#Too many people covering their eyes and ears to have an excuse to be ignorant of everything

[sonic-wildfire]

.

[4unnyr0se]

❥ librarian | chuuya nakahara

warnings: fem! reader, meet cute, chuuya is a flirt bc i said so, wined and dined, unprotected sex, multiple orgasms, bedroom sex, hickeys, making out, hair pulling, oral sex (f! receiving), fingering, rough sex, whiny chuuya, corruption kink(?), reader does not know how to dress to save her life, sugar daddy(?) chuuya, unironic lip biting, chuuya is one hell of a chef, dirty talk, reader reads smut, semi-proofread

MDNI | 18+ content

word court -> 4.7k

“Excuse me, could you keep your voice down, please? It’s a library…” was something that you said more often than you would like to admit. Sure, you only took the library job because of how insanely introverted you were, but that was neither here nor there. You thought that people would have more respect for a place that let you borrow as many books as you wanted, but nope. It was either filled with screaming children, teenagers kissing in the nonfiction section, or the elderly who didn’t know how to open their email accounts, bless them.

Other than the constant shushing (and the resulting glares you get from people you’ve shushed), the library job was nice. It was comforting, it had decent pay, and you got to keep some of the books that no one wanted to check out anymore. Hell, you even got hit on once or twice by freakishly tall men. Then again, all men were freakishly tall in your eyes. You fit the tiny librarian stereotype quite well, which your fellow librarians found to be adorable. 

Standing in the true crime section, your heeled feet stood on a step stool so you could better organize books about mafia activity in past decades. It wasn’t a very popular section by any means, mostly because the locals that frequented the library thought that true crime a was bit too niche. You didn’t mind really, it just meant that you got to be on the opposite side of the building and away from the screaming children. Often you wondered what it would be like to be a witness to a mafia hit, how the adrenaline pumping in your veins would make you feel. Lost in your train of thought, you neglected to notice that you were slowly slipping off of the step stool, the backings of your high heels teetering off the edge. It wasn’t a steep drop by any means but it would hurt pretty damn badly if you fell. 

Taking an ignorant step back, the back of your heel found nothing to land on. Yelping slightly, you spread your arms out and waved them back and forth in what was probably the world's weakest attempt at flying. “Oh shit-” you closed your eyes shut and braced for impact, hoping that you wouldn’t land on the sharp metal bookshelves behind you.

The impact never came. Instead, you felt a warm embrace of someone holding you. You opened up one eye carefully, your baby hairs covering your forehead. 

“Hey, you okay?” A deep and raspy voice snapped both of your eyes open, your gaze landing on a head of ginger hair. The man smirked at you and let you down, making sure you didn’t have any scratches by scanning your body up and down. Or maybe he was checking you out, who knows?

“Uh, yeah. I think I’ll be fine.” You nodded, dusting off your pants. No scuffs on the expensive fabric, thank God. “Thanks for making sure I didn’t hit my head, by the way. Not everyone would do that.”

The man crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, giving you a questioning look. “You must work with some real assholes then. In my line of work, ladies don’t get treated like crap. At least the ones who everyone respects.”

“Seriously? Damn, that seems like a really good job.” You smiled at him, tucking a lock of your hair behind your ear.

“Eh…it has some setbacks. I won’t get into it now, too much bullshit to unpack here.” He bit the inside of his cheek, holding out his hand for you to shake. It was gloved, he seemed like a gentleman. Or maybe he just really didn’t like getting dirt on his hands.

You smiled and eagerly took his hand, looking into his subtly blue eyes. They really complimented his ginger hair and pale complexion, hell, he even looked like the main character in a popular romance novel. 

“Chuuya Nakahara, at your service.” He smirked once more, letting go of your hand. He noticed that your hands were smaller than his own, in fact, you were actually smaller than he was. And that was rare, considering he was in close competition with most middle schoolers in the height category. “What’s your name? I wanna know the name of the women I saved from eating absolute shit.”

You giggled and told him your name, putting your hands in your pockets. Chuuya thought your giggle was sweet, like a song bird. It was a welcome sound in his life. After all, Chuuya was used to gunshots and screams instead of the giggling of a cute librarian with a name that fitted her oh so right. 

“You got a cute name, y’know. Hope you don’t mind me sayin’ that.” Chuuya placed his hands in his pockets as well, fiddling with the lintballs in the corners of the expensive fabric. 

The silent was quite awkward between the two of you. Chuuya, a secret mafia boss who’s experience with women was tainted with expensive red wine. And yourself, a librarian who was so introverted that the world could end and you’d jump for joy. 

And yet, something brought the two of you out of your own little worlds and into each others? Was it love, perhaps? Unlikely. Chuuya thought that love at first sight was for suckers, and you thought that love at first sight only existed in movies.

No, there was only unspoken desires between you both. Heart rates quickening, blushes forming on your faces. Chuuya’s mind was racing, his thoughts plagued by images of you. He just met you but god were you sexy. That fucking thrifted turtleneck sweater contrasted hard with your expensive designer jeans that were no doubt a Christmas gift from a wealthy relative. You had no idea how to dress and Chuuya thought that was the most precious thing. Were you really that innocent, locked away in your own little world? You probably had no idea that your sweater hugged the curves of your tits perfectly, that your pants showed off your thighs so expertly. God, it drove Chuuya wild.

What did your lips feel like, so plump and perfect? Where they untained, fresh as snow? Or were you just putting on an act, secretly a vixen behind that innocent and soft stare? Chuuya didn’t know, but he just had to find out. The redhead had only just met you but holy fuck, you were simply perfect. He had to get a taste, even if it was the last thing he did. 

“So what’s a pretty thing like you workin’ in a place like this? Do they pay you well or somethin’?” Chuuya asked, leaning against the metal shelving that held the American history collection.

You shook your head and sighed, placing a hand on your hip in frustration. “Unfortunately no, I could really use a raise.” You sighed, running a hand through your comically messy hair. “The only reason I can afford my apartment is that my parents left me quite a bit of money when I said I wanted to live on my own. I’m a lucky person, I guess.” You chuckled at the last bit, flashing Chuuya a smile that drove him crazy. He faked a cough to hide the obvious lump growing in his throat, a tinge of pink dusting his freckled face. 

“Yeah, you really are lucky.” He took a step foreward, placing his thumb on your chin, tilting your head up ever so slightly so his eyes met your own. “And you’re really fucking pretty.” He whispered, taking his hand off your chin. 

“O-oh, thank you.” You stammered, fidgeting with your fingers as you looked down at your feet. The Mary Jane’s you wore wree slightly scuffed, they always have been. It adds a bit of character, one could say. Chuuya smiled softly and adjusted his hat, taking a step back to give you space.

“Listen, I have work that I gotta get back to or else my boss will kill me. Can we meet up at your place after that. Y’know, only if ya want to. I’m no pusher.” He blushed at the last part, rubbing the back of his neck to avoid making direct eye contact with you. It was strange, Chuuya has always been smooth with the women he met in bars. So why were you making him so flustered? Maybe it was because unlike the girls he picked up before, you were innocent. Pure, like fresh snow. 

You were taken aback by his flirtations, though they weren’t unwelcome. You stopped fidgeting with your fingers for a moment, biting down on the plumpness of your lower lip.

“What, cat got your tongue or something?” Chuuya grinned, proud of himself for his little joke.

N-no, well not exactly.” You mumbled, sucking in a deep breath so you could look at the devilishly handsome man in front of you. “I’ve, God this is embarrassing, I haven’t been on a date since college.” Sighing, you stared at the bookshelf next to you. “It’s pathetic, I know. I get if you aren’t interested in me anymore.”

Chuuya frowned and took his hands out of his pockets, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t give a fuck if you’ve been on zero dates or a million of them. That doesn’t matter. I asked if you wanted me to come over so I can fuckin’ cook for you.”

“You can cook?”

“What kind of world are you living in? Of course I cook, what kind of man can’t cook?” Chuuya pinched his temple with his fingers, silently cursing all the worlds incompetent men that drove the standard to decency so low that it was practically in hell. “Sorry, didn’t mean to shout at ya. Old habits.”

“Don’t worry about it, I deal with screaming children all day. You’re fine.” You smile, taking out your phone. “Here, put your number in and I’ll give you my address.”

Chuuya shook his head, a bead of sweat dripping from his brow. “Actually, um, my phone is broken right now. How about you just write it down for me, dollface?” He couldn’t risk putting your information into his phone, what if Mori was going through it? He could deem you a security risk and then only God knows what would happen. Chuuya wouldn’t risk it, he had to make sure you were okay with his…business before he did anything too personal like give you his contact information. 

“Oh, sure. I guess giving you my number is too personal, sorry.” You awkwardly chuckled, leading him to the main library desk. You ripped off a sticky note from the pad and wrote down your address in pretty cursive letters. Chuuya smiled to himself as he saw your handwriting, it was the cutest fucking thing. You were absolutely a librarian, no doubt about it.

“So, see you at seven?” He asked, shoving the sticky note into his jacket pocket.

“Seven’s all right. What will you be making me?” You asked, beginning to type away at the library computer.

“It’s a surprise.” Chuuya winked at you, turning around and walking away. You blushed and resting your cheek on your hand. In your mind you were dancing in happiness, finally having landed a date. And such a good looking one at that. Who the hell cares if he’s short, he’s tall to you. Height doesn’t matter anyways.

Your shift ended and you practically skipped out of the library building, clutching onto the messenger bag that carried your erotic novels. The library didn’t carry anything erotic, you just disguisted the books with false covers about local history and lore. No one would be into that shit, so it was the perfect plan. The stories consisted of fantasy romances with sections that were so arousing that you couldn’t read it without thinking that you were committing some sort of sin. 

Stepping up the stairs to your apartment, you opened the door and shut it quickly as to not attract any unwanted pests. Mostly bugs, they’ve become a real problem. What would Chuuya think if he saw a bug in your apartment? Your mind was speeding, anxiety building up in your belly. This was your first date in a while, what if you fuck it up somehow? Or worse, what if it goes too well and he wanted to have his way with you. Chuuya was too handsome to refuse sure, but what about you? You couldn’t even remember the last time you had sex, let alone kissed somebody? Oh God, what if that turned him off and he never spoke to you again?

“Dammit, snap out of it!” You slapped yourself across the face, hissing slightly at the pain. Putting yourself together, you strode over to your bedroom and pulled out a dress from way back in your closet. It was a decent length dress with spaghetti straps, your fanciest piece of clothing. The rest of your wardrobe consisted of sweatpants, tank tops with cartoon characters on it, the occasional designer jean, and several thrifted sweaters that had absolutely been worn by a grandfather. 

The dress slipped onto you no problem, like a glove. You didn’t bother wearing any tights or stockings, the dress covered your legs up nicely. You decided to just leave your hair as it was, draped nicely around your shoulders. Light makeup here and there, if you could count mascara and lipgloss as makeup.

Exiting your bedroom, your hands dropped to their sids as you sat down on your living room sofa. There wasn’t anything good on the TV, and reading an erotic novel before Chuuya got there would have probably ruined the mood for you. Was getting ready too early a mistake? Maybe.

Your eyes watched the clock, your pupils going in circles as the second hand made its rotation over and over again until it was about 6:55PM. A knock was heard at your door, snapping you out of the cycle of clock-looking. 

Squealing quietly, you speed-walked over to your door. Taking a deep breath in, you opened the door and there Chuuya stood, holding a bag of groceries in one hand and a singular red rose in the other. “Hey there pretty girl, mind if I come in?”

“O-of course, Chuuya. Uh, sorry.” You stammered, shutting the door as he let himself inside. Chuuya stood in the foyer of your apartment for a moment, quickly noticiny the hundreds of books the lined the shelves. “I don’t know why I’m so surprised doll, shoulda known you’re a huge nerd.” He chuckled, handing you the rose. His outfit was not too different from that afternoon, only the hat and the jacket were missing.

“Thank you, it’s really pretty.” You blushed, placing the rose in a nearby empty vase. “So, um, what are you making me tonight? I’m starving.” You led him into the kitchen, helping him set down the groceries on the counter.

“Kobe beef,” Chuuya said nonchalantly, looking around the kitchen. “Where are your knives? Don’t see em anywhere.”

“In that drawer right there- did you saya kobe beef?” You gasped, taking a step back. “B-but that’s really expensive! This is just a first date y’know, I would have accepted take out!” You stammered, not used to the treatment. Did he really just buy kobe beef for you? How much does he get paid?

“Yeah, what about it? You a vegetarian or something?” Chuuya raised an eyebrow, opening the beef from its luxurious packaging and placing it on the simple wooden cutting board. 

“No, it’s just that…well kobe is really expensive and this is a first date! It’s not even at the nice restaurant or anything, it’s my fucking house!” You whisper-yelled at him, walking foreward so your face was inches away from your own. Your shyness was replaced with anxiety, anxiety that you really had no excuse to have.

Chuuya smiled and patted you on the head, rubbing on your hair with his gloved hand. “Don’t worry about that princess, just have a seat and let me cook for you, yeah?” He assured you, gesturing to your kitchen table. “And besides, you’re dressed up like a five course meal, so shouldn’t you be treated to one?” He smirked, finishing up the chopping of the beef. He figured out how to work your stove pretty quickly, placing the beef in a pan with a little bit of truffle oil. The stove roared to life as the beef began to quickly sizzle, a wonderful aroma that smelled like luxury filled your apartment.

You blushed at Chuuya’s comment, sitting yourself down in the chair. You watched him cook, his brows furrowed in concentration.

The beef was done cooking after a bit, being carefully plated with an array of incredibly looking vegetables. Chuuya sat across from you and took your hand in his own, kissing the back of yours tenderly.

“Bon appetit, princess.” He grinned at you, his eyes hiding a lust that was so extreme Asmodeous himself was jealous. He observed how you ate the beef so carefully, so tenderly. You savored each and every bite, sighing occasionally as the flavors hit your tongue over and over again. Chuuya bit his lip as he watched you eat, barely touching his own dinner. You looked absoltuely succulent in front of him, oblivious to how you were making him feel. Chuuya wanted to shove everything off the table and fuck you right then and there, but he decided to be a gentlemen about it. Dine you, maybe wine you, and only touch your pretty body if you wanted him too. 

You finished your meal quickly, frowning to yourself at Chuuya’s full plate. “Are you not hungry or something?” You asked, ignoring the bits of beef resting at the corner of your mouth. 

“I’m hungry for…something else.” Chuuya smirked, grabbing your dirty plate and placing it in the sink. He stepped over to you and took your hand, hoisting you up from your chair. Carefully, his arm wrapped around your waist so he could pull you in closer to his own form, his fingers running up and down your hip bone. “If you know what I mean.”

You blushed and slowly nodded your head, noticing how his perfect blue eyes seemed to have fireballs igniting within the azure pools. “I…I do. I just…I haven’t had sex in a while. Kind of goes hand-in-hand with the whole dating thing.” You awkwardly laughed to yourself, hoping a joke would lighten the tension.

“I could change that for you dollface, if you want me to.” Chuuya purred, tilting your chin up to his lips were just hovering above yours. “Just say the word sweetheart, and I’ll make you see stars.” He whispered, his hot breath touching your trembling lips.

You thought for a moment, your mouth still agape at Chuuya’s boldness. “...okay.” You breathed against his lips, mere centimeters away.

With your consent, Chuuya crashed his lips against yours. With one hand clutching ont your waist, the other cupped your face quite gently. His kiss was rough and passionate, groaning into your mouth at the sensation that he had so long been craving.

Your hands flew to grab onto his hair, tugging at the longer part. Chuuya moaned slightly at the sensation, squeezing the fabric of your dress. He pulled himself away slowly, choosing to instead attack the delicate flesh of your neck. His lips found your sweetspot and sucked harshly, your lips producing the cutest little moans which only made his cock harder. A bright purple hickey formed in no time at all, definitely going to last a few days. 

“You wear turtlenecks, right? Shouldn’t be a fuckin’ problem then.” He growled against your neck, trialing molten kissed down until he reached your collarbone, playfully licking it.

“M-maybe we should go to the bedroom? Comfier.” You managed to squeak out, softly moaning as Chuuya continued to nip and kiss at your collarbone. He pulled away, grumbling at the loss of contact.

“Good idea dollface, smart.” He lifted you up bridal style, chuckling as you squealed. “You’re so fuckin’ adorable baby, y’know that?” He asked, kicking open the door to your bedroom. He practically threw you onto the bed and pounced, pinning your wrists above your head quickly. Chuuya slammed his lips against yours once more, shoving his tongue down your throat as your teeth clashed for dominance. 

Taking a break from the onslaught of tongue-on-tongue, Chuuya gently stroked your face with his still-gloved hand. “Fucking good mouth you got, sweetheart.” He purred, shifting himself so he was looking at your hips. “Now tell me,” His hand reached to his mouth, peeling off his gloves with his teeth. “Do you want my fingers or my tongue first, princess?”

You gulped nervously, your face feeling like it was going to explode at any moment from how fucking horny you were for this man. Your legs were practically shaking under him, how was it possible that one man could make you feel euphoria without fucking you?

“B-both, please…” You whispered, not daring to look into his aflamed blue eyes that burned for you. Your aroused pooled in your belly, just waiting to be taken care of.

Chuuya nodded approvingly, lifting your dress up to reveal your panties that were soaked in your arousal. “Fuckin’ dirty girl, so perfect for me.” He whispered, hastily removing your panties and tossing them into some corner of your bedroom. He shivered at the sight of your glistening core, admiring how otherworldly it looked in the dim lights of your bedroom.

“Shit,” Chuuya groaned, gathering some of your slick on his fingertips before carefully inserting his index and middle finger inside of your sobbing cunt. He wasted no time in curling his fingers inside of you, thrusting them back and forth swiftly.

“Oh fuck, oh my God!” You cried out, throwing your head back even further into the soft pillows beneath you. Your legs wanted so badly to wrap around his hand, trapping him there for a while. 

“That’s it baby, scream for me. Fuckin’ scream for me princess.” He growled, his lips sucking on your clit roughly. His tongue lapped and sucked at your desperate folds, fingers pumping in and out of you like he was in a competition. He could feel your walls sucking him in, knowing your orgasm was close. 

“Fucking cum for me baby, lemem hear those pretty moans of yours!” Chuuya demanded, eating you out like a starved man.

“Oh fuck, Chuuya!” You screamed out his name as your orgasm finally hit, the knot in your belly becoming undone too fast for your own liking. You wish that moment could last forever instead of mere moments. 

Gasping and panting, you propped yourself up by your elbows to be greeted with a chuckling Chuuya, licking off your cum with his expert tongue. “You taste so much better than anything I’ve ever fucking had before princess.” He spoke, his voice low and sultry.

Chuuya briefly got off the bed to take off his pants and boxers, gasping as the air of your bedroom hit his throbbing cock. He relished in your shocked expression, your mouth left hanging wide open at the sight of him.

“What, never seen a big dick before?” He chuckled, getting on top of you once more. He lifted your legs up so they rested on his shoulders, giving him the most perfect angle to fuck you seneless. 

“Not in a while, no.” You retorted, offering Chuuya a smirk of your own. That one simple movement of your facial muscle was all it took for him to align his cock with your entrance, slamming it inside of you.

“That was so fucking hot babe, do it again.” He demanded, pounding himself into your core without giving you any time to adjust to his length or girth. His hands gripped the undersides of your thighs, occasionally smacking the subble skin.

“Ngh, h-holy fuck! Chuuya, shit! So fucking big, oh my fucking God!” You cried out, your hands making desperate motions to grab onto anything. Chuuya bent down, pushing you into a mating press so he could better hold your hand.

“Shit, fucking scream my name babygirl. Fuck, you’re squeezing on to me so damn tight!” He groaned into your ear, his balls snapping against your ass over and over again. Your cheeks were flushed, mouth gaping open. All that left your lips were wanton moans and cries of pleasure as Chuuya’s cock hit your G-spot over and over again, the pleasure once again pooling in your belly.

“Shit! Shit, shit, shit, I’m close! Chuuya, fuck!” You screamed, slamming your lips upwards onto his own. He happily accepted the kiss, biting down onto your lower lip as he felt your cunt contract around his soaked cock.

“Fuck, can you hold out just a little longer baby? Wan’ cum with you, yeah?” He whined against your lips, furiously meeting his hips with your own as the scent of sex and longing filled the bedroom. 

“Don’t stop, don’t fucking stop!” You cried into his ear, not sure how much longer you could stand to not fall into your orgasm.

He growled against your neck, his thrusts becoming staggered and desperate in a relentless tempo as Chuuya’s own orgasm approached him. “Shit, gonna fucking cum. Cum with me yeah, please fucking come with me!”

A silent scream left your lips as euphoria enveloped your body, wave after wave of ecstasy hitting you as your orgasm finally came. Your arousal squeezed and coated Chuuya’s cock, sending him over the edge.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, oh my God! Fuck…” He gapsed into your neck, his ministrations slowing down until they came to a complete stop. He collapsed onto you, lazily kissing your neck and the hickeys that covered it. 

You smiled, peeling the sweaty hairs away from your face as you embraced Chuuya in your arms. “That was…just like the books I read.” You chuckled, running your fingers through his mess of red hair. “Almost exactly like those books, actually.”

Chuuya looked up from your breast and raised an eyebrow, flipping you around so you were now embraced in his arms. “You read porn?”

You nodded, gesturing to your nightstand. “Yeah, I try to keep it a secret though. My coworkers would never let me live it down if they knew the truth.” You gave him a crooked smile, curling further into his chest. 

He nodded in understanding, kissing your forehead. “Well, we gotta do this again princess. Because that was…well it was fuckin’ amazing. Who knew the cute little librarian was so dirty?” He joked, poking your cheek teasingly.

“I literally just let you finish inside of me and you’re making jokes?”

“Hey, I’m allowed to be funny. I’m a fuckin’ sex god.”

You sighed and kissed his lips, feeling your eyes grow heavy with sleep. “Y’know, I don’t have work tomorrow if you wanted to stay the night…” You yawned, embracing the feeling of coziness and warmth.

Chuuya was a bit shocked by your words at first, smacking his lips together. He smiled down at you, ruffling up your nest of a hair that was no doubt caused by his body moving against yours for a good twenty minutes. “I’d really like that, princess.” He assured you, grabbing his phone from your nightstand to type something in. “Just lettin’ my boss know I’ll be late for my assignment tomorrow.”

“What if he gets mad at you?” You asked, your sleepy voice filled with just a pinch of concern. 

“Well, he can suck my dick for all I care. Although, I’d much rather have you do that.” He winked, throwing the covers above your sweaty forms. “So, are you going to get changed or are we sleeping in our date night clothes?”

“Mm, date night clothes. I don’t think I’ll be able to fucking walk after what you did to me.” You laughed, pulling Chuuya closer. You rested your head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat through the expensive shirt he wore. “Have sweet dreams, okay? And…pleae be here when I wake up tomorrow.” You whispered the last part before drifting off, the cutest little snore escaping from your parted lips.

Chuuya sighed and kissed the top of your head, admiring how innocent you looked in your slumber. “I promise beautiful, I’m not going anywhere.”

[cheegu3]

Can you do yandere!3racha (han, changbin and chan) reaction to you trying to escape?

P.S. English not my first language, soryy ^-^

note; not sure if u wanted them all together in one scenario but I wrote them all three separate, hope u still like it, ur english is good dw <3

pls ignore the little 2/8 thing on chan's photo I got it from pinterest lol

warnings; yandere themes, poisoning, unhealthy relationships, knives, handcuffs, anxiety

3racha - reaction to reader trying to escape

Bang Chan

You felt like you were suffocating inside that stall. The ringing in your ears had long disappeared only to be replaced with a head dizzy with anxiety, making the outside noise appear muffled instead. Yet you tried your hardest to strain; distinguishing the voices outside to count how many they were.

How long had you been in there?

You remembered that your boyfriend had taken you on a rare outing, to a festival he was invited to. He had been smiling from ear to ear while telling you it was ' a date '.

The contents in your stomach mixed with the cheap alcohol threatened to make its way up again at the thought of the memory.

As soon as the pair of you had arrived, you knew that was it - the day you try to escape. It was the perfect setting. The festival was huge; having so much land that fans could decide which artist to flock to as they were all spread out over the area.

He of course wanted to go to the one that was the furthest away. For a moment you were struck by a paranoid thought, did he choose this one so it would be harder for you to run away?

But you shook it off, telling yourself that he must like indie artists since he was an artist and producer himself.

Midway, you told him that you had to use the bathroom. It was preplanned by you begging him to buy you alcohol so you could use that excuse.

He agreed but looked at you with a suspicious frown when you said you could go alone. Hurrying to cover your tracks you quickly said he could stand close by and still watch the concert while waiting, to which he agreed.

You waited and waited. The clock was ticking too slowly. You were beginning to panic thinking that he was going to call you or bang on the door.

But you were extremely lucky.

Just as the numbers on your phone told you that it had been twenty minutes since you left, you started hearing several voices. You opened the stall and stood next to the entrance to hear better.

The voices got louder. Several people passed by, chatting and cheering loudly. You made the assumption that another concert close by had ended which was exactly what you'd hoped for.

A few more minutes passed. You remained in your spot, pressing yourself against the tiles, contemplating what to do. However, the voices got fewer and they seemed to start to fade away.

It was now or never.

You pushed the door open and made a run for it. A loud ringing sound almost made your attempt to seamlessly blend into the crowd difficult, but you managed to silence your phone just before it got too loud.

The crowd moved towards the main entrance and you followed, thankful that there were so many people that even if your boyfriend tried looking for you, he'd have a hard time.

Thinking about him again made your breath hitch. You brought out your phone. His name flashed back at your widened eyes under the text that read missed calls.

Shit, that meant he was looking for you. You felt trapped. It was impossible to make the group move faster; it almost had a mind of its own, the people in front didn't budge when you tried and you were surrounded with no gap to slip to the side. You just had to accept that it would keep going incredibly slow while Chan stalked closer.

The phone called again, the haunting ringing echoing in your head even as you pressed to turn it off for a second time. Then you heard a voice. At first, you thought it was your mind playing tricks on you, but then it came again, louder.

'' Y/n! ''

You froze for a second. People pushed against you, making your body jerk forward, and others complained loudly. You hurried to collect yourself before continuing to move, fearing that causing a commotion would attract his attention.

'' Y/n, '' he said, this time his tone was much lower, sending a shiver down your spine, '' I know you're in there.''

Changbin

You regretted it the moment he lifted his spoon and gave you an ominous look; like he knew exactly what you were up to.

Your hands felt clammy as you watched him put the cutlery down again and shuddered when he crossed his arms over his chest.

'' Come here, babe. ''

You wanted to ask why and play the innocent card, but his narrowed eyes and his face lacking amusement told you that you had no choice but to obey.

So you shuffled over and lowered your head when you arrived right next to his seat at the table. Even with you not looking at him, you could hear the sound of fabric moving and saw in your peripheral vision how he patted his lap.

Swallowing thickly you yet again obeyed without a word. As soon as you had sat down, he tried to force a spoonful of soup into your mouth.

Instinctively you turned your head away which only seemed to confirm his suspicions. He wasn't dumb, you knew that. But it was pretty obvious now; he was a lot smarter than you'd thought.

'' You took a lot longer than usual to cook dinner today. '' he sighed disappointed, '' Had second thoughts, huh? ''.

You held back the bitterness that rose to the surface at the sour realization that he knew you so well that any sneaky attempt to go behind his back would immediately be noticed by him.

Still, you refused to admit what you had done. You tried putting on a brave face; a chin held high and a curious look on your face.

'' What do you mean? ''

He scoffed. '' Still playing a game? ''

'' I'm not. I was just looking up a recipe. ''

'' For this soup? That you've made a thousand times? ''

You bit the inside of your cheek and tried to come up with a cheap lie on the spot.

'' I- had some drinks before making dinner actually. So I didn't really remember the recipe. ''

An uncomfortable silence passed between you. You felt too scared to look at his face, knowing that the chance of your facade crashing down was a lot higher if you did so.

Stubbornly you kept your gaze fixated somewhere in the distance, at the end of some hall facing your way.

'' I will go easier on you if you come clean. ''

Despite your mind screaming at you that it was a trick, you thought this time it was surely different.

'' I put poison in the soup,'' you weakly admitted.

Changbin hummed again, making goosebumps appear all over your skin in anticipation and fear. He was definitely mad, you knew he was. Who wouldn't be mad if they found out someone tried to poison them?

He kept a poker face even though you could guess pretty well how he was feeling inside. What you didn't know, however, was the severity of his anger.

But it was something you'd notice quite easily when he got up quickly, forcing you to be pushed off his lap. You watched as he picked up one of the nicely carved knives on the decorated dining table.

He chuckled, '' You're so naive, baby. Always trusting lying men's words. ''

Han

It was getting late. You were standing in the bathroom hoping to get a few minutes to yourself, away from your clingy and overbearing boyfriend.

The door rattled and you rolled your eyes. It had been what? Twenty minutes, yet you could hear him almost hyperventilate while trying to unlock the door.

It eventually did. When the click sounded you took a deep breath to prepare yourself. It only took a few seconds after that sound before the door pushed open and he ran to you; wrapping his arms around you from behind like it was second nature.

Your body reacted the same way it always did, it wanted to squirm out of his grasp, make his skin unglue from yours, like every part of you that was in contact with him made you feel queasy.

But naturally, you had to bear it. A fake smile appeared on your tired lips, tired from smiling so much when it wasn't real - just to satisfy the psycho man you had accidentally gotten yourself involved with.

'' Let's go to sleep now, hm? '' he hummed contently.

His breathing had regulated now that he was with his favorite person. The anxiety disappeared and he looked like he was on cloud nine. You were his drug, after all, he couldn't live without you.

'' Sure, '' you answered in a mumble.

He didn't let go of you even as you attempted to move towards the bedroom so you were stuck waddling with him clinging to you.

Yet again you bit down the fury. At least in your dreams, you got an escape from him. You couldn't wait to get into bed.

Except there was one thing that wasn't exactly ideal. Han went to his side of the bed and pulled out the drawer, bringing out the metal thing that made panic surge through you every night.

Handcuffs.

He didn't trust you enough yet. Or maybe it was rather that he knew deep down; if you had the chance you'd run, because you weren't actually in love with him.

Tonight you didn't put up a fight. You were so tired that you only showed him your wrists so he could make it quick. It shut and the coldness made you suck air in through your teeth. You moved so Han could attach the handcuffs to the bed.

He gave you a wide grin and climbed in on the other side, immediately gluing himself to you again. Reflexes made you yank on the handcuffs when his hands roamed over your body.

But something felt off. The handcuffs didn't make the loud clanking sound they usually did when you tugged on them, and the previously tight hold around your wrists had become much looser.

With blood racing in your ears, you pretended like nothing was wrong and forced your stiff body to relax in Han's arms. He sighed and buried his face into the crook of your neck.

You knew you wouldn't be able to sleep. Not with the sweet temptation of escape.

You waited. It took a long time, but finally, his breathing turned heavier and his hold around you became softer. Slowly and step by step, you freed yourself from being under him. When you were fully free and sat up, you kept glancing at him to see if he'd woken up.

Seeing as he hadn't you then stood up and with the uttermost concentration you opened the handcuffs while trying to make as little noise as possible.

Your hand slipped out easily, almost too easily.

But you wasted no time in pondering why he had forgotten to lock it properly tonight, and instead went for the door. Outside the bedroom, it felt like everything sounded ten times louder than usual.

You somehow made it to the hall and were just about to put on your shoes when you froze. The light turned on.

Petrified with fear, you didn't dare turn around. For a minute you thought of running for it anyway; the door wasn't far away, only within arms reach.

Han didn't give you a choice, however. Noticing that you weren't moving to face him, he put himself between you and the door, forcing you to look up at him.

The look on his face conveyed heartbreaking disappointment. He felt sorry for you but betrayed as well. You winced away, the bright light felt too much like you were being interrogated.

His lips twitched, barely concealed anger visible in his eyes. He looked like you had committed the most horrible atrocity ever, and yes, in his mind you had.

You had failed his experiment of trust. In a voice that broke with each word, he cried, '' How could you do this to me? ''

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Seven Days to Fall Again | Friday | Jeon Jungkook

Inspired by the MV "Seven" by Jung Kook ft. Latto (obvi lol) Summary:Caught in the rain, trying to get to you. You tried to go out to clear your head but he wants to make sure you know he's always looking out for you. Pairing: Reader x Jungkook (almost exes to lovers lol) Word Count: 4.3k (longest chapter so far lol) Warnings: Smut (too lazy to add specifics lol), Explicit language that's it lol a/n: Hey guys so uh...got a little carried away with this one but I said this a little while ago but Friday really didn't have much of a plot in the mv so I kinda just went with whatever felt right. I hope you like it! Let me know what you think! p.s. barely edited and written in one sitting but I figured I might as well post it lol Start from the beginning

I'm going out tonight, nothing major or anything I just wanted to go out so I can get him off my mind even if it's only for a few hours.

Walking into the restaurant I'm greeted with a big group of my colleagues and I slide in next to one of the girls while I greet everyone. A couple of minutes later we all settle back into our own separate conversations with one of the many not so comfortable ones about to start. 

"You look like shit" Kayla whispers to me. She's my best friend so I'm used to her being this honest but it still comes as a surprise sometimes. "Thanks Kay" I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes at her before taking a sip of water. 

"No but for real what's wrong? You've been ignoring me for the past few days and then suddenly you're inviting everyone out like nothings happened?" she questions, knowing that something's up. "What's wrong with inviting people out? I'm sorry I haven't been answering you, I've have a busy couple of days" I say, not necessarily lying but knowing that I had the time to respond to her if I wanted to. 

I decided to just take what I had hoped for was a step back for a second to just do me but then I ended up dealing with Jungkook chasing me around instead so everything else just seemed like it was too much. "Whatever" Kayla says taking a sip of her beer, knowing I'm lying but deciding not to push it. If it were just the two of us I know she would shake me until I spit it out but she knows better than to do that in front of everyone. 

"So y/n, how are things going? We thought that Jungkook would've come with you" one of the girls at the other end of the table says with her boyfriend right next to her nodding in agreement. "Oh he had to work late" I say giving a simple excuse hoping they'll drop it and luckily they do. Before we're able to move on though my eyes widen in horror as I see the devil himself walking into the restaurant and look around until he spots me, giving me a soft smile with an unreadable expression. 

"Hey guys" Jungkook says awkwardly but comes up to sit next to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek to make things seem normal, being able to tell from my body language alone that I haven't told anyone about the breakup yet. 

"Hi Noona" he whispers in my ear making me shiver. I scold myself for letting my body betray me but I can't really do much to change it anymore. I pull away from him and take another drink of water trying to cover up things but I can tell from the slight smile on his face he know he's still got a hold on me. 

"Oh Jungkook! Y/n was just saying how you couldn't come because you were working late" the same girl asks, curious for an explanation. I know she means well but this girl just doesn't know when to quit. "Oh I wanted to surprise her" he says draping his arm around the back of my chair. It's luckily an answer that satisfies all of them and the conversation switches to another topic soon after. 

"What are you doing here?" I turn and whisper to him, making sure the people around us definitely won't hear. "I went by the apartment and I saw that you weren't there and I got worried. You still share your location with me so I wanted to come and make sure you were okay" he says placing his hand on my thigh as a way to show his sincerity and also play the part of still being a happy couple. 

"Well as you can see I'm fine so you can leave now" I say and pull back giving him a pointed look but before he can respond another person from the group speaks up. "What are you two love birds talking about over there?" one of the guys teases. "Wouldn't you like to know" Jungkook says with a smug smile taking the burden of having to come up with an excuse off of me.

"How have things been with you guys though? It's been a while since either of you have been out with us?" another girl asks. When did tonight become a ask y/n and Jungkook 20 questions? Why can't we just drink and eat and talk about anything but us, even though there's not really an 'us' right now. 

"Things have been good, yeah we're- oh look the food is here!" I start but I'm thankfully given an excuse to turn the topic to something else as the waiters place all of the various side dishes in front of us as well as the raw meat to grill with everyone's minds are now focused on getting everything ready to eat. 

Jungkook gets a piece of meat off the grill and adds it to his ssam and I go to do the same but as soon as I'm putting the finishing touches on mine Jungkook holds his out and offers it to me. "Open" he says, urging me to let him feed me and I give him a dead pan expression, annoyed that he would even go this far. 

I look around the table and see the others taking little glances at us and commenting on how cute we are and so I turn my eyes back over to him and open my mouth for him to put in and he does so happily, watching attentively and making sure I don't choke on anything. 

Once I've chewed a bit I continue filling the one I was working on and instead overfill it and hold it out for Jungkook to eat. He looks down at it, intimidated by the size but once I cock a brow at him he opens his mouth receiving it and the next second I shove it into his mouth, leaving him coughing and struggling to get it down. 

"Is he okay?" one of the guys asks me. "Oh yeah he's fine don't worry about it. Aren't you honey?" I say, daring him to say otherwise and he simply holds up an 'okay' sign with his hand as he coughs and tries his best to chew and swallow everything down which annoyingly he's able to do. 

"How did that taste love?" I whisper to him with a sickeningly sweet smile, payback for him showing up here even though he knew I wouldn't want him here. "Was that really necessary?" he questions after taking a few gulps of water. "Was you coming here really necessary? I told you to leave me alone" I whisper to him and at this point I sound like a broken record. 

"I want to talk to you though" he responds doing just the same. "And until you let me I'm just gonna keep showing up and bothering you until you give me a chance to do so" he says, finally admitting to his nonsense tactic to getting his way, clearly making his younger age show. I stand up abruptly, and decide that I have given up on keeping up appearances and make moves to leave. 

"Sorry guys I'm not feeling well so I think I'm gonna get going" I say and open my purse and hand Kayla twenty dollars to cover my part of the bill. "You okay?" she asks and I say yes but she can clearly see that I'm not. "I'll be fine guys don't worry I'm just gonna head home and get some rest" I say and when I start to walk away Jungkook follows after also following suit to give Kayla more than enough to cover for us. 

"You can stay here and have fun with them" I says sweetly, putting up an act for them but using it as a threat to him. "No it's okay Jungkook go help take care of her we'll see you guys next time" one of them says but before I'm able to disagree Jungkook jumps in. "Thanks for everything guys" he responds before ushering the both of us towards the exit. 

Before we step outside the door though we finally notice it's started to rain, and not just rain but a full on downpour. "When did it start raining?" I ask looking at the world outside as it looks a though it had been raining for ages already. "It looked kind of cloudy when I came in but it wasn't raining yet" he says, just as shocked by the sight. 

"Lemme call us a cab" he says and pulls out his phone to do so. "No I can get one myself" I say and take a deep breath before walking out, no rain jacket, no umbrella, nothing. I just need to get away from here and away from him as soon as possible. "Y/n where are you going?" he says and runs after me and before I'm even able to try and hail a cab I can clearly see that there are none in sight. 

"Just come back inside and we can wait for one and if you want we can even take separate cabs" he offers trying to meet me halfway. "No, I don't need your help" I say and blindly start walking away, hoping he will just go back inside and leave me alone "Noona wait it's too dangerous!" he calls after me but I don't even bother looking back. 

"You know you're going the wrong way right?" he yells, hoping to get me to turn around and let him help me. "I don't care" I yell back and start walking faster. "Where are you going?" he yells, making sure to still stay close. "Away from you" I say and keep going on my journey to no where. 

"Just let me help you get home okay, please" he begs but I don't budge, I'm gonna keep walking until he gets tired and finally leaves me alone. "You know I'm not letting you walk these streets all by yourself right? As long as you're out here I'm staying with you" he say, seeing right through me but I keep walking anyway.

~~~~~~ 

I keep walking and walking until we've come to that same bookshop I had been in just yesterday, finally taking notice of just how far I've walked. I finally stop and catch my breath for a second, trying to figure out what the hell kind of point I'm trying to prove here but I can't come up with one that is big enough to do something ridiculous like this. 

He catches up to me a few seconds later and just stands beside me, not trying to get closer and not bothering to say anything since he knows it would probably just make me even more angry. 

We stand there for a second and I look up at the sky, taking a deep breath before looking back over at him where he's just standing there and looking at the wet ground around me, not making eye contact with me either, just making sure that I know that he's going to be right here standing next to me no matter what I say. 

I take another deep breath and swallow my pride before holding my hand out for him to take. He shifts his weight away from me and just stares at it for a second, trying to figure out what caused a change in heart that I would not only stop but ask for him to grab my hand. 

"So you gonna take it or not?" I ask getting irritated that he's taking too long to make up his mind and at that he reaches his hand out quickly and places it in mine before looking back up at me with a questioning gaze. Instead of responding I just tug on his hand and turn us both around to walk back the way we just came and start heading back home.

~~~~ 

Once we get to the door I immediately grab my keys and open up, letting the both of us inside. "Fuck I'm freezing" I say taking off my shoes and stripping off my sweater, forgetting the tiny tank top I'm wearing without a bra and I don't even notice until I turn back around and see that he's staring at my chest, nipples cold and hard and when he he notices I'm staring at him he looks up at me with an intensity I haven't seen in a while. 

I look at him, drinking in his figure as well seeing how soaked his white t-shirt is and how his pants are clinging to his thighs. I gulp and look back up at his face where his eyes have gotten even darker from observing how I was checking him out as well. 

He takes a few steps towards me and I stumble back against a wall and am forced to watch as he takes a few steps closer until he's looking right down at me. He takes his hand and reaches for the one he had been holding before and then brings it up to his lips giving it a kiss. 

"Why did you let me in?" he questions, his voice deeper and a bit strained from breathing in the cold air from the journey here. "I-i don't know" I whisper and my eyes flick down to his lips unconsciously and he takes that as a sign to keep going. 

He places his other hand on my cheek and I flinch a bit at how cold it is but lean into it a few seconds later, welcoming the fluttering feeling it stirs my my stomach. He leans down and rests his forehead against mine causing me to close my eyes, feeling like I'm burning under his intense gaze. 

"What are you doing to me?" he whispers and all I can do is try not to whimper in response. He tilts my chin up and brings his face closer and rubs his nose up against mine making me feel breathless at the slightest sign of intimacy no matter how small and I find myself unconsciously wrapping my arms around his neck. He in turn leans in and closes the distance between us, kissing me softly but still coaxing a whimper out of me, missing the feeling off being wanted by him. 

He moulds his lips against mine and brushes his tongue along my bottom lip and I open my mouth at the feeling, letting him use his tongue to explore my mouth, making butterflies fly in my stomach and leaving me moaning softly as I welcome him in. 

I take my hands off of his shoulders and feel for his jacket and start to push it off of him which he obliges and I reach for his shirt and push it up to help him take it off and he parts from my lips only for a second to slip it over his head. I touch his bare skin and even though we were so wet and cold his skin has already started to heat up leaving me not being able to take my hands off of him.

My hands travel up and down his abs and pecks that have both gotten more defined since the last I had seen them and before I'm able to think about it any more he trails his hands down my hips and  continues to trail them down and grabs the inside of my thighs before he breaks apart our lips again telling me to jump and I do immediately, kissing him as he walks us both back to the bedroom. 

Once we get there he helps me out of my tank top and traces his hands along my bare back while pressing me closer into him our chest now flush against each other while it almost feels like he's trying to hold me even closer, not letting go and devouring my mouth until he trails his hands along my curves and fiddles with the button of my pants and waits for me to say something before actually taking them off. 

Still kissing me I part for a second and utter a hurried 'yes' before he's unzipping them and taking everything off leaving me completely bare and I help him get out of the rest of his clothes right after. 

We both fall onto the bed together and never stop kissing and I part my legs for him to lay between. He runs a finger along my slit making me whimper against his lips as he teases my clit and then circles it around my entrance and then slowly slips a finger in making me let out a restrained moan, being sensitive from not having been touched by him for so long. 

"Shit" he says feeling how tight I am just from putting in one finger and working it in and out of me, coaxing me to stretch out for him. "Jungkook" I whimper when he adds another digit and he swears again at how much I'm clenching around them. "Relax baby" he whispers rubbing his thumb against my clit in circles to help me calm down and open up enough so he can slip another finger in. 

"I haven't fucked you properly in a while huh?" he says between kisses, curling his fingers up inside of me making a breathy moan spill past my lips as I squeeze my eyes shut. "I don't know if this tiny cunt can even take me anymore. Do you think it can?" he asks rubbing his nose up against mine while he curls his fingers inside me again.

I nod my head but he's not satisfied, "Words Noona. Do you think this pretty little cunt can take me again?" he pushes and rubs his thumb around my clit again while thrusting his fingers inside of me. "Yes" I moan out and he luckily decides not to tease any longer. 

"That's a good girl" he says before taking his fingers out of me and placing them in his mouth, savoring my taste before he leans down and kisses me again "Almost forgot how sweet you taste" he says and before I'm able to even think about responding he pushes the tip inside making me let out a breathy moan. 

"Fuck I missed this" he says pushing in a bit more, giving me time to adjust before going in further. "Jungkook" I whimper, not being able to focus on anything but the sensation of feeling him bare and going deeper and deeper. "I know baby, I know" he says pushing in more while placing a kiss on my temple before bottoming out. 

"Looks like this pretty cunt is greedy isn't she?" he says while rubbing my clit, helping me get used to him. He rests his forehead against mine and lets labored breaths in and out, relishing in the feeling of my walls clenching around him. I nod my head and he takes it as a sign to move and he pulls out half way before pushing all the way in, setting a more gentle, sensual pace that leaves my brain fogging up with thoughts of only him. 

He pulls out all the way and presses back into me inch by inch, savoring how my walls are sucking him in. "Please, faster" I say, throwing my head back on the pillow, dying from the slow building feeling of my orgasm, wanting to be granted release sooner. "Patience Noona" he taunts and he presses back in but pulls out and gives me a shallow hard thrust leaving my back arching up into him. 

He quickens his pace and starts kissing on my neck, leaving marks in his wake and soon thrusting into me harder while I let out restrained moans. "No Noona let me hear you, I wanna hear you scream my name" he growls and starts thrusting into me at an animalistic pace. "Fuck Jungkook" I moan, starting to get closer to my release.

"What is it pretty?" he says slowing down the pace, leaving me whining at the feeling of my high coming down again. "No" I say throwing my head back into the pillows, hating that he robbed me of it. "No what? I just gave you a chance to tell me what you wanted, I couldn't hear you over all of your moaning" and he punctuates his sentence with a sharp thrust earning him a choked moan coming out of me and feeling me squeeze around him. 

"Does Noona wanna cum?" he taunts, giving me another sharp thrust. "Jungkook please" I beg, pulling him closer to kiss him but he stops before our lips touch. "I don't know what you want me to do unless you tell me" he says, lips brushing against mine but not close enough to kiss. 

"I wanna cum, please" I breathe out and at that I see a mischievous glint flash in his eyes before he kisses me and pounds into me harder than he had before and swallowing all of my moans of pleasure. 

"You close?" he questions after a while, already being able to feel the answer but making me say it nonetheless. "Shit y-yes so close k-keep going" I stutter, about to tip over the edge and seconds later it all comes crashing down, leaving me arching into him and dragging my nails along his back and he groans at the feeling and cums seconds after that, fucking us both through our highs. 

Once he's emptied out he keeps on thrusting until I whine from over stimulation and kisses me while he pulls out, me hating the feeling of being empty again. He lays down on top of me for a second as we both catch our breaths but soon rolls off and lays next to me while we both take a second to slow down our breathing. 

Without a word he sits up and walks over to my side and scoops me up in his arms. "What are you doing?" I ask throwing my arms around his neck. "You need to go to the bathroom and then we need to clean up he says, making decisions for what I need to do before giving me an option like always but I decide not to mention it this time, staying silent and waiting for him to put me down. 

He sets me down on my feet and turns around to turn on the shower and walks out into the hallway to get us both towels, giving me a bit of privacy to do my business before coming back in. When he comes back he opens the shower door for me and lets me walk in, holding on to make sure I don't fall before coming in after me.                         

We both stand there in the shower getting warm under the water as the doors and mirrors get fogged up in turn. 

Neither of us talks for a while until he puts some body wash in his hands and lathers it up before rubbing it onto my back and shoulders, talking his time to wash me from head to toe, cleaning and massaging all of me to make sure to loosen me up so I won't get sore. 

He's does this every time we have sex, or had sex since it's been a while and I welcome it, hating and loving the feeling. Feeling guilty about letting him take care of me like this when all I've done is push him away. 

As he finishes up he takes my shampoo and conditioner and washes my hair as well before rinsing everything off of me and switching places with me gently so he's in the direct stream of water so he can wash himself as well.

While he has his arms up and is scrubbing his scalp I wrap my arms around him from behind and rest my cheek against his back. "This was a mistake" I mumble and at that he freezes before hurrying to rinse the shampoo out of his hair so it doesn't get in either of our eyes. 

"Is that how you truly feel?" he asks, sounding disheartened but knowing that something like this was going to happen if I still wanted to push him away. "Yeah. Well, I don't know" I say, being honest with honestly not knowing how I feel. 

He turns around to face me and looks down while cupping my face in both of his hands. "Do you want me to leave?" he asks, his eyes going back and forth between mine searching my face for answers and finding the one that says I want him to leave and he utters an silent okay before I even have a chance to say anything.

He opens the shower door and closes it behind him, taking one of the towels and drying off his hair quickly before wrapping it around his waist and walking out of the bathroom. I let out a pained sigh and feel a rush of emotions flood my system with senses of doubt in all of my dealings with this.

'Do I want him to go? Do I want him to stay? Do I want to be with him? Do I want to break up?' those as well as many more are the questions that go round and round in my head without answers. 

The thing that breaks me out of that circular train of thought though is the sound of the front door closing behind him as he walks out and the next is the sound of my sobs as I hit the floor, finally let my heart break.  

Thursday / Saturday Series Masterlist

Taglist: @jkslipppiercing @trina864 @kaitieskidmore97 @goddesofimortality @coolbluedude @00frenchfries00 @bangtans-momma @coralmusicblaze @pastelpinkjoon @joonwater @marvelbun @j3nni-rs @evidive @beomieboi @forevrglow @jesssssmaybankk @teugiie @chaconnelatte @whoa-jo @snehal @xumyboo @mindurbuzznezz @diorh0seokie

Join my Taglist!

Feel free to fill out the form or just comment on any of my fics to be added :)

[bumblesimagines]

“can i kiss you?”

“is this your way of asking me out or—”

“think i wanna do a little more than just kiss.”

- Belly Conklin

“think i wanna do a little more than just kiss.”

“is this your way of asking me out or—”

“can i kiss you?”

Pronouns: he/him/his, male

imma be fully honest, i haven't finished season 1 but i know people have many opinions on season 2

Belly surveyed the other teenagers partying around her, feeling wildly out of her element amongst dancing and drinking strangers. Steven had promised their mother he'd keep an eye on her, but the second he found Shayla amidst the party, he went after her like a puppy and left Belly all alone to search for the Fisher brothers. Her two friends had similarly drifted away as well, one in search of his girlfriend and the other had gone off to chat with some old friends.

Thus, Belly Conklin had been left alone to do as she pleased without three guys hovering over her. Not that she felt like doing much. She watched drinking competitions with a nervous grimace, felt too out of place to dance, and had no one to talk to unless she wanted to bring the boys' attention back to her.

Waddling deeper into the party and whispering soft a 'excuse me' every three seconds, she began having regrets about pestering the boys' into letting her attend. The feeling only intensified upon spotting Conrad sat on one of the couches with an arm hung loosely around Nicole and the smallest of smiles on his face.

Her body went rigid and she took in a sharp inhale, spinning back around to block the sight from her vision. She tried ignoring the way her throat tightened and her veins flooded with jealousy and hurt. Conrad was her best friend. He never even showed any real interest in her. But seeing him cozying up to someone else...

"Isabel!" A voice called her name and she looked up, spotting the familiar teen sat on the opposite side of the room. He grinned at her and Belly surprised herself by immediately walking over to him. (Y/N) straightened up on the couch and set his red solo cup on the nightstand beside him. "Never thought I'd see you at a party."

Relief trickled into her and she smiled at him. The two weren't close by any means but Belly knew him well enough to feel comfortable around him. She only saw him on occasion every summer when his mother would drop by to see Susannah and catch up. Steven had desperately been trying to gain the attention of (Y/N), one of Cousin's notable 'cool kids', but his attempts always proved futile.

"It's not really my vibe, I guess." Belly chuckled breathlessly and brushed her hair back over her ear, glancing back in the direction of Conrad while doing so. Their eyes locked and she snapped her attention back to (Y/N).

"I could introduce you to some of my friends, if you want. It's always easier to know who to hang with." He offered with a shrug and she exhaled heavily, body nearly slumping into the cushion of the couch.

"That'd be... really nice. Thank you, (Y/N)." Belly smiled widely and tucked her legs underneath her, propping one arm up on the thick cushion of the couch. She took another glance back at Conrad and a jolt went up her spine when she noticed him watching them.

And then, an idea struck.

“Can I kiss you?” The words tumbled out of her mouth faster than she processed them and her skin immediately lit ablaze. Part of her couldn't believe she'd even asked. Her experience in the romance department was nonexistent and she'd only ever briefly kissed Cam, yet there she was, asking a far more experienced friend if she could kiss them.

“Is this your way of asking me out or—” His amusement made her skin warm further.

"No! I mean, it's not like I don't think you're hot- I mean, I-I wouldn't say no if you asked me out but I didn't ask to ask you out, if that makes sense? I-" Belly groaned quietly and covered her face, unable to shake off the embarrassment as he snickered quietly under his breath. Taking in a deep breath and moving her hands from her face, she scooted closer to him and dropped her voice to a whisper. "I... I like Conrad. I've liked him for a really long time and... I want to, I don't know, make him jealous, I guess."

"I see." (Y/N) hummed, eyes flickering past her to look at Conrad. He pursed his lips in thought and just when she was about to brush aside everything, he gently grabbed her chin and pulled her in. An electrifying feeling erupted within her when their lips connected, goosebumps rising across her arms and the hairs on the nape of her neck rose.

His fingers fluttered over her jawline until his palm pressed against her cheek, their lips briefly disconnecting and nose brushing against each other before he closed the gap again. While Belly had no clue on what to do with herself, she decided to let her instincts do the acting. Her hands found his shoulders and she leaned forward, pulling back for a moment to settle down on his lap. He chuckled against her lips and tilted his head, arms curling around her waist to keep from from falling backwards.

"What'd you think about that, Isabel?"

“Think I wanna do a little more than just kiss.” She whispered, heat erupting in her belly and a flustered giggle escaping her. His lips curled into a smirk and he gave a curt nod.

"That can be arranged." He murmured and she moved her hands up to cup his face, strands of her long hair brushing against his skin. Before she could lean in again, an angry voice barked out.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Oh, shit. Conrad.

[chestcongestion]

Demon-to-Demon Ch.2/5 : Ha//zbin Ho/tel

Warnings: Contagion, Vale/nti/no (he doesn't do anything, but I know some people aren't into his general...existence), and mess

Word count: 4,329

Chapter two is finished, right before I have to leave for work, funnily enough ^^, this chapter is even longer than the first, including some more setup because I love my porn with some plot, some structure. I don't know how many chapters this thing will have...I'm aiming for at least 4 or 5. Hope you enjoy!

“Hh’KZZHhshew! Hh’Tszchiiiew! HIH’TSHHEW!”  

Niffty dove to catch Alastor’s coffee mug before it hit the floor, placing it back on the end table next to the armchair that he’d slept in all night, waking up the next morning with itchier sinuses and an awful sore throat. 

“Got it! Maybe you should wait until you’re done sneezing before you drink your coffee, Alastor,” Niffty proposed. 

“Mby… snff!- My coffee would be ice cold by the…H-heh…HEH’KZZHHT! HEH’KSHIEW! Heh’KTSCHIEWW… by the time I’m done sneezing,” Alastor replied, his voice noticeably hoarse as he took a sip of his coffee. 

“That’s true,” Niffty said, wiping her hands on her dress skirt. 

Alastor held his handkerchief with both hands, loudly blowing his nose until he had to pause and catch his breath, scrubbing under his nostrils to try and fend off the building itch, “This is ludicrous,” he grumbled to himself, “How did this happen? H-huh’KSCHIEW! Hh’KZzhht!” 

“For fuck’s sake!” Husk groaned from his station behind the bar, wincing at the droplets that sprayed into the air with each unruly sneeze, “Same way it’s gonna happen to the rest of us if you don’t cover your damn mouth!” 

Alastor rolled his eyes, “You seem to have survived a direct hit to the face just fine, Husker,” he said with a knowing smile. 

Husk shuddered, thinking about the previous day and instinctively wiping his face off again, “Don’t remind me,” he said with a huff, “I hope whatever this is knocks you out again so I don’t have to hear your smart ass mouth.”  

Alastor lowered his eyelids threateningly, “Excuse mbe?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, reaching for his microphone, only to be thwarted by the scratchiness of his throat, coughing into his wrist. 

“I could get used to this,” Husk chuckled, “You bein’ too sick to threaten me.” 

Alastor- still coughing- angrily stuck up his middle finger in Husk’s direction. Eventually, the coughing fit let up and Alastor was able to take a deep breath, leaning back in his armchair and briefly shutting his eyes. 

“Morning everyone!” Charlie said with a smile upon arriving downstairs with Vaggie. 

“Mornin’,” Husk replied with a wave, taking a swig from a bottle of cognac he kept underneath the bar counter. Niffty broke her focus on sweeping the floor around the bar to give Charlie an eager wave before returning to her task. 

“Hh’ptshh! Hh’kzZHht! HNK’Tshhieww!” Alastor sneezed, wiping off the underside of his nose with his damp handkerchief, the constant friction leaving his nose irritated, twitchy, and shiny, “Pardon mbe- Snff snff!- I can’t stop… HH’KSchiiew!” 

“I was going to ask if you’re feeling any better, but I think I know the answer,” Charlie said, cautiously holding out her hand, “Can I feel your forehead?” 

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t,” Alastor muttered, staring at Charlie’s hand while he gently pushed it away with his microphone. 

“That’s fair… can I at least take your temperature with this?” Charlie asked, holding up an ear thermometer and flashing Alastor a pleading smile, “It’ll only take a second.” 

Alastor’s left eye twitched, but he relented, “If you insist… snff… make it qui-ih…IH’KSHHIEW!” he said, wrenching his eyes shut as Charlie slid the thermometer into his ear. 

The thermometer beeped, and Charlie quickly pulled it out , “Almost 102… how do you feel?” 

Alastor ignored the heat that had risen in his cheeks, answering Charlie’s inquiry with a shrug until the prickling sensation in his sinuses returned, “HNK’TSHHEW! HH’KSSHHIEW!... Messy is probably the most notable word I’d use…snf-snf!” 

“Fair enough,” Charlie replied, only to jump when Angel rushed into the parlor, draping himself over the back of the sofa, visibly out of breath, “Oh, hi Angel!” 

“Hi, yeah, G’Mornin’, watch this-” Angel said hurriedly, turning on the television in the parlor and glancing at his phone before a 666 News bulletin interrupted whatever had been playing before it. 

“Good Morning Pentagram City, I’m Katie Killjoy!” an all-too-familiar voice greeted from the other side of the screen, “Breaking news from scientists in the Doomsday district: A viral infection is sweeping its way through The Pentagram. While completely harmless, it is said to be incredibly contagious, and researchers say that they are uncertain of how long the infection lasts.” 

“Well, that explains what happened yesterday,” Charlie sighed, leaning against the arm of the sofa and reading the text on the screen, “It’s already infected 16% of the entire city? That’s almost impressive…” 

“Don’t think the virus needs your encouragement, Princess,” Husk piped up from behind the bar. 

“Sorry, force of habit,” Charlie chuckled, silently reading the list of symptoms that appeared on the screen, “Huh, these are basically just your symptoms, Alastor.” 

A silence filled the room, all present individuals shifting their gaze to Alastor, and then to each other. 

“Ohhhh,” Charlie said, finally connecting the dots, “Shit.”  

Alastor blew his nose, tucking his handkerchief away when he finished, “I should have skipped that accursed meetii-IH’Kschhiew! Hih’KShhew! HIH’KSCHIEWWW!” he said, swiping his wrist underneath his nostrils after his last explosive sneeze, wincing at how the wetness of said sneezes was beginning to make his irritated nose look shiny. 

 “It’s okay Alastor, hey, nobody else is sick yet, that’s a good sign, right?” Charlie asked. 

Alastor shrugged, taking another cautious sip of his coffee and wincing at how the harsh texture against his scratchy throat made him want to cough, “I suppose so,” he said, pushing himself out of the armchair and attempting to brush off the way he swayed on his feet, “I’m going to spend my confinement getting caught up on some correspondence… best of lu-huh…HUH’KSHHHEW! Hnk’TSHIEW!...luck, best of luck.” 

In a blink, Alastor’s armchair was empty, leaving nothing behind except an invisible radiating aura of germs that made everyone nervous about approaching it. 

“Alright, I’m heading out with Vaggie to go do some more field recruiting, have fun while I’m gone!” Charlie announced, walking out of the front doors, her left arm linked with Vaggie’s right. 

Angel checked his phone before stuffing it into his chest fluff, “I gotta bounce, today’s shoot is in two hours but makeup’s gonna take at least 30 minutes, see ya!” he said, waving goodbye to the group, shooting Husk a wink on his way out the door. 

“I’m gonna… Gonna go make another mural, yeah… found a bangin’ wall to paint on the other day, hope to fuck it’s still blank,” Cherri said, bouncing on her heels. She’d only recently exchanged her bombs for brushes, after Charlie’s recommendation of a more ‘constructive’ hobby, and it was going well as an outlet for her emotions and destructive urges. 

Once Cherri left through the front doors, Husk and Niffty were alone in the parlor. Husk breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the bar counter, his nose twitching. 

“Niff… d-do me a solid, hm?” Husk asked, tapping his claws together as he struggled to resist rubbing his nose. 

“Okay! What is it?” Niffty asked, scrambling over to the bar and standing on the counter. 

“I-ih… I need you to h-hih… hit me in the face w-whhihhth your feather duster,” Husk pleaded in a hushed tone, fanning in front of his face as his nose twitched faster, “P-please…Hehh…h-hihhh” 

“Why?” Niffty asked, blinking innocently as she pulled her feather duster out of the loop in her skirt’s waistband. 

“I…Iihh… Hihh… H-hihh!... I gotta sndeeze…snf!” Husk muttered, “It’s st-huhh…Huhh!- stuck.” 

“Ohhhh! Okay!” Niffty said, smacking Husk on both sides of his face with her feather duster, before brushing it up against Husk’s twitchy, sensitive nose, dust clinging to his sinuses with each desperate inhale. 

“H-HUHH’KSCHOO! HUH’KSCHOO! Huh’KSCHUHHH!!” 

Niffty blinked, watching Husk’s violent sneezing fit practically double him over, his fur standing on its end and a slight trickle of moisture beginning to leak from his perfect feline jellybean of a nose. 

“Mmbh…SnFFF!...guhh,” Husk groaned, running the back of his hand under his nostrils with a damp sniffle, his typical alcohol-induced flush shifting from grey to pink, “Fuck I ndeeded that…SNrkk!” 

“I thought you’d sneeze cuter,” Niffty huffed, flicking another puff of dust from her feather duster into Husk’s face with a pout. 

“hHRR’KSCHUHHH! Hhn’KSCHEWWW! HNK’SCHUHHH! H-hUH’KSSHHOO!...SnRKK!...Snff-snff!” Husk sneezed again, his eyes growing irritated and his eyelids getting puffy, the patch of skin above his nose turning an itchy pink as he scrubbed it with the heel of his palm, “Shit, Ndiffty, quit it…snffff!”

“You sneeze like an old man,” Niffty teased, giggling as she held out her feather duster again, only for Husk to grab hold of it and gently push it away, “Awww…no fun!” 

“News flash, I amb an old man…snff! Shit…” Husk grumbled, grabbing a paper towel from the roll behind the bar and noisily blowing his nose, tossing the soiled paper into the trash and attempting to wipe the congestion-induced moisture out of his lower eyelids. 

“You’re good at hiding,” Niffty said with a smile, “I almost didn’t notice you were sick… I don’t think anyone else did at all.” 

“How the hell did you notice?” Husk asked, raising a fluffy eyebrow. 

“You kept pinching your nose, rubbin’ it and pushing up on it… you tried passin’ it off like you were just grooming your face, but I know you,” Niffty whispered, poking Husk’s nose, “You use the other hand for that.” 

“Well ain’t you a clever bug,” Husk scoffed, shooting Niffty a warm smile, “This stays between us until I get shittier at hiding, got it?” 

“You may ndeed to expand your definition of ‘us’,” 

Husk felt his heart jump into his throat, and lunged forward out of panic, nearly slamming his head against the counter, “HHK’SSCHHHUHH! Shit!” he exclaimed, letting out a hoarse cough, “I dunno what to be angrier about, you gettin’ me sick by sneezin’ in my face or you being a nosy fuckin’ creep!” 

“Why not both?” Alastor chuckled, his laughter taking on a wheezy undertone and threatening to turn into a cough until he suffocated it with a harsh swallow, “I’m almost impressed, you’re better at keeping up appearances than me… I suppose after all our years together I’m rubbing off on you.” 

Husk dodged Alastor’s attempt to pet him between his ears, snarling at his boss with an unamused glare, “Don’t you have letters to write or some shit?” he hissed, the plumage on his tail fluffing up as he flattened his ears in frustration. 

“Oh, I have all the time in the world to finish mby letters, eavesdropping is mbuch more fun- snFf!” Alastor replied, pulling out his handkerchief and blowing his nose, rolling his eyes at the heavy rumble of congestion in his sinuses, “Uch…snff!... disgusting.” 

“Tell me about it,” Husk grumbled, staring at Alastor’s flannel pajamas and shooting him a teasing smile, “You look ridiculous.” 

Alastor smacked Husk in the back of the head with his microphone, “I will not take pot shots from someone who looks like they use a giant litter box,” he said through clenched teeth, feeling a familiar tickle in his sinuses when Husk poked his nose, “H-hihh…Hih… HIH’Tshhiew! Hihh’TShhhewww! HIh’TSsHiew!” 

“I could get used to you havin’ an off switch,” Husk said with a smirk. 

Alastor sniffled, wrinkling his nose and wiping around his nostrils with his handkerchief, annoyed with how often he had to pull it out and tuck it away in his pockets again, “You… I…” Alastor blinked, swaying a bit on his feet and steadying himself by pressing his palms against the counter, “I completely forgot what I was going to say…” 

Husk noticed the beads of sweat trickling down from Alastor’s hairline, the glassy quality of his eyes, and the sudden uptick in effort he was putting into breathing. If those weren’t enough to signal that their playful banter was over, twenty seconds later Alastor silently lowered himself to the floor, stretching out on his back and covering his eyes with both hands, still smiling, but noticeably drained. 

“I am going to lie here… until everything stops spinning,” Alastor said breathlessly, holding a hand over his mouth to cover a violent cough, the crackle of congestion audible in his lungs, “Euch…” 

Husk’s ear twitched, and he quietly joined Alastor on the floor, curling up next to Alastor’s reclined form and purring, in spite of the fact that purring aggravated his runny nose.

Niffty resolved to leave the two alone, hurrying away from the bar to finish her daily cleaning checklist, completely oblivious when a message on Husk’s phone popped up from Angel. 

[Might be back earlier than I thought… today’s shoot’s goin’ weird] 

Across the pentagram, in Valentino’s porn studio, Angel found himself on his hands and knees, filming B-roll material for the studio’s current work in progress. The floodlights had been turned off, and the air conditioning in the studio was cranked, making the filming space so cold that Angel could practically see his own breath. 

“He’s shakin’ too much, the DP can’t get the camera to focus,” Travis whispered. 

“Angel, baby, the more you shake, the longer you have to stay like that until we get a good shot of your pretty little ass,” Valentino crooned, blowing a plume of smoke into the air and fanning himself off with a copy of the script, “What’s the matter? You nervous? Need something to calm you down?” 

“I’m n-not nervous,” Angel retorted, running the back of his hand under his nostrils, “I’m cold… snff!... it’s freezin’ in here.” 

Valentino groaned, massaging his temples and snapping his fingers at two members of the film crew, “Turn the lights back on,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt and peeling it off, his pectorals and abdomen slick with sweat, “Fuck, I’m gonna melt, why is it so hot in here?!” 

Angel’s shivering subsided slightly with the heat from the large floodlights returning, and he managed to hold his position long enough for the camera to capture what it needed to capture. 

“Okay Angie, roll onto your back and open your legs,” Valentino instructed, wincing at the bright lights, which were beginning to give him a headache. 

Angel rolled onto his back, spreading his legs open, “Hhh… Val… I uhb… Uh..Huhh…-” he attempted to ask for a moment to pause, his breath beginning to hitch, the tickle that seemed to randomly appear in his sinuses building to a quiet crescendo- 

“Hih’kshuu! Ih’kshuu! Ih…h-ihhh… ‘Kshuu!” Valentino’s squeaky, quiet sneezes caught Angel off guard, so much so that he forgot about his own need to sneeze, “I-IHH’KShuu!” 

Angel sat up, leaning forward and hugging his knees as he watched Valentino pluck a handful of tissues from a box next to his chair, holding them up to his face as Angel’s breath hitched again, “Huh…h-ihh…Hihh-” 

“Ihh’pshuu! Ihh’KSHUU! Hih’kshuu! ‘Kshuu! ‘KShhiew!” Valentino sneezed, throwing his damp tissues into a small trashcan that he typically reserved for dumping out his ash trays, “Fuck! I can’t s-stop sne-eezi’g- IHH’KSHUU!” 

Angel frowned, frustrated that his shithead boss seemed to be snatching his own sneezes out from under him. He swallowed, wincing at a dull soreness in the back of his throat, and basked in the warmth of the floodlights while Valentino emptied his sinuses into another handful of tissues. 

“Where were we?” Valentino asked Travis, who shrugged, “Dammit… snff… I can’t fucking focus with this itching!” 

Angel stared intently, watching his boss scrub desperately at his nostrils with the heel of his palm, his cool-toned skin looking hypersensitive and blotchy. 

Eventually, Valentino gave up, flopping back in his chair and motioning for Angel to approach, “Angieee, c’mere baby…snff!” he beckoned. 

Angel rolled his eyes while Valentino wasn’t looking, and slid off of the bed, sprawling out at his boss’s feet and looking up at him from between his long legs, “Yes, Val?” he asked, his sore throat giving his voice a husky overtone that made him feel sexier, even if it was slightly painful. 

Valentino paused as a shiver ran through his body, making him practically vibrate as more sweat trickled down his face, the previously sexual look in his eyes melted into something more vulnerable and subdued, almost frightened. 

“Uhm… n-nevermind,” he mumbled, massaging his temples and jumping when another shiver ran up his spine, “Fuck… now I’m cold.” 

Angel blinked, feeling heat radiating from Valentino’s body in a manner indistinguishable from the sensation of hovering your hand over a curling iron.

Not particularly concerned about the man keeping him on a choke chain, Angel did see how the current circumstances could get him off the clock earlier than expected, “Val, I think you’ve got a fever,” he said, laying on the faux-concern as thick as possible, cupping Valentino’s warm face with both hands. 

Valentino’s antennae fluttered at the soothing touch, leaning into it, “Really?” he asked, his tired eyes briefly closing as Angel stroked his cheeks. 

“Yeah…” Angel replied, pressing the back of his hand to Valentino’s forehead, feeling a noticeable warmth, but nothing particularly extreme,“You’re burnin’ up… poor baby.” 

Valentino seemed to wilt in his chair, snapping his fingers at the film crew to turn the floodlights back off and getting up from his seat, struggling to stand on his own two feet, “Okay, yeah, we’re done here… I feel like shit…IHh’kshuu! H-hih’kshuu!” he muttered, “Everyone out, I’ll let you know when we’re picking back up with the schedule.” 

Angel nodded, tugging on his shorts and jacket, “Bye Val, hope you feel better,” he said, waving goodbye and rushing out of the studio before Valentino could change his mind. 

“Bye Angiehh- IHH’KSHUU! ‘Kshuu! ‘Kshhieew!- Fuck! I’b gonna kill Velvette for getti’g mbe sick- IH’KSHIIEW!” Valentino hissed. 

Angel sprinted out of the Vees’ media tower, panting to catch his breath upon reaching the bottom, coughing into his arm when his ragged breaths caught in his scratchy throat, “Phew… made it,” he sighed to himself, finger-combing his fluffy hair to neaten it out. 

On his walk back to the hotel, it dawned on Angel that the streets seemed less crowded than usual, there were still people out and about, but it wasn’t the jam-packed squeeze it normally was… not by a long shot.  

“Wonder where everybody is,” Angel pondered out loud, scoffing at his hoarse voice. 

Suddenly, the familiar prickle that had built up in Angel’s sinuses while he was working returned in full force, with nothing distracting him, it built, and built, and built until Angel stopped in his tracks, fanning in front of his face and pawing around on his person for a tissue. 

“Hahh…H-hahh…Ah…!!” 

Angel sniffled faintly, trying to fight the urge to sneeze and failing miserably, by the time he got his hands on something he even thought was a tissue, it was too late. 

“Ah’tshhheww! Hah’tshew! HAH’KTSHIEW! A-ahh’KSHIEW!! ‘KSHIEWW!” Angel sneezed, polishing off his fit with a damp sniffle, thanking fate that no one was around to see the dense mist of droplets he’d just sprayed into the air, “Fuck mbe…snff! That’s probably where everybody else is… somewhere sneezin’ their heads off…AH’KSHHEW!” 

Angel winced, blowing his “nose” into the single tissue he found in a nearly-empty travel packet in his back pocket, tossing the soggy paper into a nearby trash can. Each spraying sneeze seemed hell-bent on scraping at his already-raw throat, swallowing growing more and more painful with every sneeze. 

An hour passed, and Angel walked through the hotel’s front doors with an exhausted expression painted onto his face, struggling to sniffle enough to keep the constant trickle of moisture at bay, his “nose” reddened from the constant rubbing. 

“Back early!” Angel announced, gently resting a hand on his throat and swallowing, frustrated that the husky, almost tattered quality of his voice had only managed to get worse on his walk home. 

“You’re back from a shoot in a good mood?” Husk asked incredulously from his position behind the bar, pouring a shot of whiskey into two mugs of steaming liquid, “Did your boss fall out the window?” 

“Fuck, I wish- snff!- he’s sick with whatever’s been goin’ around,” Angel explained, pausing to clear his throat, “Sorry… but it was ridiculous, he had the AC cranked up and the lights off cause he was too hot… snff-snff! I swear I could see my breath in there it was so cold.” 

Husk chuckled, “Don’t think keepin’ a porn studio ice cold is the best idea,” he said, carefully swiping underneath his nose when Angel wasn’t paying attention, “What’d he have you doin’ today? Normally your voice ain’t this wrecked without givin’ some giant head for an hour.” 

“Actually, I didn’t even have to do anythin’ today, they were just gettin’ B-roll shots of my body by myself… it was kinda nice,” Angel paused, “Mby…snff…sorry… mby throat’s just sore, it’s kinda pissin’ me off cause I feel like I’m losin’ my voice.” 

Husk’s ear twitched, and he silently pushed one of the steaming mugs over to Angel, “This should help at least,” he said with a kind smile, both ears twitching when his fingers brushed up against Angel’s. 

The two demons took a sip of the hot substance in their mugs, and then another, before setting their drinks down. Angel licked his lips at the taste of black tea, honey, and whiskey, a blend of flavors that reminded him of his brief stint lounge singing back on Earth. 

“This is good, thanks,” Angel said, taking another sip and sighing at the warm liquid soothing his scratchy throat on the way down. 

“Don’t mention it, glad the pain wasn’t caused by someone else’s dick for once,” Husk laughed, clenching his teeth to stifle the cough that was building in his chest, and taking another swallow of his drink. 

The plumes of steam blooming from Husk and Angel’s mugs reached up to their faces and wafted into their sinuses, the steam loosening up the congestion they’d built up from hours of sniffling. 

“H’RrSCHUHHH! Hh’TSCHUHHH! Hnk’TSHOOO! hNk’SHEWWW,” Husk sneezed, hurriedly hiding the mess of congestion behind a handful of paper towels, noisily blowing his nose and trying not to wince at the abrasive paper towel rubbing his sensitive little jellybean raw. 

“Ah’KShew! Ah’kShiiew! Hah’kchew! Hnk’Chiew! Ah’KShhhew!” Angel sneezed, running the back of his wrist under his nostrils and wincing at the mess he’d made of his gloves by swiping at his “nose”.  

“Well, at least I don’t have to  hold ‘em in anymore,” Husk sighed, noisily blowing his nose and tossing the bundle of soiled paper towels in the trash, before turning to address Angel, “You too?” 

“Mmhm,” Angel replied, wiping tears from his watery eyes, “I don’t even know who I caught it fromb- A-ahh’KSHEW!- either Val… or Velvette, or Smiles… where is he, anyway?” 

Husk gestured toward the armchair in the parlor with his head, where Alastor was curled up, half asleep, staring at the television with glassy eyes, “The fever’s kickin’ his ass, watch this- Alastor!” he called out. 

“Hm?” Alastor replied, turning to face Husk. 

“How many fingers am I holdin’ up?” Husk asked, sticking up his middle finger at Alastor, who could barely register shapes in his current state. 

“Uhmb…Hnk’Shhiew!... three?” Alastor replied, squinting at Husk’s hand from the negligible distance between the parlor and the bar. 

Husk snickered, “Yup, three,” he lied, turning back to face Angel, “He doesn’t even know where he is right now.” 

“Oh shit, that’s gonna be us,” Angel sighed, polishing off the last of his drink and clearing his throat, “I already feel a little woozy… I’mb gonna go change outta this, you comin’?” 

“Comin’ to change into mby pajamas, or comin’ to watch you change?” Husk inquired. 

“Both?” Angel offered, scratching behind Husk’s left ear. 

“Both it is,” Husk replied.  

Thirty minutes later, Husk and Angel emerged from Angel’s room, both looking noticeably more tired than when they vanished upstairs, and collapsed onto the sofa next to Alastor’s armchair. Husk positioned himself so that his head was nestled underneath Angel’s chest fluff, and Angel shuffled in place so that Husk was right between both of his legs, the large cat’s fever-heightened body heat keeping Angel from shivering. 

“I feel hot,” Husk grumbled, running a hand under his nose and wishing he had a box of tissues. 

“I feel cold,” Angel whimpered, hugging Husk closer to him in an attempt to fight back against his building chills, “a-AH’kSHEW!...’kSHeww! ‘Ksheww!” 

“I mbiss phonographs… snrkk!... It was always so interesti’g to watch themb spin,” Alastor rambled feverishly, his nose twitching, “Hnk’TSHhiew! HNK’TSHHEW!” 

Niffty draped a blanket over Angel and Husk, and wiped down Alastor’s forehead with a damp washcloth, before returning to her flurry of cleaning tasks, humming peacefully to herself while the three pitifully sick demons stared at the television. 

Eventually, Charlie and Vaggie returned from their work outside the hotel, “Guys, we’re back!” Charlie called out, “Cherri texted me saying that she’d be back tomorrow, she’s scouting out another mural space right now, but I wonder if Angel’s back from his shoot yet.” 

Niffty tugged on Charlie’s pant leg, “Look,” she whispered, gesturing toward the parlor, where Husk and Angel were snoring against one another, and Alastor- while awake- was feverishly rambling to himself. 

“Oh no,” Charlie sighed, “At least they look comfortable… the news wasn’t lying about this thing being contagious.” 

“Yeah, maybe we should be a bit more cautious around them and their germs before anyone else gets sick,” Vaggie proposed, inching away from the germy haze in the parlor, with her hands behind her back. 

“Ihh’pshuu! Ih’pshuu! H-hihh’kshew!” 

Charlie and Vaggie winced at the sound of Niffty sneezing from the other room. 

“I’ll go get her,” Vaggie said, “Whatever this is, let’s cross our fingers it doesn’t get any worse.” 

“Yeah… fingers crossed,” Charlie echoed, crossing her fingers while staring at her sick friends with wary concern, their congested snoring occasionally broken up by a hoarse cough from Angel, “Feel better, guys.” 

When Charlie walked away, Alastor drowsily looked up, following her with his eyes until she left the room, mouthing a delirious ‘Thank you’ in her direction before leaning back in his armchair and falling asleep. 

[minnielvrr]

maybe you could do one when seungmin still has his braces on and is supposed to get them off but when he goes to the dentist they tell him he has to have it on for longer and he gets upset and his members try to cheer him up in different ways and then they eventually tickle him or like Changbin or Chan corner him in his room and tickle him tell he admits that his smile is cute and will stop covering it to

Thank you for the request!! 🤗💖🩷💞 So I fused this with another idea I had in mind, I hope that's okay🩷

I love this idea so much cuz Seungmin was simply adorable with braces and I'll never understand anyone who disagrees 🥰🥺

Braces

Lee: Seungmin Lers: Jeongin, Felix, Chan, Minho Word Count: 3k!!

A/N: Sorry anon, ik this took some time. This is a little plot heavy🤭Hope you enjoy ~~🤗🩷

A part of Seungmin expected it when his dentist told him that he’d have to keep his braces in for a few more weeks. Their hectic schedules had forced him to push back a number of appointments and that seemed to have taken its toll.

He sighed for the umpteenth time after returning to the dorm, staring balefully at his reflection on his phone. It was as though he couldn’t escape this hell. He hated how his smile looked with them on, even though many stays and his bandmates had made it a point to remind him otherwise.

The hate comments he got threw any and all compliments to the wind and he’d recently been avoiding even looking at himself in the mirror. It was just too much. As he lay on his bed, absentmindedly fiddling with the device in his hands, Jeongin and Felix knocked and entered.

They were armed with handfuls of snacks and sweets and all of the foods the puppy had mentioned he was craving all week. The two dumped it on the bed, climbing on to cuddle the puppy. “Is everything okay hyung?” Innie asked quietly, face nuzzled into Minnie’s shoulder. The puppy hummed, wrapping his arms around the two cuties.

“Want a snack, Minnie?” The chick offered him a packet of gummy worms, dangling one right in his face with a goofy grin. Seungmin accepted it with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, chewing quietly. Well, that was a bust. The pup looked lost in thought, a frown creasing his handsome features.

Felix who was hugging him like a koala, leaned in to whisper in the pup’s ear. “A buff birdy told me you were upset cause the doc said you’ll have to wait to get your braces removed.” Jeongin gasped. ”Is that true hyungie? But you look so cute like this!”

Seungmin sighed again, killing Changbin would have to wait for later. He had whined to his hyung the entire ride back to the dorm and Bin had snitched. “Minnie? Do you hate your smile?” The sudden question had Seungmin staring blankly at Felix. “Why do you think that Lix?” He asked, deliberately trying to ignore the pang in his heart.

The blonde fished his phone out of his pocket, eventually turning the screen towards the puppy. The two carefully watched his expression souring when the video played. It was a compilation of all the moments where Seungmin would find some way to cover the lower half of his face using plushies, his hands or sweater paws.

Felix’s eyes were starting to get teary. How had they missed it for so long? Seungmin hastily patted his head, trying to come up with an excuse to convince the older that ‘it wasn't so bad’.

“It's not like that guys. I just- it just happened. It's not like- what stays are saying is true after all…” He trailed off in a small voice. "Those people are not stays hyung!" Jeongin said fiercely, gently cupping Seungmin's face. Felix almost cried then, but deciding to save the waterworks for later he yelled, “Chan hyung! Minho hyung!” Seungmin jumped in place at the sheer volume, eyes snapping to Lixie's in alarm.

In the next moment, the puppy found himself completely immobile. Jeongin was holding onto his wrists as if his life depended on it, while Felix leveraged his entire body weight to keep Seungmin pinned beneath him.

He shook his head, trying to free his hands and push the other off him to escape. He knew he wouldn't be able to run once Chan came in. With renewed strength, he ripped his hands free from Innie, mumbling apologies to the younger as he focused on Felix. Minnie had just managed to wrestle a very clingy chick off him, bolting through the door, running straight into the leader with a curious kitten right behind him.

“Shit!” He cursed silently, fighting the kangaroo, only to end up thrown over his shoulder in mere seconds, Minho slapping his butt as punishment.

Chan laid him down on the bed, keeping a tight grip around Seungmin’s waist as he and Minho watched the video on Felix’s phone. He understood the problem immediately.

Minho was already taking off Minnie’s socks, always ready for a nice, long wrecking. He sighed exasperatedly. “It's true hyung, you guys can just be honest with me. I know my smile doesn’t look as nice as everyone else’s.” He sounded so defeated, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes at the admission.

Chan’s expression was stormy, eyes narrowed and lips in a tight line. “I see. So that’s how you’ve seen yourself this whole time. I guess we’ll just have to convince you really well then hm.” His voice was deep and a little angry.

The puppy seemed to have taken that anger the wrong way, however, suddenly bursting into tears, face twisting as he sobbed. The four looked at him in surprise and Chan quickly gathered the sobbing boy into his arms and held him tight. “Hey, hey, hey. Baby I’m not mad at you. I promise I’m not, love. I’m mad at the people who put all that nonsense in your pretty head.”

They stayed like that a while, Felix leaving the room for a little and coming back with a small pouch in his hand. Minho grinned wide when he saw it, cracking his knuckles. “Hyung why don’t we show Seungminie how beautiful his smile looks?” Chan smirked back at him over Minnie’s shoulder, gently laying him back down on the bed and moving the pup’s hands to lay above his head.

Now, Seungmin was smart. He had known exactly what the four were planning, but unfortunately for him, they were much, much stronger. His hands were soon bound to the headboard by an eager Felix, any struggles and protests useless. His t-shirt was pushed up and Minho straddled his thighs. Grabbing a bottle of oil from Felix’s pouch he poured a generous amount right into Seungmin’s naval.

Chan just sat back and watched for now, grinning at the pup when he gave him his best puppy eyes. The leader shook his head firmly at him. If that was really the way Seungmin had seen himself this entire time, then they needed to show him that it wasn’t true. It was heartbreaking to see one of their maknaes being so insecure about such a beautiful part of themselves.

“Ugh this is so stupid.” He rolled his eyes at the scoffs it earned him. “Let me go!”

“Did you think we were just playing around here baby?” Minho asked quietly. “This isn’t a joke love. Don’t worry, though, you’ll love your smile soon enough.”

The puppy bit his lips, trying his best to muffle his sounds when the mischievous kitten dipped his pinky into his belly button, then spread the oil all over his exposed tummy with his nails, making it tickle so much! Felix and Jeongin sat on either side of his head, their sly grins promising nothing good. The maknae got ahold of his elbows, pressing them down on the bed so that the puppy was helpless to Lixie’s plan.

As Innie held his hands, he rubbed soothing circles on the inner side of Minnie's forearm. Even that felt ticklish to the sensitive pup and he tried wiggling away, much to the amusement of the fox. “What’s wrong Seungmin hyung? Does even this tickle you?” Seungmin’s flustered expression had him surprised. “Does this even count as tickling? I’m barely touching you!”

“Shut up! Thihis isn’t fahahair!! Ir’s fohour against one!” “Aww babes, all is fair in love and war. And we love you sooo much, so that means we get to tickle you just as much!” Came Lixie’s sassy answer, his fingers starting to circle around the puppy’s underarms.

When the actual torment began, Seungmin tried his hardest to slide down the bed but the restraints and Jeongin’s hands held him securely. All his struggles seemed to do was make his shirt ride up higher, exposing more skin that Minho happily took advantage of. The oil had the kitten’s fingers skating over the swells and sinks of the younger’s sensitive torso.

“Shihihihit! Ahahahahahah.” He tried to take it at first, squirming lightly and simply letting the slow, scratchy fingers reduce him into childish giggles.

But the longer it drew on for, the more sensitive he felt and he wiggled weakly, his body to having lost all strength, pleas falling along freely through his melodious laughter. “Hehehehe hyu-hyuhung, Minho hyung plehehease chanhange chahahhange spahohots!! It tihihickles sohoho bahahad!!”

Minho took pity on him and let up on Minnie's belly, keeping in mind to revisit that spot in a bit. A hand ghosted over his now bare waist, Seungmin's breath hitching in anticipation. “Hehehehehehe nohohoo,” he pleaded sweetly, eyes forming little crescents with how wide his smile was.

“Hehehe yehes!” Minho mocked, spreading the oil around before pressing the pads of his fingers into the soft skin. The puppy’s body jolted, back arching only to come crashing down when the evil kitten vibrated his fingers, laughing diabolically. Witho

At Chan’s suggestion, they paused for a break. Despite having just started, Seungmin seemed to need some time to adjust. The leader waited till his breath steadied, then brought his hands up to hover over the puppy. He air tickled him for a while, teasing the poor lee when he flinched and yelped and shrieked even though Chan hadn’t laid a finger on him. Then he dived in. Just him as the others rested their hands. The leader was relentless, changing spots so fast Seungmin’s tickle-fried brain couldn’t keep up.

The puppy desperately kicked out his legs, accidentally tangling them in the blankets and making finding himself even more immobile. Jeongin snickered at him, reaching over to rain pokes at any bit of his hyung that he could reach. “Channie hyung! Chahahannihihie hyhuhung…”

“Oh, it’s Channie hyung now, is it?” The leader teased, amusedly.

Then Felix joined in, tickling his tummy as he collected some oil, dipping a wriggling finger into his navel and swirling around until he was satisfied with the pup’s reaction, then he would smooth the oil over his pits and slowly scratch at the skin. “Lihihix, Lihihihix please ohoho my GAHAHAD!”

And Seungmin wasn’t sure if it was the oil or the fact that he could barely budge or both but it tickled a hundred times worse, bringing him to want to surrender but he held back. His armpits were usually a bad spot but it felt much worse now when Innie kept him immobile, no matter how much he struggled.

Minnie’s eyes squeezed shut from how much it tickled, uncontrollable giggles slipping easily from his lips, braces in full visibility. No matter which way he twisted or how hard he tugged at his bound hands, he was completely and truly helpless.

They slowed down, allowing the puppy to breathe through his soft airy laughter. Eventually, they paused to give the puppy a break, removing the restraints on his hands, giggling and pulling him back when he tried to crawl away.

“Nuh uh, you aren’t going anywhere till we’re done with you pup.” Chan patted him on the head. “Yeah, we still have part 2 to complete after all!” Everyone looked at Minho in surprise.

“What’s part 2 hyung?” Jeongin asked curiously. “We’re going to have Seungminie, here see just how pretty his smile is and then he’ll finally admit that his smile is the prettiest in the world! Right Minnie?” He turned towards a dumbfounded pup, “You’ll be good and say it for us, right?”

At the lack of response, Minho sent a quick scribble to Minnie’s side. “W-what? No it’s not, hyung!” A round of sighs filled the space. “Get him!” And then it was chaos once more. But now poor Seungmin was weakened from the previous torture.

For the finale, his hands were yanked behind him by Innie and his body was maneuvered to sit facing the tall mirror that sat by the side of his bed, his feet dangling off the side of the bed and back resting on Innie’s chest.

He stared at his wrecked appearance. His hair was a complete mess, clothes ruffled and his face was so red. He looked away with a shuddering breath. The half-smile he’d had when Innie had restrained him fell right off his face.

But then Felix’s fingers wormed their way into his ribs and he was cackling, trying to lean away but the maknae had a death grip on him. He could only within the space of the mirror. The pup caught fleeting glances at the bright smile on his face. He looked happy!

“Hehehehehe ihihit tihihickles~” It made him feel warm inside that his bandmates were so worried about him and that they were adamant enough to be firm in this. They knew Seungmin always pretended to hate the affection. He was truly grateful to have them in his life.

Then Chan and Minho joined and every thought Seungmin had had in his head vanished. There was a devious smile playing on Chan’s lips. The three lers watched as he sat on the floor and caught Seungmin’s flailing legs.

The puppy was still too incapacitated to notice, laughing and shrieking his little head off as the others kept up their attacks. Then the fourth pair of hands joined in and he went ballistic. Blunt nails dragged over his bare soles, courtesy of Minho, scribbling over his arches and scratching at the balls of his feet. “FAHAHAHAHAHAHA…” He couldn’t even form a coherent sentence, laughter quickly cutting off.

With the way Jeongin held him, Seungmin was forced to watch himself laughing his head off as the trio absolutely wrecked him. Finally unable to look at the braces that seemed to glare at him through his reflection, he did the only thing he could.

Cackling and squirming, he turned his face to the side but immediately felt gentle hands holding his chin and tilting his head in the direction of the mirror again. “Uh uh, this isn’t gonna stop until you really look at yourself and admit the truth.”

“Youhuhu guhuhuys SUCK!!” The puppy was insanely flustered. It had been a while since he’s really looked at his face without any makeup on, his bangs shading his eyes and cheeks pink in embarrassment. but the puppy (not so) secretly loved the attention.

His face burned, hair disheveled, tear tracks shining over red cheeks as he writhed in their hold and begged. His smile was so wide, braces in full view and anyone could see how absolutely precious the sight was. And Seungmin couldn’t think of anything to say. For the first time in forever his mind was silent and his voice was loud. He laughed and laughed and laughed so joyously.

“Say it Seungminnie~ Unless you want this to go on?” Minho taunted him, a maniacal smile playing on his lips.

Seungmin hesitated, not wanting to admit such a thing but the longer he stalled, the more unbearable everything felt. And when Felix plunged his small index finger into his navel, Seungmin gave in. “Okahahay okahay, STHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHA. PLEASE.”

Jeongin released Seungmin’s hands, the pup’s arms clamping to his sides immediately. Innie started tickling his shoulders and collarbones, dragging longish nails up and down his back and watching as the puppy threw his head back and squirmed, the sweetest of giggles spilling from his lips like honey. His wide smile showed of his braces and everyone in the room couldn’t help but coo at the adorable sight.

“Ihihihinie ihihihit soho bahahahahahad!!” “Aww, is hyungie too ticklish for this?”

Their fingers maneuvered expertly to have him in tears. His limbs felt like jelly, and despite not being pinned any longer, he could still do nothing. There was no strength behind his hands as they pushed and pulled at the hands running all over his body. “HEHEHEHEHE...”

“Do you still hate your smile? Do you? Hm, do you?” Minho kept asking him, partly to annoy the puppy. Minnie shook his head, crying out, “No! No, I don’t, I dohoHOHON’T AHAHAHAHAHA…” “Then say it, admit that your smile is the prettiest in the whole world.”

Fingers skittered up his legs and all his resolve crumbled. “What about riiiiiight here?” Minho asked, fingers squeezing Minnie's thighs now. “NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAA.” Seungmin's entire body jolted and with a strangled yelp, he dissolved further into helpless laughter. It's was bad. It was bad. It was SO BAD!!

It was all too much, the tickles driving every stray thought from his mind and finally the puppy gave in, “Okay OKAHAHAHAY MY SMILE IS THE PREHIHITTIEST, EHEHENAHOUGH, AHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA.” His words turned incoherent, Seungmin now left howling in laughter, feeling like he was truly going insane.

It quickly went silent when Chan moved to plant a few parting raspberries to his sides before letting up. The rest following suit before they actually killed their cute puppy, giggling at the mess the boy was.

“I hate you guhuys, you’re so mean! Seungmin whined, scratching over the tingly spots all over his body. “Aww you don’t mean that, didn’t our sweet puppy have fun too?” Chan chirped in a baby voice, moving to nuzzle fondly at the pup’s belly, only to pull away with a laugh when the puppy yelped and scrambled away. “I’m not gonna tickle you again…for now.” He assured the red-faced boy. They gave him some water and Felix went to run a warm bath for him to relax in. It was pretty late after all.

While the tired boy enjoyed his bath, the four collected all the scattered snacks off of the floor and arranged his bed. They chose a movie and waited for the puppy to come out. As soon as the pup was out, the two oldest members wrapped Seungmin up in a cozy blanket burrito, Innie carding his hands soothingly through his hair.

Seungmin kicked out in annoyance when they started rocking him like a baby. A warning poke to his sides, however, had him surrendering to the aftercare. They pampered the puppy, eating the snacks and laughing and chattering on as the movie played in the background.

And they were rest assured that the next time Seungmin went for an appointment, he would feel confident about his beautiful smile, braces or not.

I'm starting to think I should write more stories where Seungmin just sits back and takes it...honestly that would be more in character for him 🥰💞

Please let me know if there are any mistakes, I didn't have a chance to proofread this well🥺😣

[kukumisworld]

Sukuna x reader

Warning: NSFW ; exhibitionism

"N-not here.." you whispered as you placed your hand on top of his, pinching it to stop him from going higher on your leg.

"Come on princess, no one can see us~" he smirked and leaned closer, whispering into your ear. "The table is covering us up just fine~ as long as you dont make any noises or do something strange they wont catch on"

He tried to convince you as his hand gripped your thigh, massaging the inner side with his fingers. Biting your lips you let go of his hand and moved closer to him. Immediately after he pushed his hand under your skirt and pressed his palm up to your clothed pussy. Smirking as he talked next to your ear.

"Hmm is this my favorite? The cute lace panties with the small bow at the front... and open in the middle" he whispered and bite your ear. Ignoring the glances people sent your way.

"Stop talking" you sighed and turned to look at his face, your eyes meeting his which was clouded with alcohol and want.

"Mhmm~ i should use a mouth for something else huh?" He chuckled after you flinched from the sudden wetness that pressed up to your cunt.

"Y-you.. using this one me, so unfair" you blushed and pressed your face into his shoulder, hiding the redness and tears formed in the corner of your eyes. Not answering your words Sukuna just simply chuckled and turned away, chatting with his friends who walked up to the booth then sat down. The music playing in the background drowning out the small noises you let out.

"Didnt know i would meet you guys here today" He laughed and using his fingers he nudged you to spread your legs a bit then pushed hid hand lower. The tongue slowly sliding over your clit and teased it a bit making you shiver. "Excuse my girlfriend~ she had too many drinks" He said and glanced at you, smirking as he leaned closer and wiggled his hand around. Caressing your with his fingers while the tongue fron the mouth on his palm kept licking you slowly. His tongue moved around skillfully, he touches and caressed you the way that made you go weak, making you tremble from the stimulation.

"S-sukuna~" you moaned out softly and tilted your head to look up at you, eyes teary and lips red and wet with saliva from biting it to keep your noises down.

"Hmm? Whats wrong precious?" He asked back and cupped your cheek, his hand covering your face up so others cant see you. He leaned down and kissed your lips, biting it lightly "Be a good girl, this is not the right place to act like a whore unless you want to be watched by others" he said and patted your cheek before letting go and turn away.

Clinging onto his arm you tried your best to stay still and keep quiet. "Close.. im close~" you whined and bite his shoulder as your eyed rolled back and squeezed your legs together. "Stop~ ahh" you gasped with your hands shooting down to grab his wrist. Gripping it tightly as the tongue kept lapping at your dripping cunt, cleaning up the mess.

"Cant let you go home like this" he said and brought a tissue over, wiping your eyes and then chin before pulling his hand out from your skirt and wiped the wetness off of it. "Hmm good girl" he praised you and stood up from the seat. "Time to go home~" aftee he said that you looked up and noticed the looks in the eyes of the people at the table. Some were blushing, some was sipping on their drinks to hide their face and the rest was smirking, looking at you two knowingly.

"Have fun you two" one of the guys called out then laughed only to be pushed by by an another person.

"Oh we will" Sukuna laughed and pulled you to his side, holding you by your waist. "Come on pretty girl, im not done with you yet"

[ruggiethethuggie]

HAPPIER THAN EVER

WC: 1722 tags: cater x reader, gn!reader, cussing, concerts, angst angst angst, toxic relationships referenced, i am so sorry, this bitch ain't proofread lmao

also be sure to listen to this song as you read to really feel the full effect 😈 ❤️ Spotify Link | Youtube Link ❤️

♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️

“Please go with me. It sounds fun; I don’t want to go alone.” Your friend’s words fell on deaf ears as you ignored them, aimlessly scrolling your phone instead. You felt your phone ripped out of your hands. “Please,” your friend said with pleading eyes and holding your phone high up in the air from you. “Fine,” you said as you snatched the flier from their hands. “What even is this?” You looked over the printed ad, staring back at your friend confused. “It’s a concert. They have tons of talent come in and they do covers of songs and sometimes you get to hear originals. Look, this is who all is gonna be there,” they pointed at the bottom of the paper at the list of group names.

“Red Royals, The V is For Vampire, Diamond,” you shook your head at your friend. “I haven’t heard of any of these people. What if this is ass?” Your friend scoffed at your words. “You never want to do anything fun. You haven’t wanted to go anywhere since you and whatever his name was broke up and that was like two years ago. Don’t you think you should try to be happy for once?” You rolled your eyes at their response, but they were right. That breakup was messy, the turmoil of the toxic relationship had finally erupted and you decided to end it. No one knew the real story of what happened, you kept that to yourself. Maybe it was time to finally move on, try to put yourself out there again. “This place is over an hour away, I’m not driving,” you said sternly. Your friend’s eyes lit up, taking that as a sign that you were going to attend the concert with them. “That’s fine, I’ll drive!” they exclaimed.

♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️ — ♦️

Later that evening you and your friend arrived at the concert venue. It was already packed before the first set ever played. “Wow, there’s so many people here. It’s just small bands, right? I didn’t think there would be this many people,” you said as you looked around the room. The crowd was so full it looked like everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder as they waited. “Some are small, but a few already have a good size following. Like The V is For Vampire guy? His fans are wild, I’ve seen them on the internet before. They’re insane. And that other group, Diamond, they have a good following, too,” you friend explained. You nodded your head as you saw the lights flicker off overhead. The crowd shouted in anticipation, the lighting change meant the first set would start soon.

You enjoyed the concert as the first few sets took the stage. Most of the songs they played were your typical rock covers of pop songs, but you didn’t mind it. You were actually glad you had been invited tonight; this beat sitting at home and wallowing in your self pity. You heard a few excuse me’s coming from behind you. You figured someone was trying to get through the crowd. You moved out of the way towards your friend as a band member for one of the groups made his way by you. You assumed at least he was one of the members, he was carrying an instrument case over his back and had his drumsticks in his back pocket. You could see the logo on the side of the case that read “Diamond” as he motioned for his other bandmates to follow him through the crowd.

Without even realizing, you looked in the direction he was gesturing to. And that’s when you saw what you weren’t expecting to see. The ginger haired, green eyed member carrying his guitar case on his back. You could feel your heart stop in your chest, the air in your lungs getting caught in your throat as he walked by you. “Cater?” you said puzzled as he was next to you. Hearing his name, he stopped walking and looked at you. His gaze looked annoyed, maybe it was because they were late to the venue? “Cater?” you said again. “Oh, hey,” he said with a small nod as his gaze shifted to other parts of the room. You hadn’t seen him since the day that you two had broken up, the day that you had ended it all. The day that you broke his heart. But seeing him here in front of you, it gave you a warm feeling in your chest that you didn’t expect.

The silence between you two grew awkward. “Cater, come on, man,” his band mate shouted from up ahead. “I have to go. But it was nice seeing you,” he said with a slight smile. “Yeah, duh, of course,” you said with a pause. “I- I can’t wait to see your set.” He lightly chuckled as he looked down. “Yeah, me too. I hope you like it.” He gave another small nod and made his way to his other bandmates, disappearing off backstage to get ready for their own set. You felt your hand grab your arm. “What was that about? You know Diamond?” they asked confusedly with their mouth hung open. “That’s … Cater…,” you said looking at the direction to go backstage. “Wait, you mean like the Cater? Like your ex Cater?” You didn’t think your friend’s mouth could hang open any wider than it was.

“Yes, the Cater,” you said with a sigh. Your friend huffed and crossed their arms. “Hmph, well. We don’t have to stay for his group’s set if you don’t want to. I wouldn’t wanna watch my shitty ex’s performance,” they said, narrowing their eyes at the stage. “No, it’s- it’s fine. We can stay,” you said quietly as the group on stage finished. Part of you felt guilty for what you told all your friends. None of them had actually gotten to meet Cater during the time that you two dated. He was busy working two jobs, trying to save enough money for the real dreams and goals he had. You had told your friends that the breakup was because of how toxic he was in the relationship, but in all actuality, you were the one who was toxic- always upset that he was putting his dreams first, upset that he tried his best to give you the time and attention you craved, but nothing was ever good enough for you. He was never good enough for you. Your breakup with him ended with you telling him that his love for you wasn’t ever going to be good enough because he never made you a priority and only gave you excuses.

The anticipation for his group’s set was agonizing. You knew he would write song lyrics in his free time when you were together, something you always said didn’t make any sense. You didn’t think he would be in a band actually performing. Would he be performing songs he wrote, or did another member write their music? Finally, after a while, you saw his group take the stage to set up their guitars and equipment.  The crowd cheered as Cater approached the mic stand. “Hey everyone, uhh, thanks for being here tonight. We’re Diamond, hope you enjoy the songs,” he said with a heart melting smile and wink to the crowd as his group started their performance. Watching him perform on stage was mesmerizing. Why did you ever tell him that this wasn’t worth it? He looked so happy on stage, strumming his guitar and singing his heart out. They played a few songs before he spoke again to the crowd.

“You guys havin’ a great time?” he shouted with a wide smile. The whole crowd, including yourself, screamed in bliss. “Awesome! We have one more song. This one is an original; one I wrote a few years ago about the love of my life,” he said with a shake of his head and sigh. You could feel your friend’s eyes on you, burning a hole through your skull as they stared. “What?” you said harshly to them. They raised their eyebrows at you. “You think it’s about you?” They gave a playful laugh as you rolled your eyes at them. You figured that Cater had already moved on, the song was probably a love song about his new partner. But you were wrong.

He started to play the chords on his guitar and sing. “You called me again, drunk in your benz. Driving home under the influence, You scared me to death.” The lyrics of the song hit you like a truck as you thought back to after your breakup. You were reckless back then, upset at the world and blaming everyone but yourself. You remembered the night you had called him, a few weeks after you broke up with him, drunk and saying nonsense to him on your way home from the bar. That was the last time you had decided to go out before tonight. The venue felt like it and time were frozen, except for you and Cater, as he sang on stage. You could feel your anxiety rising, your whole body heating up as you tried to contain your emotions. Your friend didn’t even realize what you were going through.

“I don’t relate to you. I don’t relate to you, no. Cause I’d never treat me this shitty, you made me hate this city,” he sang with a silvery voice with his eyes closed, really feeling the lyrics and music. Your mind was blanking, your hearing muffling as he strummed his guitar. He opened his eyes and looked at you in the crowd as he sang the next part of the song. You couldn’t hear half of it, your anxiety high enough that you felt like you wanted to pass out. You stumbled as you turned around, trying to make your way through the crowd and to the bathroom to try and catch your breath. You felt panicky as you got into the bathroom, grabbing the sink to try and stabilize yourself. Cater’s muffled performance ringing through the bathroom. Your anxiety reached its peak as you stood there, tears streaming down your cheeks as you fought your body from hyperventilating. You never knew exactly how much you had hurt him that day, but now you did.

© please do not copy and or repost my work as your own, my brain is massive and these are my thoughts. Also- I love Cater, I swear.

[hiddenlittleoasis]

At last a new story has seen the light of day!

Here it is! Please enjoy :)

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

“There’s so many people here…” he paused as he leaned in close to her ear. “That must make you very nervous, young Willow.”

She kept her head down, focused on the list her father had given her of things to fetch from the market. Usually such a thing was her father’s job, but he had claimed to be too busy with the animals on their woodland farm that day. She whispered back, “I’m not supposed to talk with you in public.”

“And look at you already breaking that rule! Are you going to bring home a suitor for yourself or are you going to disappoint your old man further?”

“What? The list doesn’t-”

“Oh please! I’ve seen it countless times. The naive forest girl gets her first taste of the city and is swept off her feet by some handsome hunk, they run off to the forest, have babies, and so it repeats,” he dramatically twirled through the crowd as he spun his tale, not one of which spared him a passing glance. “Why else do you think your old man made up excuses for you to have your first trip into the city? You’re at that age to marry and further the family line..and you know what happens if you don’t!”

“He wouldn’t send me out alone if he didn't need to.”

“Well you’re hardly alone! You’ve got me with you!”

“For better or for worse…” Willow mumbled.

It seemed to be for neither better nor worse that Willow had company with her, as he spent most of his time teasing unresponsive strangers while she did the work.

Yet he could only spend so long before growing bored of teasing people who paid him no mind. With what physical force he could muster, he nudged an apple into Willow’s bag as she left one of the shops, and the stolen merchandise didn’t escape the eye of the storekeeper. The angry voice of the storekeeper as they started to yell at her was enough to startle Willow before she even could comprehend what was being said. He was already at her side, voice filled with urgency, “Run Willow! You know what they do when they think you’ve stolen something?”

“I didn’t!”

“They take your hands and chop them right off! They aren’t going to believe the strange forest girl, so get running!” Without another moment of hesitation, she did. Past all the wonders of the city, until he stopped her.

“Smell that Willow?”

“No.”

He carried on, ignoring her interjection, “So many wasted souls, all stored together in one place! You’ve never been to a graveyard before, let me show you around!”

“No!”

“It’ll keep that tasteless shopkeep away from you, people are scared of places like these. Oh look! There he comes now!”

“...fine!” His face twisted into an excited smile as she begrudgingly gave in and followed his lead.

“How sad for their dead,” he commented. “All these plants have grown over like weeds. Now young Willow, please tell me you do know what we’re walking through.”

“I’m not a child..”

“And?” Hollering of the frustrated shopkeep rushing past the entrance of the graveyard filled the silence as he awaited her response. After an awkwardly long pause he began to speak again, “A graveyard is where they store the dead. People are much more boring this way. If you take a deep breath..” He stopped in place to demonstrate, inhaling deeply and exhaling excitedly, “Oh one of these is still fresh! Come on Willow, I’ll be needing you!” As terrible as the idea was, she feared being lost alone in this place more than whatever he could need her for, so she followed.

“Ah! This one here! See how the dirt isn’t yet covered with grass and moss? The stone is clean and legible? This is a fresh grave, the body shouldn’t even be in that bad of condition! But the soul…” He inhaled deeply again, catching Willow’s concerned stare in his peripheral view. “Well? Get digging!”

“What? A dead body is in there! No way!”

“Willow.” He leaned in close, his obnoxious persona lost and replaced by something much more unsettling as he stared at her. “I said dig. You’ll be smart to listen.” Without giving her a moment to hesitate his hands blended into hers, and together they started digging. The closer they got to the body the more he became her. The more he controlled her movements and the more Willow’s consciousness dwindled. The more the frightened tears slowed and the world went quiet…

…then dark too.

“Well, this is quite the change of scenery!”

“It’s a prison cell!” Willow’s frightened voice sharply rose in pitch after having taken a moment to piece together her new environment. “What did you do?!”

He paused and watched her for a few moments before evenly speaking, “Well I would hardly start throwing around accusations, but since you don’t remember..” There was another moment of silence as he prepared for the oncoming scolding. “We may have been interrupted, and I am not one to share my food. So I just scared off the peanut gallery with a little fire.”

What came next wasn’t a loud reprimanding, but a quiet faltering voice, one too aware of the situation. This was somehow worse, “You…in public?”

“They think you’re a witch! Powerful, majestic, mystical…” He trailed off as Willow’s hands started to shake, the smell of smoke still clinging to her once borrowed form. “...yeah, they didn’t say it like a good thing.”

“They’ll kill me because of you!”

“Hey! Dying isn’t such a bad thing! There’s no more curses once you’re dead, unless someone-” the trembling hands around his wrist stopped him in his place.

“Please help me..”

“Oh dear young Willow, I would love to, but you know what that would take.”

“I’m not allowed to give you what you want! You made this mess for me so fix it!”

He pulled his arm away from her as her begging turned to demands, “Then my hands are tied.” He stepped back and slipped from her view, “Solve your own problems.”

Left alone for a crime she didn’t commit, the girl cried to herself over the destiny that had been given to her. The doings of ancestors long before her time had burdened their bloodline with this curse of containing something that was always doomed to break free. The people who this very burden was to protect now gathered the girl to kill her for it.

He didn’t return again until she was standing on the pyre.

“Forgive me..” his gaze strayed from her teary eyes as the strangers of the city tied her ropes. “I know you blame me for how things are turning out, but it was always going to come to something like this. Your family put in quite the noble effort and all…” There was no need to recount the history of the forest girl when her time left was so rapidly dwindling. His uncanny stare found her face again as he chose to get to the point. “They’re already lighting the matches Willow. Let me extend to you one last deal…a mercy before you go.” He reached to wipe away the tears on her cheek, phasing through her skin like a warm brush of a breeze. “Oh please, stop crying...”

His gentle request was almost lost against the roar of the spectating crowd as the match met the pyre, yet Willow’s gaze was fixed on him. She could blame him for every grievance of her short life, but he was the only one who was there with her through every moment. Perhaps there was no one better to stay with her as she died than he who, through some sick twist of fate, was her closest friend and her condemner. He finally spoke again once her cheeks were in his phantasmal hands and his body blocked her view of those in the crowd. “Renounce it.”

“Renounce what’s left of our curse. I can’t spare you from your ending, but I can take your life before the pain of what they’ve done reaches you. Come on Willow, make up your mind!”

She wasn’t given time to hesitate, the flames already reflecting in her weeping eyes. Her voice shook as she opened her parched and trembling lips, but her whisper was clear, and with her final breath, “I release you Salix.”

As the empty body of a cursed girl shriveled, from the roaring flames of the fire emerged an unnatural creature with a twisted smile and a devilish appetite for mortals.

[leonsrightlations]

The Earth is Online Chapter 15.1

(Under cut to prevent spoilers.)

“Your first words were, ‘I am also not a stowaway.’ This sentence is saying, ‘the previous person and I are the same. Neither of us are stowaways.’”

The young woman’s whole face was covered in tears. She unceasingly shook her head in denial.

Tang Mo said, “According to the current situation, without a doubt, the probability of me being a stowaway is the lowest. Next is him, then him.” He pointed one by one to Li Bin and Luo Fengcheng.

He raised his head. “However, there’s no person we can be certain definitely isn’t a stowaway. There’s also a possibility that I’m a stowaway. But your first words just acknowledged that the chef who spoke before you isn’t a stowaway. The one who knows for sure that the chef isn’t a stowaway is only the stowaway themself.”

The young woman’s body shivered and she didn’t stop wiping her tears, but now there was no one who would again dare to approach and console her.

No matter how weak her outward appearance was, she had been a murderer all along.

Li Bin also sharply nodded. “That’s right. When I heard you say what you said, I felt that there was something fishy. Regarding what happened during those three days, you remember it the clearest and can even declare specific times. You definitely made up this lie early on to be able to make such a smooth declaration.”

This point was very obvious. As soon as Li Bin pointed it out, Li Wen and the other two with him [1] were all suddenly illuminated.

“So it’s like this! You’re definitely a stowaway. Such a small child can really go as far as killing someone? That’s too awful.”

The young woman was still working hard to make excuses. “I haven’t…” But after wailing a few sentences, she seemed to also feel she couldn’t make people believe her again, and gave up struggling. She didn’t speak again and only continued to weep.

Paying no attention to the cook’s lament, Tang Mo said, “Mr. Luo, do you think this guess is correct?”

Luo Fengcheng had always been standing at the side not speaking. When Tang Mo suddenly steered the topic in his direction, he only rhetorically asked, “Do we now still have to guess who the stowaway is? You don’t need to mention other clues. These two points are already enough to prove who the stowaway is. It’s just that I’m quite curious… Who did you kill?”

Everyone’s gazes all turned to the young woman.

No matter how many tears there are, they will eventually run dry, but people’s fears won’t disappear.

In the corner of the underground cavern, the big mole rustled as it dug, whistling a sharp, mocking tune. It took out a piece of bloody meat from who knows where and chewed on it with its big mouth, its tiny eyes surreptitiously looking at the seven people. The young woman fearfully shivered, unable to cry anymore. She looked to Lin Qiao in search of help. Lin Qiao was still soft-hearted and couldn’t bear it, turning her head so that she wasn’t looking at the young woman. What the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve. [2]

After a good long time, a hoarse voice softly sounded.

“You have all decided that I’m a stowaway? Yes, I killed him. But that can’t be considered murder. It absolutely can’t!” The young woman lowered her head. No one could have imagined that the young woman whose voice was ice cold like steel was the one who had just now been weeping pitifully. She raised her head. “Can that be considered murder? I gave him life!”

The voice of one who had been forced into desperate straits resonated in the cave, shrill and ear-piercing.

At this time, many of them remembered. This young woman seemed very thin and weak and her expression was also very bad, but just because she looks petite doesn’t mean she was an ignorant child. She wasn’t little. **[3]**

Tang Mo frowned in astonishment. This answer completely went beyond his expectations. Without waiting for him to speak, Luo Fengcheng already said, “You didn’t eliminate your parents?”

A mournful, helpless expression flitted across the young woman’s face. “How can I eliminate my mom and dad? They’re so good to me. The one I eliminated…it’s that thing that shouldn’t have been born!”

Her answer was abundantly clear. This time, even the cook, who was the least clever of them, understood.

The young woman said in an ice-cold tone, “You all say that I lied, but it can’t actually be called lying. I didn’t need to make up those words, because for the past three months, I’ve lived this kind of life. I was cheated by a scumbag and accidentally became pregnant. The doctor said it had been more than seven months and I couldn’t have an abortion. It was very possible that if I did, I wouldn’t be able to have children again afterward, and my life might even be in danger. I absolutely didn’t want that child. But my mom said she didn’t want me to regret it afterward and also didn’t want me to take that kind of risk. The child would be raised by them. They had me give birth to that thing.”

The young woman raised her tear-stained face, her line of sight sweeping past each and every person.

“I’m not as smart as you and I don’t have any use to you, but I only want to live well. To live my life. During those three days, I was hospitalized. On the evening of the second day, I gave birth to that thing.”

Tang Mo’s eyes flashed.

Actually, in the young woman’s words, there had been another two obvious gaps.

One of those was that she said her mom didn’t care about the Black Tower problem. If her mom really didn’t fear the Black Tower, why did she say, on the evening of the second day, that phrase, ‘don’t be afraid?’ What was there to fear from the Black Tower?

This was a contradiction from beginning to end.

Tang Mo initially thought the young woman was lying and not doing a good job of it. Now it seemed that this phrase, ‘don’t be afraid,’ was said so that she would be unafraid and do her best to give birth to the child. No matter what happened later, don’t be afraid of any of it.

“So long as you’re good, I’ll be fine.” This was her mom that, as a mother, she would spare no effort to protect her child. She wouldn’t let her child land in desperate straits.

The young woman’s expression was vicious but her eyes still flashed with a thread of regret and reluctance. Her tone was resolute. “That evening, he was crying. I couldn’t sleep and couldn’t stand it… I eliminated him. He absolutely shouldn’t exist!”

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but say, “You didn’t have to give him life, but you gave him life. He had the right to live.”

“He was going to ruin my life! I’m not even married!” [4] The young woman’s eyes saddened and turned red.

Tang Mo flatly said, “He was just born.”

The young woman suddenly choked and silently lowered her head, not speaking again.

This truth was different from what Tang Mo had imagined. He originally thought the young woman had killed someone by accident, most probably her parents. Because she was barely an adult and was too naive, she wasn’t burdened with the feeling that she had killed someone, and all the things she’d said were lies. The truth was that she detested that child, so even when she was exposed, she completely lacked remorse or panic.

The cook excitedly wrung his hands. “So we found the stowaway, right? We don’t need to die, right? That big mole wants her, not us.”

These words were a bit unpleasant. Li Bin knit his brows. “En, she already admitted that she’s a stowaway.”

Tang Mo said, “What is your ability? Stowaways and official players are the same. They all definitely have abilities.”

The young woman had previously almost been grabbed by the big mole to be eaten up and she hadn’t displayed her ability.

Tang Mo thought about it and said, “Does it have something to do with that flashlight?”

The young woman wiped the tears on her face. “You want to know what my ability is?”

Not only Tang Mo, Luo Fengcheng also said, “It should have something to do with the flashlight.”

The young woman clenched her fingers and suddenly gave a strange laugh. “Yes, I’m a stowaway. You want to deliver me to that mole? My mom died, my dad died, I also have to die…don’t any of you think about living either!”

In an instant, a huge match appeared in the young woman’s palm.

It might be because she had just given birth, but even though she had an ability and her constitution had increased, she was still very short and thin. The match was practically half as tall as her. She brandished the big match and rushed toward everyone, first charging at the cook who had just then taken delight in her misfortune and wanted her to go die.

“I’ll kill you! If I die, don’t even think about living!!!”

[PREV] [TOC] [NEXT]

Important footnotes this time please read them!!!!! Scroll down to **[3]** and beyond if you don't want to read anything else.

Half a chapter this week and next week. Potentially the next two weeks as well. Unfortunately, I work in retail and it's the holiday season (among other things). I just don't have the energy to do a full chapter each week at the moment. ):

Character Refresher:

Li Bin (李彬), 29, male, works at a PR firm.

Peng Yu Wen (彭玉雯), 18, female, first year of university. Small, looks like a junior high student.

Tang Mo (唐陌), 23, male, librarian. Our protagonist! :D

Li Wen (黎文), 25, male, unemployed. A foolishly sweet second generation who plays around with female celebrities!?!?

Lin Qiao (林巧), 20, female, university student, Gamer.

Zhao Xiang (赵翔), 32, male, former chef.

Luo Fengcheng (洛风城), 28, Black Tower researcher, wears glasses and looks refined.

Uncle Mole (鼹鼠叔叔), a cute mole who is eating melon seeds meat and wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! ^_^

Translation Notes:

[1] 黎文三人 - lit. Li Wen’s three people, i.e. the group of three people headed by Li Wen. This should be referring to Lin Qiao and the cook.

[2] 眼不见为净 - lit. what’s unseen is clean

(jk Lin Qiao's too nice for that)

**[3]** This is an important translation note so I put asterisks next to it. Comparing this paragraph to the original online text cleared up a lot of things that were confusing me about this whole arc both because of the text itself and my memories of reading TEIO the first time. It felt weird to me that the published version kept referring to her as a little girl even though she’s eighteen and only two years younger than Lin Qiao. The text also kept calling her a junior high student and Luo Fengcheng even implies that her lack of reaction stems from her innocence as a child. Can an eighteen year old university student still be called an ignorant child who doesn’t understand what murder is?? I also remember being way less suspicious of her the first time I read the novel and I like to think I’m at least a LITTLE bit harder to trick…

However!!!!!

It turns out that she’s eighteen in the print version and was fifteen in the original text. This makes the entire way she’s viewed by the other characters and spoken about by the narrator make way way way more sense. I intend to go back and edit the ‘young woman’s into ‘little girl’s to preserve the author’s original intention. I haven’t decided whether I’ll go back and alter the age back to the original yet. Feel free to comment if you have an opinion. I think it’s pretty obvious that this change was made due to censorship (the reasons for which should become clear in the rest of this chapter) and not as a late stage edit by the author to better suit the text. 

[4] Just reiterating the above footnote by saying that her original response is that her life would be ruined because she is only fifteen. This also makes Tang Mo’s following retort make a lot more sense. “Maybe you are only fifteen, but he was just born.” <- is the original subtext.

[further footnote] There are additional changes throughout this part of the text that really bring home the point about her age. For example, when the official print version says 'she's barely an adult' the original text says that fifteen isn't that young and that she's almost an adult. There are also additional details about her relationship with the father of the child and his responsibility in the situation. Also, rather than the way the print version insists on referring to her actions as 'elimination,' she directly says she smothered the baby with a pillow. :|

So...uh...

See you next week!

[solesommerso]

acknowledging the bad || part of my slow fall au!

pairing : sarah reese x noah sexton || read on ao3

prompt : 038, the beach in the late afternoon.

warnings : mentions/talk of past sh, scars, angst, talk of noah having a bad childhood << there I said it!! his optimism is a cover up!! don’t lie!!

-

The air is humid but comfortable with the sea breeze balancing out the heat wave. Sarah sits beside Noah, her yellow towel pressed up against his green one, they match as both residents had to go to the store this morning to pick up beach equipment after April and Ethan invited them out. Which is a bit surprising considering their apartment is right by the beach, they both ignored it. Sarah didn’t ask Noah why he didn’t own a bathing suit or beach towel, he didn’t ask her either, but now she thinks they might have similar reasons.

Noah bought a pair of swim shorts that are a size too big and only held on by the drawstrings pulled into a tight little knot. They hang lower than Ethans, almost touching past his knees, still, Sarah watches as Noah smooths them over his thighs as though he wants them to be longer. To cover him more. She knows the feeling all too well.

It’s why she’s yet to take off the t shirt she borrowed from Noah, it’s her only saving grace to cover the scars littered up her ribs and hips. The raised white lines haunt her from her teenage years, she never lets anyone see her without her shirt on, not even Noah or Mouse and they’ve lived together for months now.

“Are you two seriously not going to swim?” Aprils voice takes Sarah away from her thoughts, a smile spreading over her face when she sees April and Ethan both sopping wet and grinning ear to ear. It’s nice to see them care free when Sarah’s so used to seeing them stressed and dealing with life or death situations.

“We’ll go in later.” Noah brushes off, staring down at his phone, not seeing the way Aprils face falls before she nods and pulls Ethan back towards the water.

“You’re never actually going to go in are you.” It’s not a question because Sarah knows the answer, no he won’t, he’ll find some excuse and leave before Ethan picks him up and throws him in.

“I don’t like the beach.” His eyes lift to level with Sarah’s, there’s a sorrow to them, a heaviness to him looking at her so intently. She’s never felt this come from Noah. He’s always happy, cheery, the optimist of the group, the one she goes to when she’s feeling sad and needs someone to lighten her day up— but that’s not who’s sitting in front of her. Instead Noah looks like the one that needs cheering up, he looks uncomfortable, in pain almost, as if just sitting in the sand is hurting him.

“You wanna talk about it?” Despite Sarah being a psychology resident, she never knows how to approach possibly upsetting topics with people she’s close to. It’s simple with a stranger, a patient, someone’s she’s treating, her best friend/roommate/possibly more than a friend isn’t nearly as easy.

“Y’know how April always says I was the golden child and our parents loved me so much? Yeah. Not really how it felt to me.” His eyes drop, knees shifting upwards so he can drape his arms over them and almost hug himself in protection.

It breaks Sarah’s heart to see Noah so closed in on himself, she’s used to him standing open and proud, not afraid to show who he really is, she wonders if that’s all just an act. If the quieter moments of them on the couch laughing at rom coms and going to the laundromat together at three am are more him, if he’s acting when he laughs so loud everyone in the room can’t help but smile, when he tells everyone at med that he’s there for them because he knows their jobs are taxing, maybe he’s been hiding under it all this whole time.

“Have you talked to April?” She doubts it, she knows how many secrets Noah keeps from April, how little she really knows about him. Sarah’s heard the story’s from high school and college, the ones that aren’t bad but she still has to promise to never tell April about.

“No. She wouldn’t get it, she thinks of me this certain way and I just— I don’t want that to change. I don’t want her to be disappointed in me.” He sighs, sounding exhausted. Sarah moves to place one of her hands atop his, now fully sat in front of him, both on the green towel that was 4.99 at the store and bought with shaky hands both of them chose not to talk about.

“She’s your sister, she’ll love you no matter what.” Sarah knows this is a pointless battle as they’ve had it a few times, never this saddened though. It’s always been half yells because Noah would rather send himself into a spiraling panic attack than just talk to his sister about who he is or about what he wants.

“I know. We just don’t talk about stuff like this, we don’t acknowledge the bad.” He says it as though it’s some phrase he’s echoing, that he’s heard it come from April herself, and maybe he has. Maybe they both decided not to discuss what was bothering them long before Sarah was in the picture, before either worked at Med.

“Do you want to talk about it?” The sun beats on Sarah’s back, she’ll have tan lines on her arms from where Noah’s shirt hangs, she doesn’t dare move. She waits patiently for Noah to answer.

“Not with her.” He says matter of fact. She nods along, understanding that talking to family isn’t always the best option.

“What about with me?” A small smile peaks onto Noah’s face, his lips curling just enough for Sarah to feel warmth settle in her chest.

“I haven’t been to the beach since I was in high school, I’ve just been— avoiding it.” Noah’s hand rubs at the back of his neck in nervousness, the other still sat under Sarah’s, she squeezes it lightly.

“I have too..” Noah nods softly before taking in a deep breath that gets exhaled slowly.

“I have some scars that I want to hide, nobody knows about them.” A light gloss of tears coats Noah’s eyes, Sarah wishes she could take the pain from Noah, make his scars disappear, fix it all.

“You don’t have to say it, if you don’t want to.” Sarah speaks when Noah’s mouth opens again, he closes it and nods, a grateful smile sent her way.

“Thanks. I- I really don’t want to be here right now.” A small chuckle escapes them both.

“We could leave, go back to the apartment, bother Mouse on his day off like we usually do.” Noah’s eyes flit behind Sarah, probably looking at Ethan and April, his lips twist as he stares a moment.

“You think they’ll let us leave if we fake stomach aches?”

“We’re not twelve trying to get out of school, we can just leave. Come on.” She stands and offers a hand, making a mental note to try and talk more of the matter later on.

[boopjuice]

They all break their rules. Within about 6 weeks.

Wes, obviously, meets Red Robin and charms him with his word vomit. He's also charmed by Red Robin because damn, that suit does wonders for him, and because Red Robin is intentionally flirting at the adorable idiot he just saved.

Next is Tuck. They haven't been able to find the book in the private library but they know Tim has the book. They know because Tucker found signs of hidden doors. And, well, they really need to get Danny back in Amity Park, so he figures Sam will forgive him for a little hacking.

Que then using Wes to distract Tim, who gets an alert halfway through the conversation that someone's hacking into his home security system to try and gain access to his Nest. And unfortunately, he can't find a way to excuse himself to defend his own system.

Tuck gets to duke it out with Oracle. He loses, and hightails it back to where they were staying. With the laptop he was just hacking with.

That Oracle is definitely tracking now.

Then Danny. Sam find out about Tuck breaking his rule and goes on a very long rant before they realize the laptop Tuck was using? Yeah, that's probably compromised. Good thing it didn't have any personal information on it, we'll just leave it here and go find another spot to stay!

Cut to four teens dragging luggage behind them in the middle of Gotham, all trying to find a place to stay. They looks like tourists. They look like easy targets.

So a gang jumps them, and while none of the team are slouches in a fight, there's just too many to reasonably take on. So Danny, while Sam is screaming about "Not you too!", becomes Phantom just long enough to knock out and tie up the gang.

Sam gives him the biggest earful when he's done. AND they still need to find a hotel while they look for another apartment.

The Bats are searching. They find the first apartment, trace it back to the teens, and are now actively hunting them down because why are four teens trying to hack into the Bat systems?

They manage to track them back to their hotel, which was pretty hard with Tucker covering their tracks, but not impossible. They find them right as Ivy decides to attack this block because it was originally contracted to be a green space for the city for at least another 50 years, but someone did some shady shit and broke the contract.

Sam? Is so tired. Wes broke his rule. Tucker broke his rule. Even Danny, who was the one to suggest having rules in the first place, broke his rule. AND HE'D COME UP WITH THAT ONE!

So Sam figures it's about time that she gets to break her rule too.

And in the middle of a fight between Poison Ivy, Batman, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Orphan, Sam Manson marches out onto the battlefield and rips Ivy a new one. What good is she doing, harming innocent people and reducing the amount of places they could stay? Fixing the coral reefs would have significantly more positive impact on the world, so would fighting deforestation, which seems much more up Ivy's alley. But no, she's actively harming her cause by destroying people's lives, in the process making activism harder for other people, like Sam, who also want a greener planet.

Ivy tries to attack Sam, but she's Undergrowth's student. That's not about to happen. The plants can like Ivy all they want for her ties with the Green, they aren't going to attack someone personally tied to the Grey (I saw a head canon somewhere that instead of Sam being associated with plants, she should be associated with the Grey, which feeds into decay and reintroducing nutrients through that decay and I'm sticking with it).

Once the fight is over and the dust settles, all four Bats corner the teens, ignoring the stars in their eyes, because they really need to know why four high school juniors decided to try and break into their systems.

To which Tucker says, very helpfully, "We weren't? We just needed to get into Tim Drake's private library so we could find a ritual to help our friend."

The Bats have many, many more questions.

DCxDP Fic idea: What's the Rule again?

It starts with Wes Weston accidentally banishing Danny from his haunt. He didn't mean to, and he panicked along side Sam and Tucker when Danny was effectively evicted Danny from Amity Park.

See the four have become tight-knited friends every since the trio started talking to Wes back during the summer between freshman and sophomore year.

During that time, Wes's other friends had drifted apart once Wes' attention moved from basketball to ghosts- specifically Phantom. Danny had felt at fault that he was left a loner because of his secret identity and had invited Wes to sit with them at the Nasty Burger the second week of Summer break.

Wes was suprise to find out that Sam, Tucker and Danny were much better friends then the ones he hanged out with since third grade. He was used to people only speaking to him in class or the few times they hang out on breaks but the trio would message him about every single thought or meme they had. They could laugh togther until tears fell from thier eyes and they couldn't breath over the silliest of topics.

Wes also found out that the trio was supportive of all their interests. Sure, his old teammates and friends didn't make fun of him for crocheting or painting, but they wouldn't accompany him to an art market. Nor would they actually wear the scarves and gloves he made them.

They sure as hell didn't volunteer to help him run a booth to sell his own crocheting pieces after encouraging him to get a table. And they wouldn't cheer loudly when he made his first sale.

Wes also wouldn't have happily gone with them to an observatory, a Dark Poem Night, or even a tech expo. But he found that he had the time of his life watching Danny, Sam, and Tucker nerd out at the events much as much as he did at his own.

He also never had anyone he knew would be down to do him favors or even take notes for him when he was out sick.

So he became close friends with them, passing sophomore year with far more enjoyment than any other grade, then Junior year came and went just as fast and as fun. It was their last summer as high school students, so Wes wanted to do as many new activities as the four could together before Senior year.

Who knew what would happen to their little group after graduation? He wants to think they would all remain best friends but he's heard so many stories of people drifting apart that Wes was afraid of risking it.

That's why he researched urban myths and legends around the world regarding ghosts- more then any research paper he's ever done- and jokingly asked Danny to partake in some of them as a halfa.

They joked and laughed- throwing salt in a circle around Danny, lighting a candle for him to use Morse code with- but it wasn't until Wes got to the one where he tried smoking Danny out with a banishing spell he found in an old book that things turned from funny to horrible.

It worked

Danny was flung from his haunt- effectively banishing him from the area he was haunting. Dann just happens to be haunting all of Amity Park, so he ends up on the outskirts of town, unable to cross the invisible line.

Wes practically choked on his tears as he apologized for Danny not being able to cross back in, but the other three quickly informed him that they, too, took part in it, and it was no one's fault. Danny just had to find a way to reverse the banishing spell.

The only problem was that the book pages Wes found online were only on the banish spell itself and nothing else. He couldn't even find the whole book since it belonged in a private family library.

The family library was located in the most dangerous city in America. Gotham.

The library also belongs to a very wealthy family that had recently all but perished except for their lone heir- Timothy Drake.

Now Wes attempted to contact Timothy Drake in hopes of having the other teenager send him copies of the book, but he never got a reply. He thinks it was due to not explaining why he needed the book and ending up sounding like a bot or a scam.

With each passing day of Drake not responding Danny's situation grew worse. Jazz luckily covered for them, claiming to have signed Danny up for some camp so his parents wouldn't think he was missing.

That would only work until school started, which was a time limit that was weighing on all their shoulders as they tried to find a counterspell.

Jazz, Tucker, Sam, and Wes each took turns driving out of town to bring him food and a change of clothes so Danny could figure out his situation, having to do it in shifts to not alert any of their parents.

However, without his haunt to pick up natural exoplasm, Danny was growing weaker and weaker by the day, looking half stave out in the little motel room Sam rented for him as they tried to get him back into the town.

Danny needed to either make his way back to his haunt or go somewhere that was so infected with ectoplasm that it actually felt cursed.

Tucker found the solution to all their problems with a few hacking skills that he learned to fight off Technus' invasive attempts of his personal tech.

"A full ride to Gotham Academy?" Wes' mom gasped staring at the acceptance letter her son eagerly showed her. "With a promised full ride to any university in America?!"

"Yeah, Tucker, Sam, Danny, and I all got accepted for our work on clean energy generators. We sent it in for the Wayne scholarship, and we won! The only thing is that it's a requirement to graduate from high school in Gotham. I have to go!" Wes gasped, eyeing both his dad's and Kyle's doubtful frowns. He couldn't afford for them to say no when Tucker had worked so hard to bump them up as Winners. Bruce Wayne's computer security is no joke. "This is the once in a life time opportunity!"

"But where would you live?" His dad asks, shaking the letter. "Wes, this is clear across states, and it only covers school expenses."

"Sam's parents bought her a house. She's going to rent us some of the extra rooms." It was a lie; her parents would never let four boys- especially these boys- rent from their daughter. She told them that the school provided co-dorm rooms "I can get a job at the local library- I already sent them my resume and got a call for a interview."

"What will you do for food?" Kyle asks. "We both know you can't cook."

"I can't, but Danny does. He's amazing in the kitchen."

Here, his parents share a loaded look. "So you'll be living with the Fenton boy....."

"Well. Yeah? I already said that?" He returns, confused, and Kuule coughs to cover a laugh. Confused he stares at his older brother, who quirks a grin at him.

"Don't worry about it." Kyle laughs, but his wiggling eyebrows tell Wes he should worry a lot about it. He would inisit a little more to find out what Kyle knew, but he needed to convince his parents more.

Eventually, after five days of attempting, Wes got their permission and could tell his friends, who all shared the same results. The remainder of the summer is spent preparing for their move- finding the house, getting it furnished, packing their things, transferring schools- it's a lot, and he's never been so grateful for Sam's wealth.

She hires people to get it all done for her-including hiring a trailer to take their four cars-, so he only has to worry about his packing. The four meet up at the airport on the day they live, flying first class thanks to Sam's grandmother.

Tearful goodbyes and good luck from their families leave them all a bit down but they board the plane and take off without too much trouble.

While on the plane, Sam turns to the boys. "Does everyone remember the phases of the plan?"

"Phase one: Blend into Gotham until we find Timothy Drake" Tucker states, pushing up his glasses

"Phase two: Get Drake to invite us over to his house and find the book," Danny tacks on, tapping his foot on the ground.

"Phase three: Find all the pieces for the counterspell- usually scattered around the magical family's ancestral home- and get Danny home!" Wes shouts, raising a fist in the air.

Sam nods, looking satisfied. "And what are we not allowed to do? Danny?"

"Become a vigilante when my ectoplasm is on a limited intake" Danny grumbles, sinking into his chair. "Let it to the Bats and keep my head low."

"Good. Tucker?"

"I'm not allowed to hack into anything because it can gain the attention of the Bats or Mr.Wayne, and then we'll be on a wanted list" Tucker sighs "No matter how much fun it would be to battle it out with the legendary Oracle."

"That's right. I'm not allowed to go anywhere near Poison Ivy no matter how much I want to yell at her to go fix the coal riffs and cut down forests instead of wasting her powers on the stupid heist." Same all but bites, and then she turns her attention to Wes, who startles.

"Wes?"

"Wait, I have a rule?"

"Course, man," Tucker laughs. "We all have rules."

"But I'm not interesrted in anything in Gotham besides the Drake grimoire!"

"Wes," Danny says gently, his soft baby blue eyes making him a little hot under the collar as they stare into his soul. "You're not allowed to fall in love with any of the Bats."

Wes mind blanks, then reboots, "Excuse me!?"

"We know you had a crush on all of us here Wes and Val" Sam laughs when he turns wide eyes at her. "It's cute but you really shouldn't try for the Bats. They're the violent sort"

"What?!"

"Yeah, you have a type, and it's a hero or hero adjacent." Tucker shrugs "It's cool."

Wes can only gape at them, no matter how much he tries to convince them; otherwise, the three refuse to remove his rule. He is highly offended by it.

Yes, he's never really gone out with Team Phantom, just because when he joined the group, most of Danny's rouges were long gone leaving behind the tiny ones that he could handle on his own, but he wasn't into heroes!

And okay- maybe, maybe at one point or another he may have had slight crushes on his friends but they were quick and gone before the first school year together!

So the rule is utterly ridiculous!

At least, he thinks so until five days later when he's trying to find his way around the new neighborhood and gets caught up in a mugging. He could have quickly taken the mugger- humans had nothing on ghosts- but he attempted to talk the young adult out of it when Red Robin swooped in like a knight in shining armor.

He may have just stared at the hero's tight-skin outfit instead of letting the hero know that he could handle it, and he may have made a fool of himself when Red Robin asked if he was right.

"Yeah tots fine" He babbles. Ugh, who says tots?! He wants to stop talking but when Wes gets nervous he tends to just word vomit and he could hear himself doing it now. "You know who else is fine?"

Red Robbin raises a brow, likely knowing the pickup line. Cowering, Wes changes the answer in a panic. "Timothy Drake!"

Red Robin stills. "Come again?"

"Timothy Drake, a boy in my class! He's fine that you think he was part siren or something. You've seen him, right? I mean you have eyes!" He repeats with a squeal "I want to get into his private liberty!"

"Do you?" Red Robin tilts his head, a slight smirk forming on his mouth. "You should try flirting with him then. Maybe he can give you a tour."

"Oh, I want more than a tour!"

Why did he say that?!

At least the hero in front of him laughs until a shout has them both looking away.

Danny is running down the street screaming his name, thank the Ancients. When Wes turns around to wave at him, Red Robin vanishes without a sound or trace.

Like a ghost.

Oh no, that's hot.

"Danny, I broke the rule"

"For Ancient's sake, it hasn't even been a month."

[aishangotome]

Chapter 3-8 The True Face of Lu Mountain (廬山真容)

Chapter 3-7

.

.

.

The room was quiet, and all the furnishings were still in the same state as they were the day of the crime, filling those who entered with a creeping horror.

???: Don't move.

A cold warning suddenly came from behind, followed by a hand covering my eyes and my wrists being tightly restrained.

Princess: Who's there?!

My heart pounded. The person's grip wasn't heavy, but I couldn't break free.

Princess: Let me go!

???: Has no one ever told you that being too bold can lead to a bad ending?

The man was very close to me, his warm breath brushing against my ear. His tone was unhurried and calm, yet laced with a threat.

Princess: ... My people are downstairs. If I shout, your ending won't be good either.

???: Oh, the little beauty is quite good at bluffing.

Princess: Do you know who I am?

???: Do you think I'm afraid of you, Princess?

Princess: .....!

???: Your body is so stiff, are you nervous?

???: Don't worry, I wouldn't dare hurt a beauty...

There was a smile in his voice. Just as I was quickly thinking about my next move, the hands holding me loosened.

I turned around and saw a blond man with cold, emerald green eyes. The blue snake was coiled around his arm, its tongue flicking at me.

???: We finally meet formally, Princess of Dacheng.

Countless fragments flashed through my mind - "Tuo bayu's" crude and disrespectful behavior at the court, the reactions of the Beikun people that night...

The familiar whistle, Su Luo's words to me, everything converged into a beam of light, dispelling the dark fog.

Princess: I'm just curious...

???: No need to say it. You must be eager to know who I am. I am--

Princess: The Prince of Beikun. Why hide your identity?

The man's expression flickered slightly, confirming my guess. The one who died here that night was his substitute.

Tuo Bayu: Heh, this is my first time in Dacheng. Naturally, I need to understand our most powerful enemy, and the identity of a prince is not conducive to action.

Tuo Bayu: But unfortunately, my innate brilliance is too hard to conceal. The princess still saw through me.

The frank smile and genuine trouble on his face seemed to come from the heart... Are all Beikun people this narcissistic?

Tuo Bayu: The princess seems to have many questions. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll allow you to ask.

Tuo Bayu spread his hands, showing a benevolent expression. Although this expression was annoying, it looked... not bad on his handsome face.

Tuo Bayu: But I'll only answer the ones that interest me.

... Even more annoying!

Princess: So, the first question, why are you here?

Tuo Bayu: Although my virtues are as numerous as the stars in the sky, I lack patience.

Princess: ..... We're quite similar in that regard. Get to the point.

Tuo Bayu: I can't wait for you to investigate slowly. I want to catch the murderer myself.

Princess: But the Beikun envoy has been trying to make a big deal out of the prince's death, using it to threaten my father...

Princess: Why are you helping Dacheng find the truth?

Tuo Bayu: Helping Dacheng? It seems that in the princess's heart, I'm quite kind.

Princess: .....?

Tuo Bayu: Someone wants to kill the Beikun prince. Do you think I would ignore this, Princess?

Tuo Bayu: Of course, I need to know who that person is and why they did it.

Tuo Bayu: And... make them pay a heavy price.

Tuo Bayu's smile faded, and a cold glint of killing intent flashed in his eyes, a stark contrast to his previous self-satisfaction.

Tuo Bayu: Besides, using this as an excuse to make a fuss, beating around the bush, being timid and hesitant, is simply too boring.

Princess: So that's why you helped us out that night.

Those snakes that suddenly appeared in the room but didn't attack anyone were a warning from him.

Tuo Bayu: Hmm... the princess isn't completely foolish.

Tuo Bayu nodded slightly with an air of arrogance, as if saying "not completely foolish" was already a compliment to me.

But in any case, at least for now, he wasn't my enemy. I secretly breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed my hand, which had been gripping the dagger at my waist.

Princess: It seems our goals align then.

Tuo Bayu: Goals? Did the princess not chase me here because she's captivated by my charm?

Such a fine prince, it's a pity he has such a mouth.

Tuo Bayu: Since the princess also wants to find out the truth, I'll impose on you and cooperate.

Princess: You... did you mean to say "reluctantly cooperate"?

Although we were cooperating, I didn't know where to start for the moment. I could only give him a smile that was as adoring as possible.

Princess: Prince, you're so handsome and intelligent, you must already have some clues, right?

As I expected, he nodded with satisfaction.

Tuo Bayu: Of course. As the brightest sun in our desert says, the best way to understand someone is to walk the path they've walked.

Princess: The brightest sun? Who's that?

Tuo Bayu: Me.

Seeing his unabashedly proud expression, I regretted my curiosity.

Princess: Please continue, oh sun.

Tuo Bayu: And the best way to find the truth is to get close to it.

Tuo Bayu: Princess, are you willing to cooperate with me and recreate the crime scene?

.

.

.

.

Chapter 3-9

If you’d like to support my translations, feel free to buy me a coffee here! :)

[imaginingmarvelandeverything]

The Gala

Pairing: Jason Todd (version unspecified) x F!Reader

Warnings: jealous Jason, jealous Dick (platonic), reader has a panic attack, mentions of crimes, make out session verging on smut but not quite, Jason and reader both have trauma

Word count: 4734

A/N: Here’s part 5 of Castle of Glass! Lot of characters being introduced in this one, though neither of the villains in this part are going to be the main villain of the series (I mean it’s a Jason series, there can only be one main villain). But anyway, I hope you like it!

Masterlist

Series masterlist

Ko-Fi

“I’m off.” Y/N called as she walked towards the front door, her dress bag slung over one arm and the bag containing everything else she could need in the other hand.

“Bit early to be heading out, isn’t it?” Jason said from where he was lying on the sofa holding a book above him.

She turned to face him to find his blue eyes surveying her. “I’m gonna get ready at Dick’s. Means he doesn’t have to come here to pick me up. And I’m going to crash in his spare room tonight, so don’t worry about where I am when you get back from patrol.”

He frowned briefly before covering it with a smirk. “Don’t have too much fun.”

“God, do all of you siblings have the same thought process?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Honestly, I think you can blame Dick for that, sweetheart.” He smiled.

She shook her head with a smile, trying to ignore how the nickname always sent her heart stuttering. “The offer still stands for you to come too.”

He hesitated and she thought he might be considering it. “No, I’m good.”

She turned to face the door so he wouldn’t see her face fall. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, Jay.”

“See you.” He called as she walked out.

***

Y/N adjusted her dress for what felt like the hundredth time as she waited for Dick at the bottom of the Wayne Manor staircase after he had decided he didn’t like his tie and went to grab another from his old room. The dress fit like a glove, just like all the others he had brought her over the years when he needed her to come along as a cover, or required her skill set. But that didn’t mean she felt like she belonged. This world had never been hers, and no matter how many times she accompanied him to galas, it never got any easier.

“Ready?” Dick asked as he reached the bottom of the stairs and offered her his arm. He looked dashing in his tux with his dark hair styled away from his eyes for a change, and she was well aware that even though she was on his arm, people were going to be gushing over him all night.

She took a breath and linked her arm with his. “Not really.”

“Four hours, tops. I promise.” He said as he led the way through the winding corridors towards the ballroom.

“I’ve heard that before, Grayson.” She said under her breath as they reached the doors. He huffed out a quiet laugh and shot her a look, resting his hand on the door handle. She took a breath and nodded, and Dick opened the door.

They were swarmed by people as soon as they entered the room. As always, people wanted to talk to Dick; the charismatic oldest son of Bruce Wayne. Some people involved her in the conversation, complimenting her dress or asking her about how she had come to be on Dick Grayson’s arm, but she knew it was either to be polite, or to figure out how much of a threat she was to their prospects with him. She managed to endure about an hour of him dragging her around to meet different people before she took advantage of spotting Damian stood on his own in a corner.

“I’m going to check on Dami.” She whispered in Dick’s ear so the couple talking wouldn’t hear her.

“Okay, I’ll keep an eye on the mark.” He whispered back, pressing a kiss to her cheek as a cover.

“Excuse me.” She smiled at the couple and squeezed Dick’s arm before walking away.

Damian looked miserable as he tried to stay out of sight over in the corner of the ballroom. She couldn’t have imagined anything worse when she was twelve years old.

“Not having fun?” She asked as she came to a stop next to him.

“Father wouldn’t let me bring Alfred.” He said, glancing up at her briefly before looking towards Dick, who in her absence had had a gaggle of people descend on him.

She hoped he meant Alfred the cat, although she doubted this would be actual Alfred’s scene either. “Well, Dick wouldn’t let me bring my computer so I know how you feel.” She smiled when it caused the corner of his mouth to tug up. “Who else is here besides you?”

“Father, Stephanie, and Tim.” He told her before his eyes darted between her and Dick again. “You and Dick are working.”

It wasn’t a question, so she wasn’t entirely sure how to answer. “Would I be here if we weren’t?”

“No, I suppose not.” He narrowed his eyes at her.

“But I’m not telling you what we’re doing, Dick made me promise not to tell anyone else.” Jason didn’t count, she told herself.

“Please. I am bored.” He stuck his bottom lip out.

She chuckled. “Not happening, Dami.” She ruffled his hair as he huffed and started pouting.

Until something caught his attention. “What is Todd doing here?”

Y/N’s heart seemed to stop as she turned to follow Damian’s gaze, and sure enough, Jason was stood awkwardly in the main entrance to the ballroom. He was wearing a tux that fit his large form perfectly, clinging to him in all the right places, and his hair was perfectly styled for the first time since she had met him. He looked incredible, and all she wanted to do was cross the room and kiss him.

“I might have invited him.” She told Damian, her mouth suddenly feeling very dry.

“You and Todd do not like each other.” Damian said, narrowing his eyes once again.

“We’ve got to know each other.” She said, watching as Jason walked further into the room, his eyes scanning the crowd for familiar faces. “I better go save him, he looks a bit lost.”

She didn’t wait for Damian to answer, well aware that the kid was watching her every move as she navigated the crowd towards where Jason was standing with his back to her and a glass of champagne in his hand. “Thought this wasn’t your scene?”

He turned to face her, his eyes dragging down her body before moving back up to meet her eyes. He swallowed thickly. “Yeah, well, my roommate invited me and I didn’t want to force her to spend the night with Gotham’s rich pricks with only my brother for company.”

“Well, I’m sure she greatly appreciates that.” She smiled.

“She better.” He said, downing his drink and then returning her smile.

She raised her eyebrows. “You planning on getting hammered?”

He stepped forward, so no one could overhear him. “One of the few perks of the pit, it takes a lot of alcohol to get me drunk now.”

She struggled to keep her eyes on his with him standing so close to her. “Dance with me?”

His eyes flickered behind her, where quite a few people were dancing in the centre of the room. “Only to piss Dick off.”

“Why would you dancing with me piss Dick off?” She asked as she took his hand and led him into the middle of the dancefloor. He took her hand in his and rested the other on her waist as she rested hers on his shoulder.

“You’re telling me you’ve never noticed how protective he is over his friends.” He whispered as he started leading in time with the music. “You should have seen the way he reacted the first time I met Roy.”

“I can’t say I’ve noticed.” She said with a smile, making sure she wasn’t going to step on his feet in her heels. Jason could dance, he led her effortlessly across the dance floor. He had clearly learnt while living with Bruce, and she wondered if it was any harder now he had practically tripled in size.

He was clearly thinking about her dancing ability too. “This isn’t the first gala you’ve been to, is it?”

“No. Whenever Dick needs a cover, really doesn’t want to be bored, or needs my skillset, I have to endure being his date for an evening.” She said as he spun them around. Speak of the devil, the new angle meant she could see Dick over Jason’s shoulder. His mouth was hanging open slightly as he stared at them. “Speaking of, he’s currently staring at us.”

Jason spun them back the other way and she watched his mouth twist up into a wolfish grin as he winked in Dick’s direction.

“Now you’re just trying to piss him off.”

“Got to have some fun sometimes, sweetheart.” He said, before ducking down to speak directly into her ear. “Has he swiped the guy’s phone yet?”

She followed his lead and leant forward, speaking in hushed whispers into his ear. “Not yet, but he’s keeping an eye on him for when the opportunity presents itself.”

“Which one of these assholes is the mark then?” He swung them past another couple who were getting a bit too close.

She scanned the room before turning him in the right direction. “Full black tux, red carnation in his button hole.” She felt his entire body tense up as he spotted the right man, his muscles curling as if he was going to launch himself across the room. She tightened her grip on him subconsciously, unwilling to be the reason Dick didn’t get what he needed.

“That’s Roman Sionis.” His voice dropped further and took on a venomous edge.

“I know, he’s a mob boss. Me and Dick have been tracking him for a while now. He’s moving into arms, we think-”

Jason cut her off, pulling her closer against him as he continued leading them through the other couples. “He’s not just a mob boss, Y/N. He’s Black Mask.”

She pulled back so she could look at him, finding worry and anger burning in his ice blue eyes. “How do you know that?”

He clenched his jaw before sucking a breath in through his teeth. “When I first got back and was trying to establish myself, I did a few jobs for him. He’s worse than most of the other fuckers, and he’s not just into arms, its human trafficking as well.”

“All the more reason to bring him down then.”

His hand on her hip shifted to the small of her back, pressing her closer to him. “He’s dangerous, Y/N. Really dangerous.”

“Me and Dick have been doing this a long time, Jason. We have strategies in place if something goes wrong. It’ll be fine.” She slid her hand up his shoulder and cupped his jaw to get him to look at her. He reluctantly dragged his eyes over from Sionis and once he met hers she could see that the outside of his irises were tinged green. "Jay-”

“Mind if I cut in.” Dick practically shoved himself in between them and sent a scathing glance at Jason over his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Dickhead, I’m not trying to steal your best friend.” Jason took a step back and met Y/N’s eyes again. “If you need me, I’ll be by the bar.”

She watched him walk off and hoped that meant he wasn’t going to get involved. She turned back to Dick, who had already started tugging her towards one of the exit doors that led to the bathrooms. “You get it?”

He nodded and held the door open for her, following quickly behind as she walked through. He did the same for the bathroom door and locked it behind them. He handed over the phone as she reached into her bra and pulled out the small memory stick hidden in the sewn in pocket. She plugged it into the charging port and clicked through the prompts on the screen before placing it down.

“How long?” Dick asked, looking over her shoulder as the upload bar appeared.

“Ten minutes, tops.” She turned around and pushed herself up to sit on the bathroom counter. “Perfect amount of time to pretend we snuck away for a quickie in the bathroom.”

He snorted and leant back against the wall across from her with his arms crossed. “You want to tell me why you were dancing with my brother?”

“I wasn’t aware I couldn’t.” She said with a smile.

“You don’t like Jason.” He pointed out.

She resisted the urge to laugh. “Incorrect. I didn’t use to like Jason.”

“What changed?”

“I don’t know, might have had something to do with the fact you dumped him on me for four days when he could barely walk. Oh yeah, and then he saved my life.” She watched Dick’s expression and snorted. “I can’t believe he was right.”

“Right about what?”

“That you’re very protective over your friends and think he’s trying to steal them.” She smiled wider as he somehow managed to look even more offended. “It’s alright, Dickie, you’re still my best friend.”

“I better be.” He said with a pout. “He is closer to your age than I am though.”

“Seriously Dick, we’re not in high school anymore, your friends don’t all have to be the same age as you.” She smiled and glanced down at the phone to see it was halfway done. “We better make it look like we did sneak away for a quickie and have tried to hide the evidence.”

“Yeah, we better.” He said with a sigh before running his hands through his perfectly styled hair to ruffle it up. She followed suit, jumping down from the side and using the mirror to carefully mess up her own hairstyle to make it look like it had been pulled out and hastily put back together. He loosened his tie and undid the second button as she dropped her dress more off one shoulder than the other. She slightly smudged her lipstick on one corner of her mouth and had an idea.

“Come here.” She said and he turned to look at her with a confused expression. She tugged him forward by his lapel and dragged her bottom lip on the edge of his shirt collar. She pulled back and admired the slight drag of colour against the stark white.

“Good thinking. I’d give you a hickey but I think then Jason might kill me.” He said as he looked at the mark she had left.

Her lips parted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Did you seriously not notice the way he was looking at you when you started dancing? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jason look at someone that way. I think my baby brother has a crush.” His blue eyes lit up with mischief and not for the first time she wondered how him and Jason weren’t actually related.

“I think you’re seeing things, Nightwing. You did hit your head pretty hard last night.” She unplugged the memory stick and stashed it back in its pocket before handing the phone back to Dick.

“My head is fine.” The pout was back.

“C’mon, I need another drink.” She unlocked the bathroom door and grabbed his hand before dragging him back towards the ballroom.

It seemed like all eyes turned to them as they walked back in, so it wasn’t hard for her to look sheepish and him to plaster on his signature smile. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side as he led them towards an empty spot in a corner.

“He’s by the bar, I’ll slip his phone back while I get you a drink.” He said.

“I hate this part.” She muttered as people continued staring.

He ducked down and pressed a kiss under her ear as part of the show. “I know. Half an hour to avoid suspicion and then we’ll leave. I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Grayson.” She said, and watched as he walked away.

She scanned the crowd for familiar faces and found Bruce talking to a group of people with his hand firmly on Damian’s shoulder, probably to stop his youngest from bolting for the exit, Steph was dancing with a guy around her age Y/N didn’t recognise, and Tim was sat huddled up with Bernard. She was so preoccupied with looking for people she knew, that a hand on her hip made her jump out of her skin. She turned around and resisted the urge to smack Jason’s chest.

“The lipstick on his collar was a nice touch.” He said, moving to perch on the edge of the table in front of her.

“Yeah, well, we had to make it look believable.” She said, glancing over to where Dick was standing at the bar.

“You used this as a cover before?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

She sighed. “Couple of times. He’s a known womanizer, remember, so it’s expected.”

He snorted before glaring at something behind her. “Demon spawn.”

“Todd.” Damian said.

“Hey, that’s mean.” She turned to Jason and whacked his arm. He narrowed his eyes at Damian, who was looking smug at her coming to his defence. She turned back to face Damian. “Everything okay?”

“Father won’t let me leave.” He complained.

“Why’s that our problem? Go bug someone else.” Jason scowled.

“Jay!” She shot a glare his way.

“You should be glad Y/N was kind enough to invite you, no one else would have.” Damian shot back.

Y/N resisted the urge to just go and join Dick at the bar. “Can you two not get long for five minutes? I mean, you both probably have more in common than any of your other siblings.” She fixed her gaze on Jason.

“Fine.” Jason finally said moving his eyes towards Damian. “Truce?”

“Only for Y/N’s sake.” Damian nodded his head once.

“Thank you.” She said before turning back to Damian. “How’s school going?”

Damian got straight to complaining about already knowing everything they had to teach him, only requiring the occasional prompt or hum of agreement from Y/N or Jason. Dick seemed to have been distracted at the bar by an old friend, so she assumed she wasn’t getting another drink. She was considering just going to get one herself when Damian stopped mid-sentence.

“What is he doing here?” Damian said it like it was a personal offence, so both Y/N and Jason turned to look at the door.

Y/N’s heart stopped and she found herself fighting to get air into her lungs. Lex Luthor was standing in the main entrance to the ballroom, two men flanking him who were clearly bodyguards. She swore she could feel the knife tearing into her skin again as Jason practically growled and shot to his feet as if he was going to run straight across the room and tackle Luthor. She reached out and grabbed his arm before he could get too far away from her.

“Jay.” She choked out as her breathing became more erratic.

He spun to face her, his eyes immediately softening. “Fuck, okay. Let’s get you out of here.”

He wrapped an arm around her waist and started leading her towards the door her and Dick had entered through two hours ago. By the time they reached it, her knees were so weak he was practically holding her up. He didn’t seem to mind, however, and practically carried her up the stairs into the main body of the manor. Her thoughts were too jumbled to pay any attention to where he was taking her, but he seemed to realise that, as he didn’t try and say anything. He hesitated briefly outside of a door, so briefly she barely noticed, before he pushed it open and walked inside.

He gently set her down on the edge of a bed and dropped to his knees in front of her. He cupped her face in his hands, simultaneously forcing her to look at him and allowing him to wipe away the tears that had started streaming down her face with his thumbs. His hands were softer than she was expecting, and she raised hers to circle his wrists, resting her fingers over his pulse point and feeling the steady beat.

“You’re okay.” He said softly. “He’s not going to hurt you again, I promise.”

“What’s he doing here?” She asked as her breathing finally started to even back out.

He sighed. “I don’t know. But Bruce won’t be happy he is, and I don’t think Bruce will let him stay.”

She nodded and pulled back from him slightly, but still kept her hands wrapped around his as she moved them from her face. Her vision had started to clear, allowing her to finally take a look around the room they were in. It was clearly the room of a teenage boy; posters littered the walls, a record player and a stack of vinyls sat in one corner, a tv and a bunch of DVDs in the other. The bedside table was covered in old magazines and the bookcase on the far wall was crammed with paperback and hardbacks alike.

He noticed her looking and swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in his throat. “This- this was my childhood room. Barely anyone comes in here now, so I knew we’d be left alone.”

She stood on shaky legs and walked over to the book case. He had a small book case in his apartment, but it didn’t have nearly as many books on it as this one did. As far as she knew, most of the books she had seen him reading came from the public library around the corner from his apartment. She heard Jason move and when she looked back, he was sat on the bed watching her.

“I knew you liked to read, but damn, you could have started your own library.”

He chuckled and laid back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling. “You sound like Alfred.”

She walked back over and laid down next to him, hands so close together that either one of them could shift slightly and tangle their fingers together.

“You know, the worst part is, I don’t even think Luthor would know who I was. I mean, he’s tried to have me tortured and killed twice, but I bet I was nothing more than a name on a piece of paper.” She whispered, keeping her eyes on the ceiling.

He shifted his hand, wrapping his pinkie around hers hesitantly. “Men like him are worth nothing. If Bruce wasn’t downstairs and I had my helmet, I’d put a bullet between his eyes before he could blink.”

She turned her head to the side to find him already looking at her and squeezed her pinkie around his. “You were right about Dick, by the way. He was jealous.”

“Is that so?” His face broke into a grin.

She hummed. “Seems to think that because me and you are closer in age I’m going to trade him in for the younger model.” She smiled when he laughed. “Why did you come tonight?”

“I already told you.” He whispered, dropping his gaze from hers again.

“Jay.” She said softly.

“You were right when you suggested it, I need to start trying more. I can’t keep blaming everyone else for not trying, when I’m not either.” He admitted. They laid in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. “You know, teenage me would be ecstatic if he could see me now, lying in this bed with a pretty girl.”

“You’re telling me you weren’t popular with the ladies in high school with this pretty face.” She shifted forward slightly and ran a finger along his chiselled jaw.

He leaned into her touch “You know I died at fifteen, right? And I was a pretty scrawny kid before that.”

“I think teenage me would have been into teenage you.” She whispered.

“Really?”

“I mean, from the looks of this room, you were just the right level of nerd.” She smiled.

“And what about now?” He breathed out, subconsciously shifting forward until there was only an inch or so between them.

“I don’t think current you is half bad either.” All it took was his eyes flickering down to look at her lips for her to close the gap between them. His lips were soft against hers as he responded almost immediately. She turned her body into him as he did the same, brushing her fingers along his cheek before she tangled her hand in his curls as he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her closer. The broke apart briefly, eyes searching each other for some form of hesitancy before he surged forward and kissed her again.

His hands moved to her hips and he pulled her on top of him with an ease that took her breath away. Sometimes she forgot how much the pit had actually enhanced him, on top of the muscles he worked for himself.

He sat up, keeping his lips on hers as he shifted her so she was straddling his lap. She buried her hands in his hair and tugged, causing him to groan and part his lips so she could deepen the kiss. She pressed herself closer to him as his hands moved up from her hips to knead at her chest through her dress. He swallowed the noises she made easily as she kept one hand in his hair and moved the other to start loosening his tie.

That’s when he finally seemed to realise what he was doing because his whole body went rigid and he gently pushed her back. “Fuck- I-I’m sorry. Fuck. I c-can’t do this. I’m sorry.” His eyes were glassy and her lipstick was smeared all around his lips.

“It’s okay.” She whispered, quickly clambering off of him to sit on the bed again. She adjusted her dress to cover her properly again as he struggled to get his breathing back under control.

He stood from the bed, looking anywhere but her. “I’ll send Dick up. You can go home with him as planned.” He wiped at his mouth with his sleeve as he walked out, leaving her staring after him.

She pulled herself together enough to stumble into the ensuite bathroom to try and sort her face out before Dick arrived. Her lipstick was smeared all around her lips and tear tracks were visible in the foundation on her cheeks, but luckily she had the foresight to wear waterproof eye make-up, so at least she didn’t have to deal with mascara everywhere. She wiped off the lipstick, but knew even if she took the rest of her make-up off, Dick would be able to tell she had been crying from how red her eyes were.

“Y/N?” Dick called as the bedroom door was pushed open.

She took a deep breath to steel herself and then walked out of the bathroom. “Hey.”

“You okay?” He asked, taking in her appearance.

She nodded, biting her lip as she tried to figure out what to say. “What happened with Luthor?”

“Bruce nearly lost it, I honestly thought he was going to go full on Batman on Luthor’s ass, but he stopped himself. He had him escorted out because he didn’t have a ticket. I think Luthor only showed up to gloat about a bad business deal though.” Dick said. “Jason seemed… off, I mean, more than normal. Did something happen?”

She shook her head. “Other than me having a panic attack on him, no.”

He nodded. “Must be the room then, I think this is probably the first time he’s actually been back in here since he got back.”

“Oh.” Her heart clenched painfully and she tried not to think about what had just happened. “Can we leave now?” She asked, her voice breaking.

Dick didn’t hesitate to walk forward and wrap his arms around her. She screwed her eyes shut and buried her face in his shoulder. “Yeah, of course. Let’s go.” But he didn’t actually move until she did. He squeezed her arms before taking her hand and leading her through the corridors to his car.

Part 6

[ellssbellss]

Lavender Roses ~ Kyoya Ootori x Reader

pairing- Kyoya Ootori x Reader

In which a rational head hides a generous heart, but you have always known how to see past his walls and help him bloom into the gorgeous rose he is.

Enjoy a slow burn between an honor student and our beloved glasses character!

summary: He stepped even closer to you, trying to reassure you the best he knew how. 

“Whatever it is you need to tell me, you can say it. You can trust me.”

word count: 14.3k

legend:

(e/c) = eye color

(n/l) = native language

(c/n) = home country's name

(p/c) = pick a color

see masterlist! : masterlist

taglist!: @abbysblogsstuff @sunukissed @kisskissshutmydoor @idonia-dovahkiin @greensnakegoblep @vervainnnn

The Grade School Host The Naughty Type! pt. 1

“What kind of music do you like, (Y/n)?”

You leaned forward on the table, your billowing sleeves falling down your forearm to reveal beautiful rings and bracelets covering your wrists and fingers. You gave your guest a loving smile, biting your lip slightly as you stopped to think.

“Hm,” you say, a seductive hum rolling its way to your guests ears, and resonating within the blush on their cheeks. “I’m not entirely sure. I love all kinds of music.” Your deep lipstick moves as another flirt slips out of your mouth.

“But, I think the sound of your voice is what brings me the most joy, honey.” The girl across from you loops arms with one of your male guests and they both lean on each other to keep from fainting. 

You reach out to steady them, the vibrant skirt of your dress swishing with your movements. The flowing cloth was dyed in a deep (p/c), bringing out the brightness of your (e/c) eyes. Your lipstick matched perfectly, and gold jewelry accented the entire look. 

Tamaki promised a royal Arabic theme, and boy, did he deliver.

“Careful,” You warn as you place your guests back in their chair. “You shouldn’t be falling for me so soon.” A blush is fabricated on your cheeks as well as all three of you giggle at your pun. 

But before you can continue your conversation, you pause your hosting to watch Tamaki excuse himself from his guests. 

A rare sight, indeed. Tamaki would never leave his guests alone if it wasn’t important. 

Hikaru and Kaoru rise with him, but you ignore the way they rush to their places in the foyer of the music room, getting into their positions. You didn’t want to leave your guests unattended.

The guest that you were laughing with suddenly becomes very close. You had entertained her many times, but she had never been this brave. It was a good-natured advance, so no alarm was needed on your part. It was just surprising. 

She looked confident, but a blush raged a war on her cheekbones as she grabbed your hand. Her friend beside her looked at her in awe. 

“I think it’s a little too late for that.” She admitted, a small smile on her face. It was your turn to blush when she grasped your face in your hands and planted a firm kiss on your cheek.

Her forwardness caught you off guard, a nervous sound coming out of your dropped jaw. 

Kissing was definitely not encouraged in the club. It was too sentimental, too intimate. If the hosts went around kissing guests left and right, too many people would be let on, and things could take a dramatic turn. All guests were made well aware of that fact, but some people thought that they deserved special treatment. Not surprising coming from a crowd of heirs and rich nobles. 

Your guest smirked at your disbelief, and you didn’t know what to say. As uncomfortable as this situation was, you didn’t want to make a scene. 

Before you could figure out something to say that could gently defuse the situation, the girl’s eyes flicked to somewhere behind you, causing her to draw back slightly. Her other friend swallowed.

A pale hand gently grasped your shoulder. 

“Kyoya?”

“A new guest is arriving. We need to get into our positions.” He said, his slightly-more-than-monotone voice piercing through the room. Over his glasses, you saw his stare catch onto the guest that had just crossed a club boundary.  

“I’m afraid to say that (Y/n)-san’s hours have unfortunately come to an abrupt end.” He voices to your guests, a host grin pulling on his face. His words were like ice. “Thank you for choosing to spend your free hours here, but you may be excused.” 

“You need to leave?” The girl whined as she leaned ever closer towards you.

Kyoya moves in front of you and offers a hand. You take it, his skin soft against yours, and gracefully peel yourself off your chair. 

“As I said,” Your best friend glazes a stare over his shoulder at the guest behind you. The grin was gone, and his gaze was casted to the women who sat below him. It was the look he used for when the people who worked for him disrespected his father’s work. For when inferior individuals questioned his authority. “You are excused.”

A chill went down your spine as the girl huffed then grabbed her friend’s hand. She pushed out her chair, allowing it to skid across the tile. Throwing a fit, her friend followed behind her embarrassed, his head down and a sad blush dusting his cheeks. Your eyebrows crinkled in sympathy as he was dragged away to another chaotic event that girl would surely create. 

You both watched them walk away before making your way to the foyer, where the twins adjusted their uniforms as they took their places around Tamaki, who draped himself over the couch, a royal centerpiece of jewels and fabric. 

“Please tell me she won’t be back here.” You laugh nervously, trying to play it off as a joke. But it was hard to contain the insecure wobble in your throat, and you tried to disguise it as a chuckle. Kyoya’s jaw set as he picked up the crack in your foundation, and squeezed your hand as he led you to your position: in a window position behind Haruhi. 

“She won’t.” He didn’t need to elaborate more. As cold as he was, you felt safer, appreciating the action Kyoya took when your boundaries were crossed. Add that to the lists and lists of reasons your heart yearned for this man. 

A breeze rushed over your palm as the ravenet let you go. He made his way to his place behind Tamaki’s right, directly to the side of you. A moment passed before your gazes met again and he offered a small smile, washing away the last bits of the scene that had played out minutes ago. 

On the other side of the coin, Kyoya’s nerves were a light with a new flame. 

There wasn’t much more he could take. A female host was a smart addition to the club, as you were bringing in more money and more popularity to the club every day. But with that came more risk, and the money was becoming less and less of a reason to keep putting you in the spotlight. 

Guests got courageous, lazy. A slip of the hand here, a caress there. He has seen the way some look at you, the least bit of good intention in their eyes. He especially had a bad feeling about the girl who had just made a new enemy of the Ootori company. It was a pity no one taught her to follow the rules. 

However, what was he going to do when someone made their advances clear, and you accepted them? 

That kiss on the cheek shocked him back into reality. He had become complacent with softened gazes and light touches here and there, but he wanted more. Kyoya wanted to be more.

He had to act soon. But how?

Being a club member didn’t automatically mean that Kyoya knew how to bring his relationship with you to the next level. Naturally, he didn’t know the first thing about relationships. 

He fidgeted, adjusting his glasses as he looked around the club, watching the girls cry when Honey and Mori-senpai said their temporary goodbyes as they walked towards your side of the picture they were creating to greet the guest that was on their way. Each host was skilled in knowing what these guests wanted in an entertainer.

Extravagant gestures, money, power. Promises of devotion no matter what consequences their choices led too, words of everlasting beauty and riches. 

The ravenet knew you enough to be sure that you were above all that. If there was one thing Kyoya knew he wanted to give you, it wasn’t empty promises. 

Before he could think about it more, the door to the club creaked open, a boy walking in tentatively, choking on a rose petal that had flown into his mouth. 

His thoughts instinctively transferred back to the reputation of the host club and the megane’s back straightened. 

“Welcome to the Ouran High School Host Club!” Your friends said in unison, setting the tone for the atmosphere that you all created around you. 

Your host smile shifted slightly when the short figure plucked the rose petal from his mouth, shaking it away when another one caught onto his fingers. He looked up in awe, his deep brown eyes glittering as they flicked over each costume, Arabian culture deeply rooted in the vibrant colors and jewelry. 

He was just a child, fascinated by the shiny things. 

Hikaru’s arms flopped to his sides, having put them up in a romantic, outstretched gesture. He blew a ginger strand of hair out of his face as his eyebrows drew close in confusion. You had dyed their hair a third time when they grew bored of the bright colors. They liked the sneaky potential of always being mistaken for the other, and the colored hair made it too obvious.

He grumbled to his brother and Tamaki posed in front of him. “Oh, it’s a kid.”

Tamaki, never one to break character, floated a hand towards the boy, gracefully splaying his fingers out to show off his rings. “What’s wrong little boy?” The prince’s voice drawled, a soft, royal tone passing over his tongue. “Did you come to my palace in search of something?” 

The kid shuffled, one foot pointing toward the blonde, and another pointing toward the doorway. His response shook in hesitation as he struggled to make eye contact with the blonde.

“Are you the King of this place?”

You immediately looked at Kyoya, and gray met (e/c) in an exasperated effort. You sucked on your cheek, trying not to roll your eyes as Tamaki sat straighter, a glimmer glossing over his violet irises. 

“Well?” The boy pressed on. “Are you?”

Tamaki’s hand turns, his palm facing upwards. A finger curls, beckoning the child to come closer. 

“Come closer, lost one.” Oh god.

The kid’s green uniform crinkles as he makes his way towards Tamaki, and your posture sinks even more as he adjusts himself to tower over the poor child. 

“What did you just call me, little boy?” Tamaki asks. Egotistical, lovable prick. 

Brunette eyebrows furrow on the young face. “The King?” 

The king lights up, standing to sway around the club room, basking in the words of a naive little child. “Ah, the king! Yes, I am the king of the host club!” You could’ve sworn you saw stars appear in his eyes. “Long live the king!”

“God, kid, what have you done?” You grumble, and watch as Haruhi’s shoulders struggle not to shake with her contained laughter. 

In the presence of the supposed king, the boy straightens his back, putting both feet together in a structured salute. 

“I’m an elementary fifth year! Shiro Takaoji!”

Shiro had a look of determination on his face that seemed too brutal for his age. His soft cheeks were clenched as he set his jaw, and the downturn of his eyebrows accented the shine of a purpose in his brown eyes. It was off-putting.

Then again, Honey-senpai didn’t act like how you would’ve expected either. 

Tamaki gasps as the posture of the child, and you didn’t think his head could get any bigger than it already was. That was before Shiro pointed to your blonde friend. 

“I want the host club king to take me on as an apprentice!”

You were sure the entire host club was going to suffocate under Tamaki’s ego. 

Tamaki rejoices, spinning the kid around in his arms as the boy kicks and spits until he settles under his grasp. 

More than displeased, you lean over to your left, scoffing as you whisper to the handsome director next to you. He notices and discreetly leans to his right.

“Please, an apprentice?” You scoff, your lips curling into a joking frown. “What is Tamaki going to teach the little squirt, huh? His detailed skin care routine?”

A small puff of air exerts from Kyoya, encouraging a small chuckle. He looks at you with a roll of his eyes while you turn your attention back to the boy in front of you, watching how you analyze the little boy like he is a mutant strand of the flu. His gaze softens without you noticing, then he looks to Tamaki as he immediately begins spouting small lessons to Shiro.

His eyebrow quirks as an idea flashes through his mind. If Tamaki is already going to be giving out free lessons on how to flirt with women, how bad would it be to sit in on a class?

“Oh my Tamaki, you have an apprentice?” A girl asks as she basks in the light that is Tamaki Suoh. Guests surround the prince like a moth to a flame, the center of the host club becoming something of a hive. But that wasn’t the unusual part. Today, there was a new kind of bug in their mist. 

Shiro watches intently as Tamaki grasps the girl’s hand, smiling down at her. 

“Yes. He is in elementary school, but I quite like the fire in his eyes.” 

“But are you sure it’s okay for such a young boy to become a host?” The guest says, looking between the elementary fifth year and the high school second year. 

Tamaki’s expression simmers down to a smirk, but clearly ignites a fire in the girl’s heart as he draws nearer, causing a blush to form on her cheeks. 

“Why wouldn’t it be? Love has nothing to do with age.” He rests a hand on her cheek, and you watch as she leans into the touch. “Take us for instance. When I’m with you, my heart starts pounding.” He leans a little closer. “Suddenly, I feel no different than a love-sick little boy.” 

She swoons. “Oh Tamaki~.”

Across the pastel tile, You, Kyoya, and Haruhi watch from the snack table as Shiro leans onto his tippy-toes, poking his head slightly above the table so that he can get a better look. 

“Don’t you think it’s weird that he’s making the kid observe him up close like that?” Haruhi asks, wincing as Shiro opens his eyes a little wider, hoping not to miss anything.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that this kid is here at all?” You say, frowning as you watch what you think to be a 10 year old take notes on how to seduce women. 

Leaning on a table behind you, Kyoya slightly glances up from his writings to check on Tamaki before focusing back on the pages in front of him. 

“There is a theory that people are considered more beautiful when observed up close.” He pauses, disguising it as a bored sigh, while taking the chance to glaze his eyes over your features. It wasn’t that you were more beautiful up close – because he didn’t think that was possible –, but he will always revel in the effect of your presence, and will never bore of you being inches away from his touch. 

“Tamaki seems to live by that theory.” He continues, and writes down the way Tamaki angles the girls face towards his, forcing a blush away from the thought of touching you that way. 

You roll your eyes as an irritating look on the kid's face forms when he tries to focus on the conversation happening in front of him. 

“Well, let’s leave them alone.” You say, as you gather what you came to the snack table for in the first place. You set pastries and sandwiches onto a silver platter, then begin walking back over to your guests for the afternoon. “I’m here to work, not to babysit.”

Both Kyoya and Haruhi look at you as you leave, taken aback by your harsh tone reserved for the fifth year. Haruhi looks between you and Kyoya, who has an eyebrow raised on his forehead, but otherwise seems unfazed. 

“What’s up with her?” The honor student asks, directing her question to the club director while still keeping an eye on you. As you pass Shiro, you give him a wide girth, your posture slouching slightly.

An amused chuckle resounds through Kyoya. “(Y/n) is scared of children.”

Haruhi’s brows furrow together, and she looks at you again. You are so bubbly and kind, accepting of everyone and everything. For you to not like something as innocent as children is almost hilarious in a way, if it wasn’t so confusing. 

“I was just as surprised as you are when I first figured it out.” Kyoya assured her. “But she finds them incredibly annoying, especially when they aren’t supervised by their parents.” 

“But that’s so unlike her, she’s usually so open.” The brunette debates, remembering how caring and motherly you can be towards the members of the host club. 

Kyoya sighs, glancing at you once more, and Haruhi catches a glimpse of sympathy in his facade. “(Y/n)’s past is more complicated than she makes it seem. When she was younger, her parents made her feel like a burden. She had to rely on them so heavily, being a child and all, and her parents weren’t able to live their lives the way they wanted too.” A chuckle of dark humor travels past his lips. “Because who can travel and do business with a toddler attached to their hip?” Kyoya’s tone is dry as he looks down at Haruhi, whose eyes have lost their mirth. 

“So, psychologically, she feels like she has to avoid kids at all costs. She’s scared to treat them the way her parents treated her.” 

His statement leaves Haruhi even more confused, and a little saddened to hear about your past. “Since when are you a psychiatrist?” 

“I’ve never claimed to be a medical professional.” Kyoya smirks once more. “I’ve known (Y/n) for a long time, and I’ll admit I’ve come to learn how to read people.” 

He shrugs. “Additionally, I know a thing or two about parental issues.” 

The ravenet lifts his gaze again and watches as the boy apprentice calls one of Tamaki’s guests a carp, and as Tamaki tries to comfort his offended guest, Shiro casually walks around, looking for something more interesting after grumbling under his breath.

Kyoya’s jaw clenches from holding back a smile as he follows Shiro’s path. “Would you like to know the irony of the situation?” 

Haruhi nods and aims her brown eyes in the direction of Kyoya’s gaze.

“Because (Y/n) is so kind and open, children are drawn to her.”

As if punctuating the megane’s statement, Shiro drops down into an empty seat next to you, and they both laugh as you stiffen. 

“Man, what a crybaby.” Shiro casually says, resting his elbows on your table as he interrupts your conversation with the guy across from you. 

“You look like you won’t annoy me.” He says to you, and you wince internally. 

You look at him, your (e/c) eyes piercing through him, and Shiro gives a little gasp. You definitely remind him of someone. A girl in his class. She has the same smile that you do.  

Too bad he didn’t know that this smile was forced. “Shiro, you can’t sit here right now. I’m working.” You’re trying to be kind, you really are. You might be uncomfortable around children, but that didn’t give you the right to be rude to them. 

“Who says?” He looks back at you. Your cheeks puff out, and your face takes on a deadpan expression. Your eyes slide back to your laptop as you continue working out the budget, typing up financial plans to save up for some more specialty items for those who are a part of the point system. 

“What are you doing?” Shiro asks, and he sits up on his knees, prying his eyes over your computer. 

As he gets closer, you slide the laptop away from him. He leans even more, and you slide it away. Eventually, he is crawling on the table, scrambling to get a glimpse at your screen.

Biting your cheek to keep from cursing at a kid, you stop typing and pick him up from his armpits, treating him like a radioactive piece of lab equipment, and set him back down at his chair. 

“Stop being nosy, or go find someone else to bother.” You say, firm, but there was no anger in your words. Just exhausted annoyance. 

He huffs, folding his arms and pouting, but he stayed in his seat nonetheless. Your company was somehow less stressful than the king he was observing from your table.

That is, until two gingers came up behind you and wrapped around each shoulder. Like you weren’t already annoyed. 

“So how’s it going, (Y/n)? That’s an adorable little buddy you got there.” They tease you, also knowing your distaste for the young.

The twins laugh at your dismay, and you hunch further over your computer, struggling to focus on the task in front of you. Not with three immature little brats surrounding you. 

“But, Hikaru…” Kaoru suddenly becomes very sheepish, his laughter coming to a halt. You turn slightly to see a blush painting his face, and you roll your eyes in favor of watching your screen. 

Kaoru continues. “Do you wish you had a little brother like Shiro?” 

Stars and moons light up in each guests’ eyes as they watch Hikaru gather a tearful Kaoru in his arms, cradling his head as he looks down on him with dramatic longing. 

“Don’t be silly.” As if on cue, rose petals fall over them, most likely from the ones Renge had installed in the ceiling for moments like this. “I could search the whole globe and I’d never find a better brother than you, Kaoru.” 

“Hikaru…” Kaoru sighs.

Boys and girls all swooned around them as they shouted praises at their brotherly love act, especially after being deprived of it for so long.

But beside you, Shiro scrambled, leaping off his chair and pointing at the two brothers. He tugs on your sleeve, and with more strength than you would expect from a fifth year, pulls you out of your chair. He drags you away from the twins and sets you in front of him like a human shield, pointing at the Hitachiians in disgust.

“What the hell? Their brothers! That makes this totally insectuous!” 

You rip your hand from his grip while you roll your eyes, already exhausted. You’re so used to the twins’ act by now, you forget it takes a while for people to get used too.

You sigh as you try to make your way back to the table. “I think what you meant to say was incestuous.” 

You stop and turn at a grunt from Shiro as Honey jumps on his back, a cute smile on his round face. “Hey Shiro-Chan! You wanna have a piece of cake with me? We’ve got three kinds: chocolate, strawberry, and lime!” 

Manically, Shiro shoves the third year off, and you wince as Honey lands on his butt. “Hey back off! What grade are you in anyway? Why’re you wearing a high school uniform?” 

A shadow looms over him as Honey stands, rubbing his sore backside. You watch as Shiro looks up to see Mori, tall as ever, looking down at him over the bridge of his nose. 

“Something wrong, Mitsukuni?” Moris deep voice swept over the kid, and he backed away, finding refuge behind your legs, much to your dismay. 

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Shiro cries. “A little kid like you can’t have a cool older friend like him!”

Mori picks up Honey while you back away from Shiro, turning only to run into Haruhi. Why can’t you just make it the two steps to your seat?

Startled, Haruhi looked up from what she was doing. She grips a fragile tray in her hand, balancing a teapot with snacks that you helped prepare this morning arranged in a small little circle. 

“Sorry Haruhi- oof!” You say as the elementary schooler bumps into you once more, and you take a deep breath before you could explode on the poor kid. 

The honor student peeks behind you and sees Shiro gripping onto your skirt for balance.

“Are you alright?” She says, and both of you face the kid, considering you were awkwardly trapped between them. Might as well become part of the conversation. 

Haruhi leans down so she can be slightly more level with Shiro, and a kind smile traces her features. “I know, it’s kinda hard getting used to all the weirdos around here.”

Her joke puts you a little more at ease. Maybe it won’t be so bad after all. 

“It took me a while to get adjusted to all the craziness, so don’t freak out.” You say, hoping to give the kid some sort of comfort. Your voice doesn’t come out as confident and bright as you would like it, but it was soothing. So A for effort. 

Haruhi nods. “We’re sure you’ll get used to it.” 

You both pause as Shrio’s face becomes wrinkled with concentration. His eyes pin down Haruhi’s face as he studies her, confusing you to no end. Was he listening to anything you were saying?

You try again. “Shiro? Is there something wrong?” 

The kid’s eyes squint at Haruhi a bit more before he opens his mouth, causing your breath to stop in your throat. “Are you a crossdresser?”

You gasp. “Oh no.”

Suddenly, the twins and Tamaki are at your side, Kyoya walking over at a leisurely, but purposeful, pace. They become the Keep-Haruhi’s-Gender-A-Secret committee as Tamaki covers Shiro’s eyes.

“Okay! That’s enough!” The prince declares, chuckling nervously as he tries to direct Shiro away from your best friend, but the student doesn’t budge. “I think Shiro should take care of the tea for us! Don’t ya think?” 

You nod urgently and promptly take the tray from Haruhi’s grasp. The twins form a tag team, reaching out and patting her on the back to assure her of her manliness. 

“Wow, Haruhi, you’re looking extra manly today!”

“Yeah, you’re too macho for tea sets!”

Kyoya arrives at your side, humming in interest. “This kid is smarter than I thought.” 

Your mouth curves in distaste as you move to hand Shiro the tray. But not before you’re able to respond under your breath. “He may be a kid, but he has quite the eye.” The sarcasm couldn’t have been thicker in your tone. 

Trying to be more polite for Shiro, you paste a light grin when you face him. The tea tray extends out in front of you, and you give him a gentle warning. 

“Now be careful with it. It’s pretty heavy.” 

When you pass it to the kid, a crash sounds when he immediately drops the expensive pottery. Your gaze falls to the porcelain that lays shattered at your feet, just like your patience. 

“It’s not my fault I dropped it. It’s your fault because you’re the one who made me take it in the first place.” 

Your hands were frozen out in front of you, still grasping an imaginary tray as you prayed that you were dreaming.

“Are you kidding me?” You ask, mainly to yourself, despite being in the company of the entire host club.

Disbelief flooded your senses at the spoiled audacity of this kid, and your mood deflated even more when you realized that you were the one who had to clean it up. Your hands came up to rub at your face as you turned on your heel, heading for the broom closet. Baring your teeth behind a closed grimace, you kept your profanities to yourself as you calmly walked away from the little devil.

Throughout the years, you had come to realize that Music Room #3 was larger than it seemed. Tucked into corners of the clubroom were closets, hallways, and cabinets that were hidden in plain sight, and once you found them, you couldn’t figure out how you had missed it. The broom closet was one of these rooms. Past the kitchen and to the left used to be a door you had never opened. But at some point, the twin’s curiosity got the better of them, and a vast storage space was discovered. 

So, briskly, you made your way to the privacy of the broom closet, already a little emotionally overwhelmed from this aspiring new host, even if he had been here for only an hour or so. 

Once you’re faced with the entrance to the broom closet, you sigh, letting your head rest against the white paint on the wood of the door. Eyes closed, you will your bubbling anxiety to simmer, but it doesn’t really go away until you feel another presence lean against the door beside you.

“That tea set was one-hundred-thousand yen. I’ll have to add that to your debt.” A familiar voice resounds within the confined space of this hallway, erasing the rest of your tension.

Leave it to Kyoya to find the humor in your dismay. 

“And what debt would that be?” You ask, opening your eyes to see his shoulder pressed against the closet door, a smug look with a touch of softness painting his face. “It seems I only owe you favors, Ootori.” 

The club’s director hums, a teasing light sparking in his gray iris. “Then I suppose you owe me two favors.” 

The heartbeat in your throat is no longer caused by anxiety and you scoff, annoyingly enamored by the banter you two share. 

Motioning him away and moving towards the door handle, a monotone response leaves your lips. “What a joy.” 

With a creak, the door opens to reveal various multiple cleaning supplies. At the esteemed Ouran Academy, even the janitor’s closet is a walk-in space. Reaching above your head, you pull a small silver chain, turning on the lights and walking towards the back corner of the room. 

Shelves on the walls are illuminated by the bright light of a fixture in the center of the ceiling. Different tools are organized on all levels, while the larger of them hang on the walls in front of you. You scan the room before stepping in, trying to get a better look when you realize that what you were looking for wasn’t in its usual place. 

“I could’ve sworn the hand-held broom was back here.” You say, pantomiming the kind of tool you were looking for, as all you could see hanging from the walls were mops and brooms taller than you were. 

“You mean this?” His voice projects behind you, and you spin to see Kyoya holding a small brush and a dust pan. Gratefully, you smile and reach for it, only for him to move it slightly out of your reach.

“Kyo?”

“Are you alright?” He asks, and you blink. It takes a second to process the change in mood, but a small smirk appears on your face nonetheless

“Are you worried about me or something?” He deadpans, and his concern is replaced with a slight regret of ever being associated with you.

The ravenet crosses his arms, the small broom hanging over the crick of his elbow. “I am simply aware that your emotions might be a little more than negative at the moment.” 

You give him a ‘really?’ look, but he meets it, peaking over his frames for an answer. 

Taking a deep breath, you give in. “I’m fine. Kids just put me a little on edge.” 

“It seemed like you were about to rip the poor child’s head off.”

“I know, I know.” You wince at your previous behavior. Apparently, as much as you tried to hide them, your feelings still managed to be sewed onto your sleeve. “Honestly, being in here helps me cool off a little.”

With a classic eyebrow quirk, Kyoya turns his wrist, holding out the small broom in front of him for you to take. But when you take it, he doesn’t move out of your way. 

The megane studies you before pushing himself off the wall and reaching towards your face. Delicately, his pale fingers push a runaway hair out of your face, tucking the strand behind your ear. His light touch causes something to bloom in your chest, and he takes comfort in the way you don’t push him away. 

The light touch of his fingertips morphs into a palm resting on the side of your face, your cheekbones warm from the pressure. Your flustered confusion manifests in a slight drop in your jaw when he draws in a breath, adjusting his hand to tilt your head slightly. 

“I realize that this may be a stressful situation for you.” Kyoya says, and in the small closest space, his quiet tone bounces off the walls and settles into the hollows of your rib cage. “But I hope I can be a place of comfort for you, if you need it.” 

It takes you a while to find your breath, but the oxygen rushes in soon enough, pulling along a fluttery feeling by a romantic ribbon. 

“Thank you, Kyo.” 

A soft smile etches into his handsome features as time stops for a moment, allowing the two of you to bask in the other’s presence, a treasure that is always hidden in plain sight, but doesn’t present itself often. 

That is, until a slam is heard from outside your little energetically filled bubble. 

Your mind is given whiplash as you are yanked out of the dazed feeling Kyoya always seems to give you, and harshly released into the present. Kyoya follows your lead as he spins his head, trying to peer his vision around the corner.

“What the hell?” You ask, trailing off as you quickly circle around Kyoya, shoving your shoulders together before dashing off towards whatever made that disrupting noise. 

In your dust of sunlight, Kyoya stands. He doesn’t follow you in favor of pulling out his notebook. He flips to the most recent page and scans it, finding the checklist he started at the beginning of the day. 

In his neat handwriting reads: Head Tilt. 

Shaking his head, Kyoya goes back to that moment when his hand touched your cheek, sighing at the electricity he felt surge through his fingertips. Maybe he didn’t copy Tamaki’s movements well enough?

Next to it, he writes Ineffective before pulling the chain above him, darkening the small space. 

As you turn the corner from the closet, you nearly drop the small broom onto the polished tile when you find the newest addition to your club trapped in a giant metal cage. 

“What’s going on here?!” The kid shouts. “Why did you put me in a cage?”

“Yeah!” You say as you stomp over to the group that has now been made around the poor child, making your presence known. “And where did it come from?”

Haruhi is also in awe, speaking through a dropped jaw. “Isn’t this supposed to be a music room?”

Shiro bangs on the bars as they ring in defiance. “This is no way to treat your loyal apprentice! Now let me outta this cage!”

“Jesus Christ, I was gone for two seconds.” You say next to Tamaki as you watch the elementary school kid bar his teeth at the seven of you as Kyoya joins the commotion. 

“His attitude was in absolute distaste and he insulted Haruhi. Drastic actions call for drastic measures.” Tamaki states, arms folded in a scold towards the boy. 

The blonde grabs a cup of tea that was freshly made by Haruhi before all of this began and sips on it, completely brushing off the kid’s whines. 

“I will not let you out of that cage until you’ve learned your lesson. I made you my apprentice because I thought you were serious about becoming a host, but I guess I was wrong.”

Another cry comes from Shiro, and sympathy pulls uncomfortably in your chest. “I am serious! I am totally serious!”

His pleas seem to fall onto deaf ears as the King continues to ignore him, so he tries again. Your brow crinkles at the tears that glisten in his eyes. Maybe this was too much. 

“I want you to teach me how to make a woman happy!” With desperation and defeat, he slumps to his knees, his knuckles white from his hard grasp on the prison bars. “I’m gonna run out of time.”

You share a look with Haruhi, both of you catching that brief example of vulnerability while Shiro takes another wet gasp. “Please, won’t you teach me?” The boy looks up, still on his knees. 

“You’re a host because you like girls. You like bringing a smile to a girl’s face.” The kid swallows, not having the proper adult experience in controlling strong emotions like these. “That’s why you do it right? Please, won’t you teach me to be like you?”

Tamaki still continues to give Shiro the cold shoulder. Your discomfort for the child is momentarily erased as you come to Shiro’s aid. 

“You should help him, Tamaki.” You say, and his violet eyes meet yours in suspicion. “After all, you are a genius. The King at making women swoon. You’re the only person that could help him.”

Tamaki drops the tea cup, but he skips over the shattered pieces towards Shiro with stars in his eyes. At least you already brought a broom from the closet. 

“Well, you may be a brat, but I admire your ambition!” The prince exclaims with eagerness in his voice, his pride overflowing more than the tea that was previously in his cup. “So, I’ll teach you! You know Shiro, you and I are so much alike!”

You roll your eyes as Tamaki starts hugging himself, and the twins saunter up to each side of you. 

“That poor kid…” Kaoru starts.

“...He doesn’t know what he just got himself into.” Hikaru finishes. 

Chuckling, you roll your shoulders, feigning annoyance as you shove them off. They’re laughing too, but they twist their heads, trying to see if anyone was within earshot of the three of you. 

“Too bad you weren’t here to see the shit Shiro pulled to get him landed in a cage.” The mischievous twin states, his golden eyes locking with Kaoru’s in another spurt of twin telepathy. 

“Yeah, wonder what took you so long in that broom closet? Didn’t we see Kyoya go in there with you?” Kaoru states, and relishes in the blush that quickly rises to your cheekbones. They start snickering at your burning face, but their humor is interrupted as you yank on each one of their ears, crouching down and pulling them with you. 

Your voice is a hushed whisper as you try your best to not bring any attention to yourselves. “If you guys don’t cut it out, I’m gonna call your mother and have her cease your weekly allowance for a month.” You tighten your hold on them and they wince. “Ms. Hitachiian and I are very close.” 

They roll their eyes once you release them and dust off your skirt. “Geez, since when was your grip so strong?” They whine in unison as they rub their red ears. 

You smirk as you walk past them to tune back into the conversation, serving them a fake smile. “It’s powered by my pure annoyance for the two of you.” 

Rolling their eyes for the second time in a row, the three of you make it back to the host club’s shenanigans. 

When Tamaki’s voice comes back into earshot, his tone has taken one akin to a teacher. “If this is really what you want, Shiro, then you’ll have to figure out how to use the material you already have.”

His innocence is highlighted when Shiro scrunches his eyebrows together. “What does that mean?”

The click of a pen is heard as Kyoya opens his book, turning to an earlier page. You scan it to see all of the host’s names, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each persona that you all hold. You were pleased to see that your category was recently added in a different color of ink, the few sentences suggesting that there was more to learn about how you can contribute to the club’s image. 

“You see, here at Ouran Academy, our policy is to use our individual personality traits to meet the needs of our guests.” The ravenet speaks, a tiredness twisting into his tone as if he’s had to explain this exact thing several times over. 

He gestures to Tamaki, who puffs out his chest proudly. “For example, there’s Tamaki, who is the Princely-Type.” Kyoya’s open palm then moves to each of you as you are introduced, seemingly proud of the system he has put together. 

“Then, there’s the Strong Type, The Boy-Lolita Type, The Little-Devil Type, The Cool-Type, and the Natural-Type. It’s all about variety.” Finally, he points to you. 

“And now our group is complete with the addition of (Y/n), the Sweet-Type.”

The brown-haired honor student points to herself, clueless of the nickname that had unknowingly been given to her. “The Natural?” You chuckle to yourself at her question.

Kyoya continues, looking up from his journal. “It would seem now that we have the perfect blend of characteristics. So it’s going to be hard to find a new one for Shiro.” 

“If you go by his age, he would be the Boy-Lolita type.” You think out loud, the logical side of your brain taking over.”

Honey’s eyes wells up, his pupils glistening with sudden tears as he looks at you. “Is he gonna replace me?” 

Before you can comfort him, another sudden noise pierces the air. Machinery crashes together with tremendous power, but unfortunately it wasn’t loud enough to silence an annoying voice tearing into the host club. 

“Oh, come on! Is that all you’ve got?”

Your stomach ties in knots at the familiar voice, and you spin on your heel. 

Laughing nervously, you wave to the rest of the host club. “Sorry guys! Last minute robotics club meeting, gotta go!” You briskly walk towards the front door. But before you can make it to the large double doors, the floor below you begins to open. 

Wobbling on the edge, you nearly crash into the tiered platform rising out of the tile, but strong hands steady you just in time. Mori pulls you back onto stable ground, but as a pink bow reveals itself from the depths of the music room, you wish you would’ve fallen anyway. 

Renge stands on three metal circles that get smaller as your vision rises, each acting as a step as she descends into the host club. You suddenly feel emotionally worn out, all of your patience draining at the sight of her sickly sweet smile. 

“I need to sit down.” You tell Mori in a lower tone of voice than usual, rolling your eyes at her victory laugh as she makes her way over to the host club. 

The otaku sighs dramatically. “Sorry to interrupt gentlemen, but what’s with the lackluster character analysis? I must say I’m quite disappointed. I thought I taught you better.” 

You sink deeper into your chair when Haruhi appears at your side, her tolerance equally spent. 

“What’s up with this place?” She whines. “I thought it was supposed to be a music room?”

“A Renge-free music room.” You grumpily add on.

Tamaki sighs and folds his arms at Renge’s statement. “Alright then, Miss Renge, how would you work Shiro into our collection of characters?”

“Hmm.” She taps her fingers against her chin cutely as her eyes scan the room, landing her gaze on you, pinning you against the cushions.

Renge smirked and sighed. “First of all, I think you have too much variety. (Y/n) sullies what a host club is supposed to be!” 

Grasping her hands together, her eyes shape into hearts as she twirls. “A room full of beautiful boys! Take her out of the club, put her back on sole errand boy duties, take her away from my Haruhi.” She stops twirling and points to the boys. “That’s what I would do first.” 

On the other end of her finger, the host club deadpans. 

Haruhi chuckles next to you. “Wait until she finds out I’m not a boy.” 

Kyoya steps out from the group. “(Y/n) will not be leaving the host club. If you don’t have anything that’s actually useful, then feel free to escort yourself out, Renge.”

Renge pouts. “So mean.” But her demeanor completely shifts once again, from an annoying whiny spoiled brat, to an annoying loud spoiled brat. 

“Listen up!” Your head reels from the whiplash of her emotions. “There are plenty of girls out there who have a thing for younger boys, or boys with baby faces. These girls are considered Shota fans.”

She begins to pace, walking in a pattern similar to a military general commanding her troops. “Now shota can be a broad category, so it’s important to know that the genre can be broken down into many different smaller categories.”

You hear scribbling and scoff as you see Kyoya taking notes on Renge’s mini lesson. 

“If I had to pick a category for this little boy,” Renge contemplates as she walks in front of Shiro’s vision and crouches down, scanning the poor boy from head to toe. “Then he would be the Naughty-Boy Type for sure!”

A creaking sound emits from the ceiling as the cage rises, disappearing into the room as if it was never there. A now freed Shiro points to himself, confused.

“The Naughty Type?” He asks.

Renge rushes him, pulling a whistle out of the neckline of her dress, and blowing it. “Now to be the Naughty Type, you have to wear shorts!”

“He’s already wearing shorts.” You point out as you stand, a headache budding behind your eye sockets. How you were still sane with a kid and Renge in the same room, you couldn’t say. 

Too focused to insult you, Renge blows her whistle again, and the noise ricochets off of your skull. “Okay! Then, you gotta have bumps and bruises! Give him a couple scars!”

Skilled in the makeup department, Hikaru and Kaoru get to work, painting on scratches and securing some bandaids to Shiro’s body as you make your way towards the ruckus. 

Too soon, Renge slaps Shiro on the back, making that same damn whistle noise. “Now run like a spoiled child. Make it reckless!”

Flabbergasted, Shiro sprints to one side of the room, flicking his heels behind him and staying low to the ground, throwing off his balance and making a messy sprint. Renge watches as he runs suicides for a minute or so before she interrupts with another blow, catching his attention. 

“Now I want you to trip and make it big!” Shiro does as he’s told, and takes a nasty fall to the tile. It looked like it hurt.

“Jesus Christ, Renge, he’s just a kid.” You say as you rush to him, grabbing the spot under his arm and pulling him up gently. “Are you okay, Shiro-chan?”

Renge laughs victoriously. “Now say your catchphrase!”

Shiro simply smirks, wiping the dust from his mouth that came from the unswept floor. His voice comes out scruffy and forced. “No big deal, it was nothin’.”

Realizing you’d been played, you promptly drop the kid and walk away. “Last time I help a kid like you.”

But Renge squeals. “That was perfect, Shiro!” 

Tamaki claps behind her. “That was outstanding! I never knew you were such a great coach, Renge!”

You rolled your eyes and took a stance between Kyoya and Mori, the land of non-expressive annoyance. 

Shiro stands, and when he lifts his head, he has the same look that all children have when they are frustrated, or can’t understand why something is happening. 

His brow furrows, and there’s a desperate shine to his eyes as his mouth parts in disbelief before his entire facade shifts into anger. 

“You’re idiots!” He shouts. “You’re all a bunch of idiots!”

Before any of you can stop him, he starts towards the door. “I’ve had enough of you people!” Shiro’s voice drops to a sad tone before he steps out of the club room. “This is so stupid, none of this is ever gonna make her happy.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Who’s her?”

But Tamaki is calling after the kid. “Wait, Shiro, we haven’t taught you how to apply the techniques you’ve learned yet!”

It was too late. Shiro had left Renge’s crappy teaching in his dust, along with a hint to a secret he has clearly been hiding. 

‘None of this is ever gonna make her happy!’

Completely ignoring Shiro’s feelings, Tamaki marches back to the group. “I can’t believe he ditched us because he didn’t like the lesson. What a selfish little brat.”

“It takes one to know one.” Haruhi says, and you both snicker as Tamaki whines. 

“Haruhi! Mon ami!” He runs to hug Haruhi and cries, but the noise is swallowed by the sound of the platforms turning. You spin to see Renge slowly lowering herself back into the floor, the machine descending into wherever it came from.

“You’re leaving?” You ask, maybe a little too hopeful.

She sighs. “I swear, young boys are good for nothing. I went through all that trouble, and he quits!” Renge throws her arms up in an exasperated expression just before the tile closes around her, placing her out of sight and out of mind. 

The air in the clubroom seems suddenly calmer, for some reason.

Haruhi breaks herself from the prince’s grasp. “Listen Senpai, weren’t you listening to what he said?” 

Tamaki stops trying to grab her and pull her to him to tilt his head, humming in question. 

Her brown eyes meet yours as Haruhi silently asks for your support, considering you heard the same things she did. 

“He said ‘I’m gonna run out of time.’” You clarify as you make your way to her. “What do you think he means by that?”

Haruhi gets a thoughtful look on her face, her eyes drawing downward to focus on the tile that apparently holds many secrets. 

But soon she answers with a quiet confidence. “I think, maybe, it’s a girl.”

Giving her a confirming nod, you think back to how desperate a reckless little boy was to take instruction from a bunch of uptight strangers. But you guessed that nothing was a better motivator than love. 

Why Kyoya let Tamaki make up these ridiculous plans was beyond him, but here he was nonetheless. In the dark, pressing himself against a wall of a school he hasn’t stepped foot in in over a decade. He rolled his eyes as the idiotic trio couldn’t stop themselves peaking out from the door they hid behind, watching as Haruhi and Honey pranced around in grade school outfits, Haruhi’s being more revealing than was needed. 

“You think the fact that Tamaki practically forced her to wear that outfit would reveal a little secret crush or two, wouldn’t you say?” 

Ah yes, you were here as well. Crowded against him in another conveniently small closet where your shoulders were pushed together and the air smelled a little sweeter from your presence. He felt you chuckle against him at your comment, and soaked in the sound as he shook his head. 

“Those two are too stubborn and ignorant to interpret their behavior as anything other than a close friendship.” He whispered.

Without light, it was hard to make out how close your face actually was to his, but you were close enough that he could see a few features in the shadows. The shape of your jawline, your nose, your jewelry that reflected the small sliver of light that was streaming from Tamaki’s peephole.

You were close enough to make his heart race.  

His response expelled another small laugh from you, causing a small smirk to rest on his face. 

You peep out the little crack in the door and shake your head. “Why did they even bother with those disguises?” You ask while Kyoya brings out his notebook. “They stick out like a sore thumb.”

The ravenet hums as he flips to the first page with some open space and begins to draw small spirals. He couldn’t bring out his phone since it would be too bright, so doodling seemed to be the next best conqueror of boredom. 

“Oh ho, (Y/n), never doubt me.” Tamaki says in front of you. He’s crouched, and there’s a creepy glint in his usual violet irises. “There’s a reason, a damn good reason.”

“Gross.” You chide next to Kyoya, watching suspiciously as he rubs his hands together like a madman. 

The twins sigh next to him, and Kyoya rolls his eyes at the drool that leaks from their mouths. “Isn’t she the cutest?” They admire, watching Haruhi being pulled around the elementary school by Honey’s direction.

“Just because she is helping you infiltrate the school and look for Shiro, doesn’t mean you can ogle at her the whole time.” You say, and Kyoya’s shoulder feels colder when you move away from him to wack all three of them. 

Tamaki barely feels the impact, the evil glimmer in his eye turning into adoration. “Look at her in that little mini skirt! Haruhi looks like a little doll!” He whisper-squeals.

You roll your eyes and hit him again for good measure. 

“So basically, you just wanted to see her dressed like that.” Kyoya says as you slowly make your way back to your spot in the dark. He reaches a hand out and you take it, feeling a small buzz in his palm while he gently guides you back to the wall.

The twins turn back, and the megane watches as their eyes drop to your intertwined hands and then back up to him. Kyoya lets go and rolls his shoulders, emitting a practiced nonchalant aura around him. 

But the red heads smirked anyway, and he braced himself. 

“You wouldn’t let us dress up (Y/n) like that, so Haruhi was our next best option…” Kaoru whispered, raising the right corner of his mouth. 

“Let us enjoy this, Shadow King.” Hikaru finishes, the left corner of his lips mirroring his brother’s.

Kyoya ticked his jaw, not bothering to look at your reaction. Not like he could see it anyway. 

Thankfully, there wasn’t time for you to reply when Haruhi and Honey walked into a classroom at the end of a long hallway, moving out of sight of the host club. 

“We need to follow them.” Kyoya looked at another dark shape across from him when Mori spoke. From where Kyoya could see, he was leaning up against the wall, keeping a watchful eye. 

At the stoic’s words, the club files out of the closet. You stretch next to him, sighing as you both are released from another small closet space. 

“Is this your elementary school?” You ask beside him, and he looks down at you over his glasses. The two of you had fallen behind the rest of the group, and he watched as you looked at the walls full of trophies and pictures, appreciating the memories. 

He hums, the sound rumbling deep in his chest. “It is.”

“I bet you were kind of a nerd.” You say and he rolls his eyes. Kyoya thinks back to those times where he sat at a cafeteria studying rather than enjoying the period with friends. At the time, that’s what he preferred, but now he could barely imagine what lunch would be like without the chaos of the host club. 

He supposed he would miss it. 

“As were you, I assume.” Kyoya replies while turning his head to look down one of the corridors. Classrooms bustled inside and nostalgia hit him like a truck, remembering what it was like to be about a foot shorter, roaming the halls silently and carefully just as he did now. 

A whack on his shoulder brings him back to the present, and he sees you scoffing at him for what seemed to be the hundredth time today. And then that scoff turns into a smile. 

There wasn’t much that could incite an obvious emotional reaction from the megane. While there was quite a bit that could make him feel something, usually anger or annoyance, an apparent expression of contentedness and joy was rare to come by for him. 

From the mixture of nostalgia and love, he feels a smile bubbling behind his lips, the corners twitching from the restraint of holding it back. The usual knot in his chest is unwound, falling instead to the bottom of his stomach, the strings feathering slowly and tickling the muscles beneath his abdomen. 

He is too distracted, something that has never truly described him before, to realize that they've made it to the end of the hallway. Or to realize that a door has opened up from a corridor behind them. Or the gasp that sounded off in the distance. 

The classroom that the club has stopped in front of set off another round of bursts. This was his old music classroom. He had played the flute for a time in elementary school before his dad made him drop it to focus on his academics. This was his old music teacher’s classroom.

Kyoya calmly made his way to the front of the crowd, leading them behind Haruhi, who had stepped in first to examine everything. 

“Hm, there’s nobody here.” She states, and everyone else files in. Or, at least he thought it was everyone. 

Tamaki enters the space, a hand to his chin. “So the kid’s classroom is empty, is it?”

But instead of being curious, the twins look as elated as Kyoya feels. “Man, this takes me back.” They say in unison. Hikaru rounds one of the desks, bending over to look on the underside of the wood. 

“I wonder if my doodles are still on my desk.” 

Another hum emits from the club’s director, except this one was dismissive instead of amusing. “Doubtful. The school changes the desks out every year.”

When he came back to his second year of flute lessons, he had thought the same thing when secretly observing each desk, looking for the tell tale sign of spirals. They had been wiped clean. 

The twins, conventionally, ignore him and continue spelling off nonsense. “Let's check out the cafeteria after this!” Hikaru exclaims, with Kaoru nodding along with him.

“I wanna see the old gym!”

“Great idea, Kaoru!” Tamaki chimes in, still looking around. But unlike the rest of the host club, there wasn’t the glint of nostalgia in his stance. Kyoya’s mouth draws into a thin line before continuing to slowly walk the classroom. 

Before you, Tamaki was Kyoya’s only source of this peaceful feeling. Even if he had to fight his way in, the blond prince had proven that people could and would take the time to truly get to know someone like Kyoya. So when Tamaki had opened up to him months later about where he had come from, Kyoya knew that he needed to be there for the prince. The same way that the prince had been there for the Shadow King. 

Haruhi cleared her throat, breaking the ravenet from his thoughts. A vein was popping from her forehead in an attempt to control her frustration. 

“If you’re just gonna barge in here like that, then why did we wear these stupid disguises?” 

Tamaki flicks his wrist, ignoring her while the brothers laugh. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Hikaru assured, shaking his head. 

“Yeah,” Kaoru agreed. “There’s no one here to catch us.”

Ironically, at that moment, a pair of footsteps was heard walking down the hallway. 

Like rats, the host club scattered. Heads ducked underneath desks, even if some fit more awkwardly than others. Kyoya adjusted his legs around the weirdly placed support bars of the table as the footsteps got closer, two muffled voices becoming clearer as the intruders grew near. 

Weird, Kyoya thought, to label them as intruders when I’m the one hiding with a metal chair leg stabbing into my back. 

“Is everyone hidden?” A cute whisper sounded in the classroom as Honey checked to make sure that everyone found a hiding spot. Always analyzing, Kyoya scanned from his uncomfortable position, taking a sort of attendance. He checked off a list of names in his mind to the beat of shoes against tile, the assumed teacher inching closer and closer every second. 

Silence followed as the footsteps stopped right outside the door, and Kyoya realized he was missing someone. 

A very important someone. 

Doing his best to keep calm, he double checked. 

Tamaki, Mori, Honey, Haruhi, the twins, and-

Where were you?

His collar felt uncomfortable against his neck when he angled his body slightly so that he could see farther down the line of desks. Catching the attention of Haruhi, who had picked the desk right beside him, he asked her if she knew where you were.

You and Haruhi  had grown so close in these past few months, if you hadn’t told him where you were going, then certainly you would let her know-

“I thought she was with you?” 

Confusion pulsed inside of his rapidly beating heart as his jaw clenched too tightly. The tip of his canine scratched the tissue of his lip as he rewinded the past few moments. His nostalgia had distracted him from those short moments between the closet and now, which had felt much longer in the moment. 

As he looks deep into his memory, he swallows, remembering a small gasp emitting from where you were beside him before he took the lead into the classroom. 

But before he could start the search party, the door to the teacher’s classroom opened, an airy laugh filling the space.

“This is my classroom.” A deep voice speaks in (n/l) as the two pairs of footsteps file onto the tile, and the host club instinctively pulls their feet closer to their bodies, making them as small as possible. “I just need to grab some sheet music, and then I’ll be on my way.”

“Wow, Mr. Salling.” Another voice compliments in the same language as she begins to walk between the aisles. “This is much better than the classroom back home.”

Kyoya meets Haruhi’s shocked gaze across the way. That was your voice. How in God’s name had you become acquainted with a teacher? All while not being detained by the school?

Who the ravenet assumes to be Mr. Salling laughs, a deep but quiet chuckle that was nothing other than genuine. “Yes. While I loved what I did back in (c/n), opportunities like this don’t come around very often.”

“You definitely deserved it, though! The music room was never the same without you.” You said as you continued walking. It sounded like you were dragging your palm against the desks as you slowly passed, taking in the new environment.

Black dress shoes came into Kyoya’s vision, and the moment of freedom was fleeting when he recognized the Ouran Academy sigil on the heel. 

Shooting his hand out from beneath the desk, he laid his hand on the top of your foot. Tapping it twice with the pale pad of his fingers, he smirked as you jumped a little before looking down. (E/c) eyes met with his gray ones, and he watched fear, shock, and then annoyance pass through them as you noticed little tufts of hair scattered under the desks.  

“(Y/n)?” The (n/l) speaker asks as your teacher notices your pause, and Kyoya raises a firm finger to his lips. 

“Yes! Yes, sorry.” You cleared your throat as you quickly, but calmly made your way back to Mr. Salling. “I was just still processing that I was able to see you! What a small world!” 

Another laugh emits from him. “It is nice to be able to speak (n/l) outside of the house.” Mr. Salling’s feet shift as he adjusts his weight when leaning on his desk. “What have you been up to all these years? Still practicing piano?”

“Oh, god no.” You scoff. “We both know I gave that up years ago.”

Even under the stress of the situation, Kyoya takes the risk of opening his journal to write down the fact that you had taken piano lessons. 

You and your teacher take a moment to laugh a little more before it dies down. “I actually have a club that I joined that I’m really enjoying so far!” You lean back on your heels with a sigh. “Even if the people I work with can be pretty annoying.”

“Sounds exciting.” Mr. Salling says knowingly. The twins and Tamaki share offended glances. 

You walk towards him again as you change the subject. “I hope I’m not keeping you from your students. I know you mentioned you didn’t have much free time.”

From where Kyoya can see, the brown shoes of your old teacher turn towards the clock, and then turn frantically as the megane hears papers rustling together. 

“You’re absolutely right, Ms (L/n). I’m sorry to leave you, but my students are waiting for me in the practice room.” Salling rushes as he goes around his desk to retrieve the last of his things. 

“You’re more than welcome to stay here until I get back, but it will probably be a while. If I don’t see you again, call my office. We can catch up over dinner with my husband.”

Your shoes follow him out, then stop by the doorway. “That sounds perfect! It was amazing seeing you, Mr. Salling!”

Down the hall, his footsteps are growing quieter as he calls out his reply. “Please, call me Esben.”

When the music teacher from the past is out of reach, the soles of your shoes spin as you close the door behind you. 

“He’s gone.” The sweet voice you were using with Esben dropped many octaves as you alerted the bodies under the desks. The hosts crawled out of their hiding spots, stretching their torsos from the longevity of unnatural folding. 

When Kyoya rises, you’re folding your arms across your chest. 

“Where were you?” Haruhi asks.

“Where was I?” Your eyebrows raise in disbelief as you scoff. “I turned around for one second to say hello to one of my old teachers, but when I looked back, you guys were gone!” 

A chuckle follows your amazed tone. “Of course you guys were hiding in the one classroom I just happened to follow Esben into.”

Haruhi shakes her head, but is satisfied with your answer. “So what do you think we should do now?” She asks as the hosts begin to explore the classroom. 

Mumbling voices fill the classroom as the hosts pair together and split up, knowing that this place was as good of a start as any to begin their search for answers. 

Kyoya makes his way over to you, the light in his eyes darker than usual. 

You smile at him as he approaches. “What’s up?”

“You left.” He realizes his tone comes out flat as he speaks to you, and he tries his best to inflect it differently. “Without telling me?”

Another small laugh passes your lips. “Do I need to ask permission?”

“Not necessarily.” Kyoya turns, and he feels you naturally begin to walk at his side as you both scan the numerous pictures on the walls of the classroom. It feels right. “I’m just disappointed I wasn’t invited on your rogue mission.”

“Was that a joke?” Your finger pokes lightly into his shoulder, and he can’t fight back the smirk that appears on his lips at your playful voice. “Did Kyoya Ootori just make a joke?”

The ravenet jolts his shoulder, shrugging you off lightly, and scoffs when you act offended. “Get away from me.”

You laugh again, and the constricting knot in his chest loosens. There was a time in a certain private dressing room where he wasn’t close enough to help you. When you disappeared this time, that feeling of panic surfaced too suddenly, crescendoing into something monstrous and consuming. 

But you came back, and that was what mattered. You were your own woman, and could take care of yourself, but he still wanted to be with you, in case you ever needed him. 

“Here’s something interesting.” You muse as he snaps out of his daze. He sees you standing in front of another picture hanging up on the wall. 

“What did you find?” He asks, making his way to your side while eyeing the picture in a golden frame. 

Kyoya’s gaze softens as he processes the image. Shiro sits at a grand piano, a happy smile on his face. His fingers are dancing across the keys, but they aren’t alone as another set of hand rests next to them. Delicate fingers belong to a girl sitting next to him, a happy blush across her cheeks as they play and talk, joy seeping through the captured memory. 

You hum next to him, and Kyoya sees an expression similar to his on your features.

“He may be a pain in the ass, but it seems he’s found the thing he loves doing.” You say dreamily as you zone in on Shiro’s content face. “And the person he loves doing it with.” 

(E/c) orbs meet gray as you look at him then, and those words combined with the emotion in your eyes conduct an orchestra in Kyoya’s chest, his heart beating to the melody it creates. 

The look lasts longer than it was meant to, but it’s broken as the rest of the host club gathers around to look at the photo. 

“Wow, is that Shiro-chan?” Honey asks next to you, taking Kyoya away from his sweet (e/c) oasis as you nod.

“I’ve never seen him look so sweet. It’s nice to see him enjoying himself.” Haruhi says on the other side of you, and Kyoya focuses on the image again.

“It seems that he is in the classical music club. His teacher must be Mr. Salling, the man (Y/n) met earlier.” The ravenet states, and the rest of the class nods. 

“Let’s see if we can find him.” You say, and with that the club pours out of the space, everyone staying together this time around. 

Now, the eight of you watch from outside the window of a classroom, trying your best to stay out of sight. It was creepy, yes, but the club’s curiosity on this new side of Shiro was overwhelming, even Mori looked interested as you watched Shiro sit on a chair in his classroom. 

The host club gathered closer toward the window when the same girl from the photo made her way over to him, a blush on her face as she clutched sheet music in her hands. 

Her voice is cute and high, and she stutters when she speaks to him. “Excuse me, Takaoji? I-I’m sorry, but have y-you been practicing the new piece that Sensei gave us?”

When Shiro looks at her, there are no daggers, no downward glances. Just warmth. “The new piece? Not really…”

She perks up at the opportunity. “If you want, I can show it to you! Do you wanna come play it with me?” The little girl gestures to a grand piano near the far wall of the classroom, the sun reflected off the elegant, black exterior. 

Shiro looks, and the warmth is replaced with a quiet sadness. “No thanks,” he says to her, his eyes meeting hers with less joy than before, “you go ahead. After all, there’s only one grand piano. You should use it, Kamishiro.”

The little girl’s disappointment rests in her shoulders as they droop slightly, but she keeps a kind smile. “Thank you, I will then! But if you want to join me, just let me know.” Kamishiro says before giggling and making her way to the large instrument. 

As she places the sheet music on the stand and settles in front of the keys, Shiro’s eyes follow her the whole time. It’s even hard for the club to look away from her as she begins to play. Her fingers dance gracefully over the keys, showcasing the skill, talent, and love that she holds for her art. The hosts watch as she sways with each crescendo, falling into muscle memory and contentment as she plays. 

A ding from a bell is heard, the sound interrupting the host club’s trance with this little girl, as another one steps out from the hallway. The child seems more bubbly than Kamishiro as she dances out of the room, into the hallway, only to pause at the sight of eight random teenagers looking like they just got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Her innocence is practiced as she shrugs and keeps walking, sensing no apparent danger, but Tamaki stops her politely. 

“Excuse me, mademoiselle.”

“Huh?” The girl stops, only to see a white rose in her face. Her eyes grow wide and happy as she takes it from the handsome prince, and looks up at him with her full attention. 

“I’ve never seen a rose more beautiful than you, my dear.” The little girl gasps while you cringe internally. If someone had talked to younger you that way, let alone a stranger, you probably would’ve either crawled into yourself or bolted away at the speed of light. 

The prince continues. “I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the young lady playing the piano. Do you know her?” He says in a gentle tone, and you soften slightly at the interaction, feeling your soft spot for Tamaki grow as he interacts with the young girl. You imagine you can’t be the only one feeling it. 

The young girl perks up, happy to help. “That’s Hina Kamishiro!”

“Her name is Hina?” Tamaki asks, still gentle in his inquiry. 

She suddenly gets serious. “That’s right, but you better not fall in love with her.” 

A small chuckle emits itself from the prince’s mouth. “Why not?”

“Didn’t you know?” The small girl asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Hina has to move away soon. Her dad just got a new job in Germany, so they have to move there at the end of the week.” 

You and Kyoya meet eyes, both of you connecting this recent piece of information to all of Shiro’s previous actions. It made perfect sense. 

“What are you idiots doing here?!”

A deeper, but still pre-pubescent, voice interrupts their conversation, and the hosts look to see Shiro in the doorway of the classroom. He walks up to the eight of you, ignoring the girl with the white rose. “I want you to leave immediately!”

But Tamaki is not stunned. Instead, after a moment to think, Tamaki reaches down and scoops up the younger kid, Mr. Salling completely oblivious to the actions happening outside of his practice room. After throwing Shiro over his shoulder, Tamaki leads the host club out of the school. Trudging along, you drag your feet, unenthused about having a kid back in the music room. 

The soft tone that Tamaki used with the little girl was gone when they got back to the clubroom. Heaving Shiro from off his shoulder, the kid bounces on the couch, shock inhibiting him from speaking. 

“Tamaki, what are you-” You were about to scold him for tossing Shiro around like a sack, no matter how funny it was, but the prince cut you off, disappointment and anger twisting through his words like vines. 

“What is your problem, you big idiot?!” Shiro yells, his voice cracking slightly from the volume.

Tamaki huffs, his eyebrows creasing with restrained emotion. “I’m sorry, but you’re the idiot! You said that you wanted me to teach you how to make women happy, but that’s not it, is it? You’re not concerned with the happiness of just any woman.”

You jumped in, catching onto where Tamaki was going with this. “You’ve got your sights set on one woman in particular. You only care about Hina Kamishiro.”

Tamaki moved to kneel in front of Shiro, taking on a sort of brotherly aura. “Listen Shiro, I know I told you it’s the job of a host to make every guest happy, but when you care for someone, you must find the courage to express what is in your heart!”

Your head turned as Tamaki stood again, a determined look in his eyes as his words resonated throughout the host club. “You have to tell her how you feel! You didn’t come to me wanting to be a full-fledged host, you wanted to be a full-fledged man.”

Your breath was hitched when you subconsciously met Kyoya’s eyes during Tamaki’s speech, swallowing at his indirect advice. When you realized that you had slowly fallen into his gaze once again, a blush burned your cheeks as you smiled slightly and looked back to the front, heartracing. 

Kyoya’s heart matched your pace. 

A sigh brought your attention back to the couch as Shiro dipped his head, his bangs falling sadly in front of his face. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve run out of time. I just- I wanted to hear her play before she left…that’s all.”

Just as your heart slowed down, it broke in two at his admission. Forgetting your vendetta against him, you knelt down beside him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“That piece she played…it’s Mozart’s Sonata in D major for two pianos, isn’t it?” You asked him, sweetness pouring out of your voice like sugar. 

He looked at you in slight amazement. “How did you know?”

Another soft smile graced over your lips. “We have the same music teacher.”

With a slight tilt of your head, the prince walks over a large sheet near the back center of the music room. He pulls it away like a curtain, the fabric floating through the air before billowing to the polished tile. 

The host club relished in the sight of a glorious grand piano, barely used to the point where it was basically brand new. The window behind it surrounded the instrument in the light of the sunset, but the image wasn’t complete until Tamaki sat down behind it. 

“Wait a minute, since when was there a grand piano in here?” Haruhi asked. 

The twins smirked as they turned to look at her. “Well, this is a music room.” Hikaru stated.

“So why wouldn’t there be a piano?” Kaoru asked, expecting the frustrated look Haruhi gave them. 

A smirk tightened on Kyoya’s lips. “This is a music room after all.”

“It is a music room.” Mori adds with a curt nod while Honey stuffed his face.

“It’s always been there, we just had it covered up.” The boy lolita explained through the crumbs of his cake. 

Kyoya looked at you, expecting you to join in on the bit. And you would’ve, if Tamaki wasn’t playing the most beautiful thing you ever heard. 

Your fingers caged around your mouth, trapping any sound that might disturb him as Tamaki’s finger moved expertly on the keys. The piece was perfect, technically and artistically as Tamaki brought his own emotion into the piece. The feelings translated so strongly that you fought to keep the tears in your eyes from falling. 

It wasn’t everyday you got to hear Tamaki play. The first time was at one of the school’s recitals a while back. You had cried then too, not prepared for the sheer light of his content smile as he made every single audience member sit on the edge of their seat. 

Since then, he played rarely, the most frequent being when you had asked him to teach you a song. He had laughed and pushed you onto the chair, and he spent the whole afternoon watching you fumble over the keys. Then it was your turn to laugh. 

Now you need to learn how to listen to Tamaki play without crying. 

Snapping out of your daze slightly, you look over to Shiro, hoping you’re not the only one struck with inspiration. You laugh softly when he looks as amazed as you do, his eyes fuzzy as he sinks deeper into his thoughts. 

A touch on your shoulder drew your attention away from the little boy and onto Kyoya, who was giving you a soft look.

He glanced around the two of you before raising his hand to cradle your cheek. His thumb came up to wipe a stray tear that was rolling down, gentle and slow. The piano grew louder, the notes adding to the moment as a chuckle escaped his lips, watching your surprised face.

“I apologize if I’m intruding.” He said in a quiet voice, but he still moved closer, so as not to draw attention to the two of you. “It’s hard for me to see you cry without trying to help you.”

A wet giggle blows past your lips as you cover his hand with yours, leaning into his touch.

‘You must find the courage to express what  it is inside your heart!’

“Not at all.” You say in an equal whisper, the music wrapping around the space where your hands touch and holding them still for a moment. “I would do the same, I think.” 

‘You have to tell her how you feel!’

After a moment of forced motivation and relishing the sudden closeness, you both drew synchronized breaths, speaking at the same time.

“Kyo-”

“(Y/n)-”

Both of you gaped at the other. Kyoya quickly closed his mouth and swallowed into a small smile, while you laughed slightly at the accident. 

Ever the gentleman, Kyoya waited. “Please, after you.”

Feeling more confident as the music swelled to a dramatic ending, you licked your lips slightly before trying again.

“Kyoya, there’s something I need to tell you.” You moved both of your hands to the space between you, putting your other hand over his so you can grasp it tighter. 

You took a deep breath as your heart began to race. Everything suddenly felt wrong. 

Sensing the serious tone, the ravenet lifted an eyebrow, still waiting through your hesitation. 

Your head dipped as the floor spun, and you were discreetly aware of how many people were around you, even if they weren’t paying that much attention to you. The realization that you were about to maybe lose the best person in your life struck you like a bad note, interrupting the perfect feeling you had just seconds ago.

The notes on the piano began to bang, Tamaki reaching the end of the piece with the dramatism that was expected from him, and you felt rushed. Like if you didn’t do it now, then the moment would be over.

Were you supposed to feel rushed?

The hand that you weren’t holding felt cool against your chin as Kyoya brought your gaze back to him, and the spinning world came to a halt. 

“Are you alright, (Y/n)?” To him, your hands had gone tense on top of his, and the sweet look in your eye had turned a little wild. 

He stepped even closer to you, trying to reassure you the best he knew how. 

“Whatever it is you need to tell me, you can say it. You can trust me.” 

Cool air rushed through your lungs as you took another deep breath in the space of peace that Kyoya gave you. The wild look in your eye dimmed into a determined look, accented with a bit of nervousness. 

Your lips parted, and your voice was breathy as you muscled out the words you had kept hidden for all these months, maybe even years. 

“Kyoya…I-”

“That was awesome, Tama-chan!”

The moment shattered like glass, your confidence breaking with it as you realized that Tamaki had stopped playing, and was rising to get out of his seat. 

Both you and Kyoya panicked slightly, firmly aware of your proximity to each other, and jumped away, unclasping your hands and holding them back at your side. 

As Tamaki detaches himself from the piano, you fight the blush that lingers on your cheeks, trying to cope with the whiplash of being so close to expressing how you felt in front of everyone, just because of some motivational words and good piano playing?

It all happened so quickly. What were you thinking?

But Tamaki's voice filters back into your focus. “For the next week,” he speaks to Shiro, “you will spend your mornings, lunches, and free time after school in piano lessons with me.”

Shiro scrunched his brows, looking as confused as you were. “But why?”

The prince laughs softly. “You wanted to be my apprentice, didn’t you? Besides, that young lady looked like she wanted nothing more than to play the piano with you.”

He begins to play again, and you sneak a look over to Kyoya, with his jaw tense and pulsing. 

You hung your head back down. He didn’t look happy.

Everyone knows Kyoya is one of the most observant people in the room. His entire life, his mind was sharpened to process even the tiniest of details. Surely, he already knew what you were going to say to him. 

And he looked angry and sad because of it. 

Of course he did.

When piano notes filled the air, you couldn’t stand the emotion of it all. Turning on your heel, you silently left without another word.

sorry it took so long! here is a long chapter to tide you over till the second part! please comment if you can, i love reading them :)