearn for such a barbaric man, and each and every time you are disgusted with how easily you give in to him. You just roll over and become his docile little fuck mate, turned into a wanton, lusting mess from just catching his scent alone. You loath him as much as you need him, and words cannot describe the amount of hate you hold in your heart for the man that turned you into this pathetic shell of who you once were.

[r0s3s26]

Iwazumi and Bokuto when they see there partner punch someone

(I also think that whenever there are scenarios of y/n getting bothered/hit on by someone there boyfriends are always the one saving em, but nah im making y/n a crashout🫡🫡, also daichi was apart of this but I made his uber long so I might post it as its own oneshot lol, tell me what yall think)

Cw/Tw: Unwanted advances/touches, violence, swearing, general male creepiness

WC: 1061

Back story:

So you are the manager of your boyfriend's volleyball team. You're at a tournament at the moment and you realize that almost all the water bottles are empty, so you take the metal box of water bottles and start to walk to the water fountain outside of the court.

While you’re filling up the water bottles a random volleyball player walks up to you and corners you, ���hey so I saw you over there and I think you're really cute” “No thank you i’m in a relationship” you reply in disgust, the guy smelling like straight ass, but you wanna be respectful because you are in public.

You try to walk away from the situation but he keeps following you “Comon baby, you know you want me”(gag) you turn to face him with a “Trust me I do NOT want you” you reply less nicely as before, raising your voice a bit. Coincidently the team walks out to try and look for you because you have been gone for so long. They see you and the dude and your boyfriend is about to step in and the unthinkable happens…

Iwaizumi:

Kindichi is the first person to realize that you have been gone for a while, making everyone else start to question also. Iwa starts going into fight or flight mode trying not to freak out cause HIS partner is missing- then Oikawa steps in and says “its ok Iwa-Chan, im sure y/n-chan is perfectly fine”(how wrong he was).

They decided to travel in one big group so they could spot you from every angle, they got closer to the water fountains and then saw what's going on, and they were not happy, but Iwa was fuming. The first person that sees you getting hit on is Makki and then he pulls Iwaizumi to look also, but when he looks over he see this dude grabbing you arm trying to pull you in and Iwa goes to book it then all he sees is the same dude on the ground gripping his nose.

“OH MY GOD YOU CRAZY BITCH WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!?” he yelled at you, people passing by started to look, “I told you to GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU LIMP DICK BITCH” you yelled back with a scowl on your face. You turned around and saw the team, including your boyfriend, looking at you and your face starts heating up more out of embarrassment than rage “heyyy guys” you say sheepishly looking down slightly.

Oikawa started frantically shouting “OMG Y/N ARE YOU OK WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU-” Iwaizumi pushed his head down and yelled “Shut up Shittykawa” and then started walking over to you, “Hey honey are you ok? Did he hurt you, do I have to go over there and talk to him-” Now you are interrupting by kissing him, you pull away and smile a bit “I promise, now let's go win this game.

You grabbed the water bottle cart and started to was towards the stadium, when you were out of ear shot the rest of the boys started talking “Wow there so badass” Maddog said, “Yea and super hot” Yahaba whispered back Maddog and Kindichi agree, “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?” Iwa yelled as he turned his head toward them, “NOTHING” all 3 of them said back and started speed walking towards the gym.

Bokuto:

“Hey Akaashi, do you know where Y/N went?” Bokuto said with a slight frown starting to form on his face, “Know I don’t Bokuto-san, but I do believe she went to get all the water bottles filled” Akaashi replied back.

Bokutos pout started to get deeper as he started getting nervous about your whereabouts “Im gonna go look for them” He said abruptly “Lets go Akaashi” he said grabbing the setters arm, Akaashi had a deadpan look on his face cause in his gut he new trouble was brewing.

When the dynamic duo did reach you it was in the middle of you yelling at the guy; “Bro said I have a boyfriend, fuck off” you said with an angry tone “Comon everyone says that, I know you want me” “No the fuck I do not, just take the hint and leave me alone” you said turning around and trying to walk away, but the annoying player had other plans.

He tried grabbing you by your waist to pull you in but once you felt his hand on you, you immediately turned around and socked him in the face, causing him to stumble back and hold his nose. Now from Bokuto's pov it looked like he was going to have to step in and save you and be the amazing boyfriend we know he is, but before he even got the chance he saw you turn around and punch him. His reaction was to laugh at the dude falling, and then go to check on you.

“OMG MY BABY ARE YOU OK” He ran over and started holding your head to his chest and kissing the top of your head, “Im ok Bokuto I promise” you reply back kissing the part of his chest that covers his heart. “Now my y/n, why didn’t you tell me you had a punch like that” “Bo I didn’t even know I could punch like that” you both look at each other and then start to laugh a little.

You both look over to Akaashi who is now looking at the guy on the ground with a small smile “I would not want to be you right now” he says with a polite chuckle. Bokuto also looks over to the guy on the ground and starts to walk over “You know, your lucky that my number one is such a badass, because if I was even 5 seconds earlier, you would have had to deal with me, and I would not be as nice as them” He said in tone that you have never heard before from him.

After successfully scaring away the player bothering you Bokuto grabs you up in his arms and starts to run to the stadium “I gotta keep you in my arms so know one else will bother you” he says before kissing your cheek “Don’t worry Bo I think everyone gets the hint”.

(Author: I hope everyone enjoys, and also that im taking headcanon request so if anyone has an ides they wanna put into words please drop one in my inbox🫶🏽)

[sapphireplums]

Mad For You

Eli Moskowitz x Reader 

Description: Y/n and Eli are in a relationship, but got into a pretty rough fight. They also have to compete against each other in the All Valley tournament. 

Word Count: 1287

Warnings: mild language

 ───✱*.。:。✱*.:。✧*.。✰*.:。✧*.。:。*.。✱ ───

 ───✱*.。:。✱*.:。✧*.。✰*.:。✧*.。:。*.。✱ ───

Pain. Anger. Confusion. The emotions that were going through your mind were unbearable. 

It caused heartaches and pain. Even though your best friend was Miguel, you couldn’t tell him anything because he was also good friends with Hawk. 

You and Hawk got into a fight because of how he was acting.

 It was not amusing to you and you really didn’t like it either. 

The result of the fight ended up in you leaving his house in tears, Hawk not even texting or calling you ever since that day. 

But little did you know, he really wanted to text you. 

Which made you mentally exhausted and that was not good because you had the All Valley tournament coming up in a few days. 

Mentally preparing, you asked your father if you can do some meditation before the tournament came. 

Your dad was also a pretty good teacher considering he was a previous All Valley champion. 

“Hey honey, are you okay,” Daniel asked you. 

He saw your face and he was very concerned for your health and mental health. 

“Yeah dad, I’m fine, I’m just a little tired.”

That didn’t settle it for Daniel. He knew his daughter and he knew something was up. 

“Y/n talk to me. I can tell there’s something wrong and you can’t deny that.”

You had to tell your father, there was no hiding from him. 

“Me and Eli got into a fight a couple days ago and now I have to see him at All Valley, and I don’t think I’m prepared for that,” you said truthfully. 

Daniel looked at you with sympathy then it quickly turned to anger. 

“I never liked that kid. He’s no good for you Y/n, and you can do better.”

A a part of you wanted to think that, but the other part knew you belonged with Hawk. 

“I know dad, but let’s see what’s going to happen okay?”

Daniel gave you a small reluctant nod, then proceeded with a smile. 

“I love you dad.”

“I love you too, honey.”

 ───✱*.。:。✱*.:。✧*.。✰*.:。✧*.。:。*.。✱ ───

The day has finally come and you were now about to compete in the all valley championship with your karate teammate, Robby. 

Robby was a brother figure to you and you loved him as if he really was. 

“Hey, Y/n, are you okay? You seem kinda....... tense.”

“Yeah I’m fine, it’s just that Hawk and I got into a fight and I really don’t want to see him now.”

Robby was panning the room and his eyes met with Hawk’s. 

Staring at him, he shook his head in disappointment, while Hawk stared at him.

Hawk was about to go across the blue mat to talk to Robby, but Miguel held him back. 

“Dude, you can’t make a scene, especially right before we compete,” Miguel said. 

“I don’t like how he’s talking to her,” Hawk said referring to Robby. 

You felt eyes on you then turned around to see Hawk staring at you. 

It wasn't a cold stare, it was more of a sympathetic and apologetic one. 

But when his gaze turned to Robby, his stare was cold as ice. 

The time has finally come and the competition was starting now. 

You were around the third one to go up and compete. A boy around your age was your competition. 

You faced him and bowed, then faced the ref and bowed to him. 

When getting into your stance, you could see Hawk from your peripherals and he seemed to have a worried look on his face. 

As if he was scared you’d get hurt, but he should know that you know how to kick ass pretty well. 

After several hits and kicks, you won with a proud smile. 

Hawk seemed to be proud as well. He clapped and cheered for you. 

Which was surprising to you to be honest, since he hasn’t contacted you for a while. 

Hawk was competing next and he had his ‘intimidating face.’

As expected, he viciously defeated his opponent, then undid his belt and took off his gi. 

He flexed his back and started to move his arms so his hawk tattoo would be moving. 

He then turned to you then looked at you up and down with a smirk. 

You tried so hard not to blush because you were still mad at him, but it was hard not to. 

The time has come and it was the moment you were dreading. 

You had to compete with Hawk. 

When the announcers called your name and Hawk’s, the two of you looked at each other and you slightly smiled, but he did not return it. 

He was confusing as fuck to be honest. 

Hawk went onto the mat first, then you. 

Bowing at the ref, then at each other, Hawk gave you a wink. 

It made you confused because you did not know if he was going to go easy on you or not. 

“FIGHT” you heard the ref say.

“Don’t worry, princess, it will be just like how we practice.”Hawk said. 

You smirked then started to throw punches at him. 

You and Hawk had pretty similar karate techniques, but he was stronger. 

“You’re not going to get away that easily, Eli,”you said to him, out of breath. 

Being the girlfriend of Eli meant you had special privileges, including being the only one to call him Eli without him killing someone. 

“Hey babe, you know I had your favorite food while you were gone,” Hawk said while trying to throw punches at you. 

“Oh, you did not just go there,” you said to him. 

Hawk just smirked, hoping that caught you off guard, but it didn't. 

You decided to get payback with something that will for sure distract him, maybe even kill someone. 

“I think I’m starting to catch feelings for Robby,” you said with a huge smirk. 

Hawk just froze there with a angry face. Oh boy, was this boy about to explode, but unfortunately he was too distracted at that thought and you were able to kick him, scoring a point. 

You won and Hawk was still too in shock to process that he lost. 

He was so pissed and was literally about to run across the mat to go punch Robby, but before he could, you stopped him while putting your hands on his chest. 

That always calmed him down and you knew that. 

“Eli, I was just kidding, you said that only to get you off guard,” you said to him hopefully calming him down. 

He looked at you with anger still in his face, but when he looked into your eyes, he calmed down a bit. 

“Hey are you okay Y/n” Robby asked you, not lookin at Hawk. 

Hawk was literally seconds away from pouncing at Robby, but you stood in front of Hawk and grabbed his arms to put around your shoulders, restraining him basically. 

“Yes Robby, were fine, you don’t have to worry.”

Robby nodded then gave Hawk a glare while leaving. 

“He better not try anything,” you heard Hawk say from under his breath. 

“Eli, whatever happened in the past few days, can we just forget about it please.”

“Look Y/n, I don’t even know why we got into a fight in the first place.”

“It was because you were acting like a dick to other kids.”

Hawk held his head down, but then looked back into your eyes. 

“I’m sorry Y/n, I will try to be better I promise, for you,” He said while kissing your hand. 

“I love you Eli.”

“I love you more Y/n.”

a/n

omgggg i actually love this one so much. i hope you guys enjoyed this imagine!!!💕

[chosonore]

part two | yearning

yearning [noun. a strong feeling of wishing for something, especially something that you cannot have or get easily]

pairing: kamo noritoshi/f!reader

summary: your relationship with noritoshi was like a game of cat and mouse; no matter how hard you tried to escape from him, he would always find his way back to you.

wordcount: 8.2k

content/warnings: friends to enemies to lovers, language, somewhat suggestive, noritoshi is kind of a dick but i promise it gets better so please don’t lose faith in him, we’re somewhat following the timeline of the anime/manga so spoilers ahead!! but what follows afterwards is purely pulled out of my ass lol, lowercase intended [UNEDITED]

a/n: hello, here i am again with a super long chapter ( ˙꒳​˙ ) it is so incredibly messy and i’m so sorry if it gets confusing for you; this just really shows how sporadic my writing process is, i have some guidelines that i follow but sometimes venture off my path when i suddenly get a new idea. nevertheless, i hope you can somewhat enjoy this chapter. feedback or just your thoughts are much appreciated! for those that are waiting for the ~steamy~ content, it is coming next chapter hehe. as always, stay safe everyone (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

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"noritoshi, could you just stay quiet today? i'm really not in the mood," you sighed as you entered the training grounds. the exhaustion from the mission the day before was clinging onto your bones, heavy and admonishingly. the normally exciting sparring lessons seemed dreadful, knowing that all students were to practice today. to practice the balance within the team, utahime had claimed the week prior as she was reprimanding your lack of discipline when it came to noritoshi. stubbornness ran in the family; you refused to back down when someone was hurting your pride. said stubbornness came back to bite you - instead of taking a break to fully recover, you claimed that you would be fine with the help of your reverse curse techniques.

as the days came and went, the yearly tournament slowly approached. after the devastating defeat last year, everyone was on edge and determined to beat tokyo tech. well, that excluded todo, he was just looking for stronger opponents it seemed. noritoshi, on other hand, appeared to be more agitated than usual - if he wasn't barking orders at the other students, he would criticize their fighting styles. you knew he wanted to win the tournament at all costs, to prove himself worthy of the position as the kamo clan head. but he was too rigid about it, rarely accepting help and haughty when questioned. you've been avoiding him as best as you could and of all days, today had to be one where you could not. opponents would be swapped every ten minutes so everyone could practice with another student - facing noritoshi for ten minutes was easy. so you thought. 

"can't promise anything, princess," noritoshi retorted smugly and pat your head like he usually did when he was trying to get a reaction out of you. life always found a way to prove you wrong. for some reason, noritoshi had made it his goal to get under your skin as much as possible on this particular day and it worked. it was childish to engage in this banter but you couldn’t help it. the feeling of not being taken serious by noritoshi had always bothered you. it almost seemed like he wasn’t considering you equal to him, always looking down on you. being stressed wasn’t good, your mother had always reminded you, so it was best to remain calm and collected.

stay calm and collected, calm and collected, you repeated in your head. gritting your teeth, you slapped his hand away and jogged away from him towards todo. at least he'd leave you alone while you were near todo - probably to avoid todo getting mad at him and not wanting to hear about takada-chan again. he was the ultimate and fool-proof shield. the taller male was walking at a leisurely pace in front of you, leading the group as per usual. you caught up to him, slowing down so it didn't look like you just jogged all the way here. away from the menace that was noritoshi. todo glanced at you suspiciously before subtly turning around. a guilty groan left your lips. of course he knew, he always knew. as the unlikely friendship was blossoming between the two of you, you rapidly realized that todo was far more perceptive than he would ever let on. even though he took lighthearted jabs at you, he didn't care enough to intervene; it was a mutual understanding. in a way, you appreciated that he treated you like everyone else, not once had he tried to approach you about your deteriorating relationship with noritoshi.

upon seeing the unlikely pair, miwa speed up as well to join them. even though todo scared her to no end, your presence eased her nerves a little. after all, you weren’t scared to put him back in his place when he was being dramatic. she nudged you gently in greeting, nervously clasping her sword in front of her. "do you think we'll win this year's competition? we've been training a lot, so i hope i can show off some of my skills."

"never say never? even if we lose, it's a good experience to learn from," you replied wryly. while the students of the kyoto tech were strong and coordinated well with each other, noritoshi and you could easily destroy the balance. he didn't know when to stop, persistently pushing your boundaries and you fell for his tricks every time. as long as you could work out a strategy that involved working alone or with a partner that was not him, you'd be fine. your safest bet was to work with miwa since you were both sword users and have practiced together extensively. if noritoshi and you exhibited enough chaos to tear the world apart, miwa and you represented the perfect balance when fighting.

"you're our secret weapon though!" miwa exclaimed excitedly, elbowing you gently. "no one knows you can heal, so we'll use that to our advantage."

"uh…"

"what? don't tell me you-"

"i've asked yuta about advice before," you interrupted her, scratching your head sheepishly. "he's one of the very few people who can use reverse cursed techniques, so i asked him to give me some pointers and how to use it more to my advantage."

when yuta participated in the competition the year before, you were absolutely mesmerized by his level of skills and how he had supposedly mastered them in such a short amount of time. of course you hadn't told anyone that you were talking to him - everyone was still salty about the defeat and would, undoubtedly, have crucified you on sight. truthfully, you didn't understand why everyone was so hellbent about hating the students of your sister school. weren't you all colleagues in a sense? yuta was nice and respectful towards you, always trying his best to explain you how to implement his tips. along the way, you might have developed a tiny, fleeting crush on him but never acted on it. it was only a crush after all and you didn’t feel certain about it not being a mere distraction from your feelings for noritoshi. perhaps it was the way he made you feel, the way he treated you like noritoshi used to before. you couldn't even deny it, you missed your old 'toshi. when you looked at him now, it hurt you, seeing all the traces of gentleness having left him.

"really? you never told me! what is he like? he looked like he was really nice but there were moments where i was really scared of him. well maybe not him but rather… that curse."

"uh, yuta is actually not that scary. he's really helpful and always there for you when you need advice. i think i've improved a lot since we've started talking." you made a mental note to thank yuta again if you got to see each other anytime soon. apparently, gojo had sent him on a mission overseas a few months back and ever since, your exchanged messages grew to be rather sporadic. still, you appreciated that he made an effort to text you every now and then to let you know how he was doing and in turn, also asked about your wellbeing.

"fraternizing with the enemy, i see," noritoshi's voice rang out beside you, dangerously close to your ear. it made you jump in surprise, not having sensed him earlier - your hand automatically shot out to hit him, only for him to catch it in time. you shot him an annoyed glare. beside you, miwa and todo glanced at each other, silently agreeing to ignore the squarreling pair.

"i don't see how that's any of your business."

"it is if it jeopardizes our chance at winning," noritoshi narrowed eyes at you in suspicion. of course he didn't trust you, you were nothing but a mild inconvenience to him. you didn't owe him an explanation, not today and not in the future. any friendship or friendliness between you was long gone. refusing to look into his eyes, you attempted to tug your hand away from him but instead accomplished the exact opposite as noritosh tightened his grip. "what did you tell him?"

"he only helped me with training, that's all! it doesn't concern you anyways so-"

noritoshi was irritated, you could tell. the anger was rolling off him in waves, intimidating even you. why was he so annoyed by the fact that you asked yuta for advice? it wasn't even farfetched - the only other alternatives were gojo and ieiri, both of which you hadn't mustered up the courage to ask yet. wasn't it in everyone's best interest for you to become a great healer? noritoshi would know best - he was the driving force behind your ambition, the sole reason why you worked to the brink of exhaustion just to show him that you didn’t need his help, that you were worthy of a higher rank.

"i don't want you to hang out with the tokyo tech kids, especially not with him."

"wait, what?" you gaped at him in disbelief. "is this just because you have personal beef with some of them? leave me out of this, i just want to improve and you don't get to tell me what to do." with that you shoved the taller male, stomping past the other students towards utahime who was looking at you in disapproval. you missed the upset frown on noritoshi's face as he followed you, wanting to reach out but stopping midway. it wasn't the right time or place to let you know why he didn't want you around them, not yet. seeing you hang out and being relaxed with everyone else but him hurt him, oh how it hurt him. he wanted you close to him, only see him, talk about him excitedly and with stars in your eyes like you did when you talked about yuta. and yet, he couldn't let you know. the only way to keep you orbiting around him was to play these silly games, rile you up and drawing a reaction out of you. it was the only way to make you pay attention to him. and so he did.

calm and collected, my ass, you thought two hours later. of course todo and noritoshi had completely eviscerated the rest of the students with no mercy, leaving everyone in a sour mood. whatever strategy your team would have for the tournament was probably thrown out the window, the two of them would take care of it anyways. not that they would stand a chance against yuta.

“yuta isn’t here?” the disappointment in your voice was palpable. you did look forward to meeting yuta again, thinking that he might have come home from his overseas trip for the tournament. but you supposed getting to know the other students wasn’t too bad, you were interested in the first years and their skills. they certainly looked more approachable than your classmates. miwa told you how todo and mai had met two of them a few weeks prior and promptly started a senseless fight that was then stopped by the second years. it landed them in the water as utahime gave them a lecture - while she didn't tolerate the childish behaviour, everyone else seemed to turn a blind eye to it. noritoshi had scoffed in disapproval upon hearing the news, uttering something about not wanting to associate with dimwits like them. 

"nope, he's still overseas. it doesn't matter anyways, we'll still beat you without him," maki replied with a confident grin, arms crossed as she took in the kyoto tech group of students. regardless, you broke out in a sprint and jumped, engulfing her in a warm hug. while you two didn't talk as much as yuta and you did, you were still friends. she was a source of inspiration to you, a master of all kinds of weapons whom you deeply admired. maki gave you some awkward pats before pulling away to introduce you to the first years - megumi, yuji and nobara. the younger students were wary of you, most likely because of their encounter with todo and mai. you couldn't hold it against them, their intensity and stubbornness was something you had to deal with daily after all. you silently cursed the two brash students before taking a deep breath and extending your hand to the ones in front of you.

“hi, i’m y/n, nice to meet you,” you introduced yourself with a friendly smile, visibly relieved when they shook your hand and introduced themselves. especially nobara seemed to be eager to get to know you, fussing over your uniform and inquiring about your skills. you were glad they welcomed you, not wanting to cause any more trouble than would undoubtedly arise for the duration of the tournament. while megumi seemed to be cautious and more reserved around you, yuuji and nobara already treated you like their friend. subconsciously, you envied them for the wholesome friendship dynamic as it reminded you of what you used to have with noritoshi. the fleeting thoughts left as soon as they made an appearance in your head, disappearing when nobara grasped your hand and pulled you towards the buildings to show you around. unbothered by the reactions of your fellow kyoto tech classmates, you followed her - their energy was stifling and the tournament didn't start until later in the day anyways. it was useless to stay with your group and practice, you'd only overexert yourself.

“y/n.” noritoshi called after you sternly, glaring at you when you turned to look at him - ever since stepping foot into the estate, he was moody and more serious than usual.  it was probably him being tense about the tournament, the spirit to win deeply ingrained in his bones. none of the other students seemed to be bothered by the presence of the tokyo tech students, so why should he? ignoring him, you continued your journey until you felt a force harshly pulling you back by the fabric of your hoodie. intuitively, you could tell it was noritoshi. 

"noritoshi, let me go," you snapped at him irritated, struggling to free yourself from his grasp.

"we have things to discuss, did you forget that?"

"i don't want to," like a petulant child, you gave him an angry look as you stood your ground. tension filled the space between you, tethering on the edge of anger. why was a normal conversation never possible with him? and why did he treat you like a child? you let up when megumi appeared to your side, shooting noritoshi a warning glance as he attempted to remove his hand from yours. even though he didn't know what your relationship was like, he stepped in regardless - you were impressed by him. even if noritoshi remained calm, he was a menace to deal with afterwards.

"she said no, didn't you hear-"

"get your hands off of her." noritoshi growled at megumi, the sudden influx of cursed energy that was surrounding him made all students in close proximity freeze. you couldn't hide you shock either, he had never been this threatening towards someone else. he might push boundaries to the extreme, knowing that he could away with it due to his bloodline and family name but he had never outright threatened anyone that didn't do his bidding. with those words he pulled you towards him, wrapping his arm around your waist protectively. paralyzed, you blankly stared at him. his cursed energy was suffocating you, never had you experienced this amount of pressure. not only that, the unusual closeness set your heart ablaze, burning down the walls that you'd carefully constructed around it.

"you're being ridiculous," megumi challenged the older male, unbothered by the strong pressure. he didn't understand why noritoshi was making a big deal out of this. surely he didn't consider megumi a threat? noritoshi's hold on you strengthened and with panic you realized the blood-red markings appearing on his face, he was being serious, oh god he was going to rip megumi apart-

"hey hey, stop it you two," panda's voice snapped you out of your trance and seemingly noritoshi's as well as he wacked his arm. "you just got here and you're already stirring up trouble, are you not ashamed?"

noritoshi simply scoffed and let you go, his cursed energy dissipating with the movement. the rest of the students were as stunned as you were, no one daring to make another move until the tension evaporated. todo was the only one who looked rather annoyed, smacking the back of noritoshi’s head as he started to tell him off - noritoshi, however, kept walking past him towards the dorms that they were staying at for the week. it was almost like there was steam coming off his head as a result of holding his anger in. nobara gaped at you in surprise, pointing at you accusingly. “i didn’t know that was your boyfriend!”

you spluttered in horror, quickly reaching out to her to try and cover her mouth so she wouldn’t say anything incriminating. “n- no you got it wrong! we’re not together, not at all! i hate noritoshi,” you floundered, hastily trying to set the record straight. nobara didn’t look like she believed you, pushing your hands away while giggling. she wiggled her eyebrows at you, whispering at you about how lucky you were to snag such a handsome guy although she thought that he really didn’t have to overreact like that because megumi was harmless. covering your face in embarrassment, you turned away from her and caught a glimpse of an amused todo winking at you.

“i’m serious, nobara!" whatever whining you did, the two of them didn’t let up, making you wonder what you ever did wrong to deserve this scrutiny. as your last resort you grabbed nobara's hand, dragging her along towards a secluded area in the estate. being the subject of the earlier conflict was already troubling enough, you didn't want the other students to get the wrong idea by her wild speculations. nobara was still giggling when you arrived, pinching your arm playfully.

“c’mon, it’s impossible that there is not something between you! did you see the look on his face? i don’t think he would have cared had it been any other person,” she gushed excitedly, her face lighting up in glee. with no doubt, nobara enjoyed poking her nose in other people's business, seemingly having a knack for sniffing out the hidden. a dejected sigh left your lip. a younger you would have jumped in happiness after finally receiving noritoshi's attention but the present you knew better. there wasn't more to it, you told yourself and yet, a tiny sliver of doubt made its way into your mind. could he really have been so bothered by another male being so close to you? todo didn't count, obviously.

"no, there's nothing to it, i promise. we don't have the best relationship anymore and mostly fight. i mean yeah his reaction was really uncharacteristic but…"

"anymore?"

"noritoshi and me grew up together and were childhood friends. i- i didn't agree with his antics as we grew up and we drifted apart after that and now… hate each other? he’s just unbearable and we don’t get along. everyone at kyoto tech knows that so they’re mostly ignoring our fights. and it’s childish, i know, i know..." 

“are you sure? like super duper sure? because it didn’t look like it to me,” nobara contemplatively rubbed her chin. the wheels were turning in her head, something didn’t quite add up. even at first glance, whatever you said made her feel doubtful.

“trust me, i wish it was different too. i mean i used to like him a lot and it makes me sad and i wish we could at least be civil around each other. but he just makes me so angry,” your ramblings stopped nobara’s thinking - so that’s what it was. normally, nobara really didn’t care about other people’s business but this was too juicy to pass up. how far could she push it to make you realize?

why was the layout of all these buildings so confusing? and why were there so many buildings to begin with? you’ve been wandering around for at least five minutes now and you still couldn’t figure out where the hell yuji’s and megumi’s rooms were supposed to be. they didn’t even have any signs around. at this point, it didn’t matter if it took longer than anticipated - the others could wait. nobara had insisted on having a small get together the night before, to get to know each other and play some card games. you couldn’t refuse, it’s been a while since you just hung out with friends without any quarreling. there was no harm in getting to know you future colleagues, even though your classmates were treating them like criminals. so instead of going herself and much to your dismay, nobara had sent you to fetch the other two students, claiming that you would be fine if you just stuck to the measly sketch she’d made for you. most of the rooms you’ve already knocked at remained empty so you couldn’t be far from their rooms, you concluded.

stopping in front of the last remaining door of the corridor, you took a deep breath. this had to be one of their rooms. slowly, you raised your hand to knock at the door when it was suddenly yanked open, startling you in the process and making you drop the piece of paper you were holding. what you weren’t expecting was coming face to face with noritoshi who looked at you as equally confused. he was the last person you wanted to see today, not wanting to confront him about his actions earlier. you couldn’t wrap your head around it; why had he overreacted in such a way? it wasn’t like you were in danger or in need of protection. for a brief moment, you thought that there was a sliver of strange possessiveness. you couldn’t quite place the emotions in his eyes, it made you shudder.

“oh uh, sorry. i was looking for yuji and megumi and this is very obviously not one of their rooms. sorry again. i’ll take my leave,” you awkwardly stammered, taking a step back. noritoshi’s figure was towering over you and in a rare moment, you felt intimidated by him. perhaps it was the dark look in his eyes that told you that he was not thrilled by what you just told him. before you could react, he swiftly grabbed your arm and pulled you inside his room, trapping you against the door.

“w- wait!” you protested weakly, pushing at his chest until his face slowly came into your vision. you couldn’t help but stare at his lips, watching them move as he was talking to you. your ears were ringing, you couldn’t tell what he was saying. the close proximity was suffocating and yet you craved more, not wanting to let him go.

“y/n? did you hear me?” 

“huh?” snapping out of your trance, you looked at him dumbfounded. noritoshi was frowning at you, slightly concerned about your state as you didn’t answer him. just then you finally got a proper look at him. it was a rare sight; noritoshi wearing casual clothes, a simple oversized shirt and shorts, and his hair down without the bindings. feeling nostalgic, your heart clenched. he looked like his old self, the ‘toshi that you loved dearly.

“i said, i don’t want you around them. i don’t- i don’t like seeing you with them,” noritoshi repeated with a strained voice. he placed his hands beside your head, inching closer to you.

“what- noritoshi, you don’t get to tell me who i can hang out with! last time i checked, we’re not even friends anymore so where do you get the idea that you can do this? what’s the big deal ab-” you didn’t get to finish your sentence when he pressed his lips against yours clumsily. you seized up in shock, not returning the kiss as a whirlwind of thoughts entered your mind. holy shit, he was really kissing you. but you hated each other, so why? why, why, why. when you didn’t respond, noritoshi pulled away in panic, spluttering apologies as he moved away from you. your emotional world was in chaos, all the buried and forgotten feelings for him breaking the dams and flooding your senses until the yearning became too much. you were reminded of the conversation you had with your mother years ago - you still wanted him, missed him. you wanted him by your side. desperately, you reached out, fisting the fabric of his shirt as you leaned up to kiss him. noritoshi caught you in his arms, wrapping them around you as he fervently returned the kiss. he was holding you like he was afraid you would dissipate into thin air, frantically pulling you in. his hands were roaming, discovering the expanse of your body.

his touches left you feeling delirious, high on pleasure. a mewl left your lips, pleading him for something, for more. your hands moved higher, feeling his chest and broad shoulders before you wrapped your arms around his neck. his name left your lips in breathy sighs as he peppered kisses down your jaw, pulling the collar of your shirt to the side to gain more access to the expanse of your neck. suddenly, you were hoisted up and pressed against the door as noritoshi held you by your thighs. you struggled to wrap your legs around his waist, to distracted by his relentless ministrations. by the time he's left multiple hickeys on your neck, you were whimpering mess. noritoshi's breath was taken away at the sight of you in his arms, lips swollen from the kisses, the glossy eyes, dishevelled hair and the hickeys that were slowly becoming more visible. he couldn't understand how carelessly you were letting him proceed when you supposedly harboured a strong dislike for him. nevertheless, he enjoyed it and wanted to savour the moment, ingrain it into his memory so he'd never forget why he was treating you like a nuisance.

a loud knock resounded from the door, followed by someone shouting: "noritoshi? has y/n been here?"

out of sheer shock, you shoved noritoshi away from you and nearly fell as you attempted to detangle yourself from him. he caught you in time, signalling you to stay quiet as the person outside was still shuffling around nervously. you slumped against him limply, letting your head rest against his chest. his heart was beating erratically. it made yours fill with pride as you could tell that you had the same effect on him as he did on you. still, the precarious situation suddenly dawned on you - you'd just made out with your sworn enemy and, yes you used to have a crush on him, enjoyed it very much. and by the looks of it, he would have continued if you hadn't pushed him away. the entire ordeal greatly confused you; was noritoshi just playing around with you? it couldn't be, he had initiated it after all. the cold treatment he usually gave you didn't match with his actions just now. you couldn't get close to him, not when he gave you mixed signals. you wanted someone who cherished you and was always sincere so you wouldn't have to second guess their actions.

"huh, i guess noritoshi's already sleeping. we'll have to check somewhere else, i hope she didn't get lost," the person outside mumbled as you stayed silent. the sound of shuffling was heard, then steps away from the room. you stayed put until you were sure they were gone and gently removed yourself from noritoshi's grip, not looking him in the eyes. he didn’t move, letting you go willingly.

“i’m sorry, i don’t know what came over me,” you apologized with a pained voice. “please forget that it ever happened and uhm, please don’t tell anyone.”

noritoshi’s eyes widened at your pleas, moving to stop you from leaving so he could explain himself to you. “y/n, wait, i can ex-”

hastily, you stumbled to open the door, dashing away from him until the building was out of your sight. you poorly hid behind a tree, sinking to your knees as you buried your face in your hands. what the hell. you just made out with your childhood friend turned enemy. your buried feelings were all over the place and your mind just couldn’t stay still. it messed with your outlook as well as your image of noritoshi, distorting and twisting it until you had to rethink your relationship. maybe all this time, you subconsciously hoped that he would return back to his old self and somehow give you an explanation. never having received closure on the end of your friendship, you would even forgive him for the sake of your relationship. were you this shallow? no, you simply harboured a lot of feelings for him. you weren’t able to tell what his thought process was - was he even interested in you? did he see you like that?

“there you are,” you lifted your head to see gojo walking towards you with his hands stuffed inside the pockets of his pants. you almost didn’t recognize him as he simply wore a pair of sunglasses and let his hair down. “the others are looking for you. what are you doing out here? trouble in paradise?”

“n-no! i just needed some time away from everyone to- to catch my breath,” you exclaimed indignantly and perhaps too hastily you realized when gojo smirked at you knowingly. why did everyone assume that there was anything between noritoshi and you? was it that obvious?

“uh huh. that’s not what your neck says,” gojo pointed out while wiggling his eyebrows and offered you a hand to stand up. “he really doesn’t like any competition.”

“fuck,” you cursed quietly, covering the hickeys with one hand while taking gojo’s with your other and pulling yourself up. it was embarrassing enough to meet one of the teachers like this but it was even more embarrassing to know that your teacher had seen the aftermath of your makeout session. 

“i’m not gonna tell anyone, if that’s what you’re concerned about. although it would certainly be funny to tease little noritoshi,” gojo was giggling and you knew he was greatly amused by the entire situation. it almost reminded you of nobara. you groaned in frustration as you trailed behind him towards the girls’ dorms. you needed to hide your neck so no one would question it or grill you until you confessed; the potential embarrassment was mortifying.

your group strategy was already falling apart when todo suddenly disappeared in the depths of the forest, not caring about your teamwork in the slightest. normally, it would frustrate you a lot more if you weren’t already preoccupied with your own troubles. todo would be fine anyways, the remaining group members could work on a strategy on their own. as mechamaru and mai were discussing, you shot a glance at noritoshi. he looked as deadpan as usual, probably not listening to the discussion as he worked better on his own and it was more or less decided that mechamaru and him would be moving on their own while the others would team up. otherwise, you couldn’t tell whether he was bothered by what had transpired between you the night before. on the contrary, he looked calm and composed, probably more focused on his goal than anything else. and for some reason it bothered you.

when you’d returned to nobara’s room last night, gojo had helped you make up an excuse. while dramatically gesturing around, he’d told them that he intercepted her journey towards the boys’ dorms to recruit you for training, claiming that he wanted to teach you more about reverse cursed techniques. although he saved you from scrutiny and embarrassment, you couldn’t help but feel like he might use it as leverage in the future. it was gojo after all, he was unpredictable. absentmindedly, you agreed to whatever plan the others had schemed and grabbed your sword, getting ready to move to your assigned position with miwa. while you had heard of the other students’ skills, you weren’t sure where to place their levels as there was always room for surprises. underestimating opponents was a beginner's mistake. the bell rang out, signaling the start of the tournament; with swift movements, the group members dispersed and slowly moved towards the "enemy".

in the distance, you could already hear loud explosions - it was probably mechamaru happily blasting away his opponents. you gritted your teeth in annoyance, the blasts were too loud for you to make out anyone approaching you. and as you predicted, someone was taking advantage of the noise to stalk up on you. barely being able to block the blow with your sword, you found yourself opposite of maki who was grinning at you. the challenging glint in her eyes told you that she wasn't going to go easy on you but you welcomed it. it was a good opportunity for you to grow and hone your sword wielding skills.

however, it proved to be more difficult to defeat maki than you'd originally anticipated. in mere minutes, maki had already disarmed miwa, leaving her defenseless and you were hanging on a bare thread. your grip on the sword was weakening, laboured breath making your ears ring. it was frustrating, knowing that after all those months of rigorous practice, you still couldn't win a fight. giving up wasn't an option, at the very least you had to give it your all.

"c'mon, you can do better than this!" maki teased you as you ducked away from the swipe of her spear. it missed you by a hair's width and left you scrambling to create more distance between you so you could heal yourself. maki's relentless hits didn't give you any rooms for it - you really had to learn how to constantly apply it to yourself without losing time. from the corner of your eyes, you could see that miwa had picked up the phone. she was probably calling for help, you thought and dished out another hit towards maki which she skillfully dodged. instead, she delivered another blow to your legs, making your knees buckle from the force. you used your sword to support you and took another breath before you tried to lunge at her. in the distance, miwa suddenly collapsed, making you stop mid-move and took another hit from maki that took all the air in your lungs.

"eyes on your opponent, y/n. you know better than to get distracted in a fight, you could've been killed in a real fight," maki reprimanded you as you coughed heavily, gasping for air as you slowly got back up. you were unsteady on your feet, not having enough energy to even heal yourself. conflicted by whether you should face maki again or help miwa, your eyes were flitting between them. maki took advantage of your uncertainty, dealing another blow to you that knocked the sword out of your hand. as your last resort, you kicked at her feet, trying to get her to fall, only to have her pin you to the ground.

"you're going to have to practice a lot more to beat me in the future," she sighed, picking up your sword. panic welled up in your chest - the sword was the only way you could possibly somewhat win this fight but even subconsciously you knew that it was over. reaching out for the sword in desperation, your vision was clouded with tears. it was frustrating, so so frustrating. why couldn't you be as talented as her? or have fast reflexes like noritoshi? why were you ordinary, not being able to make any progress no matter how hard you try?

"i know but i can't give up now!" you defiantly retorted, pushing at her with all might. "i have to win, i just have to show my skills for once and prove myself, i- i-"

even maki softened up at your heart wrenching sobs, easing up on her grip. you both knew it was over. you were probably already eliminated from the tournament, with no other possibility to redeem yourself. she knew that you tried your best and never once underestimated her but something irked her. it was your motivation, your driving force.

"y/n, there's no shame in losing. that's how you grow, make mistakes and learn from them. you tried your best, it's not easy to stand against me for so long."

"i know but there's- i'm still not where i need to be! look at how much progress the others are making in comparison to me! i've been practicing day and night and still, no one is noticing me. i'm just a measly healer and i-"

"y/n." maki cut you off sternly. "is this your motivation? proving yourself to others? you'll not be able to improve if you keep fighting for others. you need to start working on yourself, for yourself. you don't owe anyone anything. but you have to realize that trying to satisfy other people's needs will only make you unhappy and hinder your growth."

"i'm unhappy with my skills! i keep telling myself that it's okay, that i have a rare cursed technique but sometimes i just wish i had a flashy technique or be as strong as you. i don't want to be looked at as if i need protection, i don't want it! i just-" you hiccuped, sniffling again as you wiped your tears with the sleeves of your uniform. "i just want someone to acknowledge me, want him to accept me as an equal…"

"who?" maki's cold look made you freeze in your movements. you didn't mean to let that slip. no one needed to know that the entire time, you were vying for noritoshi's attention. but she was right; there was no point in giving it your all if it wasn't for yourself. it was a silly, childish dream of yours to be equal with him again. he was far out of reach and you couldn't catch up to him.

"n- noritoshi," you admitted in defeat. maki saw right through you, there was no point in lying. she raised her eyebrows at you but didn't question it further. after all, you hadn't told her about the background story. unless nobara had done so, you wouldn't doubt it.

"i'm not gonna ask you why. but this is my advice, do not fight for somebody else. if you relentlessly work on yourself for your own benefit, you'll see progress a lot faster. your technique might not be flashy but it is powerful, remember that. you're a valuable asset to every team," she concluded and pulled you up, awkwardly patting your back as you still sniffled. maki opened her mouth to tell you some comforting words but froze when another extremely loud boom resounded near the entrance of the estate. your eyes widened at the sudden influx of cursed energy - there was no doubt that a high-level curse had just entered the school grounds. you turned to maki to tell her the news but she'd already moved, pointing to miwa.

"take her to a safe place, you can't stay here! in your state, you wouldn't last against such a strong curse," maki yelled at you as she disappeared in the woods. you scrambled frantically, not wanting to be left behind. while you were useless for the tournament, you could at least still be of assistance against a curse. miwa was still laying on the ground, unmoving. you shook her gently, scared that she was seriously hurt. it seemed like she was just sleeping instead; you were relieved. throwing her across your shoulder, you winced in pain but persisted nonetheless. you had to get her away from here, who knows what curses were roaming around. your senses were flooded with the stench of blood and debris, the pressure of cursed energy, the loud rumbles. you couldn't tell where the others were but you hoped they were safe.

a loud thud startled you and you stopped, ready to draw your sword until realization hit you that it was utahime that was inspecting you. determined, you thrusted miwa's limp body towards utahime. 

"miwa will be okay, she's just sleeping! i'm okay too, don't worry, please just take care of her and i'll check on the others!"

"y/n, don't be stupid! you're injured and in no state to help others." utahime attempted to convince you; you shook her off stubbornly, insisting that you were fine.

"what if the others get hurt? i have to help them or at least warn them!" your resolve was firm and unwavering that even utahime couldn't convince you otherwise. slipping out of her grasp, you sprinted towards the source of the cursed energy. from far away you could already see the damage that the curse had caused. multiple buildings were torn apart, trees dislodged and- were those branches rapidly growing out of the ground? you watched in horror as the branches whipped around, following running figures on the rooftop of one of the buildings. upping your speed, you jumped towards the group to aid them. as you neared them, you could make out inumaki, noritoshi, and megumi fighting against the curse, maki trailing close behind. 

they barely stood a chance against the curse, every hit that they dealt, the curse would come out unscathed. "what's the deal with that curse?" you asked, panting as you joined them, coming to a halt behind inumaki. megumi was yelling something but you couldn't hear him as noritoshi turned to you and shoved you out of the way.

"y/n, what are you doing here?" 

"helping you guys? what the fuck does it look like?" you yelled back exasperated. why was he mad at you in such a situation? they needed any helping hand they could get to defeat the curse. while you weren't useful in fights, you could at least provide continuous healing. noritoshi didn't have any time to reply as the curse lashed out again, dodging it by jumping to the side. you stayed close to inumaki, swiftly healing him when he collapsed from the rebound of his cursed speech. you clenched your jaw, not wanting the others to see that you were slowly running out of energy and strength. next thing you know, a body was hurled through the air, landing near you with a thud. your heart filled with dread when your eyes fell onto the figure, recognizing noritoshi.

"y/n, heal them as best as you can and get out of here! take them to the teachers!" maki yelled out and this time you obeyed, too panicked about noritoshi's state. you were thankful that inumaki had enough energy to run after you'd healed him - hauling noritoshi's tall frame around was already difficult enough but even more so when you were exhausted. as you neared the gates, utahime was already running towards you with a concerned look on her face. you were glad that she was nearby, it meant that gojo and the other teachers were close and could defend you.

"what happened?" utahime worried but you couldn't reply. falling to your knees, you gently laid noritoshi on the ground. the injuries looked bad, there was blood everywhere. you had to stop the wound on his head from bleeding but your trembling hands were preventing you from doing so.

"i- i don't know, i just- i think the curse hit him and now he's unconscious and he's losing so much blood and-"

utahime pinched you firmly, snapping you out of your panic. she was already holding a cloth to noritoshi's temple to stop the bleeding. patting your hand, she told you in a gentle voice: "heal him if you still have enough strength but don't overexert yourself. ieiri will be here soon." 

nodding frantically, you placed your trembling hands on his abdomen and let your cursed energy flow. the strength was slowly leaving your body but you had to save him. you had to make sure he was okay, he couldn't die, not like this. regret was bubbling up inside you; what if this was the last time you would ever get to see him?just as you felt his energy responding to yours and saw his hand moving slightly, you couldn't hold yourself upright anymore. the last thing you saw was utahime reaching out to catch you as you collapsed.

you woke up with a startle, gasping for air as you sat up abruptly. sunlight was flooding the room and it felt uncomfortably hot on your skin. you pushed the blanket back but stopped halfway in your movement. your entire body hurt, muscles burning and screaming for more rest. and yet you couldn’t stay still as you remembered the previous events. how long were you out for? was everyone okay? gritting your teeth, you slowly moved out of the room. again, you were faced with the endless maze that was the tokyo tech buildings and stopped in your tracks, not sure which direction to go. you let out a sigh of relief when you spotted yuji in the distance, waving at him to get his attention.

“y/n!” yuji ran towards you, frantically gesturing towards your room. “you’re supposed to be resting! what are you doing here?”

“is everyone okay?” you croaked, now realizing how dry your throat was.

“yeah, ieiri did a good job of healing everyone! some of us are still resting though and so should you.”

“no, i… is noritoshi okay?”

“noritoshi? oh, you mean the guy with the long hair?” yuji nodded, curiously eyeing you as your shoulders dropped, the stress rolling of them. “yeah, he’s still recovering though. ieiri said that his injuries were probably the worst so he’s not allowed to leave the bed.”

“can you take me to him?” you asked with a small voice, doing your best to muster up a puppy face. yuji sighed, scratching his head sheepishly. you could see the conflict in his eyes, that he was thinking about rejecting your request. in the end, he shook his head in defeat and motioned for you to follow him. a small grin found its way onto your lips - yuji was just too nice, he couldn’t say no when people ask him for favours. the walk to noritoshi’s room was silent, neither of you knowing what to say. you knew it was selfish of you not to ask him about his wellbeing more or visit the others but you just had to see for yourself that noritoshi was okay. yuji stopped in front of a door, pointing at it.

“this is his room. he might be sleeping though… my room is down the hall so if you need me to accompany you back to your room, just call me.”

you thanked him quietly and watched as he retreated. taking a deep breath, you knocked at the door and waited for a reply. a few moments passed before noritoshi’s voice rang out, giving you the okay to enter. gingerly, you opened the door and entered the room. noritoshi was sitting on his bed, reading a book as if nothing had happened. you looked at him bewildered. he didn’t look like his injuries fazed him at all. despite the bandages around his head and arms, he remained calm as if nothing hurt. 

“noritoshi,” you breathed out, taking a seat on the chair near the bed. he didn’t spare you a look, keeping his eyes on the book. “i uhm. i’m glad you’re okay! when i saw you in that state, i was so so scared that i could lose you… i did my best to heal you, i know i didn’t do much but-”

“i didn’t need your help,” noritoshi snapped at you, placing the book on his lap. “i would’ve been fine without it.”

you were stunned. why was he so agitated? after you initial shock, you huffed in frustration. “what the hell, you could’ve died! i was trying so hard to keep you alive and you react like this? i know you don’t like me but even this is a low blow for you!”

“it wouldn’t have been a problem if you hadn’t inserted yourself into everything! you’re not helping anyone, just dragging us down; everything could’ve gone well if it wasn’t for you standing in the way,” noritoshi countered as frustrated, this time actually looking at you. you stared back at him in disbelief. you saved his life and he had the nerve to shot you down like this.

“does it really hurt your ego to admit that i was actually helpful? we were friends at some point so why do you insist on being such a dick? and here i was, finally thinking that we were getting somewhere- for fuck’s sake, we kissed and-”

“leave.”

you stopped rambling. the tired tone in his voice, the deadpan look on his face; he was serious. you couldn’t believe him. tears welled up in your eyes as you leaped from the chair and hastily exited the room, slamming the door in anger. 

you never wanted to see him again.

p.s: yes nobara gave you a wrong sketch of the buildings what about it hehe

taglist: @milkteeboba​

[lafayetteworld]

Robin 2021

Okay, so it's been a while since I've been actively posting on tumblr, mainly because I haven’t had time. That being said, the commentary I am about to make on the Robin 2021 series is not meant to offend anyone and while I am particularly critical, I also acknowledge that some people genuinely like it/prefer the direction its's going in. And that's fine. But I did want to break down why I feel the current series is just 'meh' to me at the moment and it’s not necessarily because Damian is potentially being shipped with a newly introduced character.

Please be aware, that there are lots of spoilers. 

So, to start off, I am a big fan of the older Batman and Robin (2009) series, where Damian had partnered up first with Dick and later Bruce (2011). I do no think they are flawless, certainly. I think, in particular, the Nobody plot - excluding of course the interactions between Batman!Dick and Robin! Damian which are gold - was very good. In just a handful of issues, I think we were offered a great insight into Damian's character and how layered he is. 

My first thoughts when I heard about Robin 2021, based on the announcement: Damian will follow his own path, for some reason he retains the Robin moniker which is weird but okay, it does seem like something he'd do I suppose. He will participate in mortal kombat-sort-of-tournament, which will showcase his abilities and in the process, 'he will seek his own destiny' (which I believe was a line used in the actual announcement). The reason he wants to win? Initially, it appeared to be only because he wanted to prove to be the world's best fighter -- which by the way, how is only a tournament of this level only coming up now? Anyways, ignored that. Not a big deal. The idea of watching Damian fight different opponents was appealing either way.

The art of those comics is perhaps nowhere as striking/appealing as Robin 2021 and there's certainly not as many elements to it, but there was just something about it. I stopped reading comics after, for reasons I can't recall but I do remember finding out that Damian was killed off sometime after. I was super heartbroken over it but luckily I found out about it right around the time DC decided to bring him so really I had to wait a short while to see the little shit being Robin again.

I am not as familiar with the arc on Alfred's death but I know Damian watched what was basically his grandfather figure die in front of his eyes. How it was addressed after was rather poorly and that's a discussion for another time, just as it is that hot mess of Gleason's Titans.

 My hopes may have been too high in thinking we will be offered the introspection we'd seen in Batman and Robin, or him deciding what type of vigilante he wants to be. Like who remembers Damian admitting 'sometimes I don't know who I am or what I want' or him saying he does not wish to be like Nobody. That was so poignant.  

First issue of Robin 2021 was a disappointment. I know that there's a lot of damage to the character that had to be addressed but why did he die from like the beginning? Why is it the first thing we see is the author's OC defeat him? I mean, we really didn't need that to find the tournament's rules. Anyway, I was so sold on the art that I could have overlooked all that, except then the art became inconsistent so.....

Do I think Flatline's design is awesome? Yep. Do I like that she is potentially a badass female fighter? Sure. Do I like her abilities? Somewhat? They haven't been explored that much. But to me, having an OC appear out of nowhere and kill the character I was hoping to watch mature/develop is a bit underwhelming. Then, we start getting references of how poetic it is that Damian may fall in love with the first girl that kills him. I thought it was funny at the beginning but subsequent issues only seem to point that actually, the author does want to use Flatline/romance in this journey of growth that Damian is undergoing. I mean, we really shouldn't be romanticizing that she killed him? The girl is serious about winning too. That she caught him off guard is actually rather awesome but I don't think it had to mean anything more than Damian meeting a potentially dangerous fighter and that he needs to be less reckless.

Damian is a pretty complex/difficult character with a lot to figure out. Why does he need a girlfriend? Why can't he have friends that helps him grow or mentor figures? Him and Rose have such a great dynamic, for example.

I see a lot of people saying 'well, he's a teenager boy so it's normal'. Yeah of course it is. But why can't it be the opposite? Damian isn't a normal teenager. Out there, may be teenagers who feel the same. They don’t care about this stuff. 

It is so frustrating, and underwhelming. Not because there's anything wrong with Damian having a crush. Not because there's necessarily anything wrong with Flatline. But because there's no need.

Why is it just because he's a teenager he has to have a romantic interest? If romance is introduced in a plot, surely it doesn't have to be just because 'he's a teenager'. And if he does, why does it have to be an OC that hasn't been explored very well? Flatline could be a seriously cool character without needing to be a romantic interest for Damian and vice versa, Damian has so much to figure out on his own. So for me it's not the shipping that’s an issue, it’s the reasoning and how it may perpetuate clichés when there’s other angles that could be explored. 

Also, why the hell is Alfred used to drive Flatline's likeability? If Alfred is Damian's guilt manifesting, then that's actually Damian thinking that?

'I like this one, Master Damian.'

Seriously. I really hope we end up finding out that was tied in with Flatline's ability or something. So, Williamson won't explore Damian's guilt over Alfred but he'll give us a panel where Alfred (or a manifestation of him) is basically giving his thumbs up for his OC. That doesn’t sit well with me. Not so early in the series, anyway. 

Why is this whole manga thing keep coming back? Yes, Damian reads manga. I loved this addition and I think it's great that Williamson actually brought it in. The fact that it was Flatline who found it seems cliché. And no, I don't think it's a parallel between the shojo manga characters and them two. I really hope that particular manga has a deeper meaning than that. The fact that we keep seeing the blood sprayed (or is it cuts? not sure) on it does seem to hint at that.

There were some good moments. Damian and Dick. Basically every single interaction between Damian and Ravager. The whole Damian and Conner could have been developed better, because it seemed rather sudden they had a heart to heart when Damian can be such a distrusting little shit. Damian reuniting with Goliath.

Why is it that we're five issues into this series and it's all over the place? I don't dislike it. The art is great, although there's so many inconsistencies. But it's been super hard to feel in any way about it other than just 'meh'.

Issue #6 was boring. I didn't mind Flatline and Damian analysing other fighters, it was interesting actually, but that it's still being framed as heading towards a romantic relationship is so.....well, eugh.

Overall, I just don't feel there's enough...substance? Damian does interact with a wide variety of characters and there are a lot of things going on - batfamily searching for him, Ra’s Al Ghul (which was funny yet so odd the way he was characterized), the whole tournament and magic island, so on.

Flatline is not the issue for me, but rather one part of why the series has not managed to appeal to me. I do feel there's a bit too much of her. Or rather, there's not enough of her as a character and too much of the whole 'they're teenagers so they'll have to end up having a crush on one another because he's a boy and she's a girl who literally stole his heart'. Like, I wouldn’t mind having Flatline or other fighters background explored, just to see the types of people they are and so on. 

I wish there'd more of Damian's inner thoughts too. If not that, then give us more fights. Not just snippets. It's a tournament. Let's see how badass they all are. Damian’s fight scenes in #6 were beautiful but brief. I hope the next issues will give us more of that.  As someone who does like Damian x OC fics, I can’t blame the author for wanting to hype their own OC, but I am also a great fan of friends to lovers, slow burns, friendships can be just as great as romantic relationships, of taking the time for mental/emotional growth. 

Anyways, if you've made it to the end of this commentary, I applaud you. Once again, if you do like the whole Damian x Flatline thing, that's cool. I don't, but I do understand to an extent why people find it appealing. And if you think the Robin 2021 series is amazing, then I am happy for you -- I wish I could be this enthusiastic about it.

P.S just saw the cover for issue #7 or is it #8 ? I think I may cry.

[breckstonevailskier]

Daniel LaRusso's experiences with Terry Silver and how they affect him in Cobra Kai

One thing that is often overlooked in Cobra Kai, because the show fixates so much on the events of the first Karate Kid movie, is how much Daniel LaRusso's behavior is influenced by his time with Terry Silver in The Karate Kid Part III.

Season 1:

Daniel's handling of Kyler: Kyler is actually a lot like Terry Silver. He was going out with Sam, putting on the act of a nice guy to get her to go out with him. In reality, Kyler is a bully towards Miguel and his friends, and is only interested in Sam because he wants to get in her pants. Kyler puts on this nice guy act while having dinner with the LaRussos, and manages to fool both Daniel and Amanda. Then he lies about Johnny attacking him in defense of Miguel, prompting Daniel to confront Johnny. Daniel goes to Johnny, finds out the truth, and immediately does a 180 about Sam going out with Kyler.

Considering their history, Daniel has no reason to believe Johnny instead of Kyler. For all someone in Daniel's shoes ought to know, Johnny could be lying through his teeth (as Amanda points out). But because Daniel's been told that this nice guy might be anything but, he now has to question if Kyler really likes Sam or he has ulterior motives...because again, Silver approached Daniel pretending to have good intentions for him. Amanda at one point in episode 3 tries to assure Daniel that Sam will be fine with Kyler at the Halloween dance because Kyler seemed harmless to her. Daniel says, “Yeah, I’ve known plenty of guys who seemed harmless that were real pieces of crap behind the scenes." He's talking about Silver.

That's why Daniel insists on chaperoning at the Halloween dance: it's to keep an eye on Kyler if he does anything sketchy. Sure enough, he sees Kyler take Sam into an empty classroom and try to get her to take off his belt, and this is when Daniel intervenes and pulls Sam out of there. A good thing, because Kyler was going to date rape Sam (this is made clear in their next scene. Before they beat up Miguel, Brucks tells Kyler that "you had [Sam] in the palm of your dick" and talk about how the bracelet trick worked on another girl at a different school, showing Sam is not the first person Kyler has done this to).

Sam's attitudes towards her boyfriends: A related consequence to this is that after Sam finds out that Kyler is a jackass (between seeing him bully Miguel and his friends in the library, and him trying to date rape her), she is much more guarded and reserved when it comes to meeting new people. This is probably a good thing because it prevents her from getting burned like Daniel did by Terry Silver. This is the reason why she's so hesitant to enter a relationship with Miguel, and is quick to dump Miguel when the Cobra Kai teachings get to Miguel's head and he turns into an asshole, then goes back to him once those asshole tendencies disappear. And while never said out loud, this also contributes to her relationship with Robby falling apart, for while Robby treats her well, he withholds from her the fact Miguel returned Miyagi's Medal of Honor so he can keep Sam for himself (because he knows full well Sam would have second thoughts about being in a relationship with him once she had proof that Miguel wasn't a bully like his fellow Cobra Kai peers).

Johnny's speech to appeal Cobra Kai's ban: Daniel has a very bad reaction when Johnny makes his speech to appeal Cobra Kai's ban from the All-Valley, in which Johnny claims Kreese is dead and his Cobra Kai is different, a place for bullied kids to seek refuge. Thing is, Daniel clearly isn't convinced of any of Johnny's words, because these are almost the exact same words that Silver said to Daniel. Silver approached Daniel claiming that Kreese had died, and at the All-Valley gave a speech proclaiming that his chain of Cobra Kais would be a place for kids to practice the values he [Silver] learned, a speech that Silver wasn't sincere about.

Daniel's reaction to learning Robby is Johnny's son: Daniel's reaction to finding out Robby is Johnny's son is an angry, “You lied to me! Was this all just a con? Some kind of sick mind game you tried to pull off on me?!” It's very telling what Daniel's word choice is, because Terry Silver played a long mind game on Daniel, pretending to be his friend while actively sabotaging him so he'd take a humiliating loss to Mike Barnes in the All-Valley tournament. And when coupled with the fact that Daniel was drunk and had just been attacked by Johnny in his own home after just inviting Johnny in for a friendly fight, his anger is more understandable.

People calling Daniel "Danny Boy": Any time someone calls Daniel "Danny Boy," whether that be Kreese or Tom Cole, Daniel's composure briefly falters, because that's what Silver called him. In fact, Kreese has to know this, since he was there for when Silver revealed his true colors to Daniel.

Season 2:

Daniel's reaction to finding out Kreese has returned: Daniel goes to Johnny intending to inform him about Robby's living situation (in light of Shannon leaving for Cabo)...but immediately decides against it when he sees Johnny with Kreese. Johnny claims to Daniel that Kreese is a changed man...and Daniel warns him not to trust Kreese. Kreese was complicit in everything Silver did to Daniel in 1985 to get revenge for him, so Daniel has every reason to believe Kreese is up to his old tricks again so he can worm his way back into Cobra Kai.

Indeed, Daniel is right: Kreese gains Johnny's trust by claiming to be atoning for what happened in 1984 (by fixing Johnny's second place trophy, and lets Johnny see him as down-on-his-luck so Johnny will take pity on him). It's all a calculated act to undermine Johnny's authority in Cobra Kai and steal the dojo away from him.

Daniel even calls out Johnny for not listening to him when they're arguing in 3x08 while waiting for Robby to get out of juvie. He says, "What did you think would happen when you summoned that devil back to Earth?"

Season 3:

Catching Sam and Miguel together: When Daniel catches Miguel and Sam making out at Miyagi-Do, Sam says to him, "I know it's been a lot. But can you please try to remember that I'm still your daughter, and that you can trust me?" and Daniel replies, "It's not you I don't trust, Sam." Having prior experiences with people who claimed to have changed but didn't (Silver and Kreese) is the reason why learning "Miguel's changed. He's a good person. He's not Cobra Kai's number one bully; he's not even in Cobra Kai anymore!" is a pretty hard pill for Daniel to swallow because any impressions Daniel has had of Miguel up to this point are not very good.

Daniel's impressions of Miguel up to this point are as follows: Johnny had Miguel use Daniel's signature Crane Kick to open the tournament as a way of mocking Daniel, then Miguel fought dirty against Robby. This is combined with whatever Sam said to Daniel about her breakup with Miguel, which probably was that he was an asshole. So seeing Miguel's speech at the town hall to save the All-Valley, and finding him making out with Sam, Daniel is on guard because while Sam has had plenty of positive interactions with Miguel since bumping into him at school, Daniel only has the filter of whatever Sam told him about Miguel to go off of.

Seeing Robby being trained by Kreese: Daniel's reaction to seeing Robby training with Kreese seems very telling. If Daniel is Mr. Miyagi, then Robby is 1985 Daniel, and Kreese is 1985 Silver. Daniel realizes Kreese is going to do with Robby exactly what he and Silver failed to do with Daniel 33 years ago. He'll certainly see the cycle repeating even further when he finds Silver has been summoned back to town by Kreese.

And I would bet he'll possibly realize in season 4 that Johnny's neglect of Robby throughout season 3 left Robby open to manipulation from Kreese, much like Mr. Miyagi's neglect of Daniel in 1985 left him open to manipulation from Silver.

[robinrequiems]

the “right person, wrong time” cliche has always been my favorite! it’s either completely heartbreaking or the cutest shit ever 😭

sorry in advance😔

• as they grew up together, they got close. but then jon went to the future, turning 17, 2 years older than damian who was 15.

• but it didn’t change anything for them, they were still best friendS, they did missions together and still went by as the supersons

• but then damian started liking jon, he does not know how

• it happened one day and Damian never thought it would. damian thought that he would never fall in love like this, rhat he would not have this feeling

• he loved it, the way his heart fluttered when he saw jon, the way he always went red when jon just simply brushed his hand on his shoulder

• dick said it was cute, on how Damian went on and on about jon for hours on end, his friends found it annoying

• screw them

• damian planned on telling jon, it was the perfect day,, they were eating ice cream after their patrol, he told dick he was doing this too, his brother cheered him on too

• and then it went to shit and all he felt was sadness, his heart broke, and he lost a part of himself, he was not rejected, but he wished he was, it would have been better than this

Jon & Dames: hey I have something to tell you!

Jon & Dames: oh you first

Jon & Dames: no you first!

Dames: you go first

Jon: alright fine! I got an invitation to join the legion of superheroes!

Dames: what?

Jon: yeah! They want me to be the Superman of the future!

Dames: you aren’t taking it, right?

Jon: what?

Dames: you should stay here, you shouldn’t go

Jon: what?

Dames: come on, jon. be serious here. all they want you for is your powers, just because your dads Superman, they don’t actually want you

Jon: how- how can you say that? Of course they do!

Dames: do they though?

Jon: I can’t believe you! Why aren’t you happy for me?

Dames: should I be?

Jon: yes!

Dames: oh

Jon: I’m taking it, I can’t believe you. I can’t believe my best friend doesn’t believe in me.. I believed in you for so long.. and you do this to me? I..

Dames: where are you going?

Jon: I can’t be around you right now, I’m sorry. I gotta go home

Dames: but I-

Jon: no.

• jon didn’t listen to damian or let him say what he wanted to say

• damian doesn’t think he would have said it anyways, it was stupid of him to even think that would happen

• there was a party for jons send off, damian went. but didn’t bother to talk to jon abd instead disappeared. he found it that it was easier to disappear into the shadows, it’s what he’s good at anyways

• he’s always been good at it, he can go days with disappearing too, just disappearing without a trace with perfected ease, even going and hiding from the great batman

• jon saw damian, but his heart hurt, the way damian said everything during their fight, how his facial expression, like it didn’t matter. it mattered to jon

• why didn’t it matter to his best friend?

• jon thought damian would have been happy for him, but he wasn’t

• he felt like he lost a friend, his parents were supportive, as were his other friends

—

kathy speaking to damian after jon leaves:

“Why the hell did you do that, asshole?”

“I’m an asshole, obviously.”

“Quit using anger to cover your emotions, I’m an empath, dumbass.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh. Why did you do that?”

“None of your business.”

“I’m also a telepath.”

“Go inside my head, I dare you. You won’t find anything, all you’ll get is a headache.”

“Damian, I’m asking this as a friend—“

“We aren’t friends.”

“Whatever. You care for jon, why did you push him away?”

“I.. it was easier.”

“Easier?.. You—“

“Don’t say it.”

“I’m sorry.”

• he hated when people pitied him, he didn’t need it. so he just got up and left

• damian then disappeared. only leaving a few notes behind.

• Richard,

I have unfinished business I must take care of. Don’t look for me, you won’t find me. I will come back once I complete everything. I’m okay, I promise, but I need to get away right now. I love you, just tell father one thing, because I’m petty ( your words, not mine ) and won’t write him a note. Fuck you.

• Jon,

I’m sorry. For saying that they didn’t want you. They clearly did since they sent you an invitation. They don’t just send anyone that, I hope you get this before I return, but who the hell knows anymore? Maybe you will read this to me when I return. Richard is to give this to you if you do come looking for me when you end up coming back to the present.

I wanted to tell you something, I should have gone first, maybe it would have influenced your decision. Maybe you would have stayed. Stayed for me. I like you. That was why I insulted you, I thought that maybe you would have blown up back, it was easier for me. You always just laughed when I used anger as a wall to separate my emotions from everyone else. But you didn’t realize it then since I’m an asshole.

I liked you. A lot. I was planning on telling you, but I didn’t. It wasn’t the right time. I think it was stupid of me to bother, but right now— at least the time I’m writing this, I’m going somewhere. I have something I need to do, things I need to wrap up. Sins to atone for. And league’s to destroy. See you soon, Sundance.

• ric never happened, and alfred is still alive, he told his goodbye to alfred in person because he went and found his mother. Lazarous tournament; weird as hell, huh? And went to destroy it. He was also on a mission to destroy all the lazarous pit.

• sorry grandpa 😘

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Mako x female water bender imagine

Imagine volunteering to be Mako and Bolin’s stand-in water bending teammate for a few pro-bending matches and Mako strongly opposing the idea, telling you flat out you’re not good enough. You and Mako have always had a rocky relationship and you figure his dislike for you is why he won’t let you compete but it’s more the opposite. He’s refusing to let you compete because he has feelings for you and doesn’t want you to get hurt.

Part two here

Your POV

You could tell the training session had gone badly from the second you heard Mako and Bolin’s footsteps on the approach to your shared loft. If they’d had a good session Bolin would always come bounding in but the footsteps were slow and heavy so you knew they’d had another hard time. “Hey y/n” Bolin said pushing the door open dramatically and you frowned “that bad huh?”. Bolin nodded his head “we sucked and Hasook quit!”. “He quit?” you asked surprised, you knew their water bender team mate was flaky but to quit right in the middle of a season? “But why?” you asked  “you’ve only lost a few matches you have pleanty of time to turn the season around”. “He doesn’t care” Mako sighed “he’s never really cared and now he’s just abandonned us”. “I still think he’ll come back if you maybe just apologise...” Bolin started and Mako spun on “I will not apologise! I meant what I said, he’s not even a good probender we can find someone else”. “But by tomorrow?” Bolin asked “Mako we don’t have any reserves”. “I know but I was thinking we could try poaching one from another team”. “We can’t afford that” Bolin cried “we can barely afford me and you!”. Mako sighed “well we’ll think of someway...”. “How? Mako if we don’t find someone and soon then we’re toast, we’ll be kicked out of the league, out of the loft..”. “Don’t you think I know that” Mako cried and you coughed awkwardly. “I could do it?”. Mako and Bolin paused mid argument and looked at you. “I mean until you find a professional replacement, I could fill in temporarily”. Mako frowned but Bolin grinned "seriously? You’d do that for us?". You shrugged "i mean yeah why not? I’m not a bad water bender, I could do it until you find someone more qualified". Bolin cheered ready to celebrate when Mako ruined the mood with one word.  "No" Mako said without even considering the idea and you felt your excitment plummet. "Why? I know all your plays and both of you well, plus i’ve helped you out at practices before and if you don’t have someone by tomorrow you’re out for the season". "Exactly" bolin nodded "y/n’s the perfect fit". You grinned as Bolin wrapped an arm around you and both turned awkwardly to Mako waiting for the final verdict. He seemed in a worse mood than ever and rolled his eyes "you’re not qualified, you'll get hurt and be a liability, you’re not doing it" and walked away. “A liabilty?” you called after him but he didn’t reply. You turned to Bolin furious “a liability?”. “He didn’t mean that he’s just angry, I’ll work on it I promise”. You frowned and went to follow Mako to argue with him but Bolin caught your arm “no y/n why don’t you both cool off? I’ll start a nice meal and then when we’re all calm, rested and fed we can discuss it properly, yes?”. You sighed but nodded “okay”. “Great” Bolin cried “you go relax I’ll call you when dinner’s ready”.

Your stomach growled and you frowned at the door. It had been 2 hours and still no call from Bolin, how much longer did he think you needed to calm down? You sighed before realising you couldn’t hear any noise from the kitchen, if Bolin was cooking surely he’d be making noise. You opened your door and found the loft empty, Bolin and the food nowhere in sight. Actually that wasn’t right, the ingredients were all there but that was as far as Bolin got apparently. You sighed shaking your head and started making the food instead. Five minutes later Mako’s door opened “Bolin how much longer is the food going to take i’m starving” before stopping when he saw you. “Bolin didn’t get past taking the ingredients out of the fridge so you’re going to have wait a while” you said coldly and Mako nodded. “Well if i help it’ll get done quicker” and grabbed some vegetables that needed peeling. As Mako joined you in the kitchen you realised this was probably a set up.  You suspected Bolin had done this on purpose and sighed. Mako stood next to you but made no effort to talk or even look in your direction. It was uncomfortably tense and you couldn’t not saying anything. “So you changed your mind yet?” you asked and Mako shook his head “nope”. “You realise you’re being stupid don’t you?” you asked “there’s no reaon why I couldn’t atleast try!”. “Yeah well I’m the leader and I say you’re not doing it”. You scoffed and threw the pan you were holding down leaving the kitchen. “Y/n” Mako sighed “I’m not doing this because I want to, I’m doing it for you”. “For me? because I’m so useless I couldn’t possibly be of use to you?” you yelled and Mako sighed. "Y/n I’m not refusing to let you play because i think you’re useless". "Yeah well calling me a liability really proves that" you scoffed and Mako glared. "I’m trying to apologise". "Ow really?" you asked "because usually that starts with i’m sorry y/n or i was wrong or i was a dick, not i don’t think you’re completely useless y/n". "I didn’t say it like that you’re twisting my words!" Mako cried and you rolled your eyes "whatever i’m going out". "You are? But y/n it’s late" Mako said worried considering the neighbourhod you lived in. You didn’t care though and ignored him slamming the door hard.  

Mako’s POV

Mako was furious, you were so infuriating when you got angry! You were so stubborn and never listened to him. It was dark and late, you shouldn’t be going out into the streets alone, you lived in an awful neighbourhood. Not to mention considering the three of you used to be associated with the Shady Shin’s gang all the gangs around here know who you are. He waited ten minutes before following you, his anger overshadowed by his worry for you. Mako had an idea of where you’d go. Although you’d left Shady Shin’s gang with Mako and Bolin you still held the gang in a positive view and had the ridiculous notion the gang members were simply *old friends* and treated them as such. Mako told you not to, he told you the gang didn’t care about you anymore but would you listen? No. Mako entered the gang’s chosen bar and looked around for you. He couldn’t spot you but knew you’d be here somewhere. "Mako?" someone called and he turned to see an *old friend*. "Thought you’d gone straight" the man smirked "you finally come crawling back realising that life doesn’t work for guys like us?" the man asked and Mako resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No i’ve just lost something and thought it might be here". “Your brother’s girl? She’s here". Mako forgot how much he hated that, everyone at the gang assumed you and Bolin were a thing just because you obviously got on. "Y/n isn’t Bolin’s girl" Mako spat and the man smirked raising an eyebrow "ow yeah forgot you were sweeter on her than him even though she’s with him more...that’s gotta be annoying, her prefering him". "Where is she?" Mako asked through gritted teeth and the man smirked as Mako grabbed him. "She’s back there, in Shadys Shin’s private box, guess one of his men’s taking a liking to her too, i’d hurry if i was you". Mako pushed through the door quickly and scanned the room for you. He spotted you sat with the only other girl in the room, some girl you still classed as a friend, Shady Shin not far away from you. Everyone looked up as Mako entered apart from you. The girl beside you nudged you and you looked up and paled seeing Mako.

Your POV

"Hey y/n thought you said none of your loser boys would be here" one of Shady Shin’s men called. You grimanced and glared at the speaker "he’s not mine and i didn’t know he’d be here". “Well get rid of him before we do” Shady Shin snarled. You saw Mako get ready for a fight and stood up “fine alright i’ll sort it”. You reached Mako and tugged his arm towards the door. As soon as you were out of ear shot Mako launched into a lecture "why are you here?" he cried "y/n these are bad people and you came alone! I know you think they care about you but they don’t, not like me and Bolin do!". "Bolin sure" you nodded "you only ever tolerated me, you let me hang around because i was good at being sneaky, because the rent 3 ways was cheaper, because Bolin wanted me there not because you did". "You know that’s not true" Mako said "you know i like you". "Ow yeah how have you proved that?". "So what just because i’m not like Bolin and don���t wear my heart on my sleeve i can’t like you? I’m just not emotional like him y/n! I don’t do elaborate gestures to prove i like you". "So what do you do?" you cried and Mako glared. "I pretend i’ve split the food three ways when i split it two ways between you and Bolin, i get into fights with shady shins men over them waiting outisde our apartment for you, i change my training schedule or Bolin’s so one of us can finish at the same time you finish work so you don’t have to walk home in the dark alone, I come in here knowing i’ll have so many targets on my back but i do it anyway! I make you so angry at me by refusing to let you compete in the tournament because i’m terrified of you getting hurt y/n! It’s my worst fear something bad happening to you or Bolin...that’s why I can’t have you in the ring with us! I know Bolin can take a hit but I can still protect him to an extent but if you were both there...I can’t protect both of you and if something happened to you in the tournament...i’d rather get kicked out then let that happen". "You...that’s why you didnt want me competing? you don’t think i’m useless?". Mako shook his head "no i actually think you’d be a good fit but i’ve seen the best taken out by rogue disks or a slap of water...i don’t pro-bend because i enjoy it! I do it because it gave me, you and Bolin a home, a way to escape the gang, i did it to keep you safe not to put you in danger". You paused and looked at Mako "why didn’t you just tell me all this? Why make yourself out as the bad guy?". "I don’t know because it’s easy to sell? I’m used to being the stick in the mud so it’s easy. Because it’s easier to act like i don’t care or be rude than admit that i do? Because i’m scared of what you'll think of me if i do...if you know how much i care". You smiled "Mako..." you started but he carried on. "But i’m sick of that, I’m tired of seeing you look at me like you hate me when you look at Bolin with so much fondness. I’m sick of Bolin getting all your affection, all your smiles and you think i’m just some cold prick who doesn’t care about you but i do care y/n a lot and i want to show you that! I want affection from you! I want...well you". You paused surprised but smiled "you do?". Mako nodded and then seeing the way you were looking at him crashed into you. Mako was in such a rush it was messy and a bit harsh but you didn’t care. The kiss was good, really good. This was why Mako was so popular with girls you figured wrapping your arms around his neck. Mako seemed genuinely surprised you would kiss him back but that didn’t stop him making the most of it. He pushed you back against the door hastily and you smirked at his enthusiasm. "And all this time I thought you hated me" you breathed and Mako shook his head breaking away from you long enough to look you in the eye "never, more of the opposite". He kissed you again and you smiled getting more and more lost in the feeling when the police showed up. Sirens blared and you and Mako jumped apart. "We can’t be spotted here" Mako said grabbing your hand "if we get caught we won’t be allowed to compete tomorrow, we have to go!". You nodded and followed as Mako dragged you away from the noise. You scrambled over fences and across rooftops until the sirens died away and you neared your home. You were still hand in hand as you ascended to your attic and Mako paused outside the door "y/n...". "You said we" you smiled "when the police showed up, you said if we can’t get caught because we won’t be able to complete tomorrow, we not you, does this mean you’re letting me join the team?". Mako sighed but nodded "i can’t protect you forever, if you want to do this i’ll support you". You grinned "even though you like me?". Mako nodded swallowing nervously "yes, you're not mine to tell what to do even if i like you". "Good answer" you smiled and went to open the door but Mako stopped you "erm y/n...you kissed me back, atleast I think you did, does that mean...do you like me too?". "You tell me" you shrugged leaning up to kiss him again. This time you made it slow and deliberate instead of the heated kiss from before. You lingered and took your time and when you pulled away Mako was breathless. "yes?" he asked and you smirked "yes Mako". Mako grinned and unlocked the door in a daze. You smiled as he lumbered into the room glancing at you every so often. The air was tense between you again but now in a good way. Bolin burst in suddenly and picked up on the tension immediately "Hey what happened in here, it feels weird". "We sorted it" you replied looking to Mako who smirked "yeah y/n’s competing with us tomorrow". "She is?" Bolin asked "you agreed to that?". Mako nodded "if y/n wants to do it who am i stop her?". You shot him an approving smile as Bolin hugged you "yay y/n this is going to be so cool!". Bolin crashed you into a hug again and you smiled but looked over his shoulder at Mako. Knowing all you knew now it was like looking at a completely different person. Now when he looked at you, that familiar intense serious look, it made you blush, made you feel cared for and protected. When you saw his lips twitch you knew he was trying not to smile and he turned away cheeks slightly red. If only he’d told you sooner...but it was okay, you were good at making up for lost time.

----

So i’m planning on maybe doing a continuation of this with them being teammates who live together, train together and compete together all while dating and trying to keep it a secret from Bolin all at the same time but i’ll see :)

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Pushed Around

Prompt: i looooooove you protective knights Merlin drabbles from over quarantine, the frantic energy of these large children fretting over Merlin is hilarious and so precious (': would you ever write your take on the classic "a visiting knight/noble is a dickwad to Merlin but he doesn't tell anyone bc of either worries of diplomacy or something else and then when Arthur and the knights do find out they have to have a serious chat w Merlin about his priorities and self-worth?" bc,,, it would be awesome

Thanks for the req! I do love this trope...

Read on Ao3

Pairings: merthur, but can be platonic or romantic, you decide

Warnings: uhhh nobles can be dicks

Word Count: 3372

The problem with Merlin is that he doesn’t say nearly enough for all the talking he does. Honestly, the man can ramble on for hours and hours without being interrupted and never say one word about himself. He’s spoken about how Arthur sits wrong for longer than a council meeting for goodness’ sake. And yet in all that time, he’s never said a single thing about himself.

 It would be impressive if it didn’t get them into nearly so many stressful situations that could’ve been avoided had he asked for help.

In fairness to Merlin, servants asking for help from anyone other than fellow servants isn’t exactly normal. In unfairness to Merlin, when has ‘normal’ ever been very high on his list of things to strive for?

 They’ve all gotten fairly used to it. Merlin will be doing something and one of them will notice that perhaps there’s a…better way to do that. Or perhaps he’s doing it with a little less skill or proficiency than he normally does and gods, Merlin, how long have you been hurt for? Merlin will shrug and smile sheepishly at them and say that it’s nothing to worry about. Only Gaius seems to be immune to that, raising the Eyebrow of Disappointment and Merlin will bow his head and let him tend to whatever he’s done to himself this time. The problem is Merlin seems to know this and does all he can to avoid doing these things in front of Gaius. Which leaves the rest of them to struggle frantically to keep track of Merlin while he’s frantically keeping track of them.

 But they’ve gotten used to it.

 Arthur is allowed to be an absolute prat—Merlin’s words, not his—in the mornings, insisting Merlin do all sorts of ridiculously elaborate chores to assess whether he’s hurt himself, whether something’s wrong, or whether he’s done something to upset Merlin more than tossing the occasional boot at him. If Merlin doesn’t snipe back or calls him ‘sire’ unironically, something is definitely wrong and everything is on pause until they fix it. No exceptions.

 Leon, as the closest thing to Arthur’s right hand aside from Merlin, takes every opportunity to stand next to him, regardless of how proper it is. Leon may not be immune to Merlin’s impish little excuses, but Merlin is not immune to the protective-older-sibling looks Leon gives him or the gentle way Leon arranges his cape so that Merlin looks even more inconspicuous behind the copious amounts of red fabric. Leon never says a word, and Merlin would never admit it, but there are times when, if you looked at them from behind, you would see Merlin reach out to clutch Leon’s cape and Leon reach to hold his hand.

 Percival is not a small man. Anyone standing opposite him better think very carefully about whatever they’re about to fight over. Odds are it won’t be worth it. Often all he has to do is stand up and they’re babbling apologies or excuses. Merlin, on the other hand, is a slight man who looks as if he’s always about two seconds from tripping over his own feet. Percival makes sure to stand in front of him.

 Elyan has a way with words. Not that he’s the most loquacious speaker, nor the most forceful, but he’s got a voice that makes people listen. It’s not Arthur’s authority, nor it is Uther’s unmistakable iron, but it is a quiet power. Oftentimes, people don’t seem to respect Merlin. Some go so far as to refuse to remember his name. Elyan’s never had a problem making them see reason.

 Gwaine is not known for being discreet, nor is he especially reserved in demonstrating that he’s here for Merlin, not for Camelot, not for Arthur, but for Merlin. Sometimes Merlin just needs a little reminder that he’s worth fighting for, and not just because he’s fighting for something bigger than himself.

 Lancelot is the only one that can actually get Merlin to talk, reliably. The man can see through Merlin’s nonsense in a way that rivals Gaius. Unlike Gaius, Merlin won’t fight him on it. It’s difficult to get Lancelot to tell the rest of them, despite what he’ll have you believe. But if Merlin looks a little happier afterward, then it’s all fine.

 So yeah, they’ve gotten used to it. What they haven’t gotten used to are the people that go out of their way to make life for Merlin harder.

 “There’s another tournament?” Merlin huffs as he throws the blanket over Arthur’s bed. “Didn’t you just have one?”

 “That was a joust. This is a melee.”

 “You’re all throwing yourselves at each other with various pieces of metal,” Merlin remarks dryly, “what’s the difference?”

 Arthur rolls his eyes as he gets up, glancing out the window to see the approaching knights. There aren’t nearly as many as the last tournament, thank goodness, but that does mean that this one won’t be nearly as easily decided.

 “As long as I’m not cleaning up after all of you this time…”

 Arthur frowns, looking back at Merlin straightening the bed covers. “What do you mean?”

 “Last time. I was working non-stop. Had another knight almost as demanding as you are.”

 “I’m allowed to be demanding,” Arthur says, “you’re my servant.”

 “Mhmm, sure.”

 “No one else is.”

 ���You tell them that, sire.”

 “I will. Who was it?”

 Merlin shrugs. “Don’t really remember his name.”

 Arthur sighs, walking forward and resting his hand on Merlin’s shoulder. “Yes, you do. That’s what you say when you don’t want to tell me someone’s name.”

 “You don’t know that.”

 “I do,” Arthur says softly, turning Merlin to face him, “so you can tell me.”

 “That’s not how it works.”

 “Sure it is.”

 “No, it really isn’t.”

 “Merlin,” Arthur huffs, “if something is wrong, you know you can tell me.”

 “But nothing’s wrong!” Arthur just gives him a look until he sighs, picking up the laundry basket. “Alright, fine, his name was Tobias, are you happy now?”

 “Yes, I am, thank you.” Arthur gives his shoulder another pat before moving away. “The next time he’s here, I’ll make sure you’re nowhere near him.”

 As it turns out, that doesn’t go as planned. Because Sir Tobias didn’t just sign up for the joust, he’s here for the melee too.

 “Arthur Pendragon,” the man roars, clapping Arthur firmly on the shoulder, “thought you’d seen the last of me, eh?”

“Thought that bruised backside you got from falling off your horse would’ve kept you away.”

 Tobias throws his head back and laughs. “You’ve got spirit about you, lad. It’ll serve you well if you can hold your nerve.”

 “My nerve has never failed me before,” Arthur replies cooly, gesturing up the stairs, “though I’m sure you know that by now.”

 “We’ll see come the melee.”

 Merlin is out of sight, helping the stablehands tend to the horses. As Arthur walks up the stairs, he sees Tobias glance around and huff softly to himself.

 “Is there something wrong?”

 “No, no,” Tobias says quickly as they enter the hall, “just glad to see you’ve not assigned me the same servant this time.”

 Arthur straightens. “Excuse me?”

 “The gangly boy that tended to my chambers last time,” Tobias says, waving his hand, “right awful he was. Glad you’ve fired him.”

 “I see…”

 Arthur does not, in fact, see, but he makes a point to tell the knights not to let Tobias near Merlin.

 As it turns out, they don’t have much of a choice. Arthur needs Merlin to help him get ready, and Tobias is of high enough rank to be near the prince as he does so. Luckily for Merlin, he just has to stay inside the tent.

 Unluckily for Merlin…

 “Arthur,” Gwaine calls from outside, “they need you to come look at the shields.”

 Arthur gives Merlin’s arm a squeeze and steps away, ducking out of the tent. Gwaine leads him over to a table laden with shields, each with a different insignia painted on it. The Pendragon crest gleams in the light, next to the sigils from each of the other knights fighting. None of them has so much as a scratch.

 “Very good, sire,” the attendant says, sweeping them along to finish the final preparations. Arthur follows Gwaine up the hill to where the others are standing, Leon turning and nodding solemnly ate his approach.

 “Are all of you competing, then?” Arthur leans against the wall.

 Leon shakes his head. “Lancelot and I will be sitting this one out.”

 “Not growing weary are you, old friend?”

 “Weary of people attempting to kill you while I’m already engaged in combat,” Leon replies wryly, “and weary of Merlin being the only one able to do anything about it.”

 “They won’t listen to him when he calls for a stop to the tourney,” Lancelot adds.

 “And so you can keep anyone away from him,” Gwaine says firmly.

 “Precisely.”

 They head back down the hill, just in time to see a flutter of movement from Arthur’s tent. Gwaine frowns, rushing forward and throwing it open.

 “Merlin?”

 “I’m here,” Merlin says, getting to his feet, “just fell.”

 Arthur rolls his eyes fondly and reaches down to help him up. “At some point, Merlin, I do have to wonder.”

 “It’s fine, I just picked up something without realizing it was attached to something else.”

 “I see.”

 The rest of the knights glance at each other over Arthur’s shoulder and Elyan stalks off toward a neighboring tent. Leon bows deeply and tells Merlin that he and Lancelot will wait for the others to finish their training before coming to collect him.

 “There’s still a few more days to go,” Merlin says softly, “I don’t see why you all had to come here so early.”

 “It’s to make it fair, give the knights the chance to get used to fighting in the same place.”

 Merlin grumbles to himself as he goes about finishing up. Arthur catches him gently by the elbow as he turns to leave.

 “Are you alright? Really?”

 “Arthur, I’m fine. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

 Arthur sighs. “I would really like for one of these to go off normally for once.”

 Arthur does not, in fact, get what he wants.

 Not that anyone is particularly surprised that there’s a knight who managed to sneak a poisoned weapon into the training grounds, but someone clips Arthur through his armor and he winces, immediately aware that something’s wrong. Merlin spots it a mile away, because of course he does. The knight is quickly escorted away and Arthur shakes his head, calling for a search of all the knights’ belongings and weapons.

 “You’d think we’d get better about this,” Lancelot mutters as he and Merlin approach, Merlin rubbing his shoulder, “and that they’d stop trying.”

 “At least we caught it before the actual melee.”

 “Merlin, there you are,” Gwaine says, pulling Merlin to his side, “good. Now, you and I are going to have a talk.”

 “About what?” Arthur looks around. “What’s going on?”

 Lancelot just mouths that they’ll be back as Gwaine sweeps them both along the corridor. Arthur brushes it to the back of his mind. That’s not the first time they’ve done something like this.

 It’s the night before the melee. Merlin is late. Arthur paces up and down the length of his quarters. The knights have all vanished hours ago. Merlin is late.

 A knock.

 “Enter.”

 Leon sweeps inside, a stony look on his face. He glances around the quarters and bites back a curse. “Merlin’s not here, is he?”

 “No,” Arthur says, his blood beginning to run cold, “no, he isn’t. Where is he?”

“Gwaine and Lancelot are already looking,” Leon says, shutting the door, “but…sire, may I ask a question?”

 “Always,” Arthur says immediately, “you don’t need to ask.”

 “How long has Tobias been…allowed near Merlin?”

 “He hasn’t,” Arthur growls, hustling down the corridor, “but what has he done?”

 “He was more brazen during the joust.” Leon shoulders a door open. “But now—“

 “Merlin!”

 Arthur rushes forward as Merlin turns the corner. Startled, Merlin barely has time to turn all the way before Arthur’s wrapping him up in a protective arm and turning him back toward the safety of Arthur’s chambers.

 “Where were you?”

 “I was, um…”

 Arthur bites back a curse and hurries faster, Leon hot on their heels. Along the way, they come across Elyan and Percival, coming up from the armory.

 “Arthur, we need to—“ Elyan breaks off when he sees Merlin in Arthur’s arms. “Merlin?”

 “My chambers,” Arthur growls, “now.”

 “What about Gwaine and Lancelot?”

 “They’ll find us.”

 “Guys, whatever this is, it’s fine,” Merlin tries but Arthur simply opens the door to his quarters and sits Merlin down. “Really!”

 “Merlin,” Leon says quietly, “where were you just now?”

 Merlin glances at Arthur. Then back to Leon. “Helping Amelia.”

 “And who were you helping Amelia help?”

 Another glance at Arthur. Arthur closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

 “Merlin,” he says slowly, “I need you to answer me honestly, please.”

 Merlin nods, evidently a little taken aback at how soft Arthur’s voice is.

 “Were you helping Amelia because she asked for your help, or were you helping her so Tobias would get angry with you instead of her?”

 The silence that fills the room is more than enough of an answer.

 “I’m going to kill him,” Gwaine announces, kicking open the door, “now where’s—there you are.”

 “Gwaine, I—ah!”

 “Don’t break him,” Lancelot chides gently as Gwaine sweeps Merlin into a hug, “he’s probably still hurt.”

 “Hurt?” Arthur looks from Lancelot to Merlin. “Merlin—“

 “It’s fine.”

 “Can you allow us to be the judge of that,” Leon asks, settling a hand on Gwaine’s shoulder and moving him away, “please?”

 “It’s just a few bruises, he doesn’t even hit that hard.”

 “Not exactly helping your case here,” Gwaine snarls, stalking toward Arthur.

 “Merlin.”

 “…why’re you guys so upset?”

 Arthur winces. Merlin looks back and forth between them.

 “No…really, I don’t—I don’t understand. You lot hit me.”

 “Not like that!”

 “It’s fine, I don’t—“

 “This isn’t fine, Merlin, you’re being hurt.”

 “So?”

 The room falls silent. Leon draws back as if Merlin reached out to smack him across the face. Percival bows his head as Elyan bites back a curse. Lancelot stares at Merlin like he’s grown a second head. Gwaine looks at Arthur.

 Arthur’s chest clenches so painfully he fears he’s going to have to send for Gaius. Merlin…Merlin doesn’t believe that he’s worth worrying about when he’s hurt? Merlin doesn’t care that he’s getting hurt? Merlin is letting someone hurt him?

 “Merlin…”

 “What?” He looks around at all of them in confusion. “What it is? Why do you all look so…so…”

 “Upset?” Leon tilts his head. “Because you just told us you don’t think you’re important.”

 “But…this isn’t that big of a deal. It happens all the time. Why is this time any different.”

 “How often,” Lancelot says, “would you say this happens then?”

 “Every time there’s a tournament.”

 “Every tournament,” Leon repeats quietly, “there is a knight that does this?”

 “Sometimes more than one.”

 “And you…let them?”

 “It’s not like I have much of a choice.”

 No.

 No, no, no, this isn’t right.

 This isn’t right.

 Merlin is the man who waltzed right up to Arthur on his first day in Camelot and told him to stop being a prat.

 Merlin is the man who spat in Uther’s face as often as he could.

 Merlin is the man who demanded that everyone is treated as a person, be they servant or noble or royal.

 This is wrong.

 “Merlin,” Arthur manages, “Merlin, of course you have a choice.”

 “If I don’t do it, they’ll hurt someone else. And I’m used to it.”

 “But you never should’ve gotten used to it,” Arthur cries, rushing forward and grabbing Merlin’s shoulders, “damnit, Merlin, why don’t you protect yourself?”

 “I’m fine, Arthur.”

 “You’re letting yourself get pushed around and beaten by someone, you’re not fine.”

 “I have to put up with you, don’t I?”

 Arthur burns.

 Something in his chest squeezes so tight it breaks. He takes his hands off of Merlin like he’s been stung, backing up until he hits the poster of his bed. His mouth is open in shock and he can scarcely draw breath.

 Merlin thinks…Merlin…did he do this to Merlin?

 “I don’t understand why this is such a big deal,” Merlin is saying far, far away, “it’s not like I’m not…why’re you all looking at me like that?”

 No, no, Merlin is Arthur’s Merlin, he—he’d never hurt his Merlin, he’d never—no, he hasn’t—but—Merlin—

 “Arthur, are you—are you crying?”

 This is Arthur’s fault. This is Arthur’s fault, isn’t it, he’s messed this up, he’s messed Merlin up, he’s ruined it—he’s ruined everything.

 “Sire,” comes Leon’s—is that Leon’s?—voice from somewhere to his left, “you have to breathe, come on…”

 Arthur gasps, the air burning the inside of his throat. He does it again, frantically blinking to clear his eyes. Tears stream down his cheeks—so he did start crying—as the image of Lancelot and Gwaine talking to Merlin swims into view in front of him. Merlin’s brow is furrowed and he keeps shooting concerned looks Arthur’s way.

 “I never meant—“ Arthur swallows— “I never meant to hurt him. I didn’t—I never meant any of them, I—“

 “Shh, sire,” Leon murmurs, “we know. Nothing is simple right now.”

 “But that’s not what Arthur does,” Merlin protests, “he—is that why you guys are so worried?”

 Merlin turns and flies at Arthur, hands immediately coming up to cup his cheeks and numb away his tears, muttering all the while.

 “That’s not what I meant, Arthur,” he babbles, “I didn’t—I didn’t mean to—you’re not like them, I just—that’s what I’m used to, I didn’t know that there was a difference—“

 “I never meant to hurt you, Merlin,” Arthur says, gripping Merlin’s arms tightly, “I just—you must believe me—“

 “I do, I do—“ now Merlin’s crying too— “I just—“

 “Alright, you two,” Leon hushes, gently laying a hand on both of their shoulders, “let’s have you two sit before you fall over.”

 The knight guides them both to the bed, sitting them on the edge. They’re no help; they’re too busy crying and clinging onto each other.

 “Now, why don’t you two have a chat, and we’ll be outside.” Leon ruffles their hair affectionately and sweeps the others out into the corridor despite Gwaine’s protests.

 Arthur swallows. “I never meant to hurt you, Merlin,” he mumbles, “nor do I believe that you’re—a fool or an idiot or stupid or anything.”

 He clutches Merlin tightly. “You’re important to me.”

 Merlin nods. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you lot, it’s just…that was how the older boys in Ealdor treated me. I got used to it. And it always made sense.”

 Arthur shakes his head furiously. “It doesn’t make sense, Merlin. They were hurting you. People are hurting you. That’s not alright. That’s awful. And I’m going to stop it.”

 “You can’t just fight all the nobles who don’t like me.”

 “Watch me.”

 “Your father will—“

 “To hell with that,” Arthur snarls, “they’re hurting you. And I won’t stand for it.”

 Merlin sighs, slumping forward. Without a thought, Arthur catches him, pulling him closer and tucking his head over Merlin’s.

 “…you really would fight them for me?”

 “Yes, Merlin. I would. And I will.”

 He feels Merlin grin against his shoulder. “You’re going to make Tobias never come back to Camelot, aren’t you?”

 “Perhaps.”

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #933: Me & Coffee Dad (Persona 5)

10:43 p.m. at Sojiro's House's Living Room......

TV Screen: Mugunghwa Kkochi Pieot Sumnida

Sojiro: (Shivers a Bit at the Screen While Sitting Next to Futuba on the Sofa) I forgot how creepy the giant doll look.....

Futuba: Yeah, but it does play the role as the intimidating obstacle pretty well.

TV Screen: (Machine Gun Fires)

Futuba: And are you seeing the kill counts that thing is making right now? It's crazy!

Sojiro: ('Ugh') Don't remind me....I rather play one of the mini games from Mario Party than this hell hole.

Futuba: (Gives Sojiro Playful Smirk on her Face) Since when did you know a thing or two about Mario Party?

Sojiro: For a while now. Whenever you and the other kiddos are out and about, Snake would always get me play a few of them with him to pass the time.

Futuba: Nice. You're taking a liking to them so far?

Sojiro: For the most part. (Starts Rolling his Eyes in Annoyance) I just wish Bowser wasn't a complete dick in all of them......

Futuba: (Starts Snickering)

Sojiro: (Raised an Eyebrow at his Daughter) And what got you laughing, little miss chatterbox?

Futuba: You!~ You just called Bowser a Dick.

Sojiro: Yeah, well, it's true. He's an asshole!....At least in Mario Party. Like, I know his history of kidnapping the princess had cost him the invite and all, but could they at least let him join the party this once? And a few more after that ? Maybe then, we wouldn't have to deal with any of his crap anymore........

Futuba: Funny you mentioned that actually, cuse he DID got invited to one in Super Mario Party, along with few of his lackeys.

Sojiro: (Place his Hand on his Chin) Super Mario Party, huh? I think that's the one we haven't played yet......Did they really threw him a bone for once?

Futuba: Yeah. Twice even. Buuuuuuuut......

Sojiro: (Sighs While Pinching his Nose in Annoyance) Oh goddammit. What?

Futuba: Once Mario Party Superstar came around the corner and they did that whole gathering event on the same day it all started, he literally went up the stage and announced his declination of the invite and went back to doing Bowser Spaces.

Sojiro: ........You're kidding.

Futuba: ('Sigh') Wish I was....But luckiky, Momma Peach did scolded the guy into oblivion after that, so....(Shrugs) Not all was loss, right?

Sojiro: (Still Not Convinced) No. He got off too easy. He deserves a punch in a face at least.

Futuba: You know, you could always join the Smash Tournament and punch him yourself.

Sojiro: And get my ass killed in the middle of the crossfire? Not happening.

Futuba: Oh relax. You're not gonna die out there. You'll get hurt and fall off the stage a lot, but you'll be fine as long as you can fight back.

Sojiro: (Already Has a Deadpinned Look on His Face) The answer's still no, Futuba. And even if I do know how to fight, these old bones in my body are still gonna give up on me quicker than I could even land a hit.

Futuba: (Places her Hand on her Chin) Hmm.....I dunno....You still look pretty good prime to me.

Sojiro: Well, that because I'm not showing any gray areas in my hair yet. (Smiles a Little) Appreciate the sentiment though.

Futuba: (Smiles Brightly) You're welcome!~ Speaking of which, I gotta ask: Is it true that you were a ladies' man growing up?

Sojiro: (Smirks Proudly) Oh yeah, big time. Ever since your old man was in high school, I would be hitting multiple girls left and right, I even tried dating all of them at once, but....(Chuckles a Bit Awkwardly While Rubbing the Back of his Head Back and Forth) It....didn't worked out too well......Mostly for my credible.

Futuba: Oooooooh~ (Went Back to Smirking Again) So you were trying to be a Harem Protagonist in your younger years, huh?

Sojiro: (Raised an Eyebrow in Confusion) A what now?

Futuba: Harem Protagonist. It's a guy or gal who's the main lead of an anime genre based around having multiple love interests throughout their own storyline.

Sojiro: Is that right? And do any of them get in trouble for it?

Futuba: Not that I know of. But they do get oblivious of the clear signs of affection their love interests are giving them. So much so that it gets annoying at times.....

Sojiro: I see.....Still, I think moments like these made me appreciate being single a lot more than it should. Especially after everything I've been through over the years.

Futuba: Hey, there's no shame in living the Single Life. Buuuuuuuut if you ever need some advice on romance, my assistanceis always available. (Playfully Winks at Sojiro)

Sojiro: (Chuckles Lightly) I'll keep that in mind, kiddo. But ONLY if you promise to come to me whenever you need love advice of your own.

Futuba: ('Scoffs') Please. Like I ever have romantic feelings for anyone.

Sojiro: (Raised an Eyebrow Yet Again) Oh really? Then what about that Yusuke kid you've been hanging out wit-

Futuba: (Immediately Points at the Screen Whike Smiling Very Awkwardly and Blushing Bright Red) OH, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT!? The Red Light, Green Light Challenge is finally over now!! Better see what's gonna happen next yeah!? (Turns up the Volume 0f the Television)

Sojiro: ('Sigh') Okay.

@keyenuta

@princekirijo

@26shann

@cyber-wildcat

@ma-lemons

@caleb13frede

@theweebmaster31

[warsmith-38]

How I would do RWBY pt. 1

Revised Timeline of story events (This is not a script, but a semi-loose outline of the story)

Red, White, Blake, and Yellow trailers can stay. They’re perfectly fine as is, barring some early series production foibles (and the voice acting).

Series would be split into three arcs with three seasons each. 1. The School Arc 2. The World Travel Arc 3. The War Arc. (4. The epilogue season of mini episodes just to cap a few things off)

School Arc.

Season One.

Ruby is shopping.

Roman tries robbing the place.

Ruby gets involved because ‘fight good yes’.

Fights Roman and goons.

Beats goons but starts losing against Roman.

Glynda intervenes.

Roman am-scrays and Ruby is detained by Glynda.

This is not the first time Ruby has been called in like this.

She’s been doing free-lance vigilante stuff for a while now.

Tai comes in, worried to hell and back… again.

It’s almost routine by now, but he has a heart attack each time.

Ozpin gets wind of it this time.

Is impressed by her and offers her position at school.

Ruby says yes.

Tai says Ruby is too young to be-

Ruby says yes.

Tai keeps trying to argue-

Ruby. Says. YES!

She wants to be a huntress like her mother was more than anything else in the world.

Next few days is various entities trying to get Tai to greenlight the idea.

Ruby constantly begs, Yang says it’s a good idea, Ozpin is quite forward as to the benefits, et cetera.

Tai relents when Qrow calls him and argues that Ruby is never going to stop her vigilante thing and should at least be doing it legally and with training.

Tai tells Yang to watch over Ruby.

Yang only promises to try.

Ruby instantly loses her after they arrive at Beacon.

Yang tried, just not very hard. Wants Ruby to be independent, both from her and Tai.

Ruby meets Weiss.

Carefree and rebellious Ruby immediately clashes with stuck-up and bad-tempered Weiss.

Blake intervenes, slags off the SDC, everyone walks away annoyed.

Ruby meets Jaune.

Jaune is less bumbling.

More of an Octavian figure. Meek of body, but quite strong of tactical and strategic mind.

Jaune meets Pyrrha.

Has no idea who she is. Not all that into celebrity gossip, especially whole kingdoms away.

Comes off as polite and charming, if a bit oblivious.

Ruby encounters Blake on her own.

Says thanks for helping ward off angry Weiss.

Blake seems a little standoffish but Ruby’s infectious friendliness makes her give her a chance.

Have actual conversation about books.

Have minor debate over the exact meaning behind the symbolism of a character in a story.

Y’know, nerd shit.

Orientation.

Ruby and Weiss talk again.

Goes roughly as canon. IE: poorly.

Ren and Nora introduced, again, roughly as canon.

Ren talks a bit more, less of Nora motor-mouth with him just being there.

Have brief conversations with Jaune and/or Pyrrha.

Relic hunt starts.

Catapult!

Ruby and Weiss meet each other faster than usual.

Grimm show up and they kill them together.

Weiss calls her an idiot but agrees that she’s at least competent in a fight.

Blake and Yang meet each other.

Have actual conversation.

Blake tries to be standoffish and curt but Yang’s winning smile and corny sense of humor makes it hard.

Jaune and Pyrrha meet again.

Jaune has actual plan to get relic.

Have conversation about aura and semblances in a way that doesn’t make Jaune seem like he was dropped multiple times on his head as a child.

Says that he hasn’t unlocked his semblance yet, but he says that he scored high enough on his aptitude tests to make up for it.

Ren and Nora meet up because… well, duh.

Meet Jaune and Pyrrha and decide to team up to speed the overall process up.

Bumble into pissing off giant grimm.

Ruby and Weiss start arguing, come to brief blows even.

Teenagers, am I right?

Big grimm shows up.

They bond a little by fighting it off together.

Main characters start to coalesce at the relic site.

Future JNPR is there too.

Everyone has brief hello with each other.

The two large grimm from earlier show up.

Each would-be team gets one.

Happy teamwork scene.

Kill the grimm, get the relics, same old shit.

Teams RWBY and JNPR are made official.

Team CFVY are present as the designated senpai group.

Cue bonding scenes.

Ruby and Blake create book club with Ren, Jaune, and Yatsuhashi.

Yang, Fox, and Ren have Kung-Fu training scenes.

Velvet passes around the collection plate for Wild Call, a large and helpful faunus rights group.

Blake and Velvet are kind of tense with each other. No one knows why.

Then again, Blake is pretty tense with everyone, but especially Velvet and Weiss.

(Velvet knows that Blake is a faunus and dislikes that she hides it. Blake dislikes Weiss because Schnee.)

Ruby is happy to talk to Coco-senpai and her crazy purse mini-gun.

Nora, Yang, and Pyrrha have push up contest. Ruby wins.

Weiss helps Ruby study with things like flash cards, note taking strategies, and other things she ignores.

Weiss has tense moment or two with Ruby but Yang delivers some context as to why Ruby is so unruly.

Mom died, dad got WAY overprotective of Ruby and more than a little distant with Yang.

Ruby always wanted to be like her badass of a mother and saw their father as being in the way of that.

Weiss empathizes to a degree.

Weiss and Yang team up to be the semi-responsible ones for Ruby.

CRDL are cunts.

Act racist to Velvet.

Push Jaune and Ruby around a little.

Say ungentlemanly things to Yang and Pyrrha. (They do it to all of the girls, but to them the most)

Cunt stuff.

CVFY can’t do much because A. They can’t be brawling with underclassmen and B. They wouldn’t be able to not kill the little pricks and that’d be a bad look for them.

JNPR is just trying to ignore them.

This leads to a confrontation between CRDL and RWBY.

They make a bet over a set of sparring matches.

If CRDL wins then RWBY has to operate as their maids or something creepy like that for the school year.

If RWBY wins then CRDL has to fuck off for the school year.

Best of four matches with a team battle if a tiebreaker is needed.

Ruby actually loses to Cardin due to his tankiness, him being the most (IE: only) competent part of his team, and secret cheating.

Weiss beats Russel rather handily.

Blake loses to Dove due to him cheating and everyone still not noticing yet.

Yang traumatizes Lark as a warning.

Team battle!

CRDL takes an early advantage due to RWBY having some coordination issues.

RWBY figures out that CRDL is cheating via wire tapping into their team communications.

Ruby takes the reigns.

Coordinates with her team via code with an old inside joke to Yang, a literary reference to Blake, and one of those studying tricks to Weiss.

They act in ways that CRDL aren’t expecting and can’t cheat around.

RWBY wins.

Yang and Blake take CRDL aside and threaten them that if they renege at all they will make what Yang did to Lark look like a massage, not to mention telling the staff about the cheating.

They are scared into avoiding RWBY and co. where convenient.

CRDL slink off to be cunts elsewhere.

Pyrrha, because fuck ‘will they won’t they’, asks Jaune out on a date.

Jaune, breaking dense anime boy tradition, says yes.

They’re cute together and N+R support them.

Beginnings of Vital Festival starts.

Team RWBY sees Sun causing chaos.

He briefly introduces himself to them and then runs off to cause more monkey mischief.

SSN are right behind him and are rude bastards who don’t introduce themselves while fleeing the cops.

Penny meets team in glorious awkwardness.

Ciel, whom Weiss recognizes from Atlas (they went to the same starter school together), is constantly chasing after her and her antics.

Her other two teammates are just combat bots with special retrofits. (They’re prototypes for Penny)

Gives context of tournament and her place in it like an awkward robot would.

Weiss says something pretty damn racist directed towards Sun.

RBY call out Weiss on racism.

Blake gets angry with her.

The topic of the White Fang comes up.

R + Y both agree with Weiss that the White Fang are assholes, despite also condemning Weiss’ racism.

Weiss has horror stories about what they’ve done, including kidnapping her at young age.

Points to her scar for emphasis.

Blake can’t argue against what they’re talking about but counters with the horrible stuff the SDC has done across planet.

General scumbag corporate crap as well as paramilitary actions that break most international laws.

R + Y also agree with Blake that SDC sucks too.

Weiss is a little taken aback.

She genuinely had no clue that things like that were happening.

Blake lets slip that she was White Fang.

Runs off before people can react.

Team gives chase.

Blake thinks they’re going to turn her in and/or lynch her.

They only want to talk to her and get the full story.

Weiss is conflicted about things.

Sun finds Blake, says that he remembers her from a White Fang attack in Vacuo, despite the masks they wear, and wants some answers.

Sun says that general opinion among faunus (at least in Vacuo and Mistral) is that the White Fang are asshole supremacists that cause more problems than they ever solve or even try to solve.

Blake gets reality check about White Fang.

Confesses that she was involved with some acts of violence but thought it was for the greater good.

She makes a point of saying that she, herself, did not kill anyone. If anyone was killed it was not by her.

If someone died, then it was either an ‘accident’ someone else did or Adam swung the sword.

Also thought that the genuinely horrible stuff she heard was propaganda or just Adam being a dick.

It was said dickishness of Adam’s cell that was tolerated by larger organization that made her leave and try to repent.

She had no idea that Adam was only marginally more of a lunatic than other cell leaders.

Blake happens to see telltale signs of White Fang attack. Uses them as an excuse to change subject.

Sun gives her benefit of the doubt on her attempt at personal redemption and assists her in trying to stop terrorist plot.

Penny has nothing better to do so she gives Ciel the slip and starts helping Ruby look for Blake.

Have conversation about friendship, freedom, and weapons.

Weiss airs concerns to Yang about future of team.

She seems scared at the idea of losing a friend like Blake.

White Fang are taking orders from Torchwick and his goons.

Blake tries to appeal to their good side.

They call her and Sun race traitors and try to kill them.

Blake and Sun vs Torchwick.

Neo (Roman’s adopted daughter) shows up to help Torchwick.

White Fang go all out.

This is a problem.

RWY and Penny arrive to brawl.

Penny solves problems.

Sun and Penny take on the White Fang

Roman + Neo are final boss of season for RWBY.

Hard fought fight, but it is clear that RWBY is going to win.

White Fang have contingency explosive.

No one important dies, but Penny is grabbed by her superiors in the confusion.

Weiss and Blake confrontation.

Both apologize for the mistakes in their earlier arguments and for flying off the handle.

Both still have rose-tinted glasses about their respective sides but the tint is wearing off.

Blake stops hiding being a faunus because the rest of the world isn’t as horrible and racist as the supremacist terrorists told her it was.

Agrees to be more transparent to her team.

Weiss agrees that #notallfaunus and that the SDC has done some dirt.

Torchwick meets with mysterious benefactor about problems with latest job.

Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, and Adam tell him not to worry and that Evil Plan is still a go.

Season one done.

[hpfannons]

Oh la la! Thats a fine choice of specimen. Thank you. :) lol. I only ask about the jealousy thing because I remember that Dick said one time that they only get to see him 2 months a year or something... I probably meant the batfam side i guess... lol but its good most Harry’s friend are okay or just roll with it... maybe I should asked some batfam moments during their stay in order hq... I really love that scene where Harry was on Dick’s lap and and the rest are just with them... I kinda want a scene with the same feeling...if you dont mind. xD thank you very much! glad to hear ur answer about fudge and umbridge. thank you so much... im really immersed in this au... looking forward to part 7. >_< thanks and stay safe y’all.

Glad you like my batfam! My best friend and I spent way too long going back and forth on people we could agree on for different characters (I think Tim and Alfred were the hardest… but it was years ago, so don’t quote me on that lol)

Sorry about the jealousy thing though, miscommunication on my part. I blame that for answering at 3 am on my phone XD

Yes, there is a lot of buried jealousy with the Batfam. Though surprisingly, most of it comes from Harry. That’s mostly because all these new family members come in while he’s at school, so it kind of feels like they’re all much more close knit with each other than with him because he’s not there for the large portion of the year.

They’re all happy to include him and catch him up with things he missed while he was at school… But there are some things you just have to be there in the moment for, because retelling the story just isn’t quite the same.

That’s not to say that the rest of the Batfam don’t have the same feelings as well, I think I’ve mentioned before that Tim and Harry especially are very close (actually best friends, on the same level as Harry and Ron) so Tim is definitely one of those people who feels Harry’s lost during the year the most.

Add on the fact it’s not really that easy to keep in touch with him while he’s at school, and it really is just hard on everyone.

As a side note, I fully believe the family would find some kind of way to make alterations to a communicator that will work at Hogwarts. Considering how many people who both use magic and have been involved with the Justice League in some way or the other, I find it hard to believe they haven’t found a work around for the whole magic screws with tech problem. At the very least, Harry would have a way to check his email from family, b/c making Headwig carry letters from Scotland to New Jersey and back is just cruel.

As far as the Batfam hanging out around 12 Grimmauld Place… They’re trying to be as non-confrontational as possible, even if there’s still some ruffled feathers from the first night. So the boys mostly go along with helping clean out the place under Molly’s orders - Jason was originally kind of prickly about it because he’s not a child (certainly not her child), so he found getting ordered around kind of insulting… Until his inner clean freak won out and yeah, this place does need a lot of work. Alfred has taught them all well, and it shows.

Tim mostly hauls himself up in the library when he can get away from clearing out pixies and de-gnoming the garden. He’s got like four notebooks full of information and Ron is a little shocked to find out Harry wasn’t kidding when he said Tim was worse than Percy and Hermione together when it came to information gathering.

Damian has less than stellar people skills at the best of times, and here he’s decided he doesn’t care very much for anybody over the age of seventeen (that’s not family anyway), so most of Dick’s time has been dedicated to keeping the youngest away from most of the Order. Not that he really blames him, Dick isn’t nearly as vocal about it as Damian, but he is also just completely done with all of them. He’s only playing nice because they’re here for Harry.

Bruce has also posted himself up in the library, reading everything he can get ahold of in regards to the history of the wizarding world trying to understand exactly what he’s son has gotten wrapped up in. Because lord knows nobody in this house is going to explain it to him… At this point he’s about one wrong comment away from telling them exactly where they can shove their ‘muggle’ excuses.

There was one notable evening though, when the boys as well as the Weasleys and Hermione were just hanging out in a parlor or sitting room or whatever it was supposed to be. Jason had been messing around with an old radio he found the other day and between him and Tim, they managed to get it working. The minute they recognized Britney Spears’s voice, there were four sets of eyes immediately on Dick who gave all of twenty seconds of resistance before he was up and dragging people along to dance with him. The impromptu party had ended up going on for hours, Tonks getting roped into the fun with them while Sirius and Remus smiled fondly from the doorway. Molly made a passing comment about bedtime, but didn’t argue back when that was quickly shot down by the other adults. Let the kids be kids while they could.

As far as soft moment’s for the Batfam… there are two that really come to mind, though they’re kind of sad though.

The first is really kind of short, but it’s after the battle of Hogwarts, and Harry’s come back from his final fight with Voldemort, and there’s just people everywhere in the great hall, but Harry knows exactly where he’s going. Bruce is standing to the side, watching while Jason’s getting patched up, and trying to keep an eye on his other kids as well. Everyone's a little banged up and bruised, but they’re all alive, and that’s the important part right now.

And then he sees Harry and there’s this almost tangible sense of relief because now all of his kids are present and accounted for, and Bruce feels like he can finally breathe again. And Harry just like collapses into Bruce who has to scramble a little bit to catch him, but then just stands there and holds him, because Harry is just completely exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. And all Bruce hears is “I want to go home Dad.”, and honest to god Batman almost starts crying in the middle of the great hall in front of everyone.

The other is after the Triwizard Tournament, and everything with Mad-Eye Crouch, when Harry’s in the hospital wing. Everyone’s standing around trying to figure out what the hell just happened, and Harry wakes up still kind of groggy from whatever Madam Pomfrey gave him to knock him out, and he ends up breaking down crying in front of everyone.

Dick doesn’t even hesitate, he’s on Harry before the first tear even really starts rolling and just tucks him into the crook of his neck and let’s him cry it out. Except Harry’s been traumatized and he’s like full-on sobbing, almost wailing, and that just stabs everyone straight through the heart. Tim’s next, doesn’t say anything, just sits down behind Harry and tucks himself up against his brother’s back. Damian and Jason join in as well, Damian sitting on Harry’s other side and just quietly putting his head on Harry’s shoulder; while Jason sit’s down a little farther away, reaching out to put a hand on the back of Harry’s neck. Bruce is standing on the other side of the bed, and just runs a hand through Harry’s hair while they let him get it out and calm down.

And once he’s down to hiccups and kind of stuttery breaths, Dumbledore says something about leaving him be, and if looks could kill… Jason’s still armed, and he almost, almost goes for the gun. Bruce head’s it off at the pass though, saying he’ll go with them to discuss things further and also inform the league about what’s happened, but the rest of the boys will be staying.

Madam Pomfry insists on dosing Harry again, and after some reassurances that his brother’s aren't going anywhere, they get him to drink the potion. That’s as far as they indulge the mediwitch though. Tim and Damian both try to settle down in the bed on either side of their brother, though after some jostling around and being unable to really fit two teenagers and a ten year old comfortably in a hospital cot; Dick and Jason move another bed over flush against Harry’s and Dick manages to coax Damian into it with him, as long as the younger is able to keep hold of Harry’s arm. Jason retakes the seat he’d pulled up to the bedside, kick’s his feet up on the cot and settles in to keep watch over the lot of them for the night. And that is exactly where and how Bruce finds them the next morning.

[samwrights]

Pining After You pt. 4 [hc]

Yall really love these?! 🥺 y’all are incredible. This one was requested by @xhanjisungiex thank you for challenging me out of my comfort zone and I hope you like it bb! 🖤

Kinda warning?: Semi is aged up so mentions of alcohol consumption!

Goshiki;

Oh this poor confused boy.

If y’all already thought he kinda acted a fool before meeting you, you can imagine how he is after he decides that his other life goal is to date you.

Obtaining that was the issue.

Shirabu lowkey thought he was pathetic that he couLDN’T TALK TO A GIRL IN HIS CLASS.

But it seemed his typical tactics of trying to be the center of attention just wasn’t working—no matter how many times he raised his hand to answer a question just to get you to look his way or trying to be lab partners.

All your friends snatched you up, proving to make the task more difficult.

So for now, he continues to just admire from afar. He paid attention to the way you interacted with your friends very closing, noticing you were a very physical person; touching people when you laughed or patting them on the head in mock comfort. Goshiki wondered how you would interact with him if ever given the chance.

He noticed little details like the way you would drum your favorite colored mechanical pencil against textbooks, drumming to an imaginary song or beat while moving your lips to sing lyrics that weren’t there.

Goshiki noticed when you weren’t your normal self. You would cross your legs at the knee from time to time, rather than resting them flat on the ground, when you were tense in your desk. There was no drumming or rapidly swinging your pencil between your fingers. Just arms folded over your chest as you stared out the window.

In second year, he noticed that the happy, touchy girl that he had found himself unabashedly staring at for a third of his day wasn’t herself anymore.

The bright shine of your hair had dulled and thinned, and your lab partner was no longer any of your friends, but a boy you had started dating at the end of first year.

Goshiki would be lying if he said he didn’t imagine punching the dude once a week.

Your smile no longer squished your cheeks towards your eyes—it was no longer genuine. Your legs were now always crossed at knee, no longer relaxing with your feet flat on the floor.

There was no more drumming or lip syncing to imaginary music, and your eyes had harrowed in more. It broke his heart to think that the girl he had initially fallen for no longer existed.

When you return from winter break, Goshiki notices that while your physical features had remained the same, you and your lab partner boyfriend no longer speak to each other if necessary. Perhaps a break up? He could only hope.

Or so he thought until he heard the venom in his voice when he spoke to you. You had miscalculated the needed elements in your current lab experiment, causing the contents in the beaker to boil over and release a foul order. “This is why I fucking dumped you.” Goshiki heard the boy snarl as he began cleaning up.

You tried not to cry.

That was it, that was all that Goshiki could take. He approached your work station, eyes locking with the boy. “Excuse me, I’m Goshiki Tsutomu. Would you like to switch lab partners?”

“Dude it’s the end of the year, little late for that.”

“I don’t care.” Goshiki snapped before turning to you, the look in his eyes softening by the slightest calibre. “My partner would like to switch places with you. Would you be okay with that?” Who was this angel swooping in time save you??

The science teacher actually approved the switch, considering your grades were not exactly where they used to be. Maybe Goshiki could help bring your grade up by the end of the year.

On the first day of the two of you being lab partners, you thanked him profusely for rescuing you from the situation, which made his swell immensely.

He still may be a ways away from succeeding in his goal to date you, but having to interact with you for the rest of the year was a step in the right direction.

But more importantly, he had come to terms with the fact that while you dating him may never happen, Goshiki finally got to see your trademark smile return to your features, your cheeks squeezing shut slightly at the genuine gesture. Your feet were planted on the ground.

He would be okay with whatever happens, as long as you never lost that smile.

Semi;

I totally should have used Semi for my Punk!AU series that I’m writing 🥴 Hindsight is 20/20

SO we’re gonna go a little left field with this one, bare with me friends.

You and Semi are in a band together—with Semi Semi as your drummer and you as the vocalist.

While you two don’t hate each other, you have a strange rivalry over trivial things. Your band HATED it because they really just wanted you two to get over the sexual tension and bang.

He had to better than you at everything else besides singing.

You shotgunned a beer? Semi’s gonna do two in a row.

You got a high score in guitar hero? He was gonna play the same song and break the record.

Y’all went out to a buffet as a band and you cleared 5 plates? He was gonna have 7.

You get the point.

He would never admit to being in love with you first—it was the one thing did he didn’t want to beat you in.

But there were nights when it took everything in him walk away from his drum set in the middle of a show or practice, grab you by the waist and just give you a big ol’ smooch for hitting that high note that you had been struggling with.

Sure, he was in absolute denial about his feelings, but he could never not watch you, especially during shows.

The way you would sway around and move on the stage, the smallest wriggle of your hips, or the way you would stand back to back with your guitarist as the two of you harmonized. Made him regret offering to be the drummer when he could play guitar just as well.

He definitely imagined fucking you on his drum set

Band practice was always at his house due to the fact that he had his drum kit there and it was a pain in the ass to transport. Some days, you’d show up to Semi’s house before everyone else just to have some peace and quiet while also having access to multiple instruments.

Today was one of those days, but you were early. Like by hours. For a minute, Semi thought someone broke into his house until he heard your voice accompanying a soft ballad he had never heard before.

Quietly, he tiptoes down the steps in hopes the stairs don’t creak and give away his position. Despite the genre in which you guys were classified, your voice was the most hypnotizing thing to Semi.

You’re still lost in song when he joins on the couch, cautious so as not to disturb you while you concentrated. When you finished playing, he reached for the guitar, already memorizing the simple chords you strummed.

“Do it like this.” Semi’s voice was soft as he nestled the body between his chest and leg as he strummed the same chords, but with a half-step difference. He nodded towards you to sing, before he joined in harmonizing. By now, you were somehow in harmony with two completely different lines overlapping, his words a product of his own creativity.

As the song ended, the two of you just stared at each other, knowing full well your feelings were intertwined with every word.

He couldn’t fucking take this anymore—he had to kiss you, had to let you know that despite the petty competitions, he was in love with you.

But you let it happen with ease, allowing Semi to set the guitar down before cupping your cheeks to pull you on top of him. “You lose.” You tease when you pulled away for a breath.

“Nah, I win. I’m not in denial anymore.”

“No, I win. I never was.”

Futakuchi;

When Futakuchi became captain, he really regretted how much of a dick he was when he was “younger”.

Included in his list of regrets was how he treated you back when you used to come watch matches for Moniwa.

As the captains best friend, Futakuchi used to treat you like the team lackey.

“[name], why don’t you go be useful instead of gawking at Moniwa and fill up our water bottles?”

“[name], instead of just standing there, you could help us clean up the gym.” Etc. Even if he was technically your kouhai, he literally could not stop himself.

But when you stopped coming around, thanks to the third year’s retirements, Futakuchi realized he missed the one sided banter.

He supposed he missed it because you never gave in to his coaxing, only fueling him to try harder to bait you to fight back. All he wanted was to see you get flustered and red because of him.

Why, he didn’t know but all he did know was that he wanted to see your perfect skin covered in warmth and embarrassment. Ofc he knows why

“Maybe she stopped coming because she didn’t want to see you anymore.” Aone had told him once when it was just the two of them cleaning up after practice.

“No, her friends aren’t here anymore. Why would she come here when she has no reason to?” Was he trying to bait Aone or himself? He was unsure.

“You’re an idiot.” Was all he said in response.

During the spring high preliminaries, you decided to join your retired third year pals to watch the tournament. “Y’all really decided to give the team to Fukatuchi?” You asked in surprise.

“As shocking as it is, he’s actually doing quite well.” Moniwa says from beside you. While you hadn’t seen Fukatuchi since your friends’ retirement, you had a tough time believing his word.

After the loss to Aoba Johsai, you joined the other third years in saying hello to the team, though you would have been fine if you could have avoided the new captain.

You take the time to introduce yourself to the first year, Koganegawa, encouraging him that he did well despite being new and made sure to congratulate Aone as well. You did always like him.

“Oh? What about me?” Fukatuchi said from behind you, for which you were grateful because you were free to roll your eyes without him seeing. With the fakest smile you could muster, you turned around to greet the new captain.

As you opened your mouth, finally ready to give him a piece of your mind since Moniwa technically no longer needed to deal with him, you stopped when you noticed the serious expression on his face. “I’m sorry.” Was all he said.

“W-what?” Fukatuchi looks to his team and they all seemed to understand what he was silently telling them: leave.

“I’m sorry for the way I treated you when you used to come and watch.” What. WhaT. You.exe program not responding.

The two of you are just awkwardly standing there, alone, with the sounds of the current match running somewhere in the distance. Fukatuchi is unsure if he continue what he intiallity prepared himself to say. Biting the bullet, he caves and continues speaking. “You never took my hooks. They’re the only way I know how to pull people in.”

“Fukatuchi, that’s so stupid.”

“Wow thanks, [name].” Was all he could reply with a grimace.

“What else am I supposed to say? ‘I miss you picking on me—‘“

Fukatuchi used Kiss. It was super effective!

“Ah, so that’s how I’m supposed to get you all hot and bothered.” He smirks, noticing the blushing cascading up your neck. He may have apologized, and he may have missed throwing little quips your way.

But now that he had finally seen the way you looked when you’re embarrassed, it was his end game to see it over and over—prompting him to kiss you again. “What the hell was that even for?! You’re so confusing!”

“Aw come on, you know how the saying goes. Boys pick on the girl they like.”

Wanna see a specific character? Or a different head cannon? Want to see a whole story?

Send in requests!

[sisterpiranha]

What to do when you nemesis gets a boyfriend and doesn't have time for your rivalry anymore?

I woke up today and I couldn't get this idea out of my head. So I had to write it. Also. this is inspired in a post I've read on tumblr some time ago, but I can't find it now. If somebody knows what I'm talking about and has it at hand, let me know!

Also, yes, the first few paragraphs are just exposition. And this is completely self-indulgent and completely not serious. Not really sorry. 

Nobody beta this but my own conscience. 

Summary: Johnny gets a boyfriend and Daniel's whole world is shaken.

Pairing: Johnny Lawrence/Daniel Larusso (endgame), Johnny Lawrence/omc

Rating: No sex, but there’s some explicit language, I guess.

CHAPTER 1

Six months after Kreese was arrested and Johnny Lawrence got Cobra Kai back, things seemed to have gone back to normal. Daniel still wasn't happy about the other dojo, but he could now at least accept that it wasn't the same toxic place it had been in his youth. And the San Fernando valley was certainly big enough for both.

The two men reached an uneasy truce, that went as far as to refer students to the other dojo when they thought their philosophy was better suited for them.

And sure, he was now divorced, living on his own in an apartment. And he had also become little more than a figurehead in his own business. But it was fine, everything was fine. He was doing what he loved. Amanda and he had agreed to keep the relationship amicable. And his new place was closer to Miyagi-Do. He was, in short, generally happy.

When the date of the All-Valley Karate Championship arrived, Daniel brought most of his older students, but he knew that Sam and Robby were the ones who had the greatest chance of winning. And of course, Cobra Kai had to be there, too. They made its now traditional entrance to the delight of the announcer and the crowd. Johnny's flashy style had made the dojo popular, and, here and there among the audience, you could see people wearing Cobra Kai t-shirts and waving Cobra Kai flags. It made Daniel scoff. He would never debase karate like that just for the sake of merchandising.

Johnny entered after his students, followed by Miguel. The boy, decked in his black gi, moved swiftly on his crutches. He might not be competing, but he was his sensei's right-hand man and, in may ways, the heart of the dojo, so his presence was essential, even if it was just to give support.

Daniel tried to meet Johnny's eyes. He wanted the man to see him rolling his eyes at their flashy behaviour and needless commercialization of karate, but Johnny's eyes were focused on something else. Or rather, on someone else, a tall male someone else. He was standing in the sidelines saying something to Johnny and smiling. Johnny was also smiling and nodding. But the strangest thing of all was that, when the announcer started talking again, the man caressed Johnny's arm before he went to sit with the audience.

Daniel frowned just as Johnny looked in his direction. He couldn't decipher the man's expression, so he just turned his back and went to speak with Sam, deciding to ignore the whole incident.

And once the tournament started, Daniel forgot all about the stranger. He would never admit it out loud, but he loved seeing Johnny so supportive of his students. Win or lose, he'd be there to pat them in the back and give them words of encouragement. He regretted not seeing that sooner, not seeing how hard Johnny tried to do what was best, even if he didn't always go about the right way.

One by one, the students fought, and Daniel couldn't help but feel impressed about their progress. Eventually, Robby took the lead for Miyagi-do and Aisha, for the Cobras. And soon, they were facing each other in the final fight. They were well matched. Robby was a quick fighter with a knack for analysing his rival's style so he could predict their moves. Aisha was not as fast, but she had endurance on her side and an unpredictability that eventually allowed her to come on top. 

When the referee raised her arm the whole place erupted in cheers. Robby was graceful in his defeat, he shook her hand and move away to let the celebrating Cobras surround her, and even some members of Miyagi-do joined them. 

Daniel smiled at her from a distance, letting her enjoy her moment with her peers. Then he went to talk to Robby. He had fought a good fight and he told him so, but the boy didn't seem too concerned about having lost. He patted him in the back and went to look for Johnny. Robby wasn't the only one who could be grateful in defeat. But what he saw when he found him, stopped him in his tracks. 

Johnny and the stranger.

Johnny kissing the stranger.

Johnny kissing the stranger who was a man.

And it wasn't just a friendly peck either, he could swear there was some tongue involved. The stranger's arms were around Johnny's neck, and Johnny's around his waist, their bodies plastered against each other. Daniel was fuming. It was completely obscene and inappropriate to do that in front of children. There must be some rule to forbid this in a public arena. And if there wasn't, maybe he would propose one in the next committee meeting.

He was already mentally drafting the proposal and considering if he could retroactively penalise Johnny when a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

"Dad?"

Sam was standing there, looking at him with concern.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't I be ok?"

"You look... mad, what happened?"

"Nothing, well just..." he signalled Johnny and the stranger still going at it.

"What?" She looked behind his back, confused. 

"It's disgusting!"

"Dad! They are just kissing!"

"In front of children!"

"Dad, you're not... You know that's normal, right?"

"I know it is! But not in public!"

Sam sighed. Robby appeared behind him.

"What's going on?"

"My dad has just seen Mr Lawrence with his boyfriend."

"His WHAT!?"

"Yeah, he told me Alex might come."

"Alex?"

"He's a lawyer. He helped my dad a lot with my case, and I guess they clicked."

"I think they are cute, your dad looks happy," Sam commented with a smile.

Daniel snorted but say nothing. The image of Johnny kissing that man was still engraved in his mind and it was making him queazy.

"We have to go. Moon is having a party and we need to change. You don't mind, right?"

"No, sure, go ahead."

"Thanks," Sam said kissing his cheek. "See you later!"

Daniel looked at his daughter and student walking away distractedly, as he mentally considered inviting the rest of the committee members to dinner to see if he could get them on board his "code of conduct" idea.

"Larusso."

And suddenly, Johnny was right in front of him. And at least he had the decency of being alone. But his cheeks were flushed and his lips were pink and wet, and Daniel couldn't stop looking at them.

"John," Daniel managed to say, trying to sound as cold and aloof as he could.

"What crawled up your ass? If you're mad about Aisha winning..."

"No, of course not!"

"Then what's happening?"

"What's happening your indecent spectacle back there," he said trying to control his anger and failing.

"My what? We were just kissing!"

"Just kissing?! That wasn't just kissing!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Larusso. I mean, if you don't recognise kissing when you see it, then I'm starting to understand why your wife divorced you," Johnny laughed.

"What did you say?" Daniel took a step forward, ready to pounce.

"Relax! It was just a joke!" Johnny said putting his hands up. "Really, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me. Since when are you gay, anyway?

"I'm not gay."

"Well, the guy sucking your face a moment ago may have something to say about that."

"No, I'm bi. Bisexual. I still like chicks, but I like some cock too if you know what I mean."

"Ugh, you're disgusting."

"I'd have never taken you for a homophobe."

"I'm not a homophobe!"

"You could have fooled me."

"I just don't like seeing children exposed to... that. You better not be doing that in your dojo too!"

"No, don't worry, I don't kiss him in the dojo," Johnny said smiling, "I just suck his dick."

Daniel groaned, which made Johnny laugh. 

"I'm serious, Lawrence. I can get you banned from the tournament for indecency."

"Yeah? And what do you think the committee is going to do about you being homophobic?"

"For the last time, I'm not homophobic!"

"Sure, whatever you say, Larusso. I gotta go, my boyfriend is waiting for me outside. We are going to have dinner and then we are going to fuck our brains out, possibly right there in the restaurant."

"You're such a dick."

"At least I'm getting some. I hear all you're getting lately is your right hand. So I better go. I don't want to keep you from your date."

"Go fuck yourself!"

"I already have someone to do it for me!" and with that, Johnny walked away laughing. 

Daniel looked around. Everyone else was gone. He wanted to kick something in the face, something blond and cocky. And maybe his boyfriend too. He kicked a balloon hard, but it just floated slowly for a few meters and then came down again. He needed to go to Miyagi-Do and do some katas.

[pinktintedmonocle]

The Taste of Christmas - A Cobra Kai Fanfic - NSFW

In which Daniel and Johnny’s plans for Christmas Eve sexy times are derailed due to Daniel’s questionable choice of condoms.

Cracky smutty lawrusso fluff.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Daniel was already at the front of the line, unloading his groceries onto the conveyer belt, when the message from Johnny flashed up on his phone.

Need condoms.

Daniel swore under his breath.  

“I’m so sorry”, he said to the disgruntled cashier, holding up his hands in what he hoped was a placating gesture and flashing his most winning car salesman smile.  “I’ll be back in moment, I just gotta grab something else quick.”

He ran to the sexual wellbeing aisle, picked up the nearest box of condoms and sprinted back to the checkout.  The cashier was waiting for him, lips pursed and arms folded, while a few of the other customers started to tut and shake their heads at him.

“Hey, hurry up buddy!”, yelled one guy a few places down from Daniel in the queue.  “It’s Christmas Eve, some of us have got places to be!”

“Look, I’m sorry OK?”, Daniel replied, handing the condoms to the cashier.

The guy snorted in derision. “Yeah?  How about we take this outside, old man?  Then we’ll see who’s sorry.”

Daniel looked him up and down.  Mid-twenties, about 170 pounds, poor muscle definition.  A single crane kick to the face would probably be enough to take him out.

“Yeah”, said Daniel as he paid and packed up his groceries.  “I’m sure we would.”

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

Daniel’s phone rang as he pulled out of the store parking lot.  He pressed the button on the steering wheel to put it through to the car speakers.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself”, replied Amanda.  “Please tell me you’ve got the cranberries, I can’t have a repeat of last year with your mother.”

“Yeah, I got them.”

Amanda let out a sigh of relief.  “Thank God. Although I still don’t understand why you have to go out on Christmas Eve to buy fresh cranberries just so your mom can make her own sauce when she gets here.  The sauce that the caterers are bringing is just as good if not better than the lumpy stuff she makes.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “It’s tradition, you know that. And anyway, it keeps her busy.”

“Well, that’s true. But don’t roll your eyes at me.”

“How did you know I was rolling my eyes?”

“I could hear it in your voice.”

“You know that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Whatever”, said Amanda, and Daniel suspected she was rolling her eyes at him.  “When will you be back?”

“An hour or two; I’ve just got to stop off at Johnny’s.”

“Oh yeah?” asked Amanda, and Daniel could hear the smirk in her voice.  “Fitting in a little karate before Christmas?”

Daniel felt a blush rise up his neck.  “Hey, you can talk.  Didn’t Carmen come over this morning?”

“Yeah, but we just had sex. We didn’t feel the need to fight in a tournament, pine after each other for thirty years and then open rival dojo’s while secretly banging each other like rabbits.”

Daniel pulled a face. “Touché.”

“Hey!”, said Amanda. “I’m only telling the truth, don’t pull a face like that at me!”

“How did you know I was pulling a face?  And since when could you tell what my facial expressions are without actually being able to see my face?”

“Since I’ve been married to you for twenty years.  Anyway, have fun and I’ll see you later.  Oh, and put the cranberries in Johnny’s refrigerator, don’t just leave them in the trunk.  If you get home with them all hot and mushy and your mom starts shouting I will not be held accountable for my actions.”

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

Daniel had barely knocked on Johnny’s door when it flew open, revealing a tousled haired, plaid shirt wearing Johnny Lawrence on the other side.  

Daniel grinned.  “Were you waiting for me, Johnny?”, he asked as Johnny backed up so Daniel could enter the apartment.

“In your dreams, LaRusso”, said Johnny as Daniel closed the door.  “Thought you were the mailman; I got Miguel to order me some nunchucks from the Internet for class.  It’s going to be badass.”

“You know giving actual nunchucks to teenagers is a terrible – “, Daniel began, but Johnny cut him off mid-sentence with a kiss.

As the kiss deepened and they began to stumble towards the bedroom, Daniel went to wrap his arms around Johnny’s neck when he realised his hands were still full.  He pulled back reluctantly.

“I just – I just gotta put these in the refrigerator”, he said apologetically, holding out the cranberries.

Johnny wrinkled his nose at the berries and stepped back as if Daniel had been holding something horrifying, like a dead rat or a severed finger.

“You got me fruit, LaRusso?”, he asked, disgust evident in his voice.

Daniel rolled his eyes for the second time that day.  “They’re not for you, Johnny.  They’re for my mom.”

Johnny stared at Daniel incredulously.  “Your mom’s coming here?”

“No, my mom’s not – look, it’s a long story, OK?  Go get ready, I’ll be in in a minute.”

Johnny disappeared into the bedroom, still looking confused, while Daniel walked quickly over to the refrigerator.  By the time he’d made room for the fruit amongst the bottles of Coors Banquet and discounted meat and hotfooted it to the bedroom, Johnny was already undressed and lying on top of the covers with one hand propping up his head.

Daniel batted his eyelashes at Johnny flirtatiously as he started to quickly shed his own clothes.

“What’s a guy like you doing in a place like this?”, he asked huskily as he unbuttoned his shirt.

Johnny blinked in bewilderment.  “It’s my bedroom LaRusso, and I’m in here ‘cause we’re about to bang.  Wait, did you just forget that?  What, did you trip over one of those tiny trees and hit your head or something?”

“I know where we are, Johnny and no, I didn’t fall over a bonsai”, Daniel said, exasperated, as he pulled off his pants.  “I was just trying to be – you know what, never mind.  Just come here and kiss me.”

Daniel took off his underwear and joined Johnny on the bed, climbing on top of the blonde.  They kissed, passionate and hungry, and Daniel ran his hands through Johnny’s hair.

After a minute Johnny broke the kiss, panting heavily, before moving his lips to Daniel’s ear and nipping the lobe.

“Tell me what you want, LaRusso.”

Daniel’s breath caught in his chest and Johnny moved his lips lower, nuzzling Daniel’s neck as he ran his hands up and down the smaller man’s back.

“I – I want you to blow me”, Daniel moaned.  “And then I want you to fuck me.”

Johnny raised his head and grinned wolfishly at Daniel.  They kissed again and as they did so Johnny rolled them over so he was on top.  He started to kiss his way down Daniel’s body until his reached his cock.

“You get the condoms?” he asked.

“Jacket pocket”, Daniel panted, and Johnny reached over the side of the bed and fished the packet out of the pile of Daniel’s clothing on the floor.  

Johnny fumbled with the box for a few seconds before he got it open, then plucked out a condom and ripped his open with his hands before sliding it down over Daniel’s erection. (Daniel was just thankful that Johnny had stopped trying to tear them open with his teeth; he had ruined a lot of condoms that way since they’d starting seeing each other.  “It’s an alpha move, it gets the chicks wet”, Johnny had explained to Daniel one night.  “It’s a wonder it doesn’t get the chicks pregnant”, Daniel had retorted, looking at a condom studded with teeth marks and tiny holes.  “Well, there is Robby”, Johnny had replied.)

Daniel gasped in pleasure as the wet heat of Johnny’s mouth enveloped his cock, although it only lasted a few seconds before Johnny pulled back, face screwed up.

“What?”, asked Daniel as he bucked his hips, desperate to get that feeling back.  “Why did you stop?”

Johnny licked his lips. “The condom tastes weird.”

“Weird how?”

Johnny frowned. “Like… toothpaste.”

“Toothpaste?”, asked Daniel, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, like peppermint. You get flavoured ones?”

“I don’t think so”, said Daniel, thinking back to the store.  “Although I didn’t actually check the packet…”

Johnny grabbed the box again and looked at the back.

“’Holiday flavours”, he read.  “A selection of latex condoms with the flavours of your favourite Thanksgivings and Christmas treats.’”  He looked down at Daniel still sheathed penis.  “I think this one is ‘Candy cane’.  Jesus LaRusso, really?  What were you thinking?”

“I didn’t know they were flavoured!”, Daniel protested.  “I was already at the checkout when I got your message so I just ran back and picked up the nearest box!  Look, there must be some flavours in there that are OK.”

There wasn’t.

Johnny refused to try ‘Green Bean Casserole’ (“I don’t like green stuff!”  “How have you reached middle age without dying of scurvy?” asked Daniel), ‘Eggnog’ (“I don’t want to get drunk off your dick.”  “I don’t think there’s any actual alcohol in these condoms, Johnny.  And anyway, aren’t you already drunk?”) and ‘Gingerbread’ (“I hate those little men with their tiny eyes, they’re always looking at me.”  Daniel had no response to that).  Eventually, Johnny agreed to try ‘Turkey’, and Daniel had his cock sucked for a blissful ten seconds before Johnny’s stomach rumbled and he pulled back.

“No, can’t do this one either.  It’s just making me hungry.”

Daniel groaned.  “Fine, forget the blowjob.  Just fuck me, OK?”

“What?” Johnny exclaimed, “You think I’m going to put one of those things on my dick, LaRusso?  I don’t want my penis to smell like vegetables or roast meat!”

“The flavour is on the outside, Johnny!”, Daniel explained, but Johnny refused to back down.

“And I’m not going bareback”, said Johnny.  “I don’t know where you’ve been.”

In truth, Daniel hadn’t been with anyone apart from Johnny for over six months.  When he and Amanda had decided to try an open marriage, he had explained the situation to Johnny and suggested they try a casual relationship. This in itself was ridiculous because of all the words that could be used to describe his and Johnny’s relationship over the years, ‘casual’ was not one of them.  But although they kept it informal, there wasn’t anyone else Daniel wanted.  After Amanda had started seeing Carmen, Daniel and Amanda had come to realise that although they still loved each other the physical attraction was gone from their marriage.  They hadn’t talked about separation or divorce yet; they were still happy in their own way, for the moment, but maybe one day they would.  Daniel also secretly suspected that Johnny hadn’t been with anyone else either since they’d started hooking up.  He’d tried to ask Johnny a couple of times if there was anyone else, but just got vague answers about there being ‘hot babes’ that he hooked up with from time to time.  (“So just women?  Daniel had asked once.  “You don’t see other guys?”  “Oh yeah”, Johnny had replied hastily, “There are also loads of hot – er – guy babes.” He had quickly changed the subject after that.)

But even though Daniel did really want to have sex with Johnny in that moment, he wasn’t ready to have that conversation yet; to admit that they could probably go without protection because neither of them had been interested in being with anyone else for a long time.

So instead he just sighed and removed the condom from his softening cock.  Johnny stood up and pulled his underwear on, before Daniel followed suit.  He rubbed his temples as they walked into the living room and Johnny stretched out on the sofa and turned on the TV.

“I think I’m getting a headache.”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Quit your bitchin’, LaRusso. Just grab me a Banquet from the refrigerator and I’ll give you a handjob while we watch Iron Eagle.”

Daniel walked across the room to get Johnny’s Coors, and as he did so pulled open a drawer in the kitchen area, searching for Advil.  There weren’t any painkillers in the drawer, but just as he was about to close it something shiny caught his eye.  He moved aside a case of old batteries and saw underneath a handful of metallic squares. He picked one up and flipped it over. It was still in date.

“Johnny”, he said as calmly as possible.  “Did you not know that you have condoms in this drawer?”

Johnny turned to look at Daniel, eyes wide.  “Oh shit, do I?”

Daniel leaned on the kitchen counter, gaze fixed on Johnny.  When he spoke, his voice was almost a growl.

“Get in the goddamn bedroom right now, Johnny Lawrence.”

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

Afterwards they lay tangled up in each other, boneless and sated.  Daniel’s head was on Johnny’s chest, and he felt so warm and comfortable that soon his eyelids began to droop.

Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, Johnny poked him in the side.

“Hey, LaRusso, don’t you have to get going and give that weird fruit to your mom?”

“Yeah”, Daniel said sleepily, snuggling up closer to Johnny.  “I’ll go in a minute.”

“Are your family coming to yours for Christmas?”, Johnny asked.

“Uh, yeah.  My mom, cousin Louie and Amanda’s parents come to ours every year.”

“Must be nice to have a family who actually want to spend time with you”, Johnny said, a little sadly, and Daniel realised with a pang of guilt that he had no idea what’s Johnny’s Christmas plans were.  He had a sudden vision of Johnny sitting alone in his drab, undecorated apartment, drinking himself into a stupor before passing out on the couch.

“What are you doing, Johnny? Look, if you’re going to be alone I can always see if I can escape for an hour or two and come over.  Or, ah, maybe you could come to mine, you know, just for a bit-”

“Relax LaRusso, I’m fine. Carmen and Miguel invited me over. And even if they hadn’t I couldn’t come to yours and you know it; your family hate me.”

“My family doesn’t hate you!”, Daniel protested.

Johnny raised an eyebrow.

“Well, at least Amanda doesn’t hate you.”

“I’m good LaRusso.  But, ah, thanks for thinking about me.”

I’m always thinking about you, thought Daniel.

They lapsed into silence and Daniel felt sleep tugging at his eyelids again.  Reluctantly he got up, leaving Johnny’s warm embrace, and got dressed.  He fetched the cranberries from the kitchen before returning to the bedroom to give Johnny a lingering kiss goodbye.

“I’ll message you next week, let you know when I can come over again”, said Daniel, cupping Johnny’s face with one hand and rubbing his thumb over his cheek.

“Yeah”, said Johnny.

They smiled at each other for a moment before Johnny cleared his throat and looked away.

“I mean, whatever LaRusso. Not like I don’t have tons of hot babes who I can hook up with if you’re too busy.”

“Oh yeah”, said Daniel, trying not to laugh.  “Hot babes and hot guy babes.  Gotcha.”

They kissed again before Daniel pulled back and walked across the room.  Just before he reached the doorway he turned back.  

“Johnny?”

“Yeah, LaRusso?”

“Merry Christmas.”

  I don’t think all of these exact condoms exist (seriously, what mad person would make green bean casserole flavoured condoms?  Who would buy them?), but I saw an article about Christmas flavoured condoms a while back (think they were the Candy cane ones) and just ran with it.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this!  Merry Christmas all you lovely lawrusso shippers!