#I'm Very Slowly But Surely picking up More Little Bits Of Japanese so I can hopefully spot untranslateable jokes/puns/tics better soon

[secretgamergirl]

Wire Witch Hex - Wearing Many Hats (Font Design)

Lately most of the traffic I'm getting on this blog has been people stumbling onto my multipart series on how a computer works. Glad people are enjoying that as much as they seem to be. My reason for teaching myself all of that (besides just the joy of learning) is I'm very slowly working on designing a new video game console that anyone sufficiently motivated can build for themselves as a neat little DIY project. There are so many moving parts to this project that for now I'm focusing mainly on just the controller and its unique features. To avoid having to make a whole working console, with software, to test it, and make sure I have something to show for all this if the rest doesn't pan out, I'm designing the controller to also be more or less compatible with the NES and SNES (which secretly use the same input standard, just differently shaped plugs at the end of the cord).

This means all I'll need to test and demo my controller is an SNES ROM that knows what to do with my scroll-wheel outputs, a setup where an emulator accurately handles those signals, and later a cart I can slap a couple EEPROMs into and test on real hardware. Oh and I also need to teach myself enough about SNES development to actually create every demo I want to run, do all the art, code it up, and compile it. This is a big job, and I'm not getting paid, so maybe consider throwing me a little money before we dig into this?

Since... really the last time I reported in on this, I've been studying away trying to learn all this, and hey, have a compiled ROM image that'll display a blank screen in any color I want, and a third party program that IN THEORY with a bit of massaging will convert a 256x256 image into an SNES character ROM image. AKA the file with all the graphics. My ultimate goal for this demo cart is to cycle through several very simple games, showcasing how my controller works with each. So I need to cram every image any of these are going to need into my one big image file, which I'm slowly picking away at, but the one thing I knew from the start that I'd definitely need is to throw some text on screen explaining the controls for each demo. And since it's not like there's a built in font in in the system, I had to make my own.

This is not my first font-making rodeo. For this one, my thinking was, I'm going to be in a fixed 16x16 resolution per character (because I forgot the specifics of how the SNES actually tiles graphics), some built in spacing so I can slap them all right up against each other or some border and still be readable, and I wanted a nice little shadow built into every character in case they end up on a low contrast background. Let's zoom in on what I have here so far, in case you don't feel like downloading the file and blowing it up to something more readable.

The first thing I want to note is that after finishing the first 4 rows of characters here, I double checked, and while the SNES CAN break backgrounds into 16x16 tiles, the absolute minimum is 8x8. If I were really trying to be space efficient, I should have designed around that. Several of these characters would easily fit into a 16x8 space, that level of compression would also let me have just the period and comma and be able to build a colon, semicolon, or apostrophe from those, and most importantly, I rendered this with all of the lowercase letters exactly 1 pixel too tall to fit into a 16x8 space and let me double up there. Since I'm rather happy with this font so far and I'd eventually like to make some version of it available for, if nothing else, other people writing software for my eventual console here, I will likely, at some point, make a more space-optimized variation. I'd also like to cover a wider range of characters. At the very least, have some accent marks, wouldn't be too hard to add support for Cyrillic. Pretty sure I can get Japanese and Korean text in keeping with this look. Maybe some other languages. Anyway though, let's talk about what I've got.

My general design rule here was, where possible, make lines 2 pixels thick, and have each white pixel cast a black pixel shadow immediately below, to the right, and the diagonal between them. This gives a pretty convincing relief effect in my opinion, and keeping the shadows this thick keeps a nice firm edge there so it's even generally readable on a pure white background. Within each 16x16 tile, I was extremely strict about keeping a 1 pixel margin clear at the top and bottom of each image, and 2 or 3 on the sides (often 3 on the left, 2 on the right. With capital letters, I went with a generally rigid and blocky style, trying to stretch things to my arbitrary margins. Lowercase letters I restricted to just 8 pixels tall, and those featuring tails are given special permission to drop down an extra pixel, leaving the shadow right on the edge of their true bounding box.

While it wasn't an intentional move at first, several lowercase letters ended up with a decidedly rounded, squashed look, particularly g and q. I found that to be both kind of cute, giving the whole font a real unique character, and eventually started to actively lean into it (which may not be super obvious, I started with W as it's kinda the letter than needs the most breathing room and worked outward from there), and did my best to distort all the rounder shapes and in particular the highly mirrorable b d p q set, as I seem to recall once reading the more you avoid identical shapes with those, the more legible the font becomes for people with dyslexia. Similarly, I made a point of distinguishing the shapes of the Ms and Ws, and added a little whimsy to the numerals. Overall I'm super happy with all the lowercase letters (except for e and s being too thin, but that was an inevitable compromise), and if I ever have the time to kill it's very likely I'll revisit this someday and apply this squishy rounded aesthetic to the capitals too.

Your eyes were probably drawn really quickly to the parentheses here, where for at least the moment I'm breaking my rules about blank space and shifting them inward quite a bit rather than centering them. That's going to look really bad if I use them in a sentence (like this), but the main reason I'm including them right now is so I can list button prompts with both the icons representing what's actually going to be on my controller, and the SNES buttons sharing the same signals. So something like: "GO (A) Jump" and I think the half-spacing and closeness to what they enclose will look pretty nice in this one specific case.

As a final note, the particular hardware I'm working with absolutely supports the ability to mirror any image horizontally or vertically, as well as change the palette. If I truly wanted to cram letters in as efficiently as possible at this font size, I could, for instance, have an 8x8 right-angle segment, build a whole H just from mirroring that, also use it for the legs of the A, P, F, the left side of the D, etc. This however is incompatible with the shadows I'm using for extra readability. And of course for other projects I HAVE made a perfectly legible 8x8 font before.

I'm pointing this out because hey, if you do the math, JUST these characters I've set aside for having arbitrary on-screen text, as is, are consuming 5/16ths of my total graphical memory, and I'm probably never even going to display most of these anywhere. Again, not a huge problem for the simple demo pack I'm making, and that 256x256 drawing space isn't a hard limit. Spending an extra processor cycle to change an index value and access a whole other page of image data is a pretty common practice on the hardware, but especially with older computers and racing to get things ready to draw before a screen refreshes, it's good to at least be mindful of the tradeoffs with that sort of thing.

And again, my sole source of income at the moment is patreon donations, so if you're excited about seeing updates to this weird project of mine or you're learning useful things from any of it, maybe consider throwing me a little support?

[starlight-tea-writing]

Ask games! Loves these things.

Anyway, 4, 34, 35, and/or 64! Take your pick on how many lol

sorry that this sat for, like, two days...but thank you for the asks!

4. what is the plot bunny you've been carrying around the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven't written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

I have many. many. many ideas. and not just for ATLA. but I think these are my favorites:

for ATLA

a. book 2, Iroh and Zuko are in Ba Sing Se. I say "screw you" to canon a bit and extend their time there. during that time, Zuko and Jin start actually dating, they become friends with the Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot. with that friendship, they slowly relax into being teens and having fun (in part because they're committing Blue and Green Spirit shenanigans together). Zuko kinda forgets he was Zuko and really starts to embrace Lee. and then, Jet sees a poster about Appa and drags Lee with them, he sees the Gaang, and Zuko come crashing back to reality. they retrieve Ty Lee and Mai from the Palace (by accident, cause they think Suki is there), and then it's a trek of a dozen teens across the Earth Kingdom to take down Ozai. oh, and also, Jin is a secret (but very bad) earthbender.

I've written about half of it. maybe I'll finish and post it one day. there's also a GREAT scene where Zuko (as Lee) goes to Jin's for dinner and to meet her parents and younger sister (that I added for funsies). it's so awkward and fun and I love it so much.

b. I got permission to write a story based on @gemgirl28's idea. I have yet to write it yet, but it is outlined. that delay just makes me feel bad, because I want to do the story justice.

Spy X Family

a. like many others, I have been sucked into the Spy X Family world. it's three years ahead of where the story is now, and it starts with Donovan Desmond dying in a plane crash. and then it's just sort of how the cold war grows from there, Loid has to fake his death, Yuri evacuates Yor and Anya, it's a whole thing. a whole, very messy, very chaotic...thing. :)

I've already started writing it. I'm maybe a chapter into it.

34. how do you name characters and places?

characters: baby name lists. so many baby name lists. the targeted ads I get make my mother-in-law VERY curious and happy.

places: I tend to come up with a connecting theme for a place. so like, for the Earth Kingdom: a lot of actual real-life Chinese towns/cities are named sort-of based on their location (Bei Jing: Northern Capital). so, in Eight Years Later, the few smaller EK towns I created are named after the location they're at. however, for the Fire Nation in EYL, because I kind of view the cultural side of the Fire Nation as a pan-Asian country made up of a whole collection of cultures, each island I've "named" is just a "firebender associated" word from different Southeast Asian languages. so like, in EYL, Araw Island is "Day" in Filipino/Tagalog (don't remember exactly which one, sorry!), Moesashi Island is "Embers" in Japanese, and so on.

(fun fact: Mosu actually has MANY meanings...such as "ember" and "humble"...he's kinda the only character in EYL, at least, that I didn't find from a baby name list and instead went the language route - but it is an actual name, also, I think...I'm pretty sure I found it somewhere...it's been years at this point, apologies)

35. tell us about a character who's very different than you who you love a whole lot.

Ty Lee. I am not that bubbly and positive. I wish I could be. I know she's hiding mountains of hurt, which honestly, aren't we all? but she's able to put on a very compelling facade to get through her day, and I'm not sure if that's admirable or even more depressing. but I like to think that post-canon Ty Lee is very happy and doesn't have to fake it.

64. what is your favorite title for a fic you've read?

people can be real clever with their titles, and I wish I had that skill. I really like goofy, silly titles. little jokes and what not. I don't have any immediately in mind, I tend to forget details like that, but scrolling through my Ao3 history, I found this one and it made me chuckle:

Mission Impossible: Loid teaches Yor to cook

(^ pretty much all I read at the moment are cute little domestic one-shots, so...this is cute and silly and sweet)

thanks for the asks! in true starlight fashion, I wrote WAY too much, haha

[the-firebird69]

Watch "Tommy Boy (1995) Official Trailer #1 - Chris Farley, David Spade Comedy HD" on YouTube

This movie is starting soon and her son smells a little bit of doo doo and it might be from the seat he says but we're not sure and he says you can miss a little piece and it stinks it says you need like a bidet with a camera and so like a car wash and it has to go a certain way if you don't watch everything onto your privates and they started thinking about it and they said it's a good idea and you came up with a name it was Jon bidet and a few other names so they decided on a couple names two different versions and you put soap in there that you can wash off and sanitizes you it can wipe in between people will actually like it and it's an analogy they can use so they're in business. And when people when they tell people they start laughing so loud that they decide not to do it yeah son said it's covered right there and it's motivation cuz they don't know it's a good idea and it really is cuz they use it in Europe all the time I tell you those people don't stink at all like all of Europe. So it's like the Japanese motorcycle kind of ruined you the first time but so he goes I'm going to do it right this time and the motorcycle so he picked up that weight and you start getting crushed. And that's how we roll and it's funny because they're the John that washes the s*** out and it's with a soap that works hands-free almost

This is going on right now at this very moment that suiting up to go into the ACT and I believe it's two nights of this stuff and The sopranos begins Goodfellas begins and The godfather actually has some pre-work going on and a lot of other mob movies start the one the Copperhead road song and the monster movies in the mountains and they're closing Tommy f by squatting they're trying for Intel and they're going after ships by calling other fleets and they're kind of doing the job it's a tough time right now for them and they need special and they need a ton of it so they're doing that and they're guys and Jason is going to get set off by it hasn't started yet but it will start today slowly and we'll speed up I think our son and daughter for their work and will help them further today is some massive amount of work and we did a lot at work it's just way past with anyone thinks and We know It and we are stuck doing it because of that but really it's a labor of love for our friends our family a loved ones and our people and it always will be. And he helped me say that and I do believe it all the time. But we usually don't say it. And many others and we are listening it right now. And we're moving on to another topic the morlock areas are coming to a grinding halt and it is a serious problem it is going to crush them. And they had five this morning and now their areas are pretty much gone the upper Midwest is one of them that is left so really you have to count that in the upper areas and they're five left and they're embroiled and they have about 20 islands and those are embroiled and those are getting overrun my clothes including Australian New Zealand it will be War there soon and they'll be crushed. And it's going to be a horror show paid. They're moving in position to start War of the worlds which starts the series which gets them outlawed from the United States as terrorists and they're fighting up north and they are going in there very rapidly and today they're planning on three attacks there's a gigantic and they still want the special as a supplement in the starting it and they probably will lose all those troops and will need the special for real and they'll start doing it much much harder up north and they'll get some they'll arm several units that are about 10 octillion and they go in at five of those at a time and they do some serious damage to the clones but then the clones without special and the mollock have to whip out more special turns into a very heated War and they suck tons of troops into it from all over the world and it starts today

Thor Freya

That is great work and we hearing it from all over our people are saying it our masses it is a joy and pleasure to watch you guys do it no it's a heartache and it's stressful and they do sign up to help when I see it

Nuada Arrianna

We said part of the above and helped but it was really the the two and they are greatness it's been an extremely long haul and this is the end of it and we hardly believe it but we see it happening now and those diamonds are getting harvested pretty soon they'll have 100% on the rivers and they will drop and all their stuff and houses and buildings will drop in the salvaging what we can and we're doing what our father and mother suggested is to ask people and then they can form teams and have their sign on if they haven't to try and retrieve it for history and also knows that even a small part of history and so in life is important and something to be cherished and held on to so it doesn't repeat and they are grabbing things like that that will help remind them I didn't want the whole house it's kind of huge and it takes a lot of time and that's the nature of our people if it's not going to help us that much we don't want to do it and that pictures and that's good enough the building stinks and you can't go in it and won't be able to go near it we thought about his ideas and he's thinking about too and he doesn't want to have reenactments cuz you're saying negative things and it's not necessary it would like things up and we'd see but we're going to think about it and we are moving a lot of stuff but we are going to think about it but he says is a lot of Massachusetts is a total loss and it's a very historic area and we were there for a long time and we don't care about their buildings only the key buildings and a lot of people say it I was in that house forever and I don't want to go back to it for any reason so we do hear what you're saying but it's part of the past and see what's going on you need to see it now more or less and he's letting go of these buildings does it make people angry and go to and be nutty it doesn't want chaos and stupid thoughts so we're going ahead and getting rid of it. And it's not buried soon we can have a huge network of museums and they will be per area

I was trying the day off right we're going after them and we're going through their stuff Trump's on diminishing the mob movies have started their launching final attacks before they go into a small form and they'll be checking out of Florida forever

Olympus

[crystalkleure]

Did you ever notice that in the japanese version of beyblade, Kit would repeat words? For example, I remember one of the lines he says is “not really, I’m having fun!!” Which was pronounced as “Īe, tanoshii” but he says “ie tanoshii-shii” and continues to do this throughout the japanese version. Idk, i just thought that vocal tic detail was interesting!!

I never caught that! Because I don't know very much Japanese [like...at all. I could probably count the phrases I understand on my fingers...], I generally don't try to pick up on which specific words/syllables are being said so much as I'm just focusing on the character's tone of voice, especially if there are subtitles, so I'll probably almost always miss things like that OTL

That's a very cute detail, thank you for pointing it out for me!

[all-my-love-for-harry]

Maybe you could write about Anne babysitting Artemis ?

you can find more of my shy little boy here

-

Artemis was still very shy around Anne. He called her Mrs. Twist and blushed every time she'd compliment him or offer him a cookie.

Anne was in London for the week to visit her children and she was staying in Harry's house. The reason? She loved to see Harry with Artemis. The way he switched to dad mode as soon as he walked in the room and was ready to tend to his every need made her heart double its size.

Just like Harry, Anne loved children. The tiny humans never ceased to amaze her with their funny remarks and unfiltered questions. And she was sure Artemis was no different. He was just... shy.

Y/n couldn't help but feel bad every time her son would choose to hide behind her legs or press his little face on her neck instead of talking to the older woman or playing with her. She tried her best to teach Artemis to be polite and although Anne understood the situation, she didn't want to think her son was rude or disrespectful.

"Lovie, what do you say we go out tonight?" Harry had asked as he unloaded the groceries. "I could call that Japanese restaurant you like and make a reservation."

"Oh, I'd love that, H. But my moms can't babysit Artemis tonight, they have a business dinner." She said, an apologetic look on her face.

"My mum could stay with Artemis." He offered. "That way they'd bond a little bit too. Mum's been dying to get to know the little fella more."

"Are you sure she'll agree? Didn't she have a dinner with Gemma?"

"Gem got stuck at work, she called mum before I came here." he said. "I'll call her before I call the restaurant, please say yes, baby." Harry wrapped his arms around Y/n's waist, hugging her from behind.

"If Anne's okay with it, then so am I." She turned around in his arms, smiling sweetly at him.

Harry gave her a long, nice kiss before letting her go, fishing his phone out of his pocket to dial his mum's number. She picked up at the second tone, her cheerful voice making him smile softly.

"Hi, darling! I just came back from the supermarket."

"Hi, mum." He said lovingly. "I wanted to ask you something." Y/n silently asked him to put his mother on speaker and he obeyed.

"What is it, honey?"

"Would you be okay with babysitting Artemis tonight? I want to take Y/n out but her mums are busy and can't look after him." He explained.

"Oh my, I would love to! Yes, you take Y/n out, I'll take good care of little Artemis."

"Thank you so much, Anne. I really appreciate it." Y/n said, making her presence known.

"Hi, darling. Of course, I just hope Artemis likes the idea too. Poor little baby doesn't like being left alone with strangers." She cooed.

"You're no stranger, Anne. He really likes you, he tells me all the time. He's just..."

"Shy, sweetheart. I know." She said softly. "Don't worry about it, we're going to have loads of fun!"

-

Later that day, Harry returned to Y/n's home to pick her and Artemis up so he could drive them back to his house where Anne would watch over him.

Since Anne was yet to be in her son's girlfriend's house, Y/n thought Anne would feel more comfortable babysitting Artemis at Harry's. Plus, Artemis loved to be at Harry's place since the British man has been slowly transforming it into a more kid-friendly home, with loads of toys and snacks Artemis enjoyed.

He let himself in and called out for Y/n, who was making sure Artemis had everything in his bag to take to Harry's. 

Harry walked down the hall and found his two loves in the little boy's room. He greeted his girlfriend first, giving her a short kiss on the lips before Artemis demanded some attention too. "You look gorgeous, m'love." He hummed. "Hey there, champ. Ready to go?"

"Thank you, H." She smiled at him.

"I'm going too?"

"You'll stay with Anne, Harry's mum, remember?" Y/n said, crunching down to his height level to adjust his coat. He was dressed in his pajamas as it was almost his bedtime.

Harry grabbed his backpack and they all went out of the room. He put his hand on the small of Y/n's back. "You sure he's okay?"

"Yeah, I talked to him earlier. He's excited to go, just doesn't show it." She assured.

the drive to Harry's house was short, and before they left again, Y/n made sure to check on Artemis and remind him he was safe with Anne, and that he'd have loads of fun with the woman.

"What would you like to do first, darling?" Anne asked once it was just the two of them.

He kept quiet for a second, thinking. Then, he made his way to the living room, where he knew Harry kept a couple of board games. Anne followed him silently, waiting for him to get what he was looking for.

After a little time, he found the game and pulled it out of the pile carefully. "Wanna play with me?"

Anne sent him a warm smile before nodding. She sat down on the couch closest to the coffee table while Artemis took a seat on the floor. He chose a puzzle, something Anne wouldn't think a little kid would want to do but then again Artemis always chose the calmer, more quiet games. He didn't like the yelling of monopoly or the emotion a game of UNO brought. Sure, every now and then he'd play those and have a good time, but right now he wanted the make a puzzle.

"Have you done that one before?" She asked, leaning towards the coffee table as Artemis got the pieces of the puzzle out of the box.

He shook his head. "Harry said I could do this one after we finished that one." He pointed at the complete puzzle that was hanging on the wall, pieces glued together and put in a frame. "This one has the solar system, see?"

"Ohhh, it's very pretty. Did you pick it?"

He nodded shyly, looking up at Anne. This was the most he has talked to her, and it only left the woman more intrigued. She knew Harry adored this boy to pieces, always talked about him to her over the phone and felt the strong need to protect him at all times. She understood that although he didn't talk much, Artemis was a very lovable child.

Anne helped him with the hard pieces but it was mostly Artemis' work. He managed to get the outline of the puzzle before speaking up again. "Mrs. Twist, I'm thirsty."

"Sure thing, darling." She got up and got him a cup of water, making sure he drank it without spilling it on the puzzle. "Sweetheart, you know you can call me Anne, right?"

"Really?"

"Of course! But if Mrs. Twist makes you more comfortable then that's fine with me too, whatever you want."

"I think Anne is fine. It's shorter." He noted with rosy cheeks. Anne chuckled, nodding at his words. "My nanas call me Arty sometimes, you can too!"

Her heart melted on the spot. "I'd love too, darling."

They didn't finish the puzzle that night, after a while Artemis got a little bored and asked to watch a movie. He sat next to Anne on the couch but eventually moved closer to her and they ended up cuddling together.

"Honey, do you want some-" Looking down, she noticed the little boy fell asleep, glasses still on his face and mouth slightly open, barely audible snores coming out of it. Anne cooed silently at the sight, deciding to carry him to one of the bedrooms in Harry's house for extra comfort.

She tucked him in and gave him a little kiss on the forehead before getting up from the bed. She was about to turn away when she felt a little hand wrap around her wrist. "Can you stay with me, Anne?"

"Not going anywhere, precious boy."

[juyeoniemyhoney]

make you feel my love

Losing means nothing to Ishikawa when he has you.

pairing: ishikawa yuki x reader

genre: fluff, established relationship

warnings: i don’t think there’s any!

word count: 2074 words

A/N: i honestly dont know who wants to read this but im just gonna post it anyways HAHA so here all you ishikawa simps pls enjoy<3

--------

It all happens at once.

The noise— screams of all pitches and encouragements of all sorts, forming a raucous cacophony in the large gymnasium— halts almost immediately; like a vacuum has sucked it all up and the only thing that is left is an eerie stillness as everyone waits in antsy anticipation for the player to serve.

And then he is running up, throwing the ball great lengths into the air and jumping to meet it halfway, hitting the ball with such force and determination you can almost feel the impact yourself. The ball hurtles through the air and crosses the net with such speed you almost don't see it.

But the Japanese team does. Their libero, Yamamoto, crosses the court in a flash and bumps the ball up so high up it gives his teammates half a second to breathe before they are rushing to connect it, the setter, Sekita, tossing the ball higher in the air for Ishikawa to hit it.

The tall Brazilians loom over him like a curse, like bad karma, as determined as the Japanese are, but not nearly as desperate. Ishikawa does not mind them and he bravely hits the ball with as much strength as his worn out body allows him, sending every last bit of energy into this spike, hoping, praying, practically begging for it to work, for the ball to hit the other side of the court with such violence that the Brazilians would not be able to even react before it hits the floor.

The next thing you know, the ball hits the hands of the Brazilians and is spindling down towards the floor at breakneck speed. Yamamoto, Sekita and Ishikawa (when he lands), all throw themselves to the floor in a desperate bid to save it, to not let it touch the floor, to not let all their hard work be washed down into a drain. But to no avail.

The ball hits the floor with a resounding thud. The whistle blows and all at once, the Brazilian supporters leap from their seats and yell and scream and shout with unadulterated joy. Because they have won! They have won the game! And the Japanese have lost. The Japanese team and their supporters are quiet in the wake of their loss. You do not move, almost as if if you did, the bleachers would crack open, the earth beneath the gymnasium would cave in and you would be falling to the floor, through the soil and to the core of the earth.

The three men lift themselves up from the floor with the weight of defeat on their shoulders and their teammates pat their backs silently, looking solemn but trying to be as encouraging as possible. The team gathers at the end line of the court and another whistle blows, signalling both teams to bow. When Ishikawa's eyes hit the floor, so do the tears.

He cries in silent agony, somehow feeling like it is all his fault. He is the captain, he should have led them better than this. He is the ace, he should have been able to hit pass those blocks. He knew hitting hard was risky, he should have been more careful. He should have moved faster, reacted faster, gotten to the ball faster. He should have been sharper, more alert, better. He should have been better.

His teammates shed a few tears too, but not quite nearly as much as Ishikawa. It's unrelenting— his tears. It doesn't want to stop, even when Ishikawa roughly wipes at his eyes in frustration, desperately wanting the raw showing of emotion to stop. Everyone can see him cry in this moment and he hates it.

When Ishikawa and his team begin to move off the court, is when you break from your stunned daze. Quite frankly, you were shocked speechless. You knew Brazil was a tough opponent but your faith in your boys would always trump any form of doubt. You knew they could do it. You knew they would be able to do it. Until they didn't.

You do not see the tears from quite so far away, but when you do, you are ripping yourself from your seat with such great speed, the people around you jump in surprise. You do not care, you do not even really notice before you are sprinting down the stairs, leaping from each flight, ignoring the desperate calls of your best friend and the shocked expressions directed at you as you race to the exit of the court.

"Ishikawa Yuki!" you yell just in case you don't catch them in time. You know you could just call him or meet him at his house but you came as a surprise, and though you'd wish you could surprise him after his victory, you think that surprising him and being able to comfort him in his loss will mean just as much.

At the sound of your voice, his head whips around, eyes wide in shock as he desperately searches the people for your face, eyes glassy with unshed tears and vision slightly blurry. You jump off the rest of the stairs, running to him with flailing arms. And when Ishikawa sees you, you swear you see his lips pout, eyes glossing over as tears run down his face.

You grin and run to him and he drops everything, his water bottle, his towel, his jacket, everything, so that he can hold his arms open for you to run into and give him a big hug. And you do exactly that. You run straight into his arms, wrapping your arms around his torso and shoving your face into his chest, not caring at all that he is drenched in sweat (and possibly tears), not caring at all that almost the whole gymnasium full of people can see the two of you have such an intimate moment, not caring at all because Ishikawa Yuki, the love of your life, is in tears and you have to do everything in your power to stop that.

Ishikawa's arms wrap around you too, holding you so tight and dear to him, you swear the both of you stop breathing. And with you in his arms, he finally crumbles to the floor, tears spilling from his eyes and sobs escaping his throat in ugly, high-pitched hiccups. But he doesn't care, you don't care, he's safe as long as you're here.

"When did you get here? I thought you were only going to touchdown tomorrow," he whispers in between sobs, his shaking, swollen hand coming up to your hair and entangling his fingers with the strands messily. You pull away slightly and pull Ishikawa down so that your chin rests on his shoulder and he can bury his face into your neck, your hand coming up to his sweaty hair to run your fingers through the corse, tangled strands as Ishikawa continues to cry in your arms. This position is so incredibly uncomfortable. After all, Ishikawa is insanely tall and the top of your head doesn't even really reach his neck, and you're sure Ishikawa's back is going to hurt a little later but he doesn't seem to mind at all at the position change, indulging in you as he shoves his face into the crook of your neck, hot breaths that tickle your skin, coming out in pants as he struggles to control his sobs.

"I wanted to surprise you," you say with a fond smile, the hand that was idle on his back coming up to send a wave to his teammates when your eyes meet, even sending one to his coach, who just smiles bitterly at you. His teammates send you rueful smiles and thumbs-ups of approval before they make their way back to the locker rooms, leaving you and Ishikawa to continue embracing at the exit of the court.

Ishikawa lets out a tearful laugh, saying, "Well, I'm surprised alright. I was just thinking about you when you called my name. I almost thought I was seeing things.".

You laugh but do not reply, allowing a comfortable silence to take over as Ishikawa lets all his emotions out in the form of hot, regretful tears. Your hand continues to soothe him with pats and strokes to his back and your hand remains in his hair. Ishikawa's large hands fist your shirt at your waist as his tears and sweat seep into your shirt. You don't mind. Of course, if this were anyone else you would. But this is Ishikawa Yuki, and you love him more than anything else in this world.

"You played so well," you whisper after a while of silence. You can feel Ishikawa wanting to pull away from you but you do not allow him, knowing full well that he wants to pull away to argue with you, to debunk your words with his incessant humility, so you do not allow him. You do not allow him to deny himself the praise he very much deserves because he's worked hard for this, no matter the outcome, he and his teammates have worked his ass off for this, and the least you can do is praise him.

"Yuki, you played very well. Don't try and deny it," you say with a firm voice, hand on his head keeping his chin to your shoulder. At this, he finally laughs and you loosen your grip, allowing him to pull out of your embrace just enough for him to see your face.

His cheeks are tear-stained and his eyes are beginning to puff up with all his crying, red beginning to bloom at the corner of his eyes, slowly taking over the white. His smile is nothing short of breathtaking, swollen eyes and red lips curled up brilliantly, smile lines and the corners of his eyes creasing sweetly. You can't help but grin back when you see his smile, nose souring with endearment.

"You know me so well," he comments, fingers coming up to tuck strands of your hair behind your ear, fingers trailing down your jaw to your chin, tilting your face up just a little bit more. His fingers guide your head just slightly forward before he is meeting you halfway in a sweet kiss, grinning immediately after your lips meet his.

Ishikawa's eyes trace over your every feature, observing, remembering, ingraining; tracing over the curve of your eyes, the slope of your nose, the perk of your lips, the peak of your eyebrows, and the line of your jaw, fingers ghosting over each feature along with his eyes, all the while maintaining the smile on his lips.

Then, he is giving your forehead a sweet kiss before pulling out of your embrace fully, turning around to pick up the things he had dropped when you came running into his arms. He brushes off his jacket and drapes it across your shoulders, holding open the jacket for you to slip your arms into the sleeves, to which you do, before he is hooking the zip and zipping it all the way up to your chin.

In his mind, he laughs at the way you are dwarfed by his jacket. Your hands can barely be seen, only the tips of your fingers peeking out from the sleeves, and the jacket, where it usually ends at his hip, ends almost at your knees. Unconsciously, he smiles and has to physically restrain himself from pinching your cheeks.

After he zips up his jacket, he bends down to pick up his towel, draping it over his shoulder before he is bending down once again to pick up his water bottle, having set them down to help you put on his jacket. Then, without a word but with the largest, goofiest grin, he takes your hand in his and leads you out of the court and to the locker rooms in a comfortable silence, fingers intertwined with yours.

For a second there, he almost forgets that they lost the game and are not able to proceed to the quarter-finals. For a second there, he almost completely forgets about his regrets and anger and frustration. And it's all because of you. And of course, he is eternally grateful to you. After all, what on earth would he do without you? He would still be crying his ass off, that's what, though he would never admit it out loud. And it is because of this reason— though he would do it without a reason at all— that he kisses you a little longer, hugs you a little tighter, loves you a little more.

[nakamoto-aesthetics]

Skin | n.yt

synopsis: about a girl who is self conscious of her skin color. she thought yuta would leave her for a girl who has paler skin and a curvier body but yuta didn’t know this. he thought you were crazy; that was up until now.

pairing: boyfriend!yuta x poc!femalereader

genre: piles of angst, some fluff to make it up

warning: this is a very touchy subject, read other works if its too much.

inspiration: Malcolm & Marie (you guys really should watch it. (it’s on Netflix.) the movie is still on my mind despite watching it hours ago)

word count: 2.2k

“your fucking delusional that’s what you are”

“I’m delusional? how yuta, how am I being delusional please inform me” you pace back and forth while he sat on the bed with his head in his hands.

“she was an interviewer I don’t even know her. it was just two strangers exchanging a hug and that was all that was it.”

“wrong it wasn’t just a hug. did you see the way she looked at you, stroked your hands and chest while you both talked, and the way she hugged you? god, the way she hugged you..” you say almost as if you were talking to yourself. you shake your head thinking about it for the millionth time that night. “she was rubbing all her lady parts on you and guess what you did? just take a fucking guess” you stop in your tracks and look at him.

“I did nothing”

“e-fucking-xcatly. you did nothing, you just stood there and smiled at her. do you have any clue what that feels like to watch? it feels like a knife is piercing my heart,” you walk over to him and bend down to his level. “but you wouldn’t know what that feels like huh?” you say slowly.

“I know what it feels like” he looks into your eyes. his eyes were filled with hurt and anger. you’d done this far too many times, yelling at him for petty things but he never knew the root of your madness.

“oh do you really?” you scoff and look away.

“yes I do, you think I don’t get jealous when other guys are around you?” you chuckle at his words and stand up again, walking away from him.

“you sure don’t act like it bothers you” you reply.

“that’s because I don’t make a huge deal out of it because at the end of the day I’m sleeping in the same bed as you and they aren't. that’s how I get over my jealousy, maybe you should use that advice to your advantage.” he gets up and walks into the connected bathroom; taking off his dress clothes and jewelry.

“it doesn’t work like that for me” you slip off your dress, letting it fall to the floor only leaving you in stockings.

“and why doesn’t it?” you hear the shower water running. you pause for a second trying your best not to cry.

“because… it’s much deeper than that. what I’m feeling is not just jealousy yuta” that’s all you say before you hear him step in the shower. you sigh and put your hands on your face before taking off your stockings. you walk over to the walk-in closet and pick out a loose shirt and some underwear, that were of course yours.

you put it on and walk into the living room. you pick up your phone and put on some music. you felt the music instantly calm your spirit.

you danced around the room letting yourself drift into the mood. you closed your eyes memorizing your steps until a choreography formed. you repeated the steps, they were light and soft. it could’ve been compared to a ballroom dance, only you were dancing alone but you didn’t mind that. you let your mind dream for once as if you were in another land. it was peaceful and calming, you let your mind drift to a whole other universe. you wish it were real, that you were there in this moment, happy, content, satisfied, all those you wished at this moment.

you danced gracefully to the music so lost in the zone to even realize that a pair of eyes were watching you from afar. he watched your every move and the way your feet bounced of the ground delicately, it was refreshing for the both of you. music was the only thing filling your ears, no more yelling, or shouting. just peacefulness.

you ended in a final stance as the song ended. you stayed there for a little bit, too lost in your world. everyone was standing up and clapping for you. you felt happy for once, this was all you wanted, that was it.

arms wrapped around your waist and kisses were planted on the soft skin of your neck.

“that was beautiful princess” he trails kisses down to your shoulder. you opened your eyes slowly, trying to come back to reality.

“mhm” you say and lean against his chest.

“are you okay now?” he asks softly.

“yes” you smile softly and kiss his cheek.

“good” he grins and picks you up over his shoulder. your scream and protests get mixed in with his laughs. he smacks your butt and drops you on the couch. he pecks your face, making you giggle and push him away.

“don’t try to fight it” he pecks your neck and jaw. “I love you,” he says, the words sinking into your skin and running through your veins. they filled you with life but you weren’t gonna let them stay there.

“mhm,” you hum biting your lip. you hear his phone ring from in the other room.

“hold on princess I'll be right back, lets keep it like this please, happy thoughts only” he kisses your temple sweetly before speed walking to his phone.

you sighed and rolled your eyes. ‘fuck him’ you thought. it was so much deeper than jealousy, so so much deeper. a tear ran down your cheek swiftly but you didn’t wipe it, wanting to let yourself suffer.

you hear footsteps treading back to the living room.

“can I ask you something? and can you please answer truthfully even if it might hurt me?”

“yeah..” he answers slowly stopping in his tracks.

“do you think she’s prettier than me?”

silence.

that was all you heard after you asked the question. tears fell down your face, your mouth trembling as you gripped the couch.

“why would you ever ask something like that,” he pauses and shakes his head. “I thought everything was okay now? what happened?” a million thoughts were running through his head at this moment, you had his mind twisted right now.

“I fucking lied, that’s what happened. you thought everything was gonna be okay after a few wasted kisses and worthless words? well think again yuta”

“I’m so confused, why would you lie and say everything was okay, literally what was the point? you intentionally try to be exhausting on purpose; this is exactly why I think you're mental now because you do shit like this-”

“shut the fuck up!” you shout you couldn’t take any more of his words and chucked a glass cup sitting next to you at the wall. a loud sound was heard as the glass collided with the wall, it fell to the ground and broke into tiny pieces.

“what the fuck is your problem?” his voice booms throughout the whole house and he storms over to you. you turn around and look at him with tears dampening your face.

“what’s my problem? you really wanna fucking know?” your voice gets a little shaky.

“yes I do” his face expresses the way he’s feeling. he was past angry, he was infuriated at this point.

“my problem is that- I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I'm insecure. I’m really fucking insecure yuta and you wanna know why?”

“why?” he says in a hushed tone as his face starts to relax, his eyes softening up a little bit.

“because I’m black that’s why. it’s not that I hate myself because I don’t… it’s because I think you're embarrassed to be with me-“

“y/n-“ he says softly cutting you off.

“I’m not done,” you sniffle. you’d been waiting to get this off your chest for a while, so you were gonna get it all off your chest. “I think you think you would be happier with someone who has lighter skin, and a curvier body. I mean look at me yuta. I’m flat, my boobs, my ass- I mean just fucking look.” you turn to the side and he looks down at your body with hurt in his eyes before looking up at your face.

“I even considered getting plastic surgery because of you. I never had this problem before I met you, I was confident in my body and then the second you popped up it all fell apart. I’m so insecure now and that’s why I’m so jealous because I feel like you’ll leave me for them. After all, they’re pretty, curvy, and Asian; that maybe you’ll connect with them because they’re Asian or because she's Japanese and can understand you when you speak in your native language.” you shake your head. “they’re everything I’m not yuta” you say in a hushed voice as tears soak your face. it was like you were standing outside in heavy pouring rain, that’s how much you were crying.

“babygirl why didn’t you tell me you were feeling like this?” yuta says softly unlike his tone just a few minutes. his eyebrows were relaxed, his jaw softened and most of all his eyes had softened. they were now filled with worry.

“I’m s-sorry” you look down and start to cave in on yourself, sinking to the floor and hugging your knees. he sighs and looks down at you. he sits down on the floor and pulls you into his arms.

“that’s not how I think or have thought ever. I wouldn’t have dated you if I didn’t think you were beautiful inside and out. I always got angry because I couldn’t possibly understand why you’d get jealous over stupid things like that but I get it now.” he caresses your back as you sob into his shoulder.

“y/n you’re the brightest shining star in my galaxy so when you scream at me for stupid shit like hugging other girls or smiling at them. I look at you like your mental because, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m deeply in love with you, I want to breathe you, kiss you, love you only, not them. I am beyond obsessed with you.” he pauses and sighs.

“but I guess I didn’t do a great enough job of showing you how much I love you. Im sorry for not catching on earlier baby, you're beautiful y/n, so fucking beautiful. I love your skin color, your nationality, your hot ass body, your short curly hair, the language you speak, the way you think to the way you walk, every little fucking thing that makes you who you are, drives me insane y/n and I love all of it. I love all of you and who you are from the bottom of my heart” he strokes your cheek and kisses your head.

“and no I don’t want the Japanese girls because if I did then I wouldn’t be here with you in my arms. I would be with them but at this moment right now Im not because I don’t want them, I want you and only you. y/n don’t worry yourself over a silly little hug that lasts for 1 second and a smile that means nothing to me because when I hug you that hug lasts 10-20 seconds and when we smile at each other it makes my heart pound and my stomach fill with butterflies because i’m so in love with you and that’s the wholehearted truth.”

the atmosphere was filled with your light sniffles until it was filled with complete silence. both of you listened to the sound of each other’s heartbeats. it was so peaceful.

“I have a question” yuta whispers so low that you almost don’t hear him.

“yeah,” you said in the same whisper.

“is that what all of our arguments have been about this whole time?”

“…yes” you close your eyes and grip his shirt.

“did you not think I loved you?” he keeps the same soft tone.

“in all honesty, I’m not sure. I thought you were embarrassed to be with someone who wasn’t as pretty as the other, lighter-toned, and Asian girls”

“no that’s not true and you are pretty, scratch that, you are fucking stunning. you’re the hottest girl I have ever been with in my life and I mean that 200% percent,” he said in a normal voice tone. you laughed at the statement and he did too. the atmosphere was now a lighthearted one.

“get out of here” you laugh and sit up.

“what it’s true, don’t be mad because you can’t have skills like me,” he says playfully.

“oh really?” you laugh loudly.

“mhm now, can you give me a fashion show, please? I want to see all the new dresses you bought” he pulls you in for a quick peck.

“but I wanna cuddle” you pout.

“hmm okay but I want that fashion show tomorrow y/n” he holds your hands and caresses them.

“okay okay, I’ll do it tomorrow. now can we please cuddle? I’m tired”

“your wish is my command princess” he stands up and picks you up bridal style. you squeal and hold on to him.

“we’ll get the glass up later,” he says. there was still glass shattered on the ground from when you threw it at the wall earlier. he walked into your shared room and laid you down on the bed gently before crawling to the spot beside you, and finally, he pulled you into his arms.

finally, for a change, you were happy and content. yuta kissed your cheek and forehead occasionally; uttering sweet nothings into your ear as he drew circles on your skin. your smiles and laughs fill the room as they mix

everything was perfect now.

[belleta]

The Forest - Part One

Consists: Supernatural, SKZ as different SN creatures, adventure, romance, drama, action, ......still trying to figure out all the details....lol XD

"Come on Y/N!", I was racing around the house. Trying to make sure I had everything for this trip. "Omg Y/N, let's GO~!" I swear to the universe she's going to thank me later. " I'm coming child!" I screamed back. Alrighty I just need my retainer. I bounded up the stairs and glided down the hallway with my cotton socks. Bursting into my room, I quickly scanned it for the sparkly emerald case. I caught sight of it out of the corner of my eye, "Boom!" I ran forward and snatched it off my windowsill. While leaping for my door, I paused and turned back to what I call my sanctuary. Call me paranoid but I'm kinda afraid of camping in the middle of the woods. Ever since I watched "The Blair Witch Project", I've been creeped.

It doesn't help that Jazzy forced us to watch the film, previous to this morning. I was drifting in the fairy floss clouds of my mind when a loud honk poured water on them. I sucked in a breath, blowing raspberries. Padding back over to my bedside, I grabbed my Ice Bear plushie. Giving it a quick squeeze and finally deciding that he's coming with me. Galloping back through the house, I made it out, locked the door and hopped in the back seat like a spring rabbit. "What took you so long?" I gazed up through my fringe at my girl bestie Jazmine. She had long beautiful honey blonde hair, and a mousy nose. Her blue eyes were alike with pebbles under a lake, with cheeks connected by a dash of light freckles. "I swear I just aged waiting for you" and Danny, our guy bestie. I've been best friends with Danny, since 3rd grade. Jazzy moved over during the 5th grade. All three of us have been with each other through thick and thin. Daniel was Hawaiian Japanese descent, had perfect colorful nails and absolutely gorgeous eye makeup. We were all dressed in casual, comfy clothes for the trip. Jazmine, or Jazzy as people call her, as the oldest. She was driving Danny's dad's truck. It was spacious and definitely was fit for the environment. Danny, second eldest was in shotgun and I, being the "baby", was in the back. "I was just making sure I have everything." The two rolled their eyes. Danny looked back at me "Girl, you need to chill. We've got everything and more" the boy stated. "I know, I know.....I'm just paranoid, you know.....being in the woods for a week" I looked down at my feet and played with my fingers to cover my embarressedness. "Awww, is the baby scared", Jazzy giggled, imitating a child. I swatted at her, "Let's just...finally go" I grumbled, reaching inside my bag to pull out my headphones. "Fine" they answered teasingly. While Jazzy was pulling out, I fastened myself and slid my headphones on. Bluetoothing them and unlocking my phone, I scrolled through my YouTube Music playlist finding the one named 'Bell Mix'. After that, I went back to the truffula trees and fairy floss. Just listening to my music and thinking about things. There were a couple times, where I thought I might get sick, but I had remembered my motion sickness bracelets. In your face! It's better to set out a little later, rather than having our vehicle reeking of my insides. 2 or 3 hours went by, or something. I'm not really sure, my brain doesn't really have a sense of time when I'm inside of it. We stopped to use the bathroom, get food and fuel at a gas station, maybe 2 hours away from the forest. "Can I, can I, can I, can I PLEASE?!?" I had been begging Jazzy to let me buy a bag of Haribo for 10 minutes now, and she was starting to break. I'm very persuasive as you find out, and I happen to be a very prominent weakness to many throughout my life. She finally gave in and I bounced away to the candy isle with glee and happily picked out a bag, promising to share. Jazzy just rolled her eyes and paid for our things. We trotted back to the car and continued our journey. It was nearing the end of 2pm when we finally arrived at the edge of the forest. It's lushes were absolutely perfectly splendid. The road continued for a hot minute, until it gave away to dirt and rocks. We didn't want to stray too far from the dirt road, so we slowly kept moving in until I suddenly exclaimed at the sight of a pretty little clearing. It had a few little bushes marking the edges, thick but soft looking grass, and a little dirt patch at one side that should be perfect for a firepit. We pulled over to take a look around, flattening a few bushes in the process. As soon as the truck came to a stop I shoved the door open and sprung down onto the flourishing forest floor. The first thing I did was take a deep breath to soak in the sweet scent of the untouched earth. I reached up, stretching and cracking a few of my bones in the process. Then I raced through the trees and undergrowth, toward the beautiful glade. It felt so nice to get away from civilization, I had always loved

getting away like this. Being able to recharge away from annoying people and sounds, my fears of the night were long forgotten. I was two steps away from the grass when I suddenly tripped over something. Tumbling forward and scratching my cheek. I landed on my face, but on the bright side it was luckily with no rocks around. The dirt however spared me at nothing, crawling into my fresh scrapes, was a sharp and quick stinging as I grabbed my face. "Seriously Y/N, we haven't even completely left the car yet and you've already managed to hurt yourself" Jazzy declared. Danny chimed in, "Did you hurt yourself at all?". Quickly inspecting myself, I responded "Yes, a tiny bit on my cheek, hands and knees", I could hear them muttering to themselves about how reckless I was sometimes. They started toward me and as I waited for them to catch up, I decided to look around and figure out where to put things for these next few days. While ogling the decently wide stretch that was conveniently shielded by a mighty sugar maple. I thought I saw something in the undergrowth a few meters away from me. I grabbed my glasses and narrowed my eyes, but right when I thought I saw whatever it was, two flashes shot in the opposite direction between the ferns and disappeared. They were kinda hidden but I could sorta make out one of the shapes was darker and slightly bigger. The other was a little bit easier but still was difficult, it was kinda brown, or maybe reddish? At that moment I felt two hands on my shoulders, "Let me see", it was Jazzy. She inspected my injury. "It'll be fine, just wash it off", "Okie-Dokie-Artichokie", she laughed and ruffled my hair. I gazed back at where I saw the two shapes but not even the bushes were still moving. "Hey!" I cocked my head back to the voice "Can you help me?" Danny was struggling to unpack from the back. "Sure thing Danny-O" I quickly stood up, maybe a little too quick. My vision went funny and I almost stumbled. "Oh my god Y/N! Be careful!" Jazzy scolded, "My bad!" I was a little all over the place at the moment. Finally we were on this trip! I mean, I waited 6 months for this and it's finally here! I'm not all childish, I'm actually very 4D. I'm just really excited okay? I more carefully walked back to the truck, where Danny was struggling to keep ahold of what appeared to be the tent. Over the course of the next hour and a half we set up everything. Goofing around and laughing. Danny had been pulling too hard on our sleeping bags, to wedge them out of the trunk. And had accidentally fallen onto the slightly wet dirt, causing a very prominent brown streak across his gray sweatpants and sky blue tie dye hoodie. I was currently on my way to find the stream that is supposably close by, with a screenshot of google maps and a compass. Service wasn't exactly a 5 star out here, but I didn't mind too much. I brought a portable WiFi router with me, so if Jason Vorhees just decided to pull one, we could call for help. Every so often I would hang a wooden heart ornament on one of the tree's branches, so if this was the correct way then we would never get lost. Also so that I didn't get lost right now. I had been making these last night, for these exact reasons. I swear only dumb people don't mark their surroundings, this is one of the main reasons why people disappear and are never found or get lost. There are no traces of where they've been, like these fruit loops really-...... After about another 20 meters I started hearing the sounds of water. It became louder and louder really quickly. Is there a waterfall here? I pondered, while quickening my pace with curiosity. 35 seconds later I came across a thinning in the trees and beyond a clear water stream. I finally broke out of the shelter provided from the thick leaves, the sun kissed my skin with it's warm touch. I looked around and sure enough, there was a small waterfall that looked straight out of a fairytale. It had multiple uneven levels, with smoothed boulders everywhere. And to top it all off, it had little water plants scattered around it. Absolutely

beautiful.... I scanned around and spotted a few giant boulders poking into the stream. I carefully picked my way over to them, clutching onto Danny's muddy clothes. Hopping onto the sunlight warmed stones, I positioned myself perfectly so that I could reach the water but wouldn't fall in. I reached into my pocket for my zip lock of natural soap, of course I didn't want to hurt this literally untouched land. I leaned down to dunk the fabric into the stream's crystal-like water and kneaded the brown smudge. It was decently cold, just perfect for a stream. I turned back to the small bag with a green bar wrapped with brown paper and a little herb decoration. I unzipped it and reached for a tiny hand towel I brought with me so that I would have a better grip on the soap, even if I got wet. After dunking the clothes in I took the bar of soap and swiped it all over. I dipped it into the water once to help the bubble come, then I started aggressively rubbing it. Once the outfit was foaming with suds, I slapped it into the brook. Holding onto the sleeve I rub it harshly all over to get the stains out. It was relatively still easy because the events of cause were only moments before. I was starting to disappear into my thoughts, getting deeper and deeper and deeper....... And just then a crash and from the trees, followed by snarls and barks. I was so lost in my thought that this jolted me into the canal. The water suddenly became ice cold, my scream had been washed away. A surge of water filled my lungs from the way my mouth was open to yelp. I could still hear the sounds of fighting every so often, when I would surface. My head was hurting, my skin was stinging and my lungs were screaming. Someone.....please help..... It was hurting so much, I was trying not to panic. So I could find the surface and get back to shore. I would break through it's crisp arctic clutches every so often and would cry out for help but then get cut off by the now frosty darkness. I was giving up to the stream and submitting to the coldness. Letting it swallow me whole. I was numb, I couldn't feel my body being thrown around anymore, Is this how my story ends? No! I don't want to! I still have things to do! I need to graduate, and find my passion! I need to find a man who will love me as much as I do! I need to birth young and care for them! I want to grow old with my partner happily! I can't die yet! I just can't! But it was just so cold. I had stopped moving violently, so I guess I had been poured into a lake or something. I didn't care anymore. My blood felt frozen, I couldn't even bend a finger. That's when I felt a force near me, it parted the waters. Moving me in a different direction with its power. Then not long after I felt something grab hold of me in an awkward way. I was starting to be pulled into another direction, as the water streamed around, parting to let me and whatever that was saving me through. Then I broke through the surface and that was the last thing I felt before slipping into a comfy unconsciousness.

[moons-and-stars-and-shit]

Hiii!! How are you doing today?? I hope that you're well and staying healthy, happy and hydrated. Could I please have a matchup, with a male haikyuu character if that's okay with you??

My personality type is INTP-A/INFP-A my T and F are split 50/50.

My star sign is Aries, rising sun is Capricorn and moon is Pisces.

I use she/her pronouns.

I really like doing anything creative, so whether its writing, drawing, baking, or even cooking, I find it really relaxing and chill to do

Hate going outside and in public, it makes me really nervous and anxious especially if I'm alone

But when I go out with someone I always hold onto the bottom of their top of their sleeve because it makes me feel better

My love language is quality time/ words of affirmations, and I show love through acts of service, affirmations and a little bit of physical touch.

I'm a very open minded chill person, very witty and love corny jokes or dad jokes.

Not open with my emotions, I like to keep them to myself and dont like sharing them, but I will always be willing to listen to your problems.

I dont like doing high effort things, unless it's for other people. Like the only motivation I have for making revision notes for college is so that I can share it with those in my class if they ever need them.

I'm a very laidback borderline lazy person.

I'm a very practical person, and I can do quite a lot of stuff that might not necessarily be useful, but could be, like I can read maps and do bearings, and I know how to do most things, I dont know why, I just do.

I like to think I'm a very well rounded person, in terms of academics as well. I got straight A's in all my subject exams and yeah

Thank you soooooo much, I hope that this is enough. Make sure you're taking care of yourself and drink lots and lots of water 😊😊. Thank youu 💞💞 xxx

Romantic Matchup

Osamu Miya

How y’all met

Cooking class

The school had a cooking class and you two got partnered up for a assignment

The assignment was to take two cultures and make a fusion dish

Osamu chose japanese in the form of onigiri so he let you pick the second sulture

So you chose mexican

You decided to make Sweet Rice Onigiry

Omg it was BOMB

Yall got a A+ on that assignment

And osamu really had fun making it with you

So you basically just became his cooking buddy

He would invite you over to crate some crazy dishes regularly

And slowly but surely he began to fall for you

It started off small

A little blush whenever y’all touched hands

Him thinking of you whenever he sees a certain food

Then it grew

And grew

And grew

Soon enough the poor man couldn’t get you out of his head

Everything reminded him of you

He caught himself counting the minutes till he could see you again

So he confessed

It was really blunt actually

But also very indirect

Essentially he just gave you a bento box with a love note in it

And long story short you accepted his confession ❤️

What they love about you

Hahhhhh

Ok so according to my Dating Osamu Headcanons

Mans is the king of food puns

And he loves how he can always make you laugh with those

Ngl it boosts his ego when you laugh at his jokes

Ok kinda weird but...

He likes how anxious you are

He finds it so cute when you cling into him in public

Says it makes him feel like your “protector”

Lol ok Osamu

He loves how laid back you are

Now don’t get me wrong Osamu isn’t lazy per say

But he definitely is more laid back than others

Very nonchalant if you will

So he’s happy that your the same way as he is

Ok quick one

He loves how you’re a good listener

However

He wishes you would open up to him more :(

But he makes it known that he’s always there for you

Favorite Things To Do Together

Ahh

He loves to cook with you

Duh

But

He likes the ENTIRE process of cooking with you

From the planning

To the shopping

To the cooking

To the cleaning

He loves it all

SO COOK WITH THIS MANSSS

Random Hc

Every time you cook together it turns into a fusion dish

You guys invented “dessert onigiri”

You guys went on a road trip once and got lost

Your map reading skills really came in handy that day 😉

He hates to admit it but...

He relays on you when it comes to schoolwork

He always goes to you for notes

But makes it up for you with kithes 😚

Astrology

Aries+ Libra

When Aries and Libra come together in a love affair, the inherent polarity of the Zodiac is invoked.

Aries and Libra are directly opposite one another in the Zodiac — 180 degrees apart.

Each Sign possesses qualities that the other lacks; combined with Libra’s natural yen for harmony, this can be a relationship that enjoys great balance.

Aries is the Sign of Self while Libra is the Sign of Partnership, and the differences continue: Aries is impulsive, excitable and ready to jump right into something new and exciting, while Libra is indecisive, peace-loving and prefers a calm, smooth approach.

Aries can learn from Libra that their own way isn’t necessarily the best way.

Aries is ruled by the Planet Mars and Libra is ruled by the Planet Venus.

This is a great match, as these are the Planets of Passion and Love, respectively.

Venus and Mars go well together as they’re the two sides of the love relationship coin.

They’re universally recognized as male and female and this relationship is a good balance of masculine and feminine energy.

Venus is about the beauty of romance while Mars is about the passion of romance.

Overall Aesthetic

Foodies 🍱

Songs

Deathbed- Powfu

Baby I’m yours- Arctic Monkeys

Lost in you- Khai Dreams

Stolen Dance- Milky Chance

[muilkyu]

𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀

🐷 Hyunsuk

"What if she doesn't like my outfit? Should I change? I should add a necklace, maybe the rings aren't enou-" you ramble on fiddling with your clothes. Hyunsuk is laughing at you from the corner. "Why are you laughing? This is important, she has to like me."

"She's gonna love you. You look fine, I dressed you so of course you look amazing."

You turn back towards the bed plopping down skulking, "I'm still nervous. Your mom is a big part of your life and I really need her to like me."

Hyunsuk makes his way over to the bed pulling you back up into a hug, "My mom will love anyone that I love. Now let's go."

🐼 Jihoon

"Stop, frowning so much you're gonna give yourself wrinkles," Jihoon says.

You scoff flicking him on the head, "I'm nervous. You're my boyfriend, you're supposed to comfort me."

"Nah, you'll be fine," Jihoon concludes, "Also you hit hard I think I have a bump now."

"Oh come on Hoonie. Do you think they will like me?"

"Honestly, I don't know," He replies and you reach out and flick him again, "Oww, okay I'll be serious. I think they will like you. They might ask you a lot of questions, but they just want to get to know you."

"This going to be a long dinner isn't it?" You question.

"Yep, they are going to find out every single detail about your life. I'm going to tell embarrassing stories to them because I love you oh so much."

🐨 Junkyu

"Why are you sweating too? It's not like this is the first time you have met your parents," you complain. Junkyu looks more nervous than you which is ironic.

He rubs his sweaty hands on his jeans, "I know but they are very straightforward. If they don't like you they will tell you."

You nod looking down, "Do you think they won't like me then?"

"I honestly have no idea but regardless of what they think I still want to be with you." Junkyu's sweaty hands grasp yours and he leaves a small kiss on your index finger.

🐯 Yoshi

"You know what I should have brought a gift we should turn around. Don't you bring a card or something to the first meeting?"

"I don't think that's a thing," Yoshi answered.

"I should have gotten a plant or something. People like plants. Is your mom a plant person?" Asking all these questions is actually helping your nerves.

"No, my sister might be though." He ponders.

"That doesn't help me at all. You know what let's just get this over with."

Yoshi places his hands on your shoulders slowly rubbing them. He looks you in the eyes, "I get that you're scared, but I promise my mom is probably more scared or meet you than you are. Look we don't have to do this yet if you are nervous."

You contemplate the odds of pushing back the date. While extremely tempting it also means so much to Yoshi that you get along with his family. Instead of opting out you just shake your head, "This means a lot to you. Plus your mom sounds lovely. Let's do this."

🐹 Mashiho

"Do you even know how this is going to go?" You ask picking at a piece of lint on Mashiho's shirt.

"I think it will be fine," Mashiho replies, "My parents have always supported me. I don't see why this would be any different."

"Well you have never introduced a girlfriend this is different. If they think I have a bad influence on you or I am not to their standard they won't approve."

"My parents aren't like that. Also you aren't the type of person that someone wouldn't fall in love with. The more they talk and get to know you the more they will see why I love you."

🦁 Jaehyuk

"This is the dress you should wear," Jaehyuk concludes pulling out the yellow sun dress from your closet.

You shake your head, "No, I wore that one last week I got a black stain on the end of it. I can't get it out."

"Oh," he puts the dress back in the closet reaching for another, "What about this one?" He's holding up a white romper that you got last summer.

"That one makes my ankles look fat." You complain.

"I don't think my parents will care about your ankles," Jaehyuk points out.

"Well I care about my ankles. I don't have anything to wear guys we can't go then. Let's just order some food and watch a movie." You suggest already reaching for your phone to order.

Jaehyuk walks over to you grabbing your phone before you can, "No, you're going we promised to eat dinner with them months ago."

You whine, falling back dramatically onto the sofa, "I don't wanna go. They probably don't like me for pushing the dinner off for so long."

"Just one more reason we have to go tonight. Eventually they are going to be mad that you don't wanna meet them. Look, my parents just want to make sure you're not going to hurt me or something. Your parents would do the exact same thing"

"Okay you have a point. Just don't baby me the whole dinner."

"I will not be making any promises."

🤖 Asahi

You and Asahi had decided to have a weekend in rather than going out. Seoul is currently going through the 3rd hottest summer it has ever had and the idea of walking around in the warm weather is not tempting.

"What should we eat tonight?" You question. Your current lying down on the couch dressed in sweatpants and a tank top. Asahi is sitting in front of the couch trying to find something to watch on TV.

Asahi shrugs pushing his hair back with his hand, "I don't know. We could cook what do you have?"

"I think I have enough for pasta." You respond sitting up on the couch.

"That sounds good," his phone vibrates as you start to stand up. He looks conflicted at the name across the phone. It's in Japanese so you can't read it. Asahi looks at you and to the phone as if he silently is asking for permission.

"You can answer the call, that's fine. I'll start the pasta," as you start to walk away he grabs your hand pulling you back.

"It's my mom she is going to want to say hi." He says. Picking up the phone ready to answer.

"Oh, well then no I should just leave. I don't know any Japanese."

"That's fine. I'll translate for you." He answers the call with an excited shout of hi.

That's how you end up face timing your boyfriend's mom with him translating for you. The nerves of course don't go anyway the entire call but at least you have met one of the parents now. Only one more to go.

🦊 Yedam

"Why do we have to meet at a karaoke place. I can't sing to save my life."

"You know my parents like to sing. They don't care if you can. They just want the first meeting to be fun." Yedam explains.

"This is not my definition of fun. I'm going to embarrass myself."

"You won't. I already told them you don't want to sing." Yedam reassures.

"What if they make me? I can't say no to your parents. I'll look like a bad girlfriend."

"Then I'll have to sing with you. We can sing a duet. I'll hold you hand the whole time."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

🐰 Doyoung

"My mom wants to meet you." Doyoung states. You both just woke up and as always he closed you to say good morning.

"Okay, when?" You question.

"Today at lunch. She wants to meet at Onion." He explains.

"Today? Isn't that a little bit early,"

"We have been together for a while and she thinks it time to meet you," Doyoung says.

You sigh before responding, "I don't know if I can do that. I am going to have to make a good impression."

"I don't think any of that matters. It's just brunch."

"Okay as long as you are there I should be fine."

"Oh I won't be there. I have to go to the store with my dad. You should be ready by 11 though my mom will be at the cafe waiting for you."

I have to go by myself.

"Kim Doyoung, did you just set me up to have a date without your mom without asking me?"

"I might have. You'll be fine. I have to go so you won't kill me. I love you bye." He hangs up before you have the chance to debate with him.

"Love you too. I guess." You mumble burying your head in your hands. I don't have the time for this you think.

🐏 Haruto

"I have a surprise for you." Haruto tells you.

"Sounds fun. What is it?"

Haruto pulls out two prices of paper from his back pocket and places them on the table, "Ticket to Japan for next weekend. Ta-da!"

"Oh my gosh really?" You exclaimed grabbing onto the tickets, "This is amazing, but do I have enough time to book an hotel?"

"You won't need a hotel. You can just stay with my family." Haruto replies.

"Is that such a good idea? I haven't even met your parents yet."

"Exactly this is the best time to meet them. Plus these tickets aren't refundable so you have to go."

"As long as it's okay with your parents I guess we are going to Japan."

🐺 Jeongwoo

"What do you mean your parents are on their way?"

"I mean my parents are joining us tonight for tteokbokki." Jeongwoo causally answers.

"You're just now telling me this. How long have you known?"

Jeongwoo looks up at the ceiling to ponder, "I don't know maybe the entire week."

"You have known the entire week! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you would react like this. They're just my parents. They won't kill you."

"They're not going to like me, I can already tell. I don't even have on nice clothes. I am in jeans and a t-shirt. I know I should have dressed up today." I pointed out. I am not even remotely ready to meet Jeongwoo's parents.

"You look fine. You don't have to dress up, you're already pretty. Looks aren't everything. You have a beautiful personality. That's why I like you. If I like you my parents will have to as well."

🐮 Junghwan

"This was really fun. We should have gone to a carnival a long time ago," you smile holding tightly onto a small blue bunny Junghwan won you.

Junghwan blushes a bit looking down, "I am glad you had fun. Next time we have to go to Lotte World."

"That would be so much fu-" you start to say before you hear a loud voice over the crowd yelling 'So Junghwan'.

Junghwan looks up looking around for the voice calling out his name. He pales and then looks at you. He barely can whisper out, "It's my parents."

As soon as the words leave his lips your stomach churns. Junghwan mentioned his parents being super strict when it came to even just letting him come out tonight.

"Are they coming over here? Do I look okay?"

"You look fine. Just turn around, smile and introduce yourself. I'll think of an escape plan."

"Junghwan-ah here you are. Are you going to introduce us to your friend?"

This was probably the worst way to meet your boyfriend's parents but at least they deemed you okay. You could live with that.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed~!

Requested By : @imajigglypuff3

[milkmateartist]

HEAVENS Black Garden English Translation 【 Eiichi & Eiji's Route Pt. 1 】

[ --- I do not own Black Garden, HEAVENS, Utapri, or any of the characters. This is a fan translation using a combination of google translate and my own japanese knowledge --- ]

// Translated by MilkmateArtist

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

▽ You

"Someone may come back, so I'll wait here."

I might get lost if I walked around recklessly in an unfamiliar place.

I also didn't have the courage to wander about in the dark.

▽ Eric

"You're awake……?"

▽ You

"Eric! !!"

I turned around to see Abel and Eric.

▽ Eric

"Sorry, did we surprise you? We ran out of firewood so we went out to get some more".

He held some pieces of firewood in his hands.

▽ Abel

"This area gets cold at night".

Abel said this as he added wood to the fire.

Embers from the fireplace flared up and the room became brighter.

▽ You

"Where are the others ...?"

▽ Abel

"They're back in their room and resting. Everyone was pretty energetic today so they're probably tired."

▽ You

"I'm sorry, you two remained because I fell asleep, huh?"

▽ Abel

"I thought about picking you up and carrying you to your room, but Eric thought it would be pitiful if I woke you up, so I didn't do so."

▽ Eric

"Jeez, Nii san! That was supposed to be confidential. "

As if a bit flustered, Eiichi's words got the better of Eiji.

▽ You

"Thank you for your concern. "

▽ Eric

"Um……. If you'd like, would you like to talk a little more?"

▽ You

"Of course! To be honest, It's rather lonely being on my own".

The drowsiness I had before seemed to disappear as if it were a lie.

▽ Abel

"So what would you like to talk about?"

(A) Hear about Abel

(B) Hear about Eric

(C) Hear about life in the mansion

(A) Hear About Abel:

▽ You

"I want to hear about you Abel."

▽ Abel

"I'm pleased by your request, especially since you're lonely, But I think it's better to talk about something else."

Abel seemed to care about Eric being there. He seemed to cherish his younger brother.

▽ Abel

"Instead, tell us about yourself.. I'm sure Eric wants to hear too."

Then as requested, I started telling them about myself for a while.

(B) Hear about Eric:

▽ You

"I want to hear about Eric".

▽ Eric

"About me……? I don't know if it's that interesting. I'm not very good at conversation."

Eric looked down with little confidence. I felt his humble nature.

▽ Eric

"Um ... if you don't mind, I'd like to hear about you. We'd like to get to know you better. Right, nii san?"

Then as requested, I started telling them about myself for a while.

(C) Hear about life in the mansion

▽ You

"I would like to ask about life in the mansion.".

▽ Abel

"Though the work is split between all of us, with the exception of my own work, there is much to do."

▽ Eric

"There are only 7 people, so we have to work together. When we finish our work we have free time so it's enjoyable."

Excited, the conversation piled up regarding their mansion life.

CONTINUE:

How much time had passed? The firewood they had put down earlier had gotten smaller.

I felt that I became a little more familiar with things regarding the mansion.

▽ Abel

"Thank you again for coming. You're a person suitable for the mansion."

▽ You

"Me? Really ...! I still think it's a dream."

I couldn't believe someone with such a wonderful mansion was my relative. The world they live in is too different.

▽ Abel

"You don't have to be modest. Just by being here your beauty accompanies the flowers. More than anything, you have a radiant personality. There is no boundary to your virtue."

I could tell he was speaking from the heart as he emphasized and gestured with grandeur.

▽ Abel

"Your soul is resonating, do you understand...? You're a necessity."

▽ You

"I'm a ... necessity ...?"

As though captivated, I was drawn in by the fiery zeal in Abel's eyes. A hypnotic floating sensation dominated my body.

▽ Eric

"It's unusual for my brother to like someone this much".

To relieve the tense atmosphere, Eric got up from his chair and added wood to the fireplace.

▽ Eric

"Even though Nii san was better than anyone, and was the envy of others, he never sought out anyone."

▽ Abel

"That's a misunderstanding. I can't do anything on my own.. I think it's all thanks to everyone and especially Eric that I can maintain this life."

▽ Eric

"That's very like you Nii san. You're as special as always. I'm always chasing after you. For me that's always so..."

Then he closed his mouth and looked down.

▽ You

"That's not true. The food today was really good and the garden you take care of is more radiant than any other."

Is there anything I can do? I thought I'd try to encourage him in the least.

▽ Eric

"…………."

Perhaps he was surprised by the sudden words, seeing his startled expression.

▽ You

"Ah……. I just got passionate.. I'm sorry, I just met you and all."

▽ Eric

"No, Thank you. As Nii san says, you really are wonderful. I'm happy that we met."

▽ Abel

"We should wrap it up. It's getting later in the night. You should go back to your room. "

Heeding Abel's words, the fun time came to a close. The two sent me out beforehand since they had to clean up.

It seemed that the rain had stopped before I knew it.

On my way back to my room, I couldn't help worry about something.

"Don't enter the garden at night"

When it came to the garden at night, everyone spoke as though they were hiding something.

And above all, I was struck by the desire to see the beautiful garden at night.

▽ You

"I wonder if there is any place I can go to get outside."

The doors and windows of the building were locked and unlikely to open. I tried many ways, but even the smallest window was locked.

The back road that I passed in the daytime was also closed.

It felt like I was trapped in the building itself.

▽ You

"Over there……".

While wandering around the hall, I found a corridor through the window. There was a tower at the end of the passageway, and it seemed like it could go outside.

I put my hand on the door to the crossing corridor.

▽ You

"It's open! "

The cool outside breeze stroked my cheeks.

When I leaned out from the railing in the corridor, I could see the garden through the gaps between the trees.

Now I can go out to the garden. I broke into a walk as if I were drawn in.

▽ Abel

"What are you doing."

Abel appeared from the entrance of the tower.

▽ Abel

"You didn't go back to your room?"

He gave a sharp look that pierced through me.

▽ Abel

"You weren't going to the garden, were you?"

(A) Be honest

(B) I got lost

(C) I wanted some fresh air

(B) I got lost

▽ You

"When I tried to return to the room, I got lost ... "

I mustn't tell the truth. I felt so instinctively.

▽ Abel

"Lost, huh ... Don't you think that sounds rather unfortunate?"

He looked at me with mercy and approached me.

▽ Abel

"I hate lies."

(A) Be honest

▽ You

"……I was. I was really curious about the garden."

It was useless hiding it. I answered honestly.

▽ Abel

"I see.. You answered well. It's good to be honest."

I thought I would be scolded, so I was surprised at his words.

▽ Abel

"However, there are rules in the world that must not be broken."

▽ You

……! !!

Someone smote the back of my head and I fell down there. A red stain spread on the floor.

▽ Abel

"Good night. Sleep for eternity ..".

BAD END

(C) I wanted some fresh air

▽ You

"I wanted some fresh air ..."

Even if it wasn't correct, I immediately gave an excuse not too far-fetched.

It was also true that I wanted to get out from being indoors.

▽ Abel

"Well said, but all doors and windows are closed at night. Except for this passageway."

He spoke in an inquiring tone.

▽ Abel

"Why do you think that is? If you are that clever, then you know the answer?"

Abel walked slowly and lined up next to me.

▽ You

"..... I - I don't know. "

▽ Abel

"It's to catch anyone trying to break into the garden."

CONTINUE

Abel strongly grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back into the mansion.

▽ You

……! !!

Unable to resist his power, I was at his mercy.

▽ Abel

"Those who break the rules need appropriate sanctions."

My dread prevented me from speaking.

Abel roughly opened a door and I was thrown into a room.

My body hits the back of the wall in recoil.

▽ You

"...... Kya! !!"

Abel hit the wall with his hand as if to corner me, and peered into my face with a bloodcurdling expression.

▽ Abel

"Didn't I warn you enough? Why did you not take it?"

▽ You

"I- I'm sorry ..."

▽ Abel

"...... I'm disappointed in you."

He let me go, expressing a bit of sadness.

▽ Abel

"It must be seen that bad (girls/boys/etc) be punished."

The key ring in Abel's hand made a noise as it swayed..

▽ Abel

"Cool your head in this room. If you wish to live here, change your behavior."

▽ You

"Abel, please wait!"

I desperately clung to his hand. Feeling really guilty, terror started to seep into the gloomy room.

▽ Abel

"Understand that there are things in the world that should not be known."

He shook my hand off and I slumped to the floor.

(A) Ask the secret of the garden

(B) Contradict him

(C) Obediently comply

(A) Ask the secret of the garden

▽ You

What kind of secret is there behind the garden at night?

I said I had been wondering for a long time.

▽ You

"When the topic comes up, everyone acts as though they're trying to hide something. As if they're scared ..."

The secret that casts a dark shadow on this happy mansion. The circumstance was so unnatural that I felt a sense of discomfort.

▽ Abel

"I have no obligation to tell you."

(B) Contradict him

▽ You

"If that's so, then why did you tell me?"

"Don't enter only the garden at night"

Everything started with Abel's advice.

▽ You

"If I didn't know, I wouldn't even be interested in it in the first place".

Yes, he dared to give me that information.

▽ Abel

"…… Huh.."

As if delighted, he smiled as his eyes shined suspiciously.

▽ You

"Are you testing me?"

▽ Abel

"As I thought, this is only what I expected. Your attitude in pursuing the truth and unyielding to fear is to be praised."

Abel pushed my chin up with his finger.

I immediately pushed away his hand.

▽ Abel

"II ! I like you more and more ( ___ ) . "

(C) Obediently comply

▽ You

"I understand……"

I sensed it was meaningless to resist anymore.

▽ Abel

"I wish you had taken my advice from the beginning."

Abel muttered the words under his breath as he moved towards the door.

▽ Abel

"But it's all in the past now".

The door closed mercilessly, locking with a loud noise.

I wondered how much time would pass here.

The windows were tightly fitted with iron bars and unescapable.

The door never opened, as if my existence had been forgotten.

BAD END

CONTINUE:

▽ Abel

"It's all for you."

He muttered the words as he left, and then the door was mercilessly closed.

I ran up to the door, put my hand on the doorknob and moved it as hard as I could.

▽ You

"It's no good.. It's locked and it won't budge."

I tried various ways to get out of the room, but none of them worked.

The windows were tightly fitted with iron bars and I couldn't escape..

The only thing that seemed to move was time.

…………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Suddenly the room was unlocked.

▽ Eric

"Are you all right?"

▽ You

"Eric ...!"

▽ Eric

"I didn't see you around so I went looking, but it seems you were here."

I was relieved seeing his gentle smile. Without thinking, I rushed to him.

▽ Eric

"I guess you're being punished by Nii san?"

▽ You

"You know that?...! "

Without having to explain what had been so far, he seemed to know everything.

▽ Eric

"This is the room for that. A place where those who break the rules are trapped. Though I have never been myself though."

He shrugged with a bitter smile.

▽ Eric

"Regardless of how you look, you're pretty bold if you upset my brother."

▽ You

"In the end, I was curious about the garden at night ..."

I honestly confessed my feelings.

▽ Eric

."..... It wasn't enough huh...."

▽ You

"Eh……?"

His muttered voice was so quiet that I couldn't hear it well.

▽ Eric

"No. Nothing. I was just thinking how I should have paid more attention to you."

▽ You

"You didn't do anything bad. My thinking wasn't sound after all..".

Even though I said that, my questions lingered.

Why couldn't I enter the garden and what were they hiding ... My anxiety only increased.

▽ Eric

"Did you still want to see the "Night Garden"? "

(A) I want to see

(B) I do not want to see

(C) I'm not sure

(A) I want to see

▽ You

"I want to see it. I want to see it with my own eyes. "

I answered with clear intention. I couldn't lie to my heart.

▽ Eric

"I thought you would say so. You have strength that I don't, and I find that attractive".

▽ You

"Eh……? What do you mean by that..".

I couldn't hide my confusion from his straightforward words.

▽ Eric

"It means just that. It's rather dazzling. Pure and fearless. That kind of freedom is like a flower blooming in the field."

(B) I do not want to see

▽ You

"I don't want to see it. It's been a lot."

There was no need to anxiously make a decision.

▽ Eric

"I ... understand. You definitely must be tired from all the stuff that's been going on".

I nodded at his words, even though something about the phrasing made it seem like it held hidden connotations.

▽ You

"I want to get back to my room soon to sleep."

▽ Eric

" If that's the case, you should drink this. It's a medicine that makes you feel tired. I created it from the plants I've been nurturing."

Eric had a purple vial in his hand.

▽ You

"Thank you".

Upon receiving the bottle, I opened the lid and put the medicine in my mouth. A thick, sweet liquid spread across my tongue.

I was enraptured by a flower-like scent and an indescribable sense of happiness.

I closed my eyes as if I were dreaming.

I didn't want to wake up anymore.

I found that my heartbeat gradually slowed down and my consciousness went away.

BAD END

(C) I'm not sure

▽ You

"I don't know. I want to see it, but I'm a little scared to know the truth."

I was hesitant to step further.

▽ Eric

"Are you worried about my brother? About if you'll be scolded again?"

I nodded honestly.

▽ You

"But I don't know if it's right to keep lying about my feelings."

I was wondering if at this rate, I could still live here while raising all this distrust.

▽ Eric

"Haha. You answered for yourself just now, right? It's okay. I'll support you."

CONTINUE:

▽ Eric

"Come……."

Eric took my hand and we left the room.

▽ You

"Eric! ??"

He held my hand strongly as we walked down the corridor leading to the garden.

▽ Eric

"One cannot overcome curiosity. Once you're obsessed, you can't escape."

Guided by Eric, we headed to the garden at night.

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

Go to Black Garden English Translation Directory here for more routes.

[whymylife-101]

Pen...Pals? ~Kenma Kozume X Reader~

Description-

Okay, so @OIKAWAS (on wattpad) originally made this idea/plot, but I really liked it and (for the time being) they discontinued it, which was really sad to me because I feel like they got Kenma's personality down really well! (Though I do understand why they did it and completely respect their decision) So I just kinda thought I'd put my own little spin on it! Okay, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy!(This book and all my other ones are gender neutral, I don't like excluding people so if I do make a mistake anywhere then please let me know!) (Also, any art in this book is not mine! I'm not sure who most of the artists are because I got the pictures off of google, but if you do know please tell me so I can give the proper credit!) -Started; March 30th, 2020 (3/30/2020) -Finished; March 30th, 2020 (3/30/2020)

Chapter One;

~Reader's POV~

I walked into class and sat in my desk next to one of my best friends. "Hey.." I yawned out, rubbing my eyes. "Did you stay up late playing video games?" (F/n) questioned with an eyebrow raised. "I didn't say up that late." I told them truthfully. "You say that every time." They told me, rolling their eyes with a small smile on their face.

The teacher walked in as our conversation came to a close. "Alright." The teacher started. "Because in this unit we are going more in depth about Japanese history and we already studied the culture, I thought it would be a fun idea to get a first hand experience with some of the kids that live in Japan. I was lucky enough to get Nekoma High School to agree."

At this, some people started to murmur about how cool and excited this would be. The teacher cleared her throat to get the classes attention and to signify that she wasn't done talking. "Make sure that your letters are appropriate and don't share any personal Information. I will mail them by the end of this week and yes, they are for a grade."

The kid in front of me raised their hand. "Mrs, do we write in English?" The teacher nodded her head as she picked up a tiny box. "Any other questions?" When no one raised their hands or called out, she then proceeded to explain what the box was for.

"Now then, I'm going to walk around and your going to pick out a name from the box. Then I want you to get started on you letters." She walked around to everyone's desk, and everyone pulled out a random strip of paper.

When she got to my desk I put my hand in a grabbed the first piece I touched the pulled it out quickly. "Hey, who did you get?" (F/n) asked. "I got Kenma Kozume, who did you get?" I asked. "Fukunaga Shohei." They said, pronouncing it very slowly while trying to sound it out. I giggled slightly. "Maybe you should ask him how to pronounce his name." "Oh shush!" My friends said, lightly hitting my shoulder.

"Okay class, start working on your letters." My teacher said as she put the box beside her desk and started to grade papers. I took some lined paper out of my bag and began to write my letter.

When the bell rang I had a little more than a full page done. I had written a little bit about me, what I look like, and some cool places I've been to that were near me. I had also asked him some questions about himself and Japan.

I gave the letter to my teacher as I headed out the door with (F/n) right behind me. "Hey (Y/N), what do you think your pen pal is going to look like?" They asked as we pulled up her our lockers. "I don't know, you have any idea about yours?" I asked back. "Well they say people with difficult names are hotter." My friend said, making me laugh. "That's such a weird stereotype, where did you even hear it from?"

"W-well, there's this YouTube channel-!" My friend started, but I interrupted them. "And your really going to trust some nut-job on the Internet?" (F/n) crossed their arms. "At least I try to search up informational things in my free time." "Touché." I once again laughed as we made our way to the lunch room.

"So you think your pen pal is going to be hot?" I questioned, making them blush. "S-shush!" Once again I laughed as (F/n)'s face exploded in a blush. "I can't say I know for sure what my pen pal is going to look like, but I hope they like video games."

"What, you want them to send you over some Japanese exclusive games?" (F/n) said sarcastically. "That wasn't the intent purpose, but I suppose I wouldn't go against the idea. I just thought we could bond over video games." I hummed out.

"Hey!" I heard (f/2) (that means friend number 2) say as they sat down at our little table. Me and (f/n) gave our own versions of a hello. "Hey, you did the pen pal thing last year right?" (F/n) questioned, making (f/2) nod their head.

"Yea, are you guys doing that now?" I nodded my head. "Oh that's so cool! Ya know, I still talk to my pen pal. His name is Kuroo Tetaurō." (F/2) said. "Oh wow, you guys still do the pen pal thing?" (F/n) asked. "Oh no, we exchanged numbers towards the end." (F/2) laughed out.

We continued to talk about the pen pal stuff and (F/2) told us what we should expect going into it. After lunch was over me and (F/n) dumped our trays and said goodbye to (F/2).

"Are you excited to get a letter back?" (F/n) asked me. "A little, you?" I questioned back. "A little." They said, copying me, making me laugh. "Okay, lets get to class."' I told them, rolling my eyes.

Chapter Two;

~Kenma's POV~

I sat in class, sneakily pulling my phone out to play Pocket Camp, class hadn't started yet and I really had nothing better to do. A few minutes past and Fukunaga had sat behind me. "Hey Kozume." I gave a hum in response.

"What are you playing?" He asked, trying to take a look at my phone. "Pocket Camp." My tone was dull as I continued to try and complete my missions and stuff that I needed to do for Bob and Rosie.

The bell rang throughout the halls which could be heard from inside the classroom, signaling me to put my phone away so I wouldn't get in detention and have to run extra laps at volleyball practice. Once I slid my phone in my pocket the teacher walked in with a box and a lesson plan in hand. "Good morning class."

"Good morning." Me and everyone had said back. "Today we are going to be doing something different. Because we have been learning about a ton of other countries, a school from (insert where you live) reached out and asked if we could do a "pen pal" type of activity. That way you guys can learn about the place first hand from someone that lives there, and you can tell your pen pal how it is here."

"Now your pen pals have already been assigned and they have already written a letter to you. I have this box with me, and I'm going to go around and hand out everyone's letters." After he finished he grabbed the box and started to walk around. Eventually the teacher got around to my desk, he quickly shuffled through the letters and found the one addressed to me.

"Hey Kozume, who'd your say it's from?" Fukunaga asked as he looked down at his paper. "Umm... (L/N), (Y/N).... you?" "(F/LN) (friends last name), (F/n)." He answered. I nodded my head, fixing to pull out my phone again when the teacher had asked us if we had any questions. The girl in front of me raised her hand. "Are we writing in Japanese?" The teacher shook his head. "No english." Another student then raised a hand.

"Are we aloud to send pictures?" "As long as they are appropriate, any other questions?" When no one raised their hands the teacher told us to start reading the letters and once we finished to start working on our letters that we'd give back, and that they'd be due by the end of this school week. On that note we started to read/write our letters.

About half of the class consisted of me writing something down and erasing it not long after, so all I had was:

'Dear (L/ N), (F/ N)

My name in Kozume Kenma.'

Sighing out of frustration i looked behind me, catching Fukunaga attention. "Umm... how do we start the letters?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck in embarrassment. "Well," Fukunaga started. "I introduced myself, told them how to pronounce my name, and told them to call me by my surname. I started to list some things about me and I told them

I would have pictures of different places that most tourist would want to see when visiting. Oh! And I also described what I looked like. But I also answered some of their questions two."

I nodded my head and thanked him, then turned back around to finish my paper. When the bell rang I had a little under a half of my page full. I sighed, and put it in my book bag so I could finish it at home and get the pictures I needed.

I quickly pulled out my phone and slung my bag over my shoulder as I made my way out of the classroom and into the hallway with Fukunaga by my side. We both walked until we got to class 2-3 where Yamamoto was and waited for him so we could walk to our club together.

Once Yamamoto came out, him and Fukunaga started chatting while I was silent, playing on my phone. I was just fixing to beat a new level on my game when suddenly I could feel a hand wrap around my shoulders, which caused me to glance to me side to see Kuroo. "Hey shorty." "I'm not that much shorter." I told him plainly as I continued to play my game, as we walked into the changing rooms.

I didn't take a second to glance around me, and instead sat down on one of the benches as I was trying to hurry and finish the level. Which I successfully did. A sigh of relive slipped through my lips as they tugged up into a small smile. "Hey Kenma? Hurry up and change or coach is going to make you run extra laps." At Kuroo's works I slid my phone in my bag and started to change into my volleyball uniform.

-

I walked out of the changing rooms after practice with my phone in hand and Kuroo by my side. He was talking about his day and some of his classmates as a made a few comments here and there. Suddenly, Kuroo stopped talking as his phone buzzed.

He quickly pulled his phone out and started to type to the person, a smile coming across his face. "Awfully quiet on your end." I noted, not taking my eyes off my game. "Well, (f/2) is texting me." He chuckled. "Come to think of it, it was around this quarter that I first got a letter from (f/2). Are you guys doing that pen pal thing?"

I nodded my head and gave a hum. "Who did you get?" "Uhhh... I think the last name was (L/N)?" Kuroo nodded his head and started typing something on his phone, a few minutes later he gave off this devilish smirk. "Is something funny?"

Kuroo gave off a chuckle. "It's nothing." He said as we continued walking until we came to my house. We both waved goodbye and I quickly unlocked my door, trying not to lose my level. I then walked inside and closed the door with my foot, haphazardly kicking my shoes off in the process. I then walked up the stairs and into my room, shutting the door the same way I did downstairs, then plopped on my bed.

I quickly finished the level and set my phone down. "I should probably try and add something to the letter... and get some pictures..." I told myself quietly as I got up and got back to work.

Chapter Three;

~Reader's POV~

It's been about a week since we turned in our letters and our teacher had the letters from our pen pals ready for us to read. On the envelopes they made us write who they were to and who they were from.

When the teacher called my name, I came up and grabbed the envelope and sat down at my desk. Once we got our envelopes we where told to wait until everyone had gotten theirs so that way we could all open them together and there wasn't a bunch of noise as she was trying to pass out the envelopes.

I couldn't help but feel butterflies in my tummy at the thought of what my pen pal could be like.  Would they have similar interests that i have? Would they be the polar opposite of me? What did they look like? These thoughts and millions of other swarmed my head.

That was until the last person got theirs, she told us we could read them and then write a response back, and that they were again, due at the end of the week.

I opened the envelope neatly, unlike some people that chose to just tear them open. Once I opened it I started to read it to myself.

'Dear (L/N), (Y/N)

My name in Kozume Kenma (Ko-zoom-e Ken-ma), but please call me Kozume. I live in Tokyo Japan and go to school at Nekoma High, but you probably already knew that. I'm on my schools volleyball team and in my free time I like to play video games (some of my favorites are Pocket Camp and Mario Cart). I find it hard to describe things so I decided I would just put a couple of photos of me and my volleyball team in the envelope two (I'm the one with the black hair fading into blond). In Tokyo there is mainly a lot of food stands/shops, and a ton of stuff for tourists, I'm sorry, but I really don't know how to describe it. If there's anything in particular you wanted to see I could always take a picture. I'm not really a social person so I apologize for the lack of writing.

  -Sincerely, Kozume Kenma.'

I looked towards my friend to see they got a whole two pages, front and back, while I barley got even a full page of writing. "Wow..." I said quietly to myself. I decided that I would go ahead and look inside the envelope for the pictures that Kozume said he sent.

I saw some miniature pictures in the bottom and took them out, the first one was a picture of the whole Nekoma volleyball team, It wasn't hard to find Kozume because he was the only male with the hair colors he described. He was also the only one holding his phone and looking down at it.

I then looked at the next photo to see it was one of him and a guy with bedhead. Kozume wasn't looking down this time, instead, he stared straight at the camera with a small smile as the bed-headed male gave him bunny ears.

The next, and last photo was of just Kozume, he was standing on the side walk, and was glancing up at the person taking the photo with a phone in his hands. Unlike the other ones, where he was in his team uniform, he was actually wearing casual clothes.

When I put the photos down I could feel some heat making its way to my cheeks. I wouldn't deny that Kozume was fairly attractive, but the thought of the semester being over and him being nothing more than a faint memory kept me from thinking about it to much, instead, I focused on writing another letter.

I couldn't think of much to write about, I just asked him who the bed haired male was, told him some video games that I enjoyed, I also told him what club I was in and told him I also would send photos of me and some places around the city.

The bell rang and I decided I would put my note in my bag so I can get the pictures I needed (Im sorry if this feels repetitive). I again made my way to lunch with (F/n) and (F/2).

"So (Y/N), do you have anything in common with your pen pal?" I paused the game I was playing and looked up at (F/2), slightly blushing at the thought of Kozume, though it went unnoticed to the two in front of me. "Yea, we both like video games, and I found out he had a Pocket Camp account."

"Oooh~ Are you going to give him your friend code~!" (F/n) tried to tease me, but I just unpaused the game and ignored them. "Aww come on! Don't do us dirty like that!" I continued to play my game and try to block out my friends. I could hear one of them puff out a short breath of air, meaning they were going to tease me more, but thankfully the bell came to my rescue, and I quickly got up to leave and go to my class.

-

At the end of the day I was walking home with (F/n) and (F/2). They were talking while I was playing a video game on my phone. "Hey (Y/N), how did you respond to your pen pal?"

I quickly looked up from my game to glance at my friends (who had smug faces) and back down at it again. "I wrote a little about video games and the city here... I also told him I'd include pictures like he did."

"Ohh! So he sent you pictures! Is he good looking!?" (F/n) shouted, making a light blush spread across my cheeks. "Uhhh... idk. You can be the judge of that.." I took out the letter in my bag and handed it to my friends. "He's the one with the blond hair and dark roots."

I heard (F/n) giggle at the male in the picture. Suddenly, (F/2) gasped. "Hey! That was my pen pal last year!" I quickly glanced up from my game again to see they were looking at the second photo and (F/2) had pointed at the male with bed hair. "Oh yea... I was wondering what his name was." I told them as my eyes went back to my phone.

"It's Kuroo!" (F/2) was looking at the photo and stared at the "Kuroo" guy with a dark blush. "Ah, the one you like." I paused my game to see their reaction, and it was priceless. Their face lit up an even darker shade of red that spread to the tip of their ears.

"Hey! We're at your house! Don't you think your mother wants you home?!" (F/2) quickly said, trying to get me to stop teasing them. "Guess we are." I said, taking the letter and photos back from my friends and headed inside.

When I got home I immediately went to my room so I could print off some pictures of myself. I found a few of me, (F/n) and (F/2) and printed them. After words I put them in the envelope and tried to finish my letter.

-

I heard a knock on my door as I was putting the letter in the envelope. "(Y/N), dinner is almost ready." I heard my mother's voice as she opened the door. "Okay, do you mind if I go take some pictures real quick for a school assignment?" I asked, taking my phone off of the charger. "Sure dear, just be back in 30ish minutes okay?" I nodded my head, and said a quick "yes ma'am" as I put my shoes on.

My mom left, to where I assume to be the kitchen, as gathered my things. I quickly plugged in my headphones to my phone and made my way downstairs. I then made my way around town and took quick pictures of some things that I typically see tourists go to.

When I was finished I made my way home, my mother telling me I was just in time for dinner. I quickly ate, telling my mom it was delicious as always, and then made my way upstairs. I hooked my phone to my computer and downloaded the photos I took. After a few hours of it downloading I was finally able to print off the ones I liked and put them in a separate envelope. 'Finally I can go to sleep.' I thought to myself as my body was finally able to hit the bed.

Chapter Four;

~Kenma's POV~

When I woke up I had realized that I woke up extremely late and I missed half of my classes. At this realization I rushed myself to the bathroom to get dressed and quickly checked to make sure I had everything before running out the door.

I pulled out my phone while running to see that it was already 10:27. 'Shit... I'm not going to make it in time to receive my letter!' I haphazardly  threw my phone in my pocket and continued running.

At some point I skidded to a stop in front of my classroom. I was panting from running all the way here, so I took a second to regroup myself before I decided to knock on the door. I adjusted my tie and smoothed out my school uniform a little before lifting my hand, but just as I was about to make contact with the door, the bell rang and students started to file out of the rooms and into the hallways.

I stepped back to give the ones leaving some space. "Ahh, Kozume! You were late today." I could hear Fukunaga say as he exited. "I have your letters, I was planning on giving them to Kuroo, so he could leave it at your house, but I guess your here now." He told me, holding out a white envelope and a bigger orange/yellow one for me to grab. "Thank you."

I was still taking shallow breaths as sweat gathered on my temple, so it was no shock that Fukunaga noticed and made a comment about it. "The last time you were this tired was when you skipped practice because of a video game and coach made you run the entire practice. Where you really that eager to get your letter?"

At this a light blush came to my face. "No. I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss all of my classes and that coach wouldn't make me do that again." I told the male, referencing to the first, and last time I'd ever skip practice.

"Was it worth it?" Fukunaga asked as we started to walk. "No." I answered quickly while scrunching up my face at the thought, making Fukunaga laugh.

-

When I got home I made my way to my room and got the two envelopes out of my bag. I opened them quickly but made sure to not rip or tear anything.

After I read the note I took the photos out of the white envelopes first. When I saw the person I was pen pals with I could feel what raise to my cheeks and the corners of my lips tug into a small smile.

The first picture was of (L/N) and two of their friends. (L/N) was in the middle and held up a peace sign with a bright smile, while the one on the left held bunny fingers behind (L/N)'s head, and lastly the friends on the right had a small smile while they took the photo.

The second picture was only of (L/N), they were standing on side was as they covered the bottom half of their face, poorly hiding a blush, as they looked off to the side. This picture in particular made my small smile stretch a little into a grin.

The third photo made my smile instantly fall. This one had (L/N) and another male in the photo. In this one they were yelling at the male while he laughed at them. I felt some anger slowly form in the pit of my stomach. The first thought I had was that this was (L/N)'s boyfriend, which made the anger rise a tad more.

But then referencing to the letter, they said, as quoted, they took some pictures of themselves and "some of my friends" I quickly looked back at the letter to make sure that I didn't skip over anything, and referencing back they didn't say anything about a boyfriend. This made me relax a little, so I dismissed the option that it was their boyfriend as there was no evidence.

I picked up the yellow/orange envelope, opening it. Inside we're five pictures this time.

The first one was of a statue that has a little golden plaque near it, the statue itself was of a older looking man with a cane, just like the plaque the man was golden as well.

The second photo related to the first one, as it was a closer look of the plaque. As I read it, it explained how the statue was of the man that had founded their country.

The third photo was of a really nice looking castle. There was a little note at the bottom of the letter that said that this was where the man from the first picture had lived, and that both of these were a really big spot for tourists.

The fourth photo was at the castle again, except this time (L/N), the two friends from the first photo, and the male from the last one, were by one of the many knight armor that was lining the walls. They all made funny faces at the camera, looking like they were having a good time.

The fifth photo was one that made my blood boil. It was in the same spot at the last, but this time the male had leaned really close to (L/N) with his lips pressed against their cheek. He had a light blush on his face while (Y/N) had a huge one on theirs while their eyes were also wide open.

I couldn't help but glare at the photo that was currently in my hands. Suddenly their was a knock on my door and I could hear it creak open. "Hey Kenma, my parents are having a double date with your parents again tonight, so I was wondering if-."

With each word that left Kuroo's mouth I knew he was getting closer and closer to my side as his voice got louder, but I couldn't care less, even when he was right beside me and stopped talking, my eyes never left the picture, and my glare didn't falter either.

That was until Kuroo gave out a large cackle. I looked up and gave Kuroo the same glare, which only made him laugh harder. After ten minutes of his obnoxious laughter, he finally had enough and was clutching his stomach as he wiped away a fake tear.

"Kenma... that was the funniest thing I've ever seen you done." He wheezed out. "Now what are you glaring at?" He asked, snatching the photo out of my hands.

"Which one is the pen pal?" He asked, after a moment of studying the photo. "Take a guess." I mumbled out. "Hmm... the one being kissed?" Kuroo asked with a smile. I only puffed out my cheeks in annoyance as I fell back onto my bed.

"Hey, I didn't know your pen pal knew mine." "What do you mean." I leaned my head to the side to look at Kuroo. "The one with the (random hair color) and (random eye color)." Kuroo turned the photo so that I could see it and pointed at one of the people that were in the first photo.

My eyes shifted from the person Kuroo was pointing at to the male and (Y/N), making me groan and turn the other way. "Ya know, I've never seen you so upset about a person." Kuroo pointed out, and by his tone I could just picture the smile he was giving me.

I grumbled out a excuse under my breath which only caused Kuroo to laugh. "How about I treat you to some apple pie?" I sat up slowly and glanced at Kuroo then to the picture that was in his hand.

"Are we going to the one on 57th street?" Kuroo nodded his head at my question. Instead of replying I stood up and put my shoes on. We both walked in silence to the bakery that I loved.

-

Kuroo had just left my house so I decided I would take the left over pie from earlier and take it to my room so I could start writing me letter.

As I started to write it the only question I could think of asking was "who was the boy" and "is he your boyfriend or is he just a friend" or "why didn't you tell me you were seeing someone"

The urge to ask (L/N) those questions, and many more, was very high. Eventually I got through the note without commenting on the mysterious male.

It was late so I decided to get some rest for tomorrow, but the longer I stayed without knowing that I'd get closer, the more thoughts that swarmed my head. Like, 'how long have they been dating' and 'are they still together' or 'did they break up' and 'are they maybe just childhood friends' and 'are they in a happy relationship' and of course many others. But lastly..

'what if that was me instead of him?'

Chapter Five;

~Reader's POV~

I walked into the classroom with a skip in my step, I was excited to be getting my letter from Kozume. I quickly sat down in my seat, with a wide smile.

"Wow, since when do you come into class without your face in your phone? Did you beat a new video game?" (F/n) giggled out. "I did finish Super Mario Brothers 2 last night, but that's not why I'm excited."

"Oh, is it the letter from your dear Kenma then?" (F/n) teased as I blushed. "Come on, we aren't even on first name basis." "Doesn't mean you don't like him~!" They teased even further, making me blush even darker in return.

Before I could rebuttal, the teacher walks in with the letters. "Okay class, I'll pass out the letters and I want you guys to write your responses quickly because we have work to do today.... I'll give you guys 15 minutes after I pass them out."

The teacher passed back the papers and I beam to read through mine.

'Dear (L/N), (Y/N)

Hello again, I wanted to say that I found you very pretty in the pictures you sent, it's not a surprise to me that you have a loving boyfriend. How long have you guys been together, and what's his name? By the fifth photo you sent with the castle I'd assume that it's been a while. I couldn't send photos this time, but I'll try in my next letter. I wish you and your boyfriend the best.

   -Sincerely, Kozume Kenma'

At the word boyfriend I could feel my eyebrow quirk up. I wasn't dating anyone, and I haven't dated anyone in a few years. Then i remember sending a photo of (M/n) (male name). It was just a photo of me and him arguing over a video game, so I'd assume nothing when sending it, but i guess Kenma had assumed otherwise.

I quickly started off my letter by telling him that (M/n) wasn't my boyfriend, just a close friend I've had since Jr. High. I continued the letter by saying that he has been like a brother to me for so, nothing could ever change that. I then asked Kenma a few questions before closing off my letter and setting it aside. I didn't really have much to say, so my letter wasn't very long.

The 15 minute timer ran out and we continued with class as normal.

-

After my club me, (F/n), and (F/2) decided we would go to the arcade that was near by. "Hey (Y/N), I challenge you to a battle!" (F/2) said excitingly. "Oh!" I started, deciding to play along. "You dare challenge the queen!" This sentence made (F/2) giggle. "You mean the soon to be ex-Queen." (F/2) said smugly. "We'll see about that." I told them, a smirk growing on my face. "Now which game shall it be."

"Hmmm.... what about mortal combat!" (F/2) flicked my forehead. "You're on!" I yelled, racing them to the arcade machine. We both inserted our coins and picked our characters, then played.

-

"Ugh! Come on! No far!" So far we had done the best out of ten and I had won every single game. "Ahh, but I still have my crown. Looks like you couldn't beat the queen." I gave (F/2) a small smile.

"Oh, but I bet you want Kozume to be your king right?" (F/n) said out of nowhere, making me blush lightly. "I never said that..." I mumbled. "No, but you can't lie and say you haven't thought of it." This made my blush darken greatly and made me puff out my cheeks slightly. "I don't need a king...."

Chapter Six;

~Kenma's POV~

Just like very other week, the teacher passed out the letters. I was particular anxious about this one because of how many questions I asked about the mysterious male.

Not only that but what if it actually was their boyfriend? Will they think I'm being weird? Did I freak them out? What if they think I'm jealous? What if it gets awkward?

Once the teacher sat the letter on my desk I very hesitantly reached out to it. I very slowly opened the letter and then very tentatively read through the note.

In the very first sentence (L/N) had clarified that she was not dating the male in the photo, and that they were in fact childhood friends. And if anything he was a brother to her so nothing could have grown into anything bigger. I continued read on when the ending of the letter especially caught me eye, it read:

'I've been thinking about how this quarter is almost coming to an end, and in this short amount of time I have grown to consider you a really close friend and would like it if you addressed me by my first name. And if you wouldn't mind maybe we could talk about the possibility of me visiting during the summer (or vise versa)? I completely understand if you shut down both of my offers, I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. I look forward to your response!

  -Sincerely yours, (Y/N) (L/N)'

I couldn't believe what I was reading. (L/N), not only considered us close, not only wants me to call them by their given name, but also would like to meet me in person. I was over- joyed to say the least, and I could feel my lips tug into a warm smile as I quickly wrote a letter back.

-

After school had ended I asked Kuroo to take me around Tokyo to some "touristy places" so I could take pictures to send to (Y/N), mainly because I didn't know the area well even though I've lived here for almost my entire life.

We walked around and took pictures of different things until around 8 and decided to head home. When I did get home I ate dinner and then printed the pictures to put inside the envelope along with the letter.

Chapter Seven;

~Reader's POV~

When I got in the classroom I was fidgeting a lot more than usual, and I guess (F/n) noticed. "Hey (Y/N), are you okay?" I nodded my head and took out my phone, I started to play one of my games, but I couldn't concentrate because my thoughts were spiraling.

Ever since I gave my teacher the letter to send off I had been anticipating Kozumes response. I was really worried about being to forward and scaring him off. But judging by the times we had play Pocket Camp, he seemed like he was having a good time? But I could have been reading to much into it?

As that thought crossed my mind my screen flashed with a "game over" text, making me sigh. I was way to fidgety to be playing the game and kept messing up.

"Woah, something just really be bothering you to lose at that game. What's wrong?" I sat my phone down and took a deep breath in and out. "I told Kozume to call me by my first name and I also told him that I could visit sometime if he liked. I'm just scared of what he'll say..."

(F/n) put a hang on my shoulder. "Hey, listen. You are a wonderful person and friends. If he can't see that through your guys letters and talks during your video games, then that's really his loss. You're beautiful, have a wonderful sense of humor, and have the most charming smile ever. If he can't see that then he's blind!"

(F/n)'s words made me giggle. It didn't erase my worries completely, but it helped a lot. The teacher then walked into the classroom and handed out the letters.

When I got my letter my nerves returned again... taking a deep breath I opened the letter and let that deep breath out, taking all of my worries with it. I grabbed the first the note and started to read it, praying there wasn't anything bad in it.

'Dear (Y/N), (L/N)

I wouldn't mind calling you by you given name if that is what you want, and I also wouldn't mind it if we arranged a meet up during the summers. Though if you wanted to tour Tokyo my friend would have to come with us because I don't know the area to well. I thought that I'd take some pictures of places that are near me and most tourist go. I also have little headings on the pictures to explain the the pictures a little.

    -Sincerely, Kenma Kozume'

I couldn't help but smile when I read the bottom. Normally he would put his surname first, but this time he put his birth name, which meant that I would be able to call him by his birth name.

I then remembered that he had sent me photos and decided to open the separate yellow/orange envelope.

The first picture was a photograph of Tokyo Tower, the heading just stated that it was in fact Tokyo Tower and that some people mistake regular water towers for Tokyo Tower.

The second picture was of Kenma and his bedhead friend. They both stood in-front of the very famous Sensoji Temple. his arm around Kenma's shoulder while Kenma was looking down at his game. The heading had said the photo was of Kuroo and him last year when the bad went there on a school trip.

The third and last photo was Kenma and Kuroo again, but this time Kenma was looking at the camera, although he looked very annoyed, and Kuroo held up bunny ears behind Kenma. The head had explained that this was taken on a school field trip they had taken this year to Tokyo's National Museum.

I couldn't help but laugh at the picture in particular with a huge smile on my face. I quickly decided i should write a letter back to Kenma.

Chapter Eight;

~Kenma's POV~

Once again I got a letter from my teacher. When i opened it, it was all about (Y/N) gushing about how fun it will be to finally meet me in person. Towards the end of the letter (Y/N) had said that if i wanted to continue to talk, the i could give them my phone number. My last letter was short, I didn't really have a lot to say so it was pretty blunt....

-

As I got home from school I looked at my desk where my letter had sat, I didn't know if I should give that letter to my teacher or not.... the one thing I did know though was that my mind was constantly on (Y/N). My eyes always trialed to the small sliding drawer where I kept the letters she sent me, along with the photos.

I sat up from my bed and walked over to the desk and decided to re-read through the "old" letters. I even looked through the pictures. I subconsciously had a small smile on my face as I looked down at the photos.... well, all but two.

When I came across those two photos in particular my smile dropped. I immediately made up my mind as I saw those two photos.

Bad Ending;

~Reader's POV~

I walked into my classroom with a pep in my step. In my last letter I had asked Kenma for his number, and judging by how he still played Pocket Camp with me and came to visit my camp site, I'd say when I opened that letter, it was going to have his number in it.

I sat down and instantly started to fidget just like I did last week, the only difference being, this time it was from excitement. "You look happy this week." (F/n) pointed out, making me smile up at them. I honestly didn't have words to describe how happy I was, so instead I just nodded my head.

"Okay class, settle down. I thought I should point out before handing out these papers that this is that last letter that you will receive, and you won't need to write a letter back." After finishing this she started to hand the letters back. When the teacher got to me, she held a look of pity in her eyes and gave me an all knowing look, like she's seen situation play out like this a million different times before.

She then walked by my desk. She didn't say anything. She didn't put a note down, she just walked past and continued to hand out the notes. When she finished she had called me outside the classroom to speak with me.

"As you know, you didn't get a letter.... your pen pal, Kozume, decided that he couldn't bring himself to write another letter because of certain relationships you had with another male..." My teacher explained. The only thought racing through my head was "why".

"Um... can I go to the bathroom?" I asked. The teacher gave me a pitied look and nodded her head, walking inside the classroom. I went to the bathroom and went on Pocket Camp to text Kenma.

No matter how many times I texted him, no matter how many times he had seen it, he didn't respond.

He ghosted me....

Good Ending;

~Reader's POV~

I walked into my classroom with a pep in my step. In my last letter I had asked Kenma for his number, and judging by how he still played Pocket Camp with me and came to visit my camp site, I'd say when I opened that letter, it was going to have his number in it.

I sat down and instantly started to fidget just like I did last week, the only difference being, this time it was from excitement. "You look happy this week." (F/n) pointed out, making me smile up at them. I honestly didn't have words to describe how happy I was, so instead I just nodded my head.

"Okay class, settle down. I thought I should point out before handing out these papers that this is that last letter that you will receive, and you won't need to write a letter back." After finishing this she started to hand the letters back. When the teacher got to me, she smiled and gave me an all knowing look, like she's seen this a million different times before.

She didn't say anything though, and instead opted to just give me my letter. Immediately I opened it and grabbed the letter from inside. The words on the paper were short, sweet, and to the point.

'Dear (Y/N),

I can't wait for you to come to Tokyo, here's my number xxx-xxx-xxxx. Hope we can work the details out later.

-Sincerely, Kenma.'

My smile stretched further and I quickly got my phone out and punched Kenma's number into my phone, and quickly sent him a text saying that it was me.

-extra-

It was finally summer, and although I had to pick up some jobs, I gathered enough money to help pay for my ticket to Tokyo so I could see my dear boyfriend. I wanted to surprise Kenma, so I had been talking to one of his closest friends, Kuroo, for a few months about when to come and visit.

Eventually, we settled on a date and made plans. Kuroo was going to come pick me up from the airport and then take me to Kenma's house, saying he had a "surprise" for him.

I quickly texted Kuroo that I was boarding the plane and he said that he'd be seeing me in a few hours. When I got on the airplane and we took off, I could feel myself falling asleep.

-

I woke up to the captain saying that the plane had landed safely and that everyone could get off. I texted Kuroo and told him I arrived in Tokyo and he texted back saying he was waiting at the baggage claim.

I got my bag first and then started to look around for Kuroo. When I spotted him I I waved at him and called out his name. He turned to me and gave me one of his "signature smirks" as (F/2) had described it.

I walked up to him and we got into the car. Kuroo drove as we caught up and we also played a little bit of music. Mid way to Kenma's, I had gotten a notification from the boy himself.

To: (Y/N)<3

From: Babe<3

Hey, what are you doing?

To: Babe<3

From: (Y/N)<3

I just got off of work, can I text you when I get home?

To: (Y/N)<3

From: Babe<3

Yea, I'm sorry to bother you while driving. Make sure to stay safe.

To: Babe<3

From: (Y/N)<3

It's okay! I'll be safe, no need to worry. I'm not driving yet, though I'm about to. Ttyl!

"Who texted you?" Kuroo asked, not taking his eyes off the road. "It was Kenma, I told him I just got off work." "Okay, we should be there in a few minutes." Kuroo told me, making my lips tug into a small grin.

Not to long later and we arrived at Kenma's house. I couldn't help but have a slight bounce in my step as we walked to the front door, which Kuroo took notice of but chose not to mention. Kuroo had texted Kenma saying he had his surprise and to help him with it when he rang the door bell.

After we confirmed Kenma had seen the text and got a response I rang the doorbell with Kuroo standing behind me. A few minutes later the door opened, revealing Kenma.

When the door opened Kenma's eyes went wide and his mouth went slightly open in shock. His actions made me giggle. Before I could tease him, he quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled me in for a hug. His hands were around my waist as he buried his face into the crook of my neck. My hands rested around his neck as I took in his sent. 'Smells like apple pie...' I thought to myself.

Kenma suddenly pulled back and grabbed me by the chin, quickly making our lips connect for a split second before pulling away again. "Come inside." He said, opening the door wider to let both me and Kuroo inside. 'Tastes like it two.' I thought, with a wide smile.

[urfangirl18]

As promised here is the first chapter of my fan fiction 💜

1. One Fateful Meeting

'why did it take you so long to pick up Mei-ah'

I laughed at the pouting face of my best friend Jiwoo as she artlessly sat down on the seat in front of me looking as gorgeous as ever in her off white lacy dress that she paired off with open toed sandals and a black jacket. Her cheeks were pink from the cold and she smiled at me graciously as I pushed the warm cup of caramel latte towards her.

'mian Jiwoo-ah I had to rush a couple of things at the office but I'm here now.'

I said as I took a sip of my hot tea grateful to be inside this cafe while looking at the soft pitter patter of raindrops on the window. It gave me peace amidst my ever busy life in Seoul.

'have you heard?' she asked as she tapped my hand on the table and pointed at my open macbook.

'my laptop? what about it?'

'for someone who graduated with honors in 4 courses way back in college how can you be such a pabo sometimes?'

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders at her 'I have no clue...soo spit it out Jiwoo-ah and no I am not dating your dongsaeng or any of your friends...please.'

She pouted while shaking her head 'why not?? it's been so long since you dated someone...who was he again?'

I flinched at the reminder of that awful date and shook my head as I motioned for her to continue with her news and what made her point at my laptop.

I was currently checking the website I was working on as much as my eyes were wanting to rest from reading codes after codes that I dealt with in the office earlier.

'I have awesome news from your imaginary boyfriend...' she said with a smile 'open google please and type his name.'

'imaginary boyfriend my ass' I mumbled knowing that I was blushing like mad at that moment. 'what about Satoh-san?'

She grinned at me while typing something on my laptop. She frowned a bit as she saw that I was working and smiled again as she found what she was looking for looking obviously pleased with herself...should I tell her that she looks a bit like a Cheshire Cat?

'clear your schedule this Friday until Sunday...you my gorgeous chingu will be modeling for my clothing brand with Takeru Satoh.'

'oh sure...'

I nodded clearly not believing a word she said for how can she and the management secure a modeling contract with the ever busy Takeru Satoh.

'no shit Jiwoo!!!' I said as I sucked my breath at what I was reading 'how the hell did Yuna and Georgie manage to snag this?!!'

I wanted to scream for joy but since we were inside a cafe all I managed to do was grasp for my bestfriend's hand in support.

Indeed the management and Jiwoo finally snagged a contract with the Takeru Satoh, the famous Japanese star.  My mind was reeling with questions as I was reading the news about it. It happened this morning while I was swamped with work and couldn't check my phone.

'that's why I was calling you!! You're perfect for this Mei-ah and I know you wouldn't want to miss being in the same set with your one and only love.'

'how did we afford him? This man is worth thousands no millions when it comes to a modeling contract. There is absolutely no way we can afford this...how do we get that investment back?'

Jiwoo grinned at me and shook her head in disbelief. It was then I forgot...she can very well afford to get even the highest paid actor in Hollywood for who am I kidding? Even without the help of  her influential and very affluent family my bestfriend owns one of the most successful fashion boutiques in Asia and Europe.

'I can't believe this...' I muttered 'I don't think I can model for this...maybe hire a professional for this Jiwoo...it's too huge of an investment if I don't pull this off.'

'ohh no!! you are not backing out of this Jeon Mei Lin. There is no way I am letting you say no! His agency wanted you to be his partner for this shoot.'

I would have fainted right at that very moment when I heard what she said.

'his agency? why?? we have plenty of models...why me? I only work part time.'

'they were mesmerised by your beauty and charm as simple as that and we know you're a perfect fit for their star as well.'

she whispered as she slowly took my glassess off and untied my bun. I squinted as I tried to get my eyeglasses back from her but knowing my bestfriend she won't give them back unless she has her way.

'for how long will you keep hiding yourself behind these glasses Mei? How long will you be depriving the world of your beauty?'

I rolled my eyes at her compliment and sighed...if only I can tell her. If only I can tell her the reason why I choose to hide my eyes beneath my glasses then maybe instead of convincing me to model along with the man of my dreams she would be helping me look for a husband so my family could leave me be and we could all live in peace.

Sadly all I can do was keep my mouth shut and nodded at the offer given to me. No one can know and no one must know. It's safer that way.

'alright I'll do it...I'll take my leave on Friday and Monday. Anything for Satoh-san and your boutique.'

I told her with a smile to which she jumped up from off her seat and gave me a bone crushing hug. For a tiny thing Jung Ji Woo sure can hug...makes me wonder where she got her strength from.

'kamasahamnida Mei-ah!! Don't worry everything is taken cared of all you need is to relax and look all pretty on Friday.' she then smiled and added 'should I accidentally book a hotel room for the both of you?'

I groaned and shook my head at what she was planning. I doubt anything can happen if she does that. This man whose pictures has adorned my phone for as long as I started being his fan would never notice me. He was just way out of my league. He travels the same circles as Jiwoo and her family or my cousin's also very affluent family. I didn't belong there...or should I say I don't even belong in this world. I was made for something else and I have been trying my best to not think about it.

I was destined for something else and the longer I dilly dally the more my head starts to pound. Is it too much to want what other girls have?

I hid my sadness in my cup of tea as I found Jiwoo smiling while looking at her phone talking to her fiancée no doubt. Whereas my single ass was in dire need of a fucking date but then again with the hideous glasses I wear I doubt anyone would want me.

*Satoh's POV*

'your flight for Seoul is on Thursday night Takeru-san and here is your schedule during your stay there.'

I smiled in gratitude at my assistant Takei-san who handed me an ipad as I took a break from work. It was a warm day in Kyoto and I was just finishing up the last few takes of a modeling stint for Versace and I was looking forward to a cold drink.

I sat on my chair inside the cool shade of the villa we were in and stretched my back. It was a long day but I had fun. Unbeknownst to everyone I was not just into acting or modeling though my family approved of it and allowed me to pursue what I love provided I don't forget to help run the business empire that our family has.

The money and the power my family has gave me the freedom to do whatever I love but it doesn't mean I don't work hard for it. My success wasn't handed to me on a golden platter I worked thrice as hard to get to where I am and to amass whatever success I hold

After that modeling stint with a very famous fashion line in Seoul I would finally get some much needed rest and to check on some of my businesses in Korea including my new baby which was a game and software development company which is now doing exceptionally well in both Korea and Japan. It was also starting to gain recognition in the US as well.

Personally I want to congratulate one of my lead game and software developer there who produced a game that has now over millions of downloads and users all over the globe. I also want to discuss another software app that I have in mind with him.

Yes I was all about business but maybe just maybe I may get a chance to rest a little bit when I get to Seoul.

'and the management of Meijiwoo agreed to our request. The shoot will be held privately and your partner is someone they deeply trust.'

I nodded as I checked the ipad and the profile of the model I will be working with. Looks like I would be having fun with this shoot. I smiled as I checked the portfolio they have sent...the girl in the photos could surely be a professional model in Seoul for she has the beauty a master artist would want to paint. She wasn't overly beautiful like the rest of the girls I had worked with or even the women I dated but there was something very alluring about her. It was then I saw her eyes. They were a brilliant shade of blue and the more I look at them the more beautiful they were getting.

'what's her name? is she a foreigner?'

I asked Takei-san to which he shook his head and said.

'she's korean, that's what the management told us but I can get some more information about Mei, Mei-san.'

So this beauty is named Mei...looks like my trip to Korea is getting more interesting and Friday couldn't come any sooner.

I smiled as I continued checking her portfolio most of the modeling she has done was for Meijiwoo and some korean make up brands. She was a beauty and for sure her agency wouldn't find it difficult to market her abroad. With her enchanting blue eyes this girl could conquer to world and it made me wonder why doesn't she have any other works than in Korea it was a shame to not let the world know of this beauty.

'Takei-san make sure to find out who her manager is maybe we can arrange a deal with them for a contract. Her beauty shouldn't be hidden.'

I said as I handed him the ipad and closed my eyes...looks like I have another business in mind. My parents would be so pleased that in whatever I do I always put business first forgetting myself sometimes.

I sighed and got a drink from the table and walked towards the window admiring the zen like beauty of the garden outside. The glass of whisky in my hand mocking me. I am now at the top of my game, of my career. I have achieved everything that I could ever want but why do I feel hollow inside?

Amidst the fortune I have from all the years of hard work why do I feel lonely everytime I go home? It's as if the more I surround myself with luxury the more empty I become.

'I probably just need to get laid...'

I muttered as I took my phone and checked who among my female friends are free and mentally reminding myself to buy her a gift as a token of my gratitude. It was always like this...after hours of pleasure I still feel so damn empty inside.

[justmewoo]

Brother Knows Best Part [1/?] Tony Stark x Brother Male Reader]

This is something I came up with two days ago and it is unedited. But I have a big idea and i'm planning in writing it as a one shot that contains for or five chapters long. So if you like this first chapter let me know and I will be happy to work on part two. I hope you enjoy my crappy writing and let me know if you want me to tag you on the chapters.

WORD COUNT: 4,180 takes place in the middle of infinity war and endgame.

"Take care of your brother for me [M/N] we'll be back in no time." That was the last time I ever saw my Mother and Father alive before they died in a car crash. 

It has now being more than two decades since it happen. I was twenty six years old while my younger brother Tony was twenty one. I'm the oldest of the two but not everyone knows about me.

Ever since the death of my parent's Tony became distant not that we we're ever close to begin with. But he simply didn't want to see me anymore. Which of course, hurt me seeing him act this way towards me. But, it was his choice and there was nothing that could convince or change his mind about the decision he wanted to choose. I had resigned from Stark Industries because Tony wanted to take over the industries and quite friankly I didn't want work there anymore. 

I was able to start out fresh in another country. So what better place than to start out fresh where no one knows about your family name than in Tokyo Japan. I had become a high school teacher for psychical education. The first year was a bit difficult to understand and learn japanese when I had arrived but during the second year living here I was able to pick up every word and enjoyed their culture and festivals very much. With the money that I had saved I was able to rent an apartment in a good neighborhood. Being a foreigner here people where nice and helped me a lot especially when it came to riding the trains. At first it could be confusing at firs till at least you get the hang of them. The staff of the school where I work in have all being helpful and caring since the day I joined them. 

The students I first taught where good kids they where a bit crazy knowing they would be getting a foreigner for a teacher. Even though I couldn't really speak their language it was fun to see them try and speak english. I got along well with them which was amazing since it could be difficult when teaching high school students. But after being here for more than four years i'm able to communicate with them just fine.

I made good friends on here too some of them are from the staff while other's I met out in the streets I also got to meet someone special here. "[F/L] Sensei someone's here to see you in the office." Said a young voice that belong to a student. I had decided to fake my last name because in Japan they had technology that only Stark Industries could only create.

"Thanks, Yuki i'll go right away. Alright everyone take a break while I come back." I yelled as I took off running to the main office inside the school. I speed walk down the hallway till I finally reached the small faculty room. "[F/L] Sensei there's someone who wants to see you in the principal's office." A staff member said. I bow and said thank you before knocking on the door and hearing a come in. I opened the door to find the principal and my pregnant wife of three months talking before I walked in shutting the door after me. 

"[F/L] Sensei, your wife is here to see you. I'll leave you two to talk." The principal said smiling wide at me before leaving us alone. I walked over and hugged her. 

"Aiko what are you doing here didn't you have your appointment today with the doctor? Is the baby alright." I asked worried as she returned the hug. 

Aiko shook her head smiling up at me. "The baby is fine I have a suprise for you." She said taking out something from inside her bag. It was a white medium bag. "Open it." I took it from her and slowly opened it inside was a blue shirt that had english words written on it with a small picture in the bottom of the bag. The shirt said "Daddy's boy." Written in white. 

I took a look at the picture of the baby and dropped the bag and shirt on the table behind me and crushed Aiko in a big hug. I kissed the top of her head and smiled while looking at the picture of my son. "I still can't believe i'm finally having a family of my own." I whispered to myself looking up at the cieling thinking about how happy my parents would had being if they where still alive. 

After school ended Aiko decided to stay there and wait for me till the last class was done so her and I went walking home together. The school was about two blocks away from where we live. Aiko and I walked down the streets holding hands along with the students who made their way home. I had changed from my track suit before leaving into regular clothing that was just a plain white shirt and some blue jeans. Aiko wore a nice summer white dress with some sandles. "Ne, [M/N] can we go to the convience store for some snacks?" Aiko asked. 

"Of course, anything you want infact i'm craving some rice curry from there." I said smiling at her. Aiko nodded rubbing circles on her small bump with her right hand. As we continued to walk down the street I kept looking back taking a few glances here and there. I had a feeling someone was following us. Unware of my wife's glance she worried but I assured her that everything was fine. A few minutes later we had finally arrived to the small convience store around the corner. Behind a tree I noticed a tall figure hiding. Feeling a bit unsure about this person I let Aiko go inside the store and said to go inside while I went back to the school because I forgot some papers and would be right back. I speed walking away until I saw go inside and walked careful to the man who has being following us. I tricked the guy and climbed on the tree next to it glaring down at him. 

"How did you find me here." I stated more than a question. I crossed my arms not leaving my eyes off him. 

"I just wanted to see how you where doing it's been a long time since I last heard anything about you." 

"There's always a reason why you suddenly show up so cut the crap Fury. What the hell are you doing here?" I said angrily. 

"First come down from there I see, you still remember all that training you did when you where younger. Alright you caught me but first come down from that tree people will think i'm crazy if they see me talking to myself." He said. 

I sigh. Before coming down the tree I walked over to him to face Fury. "Alright i'm down now what is it." I spoke eyeing him and the store that Aiko is in. 

"I don't have a clue if here in Japan or if you have seen it in the news but Tony has being known as Iron Man he's part of The Avengers. A super hero team who saves people back in New York." 

I laughed. "Seriously.... Tony a super hero, and The Avengers? Really you came all this way to tell me that. Your pulling my finger Fury. Tony is a selfish guy he doesn't care about anyone or anything just look at me he didn't give two shits about me! The only thing he's ever cared about is drinking and having a good time with girls that's all he's good for. Seriously they seriously couldn't come up with a better name than the Avengers? Yea, I don't bite it and if it was true then I never heard of them nor do I want to know about them either. And I don't want to know anything about Tony either. Tony isn't capable of becoming a hero." I turned my back facing him. "Whatever your plan was for coming here isn't going to work. I have a family of my own now anything Tony does isn't any of my business nor my problem."

"I understand you have a beautiful wife and a baby on the way but, I want you to come back to New York. The Avengers aren't having a good time right now especially with what's happened in Sakovia. Tony needs you the team could use someone with your skills. I get it that your family is important to you but you can't walk away from your brother." 

I crossed my arms and roll my eyes. "Family doesn't walk away and turn their back on you. And that's something I will never do to mine. He's a grown up now not a little kid who needs guidence from someone like me. My kid won't ever know about him nor carry the Stark name either. So now that Tony needs me he remembers that I exist, no because to my he died the same day my parent's did. I no longer have a brother so leave and never come back here again because next time I won't hold back." I glanced at him before walking away and not taking a look back. I wiped the tear with my hand and smiled seeing Aiko through the window before standing in the middle of the street looking between her and where Fury used to stand.

I walked inside the store and looked for Aiko. I found her on the isle of the bread and drinks. I kissed her cheek to see her carry a basket with food. I took it from her and carried it with my right hand. "I was getting worried where you able to find those documents?" She asked politely. 

I nodded." Yeah, I found the documents I dropped them at the office. So what do you have all here are you sure you will be able to eat all this?" 

"What are you emplying that I eat too much food huh?" She yelled angry. I shook my head. 

Here come her mood swings. "Not at all hun, I was just asking because I never seen you eat some of these. For instance you don't like sugary foods and you have four boxes of chocolates that contain way too much sugar." Aiko suddenly hugged me and cried. "Hey, it's okay hun no need to cry about it. You can buy them only if you don't eat all of them today." 

"Thank you [M/N] alright what if we buy some potato chips and eat them with a spicy ramen." Aiko walked to the next aisle looking for ramen. I sigh before following behind her. While she talked to herself I couldn't help but remember the days after my parent's death. 

FLASHBACK

Tony had locked himself inside his room after the funeral of our parents. The house was packed with people who knew our father and mother. There was also people from the Stark Industries who worked with my father including Hank. Being the oldest I had the responsibilities of taking care of everything but it was overwhelm. People all dressed in black suits giving their sorrys to me while Tony wouldn't come out of his room. I was out of excuses whenever they would ask about him and said he wasn't feeling well or he was simply not here. But I knew that he was probably drinking his pain away. When everyone left I untied my tie tossing it to the sofa. I stood up hearing Tony's sobbing and cursing out every word he ever knew about. I sigh, I quickly made my way to his room but the door was locked. I bang on his door quite a few times. "Open the door Tony we need to talk." I yelled. 

"Leave me alone you can't boss me anymore [M/N] so but the fuck off." He yelled back. I continued to bang on his door until my fist couldn't take it anymore. So I kicked the door with my foot. I saw Tony falling from his bed wearing pyjamas holding a glass of wisky in one hand and a bottle on the other. "What the hell did you do to my door asshole!" Tony yelled tackling me but quickly I moved away from him grabbing him by the back of his shirt. I used my strenght throwing him to his bed. I took the bottle and glass away from him smashing it to the floor. 

"Calm down, I know how you feel you aren't the only one in pain. I lost them too Tony you can't be acting this way!" Tony stood from his bed pointing his finger at me. 

"Shut up, I don't want to hear you. Do you know how much I have hated you? You think I never noticed how much they perferred you over me!? All they would say is 'Why can't you be more like [M/N]?' 'Why can you be smart like him?' 'You are nothing like your big brother.' I'm tired of hearing all of that shit!" I could smell his breath smelling of alchol as he stood right in front of me glaring. 

I knelt my eyebrows in anger. My right hand turned to a fist shaking trying my best not to punch him in the face this very moment. "Look. Your drunk and have no clue what you're saying so go to bed." I moved away from him picking up the glass and bottle that had broken. My back faced him as I picked it up. "I i'm so glad that I don't act like you do because I would have been so miserable living the life you so call have. Or should I call you Mr. Howard Jr. President of the Stark Industries. I seriously can't wait to see how you run it all by yourself without dad's help." Tony said popping the p at the end of his sentence. 

I stood up from the floor to face him once more. Tony had a big smirk on his face. "You have no idea how much pressure it's taken on me since before you where even born. From day one I was expected to be incharge of dad's industries. I wasn't allowed to have a normal childhood. I didn't become the intelligent Tony Stark winning medals at a young age. I'm sorry that you always felt that way towards me. But you don't need to worry about me because I heard you argue with him before they left about wanting to take over the company so your wish has come true little brother it's all yours because I quit." I shouted walking out of his room. I toss the bottle in the kitchen and walked back to the living room and grabbed my tie before marching to my room. 

I grabbed the suit cases I had inside my closet and begin to pack all of my clothes inside. I grabbed everything from jeans, to shirts, to sweat pants and just started to unhook everything from the hangers and into the suitcase. I only had two suitcases so in the other one I placed all of my suits and belongings. Once I had finished packing I grabbed the picture that I had hanging in the wall and put it on top of the clothes so it wouldn't get broken. I took the picture from the glass and ripped the end of the picture throwing it on the floor. A tear escaped from my eye as I looked at it before placing it back  and zipping the bag. I turned around yanking another picture frame of Tony and I together when we where younger. I slammed it on the floor stepping on it cracking the frame and ripping the picture in half. I grabbed ny suitcases stopped in the doorframe before taking a look at my old room before slamming the door shut and leaving. When I walked passed Tony's room he was already knocked out on the bed. I was so angry that I didn't bother to say my goodbyes and walked out of the house. I had joined S.H.I.E.L.D and got training for about ten years years with Fury's help who was able to keep it under cover. But after being there I realized that working for them or the training was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life so that's when I decided to leave for Japan. 

__________________

"Alright your change will be 400 yen." Said a voice snapping my head to the person. It was the cashier I nodded taking my change and grabbing the bag from the counter. Aiko and I left the store holding each other's hands. Outside the store she ate a snack as we walk making our way home. The walk home was peaceful and quiet but seeing Fury and talking about Tony brought too many memories that I haven't had for a long time. 

As the months continued to past it turned to two years I tried to live my life as always except now that we have a toddler who's almost three years old makes it difficult because he just wants to walk and try to take things inside his mouth all over the house. The first couple of months where a bit hard because becoming a first time parent has it's challenges. Guessing when they need a change of diaper, or when they want to take a nap. But one thing that I definatly won't miss is my son's crying in the middle of the night. Aiko took maternity leave after she had our son but I told her its best if she stays at home becoming a fulltime mom because I don't want him not be surrounded by his parent's. I want Yuki to feel love and live a happy childhood so he could remember all the good times he had growing up. I want to spoil him when he's a bit older and take him on family trips. I just simply want him to have the life that I never had. 

I just got home from work. So slowly I knocked on the door waiting to see Aiko and Yuki. A few seconds later the door opened revealing them smiling happily at me. "Welcome home." Aiko said as Yuki reached for me wanting to be carried. I peck Aiko in the lips while sweeping the baby from her arms and walked inside together. I took off my shoes in the small entrance then followed her to the living room.

I took a seat in the couch with Yuki in my lap. "Dinner's about to be ready do you want a cold beer or a glass of water?" She asked walking to the kitchen. 

"A beer would be nice with this weather right now anything cold cools you down. Thanks hun, so what have you done today." I asked turning my attention back to Yuki. Yuki only stared back at me smiling and giggling. "Are you excited for this weekend buddy? Where finally going on vacation with your grandparents." The baby babbled none sense and continued to play with his favorite plushy. "Alright dinner's ready." I got up from the couch with Yuki on my arms. I took a seat in the chair as Aiko served dinner. She came back to the dinner table with a bowl of rice and another plate of meat with vegetables. She then carried Yuki in her arms and sat on the other chair next to me. 

After dinner I had taken Yuki inside the warm bathroom for his bath time. I had a pair of boxers and got inside the tub with him in my arms. I had brought a few toys of his to play with and ran the water in good temperature not so cold and not too hot either. I grabbed a small plastic blue bowl placing it under the running water and began to shower him. I them grabbed the baby shampoo and washed his couple of small hairs of his head. Next I rinsed the shampoo of his head and covered his eyes with my free hand so the soap wouldn't get inside his eyes. Yuki splashed water wetting my face. I glared down at him with a funny face causing more giggles to come out of him. Yuki looks Japanese but has my eye color and smile but the rest of his characteristics are the same as Aiko's which makes me happy that he doesn't have a trait from my side of the family. "I'm going to teach you English when your older young man." I said in English but he didn't seem to care about a clue of what I said. Aiko knows both languages as well so we want him to learn to speak it as he gets older. Anyway, then afterwards I let him play in the water with his toys for a couple of minutes before finishing his shower. 

After I had finished him shower Aiko came and took him to his room to get him dressed while I took a shower. I was in deep thoughts thinking about work when suddenly I had heard a yell and stuff being thrown around. I closed the water and put a towel around my waist running out of the bathroom to my son's room. Forgot to mention but it was already pass eight at night time when I was showering. When I got to the room I saw Aiko holding Yuki in her arms cornered by a woman with blond hair and wore black gear. The woman turned around at the sound of my steps. 

She smirked after taking a look at me. "I'm sorry to interrupt your shower but I need you to come with me." I walked up to her glaring. 

"Who the hell are you? Get away from my family." I yelled grabbing her from the arm throwing her to the wall. Aiko and Yuki looked at me scared but I was standing confront of them protecting them from the mystery woman. Too busy to noticed I failed to see Aiko placing a hand over her plain stomach. 

The woman got up from the floor and stood up. "I'm not here to do anything dangerous to you or your family but Fury gave me your address and we need you to help us. The world is in great danger." 

I shook my head and clinched my hands into fist angry. "I already told Fury i'm not going back to New York your part of the famous avengers aren't you? Then saving the world from evil is part of your job not mine. I'm never going back so leave my house before I throw you out myself." I said through my teeth. 

"Tony's missing." She responded back. I stood silent as she took out a phone showing me a clip of the news. Two creatures in the middle of a destroyed New York.

"What's going on [M/N]." Spoke Aiko lowering her voice. And putting Yuki on the ground. I looked at them three before walking over to her. "There's something you need to know Aiko.... I have lied to you my last name isn't [Fake Last Name] my real name is Stark and i'm from New York. I used to be a part of SHIELD bu- 

A sudden slap made it's way to my left cheek. I turned my head away then looked back at Aiko who had tears coming down her cheeks. She back away from me and took a glance at Yuki who also began to cry. "Get out of my house I never want to see you again. Get out and leave us alone!" She yelled in anger. 

"Let me explain I didn't want you and our son to be in danger I had to lie to you but i'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you." Aiko pushed my hand off her arm and walked out of the room and left the apartment with a crying Yuki. 

After I heard the door shut I sigh thinking about what to do. But even though I still had a grudge against Tony I had to find him especially after seeing those creatures. "What's your name?" I asked. 

"Natasha Romanoff I go by Black Widow i'm sorry about your wife and kid but if this wasn't truly important I wouldn't had been given orders by Fury to come find you. But the earth and everyone are in danger including here in Japan." 

"I guess there's no way running away from what you became right? Shield or anything to do with Tony will always come looking for me. Alright where are we going?" I asked as much as it pains me to leave my family.

"Scotland."

[another-blog-bites-the-dust]

The Week.

Summary: You and John spend the week together in Tokyo, Japan. A week that would change your lives for good.

Warnings: Bit of drinking and swearing but that's about it, lots of fluff!

A/N: I know it's been far too long!! Sorry about that! Just been so busy between life and writing that I haven't had the chance to take the time to upload and edit my work! Plus the eye infection didn't help 😭😅Nevertheless, here is the next part- lookout for a little song reference 😉 Enjoy! 💖

Gif source [X]

Day 2.

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A restless night was washed off in a quick shower. The sleep was still softly clutching onto your body however, but you had a busy day ahead and you couldn't let that get to you. You tossed your old towels into the empty bath for the housekeeper to take away and changed into something comfortable before making your way downstairs for breakfast. It was seven thirty in the morning.

You stepped into the lift and pressed the floor where the restaurant was. When the lift stopped in the floor below yours, a flurry of excited and eager butterflies emerged in your stomach. You were disappointed when the doors opened and John wasn't there- but he still might be sleeping. Instead a young family entered and pressed the button to the lobby. When you got out of the lift, you slowly walked to the restaurant and were led to a table. There was a spread of food along a wall and a menu on the table. You ordered a few things from it and the biggest cup of coffee they had. You got up and grabbed a bowl of funky sounding fruit to start with and grabbed one of the newspapers they had and put it on the table beside you, reading it while you ate your fruit.

Your coffee arrived...and so did someone else. "Morning!" They chirped and you looked up, a smile suddenly appearing on your face.

"Good morning, John," you folded up the paper "How'd you sleep?" You asked.

"I didn't." He still managed to lowly chuckle despite being exhausted.

You smirked "Neither did I." He was still standing- there was a spare chair across from you. "Do you want to join me for breakfast?"

"You sure?" He asked, already pulling out the chair.

"Course," you smiled and he sat down, and placed his order with the server. "I like having company." You smiled into your coffee cup "I always travel alone- it's a nice change having breakfast with someone."

"I hope I'm not keeping you from your work." The worry was adamant in John's voice but you waved away his concerns and told him that he wasn't. "I'm assuming you're a fellow Londoner from your accent?" He put that out there and then silently thanked the waiter for his tea that he had ordered.

"You assume correct. I live just west of Kensington." John choked on his tea and you raised a brow. "What?"

"I live just west of Kensington!" He grinned. "Melrose Gardens!"

You went wide-eyed "No way! I stay on Dewhurst Road! You are like five minutes away from me!" You giggled and John rested his chin on his hand with a toothy grin. Your laughter died down and you looked at him with a soft, amazed smile. "Isn't it funny that you can travel halfway around the world and then find someone who lives down the road from you?"

"Very funny," he mused.

"It's fascinating how small our little big world is." You said just as your breakfasts arrived.

"So what are your plans for today?" He asked. "Do you focus on a particular point of interest or sights to write about?" John was genuinely interested in what you did and when he arrived back in the U.K., he was sure to get his hands on a paper to read your work.

"I try and focus on a bit on every aspect. I tend to spend a week wherever I go to try and do a bit of everything a place has to offer." You began to explain, the pair of you still eating away at your breakfasts. "So today for example, today I'm going to the shops and I'm going to explore a little- jot down anything I find interesting or if I spot any quirky hotspots . I'll take a lot of photos too. But during the week I'll go on a excursion, see what modes of public transport are available, check out the nightlife, try the traditional restaurants...that sort of thing."

"You've certainly got a jam-packed week. Sounds fun too!" He took a bite of toast. "I'll probably be stuck in here all week- especially since my bandmates will be far too busy lazing about." He added with an eye roll.

You chortled before you were hit with an idea. "If you're not busy...you could always tag along with me if you want? I don't mind." You nonchalantly shrugged and sipped away on your coffee.

"R-really?! Sure! I'd love to!" John knew he sounded a little too enthusiastic.

"Great! Well I'll get myself organised and I can meet you in the lobby in twenty minutes?" You suggested and both stood up at the same time.

"Perfect!" You both made your way to the lift, John got off at his floor. "See you soon!" You sent him a small wave and continued going up another floor. You grabbed your bag that had all your necessities in it and your camera along with a guidebook. Before you went anywhere you always read up about where you were going and took a guidebook on the journey with you. The maps inside were especially handy.

Twenty minutes later you met with John who was eagerly waiting for you and an adventure around Tokyo. "Ready to go?" You asked and he nodded and the pair of you stepped outside. The sun was out and there was a scattering of fluffy white clouds in the sky. You ended up down a busy little side street. You spotted a shop who's window display consisted of bright yellow, plastic streamers and questionable looking mannequins in even more questionable positions. "We should head in," you pointed to the door.

"In there?" John pointed too "It looks mad!"

You took his hand and you both felt a jolt of electricity bolt up your arms. "That's exactly why we're going in." John was happy to be dragged by you into the weird wonderland of whimsical mishmash paraphernalia. It held everything from telephones to a literal kitchen sink, as well as odd pairs of shoes, cut out bras and glittery rubber ducks.

"This looks like the inside of Freddie's head," John murmured with a smirk while he took in the emporium of sheer madness.

You smiled and made a mental note to ask about his bandmates later. Walking up ahead, you laughed and picked up a cowboy hat "John," you called him and he looked over, stifling a laugh. "What do you think?" You dramatically accentuated your poses.

"You actually really suit that! You should get it!" You took it off and admired it before taking his advice. John found himself in a little gap filled with rails of clothes and picked up a very jazzy, sequinned, feathery bra. "Think this is too much?" He joked and you giggled.

"Matches your sparkling eyes..." you said without even thinking. Your mouth just blabbed the truth. John had a shy smile on his face while yours went bright red. "Um..." you nervously picked up something and held it in front of him "I think you'd look good in this shirt. Brings out your eyes." You mentally slapped yourself bringing up his beautiful eyes yet again within a matter of seconds.

"You got a thing for my eyes?" He teased but John was a giddy, nervous wreck now he knew that you liked his eyes. He'd use that to his advantage.

"I think we should pay and explore more of the city," you managed to speak out and after grabbing a few more things which included a pair of sunglasses and funky light up earrings, you paid and headed to more shops.

You and John found yourselves in a clothes shop that was deeply embracing the trends of the 70's along with a few traditional outfits. You snapped a few photos of the store and of the cheerful cashier who happily stuck his thumbs up when you snapped a picture. You thanked him and continued taking more photos, including one of John candidly looking through the rails. After picking up an armful of clothes each, you tried them on- some for a laugh and others because they were genuinely nice pieces. You emerged out of the changing booth, pulling back the orange velvet curtain and looked in the mirror in front of you. Then John emerged and you burst out laughing at what you were both wearing. "We look like Sonny and Cher!" You giggled and John stood next to you and scrutinised the immensely tacky outfits.

"I don't have a moustache!" He chuckled.

You reached across and pulled a strand of his long hair in front of his face, above his lip. "Now you do!" You laughed even louder.

John grabbed a piece and placed it over your lip. "So do you." He took it away and lightly gasped "It's still there!" Your jaw dropped but your mouth was curving upwards at his playful remark.

You lightly jabbed his side "Very funny." The cashier, who was laughing at the pair of you, pointed at your camera and then the two of you as if to ask 'Would you like your photo taken?' You nodded with a small smile and handed him the camera. He took two and handed it back. "Arigatō!" You bowed and he did the same. John looked at you with an amazed smile.

"You know Japanese?" He asked.

You shook your head and changed, still talking to him- the room was so small and the wall and curtains were thin enough for him to still hear you. "Only a little. 'Thanks' is pretty easy- I couldn't have a full blown conversation in the language." You changed into a traditional dress and stepped out, John was still admiring his choice of outfit that made him look like Sonny. "What do you think?" You asked and he looked at you via the mirror. His heart skipped a beat and his breath caught.

"You look beautiful in that..." he was dumbfounded by your beauty in such a traditional look.

You sheepishly smiled. "Arigatō..." you winked and then changed back into your own clothes, picking out a few bits that you liked and a jumper that your mum would love as well as the traditional dress. You both paid and headed to the next shop, snapping yet more photos, then another, and then another, then stopped off for some street food- a platter of sushi and gyoza's before heading to yet another shop and picking up a kimono each. "That was a very successful day shopping!" You entered the hotel with your arms full of bags.

"I think the term 'shop till you drop' is the definition of what we've done today!" John tiredly laughed. "God, I need a shower now! That was so fun!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," you managed to press the lift button. "Thanks for coming along with me. I had a great time and got lots of great photos!"

"Thanks for the invite." John sent you a warm smile. "Now it's my turn to return an invite- meet you at the bar later? Around seven?" He asked with a glimmer of hope in his eyes and nervous, twiddling fingers.

"Yeah!" You quickly agreed- perhaps a little too fast but that didn't bother John.

He got off at the floor below yours and headed to his room with a smile. He had never had so much fun in such few hours- especially shopping! It was like you had opened his eyes to a new and exciting world. Then it dawned on him that perhaps the company made a difference and was the influence of why he had such fun. Sure, he had been to the shops with past girlfriends but it was a chore to him. But shopping with you and your 'eyes wide open to everything and anything' view changed his initial perspective on going shopping with someone.

You put all your bags down in the corner of your room for now, you'd pack everything away at some point. You took out the camera and photos from the bag it was in and smiled at one- of many photos- of John. He was standing facing a sign that was in Japanese, the light from it bounced perfectly off his face and he looked ethereal- he was glowing. The shadows created perfectly highlighted his exquisite features. You were in awe.

Seven o'clock rolled around fast. John was at the bar first waiting for you with a untouched glass of Suntory beside him. He looked up at the right moment and saw you walk in wearing a lovely black dress with little flowers on it. "Thought I'd make an effort for rock royalty..." you spun on the spot.

John decided to joke with you. "That's an effort?" He widely grinned and you feigned offence with a smirk. "I'm only kidding! You know I'm joking!"

"You're ballsy, John Deacon!" You pointed as you sat next to him, then you saw the drink. "And you got my usual." You leaned forward and clinked your glass with his. "Am I that predictable after being in my company for just over a day?" You both looked over hearing an eruption of laughter. The group of Japanese businessmen who were there in the same spot as last night. "People drinking for days gone by, huh?" You smirked and motioned over to them. "They were here last night too. But then again, time don't mean a thing- especially when you're jet lagged." John hummed and nodded in agreement. "I wish I could sleep."

"Me too," John sighed and took a drink. "Maybe one night I'm here I'll be able to." You casually rested a hand on your cheek, keeping your attention on John. "That night feels like years away...." he laughed "But then again, time don't mean a thing." He repeated your words and the corner of your lip tugged upwards for a split second.

The group of men laughed again and you and John smiled "Sounds like they are having fun."

"I had fun today," John said before taking a sip of his drink "Most fun since I've been here really- our management were really pushing us last week in Kyoto. Wasn't very enjoyable, a lot of pressure." He sighed and played with the napkin under his glass.

Your eyebrows softened and you reached across and instinctively placed your hand on his forearm and he stopped toying with the napkin. The contact sent John's heart fluttering. "You know, maybe you should take a break from listening to what they tell you to do and start listening to yourself. You might actually live a little and feel better if you did." You suggested before taking a drink. "You're your own person John. No one can ever take that away from you." You smiled at him. John placed his hand on the top of yours, his thumb brushed over the back of your hand.

"I might just do that, Y/N."

You were looking at each other in silence for a few minutes and then the bartender- the same one from last night- disturbed you both. You had both learned his name, Harry, he asked if you'd like another round of drinks. "Last round for me," you looked to John "I hope you don't mind, I want to attempt to get some sleep tonight!"

John nodded with a grin "I'm on the same boat as you! I'll make an attempt to get some shut eye but I doubt I'll get much."

"The jet lag is still kicking the shit out of me so I'll be up most of the night too no doubt." You tiredly smiled "It really sucks." You thanked Harry with a silent smile and raised your glass at John who did the same. You both took your time on your last drink before parting ways for the night. "Thanks for a great day, John. I had an amazing time."

"Hope we can do it again...I'd really like it if we did." He bit on his lip and you shyly smiled while nodding your head. You were hoping he'd say that. "Hope you get some sleep."

"I hope you get some sleep too, John." You got off first. "Night. Sweet dreams." You waved and caught one final glimpse of him. Or so you thought.

John pressed his hand against the door to hold it open and popped his head out "And Y/N!" He called.

You turned around "Yes?"

He smiled, admiring the sight he knew was fortunate enough to be looking at. "You really didn't need to make the effort. You already look absolutely beautiful."

You bashfully smiled "Thank you." John forced himself back into the lift. The doors shut and he endured another floor in the lift listening to yet more piano music. You quickly changed into your pyjamas, turned off the room lights and tossed yourself onto the bed- not bothering to find what remote closed the curtains. You fell asleep with the glowing Tokyo lights in the background while thinking of John.

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•All parts•

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[serial-doubters-club]

Okay, I’m on my phone so I’m on the struggle bus with copying and pasting but:

🛒💖👀

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

I am a sucker for romance. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's all I've written so far lol. Every chance I get, I always try to incorporate some kind of intimacy (non-nsfw, I'm not quite there yet), like small touches, glances, kisses, all that stuff that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I love writing scenes that are quiet (or at least that feel like they're quiet), that if a pin drops, the scene would just shatter and the moment would disappear. I ALSO LOVE INCORPORATING SEASONS. Whenever I can, you can be sure I'm going to use the seasons to divide time, to amplify and depict a character's emotions. I hope all of this made sense! ❤️

💖 What made you start writing?

When I was an elementary school student I loved to write. I would hand write story after story after story, and even when I wasn't writing I was making up stories in my head and daydreaming about my made-up characters 24/7, but when I entered HS, I just stopped. I think I stopped because I was too focused on my HS classes and trying to get into college, that I placed all of my creativity on the backburner. When I went to college, my roommate was a huge LOTR fan, and she shared with me an original story that she was writing that was inspired by the series. Just seeing how excited she was about her story made me nostalgic for writing and I picked it up a little, but college got in the way and again I stopped writing. In 2020, I ended up finishing Inuyasha (after not having seen more than 10-15 episodes in 2004) and a billion Google Searches later pertaining to questions I still had about the anime, I ended up on Tumblr. I swore up and down that I would never in my life write a piece of fanfiction. (I never really understood what fanfiction was and had some terrible erroneous misconceptions about it at the time.)

But as I started coming across some bits and pieces of IY fanfiction on tumblr and the fun interactions between writers, artists, and readers + my feelings about the IY anime (I just felt like there was so much left unexplored in the IY universe and I witnessed how people were tackling those open ends through art and fanfiction), I slowly got drawn in by everyone's ideas, creativity, humor, and warmth, and now here I am writing fanfiction of my own. The IY fanfiction community has given me a safe, supportive space not only to explore Inuyasha but to also gain confidence in my writing again (which is VERY LOW at the moment) and reignite my passion for writing.

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

OMG I am hyperventilating! I am so excited but also terrified about mentioning this WIP that has been living in my mind rent-free for over a year now.

At the moment, I am working on an InuKag Bodyguard AU. I am knee-deep in researching, plotting, and world-building because in this work I've literally decided to incorporate a whole bunch of things I know nothing about. From bodyguards to weapons to martial arts to the business world to Japanese culture, it's a lot for me to handle mentally and emotionally, but I am trucking along and doing the best I can.

Thank you so much for these questions, Moose!!! I love you <3