#I’m blanking on the class president’s name but she doesn’t get an exception

[biasomnia]

DANDADAN SPOILERS

With this tinyyyy bit of info I am theorizing what the next arc will have as the interpersonal drama after tiny Momo. I currently call it “Okarun starts becoming popular and Momo has to work with Aira to keep everyone away from the dweeb they fell in love with bc everyone else besides them -and Jiji, maybe Vamola- don’t see past the surface level” aka “Okarun’s confessed so it’s Momo’s turn”

[eurydicees]

top 10 ouran manga-only arcs

this is going to be such a long post i apologize in advance. the ranking system has absolutely no criteria other than "does this pass my vibe check.” bonus points were awarded if i could think about tamakyo while reading it; points were also awarded every time tamaki did something cool. this was a delight to make. anyways, without further ado, here are my personal top ten favorites, and no i will not be taking criticism.

1. THE TAMAKI EXTRAVAGANZA

(vol 16 chp 73 - vol 18 chp 80)

PLOT:

So much happens here that I couldn’t think of an actual name, and uh does it count as a single arc? Probably not, but I’m counting it as one because it has a single thread: Tamaki. My beloved. So. First, Tamaki finally, finally, finally moves into Suoh mansion #1, but when he gets there, he gets told that he’s only allowed to study the Suoh business and go to school and nothing else— meaning he has to quit the host club. Shizue threatens to out Haruhi as a girl and ruin her reputation— possibly losing her the scholarship— if Tamaki doesn’t break off all ties with her.

The Host Club disbands. Kyoya begins an Investigation™ into Tamaki’s mother— she had been incredibly weak and unhealthy when Tamaki was a child, but when Kyoya met her, she was pretty healthy. After some sleuthing, the hosts minus Tamaki discover that she probably had Bisco Hatori’s fictional version of lupus, which was cured by a mysterious foundation— which they discover was run by the Grantaine family, funded by the Suoh corporation, and actually researched by the Ootori conglomerate. Literally everyone is in on it. It’s fucking wild. Like. Huge “holy fucking shit I need to stop and take a breath” moment.

This information is suddenly released to the public, and then the Suoh corporation all vote Shizue out of her position, saying that she’s no longer fit for the job. She locks herself in her room and refuses to speak to anyone, breaking Tamaki’s heart. But now that she’s no longer top dog, Anne-Sophie can come to Japan— Yuzuru is super hyped and expects Tamaki to be as well, not understanding that Tamaki’s family fantasy includes his grandmother. Tamaki stops going to school and plays piano every day in order to cheer up the house, eventually luring Shizue out to listen to him play their shared favorite songs from J-dramas.

They begin to bond and Shizue sees that he’s not a failure because of his parentage, but it’s too late because Anne-Sophie is about to fly back to France. All is hopeless.

EXCEPT THEN. All of the hosts and all of the clients realize what’s happening and rush to help him get to his mother. They all adore him so much, and give their all into getting Tamaki to the airport. Shizue finally encourages him to go, realizing— with the help of Haruhi— that she has been bitter and selfish and Tamaki deserves better. They rush to the airport, and through a series of shenanigans that are no match for the combined power of the hosts and every single girl at Ouran, Tamaki makes it to the airport. They make it there JUST in time, and Tamaki gets a five minute reunion with his mother. Haruhi finally confesses to Tamaki that she loves him.

WHY I LOVE IT:

oh my God oh my God oh my GOD. Like. This is just. So much. So Much. We all know that I’m like. The #1 Fan of Tamaki Suoh. Like. President, vice president, treasurer, and secretary of the fan club, all at once. I love him so much, and this just gives him so much development. There is so much opportunity for him to grow and you not only really see who he is as a character, but you also see how much he’s grown as a person from his first introduction. You also get more of a glimpse into the world of Rich People, and the way that all of their families interact with each other, and then also with the way that they interact within their families. It’s just such an intense arc and it’s so beautiful and I love it so much.

2. THE SPORTS COMPETITION

(vol 10 chp 46 - vol 11 chp 49)

PLOT:

This one is HARD to rank, because I love it, but it also Hurts. Like. I genuinely cried over this one, though that’s not actually saying much because I cry at everything. So. Here’s what’s up. Tamaki gets into this idea of a sports festival, and then Kuze wanders in to fight Kyoya again, so Tamaki suggests a competition between the two of them. This is a very Tamaki thing to do, but Kyoya gets fed up with it and refuses to participate— until Kuze accuses him of being “Suoh’s pet” and that he’ll always let Tamaki win, and then Kyoya gets fired the fuck up.

But he’s still bitter at Tamaki for starting this, so the two of them stop talking and my heart breaks. This does not stop Tamaki from having heart eyes for Kyoya 24/7. Hikaru and Kaoru are assigned to competing teams, and begin their Very Long Journey into not being so codependent— Hikaru is on the red team with Tamaki, Haruhi, and Kuze; Kaoru is on the white team with Kyoya and Honey.

Essentially, each team goes through rounds of races in different areas that are like. Complete bullshit games, but whatever. It’s Rich People World. The white team gets ahead; the red team performs a scene from a Shakespeare show to rally their losing team together and begins to win, until they’re on even footing. The final race is between Kyoya and Tamaki.

There’s a heartbreaking series of panels of Tamaki just… thinking about Kyoya. I cannot get enough of it. Then there’s an even more heartbreaking series of panels of Kyoya just… thinking about Tamaki. You realize, alongside the other hosts, that Tamaki pushed for this race not really for benefit or fun, but to give Kyoya a chance to compete in something for real, without having to set it up so that Tamaki wins (as we see in the race for the central salon). It’s a chance for him to win and not put his family first. Tamaki still tried his best, because Kyoya would hate him if he threw the race, but he lost because Kyoya fought with the intention of winning for HIMSELF, and not just playing support to Tamaki or impressing his father.

Finally, in the last panel, it’s revealed that the class trip will be to France.

WHY I LOVE IT:

God it burns so good. So Good. The Tamakyo, the Hikaru & Kaoru character growth, the Kyoya development, the Tamaki being so so so good, the Kyoya being so brilliant, everything oh my lord. This is really one of the biggest points of Kyoya’s character development, and it’s the first place I’m going to point to when thinking accurately about who he is as a person. It shows who he is, and who he believes he is, and who he wants to be, and who other people see him as. It’s also just a Tamakyo goldmine, even though they don’t ever actually talk. It’s so beautiful and it makes me cry.

3. THE ORIENTEERING RACE

(vol 14 chp 66 - vol 15 chp 68)

PLOT:

In an attempt to make Tamaki realize that the hosts all love him just as much as he loves them, the hosts sans Tamaki put together an orienteering race. There are six checkpoints, each one with a task to be completed in order to get an ingredient that will make the best meal at the end of the race.

Hikaru and Kaoru play the return of the “Which one is Hikaru?” game, knowing that Tamaki has been able to tell them apart for a while by now; Nekozawa’s checkpoint is a quiz on cursed items, knowing that Tamaki is familiar with Beelzenef; Honey’s checkpoint is a game of whack-a-mole with little mini Usa-chans, knowing that Tamaki isn’t afraid of making him upset over a game, though all the girls are; Mori’s is a sword slicing thing to show that Tamaki will never give up on something; Haruhi’s is a “tell the truth or never pass” kind of thing; and Kyoya’s is a crossword puzzle of all the answers made up of things from previous club themes.

Tamaki pairs up with Konoya— who is in love with him and is the “perfect Haruhi” trope— and realizes that she’s incredibly different from Haruhi, and that he loves Haruhi for who she is and not who he thought he wanted her to be. He also realizes that— because the hosts have gone through all of this for him— they do love him for who he is, no matter what, no matter the bad parts of his personality, and they’re never leaving him.

WHY I LOVE IT:

Look. We know that anything about Tamaki is gonna make me happy. I am a simple woman and so easy to please. This is literally just three chapters about how much all of the hosts love Tamaki and want him to be happy. I cannot express in words how rewarding it is to watch Tamaki realize how important he is and how much he’s loved— because he is loved, he’s so loved, he’s so so so loved. This is also the arc with the building block / building a home metaphor, and it destroyed me both physically and emotionally (vol 14 chp 66). This is where the found family is really solidified, and we all love a good dosage of found family.

4. RACE FOR THE CENTRAL SALON / THE SCHOOL FAIR

(vol 6 chp 22 - vol 6 chp 26)

PLOT:

This is where the anime diverges from the manga, and I have to say that this version of the school fair is just so much better than the anime version. Like. Just So Much Better. Basically, the club is setting up for the school fair, and the best spot to set up— essentially, the spot that will get the most foot traffic form the parents— is in the central salon. To figure out which club is going to get the spot, they all compete in a literal race, both mind games and physical games and it just slaps overall.

The b-plot is that the Host Club is getting threatening letters telling them to drop out of the race, alongside blank papers that are sent with the notes; the hosts have to figure out who is sending the notes and confront it. This is the arc that introduces both Kuze and Yuzuru Suoh for the first time. Kuze is captain of the football team and Kyoya’s rival and also definitely his secret ex-boyfriend. Chairman Suoh is… just. A lot. Just. That’s it. A Lot. He’s A Lot.

Anyways, part of the winning race is capturing this crown that’s hidden on campus, which turns out to be at a swimming pool. The football team gets there at the same time as Haruhi, and Kuze pushes her into the pool and goes for the crown. Kyoya and Tamaki reach her at the same time— Tamaki’s instinct is to go for Haruhi, but Kyoya tells him to get the crown and thus the glory of winning, while Kyoya rescues Haruhi.

Later, it turns out that Yuzuru was sending the blank papers with harmless messages written in invisible ink as a prank to emphasize the literal hate mail that the hosts were getting. The follow up to the race is the actual school fair, where we meet Yoshio and Shizue. Fuck Shizue, not even going to get into that right now because I WILL cry, but just know that it’s even worse than it is in the anime. Yoshio, though, is eons better in the manga than in the anime— he is genuinely proud of Kyoya and says that he actually wouldn’t mind appointing Kyoya as heir.

WHY I LOVE IT:

Volume 6 does SO MUCH for Kyoya and Tamaki and we all know that I’m ride or die for the two of them. Kyoya finally gets a chance to shine as team leader and it’s what he deserves! Tamaki takes a little more of a backseat, which I don’t even mind, because Kyoya does such a good job of pulling attention here. The scene at the swimming pool is just so good— it really shows the huge amount of trust between Tamaki and Kyoya, and does a good job of setting up the relationship they need to have as Rich People, outside of their friendship, which is something that we don’t see a lot of. Overall, it’s a very Kyoya-centric arc, and it does amazing things for the development of his character and personality. It’s one of the biggest insights into how he functions as a kind of mastermind for the club. We also finally get Tamaki’s full-ish backstory, which genuinely makes me cry every time.

5. THE HITACHIIN FAMILY

(vol 10 chp 45 / vol 11 chp 51 - vol 12 chp 53)

PLOT:

So this is technically two plot lines, but I’m going to count it as one because it’s all about the twins, my loves. In vol 10 chp 45, we get a little insight into the life of the Hitachiin family and why the twins are as fucked up as they are. Quick rundown— their parents can tell them apart but pretend not to for whatever godforsaken reason; Kaoru admits he’s in love with Haruhi for the first time and Hikaru remains oblivious; Kaoru begins to realize how unhealthy he and Hikaru’s relationship is and how, one day, they aren’t going to be able to have all of the same things; there’s a cookie metaphor; Tamaki gets lost in the Hitachiin manion; it’s all a good time.

In volumes 11 and 12, we begin the actual split between the twins, where they realize that they can’t stay the way that they are forever. They can’t be one person forever. They realize this in a fight over Haruhi, where Hikaru suggests they “share” her as a sister, and Kaoru rightfully thinks this is bullshit. They get in their first— and only— genuinely real argument. Hikaru breaks down in Mori’s house, Kaoru breaks down at Honey’s place, literally no one is happy and I am crying.

Kaoru asks Haruhi out on a date, and then ends the date by explaining that he could never date her knowing that it would be hurting Hikaru. Haruhi is, understandably, very confused by this whole thing, and no one is telling her anything.

Kaoru then makes up with Hikaru, saying that he’ll give up on trying to pursue Haruhi, but tells him that they actually do need to live separate lives at some point— and that point might as well be now. He wants to break apart entirely, but Hikaru explains that while they need to break apart in a lot of ways and find their own identities, they can never fully forget each other. They agree that they can influence and love each other without depending on each other for a personality.

They keep up the incest ACT at the club, though. Bisco Hatori couldn’t manage to write her way out of that one.

WHY I LOVE IT:

So this one just. Really hits home for me. It’s a genuinely heart wrenching arc, and the progression of the whole thing was just so slow and so steady and it was so well done. The twins are two of my favorite characters in the show/manga, and their relationship is something that I can analyze for days, and this arc is a huge part of why it’s so interesting. It does amazing things for both of them as developing characters, but it does even more amazing things for their character growth as people. It also provides a nice catalyst for the Hikaru/Tamaki/Haruhi love triangle. Anyways, it made me cry and apparently that’s my only criteria.

6. THE FRANCE ARC

(vol 10 chp 46 - vol 12 chp 56)

PLOT:

On the Ouran 2nd year school trip to France, Kyoya decides he’s going to spend the trip searching for Tamaki’s mother, rather than spending it with the other students. He works himself to death trying to find her— he ends up literally falling asleep on the ground because he’s so exhausted from searching and taking literally no breaks. Kyoya finds her eventually, and has a really nice conversation with her— she has a bunch of photos of Tamaki, and clearly is constantly thinking about him. When he gets back to Japan, he tells Tamaki about her— about how beautiful she is, about how she smiles, about how she thinks of her son every day.

We get more of Tamaki’s backstory, and his close relationship from his mother and how his mantra— living life in Japan to the fullest and being as happy as he can be every day— all comes from his mother. She told him that she’s happiest when he’s smiling, and so when he leaves her behind in France, he decides to be smiling every day and make everyone around him smile as well.

While Kyoya is in France, Tamaki stays behind in Japan— he gets closer to his father, who offers to begin to train him to take over the Suoh business. He visits Haruhi, and tells her a little bit about his life in France, and Haruhi’s love for Tamaki begins to make an appearance for the first time.

WHY I LOVE IT:

So I went into this list thinking that this would be my favorite plot, so it’s wild to me that it didn’t even make the top five. It’s kind of weird and I didn’t expect it, but I’m still satisfied with this list. Anyways, I really love this one, even if it’s not the top five. It’s like. The ultimate Tamakyo story, and there’s just. There’s just so much to unpack there. Like. We don’t have time for me to go through the whole thing and analyze every part of it because there’s just so much of it. It’s so good, and it makes my heart grow three sizes. It’s another brilliant development piece for Kyoya, and shows his softer side, as well as just how much he loves Tamaki.

7. MORI AND HONEY GRADUATE

(vol 15 chp 71 - vol 16 chp 72)

PLOT:

Honey and Mori announce that, after graduation, they’ll be splitting up and going to different universities. This proceeds to emotionally destroy literally everyone except for them. Mori is challenged to a series of duels at the Kendo club in which he has to fight every underclassman who wants the honor of fighting him before he graduates. He’s exhausted and worn down, and he loses to a second year, which is bad for like. Honor reasons. RIP. Anyways. He reveals that he’s just been really worried about something but before he can tell anyone, he has to duel Honey. It hurts.

They start preparing for the fight— which Kyoya is capitalizing off of via movie rights and betting rings— and scare everyone that they’re going to never speak again. When the fight comes, they fight on the Windswept Hill™ at Ouran (the same place that Chika and Honey fight on way back when). They go for it and pull no punches, until Honey tries to do a flying kick and Mori catches him and gently places him outside of the boundaries of the fighting ring, thus winning the duel.

Because he won, he pulls out a sheet of paper in which he’s written down all of the things that Honey needs to do in university because Mori isn’t going to be there to take care of him: brush his teeth, cut down the cake by 90%, and stop bringing Usa-chan to classes. Mori felt that he didn’t have the right to tell him these things until they were on equal level because he had won the duel.

They make up and everything is okay— they graduate, everyone cries, including me. Kasanoda gives Mori flowers, it’s all very cute. Haruhi makes cookies, and when Tamaki goes running down the hallway to find her, they bump into each other and drop all of the cookies. While they’re picking them up, they share the classic ~accidental kiss~.

WHY I LOVE IT:

This is one of the only Honey & Mori-centric plotlines that gets fully fleshed out and like. More than a chapter. It really does lovely things for their relationship, and it’s the end of an era. Even though it’s the end of an era, though, the resolution is incredibly satisfying— Honey and Mori’s stories are wrapping up, but it’s really well done. It’s sad, but it’s a really rewarding ending. They’re such sweet boys. Also, it’s not like they’re gone forever, so it’s all okay.

8. REIKO x HONEY

(vol 10 chp 41)

PLOT:

Reiko is part of the Black Magic Club, and falls in love with Honey when he gives her a hand in getting up after she trips over Usa-chan. However, she believes that falling in love with Honey is equivalent to him “stealing her soul,” and so she uses “curses” to steal his soul back. These curses are basically just love spells. 

In the end, Honey tells her to just, like, be herself. Talk about her interests. Get to know him. Be honest. Then she won’t need love spells to make him like her. Even if she messes up or is awkward or says something weird, he’ll still like her because she’s being true to herself. This is one of the only Honey-centric chapters, and Reiko is one of my favorite side characters.

WHY I LOVE IT:

They’re the OG goth x pastel couple. The blueprint for all other couples. Icons. I love them so much. This makes it on the list just because I love their relationships. I also love the whole Moral Of The Story, in that it’s important to be true to yourself. It’s so sweet it hurts.

9. HARUHI AND TAMAKI’S FIRST DATE

(vol 18 chp 81 - vol 18 chp 82)

PLOT:

So. Right after the two of them confess their love to each other, everyone expects them to get together and be a couple right away, but Haruhi is just kinda chilling. She’s not super stressed about dating, it’s just a relief to have said it out loud. Meanwhile, Tamaki is kind of a mess, stressing out over their first date and trying to make it as perfect as he possibly can. Seeing him so stressed, all of the hosts band together to help him out in planning a date. When Tamaki finally gets up the nerve to ask her out, he falls in the fountain and Haruhi has to fish him out. She’s then the one to ask him out to the amusement park.

In true Tamaki fashion, he gets incredibly stressed out again. He gets fashion advice from a series of unfashionable people. The hosts sneak around the amusement park and follow them around, finding out that it’s actually going really well, as long as they’re not interfering. After the Lobelia girls show up and try to sabotage the date, Tamaki and Haruhi run away— while Kyoya Handles™ the situation— and they go to her mother’s grave. There, it’s revealed that Haruhi will be going on an exchange program to America.

WHY I LOVE IT:

It’s just. So cute. Like. I’m Tamakyo for life, but I do adore them so much. It’s lower on the list because of the sheer amount of second hand embarrassment, but overall, I loved reading this one. Tamaki is just so genuine and earnest about everything he does, and I think these chapters do a lot to show why the two of them work as a couple. It also does lovely characterization points for Haruhi, and begins to wrap up the ending. Bonus points for a jealous and heartbroken Kyoya.

10. PRINCESS MICHELLE

(vol 9 chp 38 - vol 9 chp 39)

PLOT:

Princess Michelle comes to Ouran to do a week of school in Japan. After meeting her, Tamaki essentially puts him and the Host Club at her beck and call, doing anything that he can to make her happy, no matter how insanely extravagant her demands are. Everyone else finds this infuriating, until Kyoya points out that Michelle looks similar to Tamaki’s mother, saying that the last time Tamaki saw his mother, she was crying— and if he sees Michelle smile for real, it might help him picture his mother smiling again.

Overall, it’s just a very soft arc that begins to unfold Tamaki’s family-related trauma. It also kickstarts Tamaki’s realization that he’s in love with Haruhi and doesn’t actually have paternal feelings for her (that’s the whole next chapter, but make it funny rather than introspective); and it’s one of the moments that Haruhi realizes that Tamaki is genuinely just a good person.

WHY I LOVE IT:

I wasn’t sure that this one would make the list at all, but I do really love this story. It’s pretty short, just two chapters, but it’s overall really sweet. I like Michelle as a character a lot— she seems a bit like a bitch at the beginning, but she gets fleshed out and given an actual personality as the chapter goes on. It’s a really good example of Bisco Hatori’s writing.

HONORARY MENTIONS:

Mei (character): probably the most significant character in the manga that doesn’t appear at all in the anime, which is pretty tragic, but I think that the anime really wanted to emphasize that Haruhi doesn’t really have any female friends / friends outside of the hosts. But anyways, she’s Misuzu’s daughter and Haruhi’s friend; she’s lowkey transphobic but she’s getting better! Had a brief crush on Tamaki but she ends with being the #1 Tamaharu stan. Great friend to Haruhi.

The masquerade ball: Haruhi's going away party, and the reveal that she's a girl.

Haruhi gets kidnapped: Haruhi is kidnapped and held for ransom, the hosts find her and break down doors to get there.

[dawnwave16]

dad Bruce Wayne only Marinette doesn't know till she has been shipped off to him thanks to lila's lies. So she has to hide the fact she us ladybug and the new guardion while the bat family have to find the fact they are the bat family Mean while Jason has started a betting pool on when the newest member of the family joins the bat family

Sorry, this has taken so long! While I read a lot of Maribat I’m not very familiar with how they are in canon so I’m not 100% sure if I got this right! I also kinda ran out of insperation near the end so if it feels rushed that’s why. :)

Story:

A bug amoung the bats.

To the staff of the plane, the girl sitting in the window seat just in front of the right wing was quiet and withdrawn.  To her family, she was untrustworthy and a risk to their livelihood.  To those who she used to think of as friends, she was a backstabber and a liar who hid her bullying tendencies behind an innocent face.

The truth was she was none of those things.  Her name was Marinette Dupain-Cheng and what she was, was beyond angry.  

She had arrived home after the battle with Miracle Queen only to find her bags sitting for her by the door. Her parents had given her two hours to box up everything she deemed worthy of being sent to her new home as well as any trinkets she might want to take with her in her hand luggage before they had handed her a bus pass, a one-way plane ticket, a letter to her new guardians and told her they could no longer risk having her under their roof so they were sending her to Gotham to be with a family there that could hopefully get her back onto the ‘right path’.

A soft sigh escaped Marinette as she stared unseeingly out the small window.  Slowly a tear rolled down her cheek before she angrily swiped it away.  As if she didn’t have enough to deal with, she thought angrily.  Now she would have to hide the fact that she was Ladybug as well as the newly christened High Guardian of the Miraculous from people she didn’t know.  Who knew how well that would go.  

Another tear escaped her eyes as she thought about how she had been betrayed.  Looking back, she wished she had told Adrien that Lila had threatened her in the bathroom that day.  Or that she hadn’t blindly believed him when he’d said that she would out herself if they took the high road.  She wished she hadn’t tried to deal with everything by herself instead of telling her parents before Lila had gotten to them.  But most of all she wished that her trust in adults hadn’t been completely destroyed by it all.

Now she was alone and heading to a country she had limited knowledge of, where they spoke a language she wasn’t confident in speaking (although she understood more than she could say) and to a city that had more villains than Paris.

By the time her plane landed in Gotham airport, Marinette had a new mask in place.  She refused to let herself be hurt again and if that meant that she had to hide her true nature, so be it.  From now on, the world would see the ice queen she needed to be even if she wasn’t sure how to be one yet. The seatbelt sign flickered off as the captain announced the time and weather conditions before wishing them well as they disembarked.  Marinette took her time gathering all her things and making sure she had everything she might need, to hand.  

The letter from her parents sat in the front pocket of her bag like lead.  The miracle box was in the main compartment of said bag next to a blank sketchbook and a few odds and ends.  She had been too upset to design during the flight. 

Reluctantly, Marinette disembarked the plane and retrieved her bags from baggage claim.  Once she had everything she scanned the waiting crowd for whoever was meant to be fetching her.  Spotting her name on a card being held by a distinguished older gentleman she slowly made her way over to him, trying not to drag her feet despite waiting to.

“Sorry to keep you waiting sir.  I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Marinette introduced herself in stilted high-school english, emotions locked behind a blank mask that would make an assassin proud.

“Oh God, it’s another Demon Spawn,” the man’s companion muttered.  She flicked her eyes over him.  Where the man holding the card was wearing a formal suit and looked neat and representable, the one who had just spoken looked like a biker.  A scuffed brown leather jacket hung open over a black muscle t-shirt.  Ratty jeans held up by an equally scuffed belt covered his legs.  The bottom of said jeans were tucked into well worn combat boots while a white steak in his hair added to the ‘dangerous’ vibe rolling off of him.

Marinette returned her attention to the older gentleman.

“My name is Alfred Pennyworth, Miss Dupain-Cheng.  Welcome to Gotham.  Please ignore Jason, he tends to act before he thinks.” His voice was cultured, Marinette noticed even as she nodded.  When he indicated that she was to follow him, she tightened her grip on her bag  and the luggage trolley and did so silently. 

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Jason watched his new sibling closely.  Her face was guarded but her body language screamed that she had been hurt and badly so.  Her stiff posture reminded him of Damian despite her being closer to Tim’s age.  The strange thing was that as far as Jason could see the stiffness seemed to be more of a defence mechanism rather than her true personality.  He sighed, what was it with his family always attracting those that were damaged to the point where they hid?  And why was it that both of Bruce’s biological children were the worst damaged?  Did the universe hate Bruce that much?

Although Jason didn’t know it, Alfred was thinking along the same lines.  

The trip to the mansion passed in relative silence as Marinette pulled out a cell phone and quickly started messaging all of the people that had requested commissions to explain that their orders would be delayed.  Her parents didn’t know about this phone, nor did they know about the fact that Marinette was a very successful designer with an exclusive customer base. They didn’t even know about Edna Mode mentoring her whenever the designer for the heroes had time. They thought she was still trying to get a foot in the door of the industry.  It didn’t help Lila had claimed Marinette was trying to use Adrien as a way to get to his father either.

By the time the trio reached Wayne Manor she had caught up completely.  She had also managed to further freak Jason out with how quiet she was.  As far as he knew teenaged girls were ever this quiet even when they were on their phones.  From what he remembered, girls talked non-stop no matter what.  Well most girls, Cass seemed to be the exception and now, so did Marinette.

The meeting with the rest of the family was just as icily polite as the one she had given at the airport.  All she did was hand an envelope to Bruce before saying she was tired and retreating to the room Alfred obligingly led her to.  Jason turned his attention to Bruce, who had made a strangled sound.

“B?”

“She doesn’t know…” was the choked reply.

“What?” Dick queried in confusion.

“Marinette.  She doesn’t know she’s my daughter.  Sabine never told her.”

“Holy…” Jason breathed while Damian froze.  

Damian had been willing to hate her just because Marinette had a better claim on Bruce due to being older than him but how could he hate her now?  She didn’t know she was Bruce’s daughter at all!

* * * * * * * * 

Over the next three months the bat family discovered very little about Marinette.  She hadn’t reacted as they had expected to the news that she was Bruce’s daughter at all.  Instead of bouncing off the ceiling in excitement she had become even more withdrawn, appearing only for meals and to attend school as was required. 

All of the boys had tried to get closer to her but had been rebuffed which had just added to their frustration too.  Eventually Tim had turned to his hacking skills and what he had found had left him in a cold fury.

“Tim?” Dick asked cautiously.

“Is everyone here?” Tim’s voice was noticeably trembling as he spoke.

“Yes,” Bruce grunted.  He was just as frustrated as his sons.

“Spill already, Replacement,” Jason snorted.

“Right, well apparently our sister wasn’t always this cold.  Judging from the records I’ve  been able to get my hands on she used to be a virtual ball of sunshine.  She was class president, she helped at the bakery, did charity work and bent over backwards from all those she considered to be her friends.  I’m not sure what changed though.  It looks like it was almost overnight that all her ‘friends’ started targeting her over social media, she was expelled but that got repealed fairly quickly, and suddenly she was the class parier.  It doesn’t make sense.”  Tim sighed as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

There was silence for a while before Damian growled and stalked out of the room.  Dick shared a look with the others before running after him.

“What are you planning?”

“Just to get some answers, Greyson.”

The two soon found themselves at the door that led to Marinette’s room and Damian raised his hand to knock.  A sound made him pause, it was almost like a…

“No way, did she just laugh?” Dick breathed.  Soon both boys had their ears pressed against the door.

“Look, Uncle J, I get you want to send Fang after the little bitch but that would just give him indigestion.” Marinette was saying which made the two eve’s droppers eyes widen.  Uncle J? Fang? And did she really just swear?

“Yeah, I know you are angry but really what more could be done?  I tried exposing her lies.  I tried warning the class.  Heck I even tried taking the high road but in the end she won.  I’m now in Gotham and none of those that I trusted to support me are here.  I never thought Tom and Sabine would fall for her lies!  They know I have multiple sketch books and that one of them is inspiration only.  They know the books are colour coded.  So why would they even think I’d copy someone else’s ideas!”  Marinette’s voice was raw with pain and defeat as she spoke which stunned the boys. 

There was a pause as Marinette listened to whoever was on the other end of the call then they heard a loud sigh.

“Do what you feel is best Uncle J.  I just don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive them.  Tom and Sabine raised me yet they still turned on me and sent me away.  I grew up with most of the people in my class yet they still believed that I could bully someone. They turned on me so quickly I almost got whiplash from it.  If that’s the thanks I get for trying to protect them, for trying to make sure they don’t fail to reach their dreams, then I wash my hands of them.  Doesn’t stop it from hurting though.”

Dick and Damian shared a look.  Marinette was chatting away in French but thanks to them learning it they were still able to understand everything.  Slowly they straightened up and made their way back to the batcave to report what they had heard.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  

Marinette closed her eyes as she thought about the last three months.  Bruce had enrolled her in Gotham Academy and she was working as hard as she always did to make sure her grades were as high as possible.  She was pretty sure the whole school thought she was a total snob what with her ice cold attitude to most things but she didn’t care.  The only ones she showed her true self to these days were Edna, Jagged and the clients she had amassed before leaving France, the Kwami’s and her online Boyfriend Roy. 

She had met Roy by chance after attending a masked ball with Edna almost a year after she had started being mentored by the pint sized designer. Roy had tried to wriggle out of having to attend any future balls by behaving badly but Marinette had derailed his plan when she had simply grabbed his ear and told him to either quit his behaviour or she’d deal with him. He had tried to fight back but had found himself hogtied in a measuring tape. Once he had calmed down and Marinette had repaired the rips in his blazer the two had discovered they had a fair bit in common and they hadn’t stopped talking since.

When Jagged had called her to check on her she had decided to give him the full, unedited story. While he hadn’t been impressed he understood where she was coming from. Why should she have to keep fighting to help others when they wouldn’t do the same for her? Marinette flopped backwards on her bed as she thought about everything she’d learned. Bruce being her father had been a shock but it did explain why she had blue eyes. She didn’t care though. The family the man had built showed her he cared about family more than wealth so why hadn’t she known about him beforehand? Why had her mother sent her to him as a punishment? 

A knock at the door had her sitting up and making herself look presentable in a hurry.

“Come in.”

“Marinette? Can we talk for a bit?” Bruce asked her cautiously.

“Sure.” Marinette kept her mask of cold, indifference in place as she replied. “What can I help you with?”

“I know coming here and finding out I am your father was a shock but I was wondering if you could tell me about what happened for you to be sent here in the first place? I will understand if you don’t want to but I want you to know I’m here for you if you do.” Bruce said carefully. Marinette looked over Bruce’s shoulder and saw Tikki and Wayzz nodding incouringly at her. The kwami’s didn’t like how closed off Marinette had forced herself to be but had understood.

“Will I have to change again if I do tell you?” 

“Not change per say, maybe just drop the mask around the family a bit. As much as you are comfortable with anyway.”

Marinette studied Bruce for a moment before making up her mind. She’d tell him about the school issues but there was no way he’d be finding out she was Ladybug anytime soon. Secret identities and all that cam first. 

[tsnamey]

Campus Love || Chap 2

A/N - Hi guys, I am truly sorry for not uploading for a while but I have been really busy with school work and activities so thank you for your paitience :)

Side notes - This may not be proofread but I really wanted to get it out to you guys as soon as possible

Genre - non idol!au, high school!au, fluff, NCT Dream x reader

Word Count - 1.1k

Warning - none

“Hello, I’m Harvey and I made this club to help broken hearts like yourself. I once had my heart broken by a girl back in England and I don’t believe I have gotten over her yet but I’m making progress.” Harvey let out a sigh, smiling at the boy sitting beside him. “ Um…” stuttered the boy. “I’m Jeno and I’m the library assistant. I’ve just broken up with my girlfriend who was cheating on me.” Jeno’s blank stare explains that he doesn’t want to go any further. You all nod your head and you wish you could hug Jeno. You didn’t know him very well, he was one of the popular boys in your grade but he seemed so much different to the others.

 Next was the tall, quiet boy. “I’m Jisung and I’m the class president. I was rejected by my crush who I’ve liked since 6th grade.” You could see the tears welling up in his eyes as the blonde next to him pats his back. He looked away from Jisung and quickly introduced himself before turning back to Jisung. “Chenle, captain of the basketball team, and my girlfriend broke up with me for another girl.” You pouted at him, sympathy filling your heart. Chenle was instantly back beside Jisung after speaking his name. Chenle and Jisung were best friends, also amongst the popular group. They were very young-minded and young- hearted. Chenle had moved from China to Korea and Jisung instantly claimed him as his best friend.

 The small boy next to Chenle spoke next. “Renjun, school photographer and the girl I love is unrequited love cause she is in love with someone else.” His eyes were on the floor, somewhat scared of looking at someone because if he did, he would break. You nod your head at him, relating to the problem. Renjun was popular but not in the same way the others were. He was the top grade student, always achieving A’s and top in participation. No one knew if he had friends or where he was of a lunchtime but he wasn’t very nice if he got angry.

 You glance to the boy next to you and smile as you see his eyes were on you. You smile falls instantly when you see tears in his eyes. “I’m Jaemin and I’m the goalkeeper. I was rejected by my crush today.” Your hand instantly went to his leg, trying to comfort him. Jaemin was the flirt of the school, all the girls liked him and most of the boys despised him. You would be lying if you said he never had your heart flutter, he had the best tricks in his books.

 You realise that it was your turn, so you turned yourself away from Jaemin and towards the group. “Hi, I’m Y/N, and I’m… not much of a person here,” you laugh a little, “I fell for a person who I know will never love me back…so yeah.” You glance up to see the boys nodding, understanding that this is a risky topic to some people. Come to think of it; you really didn’t have a “role” at this school. I mean, Harvey was the international student that everyone loved. You weren’t quite sure if people knew where you were from, they probably assumed you were from America or England.

 “Okay, so now that we know a bit about each other, why don’t we try helping each other?? We will all meet up twice a week and help each other get over these crushes of ours,” Harvey announces to the group. The boys look up at him. Jaemin and Chenle instantly starting complaining about training, Jeno about work and Jisung and Renjun about projects. You look at the floor and sigh, realising you had high hopes for the boys. Every boy in the room became silent at this and agreed in unison, not understanding how you had such a big influence on them. You looked up and connected eyes with Renjun, smiling a little as his face turns peach and looks away.

 It’s settled. We can meet on Friday after school out the front, yeah? And how about we start with Jeno since he started?” You all nod your head and Harvey dismisses you. You stay behind and lean your head against Harvey. “I don’t think this is going to work. I can already see Jaemin and Renjun wanting to leave. Both of them started rolling their eyes towards the end of the meeting. I don’t think we will see them on Friday afternoon,” You looked at Harvey and smile. “Hey, don’t give up now. I know that ‘Harvey the Great’ always gives 100% effort towards anything.” This made Harvey chuckle before he lifted his arm from the desk onto your shoulder. “And I know ‘Y/N the Wonderful’ won’t leave me alone on Friday afternoon to read her books,” He smirks whilst looking down at me.

 You scowl and slump forward, retrieving your bag from across the room. “I’m hoping the boys will turn up. I really want more friends.” You exclaim to no one in particular. “You need more than just me. My life can’t revolve around you, you know?” Harvey snickers from behind you. You turn around and lightly punch his shoulder. “Oh, how I wish I could kick your butt.” “Oh, how you wish you could be taller.” You smack the back of Harvey’s head and pout, he always teased you about your height. Harvey stands in awe at your cute behaviour and wraps his arms around you shoulders, pulling you into a hug. “Thy is sorry, Princess Y/N. Can thou forgive thee, young handsome male?” Harvey bows down and holds his hand out. You giggle and curtsy, putting your hand in his. “Thy is forgiven for such troublesome behaviour.” You both bust out laughing at your silly act. “We better get an A for our English,” Harvey mentions as you both rearrange the desks.

 Little did you know, five boys were standing outside of the room, listening and watching the entire conversation. “I feel bad now,” Jaemin pouts and hangs his head. “Well,” Chenle exclaims with a smile, “We’ll just have to show them that they are wrong and turn up Friday afternoon, won’t we?” Everyone nods their head except for one. “Renjun?? Aren’t you coming Friday?” Jisung asks his hyung. “I’ll think about it,” Renjun mutters as he speeds away. The boys look around in confusion as they watch Renjun practically sprint down the corridor and out of the school. “What’s gotten into him?” The boys all thought in their heads.

 ‘If only I didn’t have a crush on her, this would be so much easier.’

previous || next

masterlist

[bring-forth-your-justice]

Chapter 1: Troubled Mind (Reader x Akira Kurusu)

So um, I wrote a fic. I already have 3 chapters complete for this long fic. When I say long, I mean very long *cough* 15,293 words *cough*. So a bit of context to the story, it ties in with persona 3 because of the reader’s past. As well a major change to the story (won’t reveal it because I’m not so sure on whether to add it in or leave it out.) Hope you enjoy reading this piece of trash.

You couldn’t be late to school, not today.

You ran past people in a panic to reach the subway. The forecast said it was gonna rain today, but your wonderful and brilliant brain forgot that. Not that it mattered anyway, you had no idea where your umbrella went.

Thankfully it wouldn’t rain for another hour or so, that was your saving grace for the day. You only wished it could’ve been used for something else though.

You reached the subway just in time and pushed your way into the cramped train, managing to grab the last seat. You held your bag tight, so tight that you could’ve sworn that your papers were gonna be in crumples by the time you left. “Maybe today won't be as hectic as I predicted”. You thought to yourself, as you tried to doze off for the duration of the ride for Shujin Academy.

Normally you were never late, not once did you ever miss school, and you wouldn’t dare over sleep. After all, you were the student council vice president! You were a straight A student for goodness sakes! You were the person every student would look to for help and advice, a role model. Only second to Makoto, but even then you both were identical in terms of efficiency and marks.

So why were you late?

Well, you weren’t late, not really. It’s just your student council meetings start before school does and that's what you couldn’t be late for. You had many things flooding your mind last night and you ended up over sleeping.

Luckily your 3rd alarm woke you up. If not for that, Makoto would’ve freaked and sent enough messages for the constant dinging to wake you up.

The train had stopped and you made your way past the other passengers. You put your headphones on and started making your way to school.

As you made your way towards the school, you spotted the alleyway that Ryuji and you would walk through together. You flinched at the thought of just hanging around Ryuji again. As badly as you wanted to again, as badly as you wanted to say sorry and make him smile, you couldn’t. There was just something standing in your way, why lie to yourself? There was someone in your way.

The gloomy clouds plagued the skies above you but it didn't matter now, you’d finally reached school. Walking through the empty halls seemed to take more effort than usual. It seemed the feeling of the desolate halls had caused you to forget about your surroundings, as you had tuned out someone shouting your name.

“Y/N! Y/N! CAN YOU EVEN HEAR ME!? Oh GoD!” She hollered, as she tried to close the gap between the two of you.

You lept back as the girl caught up to you and grabbed your shoulder. She then continued to slump forward, crouching, in an attempt at catching her breath. “Arine? What’s wrong?! You look exhausted.” You say in confusion as you take out the headphones from your ears. 

Arine suddenly shot up at what you had said, with only frustration to be dissected from her expression and beads of sweat showering down from her hair.

You jumped back at the sudden action, still dazed with her conduct.

“Are YOU REALLY asking ME if there’s something WRONG with ME!?” She retorted back, still huffing, slightly slouched. Just as you slightly parted your mouth to respond to her, she cut you off. “Never mind that, c’mon the meetings gonna start. I was looking to see if you had came or not. But, like always, your right here.” She sent you a quick loving smile and grabbed your left hand, and dragged you to the council room.

“ Sooo..er..Arine, why exactly were you so upset?” You spoke shyly, you were now walking beside her, retaining your elegant stature. Arine was a first year, and the treasurer of the student council. Although a very small and timid girl, she proved to be very enthusiastic around those she knows well.

“Well, besides the fact that you made me run after you around the school, and made me look like a fool for yelling and screaming your name about 4 billion times..” She spoke sarcastically as she turned to face you. “ The..” You noticed the sudden shift in her expression, from one with glee to one with dread and unease. Your face didn’t falter from its blank expression, but you felt concern ebbing away your lifeless expression.

“It’s j-just the..um...the t-transfer s-student”.

The transfer student? Wha-oH WAIT! “OH, yes of course! It seems as if I had forgotten about him. I just had a lot on my mind the other night, and I forgot he was coming today.” You spoke with more confidence.

“But why exactly are you mortified by just talking about him?” You slyly inferred. Arine shot her head down, being both shocked and embarrassed by you noticing her dismay. “Oh, um. Well, err you see..uhh.” She choked on her words, making it hard for you to understand why this student brought out her inner demons just at the mention of him.

‘GOOD LORD! Was this boy the new coming of Voldemort!?’ You thought, with concern now evident on your face.

“A-apparently he’s currently on probation for ASSAULT! A-and I overheard some of the teachers that he’s really d-dangerous, they said that if he had a knife that day...he wouldn’t be convicted of assault but ..m-murder.” Arine started to tremble. You slid your hand into hers in an attempt to rid of her quivering. “I’m not one to judge on rumors….but if he’s as menacing as you say he is..” You took a pause in between your thoughts, slowly biting your lip with the situation at hand.

“I’ll be careful, and hey! Don’t worry, I won’t let him hurt anyone. Including you, so quit your worrying!” You said blissfully.

Haha..how would that even work? You couldn’t even save your brother, father, or even yourself! Pathetic, you want to save your friend and the school while you can't even escape the people who hurt, torment, and abuse you. You lie to yourself and now you lie, to her.

Arine’s face slowly lit up with more of your false assurance. The two of you reached the council room, and were greeted by Makoto and the others. Makoto rushed to your side to give you a small but strong hug. She asked what had taken you both so long. You sheepishly explained that you overslept and were in a world of your own thoughts before Arine came along. Makoto was shocked at the fact that you overslept, and continued to say that she would personally enter your house and wake you up. After that, the meeting had finally begun.

“Y/N wait!” Makoto said just as you was about to leave the modest, dimly sun-lit room. “Hmm? Something wrong Mako?” You and Makoto have been childhood best friends since middle school, always by each other's side.

Things were rough after your mom, dad, and big bro died. After all, you were only 4 and Taro was 12. Your oldest brother, Taro, was left to take care of you but at the time, you had your grandma. When she passed, Taro was 17 and was on his way to becoming a prosecutor. That’s where he met Sae-san. Their friendship lead to you meeting Makoto. You both had so many things in common, your love for knowledge, books, kawaii things and of course, the need to be like your older siblings and bring forth justice! But besides your interest, you both shared the pain of losing your parents and loved ones. You depended on each other when the world around you seemed to collapse, when the pain and grief resurfaced. When the occasional sibling fight happened, the other would always spend the night at the others house.

When the other didn’t have an interest in one particular area, the other would force them to do it with them. Makoto doesn’t know how to play piano or skate so you drag her with you. Cooking and aikido comes as a challenge for you so you’d tag along with her and learn a thing or two.

You told each other almost everything. Feelings, opinions, secrets, hopes and dreams. Including a secret only she believes when Taro can’t except it..

You know in your heart that, that secret is no secret, but the truth. The truth that won’t ever be told until you find the killer. . .

“No, nothings wrong but um, Miss. Kawakami had asked if you would show the transfer around the school?” Makoto asked shyly, fiddling nervously with the pencil in her hand. You were in shock. Usually the homeroom teacher would be the one to show the student around. Though you wouldn’t argue with a teacher about showing a student around, it was just this student. After what Arine said, you weren’t so sure about this.

“I certainly don’t mind, but why? The teachers usually show them around, am I wrong?” You asked.

“Yes, it is the teachers duty but, you and the transfer are in the same class. So Miss. Kawakami thought it would be good if he got to know someone in his class. She also mentioned that it would be wonderful if he had such a marvelous and outstanding influence as his first ‘friend’ at this school.” Makoto clarified.

“Alright, I guess you already know what I’m doing this morning. Honestly though, I’m honored that she’d think so highly of me.” You let out an embarrassed chuckle.

“Obviously, you’re an amazing student. Not to mention an even better best friend. Speaking of which, you told me Taro is not coming home tonight, you watnt to spend the night at my house?” There was no way you wouldn’t take up the chance of staying over at Makoto’s just talking and goofing off.

“Why would I say no? I mean, my dance class was canceled today, and I could always reschedule my shift. As long as Sae is ok with it, I’ll come over right as I get something~ from my house!” You said winking. “Oh please tell me it’s ‘that’ thing! Also Sae’s always ok with you coming over, so don’t worry about that.” The two of you exited the room and headed towards your classes, laughing at the random jokes that each of you would insert into the conversation. You said bye to Makoto as she walked down to the third-year floor.

You walked into the classroom, with all the students in groups and talking about the latest gossip, trends and so on. As you went to take your seat, you would get the casual stares from some of your admirers. You stood out from the other students, partially because of your very different uniform ( a black waistcoat with white accents, the Shujin skirt, black thigh high boots, A white button up collar shirt, and black tights. Along with a headband in your hair.), but it was mostly due to your brandeis blue highlights.

They weren’t highlights they were part of the aftermath of what happened one year ago. You tell others that they’re highlights to hide the truth.

You sat besides Takamaki-san, she looked agitated, and distressed. The girl was looking down at her desk while fiddling with her blonde, curly hair. You didn’t really know the girl, you’ve never really had the chance to talk with her. You’ve wanted to but... you don’t know what you’d say to her. All you actually knew about the girl was she and Suzui-san are best friends, and that she's half american, a kind girl whose parents are always overseas due to work. Then there were the rumors with her and Kamoshida, the volleyball coach, an award winning athlete.

Ah~ There it was, you already figured out the reason behind her melancholic expression.

You knew how scary and menacing Kamoshida could be, from first-hand experience. You did whatever you could to be far away from him and his counterpart, Kaito-kun. No one knows that Kamoshida has harassed you too. After all on the outside it doesn’t look as if you’ve been hurt by him, but on the inside your dying, a soul pleading for any form of help. You’ve tried, you’ve tried saving others plus yourself from him. Sometimes it worked but all your efforts puts you into a dangerous zone with him instead. To save others you’ve put yourself in vain.

If you knew about a volleyball player that he was gonna ‘call out’, you’d jump to their aid by using the little authority you have, to ask the volleyball player to help you with a student council duty. That way, they wouldn’t have to see Kamoshida. But your efforts to help others backfires on you when he catches you.

“SHE’S HERE! Everyone get to your seats!” One student hollered.

“OMG Kiyoshi! SHE’S COMING! MOVE!” Another student yelled as she pushed a girl out of the way, presumably Kiyoshi.

“MIYAKO!!” Kiyoshi squealed just as she tripped and hit the ground face first.

‘Ouch!’ You thought.

Miss. Kawakami walked in through the sliding doors and all the students scrambled to get to their seats. Miss. Kawakami let out an annoyed sigh, she looked deflated and exhausted. “Okay, everyone settle down. Settle down! Uh, Yuki-san can I talk to you outside?” She spoke sounding incredibly tired. You nodded and walked outside the classroom; outside to the empty hallway.

“I’m glad you said yes to giving the transfer a tour.” She said with a faint smile on her face. Was she always this burned out? You felt as if she would fall over any second now, so much so that you mentally prepared yourself to catch her fatigued body.

“Frustrating as it is, the boy hasn’t arrived at school yet! So I suppose for now just relax but if he does show up, then I’ll come find you. Alright?” She asked.

‘Wow, late on the first day! It’s really becoming harder not judge this guy! No, you promised yourself you would never make assumptions and judge others without knowing them!’ You thought to yourself, mentally scolding yourself in the mix.

You told Miss. Kawakami that she could rely on you and not to worry. She let out a tired but grateful sigh. “It’s great to have such a dependable student, unlike that Sakamoto. Looks like he’s not coming to school again..”

Your eyes widened. ‘Ryuji, why would you miss school? I get it, this place is hell! But you hafta stop getting yourself in serious trouble!’

“Oh...I see. Well that’s unfortunate.” Your voice was laced with sorrow.  

“If he had only stayed on the right path, he could’ve made a great student. After all he was once a star athlete.” Miss. Kawakami unknowingly had added insult to your already aching injury.

‘Bullshit, It was all Kamoshida’s fault! He stole his future, THAT PERVERTED BASTARD SHOULD BE THE ONE THAT GETS HIS REPUTATION TAKEN FROM HIM! He HAS to pay!’  Your thoughts fueled your anger.

‘But how can I put an end to the pain, and him..’

[ac-ars]

Oh my, my, my

it’s been 84 years, or even longer, my laptop kept being freezing bitch and didn’t want to work so i had to backup all shit, but it doesn’t matter, im close to failing physics, and idc as well, because this is finally done lol

thanks to people who were telling me i am not shit while writing this ily all

also!!!! pedro used here isn’t the pedro from rollerband please remember this

anyway have fun with physics teacher asshole Matteo here

Oh my, my, my

If you ask Luna Valente what she likes the most in the guy who is teaching her physics, she will not be able to answer. There is no full, logical answer for this question, because Luna simply can’t tell what about Matteo Balsano is the hottest, or more like, hotter than the rest.

She had thought that her college experience was going to be filled with parties her friends make her to go when she wants to stay home, hangovers and headaches, sleeping during boring, morning lectures and a fuck ton of studying. All those things above have been happening so far, ever since she stepped into the building of her faculty, but damn, it’s been three years and now he happened, changing whole studies imagine to the worst and the best thing Luna could have ever made up in her mind.

She has been dreading physics classes for quite long time; in highschool she wasn’t the best when it came to science, but here she is on engineering faculty and physics is kind of inevitable on engineering faculties, isn’t it? So she had to take it anyway.

It was expected that physics is going to kill her in every possible way: tire her, confuse and ruin her, turn her brain into the jelly, yet Luna would never think that the problem wouldn’t be in physics itself.

Currently she is having troubles in physics class because of her ta, who makes her the least and the most focused when he talks. And suddenly his class became Luna’s favorite class ever.

The thing is that he chose her. They have group president, yet he wanted someone who doesn’t talk much, still knows everyone and has no kind of responsibilities on their shoulders, and that’s how Luna turned into his private group post pigeon to share any stuff that needs to be shared.

She has his email in case he is stuck in morning traffic and can’t get to class on time. He uses it to give them notes after any topic and exercises to solve before the tests. It’s mostly because his lazy ass is too lazy to create mail group, but whatever. Why would Luna complain about any extra time or contact with him? She doesn’t have his phone number, and hopes he is never gonna give it to her; it wouldn’t be any good idea, because she would end up texting him something weird and lame like your shirt would look great on the floor in my bedroom after alcohol.

Still, she is doing better than all her friends who are crushing on him, trying to find some ways to seduce him or some shit, yet Luna is really above this all mentality, since she is very self conscious, enough to chill and stop believing in some crazy, hot fantasies, focusing more on what she can see instead. Not on what could someday happen, what she could do to him or with him. Her imagination is all she needs at this point. Besides, Matteo doesn’t seem to be the one to make any move towards any of the students anyway.

Hands. His hands are currently roaming her back with softness, yet quickly because he can’t get enough of her. His eyes are closed finally; he decided to learn her without any help of his sight, using other senses instead and looks like he is going to memorize all of her. His lips. His lips are moving on hers urgently, trying to get as much as possible from her, as if the whole universe is depending on this very kiss they share, but Luna doesn’t mind; she is willing to give him as much as possible.

He is pressing her to his desk with his hips, like he is scared that she is going to run away, but cursed the one who would ever say something like this, because Luna Valente isn’t the one to avoid any chance of getting at least a tiny bit of Matteo Balsano. She pulls away for a second to take single breath, since he doesn’t let her take another, needing more and more. His teeth close on her lower lip making her hiss softly, but he only smirks and moves away before letting her go. His eyes are dark, dark, black, even though she has always been sure of their sweet brown color, and are making her crazier than all of his touches.

Her fingers slide up his arms slowly, trying to feel the shape of his muscles moving when he tries to unclasp her bra from under her blouse. Shivers keep going down her spine since his hands are cold, almost sobering her, yet not quite and every of his movements makes her wake up from this crazy moment, but takes her back at the same time. She reaches his shoulders and his neck before tangling her fingers in his soft, soft hair which she has always wanted to touch, checking if it’s like she imagined all those times before.

He still demands more; his mouth gets hungrier and more careful so Luna just kinda slows down playing with buttons of his shirt. He smiles against her lips, letting her know how much he wants her to keep going and all she can do now is starting to undo the buttons slowly while his mouth ends up on her neck, kissing her skin as properly as he kissed her lips. Her heart is beating too hard for him not to feel it, but nobody here seems to care about it as long as the moment isn’t interrupted by anything. She is letting out small, soft sighs as his lips tickle her skin, his tongue is teasing from time to time and his fingers try to sneak their way under her skirt.

This is all she needs from the world, so, dear stars, if someone is going to ruin this-

“Jesus Christ, Luna, could you please stop eyefucking him finally?” She feels an elbow in her ribs, which makes her jump and very gracefully push her hardcover notebook off the desk to the floor. Obviously, it does make loud thump and now everyone is staring at her, while Pedro is giggling under his breath and she is so going to murder him one day. She just looks at the notebook, not sure what to do something; if do something at all, but of course he has to get into the whole moment.

“Luna, is everything okay?” Matteo asks with his soft, smooth voice that has her shivering in many fantasies and she already feels like melting into small paddle of blushing mess.

But she doesn’t. She gives him small nod, obviously, she has to keep it cool no matter what, despite the fact that she can’t move. Her brain isn’t really helping her in those moments; daydreaming is very, very bad, especially in class when he is real in front of her eyes and all she can do is try to keep her heart beating in any rhythm. He is looking at her with raised eyebrows, kind of amused eyes and small smile. When she doesn’t do any move, hearing Pedro’s snickers obviously, Matteo moves away from his desk and walks slowly towards her, frowning after few steps, and she just wants to disappear in the very moment he picks up her notebook and places it on her desk.

“Are you sure you are fine?” He asks once more and Luna’s head is blank. “Yes, I’m just-”

“She was studying whole night and she is super slow today, so don’t mind her.” Pedro jumps in, grinning completely casually and Matteo sighs. Luna keeps nodding continuously and notices how her friend kicks the chair of girl sitting in front of them and she jumps, exclaiming loudly. “Yes! We were studying together on skype, but I manage lack of sleep better.”

Honestly Luna is kinda thankful for this and she is definitely gonna buy them some alcohol they want, because she had no explanation on her tongue except ‘could you please just stop kissing me in my head?’ and this one doesn’t seem like good idea at all.

“Fine.” The Balsano shrugs. “Just make sure you have notes from today, and start studying earlier, right?”

He winks at her, she dies, Pedro laughs too much and the whatsapp conversation of entire group doesn’t get a break.

This day is basically a mess. Luna managed to oversleep and didn’t have time to brush her hair, so here she is trying to sip the shitty hot chocolate from coffee machine as her high ponytail is tickling her nape. Glasses on her nose are barely keeping in one place and as always she is fixing them with her finger and small growl.

It’s kinda cold today, the sweater is sliding off her shoulder all the time because of her hurrying and putting it too quickly, so it ended up too stretched, but who cares? Is it socially acceptable to not wear a bra? If it’s not that’s a boomer, but she was too much in hurry to care. The only good thing about this morning was the fact that her phone was fully charged and it’s not dying like she is.

They all are waiting in front of chem class, which is gonna start in like 20 minutes, so her friends are talking mostly about random stuff, while Luna only tries to minimize the amount of yawns for an hour to thirty-two. She is scrolling through insta feed, but there is nothing there except kittens and food videos, but this is all she needs at this very moment.

Her ears catch the name Matteo in between the songs and she just looks up at the girls with a smile, reaching for one earphone and taking it away, to listen what they are saying. At first it’s just safe topic, talking about upcoming physics test and Luna is very fine, very comfy with this, so she half gets into the conversation, half focuses on the song played in her other earphone.

Pedro texts her something, asking if she is gonna move her ass to uni and she just snorts texting him to turn around, because he is dumb and blind. Few seconds later she can hear his lame laugh and feel his arm wrapping around her shoulders.

“You are very funny today, tiny you. Tell me, what got you so happy? We aren’t having physics today after all.” He grins and Luna lowkey feels like punching him. Giggles of the girls tell her that they heard that, which means no chill for the Valente today.

Whatever.

“I am not in funny mood. You are the funny one here, Pierre.”

Pedro laughs probably too loud at this version of his name, but no one seems to care. “Are you gonna speak the language of love to me now? Will you finally accept to go out with me, Luna Valente?” He says dramatically, pressing his hands to his chest, over the heart.

Luna opens her mouth to reply, but one of the girls just laughs and shakes her head. “You aren’t half as hot as Matteo, so stop your high hopes here.”

Everyone bursts into laugh, even Luna when Pedro just rests back of his hand on his forehead with dramatic, dramatic sigh. She would focus on the second more, but her phone vibrates with text message. Her brain can manage to handle only one thing at once, so all people are turned off when she answers Simón’s message.

“…Luna, what do you think?” Someone asks and she wakes up, nudged by Pedro once again. “He is hot as hell, right?”

“Who?” She raises her eyebrows, not sure which guy is judged here.

Jazmín rolls her eyes, probably completely done. “Matteo, you silly.”

Luna shakes her head, taking deep breath and ignoring Pedro’s tapping on her shoulder quickly. Despite that she shrugs. “Obviously, people like Matteo, who are so attractive should be kept away from teaching others, because it’s very not helping.” She answers, turning her attention back to her phone and feels how everyone is staring at her weirdly. Their eyes are pointed at behind Luna and her blood suddenly freezes.

“Please don’t tell me he heard that. In any possible way.” She mumbles to herself and turns around, feeling like she got into hell.

Matteo himself looks very amused, and very, very smug. He gives her a small stare before turning to Pedro and giving him a nod. “Good job, buddy. You tried to stop her at least. You are the true friend here.”

Her knees get weak and she feels like falling down, but at the same time she can’t make any of her muscles move and this is the shittiest moment ever, ever.

Matteo crosses his arms, his eyes back to Luna as he sighs. “Looking at your grades I don’t think you should complain that much. Unless, of course, you have someone else to explain what I can’t.” He smiles raising his hands up, as if he is giving up.

“If anyone else has any advice here, just send me an email, I’m always open for new suggestions.” Someone snorts and Matteo laughs fixing his tie. “Anyway-“ he looks at Luna again. “I hope you all have a nice day.” After that he winks at her and leaves, walking through the hallway casually and not looking back.

They look back at her and Luna can’t tell who, but someone pulls her to the chair and gives her water.

Few seconds pass until she manages to speak. “Jesus, fuck, I’m fucked.” Her heart keeps beating too fast as Pedro laughs. “You wish you were, tiny, you wish.”

It’s Friday night and Luna is definitely good at making people think she is drinking as much alcohol as they are. Or maybe they are already drunk. She needs to be drunk. Pedro made her wear pretty dress and go out with them to this one club to chill, forget about the science for once and get some proper hook up, because she has been ridiculous recently. Especially after how she exclaimed loudly that Matteo is probably too hot for her liking. At least her group decided to let her have few days chill and didn’t mention this situation while she was around.

Now she is only sipping slowly her mojito through two straws, playing with the ice in her glass and nodding softly, since her hairstyle is a mess and she’s not the one to fix it right now.

Her lipstick is leaving stains at the straws and Luna sighs deeply, fuck you Kylie Jenner for all your lies. It’s not like she cares about that, but lie is a lie, and it did cost money, so Luna is going to very complain about this, even more after alcohol, so here we are.

Someone tells a joke and everyone laughs, Luna does too, not even knowing what it’s about, though it would be weird if she just stared at them with confused eyes, because she was more concentrated on asking herself what is wrong with her. She should definitely focus on getting drunk with her friends and maybe hit on some hot guy, yet the point is that Luna doesn’t want that. Or more like she does, very much, but not at all at the same time and she is a big mess here, trying to figure what the fuck she should do and how many mojitos to drink. As many as possible; students get discount today.

Pedro rests his elbow on her knee as they all lean towards Jazmín, who seems to be jumping excitedly about something.

“Hey, tiny you, look what she has for you.” Pedro says, poking her and Luna wakes up from all of her thoughts, pressing her lips together to make sure her lipstick isn’t looking like she just made out with a frog.

“What do you want, Peter Pan?” She asks with a sigh, leaning more against him. He only grins. “Our fabulous queen of stalking has news for you.” Luna rolls her eyes and turns to Jazmín who is drinking her margarita with big smile, and all the brunette can notice is the fact that there’s no lipstick stain on her glass and, dear stars, Luna needs it.

“Lu-na, listen, but carefully, okay? Carefully.” No one is sure if that’s the right way to say it, but no one says anything either, so Jazmín jumps on her seat, fixing herself and her eyes are shining showing how tipsy she already is. “I have a friend, she told me that she knows the guy, who knows the guy, who is kinda dating a friend of Matteo and this source told me they like to come here to hang out, so who knows, maybe you will get lucky tonight!”

Everyone laughs and Luna only growls trying to not cover her face with hands, because God protect her from smudged makeup and looking like a very rich badger. She sighs dramatically, and ignoring the straws, empties her glass in completely not ladylike way, because their physics ta is the last thing she needs here.

Pedro laughs at her but gets up pulling her with him and leads towards the bar with intention of getting her another drink. “You know, for a person who fucked him in every possible way in your head, you are pretty embarrassed when someone mentions him.” He snorts softly and Luna sighs dramatically. “It’s because this is, despite everything, very ridiculous idea and you all should stop.”

“But you are so into him!” He exclaims loudly, changing his voice in the half and making Luna laugh. “And he is into you, I’m super sure of this.”

“I don’t care!” She loud-whispers to him. “Just shut up and buy me a drink, please.”

Pedro shakes his head with disapproval. “This mojito is like cheating on normal people who drink normal alcohol, not some fancy wannabe glasses filled with grass and ice. But I guess I won’t win here.”

Luna grins, flicking his nose. “Someone has to know what is happening when you don’t anymore.”

“I hate you.”

She sends him a wink. “That you do.”

He is about to say something, but they both hear someone calling Luna’s name in this very specific way, that just spills who wants her attention.

“Lunita! I see you! Turn around and stop pretending you don’t know who I am.” With every word the voice gets louder and her cousin is either very drunk, or is approaching her and Luna can be never sure which of above is worse.

She decides to turn away from Pedro and not roll her eyes at Ámbar walking towards her on those extra high heels the brunette almost killed herself because of the other day. “Ámbar, it’s such a nice surprise to see you.” She mumbles, kinda lying, kinda not.

It’s actually soothing that someone here is able to kill a person with the spiky heel of a shoe without a blink, no matter of amount of alcohol they drank before. And they are nice to each other since Luna went to college and they can hang out or some shit, even if she is sure her cousin gave her this shitty Kylie lipstick mostly because it sucks.

“Any chance of seeing me is great, obviously.”  The blonde flips her hair, spreading around soft scent of her expensive perfume. “You look pretty, tonight, I would be surprised if not the fact I made you buy this dress.” Ámbar smiles a little proudly and wraps her arm around Luna’s waist.

“Take your drink and come with me to the table over there. I wanted to text you tomorrow anyway. Do you want to meet my friends? They are assholes, but I guess they will be nice when they see you in this dress. And I will promise them death if they are mean.” Luna frowns, not sure  what to say, but Pedro pushes the glass in her hand and winks at her. “Maybe you will catch some hot one there, just be nice, tiny you.”

Ámbar snorts. “Obviously they are hot. I am not friends with ugly people.” Saying that with huge disgust, she pulls lost Luna away from there, talking something about doing well by drinking classy things in the club and that she should start doing this herself, but vodka is stronger than any of her safety reflexes.

Luna just keeps nodding at her, sipping her drink, since the temperature keeps being high as hell, until they get to the blonde’s table. She looks around forcing her brain to memorize faces until she stops on one and chokes.

What the actual fuck is he doing here out of all people in Buenos Aires and how the hell is he friends with Ámbar?

Luna has bo idea so she just stares at him as he is talking to other guy with curly hair and she has no idea what to do now, because if she thought he was hot in class, now this is breaking all his records at once in this black shirt with few first buttons undone, what obviously sticks her eyes to his skin. She is such a mess because of some guy, and she would feel ridiculous if not the fact her brain is fried.

“Hey, idiots, you wanted to meet Luna and now you act like the least classy guys in the city.” Ámbar growls, resting her hands on her hips and suddenly all stares are on Luna. Matteo’s look catches her eyes.

She drops the glass.

The other guy chuckles getting up immediately while Matteo seems to be as lost as Luna herself, but only for few seconds.

The blonde girl shakes her head dramatically. “Since neither of you all is able to think at this very moment, you-” she points at guy with curly hair, “-will get Luna new drink while we all just sit down and try to make you all speak, because r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s.”

The guy smirks widely at Matteo. “No, no blondie, he will go, he was supposed to get new vodka after all so it won’t make a difference.”

Luna is just trying to not faint, because here she is in short dress, wearing high heels, very tipsy and apparently the one and only Matteo Balsano is gonna get her something to drink.

He acts completely casually as Ámbar sits down saying whatever, and approaches her as if he has never seen her again - despite the smirk of the other guy, who probably knows, but Ámbar doesn’t.

“What was in the glass you dropped?” He smirks and she pouts, before opening her mouth to answer, but he interrupts leaning closer. “It’s too loud here, just come with me for it to the bar, is it okay?”

Luna can only nod, wondering if she shouldn’t go for clear vodka today, because any sober, any tipsy, any anything will not help her survive this. She is sure of it when he smiles at her and rests his hand on her lower back in order to lead her out of people dancing around. Someone bumps into her and she almost trips over her own leg which goes unfortunately behind the other, yet Matteo manages to catch her with another hand on her waist. He chuckles softly, but says nothing, pulling her behind a little faster and all Luna can do is follow him as if he is her own icebreaker.

She is praying for neither of her friends to see them; she would end up photographed from every angle and definitely interviewed later, hit by questions like did you finally get laid and are ready to move on with your life? Yeah, not gonna happen. Hopefully. For now Matteo is talking to the bartender casually, leaning his elbows on the counter and smiling widely, since the girl is making his drink with dreamy eyes and Luna feels like dropping another mojito.

That’s totally her luck, though it’s not like she had any expectations; the hottest ones are usually assholes and apparently this one ain’t no exception.

She is ready to leave when he pays, but after he does he just turns to her, completely ignoring the bartender. Luna frowns, yet takes the arm he offers her, they walk away and he leans closer to her. “You don’t seem to be glad that I flirted us half price discount.”

She blinks surprised, not sure if to curse at him again in her head, or just ask what, so she nods softly, making him laugh.

“Looks like that’s a thing you should teach me as well.” She mumbles not really stopping herself from throwing this and Matteo laughs. “Am I not too hot for teaching people anything?”

Luna almost chokes, but keeps herself cool to not spill the drink probably either on her dress or on his shirt.

“Okay, okay, it was just a joke,” he says but it doesn’t feel like a joke at all. His hand is suddenly in front of her and she gives him surprised look. “Are we going to the table?” He asks, offering her his hand.

Luna sighs and looks around. If no one comes from the future to stop her from doing it, then how bad this decision can be? She just smiles and laces their fingers surely, seeing him smile.

“I need help.” Luna says, throwing papers on Matteo’s desk. He looks up at her from above his laptop, his glasses sliding softly off the bridge of his nose. She sighs dramatically, trying to focus, because she drank vodka with this guy few days ago, so no big deal. Not at all.

“Help with what?” He asks raising his eyebrows and lacing his fingers on the desk.

Luna pouts and pushes this little annoying strand of her hair behind her ear. “With physics, obviously. I don’t get a shit here, and I want you to explain it to me.” She says super quickly and guesses she should be nice, so she adds soft: “Please, Matteo.”

He takes deep breath, looking around before he reaches for her papers. The brunette keeps her breathing still for a moment, hoping that he is gonna chill his ass and help her or at least tell her where to start.

“Let me think about this.” He hums softly, looking around as if he is deep in thoughts. “When?” The question falls between them and Luna bites on her lower lip.

“I don’t know, but somewhere before Thursday I guess.”

“I have extra time on Fridays as always, can’t you come to me then?”

Luna crosses her arms with dramatic sigh, not sure how to get out of this. “I can’t on Friday. If I could I wouldn’t bother you the here and now.”

He stands up, brushing the chair against the floor loudly and she scrunches her nose as he gets closer to her and leans back against the desk. “Well then why didn’t you come to me last Friday?” He takes the pencil from his desk and starts playing with it. The tone of his voice breaks a little and shows hints of teasing, but Luna is hopeless here; no one really from her friends gets this shit so Matteo was it, yet he seems to make fun of her.

“Because I was busy, listen, I need this and I need you here.”

“Oh so now you need me? We reached this stage faster than I thought we would.” Luna chokes seeing his smirk when he rolls his sleeves up. “I guess I can give you some hints here and explain this or that, but under one condition here.”

Her shoulders fall with relief, because she knows he wouldn’t pull any weird shit here. “Okay, what is it. Tell me.”

Matteo crosses his arms, as always when he feels that he has the advantage. “You will go out with me, okay?”

[furinjuru]

Our Sea Of Today - Chapter 14 - Identity

Rating: T Word Count: 2,700~ Summary: Blooming friendships and endings. The beginning of Aqours and the origin of their name. A/N: A week late between other multichaps and finishing the SA, but it’s here! Going back to the first-years this time.

The next morning is unnaturally quiet for You. Yoshiko had told her that she’ll be going to school early to discuss the day’s performance with Dia and Chika. And although this isn’t the first time she’s taking the bus to school alone, she’s gotten more or less used to Yoshiko bothering her. With no one to talk to, there’s only one thing she can do.

 No, not finish the homework that’s due Monday and she’ll forget about until Sunday. The only thing she can do is sleep.

 She only wakes up after arriving at Uranohoshi, and even then the driver needed to wake her up. One quick apology later, she walks through the gates, wandering into the front area of Uranohoshi. She sees some second-years hanging large banners in front of the school building, but most are scattered around, preparing their respective club’s booths.

 There’s still a while before it’s time to go to class, so she decides that wandering around a bit wouldn’t hurt. After a few minutes, she comes across what seems to be the School Idol Club’s booth, although it’s unmanned. The relatively new club has no accolades to display for prospective members. In fact, the only things on the table is a flyer similar to the one she received a few days ago (now with a picture of Yoshiko and her number added), as well as a sheet of paper for people to sign up.

 It’s fairly humble, a direct contrast to her image of an idol: bright, flashy, and unique. But she supposes that every group has to start like this. Even Muse, one of the most decorated groups in the history of Love Live (or at least, that’s what Chika calls them), has their early failures buried underneath articles of their accomplishments. Maybe Uranohoshi’s school idols will share a similar fate.

 After that, she goes into the school building and heads to her class, greeting Hanamaru and Ruby when she enters. There are no classes today, so the three have a short conversation while waiting for the day to officially begin. You finds out that Hanamaru seems interested in being a part of the school choir, as well as setting up a literature club. Ruby hasn’t decided on any, but both You and Hanamaru can tell that her heart is set on the School Idol Club. She’s already invested in it, even helping them make their first flyers, and she’s so passionate about idols that it would be a waste not to have her join.

 Before they have the chance to convince her further, Kanan and a few other third-years enter the class. She looks around, waiting for everyone to quiet down before speaking up. “Good morning, everyone.” She says, her voice causing a few of You’s classmates to swoon. “So, usually we’d be doing this auditorium, but there’s only one first-year class this year anyway, so I decided to save some time by coming here.” Despite the casual tone Kanan spoke in, it’s still shocking to be reminded of that fact. “But let’s not talk about that.” She tacks on afterward after noticing the other’s awkward expressions.

 “Today’s club day, as I assume you’re able to piece together thanks to the massive banners and stands. Some of you might join one club, others might join two, and if you’re really bored, three. Some of you may stick with it until your third-year, like me, or change clubs after a week. I’m a part of the swimming team,” she glances at You subtly. “but no matter which clubs you choose, it will be important for your life in Uranohoshi. So please take this seriously.”

 She shuffles in position for a second before continuing. “And, I have one more announcement. Today marks my last day as the active student council president. You might still see me occasionally, but you’ll be seeing my successor more often from now on. Even though most of you have only known me for a week, I do apologize if I’ve made any mistakes in that short time.” She, along with the other third-years, lower their heads in a bow. She maintains that position for a few seconds before straightening up. “As such, I wish to make a selfish request. If any of you experience any issues today, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to come to me. Even though it’s my last day here, I want to help as many of you as possible. So with that, I hope that you’ll help me make my last day as memorable as possible.”

 Some people clap their hands as Kanan finishes her speech. “Now then,” Kanan continues. “That’s everything I have to say. Thank you for your attention, and I hope you all have a good day.” She says before leaving, followed by the others.

 “So, what do you want to do now, zura?” Hanamaru asks, more to Ruby than to her. “I think we can do whatever we want now, right?”

 “Well, kind of.” Ruby taps her finger against the desk nervously. “There are gonna be performances by certain clubs, so we’ll be going to the auditorium later.”

 “What kind of clubs?” You asks curiously.

 “Dance, choir, stuff like that. Oh, and the school idol club, obviously. Sis is really excited about it.”

 “I can’t wait to watch it, zura!” Hanamaru says excitedly. “When are they going to perform?”

 “I...think it’s around 4?” Ruby replies cautiously. “It’s not set in stone, though.”

 “Well, that’s later, right? Let’s just have fun for now.”

 The three first-years walk out of class, making small talk as they do. And for the first time since meeting them, You is enveloped with a sense of belonging

 ------------------

 The student council room is devoid of sound. None of the current occupants are speaking to each other, content with finishing their respective tasks. Chika is staring at the lyrics of their song, her attempts at memorizing them falling apart whenever she gets distracted by something. Dia is finishing some paperwork, her eyes locked onto the tiny black writing on the sheets of paper.

 The atmosphere is calm and serene, at least in comparison to the shouting match that had happened only a day ago, it’s like a different place entirely.

 Yoshiko steps into the room, noticing her friends already waiting for her. She joins them sitting around the table in the middle of the room. Student council paperwork has been hastily pushed aside, leaving the table empty except for a blank piece of paper.

 "Everyone's here. Good." Dia taps her pen against the table. "First of all, Yoshiko?"

 "Hmph, don't underestimate me." She shows off the new outfits proudly. Chika is smiling ear-to-ear, and even Dia looks somewhat impressed by her standards. She gingerly takes hers, scrutinizing it while Yoshiko stares nervously, waiting for any kind of praise or scalding critique.

 Finally, Dia nods and smiles. "I understand why you needed more time to finish them; they're beautiful. Thank you very much." Yoshiko blushes, sheepishly rubbing her neck at the compliment. "We'll have to do a quick fitting session, but my sizes are still the same, so it should be fine."

 She gives the outfit back to Yoshiko, who returns it to her bag. "Now then, I just remembered that we're still missing a few things for today's performance."

 Immediately, Chika and Yoshiko's expressions turn panicked. "What did we forget?"

 "We need a group name, of course." Dia almost laughs when she sees relief washing over their features immediately.

 "That's it?" Yoshiko asks.

 "That's not it." Dia frowns. "It’s not easy to make a name. Any respectable unit has a memorable name. It should be short and catchy, but unique above all else. A name people can chant during our victory in Love Live!"

 Chika nods, knowing that Dia has a point; even today, the name Muse is known by every aspiring school idol across Japan. "So, Dia-chan, do you have any ideas?"

 "...not really." She admits, embarrassed. "I was thinking that we should just throw around ideas until something sticks."

 "Hold on," Yoshiko interrupts, to Dia's mild annoyance. "How did muse get their name?"

 "I think they asked for suggestions from the school body." Chika chips in.

 "But they used the suggestion from Nozomi-san." Dia corrects. "In the end, the name came from a member of the group. So don't even think about asking someone else to make a name for us."

 "And here I was thinking of using a name generator online," Yoshiko says sarcastically. "Well, how should we start?"

 "The name should be significant to us." The other two members nod in agreement at Dia's suggestion. "So we should think of what's important to all of us and put it into the name."

 The three girls fall silent, racking their brains for something that fits that criteria. Yoshiko and Dia are almost exact opposites to each other, making it hard for Yoshiko to find something in common.

 Dia seems to be struggling as well, her brow furrowed in concentration. Only Chika speaks up after an entire minute.

 "Uchiura." She says with certainty, the other two facing her with curious stares. "We all live here, so it's important for all of us, right?"

 "It's as good a start as any." Dia concedes. "Now we have to narrow it down. What reminds you of Uchiura?"

 "The sea, obviously." Yoshiko quickly points out. "I mean, I don't go to the beach often and I know how important it is. That's gotta mean something."

 "Then we need to think of a name connected to the sea..." Dia trails off as the three think of new ideas. Just like before, Chika is the first to speak out.

 "Three Mermaids!" She exclaims her idea loudly. "It's a combination of the sea and the people of Uchiura."

 "And what do we do when we get new members?" Dia asks. "Changing the name of the group is usually not a good thing, even if it’s something minor like that. Our name should remain constant in spite of roster changes."

 "Mermaids of Uchiura?" Yoshiko offers tentatively. "Although it doesn't sound that catchy...."

 "But you're on to something. We shouldn't specify an exact number that represents the number of members."

 "So you mean we have to use stuff like 'we' and 'us'?" Dia nods. "That's gonna be tough...."

 "And something about water...." Chika trails off. "Our Sea? Wait, that's not catchy enough."

 "What’s another word we can we use for sea?" Dia asks. "Water? Mizu? Aqua?"

 "Aqua!" Chika exclaims with a bright smile. "I like it! What about Our Aqua?"

 "It still sounds a bit weird...," Yoshiko mumbles. "What if we flip the order? Aqua Our? The last part of Aqua kinda sounds like the start of Our, so we can combine the sound to make it smoother."

 "Aqua-our." Dia tentatively says. "Or is it A-q-ours? It's a bit hard to say."

 "How do you even say it?" Chika asks. Dia takes the paper in front of her and scribbles a few letters on it before showing it back to Chika. She squints as she tries to read the English letters, carefully wording it out. "That's really hard. Why don't we just call it Aqua? I like how it sounds."

 "But this one looks better written," Dia argues. “Having it look foreign and unpronounceable will make it seem sophisticated. Also, writing our name in English immediately makes it stand out.”

 “I think you got it mixed up, Dia. I can’t remember any group with a Japanese name. If we wanted to stand out, we should use a traditional name.” Dia opens her mouth to argue but closes it when she realizes that Chika has a point.

 "Or...we can combine it.” Yoshiko suggests, “We can write it one way but pronounce it another.”

 "That...can work," Dia says, slowly raising her hand. "All in favor of the name?" The other two smile, raising their hands as well. "Then it's settled. From now on, we will officially go by the name Aqours."

 "Alright!" Chika cheers, grinning widely. "Aqours! I love it!"

 " How perfect. This fallen angel deems this name worthy of use," Yoshiko chuckles, her voice deepening. "And with that, we are ready to show the mortal realm of our capabilities."

 "Not yet." Dia stops them before they stand up. "There's...one more thing to discuss." She sighs, mentally bracing herself. "We need a leader."

 Chika's eyes light up almost immediately. "Oh, that's easy! It's gotta be Dia, right?" Dia's face contorts with guilt, something the other two notice.

 "I've been thinking about that." Unlike normal, she speaks in a small voice. "I don't think I should be the leader."

 "What?" Dia shrinks back even more.

 "I believe that I shouldn't be the leader. After everything I did...I don't deserve it."

 Chika leans forward, until she's staring at Dia. "But we've forgiven you for that." Dia shakes her head, not budging an inch.

 "Even now, I don't know what caused me to lash out like that. What if it happens again? What if my actions damage our reputation? It's better for the group if I’m not the leader."

 Silence falls on the room as Chika and Dia stare at each other, the former's fists clenched in frustration. "Didn't you say that you wanted to lead your own school idol group? Are you really going to throw away that chance?"

 Dia hesitates, but nods again. "I don't deserve it, doesn't matter how much I want it." She pauses, then continues with a more hopeful tone. "Maybe one day I will, but...not today. Just...please don't make me the leader."

 Chika returns to her seat, unsatisfied with Dia's response.

 "Then, I think Chika should be the leader." Yoshiko voices her opinion, much to the surprise of the orange-haired girl.

 "What?"

 "Yes, that's actually what I was about to suggest." Dia also chips in. Chika frantically looks at them before shaking her head.

 "N-no way," she says. "I'm too normal. There's no way I can be the leader."

 "Who said you're too normal?" Yoshiko asks, almost angrily.

 "Well, compared to you two...." she manages to mumble before being cut off.

 "You're amazing, Chika," Dia says as if she was stating a fact. "You're quite amazing, in my opinion. If anyone of us here deserves to lead Aqours, it would be you.”

 When Chika doesn’t respond, Dia puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Chika, do you know what I thought when I first saw Muse?” Chika looks confused by the sudden change of topic, shaking her head. “I thought Eli should’ve been the leader instead of Honoka.”

 “But yesterday, I put a lot of thought into it, and I realized something. Eli isn’t really fit to be a leader, either. She can’t solve conflicts within the group very well, even though she’s supposed to be mature. In fact, there are times when she’s the one who causes the conflicts. On the other hand, Honoka can unite people, no matter how different they are. Umi and Kotori are quite different, but they’re all friends thanks to Honoka.”

 She turns to face Chika, who’s even more confused. “You’re just like that. I and Yoshiko are incredibly different, but we became friends because of you. When we were fighting, you remained calm and helped us resolve our problems. That’s amazing. You’re amazing, Chika. You’re the only person who can do this.”

 Chika stares at Dia, then at Yoshiko. She tells herself that there’s no way she can do it. After all, she’s just a normal monster with no talents whatsoever. She’s not as skilled as Dia with her many talents, or as creative as Yoshiko with her fallen angel self. Heck, she doesn’t think she’s any good at singing or dancing either, to be honest.

 But somewhere, deep down, Chika can’t deny that she wants to be the leader. She’s just scared. She’s scared of not being able to fulfill everyone’s expectations. She’s scared of crumbling underneath responsibilities. She’s scared of making a fool of herself and ruining the good name of Uranohoshi and Uchiura.

 She stares back at her two friends, both of them giving her their full support. “...I’m still really not sure if I’m the right person.” She sighs, but stands up. “But if you two are really sure, then I’m gonna give it everything I got!” She clenches her fists, determination clearly showing. “I’ll be the leader of Aqours!”

 She’s scared. But maybe, just maybe, she can do it. As long as her friends are behind her, she’ll do everything she can.

[itsjesperfahey]

modern soc au

inej: 

loves to dance !!! esp ballet but she can dance to whatever tbfh, she’s that good 

likes to wear caps, esp backwards. really loves bomber jackets too. 

has a couple, small tattoos dedicated to her saints 

is that one kid who loves to do parkour (both ironically and unironically) for instance is really good at it but sometimes just yells PARKOUR and steps over a rock

usually found eating lunch with her pals on the roof of the school 

is amazing at hide and seek like holy fuck ????? hid for 2 hours once and wasn’t found, came back the next day and was like “y'all losers SUCK" 

loves to study other people’s cultures, as well as history and is great as p.e (never has gotten a bad grade in the flexibility tests) 

likes to read poem books 

has a black cat as a pet named "saint" 

pronounced meme as "mehmeh” the first time she read it 

only has snapchat and instagram. is that kid who ALWAYS posts the sunset every day, esp from weird/high places and the comments are always “HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET UP THERE" 

cried the most during fox and the hound 

always braiding nina’s hair. Knows how to do all the super advanced onces as well

"I don’t know, CAN YOU?" 

 the best one at pushing people on the swings 

AMAZING AT JUST DANCE WITH JESPER 

"sorry I ran out of fucks to give try again later maybe?" 

gives the nicest presents. always knows what a person wants for christmas/their birthday 

the one who’s really into photography and is always taking aesthetic™ pics of Nina for her social media accounts 

Prefers tea over coffee

wylan:

bullied for not being able to read (at least up until high school), so is super shy 

loves drawing. the artistic™ one who takes anatomy to be able to draw people better 

MASTER FLUTE MUSICIAN. On the school band. Jams hard af when he plays it 

is in gem math and AP chem with kuwei. 

loves sweet. addicted to blue jolly ranchers. his tongue is always blue 

constantly pushing up his thick rimmed glasses (even if they ain’t on, which causes him to poke his eye)

looooves all the superhero shows on the CW 

V neck sweaters. always

always has his trusty satchel

only has tumblr. has like 10k followers because of his artwork. 

”‘illuminati’ ? is that a band?“ 

cat person even though he’s allergic to cat fur. absolutely adores inej’s cat. settles for owning a horned lizard named "shrek" 

secretly a huge fan of memes 

really gay for tom holland and ed sheeran (calls him "ginger Jesus”) 

gamer with jesper. they always play overwatch together, wylans better tho. a genji and Ana main 

cried the most during big hero six 

wylan, with blank eyes: “I like my coffee how I like my men” // jesper: *spits out his drink* 

matthias: 

sports fan obv. On the schools hockey team bc his fav is hockey. is extremely competitive when he plays it. Is constantly checking but never gets penalties (aka slamming the other players against the walls)

played basketball against jesper and surprisingly lost. jesper won’t let it go 

dog person. owns a pet pomsky (Pomeranian-husky) with nina who’s name is “bub" 

“long hair don’t care”draws inspiration from Harry styles 

really philosophical. takes all the philosophy/ethics classes available 

kind of sounds like Thor (thick and deep accent) 

a good™

"you’re all horrible trash”

“do we really have to be doing this now? I have to finish my homework" 

loves baking. bakes everything for the love of his life 

grey sweatshirts and adidas shoes 

wears contacts Because he hates how glasses look on him. only wears them when he’s home 

oblivious to all the women in love with him

"CAN YOU EVEN LIFT BRO? BECAUSE I SURE AS FRICK CAN” (doesn’t curse) 

real 👍🏻🤘🏻👌🏻life🤰🏻👼🏻🌱student📚✂️✏️athelete🏃🏼🥇🏆🥅🏒

has Facebook and Twitter only

cried the most during bambi and dumbo 

little spoon™ 

has a couple tattoos with very deep meanings

jesper: 

dancer with inej. dances like those ppl who look like robots ??? the ones who look like they freeze parts of their body while the others move. AMAZING at it 

loves jazz but also dubstep/edm and rap/r&b. Beyoncé is MOM/QUEEN. 

sometimes djs parties 

again, huge gamer with wylan. he’s a lucio and junkrat main for overwatch. loves like every video game ever 

loves all the marvel movies, in love with black panther (was team cap) 

dresses like a hipster but also sometimes a fuck boy (tank tops and shorts with a backwards cap style) 

favorite subject is business and debate. great negotiator 

cried the most during the lion king 

A+ cosplayer (especially his lucio cosplay) 

big supporter of human rights (LGBTA+, feminist, black lives matter, poc representation). Will LITERALLY get into fights over anyone who thinks otherwise. Fist fights, always supported by Kaz and Matthias. Got suspended for 3 days for breaking a kids nose who thought LGBTA+ people should **** ** ****) 

that one kid who has 50 fidget spinners and can do cool tricks with them. also manages to sell all of them 

skateboard pro™ 

always sends the blinking face meme, even if it’s out of context 

all the social medias. 

one tattoo only of a gun with a 'bang’ flag coming out of it 

nina: 

 PROFESSIONAL👏🏻 MAKE 👏🏻 UP 👏🏻 ARTISTS 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 HAS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FOLLOWERS ON HER INSTAGRAM AND THE SAME FOR HER YOUTUBE CHANNEL 

Speaking of YouTube, she always does cute videos. Baking/cooking tutorial videos featuring Matthias, 'i do my boyfriends makeup’, 'my boyfriend does my makeup’, 'my boyfriend buys my makeup’, does make up tutorials obviously, challenges with her best friend inej like the 'whisper challenge’. everyone loves her and says her and Matthias are their otp 

loves fashion design, takes that class. 

loves horror movies/creepy things but also Disney 

great at roller skating 

always wins the best dressed awards ad school 

also huge fan of ed sheeran. loves little mix more than 5h. 

cried the most during 'up' 

Can speak like 4 languages (English, french, Latin and spanish) 

loves traveling and learning about new cultures too 

dancer!inej’s biggest fan and hockey!matthias’ biggest fan 

always breaks snapchat streaks 

likes to (friendly) debate with jesper, especially over stupid things 

amazing with kids. babysits all the time. calls “bub” (the dog) her and matthias’ baby 

big spoon™ 

notes are so fucking pretty. buys the most expensive stationary and notebooks 

also huge supporter of human rights. runs the feminist club. (Jesper is the Vice President) stresses loving yourself and your body, and makes sure to design comfortable yet GORGEOUS clothes for “"plus sized people”“ 

wins 'dynamic duo’ award with inej 

always eating lollipops 

has a few very small tatos of cute things like roses and crowns. has one quote written in cursive on her rib

kaz: 

prefers black coffee as well 

loves crime shows, whether they’re real or fake. for instance loves both 'Dateline’ and 'Criminal Minds’ also loves 'House’

 favorite class is psychology, learning how a person thinks and acts and feels

has the dregs tattoo on his arm * edge lord 9000™ * such a drama queen and diva like damn 

*deep sigh* "I think I’d rather go take a nap” *gets up and leaves* 

also loves computer science. knows how to hack shit like a pro 

always rough housing with jesper. broke a table once 

does walk with a cane. likes to slap matthias’ ass with it 

“bow down you fucking peasants" 

only types in lower case with 0 emojis and no punctuation marks. CONSTANTLY leaves people on read 

only has Twitter and snapchat. His posts on snapchat never have captions, yet somehow has a 200 day streak with Jesper and a 250 day streak with inej 

loves watching horror movies with nina 

 *in a fight* "oh I’ll sHOW YOU SOME DIRTY HANDS” *swings* 

gets second place for best dressed award 

always sending memes with no context in their group chat, as well as vines 

indie and alternative rock fan 

“does it look like I care because I’m sorry if it does I didn’t mean to give you that impression" 

head over heels for inej Ghafa like wow 

likes to read a lot of mystery books and non fiction books 

cried the most during finding dory 

can solve a Rubik’s cube under a minute and won’t let you forget it 

The one asshole who picks either Kirby or metaknight in super smash brothers brawl

 hates seeing the notification bubble so he always has all chats muted and notifications turned off for apps 

kiss ass to all the teachers to get them A’s

Kuwei: 

SCIENCE NERD. ALWAYS singing the bill nye theme song. Loves ASAPScience on YouTube. Master at chemistry and biology 

"hey did u know bill nye is, like, my dad" 

nina treats him like a baby 

loves everything to do with Star Wars while wylan loves star trek more. Fighting ensues. 

has a pet Siamese cat name sparky 

Used to have a huge crush on jesper and everyone knew it except jesper. 

knows the intro to the bee movie ("according to all known laws of aviation-”)

 jesper in the group chat: “gonna go shower be right back” // kuwei: “without me ;)?” // wylan: “KUWEI SWEAR TO FUCK” // kaz: “watch your fucking language wylan" 

obsessed with Pokémon go even if it died out (chose team instinct) 

"fight me on this" 

has Twitter, snapchat and instagram 

Always drinking ginger ale 

master at bop it 

the one kid who always forgets to pay you back for stuff 

is also into the CW super hero shows, so him and wylan are constantly talking about it 

loves cartoons and anime 

speaks fluent fuckboy 

God awful at comebacks 

"let’s take a selfie guys !!!” // “kuwei no-” // *snapshot sound* 

talks !!! Like !! This !!!! for,,, some reason ???????? 

huge nerd for other things too like lord of the rings and Harry Potter and game of thrones 

cried the most during inside out

 "do you think planes are scared of heights?“ // "for fucks same kuwei it’s 4am”

[itbeajen]

Slow Bloom | Todoroki Shouto

Your face was a perfect example of confusion as you opened your dorm room, only to find a bouquet of gardenias sitting on your desk. You glanced around the hallway, but you knew no one would prank you, you're on the 5th floor. Who has the time to actually climb all those stairs anyways? And seriously, you'd get caught if you did this right before I got back but... You gently lifted the bouquet towards you, delighting in its fragrance. A small smile lifts your lips and you giggled. But this, I suppose this was a pleasant surprise. You were about to place it down, but the white tag that was dangling on the bouquet catches your attention, and you gently take it off the flowers. It may have looked like a simple tag, but the neat printed stationary that was taped onto the previously blank tag makes you smile. Thank you for always bringing a smile to others.

"Did she notice it?" "Yeah, she did."

"[F/N]!" a growl of anger causes everyone in the class to glance at the back of the room, and you stood there, hands on crossed over your chest as you glared down at Bakugou. Yes, down. The red lining of aura that surrounded the hot tempered boy restrained his movements as he struggled - futilely - to escape. "I told you already Bakugou, if it's a test of endurance, you'll lose," you sighed and then crouched down. You eased the weight of gravity of him just slightly and you teased, "You should know better anyways, I memorized the weight of everyone in our class and even a few people in the other classes." You paused and then said, "Like how Todoroki-kun is currently located on the second pillar from the right of the north entrance, and he's currently standing on one foot with the other one propped up on a block of ice." You released the hot headed exploding hero and he narrowed his eye at where your thumb was pointing towards. And true to your description, he huffed and muttered, "Whatever." "But hey, let me see your face," you grabbed his wrist. You were perhaps the only girl who wasn't scared to death of him, but then again you were capable of faceplanting him into mother earth whenever you wanted. You gently squeezed his wrist and the bruise that was slowly forming on his face returns to its natural tinge and he only muttered his thanks before wrenching his arm away. You sighed, and then you faintly hear your name being called, and turned to be face to face with Aizawa. He narrows his eyes at you and then he asked, "Watch over Midoriya. Consider it your training on regulating how long you can keep your healing aura." You nodded, and sighed. Sometimes you wish you weren't just Recovery Girl ver 2.0. But sometimes, you don't really mind. Post training class, you were idly trailing behind the larger group of students with Yaoyorozu as you discussed different things she could possibly make. But the conversation ahead of you caught your attention and the half fire, half ice hero shook his head as he slightly staggered in his steps. "No, but Todoroki-kun, you should get that looked at." Midoriya flailed as they walked back to the classroom. Your brows furrowed, but you were torn between dropping the conversation and going to help. However, the gentle pat on your shoulder from your friend helped you confirm your thoughts and you smiled at her gratefully before rushing up to the boy you pointed out during practice. "I'm fine, Midori- [L-L/N]?" Todoroki's gentle rejection of Midoriya's concern was shifted to a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks as you slipped your hand into his. Warmth washed over both of you as you pinpointed the pain. Focus on the injury. Just the injury. Don't overexert too much in healing his fatigue, just the injury. You closed your eyes as you tried to visualize it, and then with what you believe to be success, you open your eyes, but the flicker of green that lined your iris makes it clear what you just did. Todoroki hesitantly tests his leg that he had somewhat injured earlier, but he feels not only painless, but fatigue-less as well. He turns to you to give you his thanks, but unlike what you planned to do, you had used up too much of your own energy healing his tiredness. Ah, god damn. You vaguely feel someone calling your name as they grabbed your now limp body. Aizawa-sensei's going to be so mad at me.

"You're awake." Hm, that's not Aizawa-sensei's voice. You groggily blink your eyes, and it took several seconds before you recognized you were in your dorm room. Yaoyorozu is hovering over you, concern in her eyes and she asked, "How are you feeling?" "Tired." "That's expected, seeing as you healed all of Todoroki's fatigue and his sprained ankle." You flinched. There's the scolding I was looking forward to. You sheepishly shoot him a smile and then sighed, "I tried, I really did." "You did well with keeping Midoriya uninjured, so you did do a good job today," Aizawa responded, and upon seeing you nod he walks out of the room. A breath of relief escapes your lips and Yaoyorozu and you laughed, "Sorry for causing you trouble Momo-chan." "It's okay, are you feeling better now though?" You nod and sighed, "I thought I got better at controlling my healing quirk, but I guess not." "It's not something you can actively practice," she chimed in and then said, "Dinner will be starting soon, so come down whenever you're ready okay?" You nod and muttered, "I have an hour right? I'll take a nap." You faintly hear an exasperated "[F/N]-san!", but nonetheless, Yaoyorozu doesn't interfere with you and your sleep. And with a gentle shake of her head, she closes the door to your room behind her. Only to come face to face with Todoroki and Midoriya. "Is she-" "Sleeping," Yaoyorozu answered. A soft smile was on her lips when she notices Todoroki shuffling back and forth and she asked, "Would you like me to help out today as well?" The normally stoic boy looked down at the ground before slowly nodding his head. The blush that slowly grew on his cheek caused both Midoriya and Yaoyorozu to exchange a knowing smile. They could only imagine your reaction later on. You groggily sit up, and blink in confusion. It is. Really. Dark. You fumble for your phone, only to realize it wasn't on your bed, and then proceed to slowly shuffle your way over to your desk. But upon reaching out in the darkness for your phone, your fingers graze upon something soft. Your eyes widened and your hand reaches out for the table lamp, and to your surprise, a hydrangea flower crown sat encircling your phone. You gently pick it up, as though scared that it would fall apart, and then smile upon seeing a small folded note beside the crown. You set it back on the desk, adjusting it accordingly to encompass your bouquet of gardenias before reaching down for the note. Even without words, you can still understand my heart. Thank you.

"Someone's cute today," Ashido teased as she twirled a strand of your hair that was - for once - not tied up. You laughed, and she eyes the flower crown, "Did you make that?" "No," your eyes shone with delight, "Someone gave it to me." "Ooh? A secret admirer?" Ashido asked with genuine curiosity. But upon seeing the flicker of confusion and quiet resignation, she decided not to tease you any further when you shook your head. Your smile looked sad, and you said, "I don't know." I wish I did. Midoriya watched from the stairs, and glanced back. Todoroki didn't look as though he was affected, but the way his eyes refused to look everywhere except for you, the former could tell. His friend had no idea where to go from here, but was pleasantly happy to see you liking the gifts.

"Today we're making an announcement," Present Mic walked in with a spring in his step. Everyone sat in their seats, awaiting the announcement, and Present Mic smiled, "Yuuei will be holding a small congratulatory dance for those who got their provisional hero licenses, so make sure to dress wonderfully. It's in a week." Midnight nodded and added, "And don't be afraid to make long-lasting friendships through this dance." They walked out, as though nothing just happened, and immediately the class broke into chatter. "A dance?!" "LONG-LASTING RELATIONSHIPS?!" "She said friendships, Mineta." "Relationships." "Dress nicely, huh? But that means we'd have to go shopping." "Do we need dates?" Immediately everyone stopped and stared at Kaminari, and he repeated, "Do we? There's only seven girls in this cl-" "YAOYORO-" "Mineta, hands off Momo-chan," Ashido immediately stood in front of the vice president. "If we do need dates, would it not be easier if the girl asks the guys since the ratio is-" Iida offered, only to be reprimanded with a no from the girls. Hagakure put her hands on her hips and she said, "The guys should ask the girls!" "You know, there's a-" "Who fucking cares." Bakugou interrupted, and he said, "What's the point in going anyways?" "Internship possibilities," Aizawa walked in, or shuffled in, with his sleeping bag. He sighed and then muttered, "Of course, there's always those competitions about best dressed, cutest couples and whatever. But just know that if you can prove that you can handle these events, you're likely to be held in higher favor." Bakugou's attention seemed to snap back at the sound of internships, and immediately you chuckled, "Who cares, right?" You threw a glance at him and he immediately flared up, "SHUT UP!!!"

"[L/N]," Todoroki's voice was soft, and you looked up from across him in the study room. You tilt your head, a single indication that you were indeed listening and waiting. His gaze met yours, and for some reason you felt your heart skip a beat. Calm down, he's handsome, but please calm down heart. He glanced away, and then sighed, and asked, "Is there a proper way to ask a girl-" He pauses when he hears you choke. And his hands are slightly flailing in confusion as he doesn't know what to do to help you. What is he asking me? Why is he asking me?! His lips turn downwards, and he muttered, "I apologize, I just.. I was just thinking about what the girls said in class today." He paused, and looked at you expectantly. You placed a hand on your heart and let out a deep breath. He's just curious. It's not like he's asking me. It's probably Momo anyways. You hum, and then answered, "Well, I guess it depends on the girl though." He leans forward, abandoning the school work he was supposed to be working on with you, and you continued, "Pretty sure all the girls would appreciate something from the heart, but I don't think they'll think too much on it though." Todoroki inclines his head, clearly confused with the vagueness of your answer and you chuckled, "I think, as long as you mean it wholeheartedly, and it's not just because of something like those weird competitions they have, any of the girls would gladly go with you, Todoroki-kun." You leaned back, intent on returning to your homework, but you were surprised at the blush that threatened to turn his entire face red. He's.. blushing? He had his elbow propped on the table and majority of his face was covered by his hand and he mumbled something, but you didn't hear it. You leaned forward and gently poke his hand with your pencil, and asked, "Are you embarrassed, Todoroki-kun?" No answer. A soft smile spills over your lips and you can't hold back the peels of giggles that causes him to look at you with slight mortification and also delight. He can't help but feel proud whenever he manages to bring a smile out of you. Upon seeing him stare, you gently shake your head, and a petal of the flower crown floats away in the process. "Sorry for laughing, it's just.. well, it's you, Todoroki-kun. I'm almost certain if you ask any of the girls in class, they'll agree to going with you," you answered, and then added, "None of us are that picky. Well, I guess as long as it's not Mineta asking we'll be cool with it." You paused and then pulled away from teasing him with your pencil and then asked, "But what did you say earlier?" He slowly brings his hand away from his face, and you were waiting for his answer. But instead, a rare smile is found on his lips and he shakes his head, "It's nothing."

"So I heard you're going with Midoriya," you teased Uraraka as soon as she walked into your room. The girls were gathering together at your place for a girls' night only, no boys allowed, for some girl talk. Uraraka flushed and immediately Tsuyu added, "It was a mutual agreement." "How cute," you immediately ruffled Uraraka's hair and then Ashido leaned forward, "But [F/N]-chan, didn't something happen between you and Todoroki?" All eyes turned to you and immediately you held your hands up in surrender, "Calm down, I was gonna tell you guys anyways." "So?" Ashido smirked, and you recalled the situation. And immediately the girls were curious about who, and you glanced over to Yaoyorozu with a sly smile and you nudged her, "So, our #1 and #2, eh eh?" "[F-F/N]-san! It's not like that!" she sputtered an explanation. She wanted to glare at your insufferable obliviousness. How have you not noticed? Tsuyu made momentary eye contact with Yaoyorozu and then asked you, "Did Todoroki-chan say that he was going to ask Yaoyorozu-chan?" A hum leaves your lips and then you pout, "Actually no, he didn't tell me anything. In fact I-" You were interrupted by a knock on your door, and everyone in the room falls silent. Despite sitting furthest away from the door, you know no one was there, you didn't feel a single footstep past the 4th floor. "Do you want me to check?" Hagakure offered. You nod, and she gets up. You hear a small gasp and she cooed, "Oh [F/N]-chan, you have an admirer!" Everyone was curious as to what it was that got her so excited, but upon seeing the daisy boutonniere clipped to a letter, your eyes widened, and the first words that leave your mouth has everyone staring at you. "Another one?" "Another one, she says," Jirou immediately caught on and you regret ever opening your mouth. You looked away from the accusing gazes. As the delicate pin was passed from Hagakure to you, the Hearing Hero gives you a sly smile and asked, "That bouquet on your desk and the flower crown you wore today are all gifts, aren't they?" "W-Well, yes, but I.." your voice dies down and you fiddle with the hem of your tank top. It was a clear sign you were embarrassed now, what with the blush that was on your face, and you mumbled, "I don't even know who they are." "It has to be one of the boys! There's no other way, it's definitely not us," Hagakure chimed and then she watched as you gently turn the daisy around in your hand. "We can help you find out if you-" "It's okay," you cut her off, and everyone notices the soft smile on your lips, but also the contrasting melancholy in your eyes, "I'd prefer not to know." You had opened and peeked in to see the letter's content while they chattered on, musing about the identity of your flower deliverer. You're everything that I wish to be. But all I wish to be is yours. Ah, my heart can't take this anymore. You fought desperately to conceal the blush that threatened to blossom on your cheeks. The last thing you wanted was for the girls to tease you even more.

"How did it go, Dark Shadow?" Tokoyami asked. A few of the boys were gathered at the entrance to the fourth floor staircase of the girl's side, and upon receiving a thumbs up from the mass of darkness, everyone let out a breath of relief. "Man, I would hate to have gotten caught when they're having their girl's night," Kirishima let out a shaky laugh and shook his head. Kaminari shuddered and he muttered, "Don't remind me." "What happened?" Midoriya asked, and then quickly added, "If you don't mind me asking that is!" "[L/N]-chan kept us grounded in seiza position for almost two hours." "You mean, you and Mineta," Kirishima corrected and then added, "I wouldn't dare. [L/N]-chan's already scary when she's sparring with Bakugou, I wouldn't want to inflict her wrath on me." Todoroki mumbled his thanks and then sighed. The boys looked at him and Midoriya sends his friend a smile, "I think you're doing well so far, Todoroki-kun." "When do you plan on telling her though?" Kaminari asked as they began their descend to the lobby room. Todoroki froze and he muttered, "Tomorrow night." "TOMORROW?" The boy flinched and Midoriya asked, "So soon?" "It's the last day I have a study session with her," he explained. He'd have no other chances to have one on one time with you alone otherwise.

"It's loud tonight, isn't it?" you mumbled. It was movie night, but you had opted out, considering that it was your last day to study with Todoroki. He nodded and then glanced around nervously. The study room had been taken over by the idiot squad and Bakugou. Although it was mostly Bakugou yelling at them. But because of the sudden invasion, Kirishima and Kaminari convinced you and Todoroki to study in one or the other's room, and considering yours was the furthest from the noise, it was yours. How am I supposed to stay calm when I'm in her room? Todoroki sighed again, and this time it caught your attention and you frowned, "What's wrong?" "Huh?" "'Huh'?" you made air quotations with your fingers and you asked, "Are you okay Todoroki-kun? You've been so out of it since we started studying. Tired? Struggling? I hope you're not struggling, cause if you're struggling then I'm doomed." "Ah," he realized he had worried you and he shook his head, "I'm just thinking about our conversation from last time." "Oh," you looked excited, and also curious, and then you leaned forward, maybe too much for him. "Did you ask her?" He shook his head and mumbled, "Not yet." "But Todoroki-kun! You gotta ask soon, that way you guys can like, match outfits and everything and be all cute!" "I'm not sure how to go about asking her," his voice carried tones of uncertainty and you offered, "Why don't you try asking me for practice then?" He drops his pencil, and you pull away upon making eye contact with those lovely heterochromatic eyes. A blush is evident on your cheeks and you mumbled, "Ah, wait, sorry. Maybe I was being too presumptuous." He slowly shakes his head, and you were graced with that small smile of his again. Perhaps it's best that I say it to her directly instead of waiting any longer. He rummages in his bag, and you watch him intently. Upon pulling out a small white box, he places it on the table and you asked, "What's that?" "I was.. planning on asking her with this," he slowly lifts the lid and the walls of the box falls away, revealing a neatly decorated picture box with a red camellia. You were too stunned by the flower, that you didn't even realize that the box itself was decorated with pictures of you and him. "Wait, you mean-" you paused and looked at the sincerity in his eyes and then the flowers that adorned your desk. A small gasp escapes you despite your efforts. He faintly hears you shakily call his name, but he's scared, of the possible rejection. You were perhaps the closest person to him that understood him despite the lack of words exchanged between the two of you. "Todoroki-kun," you repeated his name softly, and when his gaze flickers to you momentarily, you take that moment gently grab his hand and intertwine it with his. Your fingers locked with his, it was a perfect fit. And he looks at you, clearly surprised, and there's a matching blush on both your cheeks and you softly laughed, "I was that oblivious, wasn't I?" He nodded, and then admitted, "I can't believe you thought I was going to ask Yaoyorozu." "Well, you two are pretty close," you shrugged and then you gently rubbed your thumb on the back of his hand. A gentle laugh causes him to just stare at you. You were beautiful. Absolutely wonderful. And you mumbled, "I'm glad it was you." His gaze flickers from your hands to your lips to your eyes. And the mischief that lit your warm hues did not go unnoticed, and you teased, "So, you were going to ask me something tonight?" He wants to sigh, at how easily you can control things to your flow, and instead he gently puts both hands on your one, and he asked, "Would you let me be yours?" The smile that slowly bloomed on your face was answer enough. But the soft and embarrassed yes that was nothing more than a whisper on your lips makes your heart skip yet another beat. Because the smile on his face radiated the entire room, much like how the small fire in his heart was now ignited by your acceptance.

[baxterholmes]

Round-up of fine sentences, part 52

In April, millions of tiny flowers spread over the blackjack hills and vast prairies in the Osage territory of Oklahoma. There are Johnny-jump-ups and spring beauties and little bluets. The Osage writer John Joseph Mathews observed that the galaxy of petals makes it look as if the “gods had left confetti.” In May, when coyotes howl beneath an unnervingly large moon, taller plants, such as spiderworts and black-eyed Susans, begin to creep over the tinier blooms, stealing their light and water. The necks of the smaller flowers break and their petals flutter away, and before long they are buried underground. This is why the Osage Indians refer to May as the time of the flower-killing moon.

-David Grann

All of this is made more precious, not less, by its impermanence. No matter what goes missing, the wallet or the father, the lessons are the same. Disappearance reminds us to notice, transience to cherish, fragility to defend. Loss is a kind of external conscience, urging us to make better use of our finite days. As Whitman knew, our brief crossing is best spent attending to all that we see: honoring what we find noble, denouncing what we cannot abide, recognizing that we are inseparably connected to all of it, including what is not yet upon us, including what is already gone. We are here to keep watch, not to keep. 

-Kathryn Schulz

The first time Mason stood up after his surgery, he hadn't risen for so long—years, in fact—that the cartilage had dissolved in his knees, and his legs buckled. He had forgotten what it was like to just be in that position, how to deal with it, just as he'd forgotten what true companionship was, and how fast cars could go. The perspective overwhelmed him, the feeling of the walls coming in on him frightened him, distorted the sensation of being upright, making him cry out that he needed to sit back down. But he hadn't sat—he'd done his best, knees shaking, to try to stand there for as long as he could.

-Justin Heckert

I guess it’s a possibility. On the other hand, Donald Trump can be Donald Trump, but if he doesn’t help the people that need help, then he’s just a jerk. That press conference that he held berating the news media? I mean, how do you build a dictatorship? First, you undermine the press: “The only truth you’re going to hear is from me.” And he hires the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Steve Bannon, to be his little buddy. Bannon looks like a guy who goes to lunch, gets drunk, and comes back to the office: “Steve, could you have just one drink?” “Fuck you.” How is a white supremacist the chief adviser to our president? Did anybody look that up? I don’t know. How’s this interview going? Do you think you’re talking to a normal person here? Don’t I seem like I’m full of something?

-David Letterman

The screen porch was full of men, young men in checked suits and slouch hats, old men in derbies and frayed cuffs, crowding and jostling, each one beckoning and calling to me above the crowd. Their one distinguishing mark was a pencil in the right hand and a notebook in the left—a notebook open—waiting, virginally yet ominously portentous.

Behind them on the lawn was a larger crowd—butchers and bakers in their aprons, fat women with folded arms, thin women holding up dirty children so that they might better see, shouting boys, barking dogs, horrible little girls who jumped up and down shouting and clapping their hands. Behind these, in a sort of outer ring, stood the old men of the village, toothless, musty-eyed, their mouths open, their gray beards tickling the tops of their canes. Over behind them, the setting sun, blood-red and horrible, played on three hundred twisting shoulders.

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed,” Mr. Wiesel wrote. “Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live long as God himself. Never.” 

-Elie Wiesel

If nothing ever changes, that does not relieve me of the responsibility to tell the truth as I see it. 

-Ta-Nehisi Coates

We are not really a particularly brutal people, certainly no more brutal now than we've been in other wars, acquiring it as the war goes on. But our machine is devastating. And versatile. It can do almost everything but stop. 

-Michael Herr

And at this point, what kind of person are you if you're not rooting for Bill May? Bill May, who will swim in a pool that still has some kid poop in it so he can get an extra hour of practice. Bill, a man who swam with women training for the Olympics, women who could complain about how tired they were and how sore they were, and Bill would keep his mouth shut thinking how he'd kill to be on the road they were on. Bill, who learned from me that it was Judy McGowan, the president of USA Synchro, who did not request the vote that day in 2001, on the day she promised she would -- she'd been ready to ask for the vote but was stopped by the president of FINA at the time and told that it was not in the best interest of the sport and its place in the Olympics to bring men in just now.

Yes, when Bill heard this from me, his immediate and only reaction was to say what respect he has for Judy, doing the right thing for the sport, fighting the way she always has for synchro, that it must have been a tough decision and that if she had received that vote, if he had been allowed in, well, he might even have been deprived of this moment he was having now, and what a shame that would be. Bill May, who represents the gifts that hard work and good intentions can sometimes bring. And now it's time to ask yourself again: At this point, what kind of person are you if you're not rooting for Bill May? 

- Taffy Brodesser-Akner

He says that when he works out, he’s either thinking of the things that make him angry in the world and using that anger to strengthen himself, or his mind is completely blank—“nothing but hollowness”—as he’s subsumed in the moment. After 20 more minutes of weightlifting, sweat lines his thick brow and drops mark his path across the floor. And as he continues, he sweats even more. This is an unusually chilly morning in San Diego, where he lives, and the cool air seeps in through a window and starts to collide with the heat he’s producing. Before long, some of the moisture on his head and neck turns into an eerie, ghostly vapor.

As he pumps his weights, Jocko is literally steaming.

-Michael Mooney

Propping herself up on her peace-sign-covered pillow, she opens Instagram. Later, Lila will give her a Starbucks gift card. Her dad will bring doughnuts to her class. Her grandparents will take her to the Melting Pot for dinner. But first, her friends will decide whether to post pictures of Katherine for her birthday. Whether they like her enough to put a picture of her on their page. Those pictures, if they come, will get likes and maybe tbhs.

They should be posted in the morning, any minute now. She scrolls past a friend posing in a bikini on the beach. Then a picture posted by Kendall Jenner. A selfie with coffee. A basketball Vine. A selfie with a girl’s tongue out. She scrolls, she waits. For that little notification box to appear. 

- Jessica Contrera

I think I did: the only apartment with a better view than the best apartment in the world was the same apartment. Except for the one across the Park, which had the most spectacular living room in the world. No one had ever seen a granite house before. And, most important, every square inch belonged to Trump, who had aspired to and achieved the ultimate luxury, an existence unmolested by the rumbling of a soul. “Trump”—a fellow with universal recognition but with a suspicion that an interior life was an intolerable inconvenience, a creature everywhere and nowhere, uniquely capable of inhabiting it all at once, all alone.

-Mark Singer

Bonus: 

I’ll give you an example. In the first volume, there’s a chapter called “The First Campaign.” Everyone I talked to about Johnson’s first run for Congress would say, I never saw anyone who worked as hard as Lyndon Johnson. Well, it’s one thing to tell that to the reader, but how do you show it? Who would really know what this means?

I thought, There’s one guy who’s with Lyndon Johnson most of the day, and it’s not his campaign manager, it’s his chauffeur! Because in the Texas Hill Country, a lot of anything is driving—that’s ninety percent of the time. His chauffeur was a guy named Carroll Keach. He lived in some place outside Corpus Christi, and it was hard to get to. It was, like, a 180-mile drive or something. But I kept going back to him.

He wasn’t a loquacious Texan, he was a laconic Texan. I would ask, What was Johnson doing between campaign stops? And he would say something like, Oh, he was just sitting there in the backseat. I just had to keep asking him questions. I mean, you’re driving, Carroll, and Lyndon Johnson is in the backseat? What was he doing in the backseat? Finally, he told me that Johnson often would be talking to himself. So I’d call and say, Carroll, when you said he was talking to himself, what was he saying? Finally, Carroll told me, It was like he was having discussions with himself about whether he had had a successful day, and if he had made a good impression on voters or not. So I’d say, What do you mean by that? How do you know that’s what he was talking about?

“Well, lots of the time, he felt he wasn’t doing too good. And he would tell himself that it was his own fault.”

“What do you mean, he would tell himself it was his own fault?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t remember.”

So I’d call him later and ask again, and I’d finally get something like, Well, Johnson would say, Boy, wasn’t that dumb! You know you just lost that ballot box. You lost it, and you need it. And he would talk out—rehearse, over and over, out loud, what he would say to the voters in that precinct the next time.

It was Ed Clark, who they called the secret boss of Texas, who was one of the first people to say to me, I had never seen anyone work that hard. And finally, after looking at documents like Johnson’s daily campaign ­agenda—which Johnson would put little handwritten notes on—and doing all these interviews, I was able to write, “ . . . and Clark didn’t know how hard Lyndon Johnson was really working. No one knew, with the exception of Carroll Keach, because only Keach, alone in the car with Johnson for hours each day, knew what Johnson was doing in the car.”

That’s just one example of the kind of work that can go into making a scene.

-Robert Caro

[archive-of-fics]

Slow Blooms - Shouto Todoroki

Your face was a perfect example of confusion as you opened your dorm room, only to find a bouquet of gardenias sitting on your desk. You glanced around the hallway, but you knew no one would prank you, you're on the 5th floor. Who has the time to actually climb all those stairs anyways?  And seriously, you'd get caught if you did this right before I got back but... You gently lifted the bouquet towards you, delighting in its fragrance. A small smile lifts your lips and you giggled. But this, I suppose this was a pleasant surprise. You were about to place it down, but the white tag that was dangling on the bouquet catches your attention, and you gently take it off the flowers. It may have looked like a simple tag, but the neat printed stationary that was taped onto the previously blank tag makes you smile.

  Thank you for always bringing a smile to others

*** "Did she notice it?"  "Yeah, she did."  *** "[F/N]!" a growl of anger causes everyone in the class to glance at the back of the room, and you stood there, hands on crossed over your chest as you glared down at Bakugou. Yes, down. The red lining of aura that surrounded the hot tempered boy restrained his movements as he struggled - futilely - to escape.  "I told you already Bakugou, if it's a test of endurance, you'll lose," you sighed and then crouched down. You eased the weight of gravity of him just slightly and you teased,

"You should know better anyways, I memorized the weight of everyone in our class and even a few people in the other classes." You paused and then said, "Like how Todoroki-kun is currently located on the second pillar from the right of the north entrance, and he's currently standing on one foot with the other one propped up on a block of ice." You released the hot headed exploding hero and he narrowed his eye at where your thumb was pointing towards. And true to your description, he huffed and muttered, "Whatever." "But hey, let me see your face," you grabbed his wrist. You were perhaps the only girl who wasn't scared to death of him, but then again you were capable of faceplanting him into mother earth whenever you wanted. You gently squeezed his wrist and the bruise that was slowly forming on his face returns to its natural tinge and he only muttered his thanks before wrenching his arm away. You sighed, and then you faintly hear your name being called, and turned to be face to face with Aizawa. He narrows his eyes at you and then he asked, "Watch over Midoriya. Consider it your training on regulating how long you can keep your healing aura." You nodded, and sighed. Sometimes you wish you weren't just Recovery Girl ver 2.0. But sometimes, you don't really mind. Post training class, you were idly trailing behind the larger group of students with Yaoyorozu as you discussed different things she could possibly make. But the conversation ahead of you caught your attention and the half fire, half ice hero shook his head as he slightly staggered in his steps. "No, but Todoroki-kun, you should get that looked at." Midoriya flailed as they walked back to the classroom. Your brows furrowed, but you were torn between dropping the conversation and going to help.

However, the gentle pat on your shoulder from your friend helped you confirm your thoughts and you smiled at her gratefully before rushing up to the boy you pointed out during practice. "I'm fine, Midori- [L-L/N]?" Todoroki's gentle rejection of Midoriya's concern was shifted to a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks as you slipped your hand into his. Warmth washed over both of you as you pinpointed the pain.

Focus on the injury. Just the injury. Don't overexert too much in healing his fatigue, just the injury. You closed your eyes as you tried to visualize it, and then with what you believe to be success, you open your eyes, but the flicker of green that lined your iris makes it clear what you just did.  Todoroki hesitantly tests his leg that he had somewhat injured earlier, but he feels not only painless, but fatigue-less as well.

He turns to you to give you his thanks, but unlike what you planned to do, you had used up too much of your own energy healing his tiredness. Ah, god damn. You vaguely feel someone calling your name as they grabbed your now limp body. Aizawa-sensei's going to be so mad at me. *** "You're awake." Hm, that's not Aizawa-sensei's voice. You groggily blink your eyes, and it took several seconds before you recognized you were in your dorm room. Yaoyorozu is hovering over you, concern in her eyes and she asked, "How are you feeling?" "Tired." "That's expected, seeing as you healed all of Todoroki's fatigue and his sprained ankle." You flinched. There's the scolding I was looking forward to. You sheepishly shoot him a smile and then sighed, "I tried, I really did." "You did well with keeping Midoriya uninjured, so you did do a good job today," Aizawa responded, and upon seeing you nod he walks out of the room. A breath of relief escapes your lips and Yaoyorozu and you laughed, "Sorry for causing you trouble Momo-chan." "It's okay, are you feeling better now though?"  You nod and sighed, "I thought I got better at controlling my healing quirk, but I guess not." "It's not something you can actively practice," she chimed in and then said, "Dinner will be starting soon, so come down whenever you're ready okay?" You nod and muttered, "I have an hour right? I'll take a nap." You faintly hear an exasperated "[F/N]-san!", but nonetheless, Yaoyorozu doesn't interfere with you and your sleep. And with a gentle shake of her head, she closes the door to your room behind her. Only to come face to face with Todoroki and Midoriya. "Is she-" "Sleeping," Yaoyorozu answered. A soft smile was on her lips when she notices Todoroki shuffling back and forth and she asked, "Would you like me to help out today as well?" The normally stoic boy looked down at the ground before slowly nodding his head. The blush that slowly grew on his cheek caused both Midoriya and Yaoyorozu to exchange a knowing smile. They could only imagine your reaction later on. You groggily sit up, and blink in confusion. It is. Really. Dark. You fumble for your phone, only to realize it wasn't on your bed, and then proceed to slowly shuffle your way over to your desk. But upon reaching out in the darkness for your phone, your fingers graze upon something soft.

Your eyes widened and your hand reaches out for the table lamp, and to your surprise, a hydrangea flower crown sat encircling your phone. You gently pick it up, as though scared that it would fall apart, and then smile upon seeing a small folded note beside the crown. You set it back on the desk, adjusting it accordingly to encompass your bouquet of gardenias before reaching down for the note.

Even without words, you can still understand my heart.

Thank you.

***

"Someone's cute today," Ashido teased as she twirled a strand of your hair that was - for once - not tied up. You laughed, and she eyes the flower crown, "Did you make that?"

"No," your eyes shone with delight, "Someone gave it to me."

"Ooh? A secret admirer?" Ashido asked with genuine curiosity. But upon seeing the flicker of confusion and quiet resignation, she decided not to tease you any further when you shook your head. Your smile looked sad, and you said, "I don't know."

I wish I did.

Midoriya watched from the stairs, and glanced back. Todoroki didn't look as though he was affected, but the way his eyes refused to look everywhere except for you, the former could tell. His friend had no idea where to go from here, but was pleasantly happy to see you liking the gifts.

***

"Today we're making an announcement," Present Mic walked in with a spring in his step. Everyone sat in their seats, awaiting the announcement, and Present Mic smiled, "Yuuei will be holding a small congratulatory dance for those who got their provisional hero licenses, so make sure to dress wonderfully. It's in a week."

Midnight nodded and added, "And don't be afraid to make long-lasting friendships through this dance."

They walked out, as though nothing just happened, and immediately the class broke into chatter.

"A dance?!"

"LONG-LASTING RELATIONSHIPS?!"

"She said

friendships,

 Mineta."

"

Relationships

."

"Dress nicely, huh? But that means we'd have to go shopping."

"Do we need dates?" 

Immediately everyone stopped and stared at Kaminari, and he repeated, "Do we? There's only seven girls in this cl-"

"YAOYORO-"

"Mineta, hands off Momo-chan," Ashido immediately stood in front of the vice president. 

"If we do need dates, would it not be easier if the girl asks the guys since the ratio is-" Iida offered, only to be reprimanded with a no from the girls. Hagakure put her hands on her hips and she said, "The guys should ask the girls!"

"You know, there's a-"

"

Who fucking cares

." Bakugou interrupted, and he said, "What's the point in going anyways?"

"Internship possibilities," Aizawa walked in, or shuffled in, with his sleeping bag. He sighed and then muttered, "Of course, there's always those competitions about best dressed, cutest couples and whatever. But just know that if you can prove that you can handle these events, you're likely to be held in higher favor."

Bakugou's attention seemed to snap back at the sound of internships, and immediately you chuckled, "

Who cares

, right?" 

You threw a glance at him and he immediately flared up, "SHUT UP!!!"

***

"[L/N]," Todoroki's voice was soft, and you looked up from across him in the study room. You tilt your head, a single indication that you were indeed listening and waiting. His gaze met yours, and for some reason you felt your heart skip a beat.

Calm down, he's handsome, but please calm down heart.

He glanced away, and then sighed, and asked, "Is there a proper way to ask a girl-"

He pauses when he hears you choke. And his hands are slightly flailing in confusion as he doesn't know what to do to help you.

What is he asking me? Why is he asking me?!

 His lips turn downwards, and he muttered,

"I apologize, I just.. I was just thinking about what the girls said in class today." He paused, and looked at you expectantly. You placed a hand on your heart and let out a deep breath. He's just curious. It's not like he's asking me. It's probably Momo anyways. You hum, and then answered, "Well, I guess it depends on the girl though." He leans forward, abandoning the school work he was supposed to be working on with you, and you continued, "Pretty sure all the girls would appreciate something from the heart, but I don't think they'll think too much on it though." Todoroki inclines his head, clearly confused with the vagueness of your answer and you chuckled,

"I think, as long as you mean it wholeheartedly, and it's not just because of something like those weird competitions they have, any of the girls would gladly go with you, Todoroki-kun." You leaned back, intent on returning to your homework, but you were surprised at the blush that threatened to turn his entire face red. He's.. blushing? He had his elbow propped on the table and majority of his face was covered by his hand and he mumbled something, but you didn't hear it. You leaned forward and gently poke his hand with your pencil, and asked, "Are you embarrassed, Todoroki-kun?" No answer. A soft smile spills over your lips and you can't hold back the peels of giggles that causes him to look at you with slight mortification and also delight. He can't help but feel proud whenever he manages to bring a smile out of you. Upon seeing him stare, you gently shake your head, and a petal of the flower crown floats away in the process.  "Sorry for laughing, it's just.. well, it's you, Todoroki-kun. I'm almost certain if you ask any of the girls in class, they'll agree to going with you," you answered, and then added, "None of us are that picky. Well, I guess as long as it's not Mineta asking we'll be cool with it." You paused and then pulled away from teasing him with your pencil and then asked, "But what did you say earlier?" He slowly brings his hand away from his face, and you were waiting for his answer. But instead, a rare smile is found on his lips and he shakes his head, "It's nothing." *** "So I heard you're going with Midoriya," you teased Uraraka as soon as she walked into your room. The girls were gathering together at your place for a girls' night only, no boys allowed, for some girl talk. Uraraka flushed and immediately Tsuyu added, "It was a mutual agreement." "How cute," you immediately ruffled Uraraka's hair and then Ashido leaned forward, "But [F/N]-chan, didn't something happen between you and Todoroki?" All eyes turned to you and immediately you held your hands up in surrender, "Calm down, I was gonna tell you guys anyways." "So?" Ashido smirked, and you recalled the situation. And immediately the girls were curious about who, and you glanced over to Yaoyorozu with a sly smile and you nudged her, "So, our #1 and #2, eh eh?" "[F-F/N]-san! It's not like that!" she sputtered an explanation. She wanted to glare at your insufferable obliviousness. How have you not noticed? Tsuyu made momentary eye contact with Yaoyorozu and then asked you, "Did Todoroki-chan say that he was going to ask Yaoyorozu-chan?" A hum leaves your lips and then you pout, "Actually no, he didn't tell me anything. In fact I-" You were interrupted by a knock on your door, and everyone in the room falls silent. Despite sitting furthest away from the door, you know no one was there, you didn't feel a single footstep past the 4th floor.  "Do you want me to check?" Hagakure offered. You nod, and she gets up. You hear a small gasp and she cooed, "Oh [F/N]-chan, you have an admirer!" Everyone was curious as to what it was that got her so excited, but upon seeing the daisy boutonniere clipped to a letter, your eyes widened, and the first words that leave your mouth has everyone staring at you. "Another one?" "Another one, she says," Jirou immediately caught on and you regret ever opening your mouth. You looked away from the accusing gazes. As the delicate pin was passed from Hagakure to you, the Hearing Hero gives you a sly smile and asked, "That bouquet on your desk and the flower crown you wore today are all gifts, aren't they?" "W-Well, yes, but I.." your voice dies down and you fiddle with the hem of your tank top. It was a clear sign you were embarrassed now, what with the blush that was on your face, and you mumbled, "I don't even know who they are." "It has to be one of the boys! There's no other way, it's definitely not us," Hagakure chimed and then she watched as you gently turn the daisy around in your hand. "We can help you find out if you-" "It's okay," you cut her off, and everyone notices the soft smile on your lips, but also the contrasting melancholy in your eyes, "I'd prefer not to know." You had opened and peeked in to see the letter's content while they chattered on, musing about the identity of your flower deliverer. 

You're everything that I wish to be. 

But all I wish to be is yours.

Ah, my heart can't take this anymore.

You fought desperately to conceal the blush that threatened to blossom on your cheeks. The last thing you wanted was for the girls to tease you even more.

***

"How did it go, Dark Shadow?" Tokoyami asked. A few of the boys were gathered at the entrance to the fourth floor staircase of the girl's side, and upon receiving a thumbs up from the mass of darkness, everyone let out a breath of relief.

"Man, I would hate to have gotten caught when they're having their girl's night," Kirishima let out a shaky laugh and shook his head. Kaminari shuddered and he muttered, "Don't remind me."

"What happened?" Midoriya asked, and then quickly added, "If you don't mind me asking that is!"

"[L/N]-chan kept us grounded in seize position for almost two hours."

"You mean, you and Mineta," Kirishima corrected and then added, "I wouldn't dare. [L/N]-chan's already scary when she's sparring with Bakugou, I wouldn't want to inflict her wrath on me."

Todoroki mumbled his thanks and then sighed. The boys looked at him and Midoriya sends his friend a smile, "I think you're doing well so far, Todoroki-kun."

"When do you plan on telling her though?" Kaminari asked as they began their descend to the lobby room. Todoroki froze and he muttered, "Tomorrow night."

"

TOMORROW?

" 

The boy flinched and Midoriya asked, "So soon?"

"It's the last day I have a study session with her," he explained. He'd have no other chances to have one on one time with you alone otherwise.

***

"It's loud tonight, isn't it?" you mumbled. It was movie night, but you had opted out, considering that it was your last day to study with Todoroki. He nodded and then glanced around nervously. The study room had been taken over by the idiot squad and Bakugou. Although it was mostly Bakugou yelling at them. But because of the sudden invasion, Kirishima and Kaminari convinced you and Todoroki to study in one or the other's room, and considering yours was the furthest from the noise, it was yours.

How am I supposed to stay calm when I'm in her room?

 Todoroki sighed again, and this time it caught your attention and you frowned, "What's wrong?"

"Huh?"

"'Huh'?" you made air quotations with your fingers and you asked, "Are you okay Todoroki-kun? You've been so out of it since we started studying. Tired? Struggling? I hope you're not struggling, cause if you're struggling then I'm doomed."

"Ah," he realized he had worried you and he shook his head, "I'm just thinking about our conversation from last time."

"Oh," you looked excited, and also curious, and then you leaned forward, maybe too much for him. "Did you ask her?"

He shook his head and mumbled, "Not yet."

"But Todoroki-kun! You gotta ask soon, that way you guys can like, match outfits and everything and be all cute!"

"I'm not sure how to go about asking her," his voice carried tones of uncertainty and you offered, "Why don't you try asking me for practice then?"

He drops his pencil, and you pull away upon making eye contact with those lovely heterochromatic eyes. A blush is evident on your cheeks and you mumbled, "Ah, wait, sorry. Maybe I was being too presumptuous." 

He slowly shakes his head, and you were graced with that small smile of his again.

Perhaps it's best that I say it to her directly instead of waiting any longer.

  He rummages in his bag, and you watch him intently. Upon pulling out a small white box, he places it on the table and you asked, "What's that?"

"I was.. planning on asking her with this," he slowly lifts the lid and the walls of the box falls away, revealing a neatly decorated picture box with a red camellia. You were too stunned by the flower, that you didn't even realize that the box itself was decorated with pictures of

you

and

him

. 

"Wait, you mean-" you paused and looked at the sincerity in his eyes and then the flowers that adorned your desk.

A small gasp escapes you despite your efforts. He faintly hears you shakily call his name, but he's scared, of the possible rejection. You were perhaps the closest person to him that understood him despite the lack of words exchanged between the two of you.  "Todoroki-kun," you repeated his name softly, and when his gaze flickers to you momentarily, you take that moment gently grab his hand and intertwine it with his. Your fingers locked with his, it was a perfect fit.

And he looks at you, clearly surprised, and there's a matching blush on both your cheeks and you softly laughed, "I was that oblivious, wasn't I?" He nodded, and then admitted, "I can't believe you thought I was going to ask Yaoyorozu." "Well, you two are pretty close," you shrugged and then you gently rubbed your thumb on the back of his hand. A gentle laugh causes him to just stare at you. You were beautiful. Absolutely wonderful. And you mumbled, "I'm glad it was you." His gaze flickers from your hands to your lips to your eyes. And the mischief that lit your warm hues did not go unnoticed, and you teased, "So, you were going to ask me something tonight?" He wants to sigh, at how easily you can control things to your flow, and instead he gently puts both hands on your one, and he asked, "Would you let me be yours?" The smile that slowly bloomed on your face was answer enough. But the soft and embarrassed yes that was nothing more than a whisper on your lips makes your heart skip yet another beat.  Because the smile on his face radiated the entire room, much like how the small fire in his heart was now ignited by your acceptance.