#Iron Belle Gymnasium

[cryptorobertos]

Discover our of photos including Steampunk Women Bodybuilders, show the effective mix of toughness, modern technology, as well as 19th-century aesthetic appeals. From the Iron Belle Gymnasium to the elaborate brass exoskeletons, witness the amazing globe of steampunk muscle building.

[the-gym-and-all-it-has-to-offer]

The origin of the barbell

There is a lot of meaning for me in the gym; it was a big part of getting back into socializing after I lost my way. So many people have had different ideas about the barbell from multiple different countries. Hippolyte Triat was the owner of one of the biggest gymnasiums in the world. He would have bars with spheres of six kilos in his gym, and he also made reference to large dumbbells and bars for two hands. It's said that he had barbells that would go up to 200 pounds, but there is no concrete evidence to support this statement. It looks like Triat may have populated barbell training from the evidence above, but he cannot be given credit for naming the barbell. The honor of naming the barbell would instead go to Madame Brenner, an English physical culturist who mentioned the barbell in her 1870's work. Brenner stated that the barbell was an appliance that is a part of the wand and of the dumbbell. These devices were between four and six feet in length and thicker than the ordinary wooden wands that were being used for the lightweight exercises. Another person who contributed to the barbell being used today is an Austrian showman. Karl Rappo, according to both Edgar Mueller and Edmond Desbonnet, was the first pro-strongman who would use sphere-ended barbells. Not much was written about this Austrian monster, but something of importance is that he was born in 1800 and died in 1854 in Moscow, meaning that the barbell originated somewhere around that time. He worked a little throughout Triat's time and also before Brenner's time. The Germans had a part of this as well, with Turner clubs in Germany popularizing the barbell to a much greater understanding. Below is a picture of a German gym in the 1800's and as you can see barbells are everywhere and this is really where the barbell took off.

These findings mark a move towards adjustable barbells. America had a part too; there were a lot of trainers at the time, but there was really only one person who stood out, and his name was George Barker Windship, a Harvard and Boston strongman. Windship experimented with shot-loading weights, and in 1859, Winship fixed two 68-pound bells to either end of a weight-iron handle, thereby creating a dumbbell of 141 pounds. This dumbbell was capable of the weight being increased to 180 pounds by pouring shot into the holes of the bells, having to separate the two bells from the weight-iron first before pouring. One of the first scholarly studies of the barbell was written by Jan Todd, who traced the object back to the mid-nineteenth century, when American and European lifters and health advisors began to mess with the kind of implements needed to build strength. Her findings were voiced by fellow strength enthusiasts David Webster and, more recently, Randy Roach. These two found no evidence of the barbell's existence prior to the 1800's. At the time, there was little need to lift that heavy, so they resorted to the dumbbells they had. As people got more and more into lifting and had more money to lift recreationally, they needed more weight to lift to test the limits of how big one could really get. Donald Walker was the first to produce a barbell in the mid-1830s, but it was very rudimentary considering it was an older model.

[jessicaowo1]

Oikawa Cheating Part 2

The fact that I received three notifications during school asking for a part two of the Oikawa cheating fanfiction I wrote is insane. I am beyond grateful for you guys feeding my ego, I was smiling so much my cheeks hurt. But, here you go, a part two.

Here is link one if you need : https://jessicaowo1.tumblr.com/post/642518031709487104/oikawa-cheating

Warning: Jealous Oikawa, angst, fluff

Paring: Kuroo x reader, (oikawa ex)

Word Count: 1086

Author’s Note: Okay so the last fanfiction was written a month ago, I am now used to second-person point of view so sorry about the inconsistency.

Kuroo and you have been dating for a little bit now, from where the story last picked off. Since you and he were two hours away from each other, your dates consisted of late-night phone calls where one of you would fall asleep due to exhaustion (aka Kuroo). As for school, everything was ok. You gained a lot of confidence and it showed. You weren’t just someone in class, you were the person people would ask for help and people actually decided to be your friend. By the way, that friend that dragged you to the party self-proclaimed herself as the reason you got a boyfriend and gained confidence. As for Oikawa, unannounced to you, he broke up with the underclassmen and dated again and again.

A few days ago on a late-night face time with Kuroo, he says that he will be able to see you next week because of a practice match with Karasuno. You were excited because you got to see your boyfriend after a bit. He said he wouldn’t be able to spend a lot of time with you because he had to leave with the team but, you told him it was fine and that you would watch his practice match. Then he teased you for being his little cheerleading kitten.

Today was one day before the practice match. You and your friend decided to go together. She had a particular crush on Kageyama (we all have one who has a crush on him).  After your class bell rings dismissing you, your friend texts you to meet by the boy's volleyball gym because she had to pick up a notebook Mattsukawa borrowed for math. As you waited for your friend, you felt someone grab your waist and you yelped. The mysterious person bent to your ear and whispered, “You must be made of uranium and iodine because all I can see is U and I together.” You began to cackle, you remember that voice, you turn around and saw your giant chemistry nerd boyfriend Kuroo standing right behind you.

You tacked him with a hug and kissed him on the cheek. You began to explain how he scared the crap out of you and how the hell was he here and not in school. He explained it was because the practice game was going to be two days since the team wanted to get better. He said he had a few hours to kill before he had to play so he decided to surprise you, he asked your friend to set you in a position where he could meet you.

Then your friend came out pushing you two so-called “love birds” (friend’s words) to go on a date. As you and Kuroo began to make your way out of school discussing what to do for a date, some girls got wind of your boyfriend. They began to surround him and asking questions. You grabbed his hand, nervous of crowds. Kuroo being the nerd he was very nervous and began to scratch his hair. That's when a certain setter began to realize the commotion.

He walked up to the crowd only to see you and Kuroo holding hands. He was wondering why was a city boy here in Miyagi out of all places. He remembers Kuroo from the party where he saw you laughing. Then he saw his new girl fangirling over Kuroo, his blood boiled in jealousy. He went over there and tapped the shoulder of his girlfriend but, she didn’t notice.

You on the other hand did, you saw the rage in his eyes, and in fear of Kuroo dying before your date, you tapped his shoulder asking if you guys could leave. Kuroo saw the unusual mannerisms you were portraying and saw the reason, Oikawa. He grabbed your hand and said sorry to the crowd he attracted, he had a date with his kitten after all. You blushed profusely, he really had to use the term kitten.

Both of you walked out of the school leaving Oikawa in shock and being yelled at by Iwaizumi for being late for practice. He realized how beautiful you used to look when you were flustered at little things, he realized how much of an idiot he was for letting you leave him. During his practice he was messing up on basic things, getting a volleyball thrown at him from time to time. He vowed to talk to you after practice.

You on the other hand were at a cat cafe ironically out of all places doing homework with Kuroo. You helped him in English while he played flirted with you. After homework and some coffee, both of you played with cats. He became jealous of you paying more to a black cat rather than him. But, he couldn’t be mad at you, you looked so cute and he began to take pictures of you. He got a few before the flash was turned on, you became flustered again and he began to say how cute his kitten looked.

Both of you left the cat cafe and began walking to Karasuno. You felt a disruption in the air when you were walking. Kuroo then saw his teammates and grabbed you to introduce his significant other. You saw a few of them from the party such as Kenma but, you meet the underclassmen such as Lev. Yamamoto began to complain about how a rooster head got such deity. Kuroo came a little overprotective after that.

As the team began to walk into the gymnasium you felt a pair of eyes watching you but, you ignore it as your boyfriend whispered in your ear if I win, you owe me a kiss and dinner. It was Oikawa Toru, his heartbreaking seeing you smile with another person. He realized he lost all chance being with you. It hurts more to lose you, a breakup that could have been avoided than losing to Ushiwaka.

(Drink Water and Eat Please If You Hungry)

[littlerainbowsheltie]

What You And I Would Feel Like Chapter 2

“Anne!”

The rest of the day went by in a blur and at the same time going by excruciatingly slow. Anne tried to ignore what had happened in the empty classroom, but that was proving to be difficult with the two people that were part of the problem being in the last three classes with her. She would catch Sasha glancing at her from time to time, opening her mouth to speak before thinking better of it and going back to her work. Marcy mainly focused on what was happening in class but Anne knew better, she would want to talk about it at some point. Anne wasn’t so sure if she would be ready by then.

When the final bell of the day rang Anne got up and followed her classmates out of the classroom, weaving past students to create some distance from her and her friends. It only got her so far though.

���Anne, wait!”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, Marcy.”

When Marcy finally caught up she braced both hands on her knees, taking a moment to catch her breath. Anne felt a smile tug at her lips as she closed the small distance and patted her friend on the back. It’s been a while since the girls got their exercise by running from giant birds every day, you got a bit out of shape.

Once Marcy straightened back up she turned to Anne with a worried expression. “You know we’d never force you to do this, right Anne?”

Anne blinked. “Of course I do. That's not even something I’m worried about.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s...” Anne warily watched other students pass by and pulled Marcy closer so their shoulders were pressed against the lockers, out of the way of people walking by and close enough so only they could hear. “Aren’t you worried about what other people will think? Or what they’ll do?”

“Does it really matter?” Marcy questioned. “There are plenty of people in our grade who could be possibly dating but nobody seems to mind. And if they do mind it's usually just to be a jerk.“

“Yeah, I guess that's true...”

“Besides, the only opinions I care about are yours and Sasha’s.” Marcy slipped her hand into Anne’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her heart seemed to skip a beat. “If you want to talk more about it later we can. But first, someones gotta re-sign up for tennis today.”

Anne shook herself out of the sudden daze she was in. “Oh shoot I almost forgot. Thanks, Marcy!” and off she went down the hall.

--

The gymnasium wasn’t very crowded. There were a few tables scattered around for each sports activity and students were either talking to coaches or to each other.

Anne greeted her tennis coach as she approached the table, exchanging pleasantries as she wrote her name on the signup sheet. A few familiar names showed up on the lines above hers: Taliya, Quinn, Niki, Lainey. She had a good feeling about this year.

“Good to see you still on the team, Boonchuy.”

Anne turned around and grinned as another one of her favorite teammates appeared.

“Good to see you too, Virginia.”

Anne raised her hand and Virginia brought her hand up to meet in a high five. Virginia was a bit taller than Anne, with bushy burgundy hair. Anne stepped aside to let Virginia signup before the two walked out of the gym together, telling each other about their summers.

“And that's why I’m never going to trust Hailey alone by the water again!”

Anne laughed. “Oh man, she sounds as clumsy as Marcy.”

“Oh, they’d be a clumsy disaster together!” Virginia agreed, giggling. “How is it going with you three, by the way?”

Anne couldn’t help the grimace that crossed her face. “It... it's not the best right now.”

“Oh no. What did Sasha do?”

“No, no! It's nothing bad!” Anne defended with a frantic wave of her hands. “I know she didn’t mean anything bad by it. It’s just...can I ask you something?” At Virginia’s nod Anne continues, “What was it like for you when people started to talk about you and Ellen dating?”

Virginia looked at her blankly and Anne felt an uneasiness start to bubble up in her chest as she stopped walking, afraid that she overstepped.

“I’m sorry. Was that supposed to be a secret? It’s just-”

“Oh no, you’re okay!” Virginian reassured with a gentle smile. “I just never considered us dating.”

Anne blinked. “What do you mean?”

Virginia scratched at the back of her neck. “Well, we like each other differently than with our friends. But being girlfriends or partners doesn’t fit us. Of course the way we act around each other might seem like we’re dating to others but that doesn't matter. What matters is that we’re happy together. Why did you want to know?” Virginia gasped, and excitedly leaned closer. “Did Sasha finally ask you and Marcy out??”

Anne felt heat creep up her neck. “What!?” She squeaks. “No way! I mean, not really-”

“Not really?”

Anne let out a sigh and told Virginia what happened that morning. Sasha pulling them into an empty classroom, telling them about her plan for them to fake date to anger Brianna and her parents. How Marcy didn’t mind the idea and Anne wasn’t a fan of why they were doing it and how others would react. By the end, Virginia had a thoughtful look on her face.

“I can see why you’re worried,” Virginia acknowledged. “But Marcy’s right, people don’t care about this sort of thing unless it's to cause drama. And besides-” Virginia shot her a mischievous smirk. “-as long as all three of you are okay with it, why not fake date to get on Brianna’s nerves. At least if she starts flirting with you again.”

Anne snorted. “Knowing her, whether us dating was real or not wouldn’t stop her.”

“Just think about it.” A ringtone sounded from her jacket pocket and Virginia fished out her phone to look at it. “Oh right, I have to meet Ellen at the Library. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“You know it.” Virginia gave Anne a tight hug before heading out the door, leaving Anne with her thoughts as she left for home.

It wasn’t like she was opposed to dating Marcy and Sasha. Both of them were very pretty and they were already the closest friends could be. With them Anne felt like she could do anything, felt she could always be herself and they could always be themselves with her. She enjoyed holding their hands and snuggling on the couch, talking to them about anything and nothing at all. She didn’t want to ruin that by fake dating to upset some people. Anne didn’t want to ruin what she thought could never be repaired.

--

After dinner, Anne and Marcy helped Anne’s mom with the dishes before going up to their shared bedroom. Anne looked up from her phone to the girl lounging on the other side of the bed, tongue stuck out in concentration as she played on her Switch.

“Hey, Marce?”

“Yeah?”

Anne took a deep breath. “Do you..Do you really want to fake date Sasha and I?”

Marcy eyes snapped up to meet hers for a few seconds, cheeks gaining a rosy tint before her gaze swept back down onto the console’s screen. She slowly sat up and saved her game at the nearest saving point, shutting it down.

“Well, I’ve known you and Sasha for as long as I can remember, ” Marcy started as she fidgeted with the Switch in her hands. “You two make me feel safe and heard. You make me feel like I truly matter.” She looked up at Anne again and smiled warmly, sending butterflies through her stomach at the sight. “So yeah, I would love to fake date with you guys.”

A warm feeling settled in her chest and Anne couldn’t resist the smile that grew on her face. Marcy and Sasha made her feel the same way too.

“Then let's go.”

Marcy blinked and watched Anne go to her closet. “Go where?”

Anne tugged on her purple and white varsity jacket before grabbing a yellow hoodie. She tossed it to Marcy who clumsily caught it. “We’re going to Sasha’s.”

Anne and Marcy hurried down the stairs, Anne making sure to call out to her parents to tell them where they were going before heading to the garage to grab her scooter. After making sure Marcy was seated and had a helmet snug on her head, Anne donned her own helmet on before the scooter revved to life and headed out onto the street.

The trip to Sasha’s took them past houses with dogs barking and friendly people waving from porches to houses with towering iron gates and statues of lions looming from their perches. Anne pulled into the driveway of a two-story brick house and punched in the gate code into the keypad, waiting as the gates slowly swung open before driving further into the property.

Anne slowed her scooter as the distance between them and the steps closed, planting her feet on the ground to steady the vehicle before shutting it off. Taking their helmets off and hanging them from the handlebars, the girls headed up the steps, and as Marcy raised a hand to ring the doorbell-

The door swings open to reveal Sasha, hair down, wearing a pink tank top and grey gym shorts.

“What are you guys doing here?”

Marcy blinked. “How did you know we were here so quickly?”

“I saw you from my window, Marce.”

“Oh! Heh, right.”

Sasha waved it off. “Nevermind. Just be glad my parents aren’t home.”

“I thought you wanted your parents to know about ‘us’,” Anne commented with a raised brow.

“I did before realizing you two would be getting in trouble with them too!” Sasha dug the heels of hands into her eyes before taking a steadying breath and dropping them back down to her sides. “Look, it was a stupid idea. We don’t have to do it. Watching my parents blow a gasket isn’t worth you two being caught in the crossfire.”

“Well, that’s too bad.”

Sasha seemed taken aback by that. “Huh?”

“I still don’t like the idea of pretending to date just to upset people. But...” Anne smiled softly as she took a step forward, reaching out and taking Sasha’s hand in hers. “But after thinking it over, I wouldn’t mind being fake girlfriends with you and Marcy. It’s worth the risk. You guys are worth the risk.”

Sasha stared at their clasped hands, rosey red slowly blooming on her cheeks and a smile settling on her face. “...Okay.”

They made eye contact for a few seconds before Marcy nearly bowled them over as she flung her arms around them, laughter and calm soon settling in the air.

“Do you know when your parents are going to be back?” Anne inquired once the giggles died down.

“Oh, they won’t be back for awhile. Why?”

Anne grinned. “Do you guys wanna watch some movies till then?”

“Oh, oh! Let’s watch How To Train Your Dragon again!”

After Anne texted her mom what was going on they all sat on the couch, Marcy and Sasha on either side of Anne as they watched Hiccup take Toothless on a test flight. Marcy snuggled close, holding one of Anne’s hands in her lap, humming along to the music. Sasha had her head on Anne’s shoulder, one leg thrown over her lap while the other dangled off the couch.

Anne could feel herself sink against the couch cushions, her arm around Sasha and her hand in Marcy’s. This felt right. Right here, with them. It didn’t matter what others would think. All that matters are nights like these with two of her favorite people.

[niksixx]

Plus One

We’re on part 4 already!!! I’m soooo excited for this part. I plan on throwing a few curveballs and cliffhangers in the remaining parts of this mini fic, and I can’t wait for your reactions! 

Note: This fic takes place over the course of a few months!! Just keep that in mind while reading!

A/N: Please leave comments telling me what you think🖤

*Picture is NOT mine. Found on Google. Credit to the owner.*  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Pia’s POV*

I look in the mirror, completely unsatisfied yet again with my outfit of choice. Ten years out of high school and I find myself still caring about what my old classmates will think of me. I sigh before pulling off the simple blue dress and toss it on my bed dejectedly.

It takes me another fifteen minutes to find a better outfit and soon I’m staring back at myself adorned in heeled boots, black pants, and a skimmery gold long sleeve shirt.

I give myself a half smile just as the bell rings. I make sure to grab my purse, filled with lipgloss and a generous amount of breath mints, before heading down the steps.

My heart squeezes in my chest. In leather pants and a black button up shirt, Nikki grins happily. I’m well aware of his eyes examining the length of my body, and I don’t try to hide that I’m doing the same thing to him.

“When’s the last time you were this dolled up?” He asks, pressing the softest kiss to my cheek. There’s no one watching. He doesn’t have to appear affectionate. So why does he?

I snicker back at him before locking the door behind me. “It’s not like I’ve had anywhere to go. Now come on, we’re going to be late.”

~~~

Every inch of the school is decorated in navy blue and maroon streamers. Balloons are tied to chairs, littered on the gymnasium floor, and floating to the ceiling. Teachers stand by the entryway while old friends mingle about. I spot my friends laughing at a circular table in the back of the gym, and my hand slides into Nikki’s before pulling him in that direction.

“You made it,” Vince remarks, giving us a nod. “We didn’t think you were coming.”

“We wanted to make an entrance,” Nikki answers with a lighthearted laugh, giving my hand a squeeze. “Fashionably late and all that jazz.”

I walk around the table, exchanging hugs and quick pecks on the cheek, making sure to even press a tiny kiss to Vivian’s growing stomach. It’s good to see everyone together again. Sure, we’re all used to seeing each other on the weekends, but life has caught up to many of us, making it difficult to keep to our regularly scheduled adventures.

“So, you and Nikki,” Charlotte whispers, only for the girls to hear. My lips quirk up in a smile. “It’s about time you got your happy ending.”

“Let’s not jump ahead,” Viv interjects, stuffing a brownie into her mouth. No one says anything about the six other brownies piled onto her plate. How ironic it’d be if baby Alice May ended up hating chocolate. “They just started dating a month ago. But, I am mad I had to find out from Amanda,” Viv pouts before sinking her teeth into another treat. “How’s he been treating you?”

“Like a queen I hope,” Amanda chimes in, swirling the straw in her drink.

I see how happy they are for me, and I have to push away the nagging thought that screams it’s not real. No matter how much I want it to be real, and no matter how well Nikki treats me, that thought is ever-present in my brain.

“He’s amazing,” I say breathlessly, sneaking a quick peek at Nikki. He laughs at something Tommy says, eyes crinkling in delight. His smile is wide and genuine. “He’s unlike any man I’ve ever been with.”

Charlotte shakes me happily. “How many dates have you been on?”

“A few. We went out to dinner one night, a museum another. We stay in sometimes too. Order pizza, watch movies, play games. He even cooked for me last night. Being with him is an adventure I never want to end.”

~~~

*Nikki’s POV*

From the gymnasium bleachers, I watch with a grin as Pia and Charlotte dance with a few classmates. My eyes stay glued on Pia. The more she smiles and laughs, the more I can feel a dopey grin widening across my face.

I can feel my chest tighten as I watch her. It’s a feeling I’ve been having for a few days now whenever I’m around her and I can’t quite place what it is. From the dance floor her eyes find mine and she winks subtly, and the tightness is present once more. I balance my elbow on my knee, cheek in my palm, and sigh.

“You’ve got a little drool right there buddy,” Tommy pokes the corner of my mouth and I swat his hand away, frowning.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tommy rolls his eyes, crossing his ankles and leaning back on a higher bleacher. “How long are you supposed to keep up this act?”

I’m well aware of the extra emphasis placed on act. “Only a few more months. After her work party and cousin’s wedding, I am a free, single man again.”

“Uh huh,” Tommy tuts, his eyebrow raised in question. “So there’s absolutely no chance that this fake relationship turns into something real.”

I straighten my shoulders, shooting Tommy a warning look. He’s treading in deep water. “Don’t start. I don’t see her that way. Never have.”

Tommy was never one to listen. He takes a swig of water, brows raised as if to challenge me. “But you’re starting to.”

“Enough,” The word comes out harsh through gritted teeth. I ball my fists tightly, lowering my voice. “Be careful with your next words, man. I’m serious.”

Tommy chuckles, shaking his head. It’s a game to him. My reactions are his entertainment. “You won’t do shit and you know it. Seriously, man, what gives? I can see it on your face. You’re falling for her, aren’t you?”

I’m about to open my mouth but commotion on the dance floor stops me. I turn, scrunching my brows as Pia and Charlotte dart over to where Tommy and I are sitting.

“What’s going on?” Tommy asks, looking frantically between the girls.

“It’s Viv,” Pia answers, waiting a moment to catch her breath. “Her water just broke.”

~~~

In Vivian’s arms, the tiny pink bundle squirms away. There’s a smile on each one of my friend’s faces, Mick especially, as he strokes the top of his daughter’s head.

“She is so beautiful,” Amanda gasps, tears filling her eyes at the sight of her godchild. Even Tommy’s eyes are bright with unshed tears as he gazes at his new goddaughter, only a few hours old. “We’re so proud of you, Viv.”

Beside me, Pia squeezes my hand. I look down, smirking at the tears that are falling from her eyes, and instinctively brush them away. When I turn forward, I’m greeted with Vivian’s eyes narrowed, holding me captive. No one else seems to notice, and I squirm under her intense gaze.

“Now I hope you know I love you all, but this new momma is hungry and tired,” Viv chuckles, rubbing her growling stomach. Mick is the first one out of the room, no doubt sprinting to the cafeteria to find something semi edible for his wife to eat. Everyone nods in understanding. We begin to file out into the hallway, but Vivan’s voice stops me.

“Nikki,” I turn around, again met with Vivian’s hard gaze. “Close the door. Stay here.”

I freeze. Her voice is anything but welcoming. My fingers twitch as I close the door to the room, taking a hesitant step toward her.

“I thought you wanted to rest,” I say dumbly, stuffing my hands into my pockets. It was never easy to tell what Vivian was thinking, but her face always gave away how she felt.

“I do, but we need to talk first,” Viv’s voice is low and even. She sucks in a breath, exhales, and glares. “Why are you doing this to my best friend?” She shakes her head. “A fake relationship? Really?”

I frown, the realization dawning on me. Mick had told Vivian. “What are you getting at, Viv? Pia asked me to be her fake boyfriend. I’m not doing anything to her.”

It’s a scary sight, Vivian chuckling darkly. “Wow. You really are oblivious, huh?” When I don’t answer, Vivian continues, voice softening. “You really expect me to believe that you don’t know Pia is in love with you?”

I blink. “What?”

Viv rolls her eyes exasperatedly. “Pia is in love with you, Nikki. Somehow, everyone else can see that except you.”

Hate is a strong word and I don’t use it very often. But at this moment, I hate Vivian. I hate the way she’s looking at me. I hate the way I feel so small under her scrutiny. But most of all, I hate the way she’s acting as if I’m in the wrong.

“She doesn’t love me,” I respond with a laugh. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Vivian laughs quietly, repositioning Alice in her arms. “Of course you don’t think so. You never pay attention. I do, and I have over the years. You don’t see the way she watches you when you talk, so fascinated by anything you have to say. You don’t see the way she laughs when you tell a stupid joke. And by the way, she’s the only one who’s ever laughing. You don’t see the way her cheeks flare up when you compliment her and she tries to hide it by looking away. You never, ever saw the devastation in her eyes when you chose each one of us over her. That’s your problem, Nikki. You don’t see.”

My pulse races and suddenly I’m warm all over. The ground beneath me begins to sway, and my fingers lock around the back of the single wooden chair beside the hospital bed. I lower myself down, rubbing the tension from my temples, trying to understand.

Vivian’s hand on my shoulder is light. I’m tempted to push it away, but I know she means well. “This relationship...this fake relationship, is going to end up with one of you hurt. And it’s not going to be you.”

“Why does everyone think something is going to go wrong? First Mick and Tommy, and now you,” I pull the chair closer, gripping Vivian’s hard. She flinches, but says nothing. “You said my problem is that I don’t see. Then help me, Viv. Help me see. If Pia loves me like you say she does, then why did she ask me to be her fake boyfriend and not her real boyfriend, huh? I’m clearly not good enough to be her real boyfriend, right?”

Viv sighs, thumb brushing over my knuckles. “She asked you because she trusts you. And this fake relationship gives her the chance to experience a real relationship with you, one that you never gave her because you were too busy using me, Charlotte, and Amanda to occupy your time. You want to know a secret? You just told me why you never gave Pia the chance. Because in your mind, you don’t think you’re good enough for her. And for someone that puts on the front that he doesn’t want a relationship with her, you certainly are going to lengths to prove this one is real.”

“I know I’m not good enough,” I spit back. “I just...I just know it. I can act the part and put on a show, but that’s all this is. It’s a goddamn show.”

I can see the blood rushing to Vivian’s cheeks. “You stubborn jackass, you know that’s not true. You only have to play the part in public. And believe me, you’ve done one hell of a job with that, so explain to me why you’re still dating her in private? Movie nights? Game nights? Homemade dinners? Explain that to me.”

For the tenth time that night, I’m speechless. Why was I still dating her in private?

“So what do you suggest then?” I ask seriously after a long, silent moment. “That we just call it off completely? Because I can do that right now.”

Viv shakes her head, eyes wide. “If you have no intentions of making this a real relationship, then you need to stop acting like it is behind closed doors. No more movie nights. No more game nights, homemade dinners, none of that. Because the more you do that, the more she’s going to fall in love with you, only for you to rip her heart out in the end.”

[rosemarypasta]

➤ pairing : oikawa tooru x female reader (karasuno manager)

➤ chapter warnings : slowburn (?)

➤ summary : You just recently joined the Karasuno boy’s volleyball team as their first year manager. As you grow closer to your teammates, you also unexpectedly grow closer to one of their biggest rivals, Oikawa Tooru

➤ chapter word count: 3183

-ˏˋ chapter one ˊˎ-

Friday

12:50 PM

"Pleaseeee." The red haired boy nagged.

It was your first year in Karasuno High. You had lots of expectations on what your high school experience was going to be like but you had absolutely no intentions on being involved in any sports whatsoever. Yet, there you sat in your seat, bombarded by two students from the neighboring class during your lunch break. You barely even know them.

"Hinata stop shouting! We're in someone else's class, idiot." The raven haired boy ironically yelled as he hit his shorter friend on the head with a roll of documents, which were being forcefully shoved into your hands just a second ago. "I don't even know the first thing about volleyball! Besides, I don't know anyone there, won't it be awkward?" You whined, trying your best to decline their ridiculous offer.

"That's not true! You know us!" Hinata smiled. That was in fact, false. The only reason why you even know their names was because they forced Hitoka, your classmate, to tutor them for the exams and unfortunately, she caught a cold a few days before the exams so she forced you to cover for her for a few days. It's not like you disliked them or anything, you just didn't know anything about them other than their names and the fact that they both have very short tempers.

"Come on Y/N-chan! It'll be fun." Hitoka followed, smiling in the same manner as Hinata. You shot her a look, expressing your disgust at her betrayal. "Well if it's so fun why don't you do it instead, Hitoka-chan?" You replied to which she reacted by furiously shaking her head and hands, "My mom would never let me." She playfully sighed, though you knew damn well she was relieved in the inside to have her mother's strict wishes as an excuse to pass on the burden to you.

After another minute of bickering, the bell finally rang, dismissing everyone from their lunch break. Kageyama swore silently under his breath as he heard the familiar melody. "Look, just come by the gym today after school. Just um... think of it as a free trial. Let's go Hinata." He swiftly said, putting the club application form on your desk as he dragged his friend by the collar before escaping to their respective classrooms. You turned towards your blonde classmate who was already giggling at your suffering.

You sighed as you watched the teacher walk in your classroom. You slid the stack of papers under your desk and tried your best to forget your worries for the time being.

3:00 PM

The bell rang for the final time for the week and you quickly packed your bags. You had no intentions to stop by the gym whatsoever. You knew if you stopped by even for a second, You'd definitely get roped in and they'd guilt you into signing the form before the day was over. You were hurrying so much, planning to not bump into Hinata and Kageyama on the way home that you were practically shoving anything and everything into your bag. You said your farewells as quickly as possible to Yachi and your fellow classmates to avoid Yachi's comments about skipping the meeting and rushed out to the hallways but unfortunately, you underestimated how eager the students were when it comes to going home for the weekends. But despite the tightly packed hallways, you were determined to slip into and nook and cranny available to get home safe and sound. It took a whopping five minutes for you to just get to the staircase. And as you were getting ready to finally reach the first floor, you overheard something peculiar from behind.

"Oh! Shoyo mentioned that there'll be a new manager dropping by today."

"Really? Damn I hope she comes cause if not, I guess we'll just have to take her to the alley."

The stairwell was filled with chatter but your ears oddly picked up the conversation revolving around the short first year volleyball player and the manager he was invited.

They were talking about you.

Take her to the alley? The alley? A million intrusive ideas came up to mind. Were they planning to kill you if you didn't show up?

You laughed at yourself quietly. There was no way a high schooler could commit such violent crimes over something small like a sports club. Though curiosity got the cat and you slowly turned your head as naturally as you possibly could to see what they looked like. You caught a glimpse of the two boys conversing about you and felt like you could wet yourself. One was tall and had a buzz cut land the other though not as tall and was actually around the same height as you had spiky dark hair with a blonde streak which fell on his forehead. They looked like thugs.

Feeling terrified was an understatement. Were they members of the volleyball club too? The sight of the two unfamiliar menacing men changed your mind. No highschooler would commit such crimes but if one was to get murdered by two highschoolers, they'd probably look like them.

The conversation you overheard made you subconsciously turn on your survival instincts. As soon as you reached the first floor, your body turned towards the gym unwillingly. It was too late now, you could hear their footsteps trailing not far from you. You pushed open the gymnasium doors and was greeted by the sounds of squeaking volleyball shoes rubbing against the floor.

Everyone's eyes turned towards you and the squeaking stopped abruptly. You couldn't do anything but watch as their towering bodies slowly walked towards you. You have always avoided sports in general because you were short and naturally bad at it so you assumed that volleyball players were at least closer to normal people unlike the basketball players that looked like skyscrapers from a distance since Hinata was in the club but boy, you were wrong.

"Are you Y/N?" A deep voice right in front of you said. His shoulders were broad and big, though he wasn't the tallest person in the crowd, his presence was still overwhelming. "Oh the new manager?" Another deep voice joined in. You turned to the new source of voice and froze at the sight of the volleyball player.

He had a beard.

You have heard a rumour circulating the halls about a third year in Karasuno that has been held back for five years because he was dealing drugs and had a favorite past time that consisted of beating up the younger students. Could it be him?

In the midst of the sea of terror, a vibrant familiar voice yelled, "Oh, Y/N!". You looked up and felt tears of joy pooling around your eyes as you saw the red haired boy.

"Asahi, scoot over, you're making her cry." A grey haired senior laughed as he pushed the now concerned bearded man away from my sight. "So you're going to be our second manager right? Y/N-san?" He continued, "My name is Sugawara Koushi and i'm the vice-captain of this club." He had a soft and prince-like voice which helped calm you down. His smile was bright and charming, fit for royalty. He extended his arm gracefully and you carefully shook it.

It took a full ten minutes to get to know everyone in the club. Sawamura Daichi, the first person who spoke was the captain of the team. He definitely seemed intimidating at first but had a fatherly aura to him which made him a perfect fit for a captain. Azumane Asahi, the bearded man immediately cleared up all the rumours I've heard about and clarified that he was just an innocent 17-year old student. Then you were introduced to the second years and the rest of the first years who you weren't familiar with. Tsukishima shocked you the most since he was pretty much the tallest member of the club and he was only a first year. You didn't know how you went three months of school without knowing he was in the class right next to yours. With his height and blonde hair, you wondered how you could possibly miss him. Lastly, Hinata and Kageyama showed you the current manager, Shimizu Kiyoko.

She's breathtaking.

Her silky black hair flowed in the air as she turned to greet you. All you could do was stand in front of her and be stunned. You felt like you definitely stared at her a second too long before introducing yourself which made things awkward but fortunately, she didn't seem to notice. She was about to ask you about something but she didn't get to finish her sentence as two screams filled the echoing gym.

"Kiyoko-senpai!"

You turned around to the entrance and fear took over your body once again.

The buzzcut and the blonde streak duo.

They were preoccupied with Shimizu so you tried your best to avoid attention and inch closer to the two boys you actually knew but before you could even make it anywhere close to the red and black haired duo, the two upperclassmen shifted their gaze from their senpai to you.

"Ah, Shoyo! So it worked!" The shorter of the two exclaimed as he jumped up and down, pointing at the red hair opposite him who was jumping up and down in the same manner.

You stood in the middle of the court confused. Work? What worked?

"Don't tell me you actually went through with the plan." Daichi scolded, his hands already crossed in front of his chest, to which the other third years responded with a laugh while the buzzcut, blonde streak guy and Hinata froze in the presence of their upset captain. "Oh so that's why you're here Y/N! Don't tell me you actually believed the things Nishinoya and Tanaka were saying." Sugawara attempted to sigh before chuckling himself as he put his hand on the captain's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"I told you it would backfire." The tall blonde sniggered alongside his olive green haired partner.

After a few minutes of scolding, Daichi made Nishinoya, Tanaka and Hinata apologize to you, which took you a few moments and an explanation from Sugawara as to why they had to apologize to why they had to do so. According to Suga's explanation, the volleyball club was desperate to find a new manager since the third years would be graduating soon. As an act of desperation from Hinata, and a drive to impress their senpai for Nishinoya and Tanaka, they came up with a plan that would intimidate and scare you into joining the team. Though Hinata claimed and insisted that the second years went overboard and tweaked their plans on a whim.

"Well, now that everyone is here, Y/N, I think you can finally properly introduce yourself since all the distractions are out of the way." Daichi sighed, shaking his head at his troublesome players.

You held your breath and faced your future, much taller teammates. Even though they are intimidating, they seemed much more fun than you thought. This moment may not be that pleasant in real time but you're sure you could laugh back at this moment in the future.

"My name is Y/N and I'm in class 1-5." You started, glancing from left to right. "I guess I'll be your manager from now on so... I look forward to working with you all." You bowed towards the unfamiliar faces. Your words were shortly followed by a series of cheers. "I guess this would be my life from now on for the next three years." You thought to yourself.

6:00 PM

Three hours later, the Friday sun began to set. Though you have done the bare minimum of only watching balls get thrown across the room for several hours, you felt exhausted. The boys had three-on-three games amongst each other and you felt like you've aged ten years after watching a handful of them. If matches against their own teammates are that intense, you wonder what would happen in a real match against actual rivals. You prayed that you won't get high blood pressure by the end of the year.

"All right, that's all for today. Don't forget that morning practices are still on for tomorrow and that the practice match against Aoba Johsai will start at two in the afternoon so make sure to pack a lunch." The coach, Ukai Keishin, who you didn't notice was the coach until thirty minutes into practice because of his youthful hairstyle, announced before the whole room scattered to clean the gym. You were in the middle of folding the chairs and storing them when it hit you.

Tomorrow is a Saturday.

You have also just realized that unlike the other clubs you've barely joined in the past, the vast majority of sports clubs train on the weekend as well. You mentally facepalmed yourself and cursed at Hinata under your breath for getting you involved in the club. A distant sneeze was heard from the red haired boy.

The clean up was easier than you thought, you were only halfway done picking the balls up from the ground when Nishinoya and Tanaka proudly announced that they were done mopping the floors in an attempt to impress their senpai manager. Shimizu quietly chuckled with you as the two of you continued to fill your arms up with more volleyballs.

"So, Y/N, I think you should get one of the boys to walk home with you. We don't usually stay back until late at night like today but it might be scary to walk home alone." Shimizu advised you as the two of you stored the balls away in the storage room. But before you could even ask for anyone's help, the bright red-head started bouncing off the storage room walls. "I'll walk home with you Y/N!" Hinata proposed eagerly as he dropped the folded net in the corner of the room. "But Hinata, don't you live in the mountains? That's the opposite way from my house." You said, turning him down but despite your rejection, he was still keen to walk you home and insisted on going.

"I'll walk you home instead, I don't think I burned as much energy as I wanted to today so I don't mind a longer walk home." The black haired first year suggested. You raised your eyebrow and found it baffling that he felt like he didn't burn as much energy as he wanted to despite just finishing a three hour long practice where he constantly had to run and jump.

You and Kageyama began to walk together. The sun was already out and the yellow tinted street lights were the only thing illuminating the streets besides the pale moonlight.

"Um, Y/N, we are headed towards your house right?" Kageyama abruptly spoke as the two of you began to enter your neighbourhood. "Yeah, why'd you ask?" You asked back. "That's a weird coincidence, I live on the same street." He stated, with a concerned and focused look, probably thinking of a reason why the two of you have never seen each other despite having the same route to and from school. It took you a few minutes to realize that you never go to school as early as him and go home as late as him because you're never had morning and afternoon practice before.

"Oh, yeah! I've been in sports clubs for so long that I forgot that normal people don't have the same schedules as we do." He lightly chuckled after you voiced your thoughts.

"Gah! Teddy, NO! Don't piss on my leg!" A voice yelled in the midst of the serene and empty night. Kageyama stopped abruptly as the voice filled the deserted street. The voice began to quiet down and started mumbling muffled words but It didn't die down. In fact, it started to grow clearer and you and Kageyama started walking again. Shortly, you and Kageyama stood in front of a sweaty brown haired boy walking a small brown poodle.

"O-Oikawa-san?" You turned to your teammate.

Kageyama knows this freak that has been yelling and talking to himself?

The boy shifted his gaze sharply from the dog to you and Kageyama. "Oh, it's Tobio-chan!" He sniggered as he ran his fingers through his hair.

His face was pretty and fair. Even under the yellow street lights illuminating him, you could see his sparkling brown eyes matched his equally as captivating brown hair perfectly. You rarely found deep interests in random strangers even if they were attractive but you can't seem to take your eyes off the one standing right in front of you.

"What are you doing here?" The stranger in the turquoise and white jacket asked. His voice was stern, as if he demanded an answer from Kageyama. "Er- I live in this neighbourhood." Kageyama mumbled but it was loud enough to be heard by you and the boy standing in front of him. "Really?! The one time my family decided to move to a new neighbourhood, you happen to be my neighbour?" He groaned, face palming dramatically while Kageyama continued to stand beside you awkwardly in silence. You began to question the identity of the stranger. He seemed like he hates Kageyama a lot but Kageyama isn't doing anything. In practice, it seemed like any little thing Tsukkishima and Hinata did and said made him scream in annoyance but this guy who was so blatantly rude to him isn't triggering him at all.

"Alright, alright! I get it, you need to pee!" The irritated brunette screamed at the odd acting dog that has been scratching his trouser for the past five minutes. "Tobio-kun, I look forward to destroying you in the match tomorrow." He declared with his chin up, pushing his concerns for the dog away momentarily before walking past you two Karasuno students towards a nearby park.

You questioned and interrogated the now, much more quiet teammate and squeezed as much information you could in the remaining two minutes you had with Kageyama before you reached your home.

His name is Oikawa Toru and he goes to Aoba Johsai, the school Karasuno is playing against the next day. You tried to squeeze more information about the memorable stranger from the raven haired setter but all he told you was that he was his senpai back in middle school

12:00 AM

You plopped on your bed after a long day and closed your eyes to process the things that have happened in the last twelve hours alone. Even reliving the events that occurred earlier that morning overwhelmed you. You couldn't believe you went through all that in a single day. Despite the variety of chaos you endured that day, you went to sleep that night with an image of a peculiar yet oddly endearing brunette stuck in your mind.

next:  -ˏˋ chapter two ˊˎ-

[fandomstuff67]

Mask

Written for Suptober20 day 5: Mask

Word Count: 1.7k

Read on Ao3 or below:

Dean shut the door of the Impala and fixed his mask around his face before adjusting his suit and tie. The passenger door slammed shut and Dean turned to face Charlie. 

“Why did I let you talk me into this?” he groaned as he ran a finger under his mask to quell an itch. 

“Because it’ll be fun, and you need to get out of the house,” Charlie replied as she pulled her golden mask down over her face. 

Dean sighed but let Charlie pull him towards the school entrance. Of all the kinds of dances for the school to decide to throw, a masquerade was the last one Dean would’ve expected. 

“This is stupid,” he mumbled as they neared the door.  “And I look ridiculous.” 

He tugged at his tie, but Charlie slapped his hand away. “You do not look ridiculous, and I think you’ll have a great time.” 

Dean spared one wistful glance behind him at his car, wishing that he could escape Charlie’s iron grip and dive back into the safety of his vehicle, but Charlie was adamant that he attend this dance, and so inside he went. 

He could already hear the music blaring from down the hall in the gymnasium where the dance was being held, and he reluctantly followed Charlie towards the table where some students were collecting tickets. After they’d handed over their tickets, Dean was pulled into the dark gym and Charlie dragged him to the center of the floor where she began to dance. 

“Come on, Dean! Dance!” Charlie encouraged as her fists pumped the air and her hair flowed around her face, red curls bouncing to her movements. 

Dean sighed, what did he have to lose? It wasn’t like anyone could see who he was anyway. Slowly, he began to sway to the music and Charlie let out a cry of joy. 

“See? It’s not so bad.” 

“I still think I look ridiculous,” he muttered. 

“You look handsome,” Charlie said with a smile.

 Dean stayed on the dance floor for another five minutes before he decided that he’d had enough dancing for the night. 

“I’m going to get something to drink,” he said as Charlie danced around him. 

“Okay! I think I’m gonna go see if I can find any fair maidens to dance with.” 

Dean chuckled to himself as Charlie went off into the swamp of people, searching for some poor girl to subject to her dance moves. 

But, as he turned towards the snack table, he hit something solid and he stumbled back in surprise. “Shit, sorry,” he apologized to the boy he’d just run into. 

The boy smiled at him, and Dean’s brain suddenly short circuited, because even in the dark gymnasium and with a mask on, he could still see the deep blue of this boy’s eyes and he was suddenly drowning in them. 

“My apologies as well,” the boy said, his voice was enough to make Dean feel like he wanted to collapse. It was deep and rich, not the voice you’d expect a sixteen year old to have. 

“Right, uh, well, excuse me,” Dean said. 

Dean tried to sidestep the boy, but he also tried to step around Dean and they went the same way, causing them to collide again. “I’m sorry,” the boy said, an embarrassed laugh accompanying his words. 

Dean couldn’t help but laugh as well and he smiled and reached out to put his hands on the boy’s shoulders to move him gently while they spun in a half circle. “There,” he said softly, clapping his hand on the boy’s shoulder, but he didn’t drop his hands. He just stood there, staring at this boy, who’s black hair was sticking up around the elastic band of his mask, a mask that was tan in color with a few dark blue flecks. It was kind of beautiful, much better than Dean’s simple black mask that he’d bought at the dollar store last night because Charlie had called and demanded he come to the dance. 

They stood there for a few moments, possibly minutes, as people moved around them to the beat of the music. “Dance with me.” 

The words were out of Dean’s mouth before he even realized he was saying them. He didn’t know this boy, but there was something about him that made Dean throw caution to the wind.

“Of course,” the boy replied. 

It wasn’t the answer Dean had been expecting, but somehow it suited the boy in front of him. Dean grinned and pulled the mysterious boy towards him, letting his hands fall to his hips while the boy placed his hands around Dean’s neck. 

They swayed to the music and with every brush of their bodies against each other, Dean felt his heart stutter in his chest. Dean should tell him his name. He should introduce himself, this wasn’t some fairy tale where you met the love of your life at a ball and forgot to exchange names, this was real life, and he should really give this boy his name. 

But he didn’t. 

Somehow he felt like it would be weird, like it would break the comfortable anonymity of this shared moment. They could be safe in this moment, drifting in the shadows, masks shading them from each other’s identities. 

Dean wanted to know who this gorgeous boy in front of him was, he wanted to pull the mask from his face and take in the full picture, because he was sure that he would like what he saw. But he pushed away his urges and let himself fall into an easy rhythm with the boy. They worked well together, matching each other’s movements, as if they were one person. 

As he danced, he forgot all about the drink he’d been going to get. The pinch of his too-tight shoes faded to a dull ache, the tightness of his tie around his neck fell away, the sweat beading on his forehead and seeping into his paper mask was nothing but a distant feeling. There was only this blue-eyed boy and the feeling of his hands on Dean’s shoulders, of his hair brushing Dean’s chin, of his deep voice as he hummed along quietly to the slow song that was now playing over the speakers. The song wasn’t one Dean recognized, but by the sound of it, the boy in his arms did. 

As the song was ending, the boy started to pull away, but Dean pulled him back, letting their eyes meet. They stared at each other for a moment, but then Dean closed the space between them, pressing his lips against the masked boy in front of him. 

The response was instantaneous, the boy kissed back and the gym disappeared, it was just them, nothing and no one else, it was perfect.

Dean wanted to stay in this moment forever, but all good things must come to an end, and eventually they had to pull away. The dance was over, and they had to go their separate ways.

“Uh, I’ll see you around,” Dean said. 

The boy smiled, it was gummy and Dean found it contagious. “Of course.” 

“Bye then,” Dean said as he ran a hand through his hair. 

“Goodbye.” 

“Ready to go?” Charlie asked as she suddenly appeared beside Dean, lipstick smeared and hair twisted in a few knots. 

“Uh, yeah,” Dean replied, tearing his eyes from the boy who was walking away towards the gym doors. He wanted to call after him, to give him his name, but he was frozen to the spot.

Charlie looked at him and smiled knowingly. “You two have a fun night?” she asked with a wink. 

“Yes,” Dean answered, a soft smile on his lips. He didn’t even care that he wasn’t going to hear the end of this the whole drive back to Charlie’s place. 

“I told you this dance wouldn’t be so horrible.” 

Dean rolled his eyes as they began to walk towards the exit. “Yeah yeah, shut up.” 

                                                  ****

On Monday, Dean found himself scanning the hallways, looking for a shock of messy black hair and blue eyes, but he saw nobody fitting that description. 

He went to his classes early, which earned him surprised looks from his teachers when they saw him sitting at his desk five minutes before class started instead of five minutes after the bell rang, but it was just so he could watch the door and take in every student that came into the classroom. But the boy from Friday didn’t seem to be in any of his classes. 

His classes went by slowly, and he itched to get out of his seat and scour every single classroom in this building until he found the mysterious boy who hummed to unknown songs and kissed like he was seeking oxygen and Dean’s lips were the only source. 

It wasn’t until the last period of the day when Dean found himself in the library, since it was his free period, that he saw the back of a familiar dark haired head sitting at a table by the line of computers. Dean’s stomach dropped for a brief moment, his nerves building up in his body. He took a steadying breath, and then approached the table. 

The boy was sitting alone, and he had about three textbooks open around him with a pencil in one hand while he scribbled notes on a piece of paper.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” Dean asked. His voice came out a lot more relaxed than he felt, which he was grateful for. 

The boy raised his head and Dean knew he’d found the right person when blue eyes met his. He saw the recognition spark in his eyes and he smiled.  “No, of course, not.”

“So uh, I’m Dean.” 

“Castiel.” 

Dean blinked at him in surprise, of all the names he thought this boy could have, Castiel was not even on the list. “That’s an interesting name,” Dean said as he sat down at the table. 

“Most people just call me Cas.” 

Dean smiled as he pulled his books out of his bag and met Cas’ blue eyes. “Hey Cas.” 

Cas smiled back, his work seemingly forgotten as he looked into Dean’s eyes. “Hello, Dean.”

Dean had been right, Cas looked much better without a mask.

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 1

Okay, I guess I’m just gonna start uploading this here because the more the merrier, right? This is the third platform where I’m uploading this story lol But I just really want people to read, cause... That’s why I wrote it, to try make people smile (okay, and cry a little) and I’m in love with it <3

You can find many many chapters in Ao3  

So, first and foremost, thank you @fleetingpieces for believing in this story when it was just a random idea in my brain that went something like “OMFG! What if Celaena was in a world without magic and she had to attend HS?” And then I started babbling for like... an hour... and through it all, @fleetingpieces listened to my rambling and interjected with ‘ahs’ and ‘ohs’ and ‘aws’ and then told me I should really write this story because she wanted to read it... so... I better stop rambling and let you read it ;)

CHAPTER 1

Returning to the Living

She was so used to getting up at twilight and staying up all night, that being in the principal’s office at the early hour of seven thirty in the morning felt almost like torture. And Celaena Sardothien surely knew her fair share about torture.

“Good morning, Miss Sardothien, please come in,” the principal called as he signaled her in from the door of his office.

Begrudgingly, she followed him in as she stifled a yawn. She sat down in front of the old man, arranging her skirt and tucking in the front of the uniform’s white blouse.

“It is a pleasure to have you in our school,” the principal started. “I hope you settle quickly into the spirits of Adarlan Elite High, and to make sure of it, I have arranged for the president of the student council to give you a tour of the grounds. He was kind enough to come in early for this.” His voice was monotonous, like he was bored of speaking with teens all day, but he sounded stern at the same time, as if 'settling into the spirit' actually meant 'sticking to the rules'.

He had no idea that wasn’t going to be the case, Celaena had already broken more rules than most students, and she had yet to start her first day.

She heard the steps in the hallway before the door opened, and she turned around with her best smile at the same time as principal Allsbrook spoke again.

“Chaol Westfall, this is our new exchange student, Celaena Sardothien. Miss. Sardothien, this is Mr. Westfall, the president of the student council.”

If it wasn’t for all her training, her jaw would have fallen open; she knew him. The guy standing by the door wore his uniform immaculate and perfectly ironed, there was even that straight little line at the front of his dress pants. His white shirt was tidy and tucked in, his tie pulled almost all the way up; his chestnut hair was cut short on the sides and a little longer in the middle, styled with gel; and his copper-brown eyes were piercing into her, his eyebrows slightly lowered.

She was pretty sure he had recognized her.

“Morning, Celaena,” he said, smiling politely.

“Good morning to you, Chaol, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said in an effort to be polite back, if only to keep the charade of a good girl in front of the old man sitting at the desk. 

She hoped for the slight chance that he wouldn't remember meeting her a few weeks back, or that he didn’t recognize her with the small change of appearance. 

“Okay, off you go into the tour, I have plenty of things to do, and another student to greet soon,” the principal dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

Celaena followed Chaol out of the office, hoping that he wouldn’t mention the day they ran into each other in the secretary’s office. She hadn’t thought there would be any students in the school's grounds during holidays; but of course the nerd of the class had been there and had almost found her hacking into the school’s database. She had been fast, getting off the computer, jumping over the counter and seating in the waiting area just before Chaol had walked in the door. 

She had claimed to be waiting for the secretary, that there were some papers she had to hand in; and she hoped that’d been enough to fool him.

“So, why does a senior student transfer schools?” Chaol asked her after showing her around for a while. “Wouldn’t you want to graduate with all your friends?” 

“I transferred because I had to move here, and the reason I moved is none of your concern,” she quipped, not being able to repress the little hiss sound escaping her lips. There was something about the guy, he was already pissing her off.

“Interesting,” he muttered under his breath. “Well, welcome to Rifthold then,” he said as he led her towards a new hallway. “So, this is the cafeteria,” he pointed to a set of double doors at the end of the hall. “And the gymnasium is in the next building over, out that side door,” he added, gesturing to their right.

They walked around for a few more minutes while she pretended not to know the place like she knew the palm of her hand. She had meticulously studied the blueprint of the building, and had snuck in during the night a few times to get familiar with her new surroundings.

“That’s about it, you can ask around if you get lost,” he finished, looking at his wrist watch. “We should go now, or else we’ll be late for the first period, missing homeroom is enough. Let me see,” he added pointing at the schedule in Celeana’s hand.

She passed it over to him and Chaol looked at it quickly and smiled, but there was still an odd look in his eyes. She could tell he didn’t fully trust her; she’d had to work on that.

“We’re together for the first two periods, so follow me,” he said.

“Sure thing,” she replied, flashing him with one of her best grins.

They walked into the classroom, and Celaena was already calculating her odds. Would this be the type of school where they had you introduce yourself? She half hoped not, but a part of her hoped it was; it would be good to read people’s expressions from the front of the room. And she couldn't deny she'd enjoy the attention. 

She was only half disappointed when the teacher barely looked at her and nodded. “Oh, yes, one of the new students,” the guy said. He must have been in his late thirties, and looked a bit bored, but Celaena couldn’t help but notice how he glanced at her up and down quickly. “Just grab a seat wherever you want,” he brushed her off.

She analyzed the room and decided to sit around the middle, but to one side, so she’d have the security of the wall to her left, and the gossiping girls sitting to her right. She could already hear their whispers and see their eyes turning her way, heads close together as they talked. 

“Oh my God,” one of the girls was saying, “I think she’s got potential for prom queen.” Her voice was a little too loud to be considered a whisper.

“Shush, she can probably hear you! But you’re right, she’ll be good competition for Lysandra. Do you reckon she’ll join the bees? Looks like the type,” the second one replied.

Lysandra, she saved that name into her brain. Probably the queen of this school; pretty girls normally meant trouble, so she’d better keep her eyes and ears on that one.

“Have you seen the new junior already?” The first one asked after a few more hushed whispers. Celaena leaned on an elbow closer to them, pretending to look at the front while she eavesdropped.

“I haven’t, but I’ve heard he’s to die for!” 

“He’s really tall and handsome." Celaena rolled her eyes at that. "I hope I have some classes with him…. Do you know what his name is?”

“I think it’s Samuel.”

“Okay, attention class,” the teacher interrupted.

Celeana was glad for the interruption, she had had enough of the girls' gossip for the moment being, and she hoped her school year wasn’t going to be all like that. That is, if she even got to the end of the year. Gossip was a good source of information, but it was also unreliable, and annoying. 

The first few classes went by fairly quickly, she sat to one side of the classrooms, interacted with a few students, and mostly listened to what everybody had to say about her and the other new student. Not many dared approach her, she must have looked as grumpy as she felt due to the lack of sleep. A few had said hello and introduced themselves, and she had filed every face and every name she could into her memory.

It was after her third class, while she was leaving some books in her locker, that she finally ran into him. Or most likely, that he found her.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he said in a mocking tone, standing behind her.

She turned around and glanced at the hallway, making sure that there were not many people around and that no one could hear them. 

“I still don’t know why you’re here, but just stay out of my fucking way, Cortland! Don’t ruin my plan,” she yelled under her breath, looking around to the few people still lingering in the hall.

“You know perfectly well why I’m here, and I can't get in the way if I don't even know what your plan is," he hissed, and then he popped a hand against the locker, boxing her in.

Celaena wasn’t unaccustomed to him being so close, but his simple presence could still piss her off.

“Yes, I do know why you're here,” she replied with a huff. “It's because Arobynn doesn’t fully trust me after the... incident,” she finished, trying not to think about that night. "But I don't know why he'd trust you," she added, narrowing her eyes and almost spitting the last word out. 

She pushed his left hand off the locker in one quick motion, almost making him stumble. He had probably been expecting the move, as he shifted the weight to his right foot and popped his right hand on the other side of her head instead.

Sam Cortland looked at her with his brows tucked together, his face merely inches away from hers. It looked like he was going to keep arguing, he opened and closed his mouth. He looked hurt for a second, and angry, but then he turned around, looking ahead into the now empty hallway. The first bell had rung already.

“I’ll be around if you change your mind,” he replied over his shoulder before walking away.

“Asshole,” Celaena breathed as she closed her locker and walked quickly to her next class. She didn’t need the kind of attention that being late to class would give her, especially not for the class she was heading to... Especially not when she was about to see Aedion for the first time after nine long years.

She made it in time, and entered the room just before the teacher called the attention of the students. Celaena was glad for it, as she saw Aedion eyeing her when she walked in. She had to concentrate not to look at him directly as she made her way to the back of the class, where he would have to turn around if he wanted to look at her again. 

Once she was in her seat, she let her long golden hair fall as a curtain to the side of her face, covering her from Aedion’s turquoise eyes. He was sitting only two rows in front of her to the right, and she had a perfect view of his profile. 

“Welcome class, I hope you’re enjoying your first day so far. I’m Ms. Doranelle and I will be your math teacher for this term,” the short woman at the front said. She proceeded to write her name on the board and asked them to open their textbooks on page 15.

As soon as the lesson started, Celaena tucked her hair behind her ear, and looked at Aedion more closely. She had to admit, he had grown into a fine young man. He had broad shoulders that filled in the school’s jacket nicely, and his blond hair was only a shade lighter than hers. Celeana could tell he spent a lot of time in the sun, as his skin had a slight shine to it, same as his hair. She looked at her own hands, her ghost pale skin so opposite to his, and wondered if her skin would acquire that golden tan too if she started spending more time outdoors during the daytime. 

She’d probably find out soon.

“Celaena, what’s the answer to question five on the textbook?” Ms. Doranelle asked, probably catching her daydreaming.

She let her hair fall back onto her face, and read the question quickly.

“Twenty five,” she replied immediately, trying not to sound too cocky. 

A bit surprised, the teacher raised her thick eyebrows at her, but then nodded.

“Yes, that’s right… Just, don’t get distracted,” she added before continuing with the lesson.

As she looked to the right, Celaena caught his eyes. Aedion Ashryver’s turquoise eyes were just as she remembered them; but she didn’t really need to remember, because they were equal to the ones she saw in the mirror every morning. The golden ring around his pupils was visible even from a few seats away, and Celaena was glad she had chosen to wear brown contacts, since to anybody paying only a little attention, it would have been so obvious that their eyes looked alike.

Aedoin squinted his eyes, as if trying to figure out if he knew her from somewhere. Looking away would be suspicious, so she held his gaze, little snippets of memories coming back to her.

She remembered the two of them running around her parent’s yard back in Terrasen, playing tag; kicking each other under the table during the ostentatious business banquets, and being told off for it. She recalled Aedion curling up on her bed during a sleep over because she had had a nightmare; and him fighting with some bullies in primary school after they had pulled on her braids. 

And her last memory, that of Aedion hugging her goodbye before moving away from Terrasen when his father had been transferred to run the company in Rifthold. That had been barely a few weeks before the accident, before her whole life had come crashing down. She had been so excited for the visit, thinking she’d finally be reunited with him.

But it was all so different now, and none of that mattered. Neither of them were the kids they used to be, they were strangers now. And as Aedion Ashryver looked away, Celaena Sardothien kept her eyes on the back of his head, thinking how she would find out the truth, and take her revenge. She was sure he wouldn’t be an obstacle, he was merely a suspect. 

Here’s my version of Celaena for this fic, with contact lenses and all <3

----

Annnnd that’s it for today!! All comments and forms of love are highly appreciated, we writers live on coffee, sugar, and lovely comments in case you didn’t know <3

I will do my best to remember and update this often! How often? Not sure yet, maybe 3x week? 

[webslinger-holland]

The Hidden Hero | Peter Parker Series

Summary: In an alternative universe, Peter Parker has the biggest crush on the reader. Even though the reader doesn’t know his secret, the reader is obsessed with the webslinger. So Spiderman decides to show up at Liz’s Party to impress everyone, specifically the reader.

Warning: some spoilers

Pairing: Peter Parker (Spiderman) x reader

Type: The Hidden Hero Series

MASTERLIST

A/N: THIS IS A HEAVILY EDITED VERSION OF MY VERY FIRST FANFICTION. IT PROBABLY REALLY SUCKS SO I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THAT. BUT IT WAS MY FIRST ONE SO I WANTED TO POST IT.

The bright yellow buses were pulling up to the curb of the school grounds. The large crowd of high school students hustling and bustling down the corridors. The monotone buzz of several-hundred voices hummed like an orchestra throughout the hallways. 

The small group of gossiping girls were hanging around the lockers. They giggled amongst themselves. They always wore those mini skirts and tight shirts. The cliquey jocks were currently talking about the football game last night. They were wearing the exact same athletic jacket that they wore every single day. The parade of band geeks had just walked past them with their huge instrument cases. There were the aerospace tech kids who never did anything but make different robot models to battle between periods. 

The familiar squeaking sound of sneakers were catching against the newly waxed floors. The metal locker doors were slammed shut once the students had gathered their textbooks for that period. The bell was ringing loudly on the sidelines, signaling the start of classes for the day.

At the given moment, Peter Parker was maneuvering his way through the crowd of students with his best friend Ned Leeds. He was currently carrying his textbooks because he had lost his backpack yesterday. The two of them were making their way to their first class of the day.

Last night, Ned had caught Peter sneaking into his bedroom dressed as the Spiderman. He had seen him crawling on the ceiling! It was quite a shock to find out that his best friend was the webslinger that he had saw on youtube. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep his secret. And he had a million questions for him.

Throughout the whole day, Ned was asking questions about Peter’s alter-ego. He was able to come up with a handful of different questions in each class. Those questions mostly consisted of the range of the webslinger’s abilities, such as whether or not he could summon an army of spiders or how far he could shoot his webs. He was always given short or curt answers.

Near the end of the day, Peter and Ned were forced to go to gym class. They watched a short video that had Captain America talking about the fitness challenge. As if on cue, Ned asked his friend if he knew the infamous avenger. He said that he did and that he stole his shield.

Now the students were told to get into pairs of two. They would be doing sit-ups. They would alternate every few minutes between partners. At the moment, Ned was holding down Peter’s feet so he crank out those sit-ups. He actually found that they weren’t so hard to do anymore, now that he had this weird radioactive spider venom in his blood. 

“Can I be your guy in the chair?” Ned wondered spontaneously. 

“What?” Peter whispered. He had spoken in this low tone of voice so that nobody would be able to hear them. He didn’t quite understand his question.

“You know there is a guy with a headset telling the other guy where to go. Like if you were stuck in a burning building, I could tell you where to go because there would be screens around me. You know? I could swivel around them. And I could be your guy in the chair,” Ned explained.

“I don’t need a guy in the chair,” Peter insisted. He shook his head at the idea. He heard the gym teacher praising him on the sidelines, causing him to pause momentarily. He was quick to resume his sit-ups. 

In the background, Y/N had forced herself to walk into the gymnasium. She had immediately hurried towards the gym teacher to explain why she was late to class. She had been tutoring another student during the hour. She quickly handed him a slip of paper. He took one glance at him, nodding his head in confirmation. He told her that she could just sit on the bleachers for the rest of the class because it was almost over anyways.

Out of instinct, Peter had shifted into a sitting position and stopped doing his sit-ups. He could feel the little hairs on his arm raise. His spider senses were telling him that someone had just walked into the gym, but it wasn’t just anyone. It was his crush.

“She’s here, isn’t she?” Peter said. He didn’t seem to take his eyes away from his best friend in front of him. He waited for a response. His friend turned his head to look across the small stretch of the room, settling his gaze on the familiar looking student. He nodded his head.

“Yeah. How’d you know?” Ned questioned. He had furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He was slightly taken back by his comment.

“Spider senses,” Peter waved off. He had just briefly turned his head to look at her through the corner of his eye. He could barely see her talking with the gym teacher. He was quick to start doing his sit-ups again. “Can she see me? Do you know if she’s looking at me?” Peter whispered in question.

“Oh yeah,” Ned said with a firm nod of the head. He could see her heading towards the bleachers right behind them. He caught her turn her head slightly towards them. “She saw you,” Ned confirmed.

On the bleachers, Y/N had found herself settling down beside her small group of friends. They were currently playing the game called ‘fuck, marry, kill.’ They would list off three random names of celebrities or artists. Then they would have to decide who they would fuck, marry, and kill. They listed three of the avengers.

“You see for me it would be…fuck Thor...marry Iron Man...and kill Hulk,” Betty Brant concluded. Some of her friends had totally agreed with her lineup, but there were a few friends who would have made a completely different choice.

“What about the Spiderman?” Y/N wondered. She had lowered herself down onto the bleachers, looking at each of her friends with curious eyes. She could see her friend Liz Allen shrug her shoulders at the thought.

“It’s just Spiderman,” Liz claimed. She made a face of disgust. She must not have thought that he was that impressive or attractive.

“Did you guys see that big security cam on youtube? He fought off four guys!” Y/N exclaimed. She was now leaning forward in her place. She was quite eager to defend her opinion. She was practically praising him.

In the background, Peter and Ned had turned their heads to look towards the small group sitting on the bleachers. Neither one of them could believe the words they were hearing coming out of her mouth. They looked at each other in slight shock.

“Oh my gosh. She’s crushing on Spiderman,” Betty joked. Her face had twisted into this playful smirk. She leaned over to nudge her friend in the side.

“No way!” Liz laughed.

“Kinda,” Y/N shrugged. She had dropped her gaze to stare down at her hands in her lap. She tried to hide the bright blush creeping up onto her face. She smiled to herself.

“Ugh. Gross,” Betty scoffed. “He’s probably like thirty,” Betty claimed.

“You don’t even know what he looks like. What if he is like seriously burned?” Liz suggested. She had waved her hands in a dramatic manner. She was just trying to make a point.

“I wouldn’t care. I would still love him for the person he is on the inside,” Y/N said with a small smile on her face. “He’s a good man! And its obvious he really cares about this city. That is something I really admire about him,” Y/N confessed.

“Peter knows Spiderman!” Ned blurted out. He didn’t really know what came over him, but he couldn’t stop those words from coming out of his mouth. He could see that everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing upon hearing his comment.

In response, Peter’s mouth dropped open in absolute shock. He turned his head to look at his best friend with wide eyes. He was quick to scramble to his feet, shaking his head in denial.

“Uh, no. I don’t,” Peter said. He had taken a few steps forward in his place, standing in front of the small group of friends on the bleachers. He was trying to find the right words to explain himself. “No. I-I mean,” Peter stuttered. 

“They’re friends,” Ned added with a smile on his face. 

“Yeah. Like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends,” Flash teased. He had stopped climbing the rope in the background, landing on the floor with a thump. He started to walk towards his rival because he was very interested in this conversation.

“I-I’ve met him a couple times but its uh…through the Stark internship,” Peter clarified. He stumbled over his choice of words. He had lifted his hand to scratch the back of his head in a nervous manner. He nodded his head in confirmation. “Mhmm. Yeah. But I am not really suppose to talk about it,” Peter claimed.

“Well, that’s awesome,” Flash replied. His voice was laced with sarcasm. He had stopped in his place. He had turned his body towards the small group of friends sitting on the bleachers, gesturing to them with the small wave of the hand. “Hey, you know what? Maybe you should invite him to Liz’s party,” Flash said.

“Yeah, I am having people over tonight. You are more than welcome to come,” Liz said. She could feel the strong sense of embarrassment creeping through her body because she hadn't invited them to the party beforehand. She just felt like they were kinda losers so she didn’t want to invite them. But at least she was kind enough to invite them now.

“You’re having a party?” Ned wondered. He knew that this was the first time that he was hearing about this party. He could only wonder why he hadn’t already been invited to the party.

“W-Will you be there, Y/N?” Peter stuttered. She had lifted her head to look directly into his soft brown eyes. She had smiled shyly at him. She nodded her head in confirmation. He could feel his heart fluttering in the confines of his chest.

“Yeah! It’s gonna be dope. You should totally invite your personal friend Spiderman,” Flash said in a persistent tone of voice. He stood directly in front of his rival, staring him down. He was puffing out his chest to be more intimidating (and maybe a little taller than him).

“Flash,” Y/N warned. “Leave him alone.”

“Ah come on. He’ll be there,” Flash promised. He turned his head to look at her with this playful expression on his face. He winked at her. He smirked to himself in triumph. But he didn’t seem to catch the moment where she rolled her eyes at him.

The whole conversation would come to an abrupt end when the bell rang to dismiss the last class of the day. The students were quick to stand to their feet and make their way towards the door. Meanwhile, Peter had watched his crush stand to her feet. The two of them briefly met each other’s gaze for a split second. She sent him a small smile. She didn’t even know that his eyes were following her figure out of the gym.

“What are you doing?!?” Peter turned his attention back towards his best friend standing behind him. He had thrown his hands up in exaggeration. He just couldn't believe that his friend would do that to him.

“Helping you out. Did you not hear her? She has a crush on you!” Ned exclaimed. He could feel the smile growing at the corners of his lips. He watched his best friend open his mouth to say something against him, but nothing could come out. “You are an avenger! If any one of us has a chance with her, it’s you.” Ned confessed.

Previously, Peter had actually known her since grade school. The two of them had become pretty close friends. He had developed his first crush on her, but he was never able to gather enough courage to tell her. Now here she was, years later with a crush on his alter ego. It almost didn’t feel real to him.

That night, Aunt May had driven Peter and Ned to the house for the party. She parked the car in front of the house. For a brief second, Peter had said that this would be a mistake and that he wanted to just go home. His aunt said that she totally understood how he was feeling. She was eventually able to convince him to go to the party after all. 

The two teenage boys turned to look at the grand house in front of them. They had started walking up the sidewalk, heading towards the house. The two of them had passed by plenty of other students that went to their same high school. And they could hear the music blasting from inside the house.

“You have the suit, right?” Ned questioned. Very discreetly, Peter lifted up his flannel sleeve to show him the web shooters and red costume underneath his clothing. “This is going to change our lives!” Ned exclaimed.

The music was so loud that it would be hard to hear the person talking right beside them. The bass thumped in time with the boys’ heart beat as though they were one with the song. Over the roar of music, a distant hazy chatter could be heard throughout the entire house. The high school students could be found holding red solo cups with harmless non-alcoholic drinks.

Of course, Flash would be in charge of the music for the night. He had a pair of heavy headphones around his neck. He rubbed his hands against the two records at the station to create that iconic record scratch sound. He was just trying to look cool. 

“Okay. We are gonna have Spiderman swing in, say you guys are tight. And then I get a fist bump or one of those half bro hugs,” Ned said in a low tone of voice. He really had this whole thing planned out.

A familiar figure had found herself walking around the corner of the hallway. She had turned her head to look at the two teenage boys standing in the short distance. She was quick to make her way towards them, feeling a smile stretching across her face.

“Oh! Hey guys,” Y/N said. She waved at them. She had walked towards them until she was standing right in front of them. She quickly looked between the two of them with the softest and kindest look on her face.

“Hey Y/N,” Ned said with a silly grin on his face. He had forced himself to straighten his back in posture, standing at attention. He turned his head to look at his best friend through the corner of his eye. He nudged him in the side. 

“Hey Y/N,” Peter’s voice squeaked.

“I’m glad you guys came,” Y/N confessed. She was holding onto her own red solo cup in her hands. She lifted her other hand to gesture to the table behind her. “There is pizza and drinks so feel free to help yourself,” Y/N claimed.

“Wow! What a great party,” Peter had choked on his own words. He had turned his head to look at her with this sweet boyish grin on his face. He could feel his heart hammering on the inside of his chest. 

“Thanks. I barely did anything. It was all Liz,” Y/N insisted with the wave of the hand. She could hear someone calling her name in the background. She turned her head towards the sound of the voice, spotting one of her friends in the crowd. “Oh! I should go,” Y/N said. 

��Yeah,” Peter nodded his head. She found herself hurrying towards her small group of friends in the short distance. She had looked over the small stretch of her shoulder, waving goodbye to them. 

“Dude! What are you doing?” Ned wondered. “She’s here, spider it up!”

“No. No. No. I can’t. I cannot do this. Spiderman is not a party trick,” Peter said. He shook his head in denial. He quickly straightened his back in posture. He ran his hands over the invisible wrinkles in his shirt. He shrugged his shoulders to himself. “Look, I am just gonna…be myself,” Peter whispered.

“Peter,” Ned groaned. He had closed his eyes for a brief second. He shook his head at his friend’s comment. “No one wants that,” Ned said harshly.

“Dude,” Peter said hurtfully. He was quick to turn his body to walk away from his friend. He heard his name being called over the speakers in the room. He turned his head to look across the small stretch of the room, looking directly at his rival holding the microphone. 

“Penis Parker! What’s up? Where is your pal, Spiderman? Let me guess, in Canada with your imaginary girlfriend?” Flash teased him. He was only encouraged by the sound of laughter coming from the high school students in the room. “That’s not Spiderman. That’s just Ned in a red shirt,” Flash joked.

Somehow, through peer pressure, Peter found himself standing on the roof of the house. He had disregarded his regular clothing onto the top of the roof. He was now wearing his red and blue suit of his alter-ego. He knelt down on the rooftop and gazed down at the small house.

“Hey! What’s up? I am Spiderman,” Peter whispered to himself. He lifted his hands to the neckline of his white shirt. He pulled the shirt over his head. “Just thought I would swing by...say hello to my buddy Peter. Oh hey! What’s up, Ned? Where is Peter anyways?” Peter said to himself.

Now Peter could see his best friend standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. He felt bad that he had left him alone for a few minutes. However, there was still this part of Peter that did not want to make his presence known at the party. He just didn’t think that it was right. 

“I can’t do this.” Peter whispered. He shook his head at the crazy idea. He could see his crush walk across the small stretch of the room, stopping to stand beside his best friend. She had asked him a question, only receiving a small shrug of the shoulders in response. She sighed to herself in defeat. 

In that moment, Ned had yanked out his phone to dial his best friend’s number. He had turned his body so that his backside was facing the large crowd of students in the room. His best friend had answered his phone without hesitation.

“Peter! Where are you? She is asking for you,” Ned said desperately. He turned his head to look over the small stretch of his shoulder, spotting her familiar figure in the distance. He waited for some kind of response.

“I will be there in a second,” Peter concluded. He had this fluttery feeling in the confines of his chest, thumping against his chest in a violent manner. He didn’t know if he was nervous or excited. 

With great hesitation, Peter had pulled his mask over his head. He stood to his feet. He had jumped down to the ground, landing on his feet with a small thump. He had started walking towards the house, making his way through the heavy crowd of people. 

“Oh sorry,” Spiderman apologized. Every single person had turned their heads to look at the infamous superhero standing amongst them. The high schoolers’ mouths had dropped open in absolute disbelief. The webslinger was currently maneuvering his way through the crowd of students until he was finally inside the house. “Sorry, I just gotta…find my friend Peter,” Spiderman claimed.

“Spiderman?” He forced himself to turn around upon hearing the sound of that sweet voice. His robotic eyes had dilated subconsciously. His head moved up and down her body. His actions did not go unnoticed by her. “W-What are you doing here?” Y/N wondered. 

“Oh, you know. Peter called me and asked if I could show,” Spiderman claimed. He had lifted his hand to wave in dismissal (like it wasn’t a big deal).  

“No way,” Flash said. His voice was laced in the tone of disbelief. He pushed his way past the crowd. He had shifted to stand in the middle of the room, stopping in his place. He soon came face to face with the webslinger himself. “You’re really him? Are you really friends with Peter Parker?” 

In response, Spiderman had turned his head to look over his rival’s shoulder. His large robotic eyes had settled on that familiar figure standing behind his face. He found himself pushing right past him to approach her. He stood directly in front of her. “Hi,” he said awkwardly.

“Hi,” she smiled at him.

“What’s your name? Wait. No. Let me guess,” Spiderman teased. He had lifted his gloved hand towards the front of his face, tapping his chin in thought. He pointed his finger at her. He was able to ‘guess’ her name pretty easily.

“Y-Yeah!” Y/N exclaimed. She was more than surprised to hear that the webslinger actually knew her name. She could only feel her smile growing bigger and bigger with each passing second. “How did you know?” Y/N wondered.

“Peter talks a lot about you,” Spiderman explained. He was hoping that his other persona could score some points with her. He could only wonder if she would give his other self a chance.

“H-He does?” She gasped.

“Spiderman!” Ned shouted. He had found himself taking a few steps forward in his place, shifting through the heavy crowd of students. He just knew that every single person was looking at him. He smiled at his best friend. “Hi! It’s Ned. Remember me?” Ned said with a bright smile on his face.

“Yeah! I do. How are you doing?” Spiderman said enthusiastically. He did give him the fist bump that he so desperately asked for. Of course, Ned was trying to play it cool. But he could hardly contain himself knowing that he would be popular for the rest of his life.

"I am doing fine,” Ned said cooly. He had this smug look on his face. He crossed his arms over his chest. He was hoping to maintain that cool looking stance. “But I’ll let you get back to Y/N. She’s a big fan of you,” Ned observed.

“Really?” Spiderman teased her. He had turned his head to look back towards the smaller figure standing behind him. His robotic eyes had made it look like he was quirking an eyebrow at her in amusement. He could easily spot the bright blush flooding her cheeks. 

“Well, kinda,” she replied shyly. She didn’t mean to fiddle with her fingers nervously. She had dropped her gaze to stare down at the ground, feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks. She shuffled on the heels of her feet in her stance. 

“Well, I should get going.” Spiderman didn’t want to prolong his stay at the party for his own sake. He placed his hands on his hips. He held that heroic stance for dramatic effect. “New York isn’t going to save itself,” Spiderman came up with a lame excuse. 

“Yeah,” she said quietly. She couldn’t help but dreamily admire him. She could only imagine that he was this incredibly handsome looking young man underneath the mask. She smiled at him.

“It was nice to finally meet you. Could you also tell Peter that Mr Stark needs him at the internship at four thirty tomorrow?” Spiderman had tried to make another excuse for her to talk to his other self tomorrow. “Can you do that for me?” Spiderman wondered.

She had nodded her head in confirmation. He did not hesitate to wink at her with those big robotic eyes, which only caused her heart to flutter in her chest. He used his web shooters to swing away from the party. He made his way back up to the rooftop to change back into his regular clothes. 

“I can’t believe he actually showed,” Flash said to her. He had turned his head to look in the general direction they had last seen the famous webslinger swing off to. He crossed his arms over his chest. He shook his head and scoffed to himself. 

“What’s the matter, Flash? Jealous of Peter or Spiderman?”

[feverwritingandtextposts]

Bad Decisions Are Always More Fun With Friends

Read it on ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23730796

This is another OPM fic because im on a filthy binge :( 

It starts, as all things tend to, with Garou’s bad idea.

“I heard that there’s a poltergeist lurking in the Ato High gymnasium,” Garou proclaims, one hot summer’s afternoon, leaning across the messy scramble of tables between them.

“And? What’s that gotta do with us?” Badd asks, after a short silence that indicated Garou was not about to drop the topic, or sit back down on his side of the table. Garou’s grin stretches wider, seemingly nonplussed by the lack of enthusiasm from the other two. “Of COURSE, we’re going to go check it out!”

After all, being young is about making bad choices, break-ins, and chasing ghosts, although not necessarily in that order.

It starts, as all things tend to, with Garou’s bad idea.

“I heard that there’s a poltergeist lurking in the Ato High gymnasium,” Garou proclaims, one hot summer’s afternoon, leaning across the messy scramble of tables between them. He’s grinning so wide; the afternoon sun reflects off his teeth.

Badd makes a non-committal noise in response, not even looking up from his phone. “And? What’s that gotta do with us?” he asks, after a short silence that indicated Garou was not about to drop the topic, or sit back down on his side of the table. Garou’s grin stretches wider, seemingly nonplussed by the lack of enthusiasm from the other two. “Of COURSE, we’re going to go check it out!”

Badd looks up then, eyebrow raised incredulously. “Why?” he questions. Leaning back, Garou fixes him with his own incredulous stare, as if Badd was the crazy one. “Because I want to see it, obviously.” It wasn’t the first time Garou had come up with a completely random, hare-brained scheme to while away the boredom that boycotting most of the school clubs, and most of his schoolmates, tended to bring. Since it wasn’t the first time, both Badd and Genos had enough good sense combined to realise that following through with any of his plans would end badly.

Genos closes the thick mystery novel he’d picked up from the library earlier for some ‘light reading’ with an audible snap. “We are not going ghost hunting,” Genos says, voice as serious and grave as ever. “Ghost?” Badd asks, looking between Genos and Garou quickly. “That pollyte- thing, it’s a ghost? Damn.” Badd mutters, tapping his phone against his chin in thought. “I thought it was some sort of exercise equipment or some shit.”

Garou rolls his eyes, folding his arms. “It’s not ghost hunting,” he says, resolute. “It’s ghost watching.” Behind him, the last remaining stragglers in the classroom were already heading home at the sound of the last bell, filling the room with the cacophony of scraping chairs and echoing goodbyes. The three of them had been sitting there for hours, with the innocent intent to get their homework done before the weekend. A tumultuous ordeal that they had dragged Genos into with the idea of helping them out, which only Genos had managed to succeed in. The other two had instead gotten nearly nothing done, in between snacking, gossiping, Badd being immersed in some noisy phone game, and Garou being immersed in whatever it was that potentially led to this.

Reaching forward, Garou thrusts the phone he’d been cradling in his hand into Genos’s face. Taking it gingerly from him, Genos held it delicately as if worried it might explode, or that the Cheeto crumbs that littered its surface would stain his metal fingers. Badd leaned over in spite of himself to read the article as well, squinting to catch the words written in some tiny scratchy font that the writer probably picked for the best spooky effect.

“This gymnasium isn't even in our high school,” Genos pointed out. “How do you suppose we get in there?”

Garou cocked his head at him, still looking painfully confident. “We’ll just sneak in, duh.”

At that, Genos gives him a flat impassive stare, judgement rolling off of him in waves. “Ato High is an all-girls school. If we get caught, the consequences would be far worse than sneaking into just any old high school.”

Garou smiled, seemingly completely unaffected by the threat.

“Then, let’s not get caught.”

“No way,” groans Badd, leaning back in his chair. “I ain’t gonna get caught sneakin’ around a girls school. ‘Specially not to go look for some damned ghost.”

Garou frowns at that, leaning forward, bracing his hands against the scratched plastic of the table.

“Why? You scared?” he asks. His voice is pitched low and threatening, in that raspy tone he uses when he’s trying to goad someone into a fight, intimidate train station insurance agents from pestering him, or coerce Badd into joining him in his stupid plans. His breath fans hot and wet against Badd’s face, and he resists the urge to lean back.

“I ain’t-“

“You a coward Badd? Chickening out?”

“Who the fuck are you calling a cowa-“

“You a pussy? A little bitch bab-“

“FINE!” Badd yells, half to get him to shut up, half just to stop him from breathing all over his face. “I’ll go find your fucking ghost with you,” he says, softer now, defeated. He realises almost immediately after speaking that he’d been yet again, goaded into doing something stupid. “I ain’t scared of some fucking ghost,” he mutters as an add on, although more to himself than anything.

“Good,” smirks Garou, arms folding in smug glee, clearly pleased that his friend was as easy to rile up as ever. “C’mon Genos, don’t be such a baby, come along.” He reaches over to grab his friend’s shoulder, an action that was supposed to show camaraderie. Garou realises belatedly that most social cues usually go straight over Genos’ synthetic fibre enhanced head. So instead, he pats him on the back a few times, in hopes that it will jump start his motors into saying yes. Genos continues to watch him silently, gold eyes burning with the force of his disapproval. Garou, to his credit, doesn’t even flinch under the weight of Genos’ infamously heavy glare.

Badd, realising that his pride won’t allow him to back out at this point, reaches over to start smacking Genos on the back as well. “If you don’t come and we get caught, we’ll say that you told us to do it,” threatens Badd, with all the barely concealed desperation of someone who doesn’t want to be doing something stupid alone. Or alone with Garou, which was inestimably worse.

Genos lets out a long-suffering sigh, rubbing at his temples. Cyborgs don’t seem likely to get headaches, so Garou suspected he did this mostly for show. “Fine,” Genos says finally looking slowly from each of their faces, “I’ll go just to make sure the two of you don’t do anything too idiotic. But on one condition. We go in, and we go out as quick as possible, okay?”

“Yeah-“

“And we don’t get caught.”

...

They all decided to meet up at the station nearest to Ato High at nine o’clock. Nine, because if they went in any later, they might miss the last train by the time they leave, and if they went in earlier, they might end up meeting some straggling students. As Badd had so wisely put it, “who the fuck would be in school after nine?”.

Garou was easy to spot. Even in the dim of the night, his white hair stood out, catching the streetlights in its luminescent fibers. Genos was no better, with the station’s fluorescent lights glinting off his bare metal arms. And Badd…

“Why do you have a bat with you?” Garou asked, eyeing the glossy aluminium bat Badd was carrying as he hurried past the station gantry to join them.

“Ah? This?” Badd held the bat aloft. It seemed strangely at home in his hand. “It’s for self-defense.”

“Against?” prompted Garou.

“The ghost.”

“You intend on hitting a ghost… With a bat?” asks Genos, who possessed an uncanny talent of making even the mildest inquiries sound reproachful.

“I ain’t gonna hit it with my fists, am I?” challenged Badd, tone booking no further arguments.

The notion that a physical attack of any form will likely do no damage to a ghost, is a fact that Genos graciously decides not to mention.

The three of them set off towards the towering cluster of buildings that make up Ato High, guarded as it was, by the large wrought iron gate that snakes its way around the school’s perimeter. After a quick jog around, they decided on a spot to scale the gate, obscured safely from any prying eyes by a particularly dense crop of trees.

The silence of the deserted school grounds weighed heavily on their ears. Even on the soft grassy ground, wet with dew, their footsteps seemed loud. Genos gave the area a quick scan, sending the other two a furtive nod after determining that the grounds were truly, empty.

“Alright, let’s go Mystery Hunters!” Garou says, jumping up from the crouch he’d landed in.

“Dude,” groans Badd, “don’t call us that, that’s lame as fuck.”

Immediately, Garou’s face contorts into that particular scowl he wears whenever his creative brilliance is in question.

“It is not lame,” he hisses, and it’s only from sheer force of will and a natural predilection to uphold his pride that prevents him from outright whining.

“I agree,” says Genos, from behind Garou’s shoulder. Twisting around to him, Garou’s scowl turns smug.

“You see,” he says triumphantly, “Genos a-“

“I think its lame,” Genos agrees, voice flat and gravely serious as it ever is. “Why would we even need a team name? We already have our own names.”

Garou groans loudly, putting his face in his hands.

“I know we have names, Genos. It’s just cooler if we have a team name isn’t it? Plus, its like, useful in emergencies.”

“So, you pick Mystery Hunters?” questioned Badd incredulously.

“What exactly would be an emergency that requires a team name?” questioned Genos incredulously.

“I don’t know!” snapped Garou folding his arms in annoyance. “Maybe the ghost might attack us and one of us needs to tell everyone else to run or something.” Genos seemed to consider that situation seriously for a moment, metal hand coming to rest beneath his chin.

“Wouldn’t it be more prudent then,” he says, “if we call out the names individually to better direct-“

“Alright, alright fine, forget the names,” Garou says loudly over him, pinching the bridge of his nose. They’ve only just stepped in the school grounds and he’s already reached his limit. “Lets just go find the damn ghost and go home okay?”

Armed with a startling lack of direction sense, they trudged around the school grounds idly peering into dim windows, searching for the infamous gymnasium. The warm night air beaded sweat on the back of their necks as they ducked into the shadows of buildings and trees.

They soon found that every single building in the school was indiscernible from the last, especially in the dark. Ato High was an old school, and most of its architecture seemed to stand unchanged from its original build. Unmarked and paved in dreary red brick, the buildings were spaced far apart, linked by simple grey stone pavements. Its old and borderline dilapidated structure made it seem especially primed for hauntings.

After a while of aimless wandering, punctuated by the occasional offhanded comment and Genos’ complaint of the grass staining his shoes, Badd spoke up.

“Is that the gymnasium? ‘S fuckin big. Why ain’t our gymnasium that big?” Badd asks, pointing his bat in the general direction of one of the dimly lit, nondescript school buildings. There’s no indication of why he would claim that particular building to be the gymnasium, other than the fact that there is a door, which gymnasiums need, and a seemingly high ceiling, which gymnasiums ought to have.

“Our school doesn’t have the funds for it,” Genos supplies helpfully, “considering our school is a common neighborhood school in comparison with Ato High, which is considered an upper-class high school, it can be expected that their budget would far exceed ours.”

“Huh,” Badd supplies in response, having already stopped listening to Genos after the fourth word in. Beside them Garou rolled his eyes, squinting at the building.

“That’s the main building idiots. The gymnasium’s gotta be behind the school.”

“How do you know that?” questions Badd, voice dripping in an unnecessary amount of suspicion.

“Because no school has their gymnasiums at the front?”

“That,” interjects Genos, “is statistically unproven.”

Garou taps his foot on the ground, well and truly annoyed. “Well, do you have any suggestions Genos?”

Genos nods once, sharply. “We enter the main building and check the layout of the school through the signboards. They surely have them inside the buildings.”

As much as Garou hated to admit it, it was a sensible plan. The doors in the school were locked, as expected. Although they could easily have forced it open by hand, they were doing their best to remain undetected, and any broken locks could be incriminating evidence.

Trying to get into a school furtively held all the enchanting mystery that all high school students secretly desired, even overpowered teenagers like themselves. In the end there was just something infinitely exciting about clambering through a window, into somewhere they really shouldn’t be going, rather than just busting through a door.

The three of them tumbled into a hallway, where Garou immediately leapt forward like a cat in search of his new prey. Genos and Badd brought up the rear, Badd flicking on the light on his phone to use as a torch.

The hallways inside the school seemed just as creepy as the outside, walls painted a drab grey, lined with past accolades and framed newspaper clippings. The light from Badd’s phone reflected off the dark classroom windows, briefly illuminating rows of worn tables and chairs from inside the rooms.

“Do you hear anything? Huh Genos?” questions Badd, his raspy whisper ringing clear against the stark silence of the empty school. Genos pauses mid stride, eyes darting quickly about the empty hallways. With a soft whir, Genos expands his focus, concentrating his sensors.

“No, I didn’t hear anything,” he says after a conclusive scan of the school.

“Then maybe there ain’t no ghost at all,” Badd decides.

Garou turned from where he had gone to stalk (scout) ahead, frowning back at him, one hand propped on his hip.

“How do you figure that?” he asks, the hint of a challenge already leaking into his voice.

“In like, those ghost huntin’ shows don’t they hear the ghosts through like a radio or some shit? If Genos can’t hear anything then it means there ain’t no ghost, is there?” Badd reasons, waving his hand airily.

“Genos, isn’t a radio,” says Garou.

“Well yeah but, he’s like sorta… Right?” Genos certainly was not.

“I am a cyborg, Badd,” Genos says, with all the weary countenance of a man who has had this conversation far too many times for it to be healthy. “I cannot hear anything that a normal human or cyborg is unable to.”

“Huh,” Badd says, obviously stumped. “You can’t like, change the channel or-”

“No.”

“Not even-“

“No.”

Badd considers this for a long moment. Garou considers leaving them to it and going on ahead.

“That’s kind of lame,” Badd says finally. Genos says nothing in reply. His stony face betrays no clues, but his palpable annoyance hangs in the air between them. Garou wasn’t an expert, but he’s pretty sure that if they didn’t find the ghost soon, this entire outing would end up in a night time brawl. One that would surely result in a hefty amount of collateral damage.

And that would definitely ruin the whole ‘let’s not get caught’ part of the plan.

So instead, he changes the subject.

“I found a sign for the gymnasium. It’s down that hallway.”

Their steps echo down the empty corridors, impossibly loud in the silent air. Garou had already taken the lead, striding on ahead as if he had any clue where he was going. Genos walked slower, gold eyes scanning every imperceptible mote of dust that hung in the air, looking for clues, or any sort of sign of life.

Behind them Badd strolled leisurely, content on leaving the heavy thinking to the other two.

"This way," orders Garou, pointing out the sign above a door to their left. It led out to an open-air corridor, linking it to the gymnasium. To their mild surprise, and Garou's growing enthusiasm, it wasn't even locked.

"Suspicious!" Garou proclaimed, voice a cheery sing song that contrasted oddly with the mood of the room.

Bads could reason that someone had simply forgot to lock it, but decided that he'd rather not start that argument.

The infamous gymnasium was less impressive than Badd had hoped. It was smaller than some gymnasiums he'd seen, and the floors and benches looked scuffed and aged. It looked much more... Normal, than any of them had been expecting. Large high windows bleached the room grey with moonlight, making the room far brighter than the wandering hallways they were in before. Badd felt more like he was here for a training camp, rather than to catch ghosts.

Garou, evidently, did not feel the same. The minute he stepped in, he turned to sniff around the room, climbing up on benches, and scoping out every corner, as if sure the ghost was about to jump out from behind the trashcan.

After a second, Genos pulled out his phone, tapping furiously on it. Perhaps he had already lost interest in the situation, but Badd wasn’t going to call him out on it. Badd was getting pretty bored, pretty fast.

"Do you think its a female ghost?" questioned Badd aloud, mostly to start a conversation before he fell asleep standing up.

"It’s a girls school so, I would imagine so," deduced Genos. He had started dutifully reading the edgy occult post Garou had shown them earlier that day, the light of his phone casting ominous shadows on his face. Badd watched him, tapping his bat to his side mindlessly.

"Is she hot?"

"Is she hot?" spluttered Garou. He turned from where he was perched like an over-sized gargoyle on a crate of basketballs, trying to read the text over Genos' shoulder. "It’s a ghost Badd. Of course, its hot."

Never one to miss an opportunity to be judgmental, Genos paused his reading to give Garou his most withering stare. “Really?” he asked, voice dripping with derision.

"Should’ve known better than to ask," muttered Badd, rolling his eyes, although his twitching lips betrayed his amusement.

They milled around some more, before Garou probably reached the end of his patience, and demanded that all three of them split up. The post itself had no clues on how to summon the ghost, only that it regularly made a mess of the gymnasium in the night. Any passers by outside would hear the vicious clanging of overturned crates of sports supplies, and harshly rebounding balls, bouncing around the echoey chamber. Overall, not a lot to go on.

Garou reasoned that the ghost was probably just shy, and if either of the other two had any concern for their friend’s sanity, they decided not to voice it. Instead, Genos volunteered to check out the storage shed, Badd the perimeter, and Garou on stakeout in the gymnasium.

...

Badd milled around the front door, scuffing his shoe against the pavement. If the ghost wasn't going to turn up, he doubts any amount of 'searching' is going to make them turn up. So instead, he bided his time until he was sure enough time passed for him to return without raising suspicions of slacking off.

As Badd turned to the door, a soft voice spoke up from behind him.

"What are you doing here?"

Badd jolted, body freezing in shock. That, was definitely not a male voice.

"You obviously don't go to school here. What are you doing?"

Badd felt the sweat start to bead around his collar. He can't believe they've been caught already.

Turning slowly, he met the accusatory gaze of the young girl standing behind him. Clad in the grey Ato High school uniform, the dark-haired girl stared him down, arms crossed. Badd might have considered her to be pretty, if he wasn't so worried out of his mind.

"Um," he said, intelligently. "We're here to-" and here, Badd paused. He could, simply tell the truth, but aside from her finding him extremely creepy, there was the other more pressing issue that she simply wouldn't believe him. He was well aware that he looked intimidating enough for people to start making assumptions about him, and the other two didn't have any better. Trying to move as subtly as possible, Badd hid his bat behind his back.

Before Badd could bluster through some sort of cover up, the girl cut in sharply.

"You shouldn't be here, it’s dangerous," she says, crossing her arms. From where she was standing in the shade of the balcony, Badd could barely make out her features, but he just knew she was frowning.

"Dangerous?" Badd repeated, confused.

The girl nodded her head. "Didn't you hear about the monster that lurks here?"

Was she talking about the ghost? Badd wondered.

"You mean the haunting?" Badd questioned, eyebrow raising.

The girl nodded leaning forward a bit as if excited. It was still too dark to make out her features, and Badd could only hope she wouldn't be able to identify him either.

"I heard its even killed someone before! So, you have to go home!"

Badd blinked. He certainly didn't remember Garou or Genos mentioning that little tidbit of info. But it would make sense for the story to get even more blown out of proportion the closer to the source it is.

In any case, he wasn't going to argue with her. He didn't need any more reasons to get the fuck out of this place.

"Alright man, I’m gonna go tell my friends," Badd hesitated before turning back towards the gymnasium door. "Also, uh could you… not tell anyone you saw us here?"

The girl said nothing, continuing to watch him impassively. Eh, thought Badd, it was worth a try.

...

When Badd entered, he found that Garou and Genos had already convened down by the bleachers, Garou with his head in his hands, trying and failing not to look disappointed, and Genos not even attempting not to look bored.

"Guys," Badd called out as he swaggered in, "gig's up, its time to go."

Garou didn't even look up from where he had slumped over on the bench. "We're not leaving till we find something," he snapped.

Badd rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but someone caught us. Some girl saw me and told me to get the fuck outta here."

That caught attention. Both their heads swivelled up to stare incredulously at him.

"There's someone here? At this hour?" questioned Genos, his face twisting into a grimace.

"Yeah man," said Badd, folding his arms. "Don't think she was gonna report us though. She seemed pretty weird."

"Obviously," Genos said, tone sharp. "What kind of normal person would be in school at this time of the night?"

"Nah, like, she seemed pretty worried about us?"

"Like, worried about reporting us?" asked Garou, tone flat with dread.

"No, like she really thought the fucking ghost was gonna eat us or some shit."

For a second, the both of them stared at Badd, before the implications of his words truly sunk in.

Garou leapt to his feet, bringing himself up to his full height, a renewed fire in his eyes.

"That’s amazing," he hissed out, his infamously manic grin already back on his face.

He strode past Badd towards the door, renewed jump in his step. "Where is she? I'm gonna go talk to her. Maybe she knows how to summon it."

"What?!" snapped Genos, stomping after him to grab the back of his shirt. "She told us to leave. I suggest we do what she says so we don't end up in even more trouble."

"Why?" asked Garou, twisting in Genos’ iron grip, grinning so hard he looked nearly shark-like. “We found someone who knows about the ghost! We need to get more info.”

Badd missed the rest of what Genos fired back with, instead throwing open the door and walking out. Outside, the courtyard was empty, the girl nowhere to be seen. Did she already go home? wondered Badd. At least she’d be spared from whatever Garou was going to try to wheedle from her.

Behind him, he heard plenty of shuffling and the sound of scraping metal, before Garou’s head popped up beside his own, and after a second, Genos’ popped up above his own. All three peered out into the empty courtyard, searching.

“You’d think,” piped up Garou, after a moment of wordless staring, “that if a bunch of weird guys turned up at your school to hunt a ghost, you’d at least stick around to see how it went.”

“Not everyone is as free as you,” said Genos, a little too venomously to imply that he’d escaped the scuffle unscathed.

“I thought you said we weren’t doing any hunting,” asked Badd, warily.

“We’re not,” protested Garou, clearly ignoring Genos, “but… If the opportunity arises…”

Genos clicked his tongue impatiently while Badd groaned out loud. Badd rolled his shoulder, shoving Garou and Genos away from where they had chosen to crowd around him at the doorway.

“Luckily for us then, there’s no ghost to hunt.”

“Yeah, lucky,” muttered Garou under his breath.

“Too lucky,” another voice commented, sarcastically.

Garou turned to Genos, annoyance rolling off of him in waves. “Do you ever stop rubbing it in?”

Genos’ eyes widened a fraction, his permanent scowl only growing more pronounced. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Then who the fuck-“ But the group didn’t get to hear the end of Garou’s tirade, as they turned to notice a figure standing in the middle of the gymnasium floor.

Badd slapped Genos’ arm in alarm, and Genos slapped Garou, and Garou slapped Genos back quickly as if any of them had missed the newcomer’s sudden arrival.

Tall and lanky, the figure stood stock still illuminated by the moonlight streaming in from the gymnasium’s high windows. Features completely indiscernible, it seemed nearly fuzzy around the edges as if they were peering at it through a frosted window. Although none of them made the identification out loud, all of them decided that the person was decidedly, not human.

They stood in awed, disbelieving silence for a full three seconds marveling at the apparition that, just minutes ago, was mere hearsay. Garou was trembling with either fear or excitement, Badd couldn’t tell, and approached the figure eagerly calling out as he went.

“HEY! Ghost, hey, just wanted to say, BIG fan here.”

The figure did not respond, instead, its form which seemed fuzzy at best, distorted even more the closer Garou got to it. It was starting to look like a badly rendered picture now.

Distantly Badd recalled the girl from before telling him how the ghost had caused at least one confirmed casualty, setting him with mild unease as his friend trawled ever closer to the thing.

“Dude, don’t go so close to it man,” he called out, stepping forward alongside Genos to reel Garou back.

“I doubt that that thing is safe to approach,” muttered Genos, hands clenching at his side. “I’m getting a high energy reading from it.”

As Garou turned to address his friends’ complaints, the figure behind him shuddered violently, and stopped all motion with a low beep, like a paused video.

At Badd’s frantic pointing, all of them watched as the ghost seemed to crack like an eggshell, expanding as if its previous form could contain it no longer.

“This is it? This is the ghost?” Badd asked, rather unnecessarily in Garou’s opinion, waving around his bat in the direction of the growling humanoid figure rapidly growing in size in front of them.

All three of them stood there, watching the monster swell and grow in front of them, its face ripping open to reveal rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth. Ever the one to fixate on a point completely irrelevant to the situation, Badd turns to Garou again.

“Garou… Do you really think this is hot?” questions Badd, a touch of concern in his voice.

Genos, never one to turn down the opportunity to be rude, says, “he’s always had questionable taste.”

Garou decided to grace neither of them with an answer. Truthfully, he had seen a monster on last week’s episode of Justice Man that looked pretty similar to this one. He had thought it looked pretty cool. He wisely decided upon keeping that tidbit of info to himself.

In front of them, the beast let out a terrible growl, the tremor from it sending pieces of plaster raining down from the ceiling.

“That, is definitely not a ghost,” concludes Genos decisively.

“Yeah?” asked Garou, sarcastically, “how’d you tell?”

“I am getting an analysis reading that determines it to be a ‘monster’,” informs Genos primly.

Both Garou and Badd were spared from answering as one of the monster’s hands shot out, causing them both to leap out the way to avoid it.

The monster was now large enough to block out the light from the windows, towering over the three teenagers. The monster’s cry was deafening, the very sound of its voice causing the window panes to tremble violently. “Little children!” it snarled, rearing itself up to its fullest height, head brushing the top of the gymnasium’s tall domed ceiling. “I will grind your bones and eat you whole!”

Garou nodded sagely at that. “Grinding bones is a very textbook level monster thing to do, I’m impressed.”

With dexterity uncommon to a thing of such size, it swung its arm down with surprising accuracy towards Badd, nearly flattening him, and obliterating the chaffed wooden floorboards beneath his feet. Narrowly avoiding the hit, Badd turned and smacked the offending massive hand with his bat. A dull thud rang out in the gymnasium, loud enough to still be discernible over the monster’s roars.

Behind the beast, they could hear Genos yelling something that could have been an inquiry as to their wellness, or just a plain insult. With Genos it could go either way, really. Badd’s hit seemed to cause some effect on the monster, as it snatched its hand back quickly, cradling it as if injured.

“Alright, just hitting it works!” called out Badd.

“Great,” answered Garou, sounding no less excited even as he flitted to the side to avoid another massive swing of the arm, “lets beat the shit out of it and take down this monster, Mystery Hunters!”

Even from different corners of the gymnasium, Garou could hear the other two groan.

“Fucking stop trying to call us that!”

“We are not calling ourselves that!”

The sound of the monster’s thrashings thankfully drowned out Garou’s bitter grumbles at their response. Ducking forward, he slid under an outstretched arm to deliver a few swift, powerful blows to the creature’s knee, causing it to roar loudly in pain and stumble back. All three of them converged on the creature, raining it with blows, confusing it with an onslaught of pain from all directions.

The moment of its lack of focus was all they needed. A low hissing hum filled the air before a blinding pillar of light shot out, blowing perfectly through the back of the monster’s head, and right through the ceiling. It took a while for Badd and Garou’s eyes to readjust to the dim light of the room after that incineration flash, but what awaited them made them wish halfheartedly that they never saw it.

Beyond the singed gaping hole in the now still monster’s head, was a clear view of the night sky, viewed through the giant, still smoking, gaping hole in the ceiling of the gymnasium.

“I thought you weren’t allowed to use that?!” called out Garou, over the din of hissing steam and crumbling debris.

Genos gave a non-committal grunt in response. “My mentor allowed the use of my incinerator cannons for dire occasions. This seemed like one of them.”

Badd gave an understanding grunt. Garou shook his head.

“We destroyed like, half this place!”

“Eh,” says Badd, shouldering his bat nonchalantly, “I don’t think its that bad.”

Just as those words were uttered, the winds outside picked up, causing the body of the huge, dead monster to sway, before it fell over with a ground shaking boom, taking out the entire back wall of the gymnasium.

The three of them could only stare in horrified awe at the shambled remains of what remained of the supposedly haunted room. Quietly, they turned to make their way back out of the school in total silence.

...

“So,” says Mr Saitama, rubbing his face for what had to be the fifth time in the last ten minutes, “you’re telling me that you destroyed an entire building, because you had to?”

“Yep,” says Badd taking care to pop the p.

“Yeah,” Garou agreed, shrugging.

Genos said nothing in response, instead staring down his knees with all the weary resolve of a samurai waiting for death.

Mr Saitama groaned loudly, leaning back in his chair. All three of them were sitting crowded around Mr Saitama‘s desk, after being called out of their classes. There were plenty of curious glances thrown their way from the other teachers bustling around their cubicles in the teacher’s office, the warming smell of freshly made coffee and early morning chatter contrasting oddly with the anguished expression on their homeroom teacher’s face. Unsurprisingly, the officials at Ato High had called the police after finding the carnage, who then checked the security tapes, and then somehow managed to identify them.

Perhaps the fact that this was not the first time they had been involved with the police for what Mr Saitama had coined as “various shenanigans”, had made them all the more easier to identify. Personally, Garou believed that the only reason the police found them so quickly was due to a biased belief that they were behind any and all teenager-based incidents. Of course, in this case they were right, but still.

Mr Saitama sighed dramatically, yet again. “Were you aware that the buildings in Ato High, including the one you destroyed, are all historical buildings?”

“No shit?” asked Badd.

“No shit,” repeated Mr Saitama, gravely.

“Aw c’mon man,” whined Garou, slouching in his hard-folding chair, “there was a monster there! You couldn’t just expect us to leave it there!”

“You aren’t supposed to be fighting monsters! That’s the Hero Association’s job! You’re just students! Also,” snapped Mr Saitama, hand slamming down on the table with a bang, “you’re supposed to call me Mr Saitama, not ‘man’!”

“It tried to eat us!” protested Garou.

“Then you should’ve run and called the authorities!”

Beside him Badd rolled his eyes. “As if they’d come in time,” he muttered darkly under his breath.

Saitama pressed his hand back to his face as if to calm himself. Badd wondered if he’d end up flattening his face by the end of this session.

“Why were you even in Ato High that night?”

“Ghost hunting,” answered Garou immediately.

“You,” started Mr Saitama slowly, “went to a girls school… At night… To look for ghosts?”

All three of them nodded.

Mr Saitama sighed, for the umpteenth time. “Should’ve known,” he mumbled softly.

Turning to the table, he shuffled his papers around nosily, seemingly deep in thought. As they fidgeted in their seats, Badd casting pointed glances to the clock, Mr Saitama finally paused in rearranging his table, setting out three identical forms.

Turning towards them, he leant forward, resting his chin on his clasped hands, looking the most serious he’d been since this meeting begun. Sandwiched uncomfortably between Badd and Genos, Garou squirmed uneasily under the intense stare.

“Anything else to say for yourselves?”

No answer.

Mr Saitama tried again, “Genos,” he said, singling out the only reputable student out of the three, “anything to say?”

“I,” blurted Genos, speaking for the first time since being called to the room, “was dragged into it by these two, Mr Saitama!”

Beside him, Garou scoffed. Badd narrowed his eyes, incredulous.

“You throwin’ us under the bus, Gen?”

Genos turned to him, gold eyes flashing. “I told you we shouldn’t have gone there!”

“Genos,” Mr Saitama cut in, voice weary, “it was your incinerator cannons that caused the blast wasn’t it? You’re the one on thinnest ice here, dude.”

Genos shut his mouth with an audible clack.

Under the stares of everyone at the table, he finally continued, “it was necessary to dispose of the monster, Mr Saitama. I was merely doing my job as a vigilant member of the community.”

Mr Saitama deadpanned him a look as if to say vigilant members of the community don’t break into schools at night but said nothing against it.

When Genos made no move to say anything more, Mr Saitama shook his head despairingly, handing out the forms.

“I want all three of you to fill out these. Its an apology letter, something I’m sure you three are already familiar with,” Mr Saitama said, eyeing them meaningfully, “five thousand words. No less.”

He went on, amid cries of protests from mostly Garou and Badd, “AND, one full month of detention.”

Garou choked on air. “One entire month of detention?!”

“You’re lucky they’re not suspending you.”

The three of them wilted, grumbling half hearted protests as they held tightly to their forms.

“Okay,” said Mr Saitama, waving them off, “get back to your classes you lot. I still need to call your guardians.”

The boys kicked off amidst groans and halfhearted apologies.

“I want those apologies on my desk tomorrow morning!” he called after them as the door to the office swung shut.

“Were you talking about Ato High? Ah, that brings back memories,” smiles Miss Fubuki, leaning over her desk divider to Mr Saitama’s desk.

“Hm, did you go to school there?” questions Mr Saitama, swatting her hand away as she reached to pluck the case files from the table.

“Oh yes,” replies Miss Fubuki, finally giving up and leaning back in her chair with a nostalgic smile. “I had a lot of fun there. Sadly though, we never had any camps because there used to be this terrible rumor that a monster lurked the halls at night.”

“Oh?” asked Mr Saitama, looking bored.

“Yes,” says Miss Fubuki, eyes unnaturally bright, “we all thought it was just nonsense, but one day, one of the girls in the year below me turned up missing. Everyone was so sure it was the monster that ate her.”

Mr Saitama gave a noncommittal grunt, fiddling with his fingers.

Miss Fubuki smiled knowingly. “You’re starting to feel really thankful that they came back safe, aren’t you?”

Mr Saitama sighed, sending her a rueful smile. “I’m starting to feel really thankful I never decided to teach there.”

...

“Do you know what the worst part is?” Garou asks, as they trudge back up the staircase back to their classroom, “we never did get to see the ghost.”

Genos shot him a withering glare. “That’s because there was no ghost. People just caught wind of the monster and started the rumor.”

Badd grunted in agreement, shoulders hunching as he thought about the scolding his mother was sure to dole out once he got home.

“By the way,” a familiar voice called out right as he reached the top step. “I wanted to thank you.”

Turning slowly, Badd met the smiling gaze of a girl standing a few steps behind him. Squinting, he recalled the girl’s black hair and grey uniform.

“Oh its you,” Badd said, sending her a lazy wave. After all that drama, he’d just about forgotten about the weird girl from the school. “What are you doin’ here?”

The girl’s smile widened, her brown eyes glittering with an emotion Badd couldn’t discern. “I came by to see you. I have to go really soon, but I wanted to let you know I’m thankful for what you did.”

Badd huffed. “You mean breaking one of your school’s buildings?”

“I meant killing that monster but…”

“Eh, was nothin’,” he muttered, strangely uncomfortable under her stare.

“Tell your friends I said thank you as well,” the girl said insistently, climbing another step up towards him.

Badd cocked an eyebrow. “Tell em yourself,” he said. Poking his head around the staircase landing, he was surprised to see Garou and Genos already standing still on the upper steps, staring down at him.

“Who are you talking to?” Genos asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“C’mere man,” Badd called, waving them over, “this kid wants to talk to you guys.”

Garou peeked his head over the side of the staircase railing, looking wholly confused.

“Who?” he asked, gold eyes flitting around.

Badd groaned, annoyed that they were choosing to be so blatantly rude. Turning around impatiently, he was met with a clear view of the empty stairwell, illuminated by the large windows. Confused, he ran down the steps, peering over the railings just like Garou to see where the girl had went.

Looking back up, he met the strangely concerned gazes of his two friends, peering at him with raised brows.

“Did Mr Saitama set you so much work that you already went crazy?” Garou asked, shaking his head.

“What,” Badd spluttered, face colouring in spite of himself. “Fuck off man, didn’t you hear me talking to her?”

“To who?” Genos questioned again, face pinching in exasperation. “We only heard you talking to yourself.”

Badd stared at him, mouth agape. His head whipped between his friends and down the stairwell, as if unsure who to believe.

“But I- But you-“ Badd stammered, feeling increasingly uncomfortable by the second.

Climbing back down, Garou snatched him up by the arm, half dragging him up the stairs.

“There, there,” he said, patting Badd’s back in a manner that was supposed to be consoling, but came out mildly condescending. “Let’s get you to class, and you can take a nap at your desk as usual.”

Genos sighed, positioning himself on Badd’s other side and gripping his shoulder with a bit too much force to be comforting. “Maybe after your usual illegal naps you’d feel better.”

Despite his own irritable protests, Badd allowed himself to be dragged off bodily to his classroom, secretly agreeing that maybe a good nap was exactly what he needs.

[vicunaburger]

Admittedly, I’m Hard to See

Fandom: Beetlejuice the Musical Chapters: 6/? Pairing: Beetlejuice x OC (Holidae) The Players: Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz, Holidae Bell Word Count: 1,597 Warnings: M for Language

Notes: It’s really hard to convey chaotic imagery in text, but hopefully it worked out. 8|

...ps this is dedicated to @mr-geuse because reasonsssss 💜💜💜

Holidae took her time coming down the stairs, running over every response to every possible combination of questions Lydia could ask of her. There were dozens of scenarios which ended with angry Lydia and two that ended with Holidae quitting while she was ahead and retreating back to her room for the foreseeable future. One outcome involved her diving under the kitchen table and just… living there.

The least plausible, she had to admit, but that didn’t stop her from considering it among the list of alternatives.

“Oh! What? A ghost lives here too? How crazy!” Holidae mumbled to herself, stopping halfway down the stairs. “No no. Sounds fake.”

She carefully maneuvered back up a couple of steps before trying again, “What do you mean ghosts are real and there happens to be one living with us?”

“Wow, you suck at lying.” Beetlejuice appeared on the banister, sliding down in tandem with her.

“Wow, you suck in general.” Holidae snapped, moving her hand off the railing before he rolled over it. “Can’t be inconspicuous if you’re just there. Go away.”

She took a breath, continuing all the way to the bottom of the staircase. Beej followed her like a shadow, generally being a pest and causing her to stumble into the kitchen with a well-timed boot to the back of her knees. Lydia stood up from the table, concerned about her friend’s shaky entrance. She watched as Holidae righted herself, noticing BJ giggling up a storm behind her.

“Holli! Are you okay?” She scowled in the ghost’s direction, trying to subtly gesture for him to get lost. “I don’t want you to break your neck in the house. The insurance rates would skyrocket.”

Holidae stuck her tongue out impishly, desperately trying to disguise the fact she knew why Lydia had such a sour expression.

“All good, Lyddy. Must have been these pants… not hemmed yet. Wobbly floorboard maybe? Something I could take you to court over?” she shuffled over to the table, sitting in one of the empty chairs.

Beetlejuice sat down between the two women, apparating a black and white swirled teacup, and slurped from it loudly. His eyes bounced from one girl to the other like a tennis match; each of them trying to hide their acknowledgement of him from the other. It was really a matter of who would crack first, and since he was a betting man, he would be put all of his money on Holidae.

“So, did you get some sleep? You weren’t up this morning,” Lydia kicked Beetlejuice under the table, earning a wheeze from the pained demon.

Holidae nodded, “Yeah, a little bit. Strangest thing though…”

Both Lydia and her ghostly pal trained their gazes on her, but Lydia spoke first, “Oh? What’s that? Did the monster in your closet come say hello?”

“Nuh-uh. But I kept hearing the weirdest noises, you know? More than the normal creaky old house stereotypes. That happen often?” Holidae stared right back at Lydia, her tone taking sharp dive into serious.

Lydia gave a quick glance to BJ, who in turn shrugged in the universal “not me” gesture, “Well, they told us the house was haunted when we moved in, so maybe that’s the reason? Or you were hallucinating again. You really need sleep…”

A muscle twitched underneath Holidae’s eye, “Haunted, huh? By… what… some dead guy?”

Beetlejuice transported himself to sit on the kitchen counter, a bowl of popcorn appearing in his hands. At this point, he really didn’t care how mad Lydia would be with him once the truth came out. He was more interested in how mad Holidae was going to be if Lydia kept dodging the questions. Of course, he would never let any actual harm befall his bestest best friend in the whole wide world, but that didn’t mean he had to intervene now.

“Ha, a dead guy.” Lydia’s voice cracked, unable to stop the lies rolling off her tongue so fluidly, “That’s funny, right? I mean… could you imagine this place being haunted by ghosts? What would you even think about that, Holli?”

“Right. This house. The house I’m living in now. Let’s talk about this house being haunted by a ghost, shall we?” Holidae’s fist hit the table with force, “How crazy would it be if my best friend didn’t bother to tell me if there was a dead man haunting the house I was going to be living in for an extended period of time!?”

The silence hung thick in the air between the two of them, until Lydia finally pointed directly at the ghost munching on popcorn in the corner, “You mean that dead guy, don’t you?”

Holidae pushed herself away from the table, marching over and grabbing Beetlejuice by his tie, dragging him back over to the table. “Yes, Lyddy, this one. The one I had no prior knowledge about. The one I summoned by accident because you neglected to tell me not to summon demon ghost things in the house.”

“Beetlejuice! What did you do?” Lydia was up out of her chair now, momentarily distracted by the rage directed at the ghost. “What did I tell you over and over about this? Didn’t you listen to me?”

“Hey hey, easy on the name, babes.” He was trying to pry his tie from out of Holidae’s iron grip. “I always listen to seventy-five percent of what you say. Holiday Road here was the one that said my name; you know I couldn’t tell her to do it. If anything, I’m the victim here! She forced me to appear and break your rules. You should stay mad at her and not me and- let go of my tie before I eat your hand.”

Beetlejuice opened his mouth wide, snapping at Holidae’s hand with his sharp teeth. She gave a yelp as she let him go, attempting to shove him backwards in a defensive motion. He had some height on her, as well as weight, so her attempt was short-lived. He grabbed both of her wrists, holding them away from his face as she attempted to scratch at him like an angry cat. The smaller woman was spurred on by his laughing, letting out a string of curses which included the phrase “dollar store poltergeist”.

Lydia tried to get their attention, calling out their names to no avail. Beej didn’t seem too angry by Holidae’s attack, but she knew at any moment he could change his mood on a dime and really cause some damage. Although it killed her inside to waste such a precious resource, she grabbed the container of lukewarm coffee, climbed on top of the table, and poured the liquid over top of both of their heads.

The effect was immediate: both Holidae and Beej stopped their squabbling, turning their heads toward Lydia in – disturbing­ – unison.

“Children, the kitchen is not a gymnasium. Now you,” She pointed at Holidae first, “Sit.”

Having all the fight thoroughly soaked out of her, Holidae quietly sat back down at the table, folding her hands in her lap.

“And you.” Lydia addressed Beetlejuice, who had been casually trying to make his way out of the room. “Sit.”

Beetlejuice vanished, reappearing across the table from Holidae, folding his arms over his chest like a petulant child.

Lydia hopped off the table, but didn’t sit down with them, choosing to stand to try and be intimidating, “I knew this would happen, but I didn’t think you two would actually get into a brawl this early. Serves me right for trying a calm, logical approach with a dead sociopath and an easily agitated ball of nerve endings.”

Wisely, neither of them chose to interrupt.

“Yes, I should have discussed the situation with you before you agreed to move in with us, Holli. I’m really sorry, but you can kinda see why I wouldn’t be forthcoming about the whole ghost thing. So… Holli: ghosts are real, there’s one living in the house with us, and his name is Beetlejuice. Beej, this is Holidae Bell, and she will be living here as well. There. Now are we all good?”

“…I just have one question.” Beetlejuice leaned forward, barely hiding his snickering. “You’re last name is Bell? As in jingle bell? Your folks named you Holidae Bell? Do they hate you? They have to hate you, right? No one names their kid something that blatant.”

He burst out in laughter, clutching his sides and doubling over in the chair. Holidae gave Lydia a look, to which Lydia leaned over and whispered something into her ear.

With a Cheshire cat grin, Holidae leaned her elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hands. “Laugh it up, Lawrence.”

Beetlejuice’s hair alternated through various hues before settling on a mix of magenta and yellow, “H-hey…”

“Maybe I should call you Lawrencio? Lawrencier? Larry?” She continued, glancing at Lydia with a smirk.

“Ohh, maybe Laird?” Lydia added, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

“No, wait! Lars is a nickname, I think. Might have to look it up, but I’m pretty sure it counts.” Holidae nodded.

Beetlejuice got up from the table, his hair now a bright red, “That’s it! I don’t have to take this from two little breather girls. I’m a goddamn demon. You all want to sit here and have sleepovers and talk about me behind my back, fine. I know when I’m not wanted. Don’t you dare come running up to me on the Other Side when you snuff it like ‘oh hey Beej, my friend, help me out’ because… because you are no longer my bestest best friend or my pal. You’re just my best friend and a casual acquaintance.”

With a puff of red smoke, he vanished, leaving the two women awestruck in his wake.

“…I’m guessing that’s not a good thing?” Holidae turned to Lydia sheepishly.

“…no, no it’s not.” Lydia sighed.

[project-ohagi]

Keiji Akaashi x Reader {Haikyuu!!}

The grace with which he had been blessed was astounding, even to his upperclassmen. You always searched for him in the onslaught during break and lunch, hoping against hope that he would gaze your way. His politeness and the blunt way he voiced his opinions were surely going to be your downfall; every time he opened his mouth, your heart began pounding in your chest, and all the blood in your system would surge to your ears and cheeks. The sound of blood swirling around your head almost drowned out your love's magnificent voice. Almost. Once, he caught you zoned-out, on cloud nine, and questioned the intensity of your blush. The handsome setter thought that perhaps you were ill and seeking medical attention. Afterwards, he seemed to make a routine of greeting you every morning, and on the off-chance you happened to meet in the hallways.

Although he never appeared too interested in physical contact, his friend was incredibly touchy-feely. It humoured you for a while, but gradually, the amusement was replaced with fury - that was your man, your gorgeous specimen, and no matter how close those two were, Bokuto was not getting Keiji. You dedicated an entire journal to learning and recording his habits, mannerisms, likes and dislikes, as well as any other helpful bits of information. You wanted to know everything.

Sitting behind him in class had its advantages, because he couldn't tell that you were writing about him, and from your angle, you could garner his mood from the movement of his upper body alone. You didn't need to be an expert at deciphering facial expressions. You were quickly becoming a master on the topic of Keiji Akaashi. Following him also worked in your favour - the way he stood (hands interlocked behind his back) was utterly adorable, so you started copying it. You would try out the things you knew he liked, and also considered joining the girls' volleyball team. However, that way there would be less chance of you seeing his matches up close.

You examined his character in more depth, exploring how he talked to, and acted around, his classmates and team mates. His closest confidante was indeed Bokuto, but you feared that striking up a conversation would lead to some weird places. He was such a loud, rambunctious individual, and you couldn't risk the exposure. Not when you were so near to completing your most daring, yet most exciting plan. It needed perfecting and executing, but that was now only a matter of days. Keiji was quiet, but certainly not shy. Heck, you weren't exactly sure he was capable of reading the mood, but all his little quirks combined to make him so incredibly endearing.

Your Romeo was far more special and charming than anyone else in your life, and you were prepared to go to some insane lengths to keep him caged. Ten foot tall iron bars, and an ivory roof would surely sedate him. He would look so handsome, so perfectly submissive, splayed out amongst your sheets. His hands would turn a hot white as he gripped them, trying to chain himself to reality. The poor thing wouldn't know what to do, lying and trembling beneath you. Nothing would be veiling his perfection from your eyes, so they could feast on what they saw, and it would satisfy them for life.

A sticky white liquid would dribble down his stomach, having been shot out a short while earlier, when your lips closed around his throbbing member, and sultry moans filled the room. Keiji's soft, haggard sounds would be music to your ears - a choir of angels, and your legs would further entrap him. Lining his member up with your aching hole, you would sheathe him inside, relishing in the sudden, pleasure-induced moan that escaped his lips. It would be throaty, in his lustful haze. Leaning forwards, you would forcefully press your lips together, coaxing his tongue out to play. At some point, he might gain control, turning the tide of dominance. Pinning you to the bed, perhaps he would will you to beg, to plead for his glorious sex. He might release you, or he could make you suffer. Maybe he would pull out, so that only the tip remained, or perhaps he would even deny your orgasm, as punishment for screwing with him. Would he do that?

Licking your lips, you imagined all the possibilities, ranging from soft sex to rough sex, to no sex at all. It was entirely plausible that, once he gained the upper hand, he would tie you against the bed, stranding you until morning, or whenever someone decided to walk in and found your naked, or semi-naked body, shaking from the cold, desiring nothing but Keiji Akaashi.

Then again, Fukurōdani would provide the best environment. Plus, it would be much easier to find and lure your prey in a place that he felt comfortable. You might be able to find a jump rope to tie his hands, and maybe the gymnasium's storeroom would be a good spot to launch an attack. However, first came the annoying part: removing Keiji's larger-than-life friend from the picture. You didn't really have to go to the extreme of killing him, but that was always a viable option. No, you could just get someone to help you take his attention off Keiji, and go home by himself. He was constantly hoarding your beloved, never letting you get too close. You could have even sworn he glared at you once, for attempting to limit the space between yourself and the setter. Regardless, he had to go, if only for a few hours.

You crossed your legs, well aware that you were growing too aroused, from your fantasies alone. The object of your (obsessive) affections tilted his head in concentration. You loved this, because it meant that he was working really hard. He was incredibly smart, but never boasted about his grades. You adored his humility. The temperature had risen significantly in the past few minutes, but you hadn't noticed, since you spaced out. However, the heat seemed to affect Keiji, as his blazer was draped gracefully over the back of his chair, and you could see the sweat rolling down his neck. In that moment, all remaining reason flooded out, and you had to stab your hand with a sharpened pencil, just to stop yourself from leaning in and lapping up the substance. Glancing at the clock, you realised that there were less than ten minutes left. You sighed in relief. Keiji's dark eyes flicked to the side, catching a glimpse of your flustered state. He would attest to being concerned. You were a classmate, after all.

He looked back towards the teacher, listening with one ear. The notes in his book were becoming more and more confusing - his focus was wavering, as he tried to disperse it between you and the lesson. He always appeared so cool, so collected, able to dish out the most brutally honest comments without batting an eye, but, a slight panic was building in his stomach. It twisted unnaturally, bringing him to the brink of nausea. Although, no-one would be able to tell, not even if they invaded his personal space, like Bokuto. The extraordinarily beautiful setter often noticed you staring, out of the corner of his eye, but he never said anything. You seemed quite timid, since you scarcely talked to anyone, so he didn't necessarily want to make you uncomfortable. However, while he thought that you kept your head down and got work done, you actually had a very different, very special reason for scribbling in your book, only sparing two or three glances towards the teacher.

Earlier, you had been in the process of writing out, and testing, various methods of torture/execution. You see, Keiji had a bad habit of being friendly around the girls at school. Well, he was an incredibly amiable person anyway, but, much like Aobajōsai's setter, he had a fanclub. They were absolutely obsessed with him.

Although, they could never love Keiji like you did.

Their president was a small-ish, brown-haired female, who compensated for her height by donning these ridiculous, strictly prohibited heels, which gave her a few more inches. She had a horrible, toxic sort of personality, and a smile that could wipe out an entire species. For her, you implemented a very special, very inhumane plan. One day, during lunch, you asked her (privately) about joining the Keiji Akaashi Fanclub. She was thrilled to have yet another member, and she entrusted you with all sorts of written documents, ready and waiting for your signature. The two of you had a clandestine meeting, because you wanted to 'show' her something. You shrugged off all her guesses. There was a spring in your step, and a happy giggle bubbling in your throat. In your bag, an iron contraption sat amongst your school supplies. After placing it (with much force) on her head, and twisting it violently, almost breaking the poor girl's jaw before the fun really started, you hauled her into the furnace.

She had been your first victim.

Proceeding her, were five more members of that detestable, and frankly annoying, club. When they were dealt with, you transitioned into Phase 2, which primarily involved the possible abduction, and definite enchantment, of your love: Keiji Akaashi. So now, you were in class, gazing dreamily at him, and wondering about your plan. It needed a touch more...flavour, so it would, unfortunately, have to wait. At least until tomorrow.

The bell rang, and freedom had never tasted so sweet. Thankfully, your chosen methods of extermination required minimal bloodshed, so nothing was visible on your clothes. Just as you packed away your items, and got out of your chair, a mildly concerned-looking Keiji blocked your view of the door. You recognised a slight imbalance in his stance, indicating that something was troubling him.

"(L/n)-san." He addressed, nonchalantly.

Your response was almost too quick. "Yes, Kei-Akaashi-kun?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Did you need me for something? You're always staring. It can be confusing."

"Ah..." You guessed he stopped himself from saying 'annoying'. "I can tell you tomorrow, maybe?" You muttered, attempting to stall for time.

Shaking his head, he spoke, "Please tell me now."

This was happening far too suddenly, yet you weren't about to let this opportunity slide. "Um...well, I could tell you on the way back? We go the same way, if I remember correctly."

"Yes, we do. Let's go then." His fingers brushed past yours, causing your skin to prickle.

Right, cool. Just keep this momentum, and everything will go smoothly.

While walking, you spotted him fumbling with his fingers - something he did quite frequently. It wasn't really a sign of anxiety, but you found it adorable. His gunmetal blue eyes were fixated on the road ahead, and his lips had long since been sealed. You desperately needed to take action, otherwise, if your actual strategy did not work, you would completely fail. You couldn't let him go home, but it would seem really strange if you asked him to join you for a cup of tea, or something to that effect. Whilst you were pondering this dilemma, droplets of water dripped down on to your hair and clothes, thoroughly wetting both of you. Since your house was close, and you lived alone, this was the perfect opportunity to invite him inside. Silently, you thanked whatever god was out there, listening to your prayers.

The two of you hurried inside, grabbing some towels and shaking yourselves off. Your (e/c) eyes glimpsed his shirt, now transparent due to exposure to the rain. Gulping, you averted your gaze, attempting not to grow too aroused. Keiji looked around, seeing nothing he didn't expect. Your hallway was pretty barren, to be honest, because everything of personal value was compiled in your room. That is to say, you had lots of...helpful tools.

"Thank you. I figured it might rain, so I gave my umbrella to Bokuto-san." He nodded politely.

Sighing, you stated, "You do so much for him."

"He's our captain. If he loses his cheerful nature, he won't be as good in practise." He clarified, not seeming to understand why you suddenly sounded quite out-of-sorts.

I need some love too, y'know?

You smiled. "I get that. Sorry, I wasn't trying to offend you."

He followed your lead, walking slowly behind you. "It's alright. I should have brought another umbrella, so you didn't get wet."

"It was inevitable."

I'm always wet when you're around, Keiji.

"I apologise anyway." He bowed, halting his movements.

You stopped outside your bedroom door. "Then, how about you make it up to me?"

[jae-canikeepyou]

| marked | j.jh | ch. three

genre: superpower!au

a/n: i posted a bit late today but hope you’ll like this chapter! send me an ask for discussions, or if you’re confused :D 

the morning sun woke you up and you haven’t gotten used to the warmth you hadn’t experienced in years. the sounds of birds chirping even at winter still left you amazed. the pink curtains swayed in sync as the wind entered the room, making you stand to close it. though instead of doing that, you took notice of the other kids who played out in the snow. it had been a while since you felt joy and peace in you. right now you had a place to stay in, food to eat and people to share with. everything was provided and it came to the point where you chose to stay.

the alarm went off on the side table between your bed and mina’s. she quickly snoozed it before getting off of the bed. “good morning.” you prepared coffee at a small counter of the room.

“i gotta get dressed.” she yawned, her slurred words asked for more sleep, but you knew she couldn’t go back to sleep anyway.

your back faced her and tingled when you took a sip of coffee. you slightly danced to the music the headphone gave off. “they’re by the door.” you told mina.

“seriously y/n you can see them?” she asked as she opened it, four figures came into view— seokmin, mingyu, eunha and eunwoo.

“we thought y/n would leave the next morning so we came to check if she really did.” eunwoo waved at the both of you. “and she’s here. $20 you too!” he gestured the boys you assumed they had a bet.

“y/n! this is eunha! she’s part of our group too.” mina brought you to the rest.

“it’s finally nice to meet you.” eunha grabbed your hands and shook them, making you flinch at the sudden greeting. “we’re going to the hall. we have our morning exercises there.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

the hall you last saw became a gymnasium. mats and equipments aligned by the walls. people began their stretches while some had already started their routine. the group brought you along the middle where it separated the boys and girls. whispers grew until they became quiet. like last night, eyes were on you. most were fascinated at your presence while others hid behind others. ‘the newbie’ they referred you.

eunha started doing stretches and as you tried to follow, you felt people crowding around you. they were curious of what else you might do. “hey y/n! take fast!” a voice in the distance behind you yelled. people squealed and ran away when an iron weight plate flew to you like a frisbee. others had their eyes closed with their hands, fearing the worst case that could happen. you took the iron plate without looking back, and when you did, bunch of ‘oohs’ escaped their lips.

while you continued to do the exercises, the hall remained silent where only sounds of equipment and sighs were heard. the door suddenly slammed open. a boy in his sleeveless hoodie came in, earning attention.

“he’s here! he’s here!”

“wow first time in the gym since forever.”

“that jerk finally showed up huh.”

after seeing him, mingyu and the other boys called your group. “y/n! there’s someone we want you to mee- hey where are you going?!”

the boy in the hoodie walked past them without a word. he didn’t stop walking. you thought he would go and do his routine but he ended in front of you. his mask was the first thing you saw before fists appeared right before your eyes.

oh boy what’s going on?

you avoided the continuous punches, hoping he would grew tired of it. he was probably one of those who wanted to challenge you like the one who threw the iron plate. this time, there were no breaks in between. “tsk.” you sighed.

though you saw his motives into at least landing attacks on you, it seemed like he knew your motives as well? he’d block or avoid your every attempt to hit him. he was strong. all kicks, punches were nothing to the both of you. neither were injured. cheers of encouragement grew until he stopped, making you do the same.

“ah just when i thought i could defeat you. my friends told me you were strong, i had to see it for myself.” he scoffed, removing his mask and hoodie. you looked at the boy who smiled before you, his dimples showed and you’d be lying if you weren’t swayed by it. he was cute. literally.

“my name’s jaehyun. i heard you’re an absolute like me.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“you’re crazy for doing that. she could get injured!” mina pointed fingers at jaehyun, not taking a single bite from her breakfast.

“hey i just had to double check her powers. i wasn’t convinced when the guys mentioned she’s an absolute.”

you sighed how your morning could be this noisy and energetic. window showed rays of sunlight that made the snow floor brighter, slightly blinding your eyes. you wondered what an absolute does. no one dared to tell you, even if you did read their thoughts to find an answer, it was somehow blocked. you tapped your chopsticks onto the tray, grabbing jaehyun’s attention. he immediately slid the curtains to a close. he smiled at your daydreaming state, happy to find someone like him. “i can tell you what an absolute does if you’re really curious. seems like you have no idea about your power.”

the rest of the group rolled their eyes at jaehyun’s starter for a conversation. 

“there he goes again. he knows what you’re about to say, y/n.” eunha said.

“he reads peoples’ minds like it’s a book to them. how creepy!” mina faked a clap as if to mock him.

“exactly! which is why it’s hard to keep secrets from him!” seokmin gave hi-five mina.

“correction, it’s not read. i hear your thoughts even before you say it.” jaehyun finished his waffle, turning towards you. you played with the radishes on your plate before jaehyun started to speak. “this is what an ‘absolute’ does.” he poked your hand. “they have a power that consists of skills, capabilities that’re beyond comparison than the people here.”

you raised your brow in confusion. “so you’re saying that’s the only point an absolute can have? heck, i don’t even know my own capabilities.”

“i’m aware that you know you’ve been categorized. let me name the others.” he took a sip from his milkshake. seokmin and the other had eyes on him too, like he was about to tell a nightmare story. “mina for sure told you about how we got our powers- that is near death experience.”

mina stood up and slightly banged the table. “you heard our conversation last night?? how dare-”

“shush you twerp.” mingyu pulled mina down to her seat.

“in the core, the system tells us five main power categories.” jaehyun brought out his fingers to name them. “the manipulators— those who controls or influences— that’s eunwoo with teleportation. the emitters— those who emit any matter from their palms— mina with fire/heat. the adapters— those who can quickly adapt to the environment— seokmin with resistance to cold and mingyu with aquatic. the enhanced and the supernaturals have the same qualities depending on the cases. however, the supernaturals are relatively on a higher level than the enhanced. eunha is an enhanced in synesthesia, which is why she’s on the investigation council, and was able to locate you.”

you tried to bring the new information to your head as your brain processed each and every word jaehyun said. “and those like us?” your eyes anticipated for the next, resting your chin onto your knuckles.

“the absolutes, are greater than all the categories combined. though we don’t have any emission or adaptation-related powers, we have an infinite scale of sense. strength is a bonus too. in my case, it’s hearing. and yours..” he trailed off, looking into your eyes.

“mine is vision.” you completed his sentence, a smile grew on jaehyun’s face. 

“that’s right.”

no matter the answer, this was news for you. a good type of news. yet something still bothered you; the people you unintentionally took lives from. 

the bell rang and the rest of the group decided to leave for their own training sessions and classes. they said goodbyes, leaving only you and jaehyun on the table. 

“i can’t answer that, but i know someone who does.” he blurted out, the silence between you and him ended. “since starting from now we’ll have classes together with gongchan.”

“can you ever avoid hearing my thoughts? it’s getting creepy, like others have said.” you swallowed your saliva, avoiding his gaze.

“can you ever avoid seeing my thoughts?” he retorted back, his dimples still evident. “and i know you found me cute earl-”

“agh stop!” you threw a tissue at him, he laughed as he shielded himself. “can’t blame me for seeing ten seconds into the future, can you?” 

“ah, so you found me cute even before i entered the hall.” he teased, his upper part of his ears shaded pink. “i can detect if you’re lying or not.”

“and what if i’m not?” you stuck out your tongue, later you giggled at the boy’s reaction. “your ears are really honest, aren’t they?”

jaehyun covered his ears in embarrassment. “i’ll give you an a-plus for noticing that on our first meeting. let’s go?”

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| marked — chapter three: another you |

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[rocketwerks]

Original Richmond YMCA

514 East Main Street

Built, 1887

Demolished, 1912

Architects, Cope and Stewardson

[RYMCA] — YMCA building at Sixth and Main

The Romanesque home of the Christian buff.

In the 1880s, the interests of the Richmond YMCA, the association’s national building program and muscular Christianity combined to create the first Y facility here.

The process began on January 4, 1885, when evangelist Dwight Moody spoke at a large religious meeting in Armory Hall. Following his appearance, enthusiasm grew for constructing a local YMCA building. Association leaders and members saw, as did their counterparts across the nation, that such a facility could achieve tremendous good.

(LOC) — Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Richmond (1905) — Plate 9

“Our aim, in brief, is to have the very best building, and do the very best for young men that is done anywhere—a work that shall grow as our city grows and as the work of the Young Men’s Christian Association develops,” a member wrote in a letter to the Richmond Dispatch.

Strong local support facilitated a speedy start. Within a year of Moody’s appearance, the Richmond YMCA had raised $30,000, selected an architect, approved plans, acquired a lot at the northwest corner of Sixth and Main Streets, and solicited bids from builders. Work formally began on June 10, 1886, after the ceremonial laying of a cornerstone. The building was dedicated on May 19, 1887.

(Wikimedia) — Design for the Building of the Young Men’s Christian Association  — American Architect and Building News, November 14, 1885

The new Richmond YMCA shared many traits with the 23rd Street YMCA in New York, including a gym. Like the New York Y, Richmond’s had a solid appearance. The Richmond building had a rough granite exterior at the first floor level. Brick was above that. Stone was used for windowsills. The entrance was on Main Street, and a large corner tower stood at Main and Sixth.

(Bryn Mawr College) — YMCA building architects Walter Cope (right) and John Stewardson (left)

“The architecture is to the fullest extent free, yet based chiefly on motives derived from the vigorous styles prevailing in Southern France and Northern Italy during the eleventh and twelfth centuries,” the Richmond Dispatch reported. “Its prototypes, if it can be said to have any, are to be found among the grand old markets or town halls of Lombardy, as well as with the massive churches of Auvergne. In this sense, the style may be roughly classed as Romanesque.” 

[RYMCA]

The gym was in the basement. It measured 50 by 50 by 20 feet and extended into the second floor. A bowling alley and locker room were next to the gym. Anybody wishing to use the gym paid a $7 annual fee. For that, they got a well-equipped facility.

“Our equipment is the finest in the state,” a period circular reported. “It includes the latest appliances in developing apparatus—the celebrated Murphy Pulley Weight, a new Hydraulic Rowing Machine, Iron and Wooden Dumb Bells, Wands and Indian Clubs. The equipment in heavy apparatus is of the latest pattern, and consists of Horizontal and Parallel bars, German Horse and Buck, with a bountiful supply of well-padded Floor Mats—Baths: Shower, Needle and Sponge Baths are supplied with hot and cold water.”

[RVCJ93]

The new YMCA quickly became a busy place. It remained one for the next 25 years. One measure of this was the usage. By 1893, 92,608 people came to the facility annually. Some came for spiritual reasons. The Y offered Bible study, prayer meetings and referred members to local churches.

[RYMCA] — YMCA front steps

Library visitation was high. Classes proved popular, too. Young men could learn about a variety of subjects at the Y. The best attended courses were those applicable to work. These included bookkeeping, commercial law, telegraphy and commercial arithmetic. The value of professional classes for hardworking, ambitious young men cannot be over-estimated. Testimonials confirming this appeared frequently in newsletters of the period. For example, in 1902, a new Richmond YMCA member told how night school classes at the 23rd Street YMCA in New York had allowed him to succeed in industry after previously being unemployed.

[RYMCA] — fitness class in progress

The most popular activities at the Richmond YMCA were those associated with sports and fitness. Y members enthusiastically embraced “muscular Christianity” on the baseball diamond, tennis court and floor. Workouts in the latter were executed under the careful eye of the new gymnasium superintendent, Thomas Cornelius, formerly of the Baltimore YMCA. Apparently, Cornelius was a firm advocate of bodybuilding, a term that originated at the Boston YMCA. Cornelius even encouraged members to skip learning gymnastic routines, a much-promoted pathway to fitness in the nineteenth century.

[RYMCA] — showing Dr. James Naismith, inventor of basketball

In the realm of sports, though, the warmest enthusiasm existed for the recently invented game of basketball. James Naismith, a physical education instructor, created basketball under the guidance of Luther Gulick, then director of the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Gulick wanted a fast-paced indoor game for winter. Naismith began work on the project in December 1891. Naismith’s early experiments involved mounting peach baskets in the gym. Initially, basketball had just 13 rules. Students loved the game. Naismith developed more detailed rules and published them on January 15, 1892. The first formal basketball game occurred five days later at Springfield College.

[RYMCA]

It is unclear when basketball arrived at the Richmond YMCA. However, by 1898, documents show basketball was a centerpiece of local Y sports programs. Leagues and championship play were permanent features by the early 1900s. The Richmond YMCA’s first home was thoroughly a product of its time, the movement and its community. For the better part of three decades, it would serve well the needs of Richmonders’ spirits, minds and bodies.

March 2019 — 514 (or 530?) East Main Street today

Boy, it'd be interesting to see today's NCAA basketball getting by on just 13 rules. How different the game is with the shot clock violation, the 10-second rule, the 5-second rule, and the 3-point shot.

The original YMCA was replaced the by Central YMCA in 1909 when it relocated to Seventh & Grace Streets. The old building was demolished in 1912 when the Eskimo Pie Building was constructed. This was a pity; a true loss to Richmond’s architectural portfolio.

Even though the Sanborn map shows the old Y’s address as 514 East Main Street, the Eskimo Pie Building is at 530 East Main Street, and it says so right on the entrance. It even says so on the Sixth Street entrance, which is a little confusing, but let’s just roll with it.

(Original YMCA is part of the Atlas RVA! Project)

Print Sources

[RVCJ93] Richmond, Virginia: The City on the James: The Book of Its Chamber of Commerce and Principal Business Interests. G. W. Engelhardt. 1893.

[RYMCA] The Richmond YMCA 1854 - 2004. Edward R. Crews. 2004.

[gdwessel]

Dominion Title Matches, BOSJ29 Cards Revealed; TJPW Yes! Wonderland 2022 - 5/3/2022: Reika Saiki Retires; STARDOM, Dragon Gate, GLEAT Results, Other News

New Japan Pro Wrestling

The feature matches for Dominion 6.12 In Osaka-jo Hall have been announced, for the show taking place, ironically, on 6/12/2022 in Osaka-jo Hall. You'd think this joke would never get old, however, recall that last year's got bumped by one day, so Dominion 6.6 was actually on 6/7/2021.

The main event will of course be Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP World Heavyweight title against the returning Jay White, having made his shock return at Wrestling Dontaku 2022 on Sunday. Another shock returnee has a title match as well, as "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson will wrestle his former stablemate and co-founder of the Bullet Club, Tama Tonga, for the latter's newly-won NEVER Openweight title.

Below are the announced Dominion matches. The full cards for Best Of The Super Juniors 29 have also been announced, however that will be an Upcoming Events post coming in the next week or so.

Dominion 6/12 in Osaka-jo Hall - 6/12/2022, Osaka Osaka-jo Hall (NJPWWorld)

Provisional KOPW2022 Championship: Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] (c) v. Taichi [SZKG]

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tama Tonga [GoD] (c) v. Karl Anderson [Bullet Club]

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club] (c) v. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire]

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] (c) v. Jay White [Bullet Club]

More TBA

In other news, Hiroshi Tanahashi will be taking the place of Tatsumi Fujinami at Fujinami’s own 50th Anniversary show from Korakuen Hall on 5/12/2022, due to Fujinami’s COVID-19 diagnosis, and effects from that. This will be Tanahashi’s debut match in Dradition, although the show will be carried on NJPWWorld. So that main event match is now Tanahashi, Shiro Koshinaka & Yuji Nagata v. Mitsuya Nagai, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi. Masato Tanaka has also been added to this show, as a fill-in for Shinjiro Otani, who I shouldn’t have to say what happened with him.

Hirooki Goto is booked for the next GLEAT show on 5/18/2022 from Korakuen Hall. He will be facing Hayato Tamura of the BULK Orchestra heel unit. More information on that show below.

Tokyo Joshi

Reika Saiki, the Muscle Idol, has "graduated" (read: retired) from wrestling, with a three-minute exhibition match at TJPW's Korakuen Hall rally today, that also saw two title matches take place. This is on Wrestle Universe.

TJPW Yes! Wonderland 2022 – Spread The Wings Of Your Dreams - 5/3/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Wrestle Universe)

Princess Tag Team Championship: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki © d. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (Mizuki > Noa, Cutie Special, 13:53) - Magical Sugar Rabbits succeed their 4th defense

Exhibition Match: Reika Saiki TLD Arisu Endo (3:00) - Retirement ceremony for Reika Saiki took place post-match

Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu d. Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami (Kiryu > Toribami, Boston Crab, 10:09)

Suzume d. Juria Nagano (Ring A Bell, 5:46)

Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Yuki Arai d. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku (Arai > Harajuku, Finally, 13:41)

Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh d. Hikaru Shida [AEW] & Moko Miyamoto (Yamashita > Miyamoto, Skull Kick, 15:02)

Princess of Princess Championship: Shoko Nakajima © d. Hyper Misao (Diving Senton, 14:29) - Nakajima succeeds her 2nd defense

Neither title changed hands today, meaning Shoko Nakajima will go on to defend her title at CyberFight Festival on 6/12/2022. Yuka Sakazaki's match was first, so she could get on a plane to make her AEW appearance this week. How this is going to affect the match on Thursday where the tag title winners and the Princess of Princess winner would team with Maki Itoh is beyond me. Maybe someone will be dropped. Speaking of AEW, of course, Shida wrestled here today, on the losing side against Itoh/Miyu Yamashita.

The next show is Thursday. DDT runs on Friday as well.

STARDOM

The Golden Week Fight Tour continued today.

- 5/3/2022, Nagasaki Prefectural Gymnasium

Saki Kashima & Ruaka [Oedo Tai] d. Hanan & Koguma [STARS] (Ruaka > Hanan, Freezer Bomb, 8:34)

Himeka & Natsupoi [Donna del Mondo] d. AZM & Lady C [Queen's Quest] (Himeka > C, JP Coaster, 8:56)

Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Hina [Queen's Quest] TLD Rina, Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] (15:00)

Giulia, Maika, Thekla & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] d. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa, Unagi Sayaka & Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Maika > Tsukiyama, Enka Otoshi, 13:18)

Syuri, MIRAI, Ami Sorei & Konami [God's Eye] d. Matu Iwatani, Hazuki, Saya Iida & Momo Kohgo [STARS] (MIRAI > Iida, lariat, 21:05)

There are shows tomorrow and Thursday, the latter with several title matches and a God's Eye v. DdM Elimination match.

Dragon Gate

The first of two Gate of Passion tour-ending shows from Kyoto KBS Hall took place today, which you can see now on DG Network. An interesting main event, with the participants of both tag title matches taking place on Thursday in a 4-way match.

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 18 - 5/3/2022, Kyoto KBS Hall (DG Network)

KAI, BxB Hulk & HYO [Z-Brats] d. Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] (KAI > Horiguchi, Meteo Impact, 10:14)

Strong Machine J d. Ho Ho Lun (Machine Suplex, 9:32)

Eita & Yasushi Kanda d. Masaaki Mochizuki & Yosuke Santa Maria (Eita > Yosuke, Imperial Uno, 10:03)

Masaaki Mochizuki d. Konomama Ichikawa (Reverse Figure-4 Leglock, 2:24)

Masahiro Gano d. Konomama Ichikawa (STF, 0:07)

Kota Minoura, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] d. Kegatora, Ben-K & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Minoura > Okuda, R-301, 15:19)

Twin Gate & Twin Ryuo Skirmish 4-Way Match: YAMATO & Dragon Kid [HIGH-END] d. Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D'Courage] and Kzy & U-T [Natural Vibes] and Shun Skywalker & Diamante [Z-Brats] (Kid > Kzy, Bible, 13:44)

Dragon Kid gets a direct pin on Kzy heading into their Ryukyu Dragon Twin Ryuo tag title match on Thursday. KAI also is victorious before the challenge of Susumu Yokosuka for the Dream Gate. The two Konomama Ichikawa matches were of course impromptu, with Mochizuki ending the feud once and for all, before bringing out Masahiro Gano, a comedy wrestler who impersonates NJPW legend Masahiro Chono, to handle the predicted restart. There are a lot of these wrestlers in Japan; I personally met Chinsuke Nakamura, an imitator of Shinsuke Nakamura, at the DDT show in NYC in 2019.

DG reported yesterday that Big Boss Shimizu suffered a left foot injury in training, and now won't be at Dead Or Alive. Punch Tominaga will take his place in the 6-man match Shimizu was scheduled for.

The end of the tour is tomorrow, also streamed live, before Dead Or Alive on Thursday.

GLEAT 

GLEAT returned to action today, although I don’t see this show on their YouTube channel as yet. El Lindaman’s next challenger for the G-REX title was determined on this one.

GLEAT G PROWRESTLING Ver.24 - 5/3/2022, Osaka Umeda Sky Building Stella Hall

G-REX Next Challenger Decision Match: Shigehiro Irie d. Nobuhiro Shimatani [BULK Orchestra] (Beast Bomber, 13:42)

Akane Fujita [Prominence] d. Michiko Miyagi (Miken de Pon, 9:35)

Takanori Ito & Masato Kamino d. TiiiDA & HUB (Ito > TiiiDA, German Suplex Hold, 13:49)

T-Hawk [#STRONGHEARTS] d. Keiichi Sato [60 Seconds] (Night Ride, 14:31)

El Lindaman [#STRONGHEARTS] d. Jun Tonsho [60 Seconds] (German Suplex Hold, 9:26)

Tetsuya Izuchi [60 Seconds] d. Issei Onitsuka [#STRONGHEARTS] (Spin Break, 3:38)

Ryuichi Kawakami, Hayato Tamura, KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Quiet Storm [BULK Orchestra] d. Minoru Tanaka, CIMA [#STRONGHEARTS], Yu Iizuka & Soma Watanabe (Tamura > Watanabe, Jackhammer, 21:53)

So there was a #STRONGHEARTS v. 60 Seconds best two out of three series here; why have #STRONGHEARTS win the first two, when the series is then already won? Seems like odd booking to me. Shigehiro Irie becomes the 2nd challenger to El Lindaman’s G-REX title at the 5/18/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall show. The complete card is below:

GLEAT G PROWRESTLING Ver.25 - 5/18/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Minoru Tanaka, MUSASHI [Michinoku Pro] & Soma Watanabe v. Quiet Storm, Nobuhiro Shimatani & Masato Kamino [BULK Orchestra]

Michiko Miyagi v. DASH Chisako [Sendai Girls]

Takanori Ito v. Yu Iizuka

T-Hawk [#STRONGHEARTS], Jack Cartwheel [FREE] & Issei Onitsuka [#STRONGHEARTS] v. Tetsuya Izuchi, Keiichi Sato & Jun Tonsho [60 Seconds]

Hayato Tamura [BULK Orchestra] v. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS]

CIMA 25th Anniversary Match: CIMA [#STRONGHEARTS] & Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] v. Ryuichi Kawakami & KAZMA SAKAMOTO [BULK Orchestra]

G-REX Championship: El Lindaman [#STRONGHEARTS] (c) v. Shigehiro Irie

Other News

Not a good day to be Tatsuhito Takaiwa, as he lost not one but two titles today, in two different promotions, in two different cities. First, he dropped the IWA World Juniorheavyweight title in FREEDOMS to Kengo in Yokohama, with Kengo becoming the 40th champion. Then he made his way to Tokyo (which is not TOO far from Yokohama it has to be said), where he lost the Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Championship that Takaiwa was the inaugural holder of, to DDT/Pheromones’ Yumehito Imanari, over in Ganbare Pro at Korakuen Hall. Well, at least it’s less weight in baggae, eh?

Another match has been announced for Kenta Kobashi’s Fortune Dream 7, from Korakuen Hall on 6/15/2022. This time, a six-man, with both teams comprising of wrestlers from AJPW, BJW and DDT, as Shuji Ishikawa, Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Hino (a beefy side if ever there was one) will take on Daichi Hashimoto, Tetsuya Endo & Yuma Aoyagi.

A lot of indie shows happened.

Tomorrow is an interesting day. AJPW has the Champion Carnival Finals. NOAH starts the Dream On tour. But also, Gatoh Move holds its first card that is not a ChocoPro YouTube show since 3/22/2020. Gatoh Move Returns will be at Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall.

See you Thursday.

[pinetree-in-hatchetfield]

Taking Big Steps - A Spideychelle Fic

A/N: So I’m working on 2 other fics right now, this is to fill the space between the last fic and the next two. Also I’ve been sitting on this idea for like a month. Anyway, Enjoy!

It was Ned’s idea. All of this eventually traced back to Ned. Well, mostly it led back to Ned.  Okay, it was kind of Peter’s fault too.

Peter Parker had always loved theater, especially musicals. Some of his fondest memories growing up were of him, Uncle Ben, and Aunt May reenacting scenes from Sound Of Music or Singing In The Rain. Even then the three things he wanted to grow up to be were Scientist, Actor, and Iron Man.

So when the school play came around, Ned knew that Peter would love to participate. Being his best friend he also knew that Peter would never voluntarily audition. Peter was too concerned about drawing attention to himself and, though he wouldn't admit it, was worried about being rejected.

So, with Peter's best interest in mind, Ned spent the next week pestering Peter about joining the play. Peter wasn't too fond of his own tactic being used against him, but hey, it was for the greater good. Eventually it worked and Peter agreed to audition, once.  Peter was a smart cookie, though. He knew that if he was going to audition, he was going to go big. Lead role. There was no way that he could get something like that. Then Ned would be off his back and he wouldn't have to worry about embarrassing himself in front of the school.A few days later a flaw grew in Peter's plan. A major variable that was completely unaccounted for. They liked him. Like, they really liked him. And now Peter "Looking Out For The Little Guy" Parker, was leading for Midtown's play of the year.

As much as he wanted to loathe it, he was kind of excited. Okay, really excited. But he was allowed this, he had been dreaming about it for years. May and Ned were excited too, they knew how much he wanted this. So for the next few days reading  the script and memorizing his lines. Ned and May would stand in if need be.

One fateful night however, as Peter was rereading the finale he came across one simple line he had somehow missed every time before. Maybe he didn't want to see it, maybe he was too excited, just somehow. This time however, this one simple time,  he couldn't help but see it. There in bold the page read "James raises arm victoriously and kisses Christine."

Kiss? No, no way. He had to have read it wrong. "And kisses Christine, shit." He mumbled to himself. Something about this had to have been wrong, why would they have random high schoolers kiss for some little event? Then again, it was a basic play, he was playing the knight, this is how most of those stories ended.

Still, this was huge and terrifying. Peter had never kissed anyone before! What if he messed up? What if he did end up embarrassing himself before the student body? Now he was in full on PANIC MODE. Hurriedly he pulled out his phone and called Ned."Dude!" He shouted.

"What?" Ned asked

"I'm kissing someone!" Peter's voiced dripped with terror.

"...Like, right now?

""What? No! Play! I have to kiss someone for a scene!"

"Oh, why is that a big deal?"

"Because! I don't know what I'm doing! I just meet someone and then I'm kissing them?! How am I supposed to do that?!"

"Oh. OH!' Realization dawned in Ned's voice and Peter nodded in response, despite the fact that Ned couldn't see.

Ned seemed to understand though and he theorized any way he could to help. In the end neither of them could think of a plan solid enough to work. Peter was thoroughly screwed.

The next day at school Peter was either freaking out or super mopey, there was no in-between. MJ took notice of this during lunch as Peter was in Mope Mode™. "So were you sentenced to death row recently, or?" She asked. Peter slowly lifted his head from the table to make eye contact with her.

"Hm?" he asked

"You're all," she gestured to him with an almost uncomfortable look on her face, "eh today."

Peter gave a small smile and nodded. "I may have, kinda, sorta, signed on for something I'm not prepared for." MJ snorted.

"Of course you would, so what's the thing?"

Peter tried to think of a gentle way to explain without explicitly saying the kiss part. Before he could Ned sat next to him and said plainly "Peter's freaking out because he's never kissed anyone before." Peter shot Ned a wide-eyed glare that seemingly said 'Dude!' to which Ned just smiled in response. Peter shifted his gaze back to MJ, who seemed unimpressed.

"Really? That's it?" She asked, "I thought you'd be better than that, Parker." she finished while squinting at him.

"It's not just that. I'm also supposed to kiss someone for the play." Peter explained, resting his chin on the table.

"So who are you going to mack on?" She asked with a smirk. Peter groaned.

"Don't say it like that." he whined. "And they haven't cast her yet. Which doesn't help." Peter sighed as he rested his forehead on the table again. MJ gave him another judging look before taking her latest read from her bag and resuming her page.

During the class following lunch Peter felt something softly hit the the top of his head and land in his lap. He picked up the foreign object to see it was a crumpled up ball or paper. He opened it, trying his best not to tear it. Turns out it was a note. It read: "I can help, if you want. - MJ" Peter turned around to toss a look to MJ, but she was staring at the board, as if she hadn't just thrown a message across the room. Shaking his head lightly he turned back around and took out his phone.

He texted her something he thought got his message across quickly and effectively. "???"

She texted back quickly, "What?"

"You can 'help'?"

"Congrats, you can read."

"MJ."

"What?"

"What is help supposed to mean?"

"Gym. After school."

Before Peter could ask what that meant or push for more answers there came a sharp, "Mr. Parker!" from the front of the room. He was so startled he nearly fell out of his seat as he scrambled to set his phone down and appear on task. He gave the teacher a nervous smile and the lesson continued. After glancing backwards to MJ again he could see she was trying not to laugh. After class he saw another text from MJ that came during the period. It read simply, "Amateur." Thanks MJ.

Peter found himself almost anxious during the last few periods. What the hell did MJ mean by help? What was she going to do? Sure she wouldn't like, kill him or anything. Well, maybe. Oh god, was she going to kill him? He made a mental note to tell May how much she meant to him if he made it home today.

But eventually the last period came and and the bell rang. Peter was one of the first ones out of the room as he jogged down to the school's gym, a mixture of fear and curiosity fueling his journey. Surprisingly when he got there it was empty. Well, mostly empty. Because somehow both expected and unexpected to Peter, MJ was sitting in the middle of a set of bleachers on the left side of the room, reading the same book she was during lunch as if she had been there all day.

Once he made his way to her, Peter cleared his throat to announce his presence. Slowly she placed her bookmark in the novel and set it beside her. She raised an eyebrow when she saw that he was standing.  She motioned to the empty space to her right with her head and Peter sat. "So, what was with the note?" he asked

"You freaking out like a dork is embarrassing to watch. I'm willing to help if it means putting a stop to that." She explained like it was obvious.

"Freaking out? I don't-" He trailed off as he suddenly understood. "H-help? How are you gonna help?" Panic began to set in again. An entirely different kind of panic.

"I was going to run through the scene with you," she again spoke like this was all common sense. "Then you can stop being a loser. Can't be worried if you're familiar."

Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god. The panic doubled quickly. Was she serious? Did she know what she was offering?

"A-are you, I mean, did you, I just. Really? You're sure?" He managed, to which she nodded. Soon enough MJ had the copy of the script Peter kept on hand, and they were practicing the final scene again. MJ was surprisingly into it and was really good at it. She gave emotional and realistic reactions and deliveries.

Eventually they came to the dreaded line. 

"James raises his arm victoriously and kisses Christine."

Peter raised his arm victoriously as he faced MJ. Any confidence he had through the scene was instantly gone. He took a step closer to her, their noses were almost touching now. "Last chance to back out." Peter whispered.

"That's not staying in character, Parker." she whispered in retaliation, but nodded to answer him anyway. Peter leaned forward ever so slightly more, and there they were. Kissing, in the middle of an empty gym that belonged to a now empty school. Neither Peter nor MJ knew exactly how long they stood there like that. Somewhere between 5 seconds and 500 years. Probably.

Eventually though, they separated when Peter's phone started going crazy. Apparently May needed him back home for a project. "Sorry, May needs me." Peter began as he looked back up, "Thanks MJ, that was," Oh god how was he supposed to finish that sentence? Cool? Awesome? What I've been dreaming of? There wasn't a non creepy way to end the statement. Why did he start it? She was just doing a favor for a friend. It wasn't like that. Eventually he decided on "Thanks." and he grabbed his bag and made a break for the door.

Then as MJ stood alone in the empty gymnasium she made a decision. She had to be Christine in the play. For Peter, of course. He wouldn't want to kiss a stranger, right? She was protecting him. Yeah, it definitely for Peter.