#Top Boarding School with Scholarship

[advluv4life]

I'm really confused on Dae's scholarship because usually a scholarship pays for classes, not room and board- but he said his scholarship covers his room and board not his classes 'cause he had to have tuition paid for before classes started but he lost his room and board when he didn't get first in class... So, what exactly is his scholarship and how does it actually work?

How can he be required to be first in class to have a scholarship that won't even pay for his classes?

[realnielsbohr]

i hate being stressed about like. things that are actually stressful. normally i could be like "all is well 😌it will be ok no matter what" or whatever but i genuinely cant do that here. if i dont get this sorted out im genuinely fucked

[finelinefae]

the game [tennisplayer!harry x tennisplayer!y/n]

synopsis: y/n's desperate to play tennis and who better to coach her than her rival

word count: 6.7k

contains: enemies to lovers, set at a boarding school, jealous h, slow burn, angst, tennis rivals

a/n: this is the very first part of a new series that i am soooooo beyond excited to be writing !! it will most likely have 4/5 parts <333 enjoy !!!

. . .

Crestwood Academy was a prestigious boarding school with a mission to cultivate excellence in its students, many of whom went on to achieve great success in their respective fields. Nestled amidst rolling hills and lush greenery, it welcomed only the most accomplished families into its esteemed halls.

Y/N had attended Crestwood Academy since she was five, thanks to her father, who owned a country club and could afford the tuition. Her parents, strict and focused on success, were determined to give her the best education possible so that she could be the very best. Her face was always buried in a book or spending her days in the library, right up until the very last minute of its opening hours. 

It was her final year at Crestwood Academy before graduation. Y/N had been set on passing all of her exams at the top of her class so had been working extra hard. She studied English, maths, all three sciences, Latin, French and History as well as tennis. 

Y/N's parents had always urged her to pursue a career in the top industries. Despite her efforts to feign interest in that direction, her heart had always belonged to tennis ever since she first took up the sport at Crestwood.

She had competed plenty, winning all the academy trophies and medals. Her parents would visit whenever she competed in finals and congratulated her on winning but saw it as nothing but a hobby to participate in when she wasn’t studying. 

However, Y/N couldn’t deny herself the rush of playing knowing she’d have to part with the sport once she graduated. The career path of becoming a doctor was already laid out for her by her parents but she felt destined to follow a different path. 

Despite the fact she had applied to dozens of schools to study medicine, she still had one more option that had nothing to do with science at all. 

Every year, the academies hosted their own version of a grand slam in which the winning player received a scholarship and three years' worth of training from one of the top tennis academies in the world. Y/N longed to be at the top with the greats and she knew that this competition was the only way she could get there. 

For the most part, Y/N had been self-taught. She watched videos online and took notes from the Wimbledon matches she’d see on the television. Crestwood only had one sports coach who focused most of their time on the football team so if she was going to win the scholarship, she needed the very best. 

She sat on the bleachers, her book open in front of her, but her attention was drawn to the man on the court. The player’s movements were fluid and powerful, each action deliberate and precise. Yet, it was another man who held her gaze—a figure with an impassive expression, focused solely on his player.

When the match was over, Y/N slammed her book shut and walked towards the court after the players shook hands. Her eyes looked down at the limp in his step as he walked towards the cooler to grab a water bottle. 

It had been a while since she had last seen him. She remembered the proud look on his parent’s faces when he was pulled out of Crestwood eighteen months ago and went on to win a grand slam in Australia. She could still feel the intense jealousy that filled her as she watched the match on television whilst studying for her chemistry test that he was also supposed to sit had he stayed. 

Now he was here, back to his roots and maybe it had been fate because what she was about to ask him would determine her own path in the tennis career she longed for. 

His hair was slightly longer now, his brunette, touseled curls were swept to the side in a loose, dishevelled manner. He wore sunglasses to cover his eyes from the sunlight and a navy tracksuit paired with white vans. 

Seeing him brought back the once competitive emotions she had whenever she’d see him strut about the courts every lunchtime but she’d have to suppress those emotions, especially for what she was about to ask him. 

“Excuse me, Harry?” Y/N called out. 

He took a water bottle from the cooler and flicked off the cap before holding it to his lips and gulping it down. Y/N waited, crossing her arms as she did. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up.” Was the first thing he said. 

Y/N didn’t know what to say. It was unexpected to know that he had been waiting to see her, “I didn’t know you were part of the furniture on these courts,” He smirks and Y/N’s jaw ticks. “And you still sit in the exact same spot on those bleachers, to what? Admire me?”

Y/N bristled at Harry's cocky remark, her irritation bubbling to the surface. "Hardly," she retorted, her tone sharp. "I have better things to do than waste my time watching you play."

Harry chuckled, his smirk widening as he leaned against the cooler. "Is that so? Then what brings you here?" he asked, his tone laced with curiosity. “Come to get an autograph?”

Y/N squared her shoulders, determined not to let his arrogance get under her skin. "I was actually hoping to talk to you about something," she replied, her voice steady despite the nerves fluttering in her stomach.

Harry raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. "Oh? And what might that be?" he inquired, his gaze piercing as he studied her intently.

Taking a deep breath, Y/N gathered her courage and suppressed her pride, "I want you to coach me," she blurted out, her words hanging in the air between them. 

Harry made no effort to hide the surprise on his face but it quickly melted into a cocky smirk, “You want me to coach you? I thought you hated me?” 

“I do,” She replies quickly. She’d hated him ever since he had humiliated her in a battle of the sexes tennis tournament when they were young despite the fact she had little chance of winning against him anyway. “But I don’t have to like you to recognise your talent and right now you're the best and only coach I can get if I’m going to win that scholarship,”

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, “Your parents still want you to study medicine?” Something flickered in his eyes that Y/N couldn’t put her finger on. 

Y/N wasn’t going to give him an answer even though it was obvious, “This is the only chance I get to escape it,” She mutters, “I wouldn’t ask unless I was desperate.”

He glanced around before taking a step forward. She was tempted to step back at the same time but she didn’t want to seem intimidated by him so stood her ground. From this proximity, she noticed how much taller he was compared to her - almost an entire foot. 

“What’s in it for me?” He asked.

Y/N knew he’d ask which was why she spent so much time figuring out what she could tell him to make it worthwhile. “I know about your injury,” She says and he stills.

“Everyone knows about my injury.” He grumbles. 

It had been a spectacle in the world of tennis. The new grand slam winner loses out on his second after a fatal injury at the French Open. Y/N remembered seeing him rolling on the ground, holding onto his leg as paramedics ran onto the court to aid him. 

“People think you’re a one-hit wonder since you’re out for the season,” His jaw clenched as she spoke, “But if you coach me and get me to win, I guarantee you’ll be out on the court again - back where you belong,”

“You think an academy league game can get my back onto the court?”

“No, but it's a start and maybe I’ll be competing alongside you the next time you’re playing.” 

There was a moment of silence as Harry absorbed her words, his gaze searching hers for any hint of insincerity. Finding none, he let out a heavy sigh, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly. "Fine," he relented, his voice tinged with resignation. "You want me to coach you? Prove you’re worth coaching.” 

He walked over to the barrel of tennis rackets and picked one up. Y/N narrowed her eyes, remembering the last time they had played against each other and how embarrassed she was afterwards. 

“But you’re-”

“One game won’t hurt,” He said before she could finish. 

She followed, her steps purposeful as she reached for a racket, flipping it over in her hands as she strode to the other end of the court. Despite being clad in her school uniform—a pleated skirt, white shirt with the school crest, and loafers that threatened to slide off her feet—she was determined to prove herself. She'd show him she was worth his time, that she was a far better tennis player than he gave her credit for.

As they took their positions on opposite ends of the court, the tension between them crackled in the air. Y/N gripped her racket tightly, her focus sharp as she prepared to face off against Harry once again.

The first serve sliced through the air, the sound echoing as the ball hurtled towards Y/N. She moved with fluidly, her muscles tensing as she returned the serve.

Harry's response was swift, his movements confident as he returned the ball with a well-placed shot that left Y/N scrambling to keep up. Even with his injury, he still held the precision of a professional. But she refused to back down, her determination driving her to match him shot for shot, rally after rally.

The game intensified as they traded blows, each point reflecting their skills and determination. Y/N's heart pounded in her chest as she fought to keep pace with Harry, her mind focused solely on the ball. Both Y/N and Harry vocally exerted their energy through grunts and cries as they hit the ball with all their energy. 

Despite her efforts, Harry seemed to anticipate her every move. But Y/N refused to be outdone, drawing on every ounce of strength and skill as she fought to gain the upper hand.

As the game progressed, Harry's skill and experience began to overthrow her. His shots were close to perfect and strategic, leaving Y/N struggling to keep up. Despite her determination, she found herself falling behind as Harry continued to dominate the match.

In the end, it was Harry who emerged victorious, his final shot landing just beyond Y/N's reach with a satisfying thud. As the ball bounced out of the court, Y/N knew that she had been outplayed.

She rested her hands on her knees, hunched over as she tried to regain her breath. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed that she’d lost despite the fact she was at a disadvantage anyway. 

Harry’s shadow fell over her but she refused to look up just yet. He spoke anyway, “You’ve gotten better since the last time I saw you,” He spoke, holding a cold water bottle in front of her face. 

She took it, the plastic crackling under her fingers, “You can just say you’re not going to do it,” She mumbled, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig of water. 

“I’ll coach you,” He says, “Meet me here at 6 pm tomorrow.” 

Y/N finally looked up, her mouth parted, only to find his back facing her as he walked away from the courts. 

. . . 

Harry had no idea what he had agreed to in coaching Y/N at tennis. 

He sat in his luxurious apartment ten minutes away from Crestwood Academy, surrounded by furniture wrapped in plastic or still in cardboard boxes. 

He sat on the couch with his feet resting on the coffee table in front of him and a glass of whiskey in his hand. The TV was playing quietly in front of him but his mind was on the girl he had spent the majority of his life competing with. 

She had grown since the last time he had seen her before he graduated and left the country to compete in the Australian Open. Her long, tanned legs were on show beneath the grey school skirt she had been wearing. He couldn’t seem to get the image of the visible muscles in her calves out of his mind as she moved across the court to hit the ball during their impromptu tennis match. 

Despite their personal differences, Harry couldn't resist her. There was an undeniable thrill in riling her up, in watching her reactions to the smallest digs. They had once been friends, back when Y/N would trail after him on the playground, eager to understand how to hit a ball with a tennis racket. But as she began competing in school competitions, she quickly learned that beating him was an impossible feat. 

He wasn’t surprised to see her watching him on the court today, in fact, it amused him. Whether she liked it or not, he would always look out in the bleachers for her whenever he’d play during his time at the academy. Her reactions were what kept him going, some might even say made him better. 

But, he couldn’t deny the fact that he was surprised to see her so brazenly asking him to coach her. He could tell by her reaction that it was killing her inside, to be coached by him when all she’d done was pick apart his technique, but it was clear she was desperate and Harry knew it was because of her parents. 

Harry had had his fair dose of strict parentage. When he was told he could no longer play tennis for the season, his parents shipped him straight back to Crestwood to finish his final year since he never actually graduated. 

He loathed them for it, barely saying a word to them as they paid the rent in cash for his apartment and left him with boxes to unpack on his own. He knew they were disappointed in him despite the fact the injury was no fault of his own, they could barely look at him as they left, closing the door behind them. 

It was embarrassing. How could he have gone from being at the top of his game to the very bottom? Now he was back in the place he had turned his back on, feeling like he was back to square one all over again. 

Harry’s thoughts were broken by the sound of his phone ringing. The name of his best friend since he was born lit up the screen.

“What?” Harry answered the call, his train of thought forming a particular level of intolerance in him.

“Hey, is that any way to talk to your best friend?” Mitch replied along with the sound of loud chattering in the background because he always had to be somewhere with someone. 

“Sorry,” Harry huffed, “Long day.”

“Already? You’ve not even started classes yet,” Mitch chuckled.

“Don’t remind me,” Harry hadn’t even begun thinking about being back in classrooms and having to put up with kids his age berating him with questions he didn’t want to answer. Tomorrow would be his first day back and he was dreading it.

“C’mon now, don’t be too glum about it, haven’t you missed me?” 

“No,” Harry lied. 

“I know you well enough now to know when you’re lying.” Mitch laughed down the phone. 

A hint of a smile grazed Harry’s lips, "Whatever," he replied, his tone gruff but lacking conviction. Despite his attempt to feign disinterest, a part of him couldn't deny the truth in Mitch's words. There had been many moments he had experienced after leaving school when he missed the company of people his own age. Everyone around him was older than he was and spoke to him as though he was some prized trophy that needed to be handled with caution. He’d spend evenings by the pool by himself, watching the sunset and wishing his friends were there to celebrate his win with him. 

"I'll take that as a yes," Mitch teased, “I know the boys will be happy to have y’ back and I can introduce you to Sarah. I think Molly Brown still has a thing for you as well by the way, talks about you all the fuckin’ time.” Harry listened to his friend ramble about all the things he had missed in the last year or so but his mind seemed to travel elsewhere. 

His eyes wandered around the room, his ear still pressed to his phone, until they landed on an open box with a picture frame resting on top. He recognized the photo immediately, even without picking it up, because he had kept it hidden in his old dorm desk. In the picture, a group of eight students—four boys and four girls—smiled at the camera, with Harry standing at the back and Y/N right beside him.

. . . 

Y/N slammed the door of her locker shut after pulling out her workbooks for her next class. Students bustled down the hallways of Crestwood Academy, wearing their navy blazers and uniform for another week of school. 

“Have you seen him yet?” Sarah, Y/N’s best friend, came out of nowhere and stood in front of her. 

“Seen who?” Y/N remained indifferent even though she knew who Sarah was referring to. 

Everyone had been talking about Harry since she had walked into school from her dorm room this morning. It was the main topic of conversation, everyone’s eyes darting around the hallways to try and find him. 

“You know,” Sarah nudged her, “The boy you’ve spent most of your life in a one-sided rivalry with?” 

“One-sided? It’s a mutual hatred,” Y/N argued.

Sarah gave her a look before continuing, “I texted Mitch twenty minutes ago but he hasn’t replied. I know I’ve met Harry before but this is the first time I’ll be meeting him as Mitch’s girlfriend and I don’t want it to change anything.”

Y/N’s eyes softened, “Sarah, just because he’s the winner of a grand slam doesn’t make his opinion of you any more important. Whether Harry likes you or not, everyone knows you and Mitch are perfect for each other.”

Y/N remembered the first time her friend had told her she was seeing Mitch. He had taken her out to dinner a few times and Sarah had come back to their shared dorm swooning and unable to stop herself from rambling the rest of the night about how romantic and funny he was. 

Y/N had never experienced anything like that in her life, too busy focusing on tennis and academia to find herself in relationships, but she was happy her best friend was happy and that was all that mattered to her. 

“I know but he’s important to Mitch. They’ve been best friends since infants and… that’s not all I’m worried about,” Sarah looked at Y/N pointedly. 

“What?” 

“Now that Mitch and I are together, that means we’ll be spending more time around each other which also means…” Sarah didn’t have to finish her sentence for Y/N to understand what she was trying to get at. 

“Oh n-no! No way! Sarah, are you being serious right now?” Y/N whined, “You want me to get along with Harry just because you’re dating his best friend?”

“You don’t have to but it would be nice if you did,” Her voice trailed off at the end, her eyes looking at her pleadingly, “I’m not asking you to be best friends, I’m just asking you not to chew his head off when we’re all in the same room together.”

Y/N wanted to argue and tell her she wouldn’t be able to chew his head off anyway because she needed him to coach her for the scholarship but an arm slid around Sarah’s waist and interrupted their conversation. 

Sarah grinned, turning to look up at her boyfriend who was now standing beside her, “Hey babe,” Mitch smiled.

“You’re here,” Sarah craned her neck to kiss his lips, “I texted you forever ago and you never replied.

Mitch scoffed, “It was twenty minutes ago and I didn’t have time to check my phone, too busy dragging this one through the front gates.”

Out of the corner of Y/N's eye, another figure appeared. She didn’t have to look to see who it was, the sudden surge of annoyance within her already gave them away. Her head tilted to the left to look up and see Harry. 

He was wearing his school uniform, the same way he always did before he left for Australia. His shirt was untucked, and the top button was undone revealing a gold chain and a white vest underneath, his grey trousers were ironed with not a crinkle in sight and his navy blazer hung casually behind him, hooked by his middle finger.

Y/N’s eyes shifted behind him to find people whispering to each other and groups of girls giggling as they walked past. It was nothing new to see girls getting riled up over him but it had become more intensified now that he had gone abroad and made a name for himself. Despite his injury preventing him from playing, Y/N was certain that even if Harry had lost every game and embarrassed himself on live television, people would still adore him.

“Hey Harry,” Sarah offered a kind smile.

“Hi Sarah, nice to see you again. Glad to know Mitch was in good hands whilst I was away,” Harry clapped his friend on the shoulder before turning to Y/N.

“Only the very best,” Mitch pulled Sarah into his side before motioning to Y/N, “You remember Sarah’s best friend Y/N right?”

“Hmmm, aren’t you the one who lost the Junior tennis competition to me a few years ago?” Harry smirked.

Y/N's jaw clenched, but she managed to force a smile. "I could be, but aren’t you the one who they recorded rolling around on the floor like a big baby at the French Open last year?" Her retort was sharp, aimed directly at Harry.

Harry's eyes narrowed in response, a flicker of annoyance crossing his features. Y/N felt a sense of satisfaction at having gotten such a reaction from him. "Welcome back to Crestwood," she added, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Mitch and Sarah exchanged weary glances, sensing the tension between Y/N and Harry.

"Quite a welcome. I’ve already been asked to coach someone and I’ve only been back a week," Harry remarked, his gaze still fixed on Y/N, who met his stare with a glare of her own.

"You have?" Mitch frowned, his confusion evident.

"Who?" Sarah asked, equally perplexed.

Harry's eyes remained locked on Y/N, giving them their answer. "You asked him to coach you?" Sarah questioned her confusion mirroring Mitch's.

Y/N shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny, "Yeah, I did," she admitted reluctantly, her gaze flickering briefly to Harry before returning to Mitch and Sarah.

"Why would you ask him to coach you?" Sarah asked, her brow furrowing in confusion, “You argue all the time,” 

Y/N hesitated, “I need to win the scholarship to the tennis academy in London and Harry’s the only person here who knows how to play the game.” 

“Glad to know I was the pick of the bunch,” Harry’s voice dripped with sarcasm. 

“I thought you were applying to go to UCL?” Sarah frowned. 

“I was but you know how much the game means to me and my parents refuse to believe it’s more than just a hobby. This is the only chance I’ll get to prove them wrong and the only option to get me out of studying medicine.” Y/N explained. 

Sarah’s eyes softened, she too was no stranger to how strict Y/N’s parents could be. “Which is why she needs me,” Y/N felt the weight of his arm rest across her shoulders, “Right, love?” 

Y/N spun around to face Harry, eyes sharp, “Don’t call me that,” She hissed, seeing the satisfied grin on his face. 

He shrugged, “But I always call you that,” 

Ever since they were teenagers, when the rivalry first began, Harry had opted to calling Y/N ‘love’ knowing how much it riled her up. To some, it was a term of endearment but in the world of tennis the word ‘love’ meant one thing. 

‘Nil, ‘Zero’, ‘Loser’. 

Y/N hated the way he spoke it too - accentuating each letter of the word to drag it out for as long as he could just to annoy her further. 

She stepped forward, “Call me that one more time,” She threatened.

“Or what?” He tilted his head to the side. 

“Guys seriously, break it up,” Sarah intervened, “Aren’t you supposed to be getting along if you’re going to be spending more time together.”

Y/N hated the thought of it but knew she was right. If she wanted Harry to coach her, she couldn’t go around screwing things up by arguing with him. If he was going to coach her at the sport, she’d have to coach herself in controlling her attitude around him. 

“C’mon Sarah, let’s go to class,” Y/N hooked arms with her best friend, wanting to get as far away from him as possible. 

“Oh okay, bye Mitch.” Sarah kissed her boyfriend before she was dragged down the hallway in a hurry.

Harry watched as Y/N practically sprinted down the hallway with Sarah in tow. He felt the need to call out of her for one last dig just so she would turn around and he’d see her face before she rounded the corner, “See you on the courts, love.” He called down to her. 

As he had hoped, Y/N’s head whipped around to glare at him along with her middle finger, “Asshole!” She called back.

Harry chuckled to himself, “That face,” he murmured. 

Mitch placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder, “You’ve got it in for yourself with that one, lad.” Mitch said.

“Tell me about it,” Harry replied, his eyes still on the place he’d last seen Y/N. 

Maybe returning to Crestwood wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

. . . 

With Harry back, Y/N had suspected the day would be a drag with everyone constantly bringing him up in every conversation, but the first half of the day had gone well. Y/N was easily used to her classes by now and was still top of the class in all of them. 

During lunch period, Y/N always sat with Sarah in the library where they’d catch up on what they missed out on each other’s lives or study during exam season. It was nice to have some reprieve during the school hours and whenever she was with Sarah, Y/N could talk for hours and hours.

Now that Sarah was dating Mitch, Y/N and Sarah would spend their lunch with his friends in the lunch hall. Y/N didn’t mind it so much having grown used to being around Mitch’s friends despite their loud and boisterous personalities. 

However, today she was dreading the fact that now her lunchtimes would also include being around the person she wanted to spend as little amount of time with as possible. 

“Can’t we just eat in the library today? Please?” Y/N pulled on the sleeve of her best friend's blazer as she begged her to turn back in the direction of the library. She could already picture Harry’s annoying smirk the closer they got to the entrance of the lunch hall.

“Y/N you’re being dramatic. It’s just an hour, I’m sure you can survive being around him that long.” Sarah continued to tug her down the hallway.

“Sarah I already have to spend enough time as it is,” Now that she asked him to be her coach. The more the day went by the more she was starting to regret her decision. 

Sarah spun on her heel, “Think of this as practice then,” Her eyes looked past Y/N’s shoulder, “Look, there they are,” She moved past her and beelined towards their table where Y/N saw Mitch, Jake and Adam already sitting along with that head of brunette curls that Y/N just wanted to tear out every time she saw him. 

Sighing, she followed Sarah and approached the table responding to everyone’s friendly greetings until she got to Harry, “You’re in my seat,” She spoke after realising all the seats were taken. 

Harry didn’t bother to look around, that stupid grin plastered to his face when he looked up at her, “Am I?” 

Y/N gritted her teeth, “Yes,”

“Hmm,” He swivelled around to look at the back of the chair, “I don’t see your name anywhere.”

A wave of chuckles rippled around the table but Y/N had yet to find the amusement in it. “She does always sit there, H.” Mitch chuckles, “Just grab another chair from a different table.”

Harry leant back against the seat and crossed one leg over his thigh, “But I quite like this seat.” 

“I’m not moving until you get out of my seat,” Y/N crossed her arms, refusing to give in to him. 

“Well you’re going to be stood up for a long time and y’ need those legs for later,” Harry smirked, “Or you could just sit here,” He unfolded his legs and motioned towards his lap, “Still your seat.” 

Y/N’s jaw clenched but before she could respond, Adam chuckled and stood up, “Here,” He picked another chair up from an empty table and set it down next to him, “Y’ can sit here Y/N.” 

She was tempted to refuse and continue to nag Harry for the rest of lunch but decided against it, not wanting to waste her energy on him. Her eyes softened at Adam’s kindness, “Thanks, Adam.” She sat beside him. 

Harry’s smirk seemed to falter when Y/N sat down, watching as Adam looked at Y/N even as she turned to face the others. 

“Is that Molly Brown looking at y’ again Harry?” Jake, who Y/N considered the loudest one of Mitch’s friends, leant over the table to speak lowly to Harry even though it was impossible for him to ever be so quiet. 

Harry forced himself to look away from Adam before he burnt holes into him. “She’s been after him since fifth year,” Mitch chuckled. 

“Y’ think you’ll let her have it this year, H?” Jake takes a spoonful of his lunch and swallows it down. 

“Have what?” Sarah frowned, confused.

“Nothing you need to know about, babe,” Mitch replies, opening her waterbottle for her after she silently handed it to him. 

“I’ve never been interested in Molly,” Harry quickly replies but his ears prick when he hears Y/N laughing quietly with Adam. 

“Mind if I take my chances then?” Jake asks, “I’ve always wanted to date a cheerleader,” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Harry shakes him off, “What about you Adam?” He gets the attention from both Y/N and Adam as they look up, “Don’t you have a thing for Molly?”

Adam furrows his brows, “Molly Brown? Maybe in like third year,” He chuckles, “I’m not interested in anyone at the moment.”

Harry wants to laugh in his face, “Y’ sure about that?”

Adam frowns but Y/N quickly interrupts them, “People are allowed to have other interests you know.”

Harry feels that rush of excitement when she speaks run through his body, “Is this a touchy subject for you?”

Y/N scowls, “No, I’m just saying Adam doesn’t need to be interested in girl’s all the time.”

“Well maybe Adam can speak for himself,” Harry quips.

“Lord save me,” Jake mumbles and Sarah laughs.

“Well what about you? Have you managed to sink your fangs into anyone?” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Y/N gapes, “I’ve dated plenty of people,”

The image unsettles Harry but he takes the opportunity to tease Y/N further. "Plenty of people, huh?" he echoes.

Y/N's cheeks flush slightly,  "I mean... well, not plenty, but a few," she stammers.

But Harry doesn't let up, "Oh, really?" he presses, "Care to share? I'm sure we'd all love to hear about the few men who you’ve tempted."

Y/N shoots him a glare, knowing full well that Harry was onto her. "I... uh, well," she stumbles over her words, searching for a way to change the subject.

But before she can respond, Adam jumps in. "Come on, Harry, give her a break," he glowers. 

“Yeah, Y/N’s just waiting for the right guy and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Sarah pipes in, always one to have her best friend’s back.

Harry raises an eyebrow, his gaze flickering between Y/N and Adam before settling on Y/N, who shifts uncomfortably. Sensing the tension, Mitch swiftly changes the subject to something else.

. . . 

After lunch, Y/N made her way to her next class with Adam walking alongside her. Out of all of Mitch’s friends, she got on the most with Adam to the point where Sarah was constantly pestering her over considering a date with him but Y/N didn’t see him as any more than a good friend.  He was quiet and kept to himself for the most part, excelling in the arts and playing bass guitar in a band on weekends. Y/N enjoyed the calmness he brought to the group especially with the others being so loud all the time. 

“What do you think?” Adam asked, holding the strap of his backpack in one hand as it hung over his right shoulder. 

“What do I think about what?” Y/N frowned. 

“You know, Harry being back. I know you two didn’t always get along,” He explained.

Y/N scoffed, “If it weren’t for the fact he’s coaching me for the Academy Slam, I would be praying to whatever God that’d listen to send him back to Australia,” Which was also the furthest possible country he could be away from her. 

Adam chuckled, “He told us earlier he’d be coaching you,” 

Y/N scowled, “I bet he couldn’t get enough of it,” 

“Actually he seemed pretty happy about it. We haven’t seen him that happy since he got back from Australia.”

“Really? Maybe that injury did something to his head,” 

“What makes you hate him so much anyway?” Adam asked. 

Y/N sighed. It was a question she heard often but never had a solid answer for. She couldn't quite explain why she disliked Harry so much. Maybe it was because he had things she wanted, and jealousy often turned into hatred. But there was something more, something she couldn't quite pin down.

Despite her dislike, Y/N went to all of Harry's matches, and she watched them on TV too. Even when she tried to stay in her room, her legs seemed to move on their own, taking her to the courts to watch him play. She hated that part of her rooted for him, and she couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was because Harry had been the first person to teach her how to play and she felt some sense of loyalty to that but she had no perfect answer even though she wished for one. 

“His face annoys me,” Y/N says.

“That’s it?” Adam snickers. 

“I don’t know,” Y/N shrugs, “We’ve always had this rivalry that stemmed out of nowhere but I can’t even remember how it started.”

“You don’t have feelings for him do you?” The question came out of nowhere and took Y/N completely off-guard. 

"What? No!" Y/N's response came out a little too quickly, and she hoped her cheeks hadn't betrayed her by turning red.

Adam shrugged. "Just making sure," he said casually. "You know, some people get them mixed up—love and hate."

Y/N furrowed her brow, genuinely puzzled. "How is that even possible?"

"Well, they're both intense emotions, aren't they?" He mused. "And sometimes, when you feel strongly about someone, whether it's love or hate, it can blur the lines between the two."

Y/N pondered his words, a sense of unease settling in her stomach, "No way," she replied firmly, shaking her head. "I may not like him, but there's definitely no love there."

Adam chuckled, sensing her defensiveness. "Alright, that’s good," he said with a grin.

Y/N felt a hint of a smile on her lips, “What does that mean? That’s good?”

Adam shrugged, still smiling, “Jus’ saying,” He spoke and Y/N laughed. 

Her gaze flicked from Adam's to Harry, who stood in the hallway with Molly Brown, her brunette waves tied up in the perfect, slicked back ponytail. Hoping to slip by unnoticed, she quickened her pace, but it was too late. Harry's eyes locked onto hers, then shifted to Adam. She caught the subtle twitch of his jaw before he pushed off the wall, ignoring Molly, and strode toward them.

Adam must not have noticed Harry coming towards them because he quickly bid goodbye so he could rush to his literature class. Y/N picked up her pace but Harry was already by her side, “Do you like him?” Harry asked.

“Who Adam? Well let’s see, he’s nice and smart and doesn’t feel the need to open his mouth every five seconds unlike some people I know, so yeah I do like him.” 

Harry scoffed, “He’s a little boring don’t you think?” 

Y/N rolled her eyes at Harry's comment, a retort already forming on her lips. "Nice of you to say that about your own best friend," she quipped. "Makes me wonder what you say about me."

Before she could say anything more, she gasped in surprise as Harry tugged on her hand and swiftly spun her around until her back was against the row of lockers. Her heart raced as he stepped forward, blocking her in, and dipped his head closer to hers.

"I think we need some ground rules for this whole coaching thing," Harry murmured, his voice low. "If you're planning on winning, I recommend using your time more wisely instead of wasting it on nice boys."

Y/N's breath caught in her throat as she processed his words. "Is that a rule or are you asking me not to date anyone?" she managed to ask, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Both," Harry replied, his tone unwavering.

Her mind raced, unsure how to respond, "What about you then?" she countered.

"Is that a personal request?" Harry's smirk widened, his gaze locking onto hers. "Because I'm the coach, and I set the ground rules so anything you ask me to do is because you want me to do it."

Y/N's heart pounded louder in her ears as Harry's proximity sent heat coursing through her, "It's only fair," she replied, her voice barely audible.

Harry chuckled softly. "Fine, if it makes you happy. But I’m not interested in dating nice girls or boys anyway," he remarked with a smirk.

Y/N swallowed, her curiosity piqued. "What are you interested in?" 

He smirked, "The game," he replied cryptically.

With that, he moved away from her, his eyes lingering on her lips for a moment before he turned and walked down the hallway, “See you tonight, love.” He called back. 

As the sound of his footsteps faded, Y/N stood there, stunned and unable to move. She was grateful that no one had witnessed the exchange as she pulled out her compact, trying to compose herself and hide the flush of embarrassment that coloured her cheeks.

As she hurried to class, already five minutes late, Y/N couldn't shake the intensity of her encounter with Harry. Sitting by the window, her mind wandered as the teacher lectured the class, her gaze drifting to the courts outside where she'd soon be training with him this evening.

This coach-student dynamic had unlocked a new territory between them, something unpredictable that Y/N had no choice but to delve into for the months ahead. 

Yet, it was her only choice. Harry was the only way she could win and she’d push through whatever feelings she had to get what she wanted. 

She’d play the game, just as he wanted her to. 

[octuscle]

Exchange Student: Brooklyn (NY)

Chuck was a simple country boy. He had graduated top of his class in agricultural mechanics—of course, he had. Giving your best was just the way things were. That’s what his parents had expected of him. And now, that’s what he expected of himself. He was giving his best. And now he had to give his best at the New York City College of Technology. Because he had a scholarship there.

His hometown had 684 people. More people lived on the block where his dorm was. Shit. He wasn’t built for the big city. Not at all.

His dorm room looked like the room of a guy who had never had to clean up after himself. Back home, his mom did the laundry. His mom cleaned. His mom picked up after him. And when she didn’t, his sister did. It wasn’t about patriarchy or anything (not that Chuck even knew that word)—that’s just how things were. Men didn’t clean, just like men took cold showers without body wash.

Chuck picked up a tank top from the floor and sniffed it. He’d worn it to the gym yesterday. Probably not for the first time. Good enough for today’s lectures.

By Friday, even his gym buddies had started complaining about how bad his clothes smelled. That meant there was no way around it—he had to do laundry. Somewhere between his dorm and Washington Hall Park, where he sometimes played ball with some guys, there was a laundromat on Myrtle Avenue that looked decent enough. Maybe he could kill two birds with one stone.

So, he threw on the least smelly basketball jersey he could find, grabbed his gym bag stuffed with dirty laundry, and headed out. He stopped in front of the laundromat, took a deep breath. He was nervous. Rightfully so. The place was packed. Dozens of washers and dryers spinning. He had no idea what to do. And apparently, it showed.

“First time?” A guy asked him. Slim, buzz cut, tattoos, colorful outfit. Chuck knew guys like him. Art school types from across the street. Normally, Chuck would at best spit at their feet. But now? He needed help. And this guy seemed willing to give it.

“Dude, you’re a lifesaver, bro!” Chuck said, giving the guy a fist bump. The guy returned it, amused, and told him his machine would be done soon—Chuck could take it after.

Martin, as he introduced himself, walked Chuck through everything—how to separate his mess of gray-beige towels, bedsheets, socks, jockstraps, tank tops, tees, shorts, and jeans, where to get detergent, how to use the dryer afterward, and so on. Chuck’s head was spinning.

“Relax, big guy, it’s all on the wall,” Martin said, pointing to a board covered in instructions.

Damn. Maybe it would’ve been easier to just drive home and have his mom do it.

Once his machine was running, he thanked Martin, who was neatly folding his own laundry fresh from the dryer. Chuck had to get out of here. He needed to sweat, to prove he was a bro—not some laundry-doing wimp. According to Martin, he had 90 minutes.

When he got back, sweaty from shooting hoops, his washer was already beeping like crazy. He stuffed everything into a big dryer and let out a sigh of relief when the drum started spinning. Drying only took 25 minutes—just enough time to grab something quick to eat at the Chinese spot next door.

Back in his dorm, Chuck realized laundry wasn’t over yet. He had to make his bed, shove his clothes into his locker… Damn, getting the duvet cover on was torture. Definitely women’s work. Even the pillowcase was fighting back. Maybe because Martin’s tie-dye shirt was stuck inside. Not that Chuck noticed.

He didn’t care how the bed looked. He was wiped. He crashed onto the fresh sheets and was out almost instantly. And Martin’s shirt did its thing.

That night, Chuck dreamed in wild colors. If you could paint his dreams, they’d look like some psychedelic trip. He saw places he’d never been—Paris, Berlin, San Francisco—everything spinning in a massive vortex.

He woke up drenched in sweat. Half-asleep, he reached for his sketchbook. He had to capture this. He had to paint it tomorrow—big, bold, powerful. He stumbled into the bathroom, chugged a glass of water, and caught his reflection in the mirror.

Shit. He looked awful. He needed more sleep.

If you wanted to piss him off, you called him “Chuck.” There was nothing Charles hated more than hillbillies butchering the beautiful name Charles. He was Charles—pronounced the French way, please. Yeah, maybe that was a bit ridiculous for a guy born and raised in Chicago, but ever since his semester abroad in Paris, he stuck with it.

According to his professors, Charles was an insanely talented young man. He had proved his artistic skill on his own body—most of his tattoos were his own work. A bunch of his classmates were walking around with his ink, too. That alone had made him a bit of a legend at Pratt Institute. But what really stirred things up was his latest series of large-scale, vibrant paintings—whirlpools of color with subtle critiques of toxic masculinity, as he put it.

Not that Charles had much of that in him. Unless you saw him playing basketball in the little park around the corner. There, he took no prisoners.

[rinniewvrld]

𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗘!𝗔𝗖𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗖 𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗦 .ᐟ

summary, felix always believed he was destined for greatness. he was smart, rich and "hot" as some might say. but his empire breaks when a new kid break into the scene

featuring, yandere!academic rival x gn!reader

tags, unhealthy power dynamics, clingy and kinda pathetic yandere, delusional and obsessive behavior, implied isolation, abuse of power, he's a bit egoistical

notes, this is a pretty old draft from my wattpad account ermmm this is heavily altered from the one i published at wp

♡ Felix Escoffier is a serious man that follows strict rules and principles. He's the only son of a famous fashion designer who practically owes everyone's parents, so it's natural that they follows his every whims. Even if at times his so-called 'policies' can be overbearing, borderline senseless.

♡ Though his power doesn't only come from his father's connection. He's the student president, as well having the highest honor out of everyone else. He's popular among the school staff and favored by the teachers for his achievements marking a good reputation for the school.

♡ This is his perfect empire where he and only he strictly rules among all the inching worms. The top of the food chain, the king lion. Nobody can stop him from reaching greatness now. Until you did.

♡ After acing his final exams without much of a break, Felix decided to check the ranking board to see where his rank was. Of course, he's confident to see his name at the number one spot, but he needed the boost anyways. However when he arrived at the board, he almost fainted.

♡ He was second to your name. Just who are you? You never appeared in the Top 10 before, so where did you come from? It took every single part of him to not black out right then and there.

♡ Rumors began spreading all the school, the strange new transfer student became the student body's buzzing gossip. Not only did you utterly crushed a man's entire life in a single day, but you were just a commoner. A commoner who managed to get inside such a prestigious school through a scholarship. And not like paying the fee like everyone did! Everyone believed you must've cheated the system.

♡ While the entire school was in shambles, you, on the other hand, couldn't care less. The only reason you managed to topple over the king bee was because your friend had betted that you won't be able to demolish the school ranking in one night. (Guess who had a 100 bucks under their name now?)

♡ Felix couldn't take it. Of course, he was his father's child! The expected successor of his business, the soon-to-be ruler of the fashion emperor! He wouldn't let himself be taken down by anyone, not by the likes of a commoner no less.

♡ So he made the decision to confront during lunchtime, prepared to absolutely obliterate you in front of everyone and ruin any chance of yours to strike back!

♡ But oooh, you so much different from what he heard in the rumors. You weren't disgusting or ugly, and you certainly weren't a cheater when he had tested your knowledge with the hardest question on the exam. Even he got that question wrong multiple times before. And you were so beautiful his jaw dropped at the first sight of your face, he couldn't even utter a single world to stop you from walking away.

♡ When you brushed him off so casually, it hurt his pride a bit. Sure, he had originally planned to ruin your social life, but upon realizing what a valuable asset you could be in his journey of taking over his father's business, but he couldn't let you go now!

♡ He stuck to you like an annoying bug. Always buzzing in your ear and demanding that the two of you must study together despite proudly declaring you as his arch-nemesis in public. Sometimes he gets too close to you, his heartbeat would spike up and his hands get clammy to the point he could barely hold a pencil. Just brushing his arm against yours was enough to make his nose bleed.

♡ Plus, he's always complaining if you don't wear your uniform correctly. But anytime you take your blazer off— or god forbid unbutton the first button if your blouse —the little skin revealed makes him flustered to the point of him running away to deal with himself.

♡ But in the next exam, your ranking immediately dropped to the bottom. It made the student body stir with confusion at this development and prompted a lot of questions from classmates and teachers alike. But Felix was more than just mortified to see the change and nearly fainted when checking the board again.

♡ He had to confront you again, of course, there's so much to discuss! Did you perhaps give up or did he scare you off? No matter, he'll just drag you back so you'll be his rival again! That is until he saw you hanging out with your friends.

♡ Of course, the only explainable reason why your ranking dropped was because of those delinquents! Despite your brilliance, your social awareness must not be as sharp as he thought. These braindead hooligans are influencing you and dragging you into their mess! Don't worry, he'll guide you back on the right path.

♡ So he made the proper arrangements. He used his power to forcibly change your schedule to match his, so he can always watch over you even during classtime. The teachers are now much harder on you, so you can focus on your studies more instead of goofing off with your so-called 'friends' (devils, he calls them), and everyone begins moving you out of fear of facing his wrath.

♡ It won't be too long until he's all that you have left. You're completely isolated from everyone at school, and your mountain of schoolwork isn't helping with your ruined reputation.

♡ However, fear not. Just let him help you with you and just depend on him. He'll mold you into the perfect rival, just for him.

[tonguetiedraven]

Yukio and True Cross: A Tale of Exploitation

Part 4 of my Yukio Okumura Critical Reading series. (Other parts here: one, two, and three) Please read them before diving into this one. It will continue to build on what was covered there.

We've discussed Yukio's role at the academy and how he views his role in Rin's life, and how he views himself in the lives of his peers. Now I want to talk about one of the biggest hinderances in Yukio's day to day life.

True Cross.

True Cross is a problem. A problem for Yukio and Rin in a lot of varying ways. Not just the obvious and looming problem of their parentage being enough reason for them to both be killed. There are a lot of reasons that Yukio is the way he is and makes the moves he makes, and aside from Mephisto, True Cross itself is probably his biggest opponent on the chess board his life is. For now at least. The Illuminati is waiting in the wings.

Now when last we left our overworked exorcist, he was sporting this expression in chapter 12.

And honestly, this is what I'm imagining every time he wears that customer service smile.

I've touched on it in my other parts, but now I want to take a moment to really reflect on the fact that Yukio has two jobs.

Yukio Okumura is fifteen. This is his first year of high school just like the rest of the cram students. This was his first time moving out as well, and on the day he isn't at home, Shirou dies.

But we'll get to that a bit later (honestly a lot later) when Rin finds out about the Blue Night.

Now at this point it's been about four months since Shirou died and the twins started True Cross Academy. It's often easy to lose track of time in this story, and I'll try and periodically remind everyone of where we're at with that.

The twins have officially made it through one semester at this school. One semester of keeping this a secret. Mostly.

One semester of living on their own. Of trying to make Yukio's scholarship and pay cover both of their expenses. One month of trying to keep Rin somewhat in line. One month of teaching a class he got very little heads up for. One month of doing additional exorcists missions on top of all that and maintaining his grades.

Why point that out? Because I want to make it clear that Yukio has been put under a lot of pressure. More pressure than he ever has been under, but he has been under a lot of pressure since he was seven. What he has also lost is the support and guide he had during those first seven years on this path.

This arc will give us our first real view of what True Cross the organization is like, and it does not paint it flatteringly. Nor should it.

Chapter 12 is the midway point of the mini camp arc. Everyone is in the forest trying to find a lantern and bring it back and the sky has just lit up briefly with blue flames. This is from Rin finding Shiemi passed out, getting frustrated/overwhelmed with the chuchi all over the place, and igniting.

By all likelihood he didn't intend to do that, however he still did and it is by the dumb luck he lives by that he didn't get caught.

Yukio is wearing the above expression because he sees the sky light up and Shura is laughing a few meters behind him.

Shura reassures Yukio that it'd just be bright in this darkness, and she's right. Ryuuji, who didn't have his flashlight on, knew there was a bright light but didn't recognize it as blue.

Nonetheless, we have Yukio showing a moment of frustration or exhaustion or likely both, and saying that he can't hide Rin's power much longer.

That's an important moment of verbiage to clue us into Yukio's headspace here. He is putting himself in the position of responsible party for Rin's secret. He is aware that when the secret comes out it will land on his shoulders to handle it and and he is aware it is his responsibility to delay it as much as possible.

It should absolutely not be his responsibility mind you. He is aware of the exorcist world, yes, but he is also fifteen and should not be in this position. I strangely often see people rage that Rin is expected to keep this secret while also blaming Yukio on the fact that it got out. It often seems that people who put forth a more responsible figure and manner are expected to take on more responsibility and then blamed when the responsibilities heaped upon them (and Yukio has many) overwhelm them or come to the only conclusion they possibly could.

Rin's secret gets out because Rin is emotional and not trying as hard as he might to keep it secret. Rin is who he is, and as he tells us himself, he's not much for keeping secrets. To keep this secret would require confronting emotions and guilts he's not ready for, and would require accepting his flames to some degree, and they are, at this point, still heavily tied to Shirou's death in his mind, and that and everything demonic about him is something he avoids thinking about or dealing with to the point he'll eventually lock himself entirely out of the ability to even use them.

It doesn't help that we also know that there is another hand at play endeavoring to force them into a reveal.

Yukio asks Shura why she's here and doing this.

Shura is putting her report to the Vatican on hold (remember she's an investigator) and says it's because she thinks Rin is funny and ambitious.

I think there's some truth in that, but it's absolutely not the full reason. However for her to give the full reason would be admitting feelings and emotions she doesn't acknowledge and she is seldom serious with Yukio outside of specific moments where she's trying to mentor him, so ambition and humor are the given reason.

However the moment I want to focus on is where Yukio shows surprise. As I've mentioned, Yukio rarely blatantly shows his thoughts or emotions unless he's been pushed and driven to that position over a period of time. Here however, the mention of Shirou has him showing surprise.

Now this will come back in much later, but Yukio seems surprised by Shirou being mentioned here. (Another tally on the 'Shirou knew he was going to die' list.) We are told later that he knew this but the surprise is still there. I'm not sure if it's her taking Shirou's words into account, or if Kato retconned this scene later, but the surprise is there.

Shura doesn't bother explaining, just continuing like Yukio is already in on everything.

Now at this point we leave the conversation and Yukio ruminating over what Shura said. We're given a shot of what she's looking at too.

So we know that Shura at least is aware Mephisto and Amaimon on here. We are not told if Yukio is aware of their spying presence.

The POV switches back to Rin in the forest where they find out the actual challenge and dive into it.

When we get back to Yukio's POV we find out it is now after 4 am. So regardless of whatever time the group started out on this assignment, it has been a LONG day. I cannot emphasize that enough. That is part of this entire thing. True Cross and Mephisto rarely push and manipulate their people/players unless they are 1) stressed by as many factors as it's possible to amass, 2) exhausted, 3) isolated, and if they can swing it 4) hungry and deprived of other basic rights and comforts.

It is late, it is hot (Yukio still doesn't have his coat), Rin has already ignited once and Shura is drunk and just mumbling on the side lines, and Yukio has probably been standing here watching for at least a bit.

I will again reiterate, this is NOT just a test for Rin.

They see a bottle rocket go off -- one of the items they gave the students to use in case something went wrong, and Yukio heads out to help. This is the last we see of him this chapter. We go back to Rin and friends who meet the god of the forest, and Amaimon was right, he is way too happy to help out and causes havoc among the students and Rin.

They manage to escape the enormous chuchi's grasp through the power of friendship and good throws and book it back to the camp where we discover that Izumo and Takara both beat their group back.

For the reader that were paying close attention the first time they read this, they'll notice this means everyone used their matches on the lantern and no one set off their flare, which means Yukio went after someone that was likely not a student and likely a trap.

It takes a while for anyone else to realize this, which is fair because Shura is the only one who knows he left.

Rin asks where Yukio is like a good brother who just noticed his twin isn't present, and Shura dismisses it as Yukio being in the way.

Now this could be read as her just being light hearted/dismissive, but I think with what we'll read in chapter 15 that she was being sincere. She wanted Yukio out of the way and circle so that she could do her next actions un interrupted because Yukio is the one trying to keep Rin's flames a secret.

I cannot stress enough how every adult around Yukio is plotting and manipulating and how he cannot relax his guard around anyone. There is no one he can trust to be telling him the truth and not be trying to manipulate him, even Shura. This is also true for Rin, but Rin is unaware of it to a large degree and doesn't interact with the adults as much as he does his peers. Shura also doesn't try to manipulate him as much as she tries with Yukio. She's more direct with them.

Yukio is working multiple jobs and forced to interact with these people and has been given the responsibility to keep Rin hidden, safe, and as un manipulated as he can.

We leave Yukio with him understanding something is very, very awry and facing off against the god of the forest as the chuchi rage against him, and go back to the camp and Rin.

There are three things I want understood about the camp scene that we will mostly be skipping because this analysis is about Yukio.

This is a plot specifically to expose Rin. Amaimon is here to piss Rin off and set him off and make him lose control. Mephisto planned this, and Shura is aware of this plan to at least some degree. And to at least some degree, she goes along with it.

Rin very much plays into their manipulative hands. Shiemi is mind controlled by a chuchi egg and forced to play the part of Amaimon's willing puppet, and we are made to understand later on that she was entirely aware during this full ordeal. Renzou gets two cracked ribs and probably a concussion from this. Ryuuji gets choked enough to be coughing up blood. Konekomaru gets a bad enough break that he has to spend days in a hospital. They are all hurt during this and that should not be ignored. They are also being manipulated and used during this, and Shura got rid of Yukio so that he wouldn't be in the way, but that also meant he couldn't protect these students either.

Rin's thoughts as he's watching his friends just get decimated (and I feel the need to point out Takara and Izumo are still back at camp) is that they are all so kind. That they've supported him and helped him and encouraged him and he doesn't want them getting mauled like this and he recognizes that this is his fault. While that's not entirely true and he shouldn't put other's cruel actions on his own shoulder, he does know that Amaimon is after him and they did not which put them in a far more dangerous situation than they were aware of. Rin has also already shown himself to intercede and throw himself between people he cares about and danger on seven occasions before this. This entire setup is probably the most predictable thing that could have happened. IT WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT. It was entirely planned. Planned by a Demon King who manipulates time itself. -the seven times I'm talking about: Jumped between Yukio and the hobgolbin, jumped between Ryuuji and a reaper, jumped between Paku and the naberius, jumped between Yukio and the naberius summoned thing, lured the naberius away from the other students, took a head butt from Kuro, tried to take on the god of the forest himself.

It is only now that we switch back to Yukio's POV, and only for a moment. Yukio right next to Renzou -- just to give you an idea of how damn far Amaimon shot Renzou --sees the situation and immediately shouts for Rin to think. To stop and breathe and not do what everyone who knows Rin knows that he will do.

Yukio's plead falls on deaf ears as he knew it would. Yukio could not keep the secret by himself, and Rin is no longer willing to hide it. Rin draws the sword and the fight between him and Amaimon is on.

The next shot of Yukio, he's running towards the injured students.

He is almost immediately focused on them and their injuries. He is direct and focused on getting them to safety and away from the danger he knows Rin is.

Remember that he is the one who specifically warned Rin about getting injured and relying on his flames in chapter 8. He predicted what is about to happen.

Yukio evacuates the students with Shura showing up part way through and the two of them snapping at each other. Yukio gives Koneko a temporary cast for his arm, because if you remember, Yukio has a doctor meister and seems to at least be somewhat adept at field medicine, and he carries Shiemi himself while Rin and Amaimon tear apart the forest and light up the sky with blue flames.

They are both going more and more feral, violently tearing into each other and their surroundings, and we see Yukio looking back as they make their way forward, and I think it's worth bringing back up this moment from chapter 2.

There was more truth in this than we often acknowledge.

It is my opinion, and I believe the manga heavily supports this reading, that

this is what Yukio has feared. What he foresees as the conclusion of what will happen if Rin relies too much on his flames and the demon within himself. That Rin will cease to be Rin at all and that he will become nothing but a dangerous and feral mind like the worst of the demons that Yukio feared when he was young. That he will lose control to the demon and it will almost certainly fall on Yukio's shoulders to stop him.

And not for nothing does he have this fear.

Chapter 13 ends with them running. Chapter 14 opens with Mephisto interceding on the fight and locking a resisting Amaimon away in a Cuckoo clock prison as one does.

The students are attempting to flee with Yukio carrying Shiemi, and let's pour one out for poor Renzou who had to by all accounts climb steps to get up to that thing with his broken ribs. Like damn.

They stop because Shima can't breathe and it's at that moment that Yukio spots Shura and is furious.

Her response is dismissive and rude, and honestly I cannot imagine how infuriated that sort of response would make me in this situation. Not only does everyone use and manipulate Yukio, they very often treat him as a child while they're at it, dismissing his intelligence and skill, and it is very likely intended to further push him and frustrate him.

Yukio is truly one of the most manipulated characters in this manga.

The new Paladin is introduced on this bridge. We meet Arthur Angel who confirms with Shura that there are others spies here because there are always spies in and around, often overlapping and working for more than one party. Mephisto shows up with Rin in tow, and Rin seems entirely gone. Feral and determined to attack everything near by. He snarls and lashes out at the students, Yukio, and Shura, and seems mindless.

Angel and Mephisto and Shura hold a conversation while Yukio watches silently with the students and it isn't until the Kurikara is sheathed that Rin calms down and seems to come back to himself at all.

At which point by all accounts Rin seems to have no real memory of going feral or how he got on this bridge. Angel lunges forward to press his blade against Rin's neck and Shura gets between them leading Angel to restrain her instead.

We get the frankly fascinating lore drop that Angel seems aware Shirou asked Shura to train Rin. Apparently Shura ratted Shirou out to everyone, lol.

I'm going to skim over most of the rest of this chapter but want to pay attention to a few moments on the bridge.

We don't get real closeups of Yukio or his POV during this, but we get these moment. Him reacting to injuries and trying to gather them, all the while knowing these students are no longer seeing him the same way and knowing that everything has changed beyond his control. (It's a bit uncertain just who Ryuuji is glaring at, but honestly pretty much everyone on the bridge would make sense in one way or another.)

A thing I think a lot of people kind of glance over or miss is that Yukio himself is not at the trial that IMMEDIATELY follows the reveal of Rin. Yukio is with the students, getting debriefed and likely examined himself. He does not know what transpired there and would have had to get the information second hand, likely through Shura or Mephisto who he does not fully trust. (One he trusts far less than the other.) He wouldn't get it from Rin, or at least wouldn't get a dependable/accurate explanation from Rin who would not know who to look out for and would likely be unable to remember the details Yukio would want.

We are shown the trial from Rin's POV and we miss some of the dialogue going on around him as Rin focuses on his own thoughts.

And his thoughts go to his twin.

During this trial where they are calling him a bastard and a conspirator and a weapon and other horrid things, Rin's thoughts go to Yukio and how he didn't listen and understand what Yukio was warning him about. Rin mourns his own reactions but will never say this to Yukio. He will think it and he will hold it to his own chest as he is want to do when it comes to his twin.

Neither brother is good at talking to the other about things like this. Things that need saying. It is just another conversation put on hold, much like the conversation about Shirou's death and what Rin is now.

"Damn it," Rinthinks repeatedly, until he loses control of himself again and tells all who are assembled here (and they assembled so damn fast y'all) to shut up and listen to him and that he is not a weapon or demon lord but will be the next Paladin.

Then he disses Angel's clothing in the best Rin fashion and Mephisto's wager is accepted.

True Cross moved quickly. Much much too quickly for this to not have been planned at all. This is a farce of a trial. They found a teenager who was not supposed to be alive and instead of listening to any proper kind of evidence or even acknowledging his twin or hearing what the hell was going on at all, they immediately move to try and kill him only to shift to using him as a weapon, because using people and demons is something that True Cross excels in.

Now it is likely July 20ish and he is given six months to pass the certification exam. The certification exam has not yet happened as of my writing this, and we're in January in current manga timeline. I think the original pre world going batshit plan was for the exam to be in January but the world went a bit batshit so you know, priorities. True Cross got them right for once.

This trial was a show. It was not just nor did it pretend to be. The majority of the Grigori are aware of why the twins exist and what Mephisto is likely planning. They play ignorant a lot, and that is all it usually is, a pretend. Pretending to be unaware and ignorant allows them to have the pretense of clean hands in the atrocities we will continue to uncover in True Cross' past. This organization paints itself as the only true and just and good defense against the darkness of the world, and part of Yukio's arc is becoming more and more disillusioned with that.

He was brought into this organization by Shirou under the pretense of growing strong to protect Rin, and it seems until a certain point that he thought they were doing good, but that belief, if it was one he held, will not be able to withstand what comes.

Chapter 15 we open with Yukio a few days later. Possibly the next day. Possibly a day and a half later.

Yukio steps into their dorm room to wake up his twin to discover his twin has done the pillows in the bed trick which tells us Rin didn't want to get caught not being in bed.

He receives a text from Shura saying she's going to be late and swe see the opening of Yukio's pov closing with Yukio tightly gripping his phone and showing mounting frustration.

We're not told his reaction to the trial or the news that Rin has six months to pass. We're not told a lot about what has happened since, though we are shown that it was on Yukio to explain to the students what exactly had happened and was going on.

Yukio's hands and posture give him away in this scene. The tension and dare I say shame as he explains clinically who and what they are. That Satan possessed someone and had a child with a human woman. That Rin has flames and he does not. He doesn't quite look at them during this scene, and he cannot give them a lot of information for a lot of reasons.

This is another occurrence where we see him keeping himself at a distance from all of them. Shiemi even points out that he is formal, almost like this was a class. He does not let himself show his emotions or thoughts, just answers what he cans and leaves, likely to further questioning from other exorcists.

This is all we get of him post trial. We never see what exactly transpired between the twins after the trial. What we do see is the normal friction between the two and both of them still not quite talking to each other.

Yukio pulls Rin away from the main class for his private lessons, which seems to be the Vatican's decision about Rin hanging out with the others students. Ostracize him and make someone else handle the problem.

The twins sort of have a conversation.

Rin points out Yuio looks angry, Yukio denies it and gets annoyed at Rin acting like an older brother. (He's smiling that smile so there seems to be frustration there to me, plus the context clue of when he says it and how he says it.)

Rin says he can tell when Yukio is angry, and at this point he's accurate, but there will come a time when Rin cannot tell what Yukio is thinking/feeling, at least not accurately.

Their conversation continues with Yukio telling Rin to take this seriously for once. Rin mishears and thinks he said 'cereal' instead of serious. We love the goofball.

This is an important line for both twins. It shows how Rin intends to do and handle this, by just not thinking about it.

Rin is lying to himself here, and not even lying well to himself. This arc will force him to confront this lie and overcome it and think at least a little about all this. About what has happened and what this will mean.

Yukio will be forced to confront this lie as well, and be forced to consider his own thoughts and emotions and whether he is angry or not.

This is never just a test for Rin or for Yukio.

Shura shows up at this point and lays it out for Rin that from now on her and Yukio are always going to be watching him. She gives Rin the candle assignment and Rin does not manage it and will not manage it for a while. I want to know what the bill on candles was by the end of this. I bet Rin either lights all candles just to show he can or never lights another out of sheer stubborness.

Shura leaves Rin to it and goes back to Yukio and this cute moment happens.

She almost never calls him anything else. Another person who constantly reminds Yukio of when he was younger and wimpier and a cry baby, and remember that he has sworn to himself to never again be weak and frightened. He is striving hard to leave that all behind but cannot move past what he was with the constant reminders around him.

(*cough* Mephisto wants it that way *cough*)

Shura goads him into a challenge and we get the flashback I talked about previously of little Yukio being beaten by Shura.

I need to add that the verbiage of this bugs the hell out of me.

She orders him as his superior to do it. Shura wants Yukio to relax and not be so uptight, but she also refuses to do it and help him unless it's entirely in her way, and it causes increased stress and friction, and often comes across bratty and entitled. Their relationship is old and complicated, and there is often an imbalance in power like this. Shura is the closest he gets after Shirou's death to a mentor he can depend on, and he can't quite trust or lean on her because of things like this. She will mellow out and open up and take this more seriously and become someone he can lean on more, but it will take a while to get there with work needing to be put in.

Yukio accepts the challenge with the agreement that she stops calling him wimpy if he wins. They start to fight, Rin is shook at how good they are, and Yukio uses this moment to question her.

I don't know if I've ever seen analysis on this moment, or even much recognition of it at all. Likely because the anime and it's muddled opening episodes to the Kyoto arc doesn't really go into it.

Please read the manga, y'all. It gives us SO MUCH more than the animes gave and give us ;-;

Anyway, Yukio points out the fact that he knows that the forest was a setup. He was sent away and Rin was revealed, and it was deliberate. Shura confirms that she did indeed go along with Mephisto's plan.

Shura confirms that she did this deliberately and is happy Rin has been exposed. That she knows they're pawns. Yukio is not at all happy with any of this and we find out:

Yukio swore over Shirou's grave to protect Rin. It baffles me how people seem to ignore or not notice that Yukio is determined to protect Rin for most of this manga. He states it blatantly more than once.

He swore to protect Rin, and he has been taking the full weight of the secret upon his own shoulders. All of his peers have conspired against him, and it now confirmed that all were. The ones we are aware were in on Rin's heritage are Neuhaus, Shura, and Mephisto, and each of them have plotted and worked to make sure Rin was revealed, and he was, and now Rin has six months to pass an exam or die and Yukio is under no illusion that Rin can pass that.

Currently, he's valid for thinking that. Rin got a two on a test Yukio gave him in a class he was tailoring to Rin passing. If there's a written component to this test then they're fucked. Rin might be able to pass a skills portion, but he's currently in the next stall obliterating candles with wild flames so Yukio doesn't exactly have reasons to think that's going to happen either.

Yukio is stressed to hell and back and trying not to show it but it is slipping through the cracks and he is not being listened to by anyone around him. Rin and Shura keep dismissing his thoughts and opinions and pushing their own thoughts and opinions on him, and right or wrong, he is a person who despises being treated like he's stupid and like his words aren't being heard. (Does anyone like being treated that way?)

Shura watches his reaction and expression and asks him if he knows what makes a good exorcist. He says heart, skill, and body, which he learned from Shirou. (We'll see that in a flash back during the Blue Night arc.) Shura agrees, but says that not bottling up emotions is even more important because demons exploit resentment and stress.

Quick pause to point out earlier where I said a few thousand words ago that:

True Cross and Mephisto rarely push and manipulate their people/players unless they are 1) stressed by as many factors as it's possible to amass, 2) exhausted, 3) isolated, and if they can swing it 4) hungry and deprived of other basic rights and comforts.

This is a reason. Demon and people and organizations find it much easier to exploit people who are resentful and stressed.

Shura continues her observations.

And that is where I will end this one. Yukio is being primed for something, and Shura sees that, but Yukio is not in a place to listen to her, nor can he exactly be blamed for that with how she has treated him and manipulated them to get to this point.

We'll cover the Kyoto arc next and keep digging in on all the reasons why True Cross has a LOT of issues and why Yukio is getting so very disillusioned.

As always, check out my tag #raven ramble for more of my aoex analysis! I've got a lot more to do, and if you sent me an ask about analyses, don't worry! I will get to you <3

[lovedivers]

There's no solution for whatever this was.

💌 ⤻ THE ACADEMIC RIVAL, SEO MIN-JUN

—> when you come crashing into his life, his focus for his studies are lost.

⤻ reader is gender neutral, reader's race is not mentioned but it does take place in korea, stalking, obsession, slightly suggestive, possessiveness, stealing, damage to personal, slightly suggestive, property, encouraging suicide, mentions of academic stress and korea's expectation for its students, inspired by @moyazaika 's academic rival yandere (go check the fic out, it's amazing), a drabble for now but I will be posting longer fics of him

🦋 ⤻ archives.

In Korea, students are shown to be almost always studying. Many news outlets have covered multiple schools and how much pressure Korean students are going through with their studies. It's difficult, no one can deny it. Yet, some of these students just find it normal, they view studying as perhaps their only form of control they have in their world.

One of those such students is Seo Min-Jun, a student belonging to a prestigious private high school. Someone who is in his final year of high school, soon to graduate and take his university exams. Top of his class, the son to a minister in Korea's government and a rather popular film actress, and the president of the student council. He was destined for success once he graduated.

The moment he crawled out of his mother's womb, his fate was paved for him in gold.

That was, until you — the sweet scholarship student — showed up.

✧ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ✧

At first, he didn't understand you. Both of you were literally in your last year of school, but you waltzed in like you owned the place. At least, from his perspective. He thought you bland. After all, you got in from a scholarship. You may be smart, but were you as rich, or was your status in society as high as him? It didn't matter, he still viewed you as below him and didn't pay much attention to you, relegating his secretary in the student council to give you a tour of the elite private school that you should honestly be honoured to step your grimy shoes all over.

Sure, he'd never say these things out to you or anyone else in public. After all, he was still a model student, and he was taught to act humble. Key word: act.

He honestly didn't take an interest in you till he saw your name, above his, on the monthly test evaluations.

"What?" He muttered out, not believing his eyes. In almost every damn subject, you managed to score higher than him. He was almost always one mark off from you. His eyes shot to you, the you who stood there in your crisp and cut uniform on the other side of the crowd, looking up at the papers pressed onto the walls with a look of pride. What was that look of pride for?

Pride, something that existed strongly in almost every culture, and you had just ruined his.

Your life was never the same afterwards.

Letters of hatred piled in your shoe locker. They ranged from being written like some crazed man worshipping your feet like you were a god to someone who wanted to see you hop off the building of your school. The handwriting was typically crazed, but you could recognise whose handwriting it was solely because the both of you were in the same class.

As usual, the school board did nothing to help with that. And when you tried to accuse Min-Jun, the teachers especially scolded you for attempting to defame the student council president.

It got so bad that your things were going missing too, your homework — which the teachers unreasonably scolded you for even if you were user sure you placed it in your bag this morning — and then your notes too. Technically, they did return. They just returned torn up, and some were even burnt with mysterious stains on them.

One day, you couldn't take it anymore after receiving a death threat, and you stormed to the student council office, knowing that if you went to the general office, they'd turn you away again.

You would take matters into your own hands.

✧ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ✧

When Min-Jun first saw you enter the room, he was left breathless. Your blushed cheeks from running all the way here, no doubt, the way your uniform crumpled, his mouth was almost drooling. No, no. He refused to let himself lust over you in such a manner that you were a rival, for goodness sake! Not some... potential love interest. Though that thought did pique his interest but he pushed it down with any other thoughts he had about his rival.

"I can't take it anymore." You said, which shocked him. Was someone bullying you? Only he could do that! "I know it's you. I've seen your handwriting on tests before, I just know you're the one who's been planting those notes and stealing my things." You accused your one-sided academic rival.

He didn't bother to defend himself. What was the point? His family would protect him, the school would protect him, and most importantly, the student body would rip them to shreds if they ever tried to act out against him. He knew how cruel students could be. After all, he had seen all the outcasts almost drowned inside toilet bowls by bullies multiple times.

He could not have that. Having you tortured would mean he would not be able to have a proper rival. As much as he disliked you for being in his way, he preferred to keep things... somewhat fair.

"And your proof?" He inquired.

"I have all those notes stored in my bag." You hissed.

For some reason, the thought of you keeping those notes made his heart beat faster. Were you a freak like him too? Did you have such sinful thoughts just like him? You broke his twisted fantasy with your next words, though.

"I don't understand why you're doing this to me. It's- it's," you struggled to find a word for his disturbing actions, "ceaselessly cruel!" You finally exclaimed.

Cruel? What was cruel were your actions, driving him mad, making him lose focus on his work. Who were you to call him cruel when you made him like this?

He got up from his seat and approached you, causing you to fall back, landing on the couch that you swore was not there when the entered the student council room. Taking this chance, he pinned you against the seat, taking in every part of your body, your face, your eyes... everything. God, you were so perfect but so infuriating. Just why did you have to confront him?

"Are you that fucking naive to think that when you present the school with your proof, they'll do anything about it for you? That they'll go against me and my family for the sake of defending the poor scholarship student?" He hissed, grabbing your face harshly as you whimpered. He wished the circumstances of your whimpers were different; in his bed rather than on the couch of the student council office. Still, that did breed intriguing fantasies into his mind. "You think they'll do that for you?" He repeated.

"I-" you started, but you had no idea how to end.

"Exactly." He let go of you, almost smacking your head to the other side as he straightened himself, readjusting the blazer of his uniform.

"You should get used to the circumstances of your situation." He said which only made you shudder. "Let yourself out." He said cooly as he exited the student council room, "I trust you'll keep this meeting a secret." He said with an air of finality before sauntering casually towards the male bathrooms where he promptly slammed the door shut and sat on the toilet seat, practically fuming.

That look on your face, the scrunch of your nose, the furrowing of your eyebrows. You were so unfair! He could practically feel all his blood flush downwards as he thought of you.

Now that you knew he was the culprit, what would you do?

It didn't matter.

He would find ways to pester you and find ways to mark you as someone who could not be touched by anyone else other than him.

"I left another note in your bag. You should look at it. Or else."

[innytoes]

The call came in just as he was sticking more photos to his board. He was so close to cracking this case, he just needed a little more evidence. Maybe find a source willing to talk to him. Either willingly or unwittingly, at this point he didn’t even care. He wouldn’t reveal his sources anyway, and if he could just figure out where to find something damning…

“Boldheart,” he said into the phone, attention still mostly on the board. Maybe it needed some string. Or at the very least some of those flames Nimona had drawn and cut out for him to add.

“Mister Boldheart, this is Principal Conroy from Gloreth Elementary School.”

Oh no.

He didn’t quite manage to keep in his sigh.

“What happened this time?” he asked. He refused to say ‘what did she do now’, if only because Nimona usually had a reason for whatever chaos she wrought. Like trying to free the pet gerbil from ‘his stinky, tiny prison’ or punching a kid who made fun of her because ‘you couldn’t even get two normal foster parents, you ended up with two foster dads’.

Of course the school hadn’t done anything about the other kid. He was a legacy at the private school, and he’d ‘just been stating facts, after all’.

“It appears Nimona bit another child.”

Well, that was new.

“What did the other kid do?” he asked, knowing he wouldn’t get a straight answer until he talked to Nimona.

“Mister Boldheart, this school has a zero tolerance policy,” the principal started, and he pulled the phone away from his ear, mouthing along the words mockingly has he got his keys.

Part-way through her little rant, he cut her off. “I’m on my way,” he said, hanging up the phone before she could answer.

Nimona was sitting in what Ballister was coming to think of as ‘her’ chair. The one furthest away from the principal’s door. Her face was like thunder, arms crossed in front of her defensively. But it eased a little when she saw who was picking her up.

As much as he and Ambrosius tried the old Good Cop, Bad Cop routine, Nimona had very quickly learned they were both complete pushovers. And that while Ballister could be stern when it mattered, he wasn’t about to punish her for no reason. He’d always hear her out, and he’d always explain why a rule was a rule and why it shouldn’t be broken. (Or when it could be, under certain circumstances.)

Also, he was fifty per cent more likely than Ambrosius to take her out for ice-cream when she got suspended for no reason, again.

“What happened?” he asked, crouching down in front of them.

“Chad wouldn’t stop trying to poke me,” Nimona said. “I told him to keep his hands to himself or I’d bite him. It’s not my fault he didn’t believe me.”

“I never touched her!” Chad shouted from the other side of the hall. His hand was bandaged rather dramatically all the way down to his elbow. “I even said ‘I’m not touching you!’”

Ah. Ballister knew that game all too well from his own time at Gloreth Elementary. Being the scholarship kid had made him an easy target.  

“Come on,” he said, putting his hand on Nimona’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t you need to talk to the Principal first?” they asked.

He did, but he really didn’t want to. Instead, he looked at the ancient secretary, who’d always had a bit of a soft spot for him when he went to this school. “How long is she suspended?”

“Just the rest of the week,” the secretary answered. It was Wednesday, so not too bad. “The Principal wants to have a serious talk with you, though.”

Ballister knew exactly what talk she wanted to have. It was the same one she’d had when they enrolled Nimona, suggesting that Gloreth Elementary had a rather rigorous curriculum, and perhaps ‘someone like Nimona’ would be better suited for a ‘less demanding environment’.

Another thing he remembered all too well from his own time at this private school.

Never mind that Nimona’s grades were at the top ten per cent of her class. Well, when she remembered to hand in her homework. And it was legible between the drawings of sharks and dragons and who knew what else. But still, it wasn’t the curriculum that was bothering her.

“I’ll send Ambrosius by tomorrow morning, after his shift,” Ballister said. Because suddenly, when The Golden Boy Legacy Kid himself stopped by it was much harder to say no, or that their kid didn’t belong here.

They walked out of the school, Nimona’s fuzzy pink book bag hanging from his good shoulder, her hand clutching the wrist of his prosthetic arm. They were already too far down the hall to hear the Principal call them back, and Ballister knew she was too dignified to run after them.

“Look, I get it,” he said once they were outside, because he really, really did. “But you can’t go around biting people.”

“Why not? He deserved it,” Nimona said, sulkily kicking at a pebble.

“Because you don’t know where his hand’s been, it’s gross.” Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best argument for not biting people, but it was one that was probably most effective for this particular kid. He and Ambrosius could sit her down and explain why biting people was morally wrong some other time.

Nimona was silent for a moment, before sticking out their tongue and running her own hands over it. “Blergh, you’re right!”

See? Effective parenting.

“How do you feel about milkshakes and a stake out?” he asked.

“A stake out?” The hunched shoulders and frown disappeared, replaced by a bounce and a bright, sharp smile. “Who’re we taking down?”

“Nobody just yet,” he said. “But I could use a sidekick following one of VerdAgra’s employees.”

“Yes, boss!” Nimona cheered, all but throwing herself into the passenger’s seat. “Can I have a chocolate-peanut butter-caramel milkshake?”

“Sure thing,” he said, even though that sounded like a lot. Nimona beamed and rummaged in the dashboard console to find their Stake Out Sunglasses, handing him his own. Because you couldn’t do a stake out without them, of course.

Tonight, he’d have a talk with Ambrosius about how maybe Gloreth Elementary and Gloreth Prep weren’t the best place for Nimona. Not because she couldn’t handle the curriculum, but because the school had no interest in stopping the bullying of anyone they deemed lesser. He didn’t want her to suffer the way he had. Sure, he’d gotten into a great university at the end, but had it really been worth it?

Maybe homeschooling was an option. Or another school. Anywhere that didn’t try to crush his kid’s amazing spirit, natural curiosity, and sense of self.

“Can I tase him if he tries to run?”

“No!”

[the-maid-of-witchwood]

Drop your headcanons for Pete and his ships, I dare you

*cracks knuckles*

Solo headcanons:

Lives at home but does visit and stay with Ted from time to time

Also is allowed to use Ted’s place for hangouts (usually plans them for when he knows Ted won’t be home though)

Their extended family all live in Poland and they visit every summer, every second Christmas

He knows Polish

Wants to be more in touch with his heritage

Their paternal grandparents live beside a goat farm and Ted always climbs the fence to terrorise them. One of Pete’s earliest memories is one of said goats beating the shit out of Ted for it

In turn, he’s not particularly fond of goats. Not scared per se, but would rather avoid them

His mom put him in a ton of after school activities in the hopes he would make friends: tap, musical theatre, chess, cooking, computing, ballroom and Latin dancing, ice skating, hiking, birdwatching, golf and first aid training

Subsequently, has some really weird skills and knowledge

Hot chocolate is one of the only drinks he’ll have

He isn’t as fussy with his food, but drinks? Yeah

Definitely had one of those at home magic kits as a child

Has been in the school shows but just ensemble or running the sound board

Tries to get Ruth to join him in the ensemble but she always chickens out before sign ups last minute

Has beef with Kevin (Joey’s drama student) for no particular reason, he just thinks Kevin’s an idiot

Did think about becoming a tutor but after one too many horror stories from PJ, he talked himself out of it

He and Alice are childhood friends because of Bill and Ted

They use to be livid if they went into CCRP for something and the other wasn’t there to play/annoy Paul with

Decided he didn’t like Grace after she got 10/10 on a spelling test in first grade and he didn’t. He likes her now but clearly is still a little bitter about it

A huge movie geek

Both he and Richie are aggressively fighting for top marks in their film studies class

Is really good at video games

Ted got him into them and a lot of their brotherly bonding (and rivalry) comes from that

His mom use to cut his hair, it wasn’t good. Ted use to bully him for it

He plays the clarinet and is in the school orchestra because he wasn’t cool enough to be in the marching band

Favourite subject is chemistry

And wants to pursue something in that field

Plans to go to university somewhere outside of the US, probably through a scholarship

Has always been really tall

First crush was Zoey, following her serving him at Beanie’s

Ironically, everyone who works at Beanie’s (save Nora) completely hates him and shit talks him during their breaks

He can sew and makes a lot of his own clothes - matching suspenders, bow ties, jumpers and socks

Is in the school’s debate and chess clubs

Runs a DND night every month for the friend group, he usually ends up as the DM because nobody else can do it. Richie did it once and the game fell to shambles

Told everyone he was watching Bridgerton for the historical aspects as a history buff when he was actually watching for the spicy scenes - he already knew the show was historically inaccurate

Not wanting to be considered a sleaze like Ted, he ended up making himself sound very prudish in middle school and hasn’t been able to live it down

Was in the running for senior class president until Max made him step down because he didn’t want a nerd in power

Ultimately wins valedictorian

Lautski:

Pete fell first, Steph fell harder

Steph was lowkey a little disappointed when he stopped wearing the suspenders because she wanted to flick them again, definitely not as an excuse to get closer

Absolutely puts on Pete’s glasses and clothes (as best she can, probably doesn’t button up) to mock him, seductively

She’s saved as “Persephone” on his phone - similar to Stephanie, the use of “phone” and Steph is a goddess to him

She later uses the name for a DND character

He spends hours working on flirty lines for her but completely stutters through them or they’re really dorky and a little cringey, Steph still appreciates the effort

Makes online flashcards for Steph

Steph has tried and failed to play his clarinet

Do a lot of virtual dates through video call. They like spending time together but obviously can’t see each other in person 24/7, so this is the solution

He’s just there as she puts on her makeup or she’s in the background while he makes dinner

Pete’s definitely fallen asleep with the call still going

They are both night owls but Steph is a lot worse/stays up stupidly late

Pete knows Steph’s favourite makeup products/brands and has every little detail memorised about them. He knows the exact mascara type, the serial number to that red lipstick, the tip of the brush like the back to his hand

They have never had a successful date at Pasqualli’s; something always goes wrong

They also get banned eventually because Steph beat up one of the waiters (Ethan) because he use to bully Pete

Miss Retro’s is their go to

Go to sports games and competitions sarcastically together

They love road trips

Will just drive around Hatchetfield aimlessly for fun

He tries teaching Steph to dance… she stands on his toes a lot

But he loves her and still asks her to dance again and again

Steph can’t kiss Pete without standing on her tiptoes or wearing heels unless he’s bending down

Really want to do karaoke together but their music tastes don’t really overlap so it always ends horribly for someone

After their study dates, Pete always finds lipstick kisses in his notebooks but has never seen or caught Steph doing it, so is always totally thrown and confused. He was with her the entire time, how the fuck did she—

Lautskity:

Pete gets both his girlfriends shoes

More sensible ones for Steph because “you can’t wear heeled boots all the time, you’re gonna break your ankle, Stephanie” and (small) heels for Grace at prom because her parents have never let her wear anything but flats; she deserves nice shoes

She still isn’t tall enough to kiss her partners in them

As much as Pete loves handling Grace’s hair, he’s scared to touch Steph’s - it’s handled by the best, most expensive hairdressers in Hatchetfield or Steph herself, he’s not risking it

Mr Houston and Miss Mulberry go out of their way to fluster them a little about their relationship, not that it works on Steph but the other two? Screwed

They really wanna do group costumes but there are not enough poly ones out there that are well known

Steph goes to the school shows and orchestra performances for them, but doesn’t get the atmosphere at all and treats it like a concert. Has to be told to sit down and put her phone away

All cuddled up together during movie nights

Movie nights, featuring the talk over (historical inaccuracies, problems and opinions) of Pete and Grace, and the unrelated audio from whatever Steph’s watching on her phone

Grace is an early bird, big morning person, and definitely has surprised her partners to breakfast in bed on more than one occasion

They keep meaning to pay her back for it but haven’t managed to wake up before her yet (without waking her in the process, e.g. alarm clock)

Steph has a lot of photos on her phone, half are solely of Pete and Grace. She lets them walk ahead and gets really aesthetic shots without their knowledge - and then are like “wait, where did you get this lockscreen from?”

They don’t really like having their photo taken whereas Steph does

Steph likes being in the middle. She needs them either side. She’s the most physical of the three and, though she won’t admit it, gets a little anxious if they aren’t nearby for long periods of time

She’s also the clingiest

Grace is usually on her right and Pete on the left

(Yes, that’s how they sit in the Summoning, what of it?)

The amount of times Pete and Grace see each other with red marks and think the other has been hurt, only to get closer and realise it’s just Steph’s smeared lipstick is insane

Steph herself has done it at this point

They never really told anyone they were dating, everyone just kinda worked it out or knew about the feelings early on

I already did Pete and Grace, but pretend they are here too

[writers-potion]

How to pick between two academic rivals in being valedictorian

Academic Rivals - How to Pick the Winner

Rivalry is a juicy piece of character dynamic. Whether it's rivals to lovers, the setup for murder, or underlying tension within school dramatics, academic rivalry pulls the heartstrings of readers by hooking them into the universal desire to excel.

Here are some real-life processes that goes into selecting a valedictorian. Feel free to mix-and-match & alter it to fit the academic setting of your story.

A High Cumulative Grade Point

CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average), Honors Classification, WAM (Weighted Average Mark), ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System), percentage system...whatever it is, your character will need to have a stellar academic record

Could be relative (e.g. top 2%) or a minimum bar (e.g. Above 95%)

Notable Awards/Scholarships

Those who earn notable awards in a particular field - National Book Awards, Olympiad Trophies, etc. will also be a huge plus

Any professional membership (e.g. Chartered Accountant), certifications are also valued.

Scholarships administered by the school, companies and the government will also be a plus.

Interview with the Faculty

The faculty from the student's college, the year's board of judges, the Dean will conduct round(s) of interviews to assess the candidate's integrity.

Extracurricular Contributions

Students who have participated actively in major school clubs, won awards for the school, took part in professor-led projects, etc. will have the upper hand, especially in the eyes of the faculty.

It helps to have held leadership positions in such clubs.

Other extracurriculars like starting their own business, starting community service projects, etc.

Self/Student Nomination and Voting

In some schools, you may need to self-nominate yourself to be considered for valedictorian.

There will often be a round of nominations, where students get to recommend peers (other than themselves)

Professor Nominations

Professors may nominate students that have showcased their ability to perform highly.

Hope this helps! :) Happy writing

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💎If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! Also, join my Tumblr writing community for some more fun.

💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2 

[ensnared-in-each-others-fates]

Mrs. Wayne part 1 (old fashioned Brudick AU)

Summary - Dick Grayson is treated like the lady of the house despite not entirely being the lady of the house. Him and Bruce come to realize why (it takes years).

Bruce relaxed at the table head as his associates droned on about how proud they were to be a part of this charity gala.

He let his mind wander, back to half an hour ago, when he had just regaled the audience with the story of how the Martha Wayne charity came to be. Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne, a medical school student, fell in love with Martha Kane, a socialite in the same circles. He admired her commitment to giving back to the community, and he started the foundation in her name, aiming to assist her with her work helping disadvantaged youths in the Narrows and Hill areas of Gotham. As they worked together more, she fell in love with him and soon enough, the Martha Kane foundation became the Martha Wayne foundation.

Bruce had also just announced a new extension of the Martha Kane Wayne foundation, a new wing called the Dick Grayson charity, where they worked to expand into the Bowery and Gotham Heights areas, and added a new program specifically to help teenagers secure college scholarships.

He hadn't told Dick about this new program in his name, but the decision to keep it a surprise had been worth it. He'd gotten the idea when Dick was complaining about how some of the kids he'd been mentoring at the Titan Academy lacked the necessary funds to go to most colleges, especially out of state colleges. Dick had been so frustrated about that, upsetting Bruce. So Bruce found a way to help him -- creating this charity.

He had wanted to tell Dick about the new program, but he realized that keeping it a surprise was indeed worth it when he met Dick's shining eyes in the audience. He was absolutely beaming, his hands clasped together over his heart and eyes wide. The bright flashes of the cameras only emphasized his golden glow, but they didn't faze him as he stared unblinkingly at Bruce.

Later, Bruce had stepped away from the podium a very happy man, as Dick flew into his arms, letting Bruce twirl him around. When they pulled away Dick's eyes were misted and he buried his face into Bruce's neck.

"I can't wait to tell Sophia and Gar and Jon and Rose and... and..." He faltered, tears falling freely as he leaned into Bruce again, letting Bruce securely wrap his arms around Dick. "Thank you."

Bruce just smiled, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his head.

----

Dick smiled fondly as the children waved goodbye reluctantly. He'd always loved being around kids, and sometimes, he'd look at them and wonder what his life would be like if he had a few to raise.

Unfortunately, the kids were not his but rather a group of students who the Martha Wayne foundation was trying to support through funding their field trips and extracurriculars.

Dick loved volunteering as a student teacher for Bruce's best friend, Clark. Dick wasn't a teacher per se, but he was almost like a room mother, since he was close enough to several of the children (through his work as a tutor) and their parents (through Bruce's network connections).

For a Valentine's day special school party, Dick had managed to get the approval to host a "gala", where the students had a few hours to network and socialize (talk to their friends), enjoy drinks (apple juice and lime water), eat hors d'oeuvres (party snacks), and best of all, exchange valentines with each other.

The teachers brought their significant others as well, and Dick spent most of the party talking with Clark, Lois, and Bruce about how proud he was of the whole idea. Dick had planned the whole thing, spending days begging the board, as well as buying, making, and setting up the decorations.

As he watched the kids exchange presents, he smiled, thinking once again about what it would be like to have his own kids. Clark surprised Lois with a small card that stated "I know you're the journalist, not me, but I have a question for you: Will you go out with me?"

Lois laughed in delight and nodded her yes, pulling Clark in for a kiss. As a decorated investigative journalist, the card was perfect for her, and Dick wondered if Clark handmade it or if he had ordered it.

Dick and Bruce took their leave so Lois and Clark could have some alone time, and they migrated to the juice station. Bruce watched Dick chatter happily to the children, talking about school and friends and classes and silly stories from the circus. One of them, Tim, Bruce remembered, clung to Dick cutely and Dick gently stroked his hair.

Eventually they moved on, pulling themselves into a more secluded corner, where Bruce pulled out his gift for Dick, a small necklace with a bird and tickets to his favorite movie. "Happy Valentine's day."

Dick looked down, embarrassed. He hadn’t expected Bruce to have gotten him a Valentine’s day present. "Sorry, Bruce... I didn't get anything for you."

"I didn't expect you to. Wearing this is enough." Bruce said, clasping the necklace around Dick's neck. Bruce showed Dick how the necklace was actually a locket, and inside was a picture of the two of them.

“I know that look on your face. Don’t feel guilty.”

“I’m just upset I didn’t buy anything for you…” Dick sighed.

“Having you with me every day, at my side, is a gift within itself.” Bruce said, smiling fondly.

Dick stared at him, wondering if he was joking, but Bruce stared at him earnestly, grinning as he watched Dick’s cheeks burn red.

Dick smiled and stood on his tiptoes to press a gentle kiss to Bruce's cheek. "Thank you."

They returned to Lois and Clark and spent the next few hours vaguely chaperoning. Later, as the kids began to file out, they started taking down decorations and tossing away plates.

Before exiting, Ms. Sage paused before leading the class out to the bus, asking "And what do we say to the teachers and board who helped set this up?"

The children looked up dutifully, yelling "Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Sage! Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Kent! Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Wayne!"

Mrs. Wayne?

----

Bruce watched the guests smile brightly as they raised their glasses to toast for everlasting friendships and healthy, happy lives. His heart softened as he looked at the soon to be Mr.-and-Mrs. Williams.

Mr. Joseph Williams and his bride-to-be, Eleanor, had asked for their high school friends to aid with their wedding planning, having been childhood sweethearts. Bruce was overjoyed for his childhood friend, and agreed to help straight away, especially after seeing the look on Dick's face when he heard about it. Dick and Eleanor only had met recently at a gala, but they had instantly taken a liking to each other, staying in touch and gossiping through letters to each other every few weeks. The chance to meet up with a few of his oldest friends was also very exciting, although it did mean he had to help tidy up the manor, because he offered to host one of their meetings.

The last couple weeks, Dick had been distracted in following all his responsibilities, slipping into almost a depressed state, but the wedding was more than enough to cheer him up. Unlike the last month, Wayne manor was now clean and newly-decorated, and Dick's instructions to Alfred (their only servant) had started coming out in time, and best of all, Dick was happy again. He'd brighten rooms by just walking into them, and they had started spending all their evenings together again.

He was proud of Dick's sense of responsibility, and wondered if Eleanor had as much experience being the Lady of the house as Dick had. Although, Dick wasn't really the Lady of the house, he had just taken on some of the responsibilities, because Bruce was yet to marry. Yet, despite not being the Lady of the house, Dick still oversaw Alfred's tasks, cleaned and curated the house, planned meals, organized dinners and parties, and best of all, cared for their new son, Jason.

Jason's parents had died when the boy was almost six years old, and he had lived on the streets for a few months. He had tried to rob Dick and Bruce after a movie, breaking into their car to take some valuables. However, they had stepped out of the movie early, and watching the thin young boy fumble out of the broken-windowed car melted Dick's heart. He had instantly wrapped Jason up in his fur coat, swaddling him like a baby to protect him from the vicious cold. He demanded Bruce take them home immediately to give the boy a bath and a meal. Dick had gotten so attached to the boy that he pleaded and pleaded with Bruce to let them take him in. Who was Bruce to refuse him?

Bruce zoned back into the conversation as the conservation had switched to the topic of having children. Eleanor blushed and delicately hid her face behind her gloved hands, while Joseph smiled at her. Most of the friends in this group had young children, mostly Jason's age or a bit younger.

Bruce scanned around the vast room, catching sight of the children playing hide and seek through the Manor. They'd been running around for almost two hours, and watching all the children run around while the parents talked made Bruce feel warm inside. He liked the domesticity of this, watching Dick serve lemonade and cookies to the children and using his handkerchief to rub the dirt off Jason’s face. He wanted to feel like this forever. A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," Bruce said. "I got distracted. Could you repeat what you asked?"

His friend Serena laughed, asking "We were asking, and what about you, Bruce? I know we've all settled down, but when is marriage on the table for you? Doesn't Wayne Enterprises need an heir?"

Behind her, Dick stiffened, inhaling sharply. He slowly grabbed his locket, rubbing his thumb over the center.

Bruce carefully tilted his head to the side, thinking before answering. He was very content enough with his life, and marriage had never crossed his mind. Dick was his world already, and he didn't want that to change. No one was worth giving Dick up.

"I don't think I'll be getting married soon." Bruce said. "I'm already.... committed... to other endeavors."

"Committed to what, Bruce?" Serena asked.

"Someone who has... my full attention. Even without marriage.”

"Oh." Serena said. "And who would that be?"

Bruce made eye contact with Dick, sending him a warm smile. "Him."

Dick smiled smugly.

----

“Goodbye, Jason. Either us or Alfred will pick you up at 3:00 from the front of the school. Try to enjoy yourself, okay? I know the first days are always hard but you’ll have fun. Promise.” Bruce said, patting Jason’s shoulder.

Jason nodded and went in for a quick hug. 

Dick crouched to make eye contact with Jason. “Are you excited?”

“Yeah,” Jason said. “I’m excited. I’ve heard Mrs. Simons is really, really nice.”

“I’m sure she is, honey.” Dick stood up again, pulling in Jason for a hug and kissing the top of his head, closing his eyes so the tears wouldn’t fall out. “I’ll miss you.”

“Dickie, you’re embarrassing me!” Jason groaned.

“I know, I know.” Dick just hugged him tighter.

Finally, he pulled away, satisfied. 

Jason gave him a quick hug and whispered “I’ll miss you too.” Then he waved at them both and into the entrance. 

Bruce and Dick watched him for a second before Bruce pulled Dick away to where the car was parked. Dick’s eyes welled up with tears and he grabbed onto Bruce’s hand.

As they entered the car, Bruce paused as Dick started wailing. "I can't believe my baby’s going to school now. He's going to grow up so fast and get all big and he'll never come home and see me and I'll be all by myself and I won't be able to see my baby ever again! Bruce, what if he hates it? What if the kids are mean to him? What if he gets bullied? But what if he likes it? What if he goes to college so far away and he’ll never come back and visit us? What if—”

“Sweetheart.”

Dick sniffled, grabbing onto Bruce’s muscular bicep. “Yes.”

“He’s only going into second grade. Not college.”

“But he's growing up so fast, soon he'll be in college and I’ll never see him again! I’ll never see him again!”

“He'll be home in only a few hours, darling.”

"That's still such a long time!" Dick wailed louder, clutching onto Bruce's arm so tight he was sure it left marks. "What if we homeschooled him?"

"He wouldn't like that, darling."

Dick harrumphed. "I guess."

"And we want him to be happy." Dick nodded, and Bruce continued. "So we have to let him grow up. And go to school. He'll make friends, and learn a lot. He’ll have lots to do there – he’s already been talking about singing up for the book club!"

"I just don't like it!"

"I know, sweetheart. It's okay. I know you're worried about him, but he'll be fine. I know it'll be strange being at home without him all the time but we'll do something fun together instead. I'll take the day off work. Hasn't it been such a long time since we did something with just the two of us?"

Dick pouted. "It has. And who's fault is that?"

"Sorry. But now, I can make it up to you, darling. We'll go to Carmine's for lunch and then we can go shopping."

Dick immediately perked up at the thought of shopping.

"Okay!"  Dick paused. "But what if Jason--"

"Let’s just go!"

----

"Bruce! You're home early!" Jason cried.

Bruce walked over to Dick and Jason, setting his briefcase on the countertop to notice the mess that was the kitchen. Jason and Dick were standing together in matching aprons, a mix of flour, frosting, and chocolate coating their faces and bodies. It was an endearing sight, as Jason was so short his apron dragged on the floor.

Dick grinned at him. "Happy birthday! I’m afraid we’re not quite done setting up because we thought we had more time before you got home. We baked a cake, though! It's in the fridge right now."

"We also... made a bit of a mess." Jason said, snickering.

Dick shot Jason a look, putting his hands on his hips disapprovingly. "And who's fault is it that, honey? Don't challenge me to competitions you know you can't win."

"I did win!"

"You keep telling yourself that, little wing." Dick said, smearing frosting on Jason's nose. Jason pulled away from him and wrinkled his nose, rubbing at the skin there harshly. "Jason thought his icing skills were better than mine, so we both did a side of the cake. You can judge whose side is better. It's obviously mine, right, darling?"

"Of course." Bruce said.

"Not fair! You haven't even seen it yet!" Jason cried. "This judge is biased! It's unfair!"

"It's also the judge's birthday. And if the judge's son wants to have a say in where we're eating tonight, then I'd suggest that he shut up."

Jason huffed and Dick laughed, moving to get the cake from the fridge.

"Anyways, how did this… competition begin?" Bruce asked, gesturing vaguely to the flour on the floor and the icing over each other's faces and bodies.

"Dickie tried to sabotage me by pouring flour in my hair!"

"Only because Jay drew a mustache on my face with frosting!"

"Only because--"

"That's enough," Bruce said tiredly. "Let's just enjoy the cake."

He watched Dick take the cake out of the fridge, and make some final touches on the frosting before turning to Jason, who was tugging on his sleeve.

"Yes?"

Jason handed him his present, a watercolor portrait of Bruce, Dick and him titled My Family Portrait. "Happy birthday, Bruce."

Bruce took the painting from him, studying it before smiling at him. "This is lovely. I'm going to frame it and put it in my office."

Jason's skill with art was undeniable, and Bruce wondered if he should look into more art classes. Jason shot him an uncharacteristically shy smile. "Thanks. I made it in art class."

Dick slowly approached Bruce, holding his hand up to cup Bruce's face, the lighting from behind the kitchen window made him look absolutely radiant. "Anyway, I forgot to ask, how was work today, dear?"

Bruce stared at him, Dick's words lost to him as he stared at the radiant beauty that was Dick Grayson. His movements were graceful, and entirely captivating. His skin was smooth and almost glowed golden. His voice was sweet and calming, and their proximity made Bruce feel so giddy he couldn't hear a word that Dick was saying. All he could look at was Dick's big eyes looking into his and his very soft looking lips moving slowly and suddenly, all Bruce could think about was--

"Bruce. Bruce. Bruce!" Dick snapped his fingers in front of Bruce, eyes narrowed.

"Hm?"

"I said, how was work?"

"It was okay-- Hey!" Jason took advantage of Bruce's momentary confusion to smear red frosting across Bruce's neck, chin, and nose. Jason laughed as he ducked out of Bruce's reach, and Dick drew his hand back from Bruce's cheek to reveal that he, too, had smeared frosting on Bruce's face, under the guise of cupping Bruce's face in his hands.

Bruce smirked, feinting a grab at Jason before pulling Dick in by the arm and holding him close to rub his frosting covered nose across Dick's face and neck. Dick shrieked and started laughing, hitting Bruce's chest to get him to stop.

"Stop that, Bruce! It tickles! Bruce!" Dick shrieked. “Bruce!”

"Ewwww! Yuck!" Jason yelled, before pausing to grab a handful of flour right from the container and tossing it at them. "Stop being gross!"

Bruce quickly spun him and Dick around so his body shielded Dick from the flour.

Dick’s body shook in laughter, and he steadied himself by putting his hands against Bruce's chest, leaning in to press a kiss to Bruce's cheek. "My knight in shining armor."

Instead of moving back, Dick stayed there for a second, his hot breath hitting Bruce's cheek. Bruce's hold on his waist tightened, and Dick slowly moved his palms up until they rested on Bruce's broad shoulders. Bruce studied the light blush on Dick's cheeks.

Behind them, Jason huffed. "Stop being weird and romantic in front of me. I don't need to see that."

Romantic? They weren't being romantic. They just.... deeply cared for each other and--

Bruce was shaken out of his own world as Dick stepped away from him, his face red. He mouthed a Sorry at Bruce.

Bruce mouthed back Maybe it isn't such a bad thing he goes to school now -- We can get time away from him. Dick retaliated by lightly punching Bruce's arm.

"Can we just cut the cake?" Jason cried, obviously getting bored of watching them.

They turned to the cake, which also had a thin layer of flour on it. Jason looked away guiltily and Dick snorted.

"Bruce, can I help you blow out the candles?" Jason asked excitedly.

Bruce smiled at him. "Of course, Jay. We'll blow them out together."

“Can I make a wish, too?”

“Of course. Since we’re sharing, we can share a wish too.” Bruce smiled at him.

Jason nodded wisely. "But we can only share a wish for your birthday because it'll have so, so many candles because you're an old man. When it's my birthday, we can't share because I'm still young. So I won't have as many candles, and we can't share."

Bruce looked at Jason, affronted, and Dick giggled.

After several minutes of Jason trying and failing to light all the candles by himself, Jason and Dick sang Happy Birthday and Bruce and Jason blew out the candles.

"So… what'd you wish for, Bruce?" Jason asked.

"It's a secret." Bruce said. "Don't you know, if you tell someone else your wish, it won't come true."

Jason blinked. "Who said that?"

Bruce furrowed his brow. "My mom."

"I think she might have been wrong." Jason said politely. "Two birthdays ago, I told my friend Jada that I wished to have parents again. And now I have them. So maybe your momma was wrong, Bruce. So… what’d you wish for."

“I dunno, Jay. I wished for whatever you wanted to come true.” Bruce said, and Jason beamed at Bruce.

Dick smiled softly at him. "Well then, what'd you wish for, Jay?"

"Siblings."

Bruce's eyebrows shot up. "Siblings?"

"Yeah. So we can play tag! Or have equal teams for board games. And so I can have someone on my side during competitions."

"We'll... we'll have to think about it." Dick said.

Jason grinned extra wide. "Don't worry! I'll also ask Santa for a baby brother for Christmas."

"That's great, chum."

"Santa can't say no, right?"

"We'll have to see."

[lovelickyshen]

Sworn Nemesis

Akashi Seijurou x F!Reader

Part 1

Not proofread! May have grammar error since English is not my first language.

Academic rivals, fake dating, forced proximity troupe Akashi Seijurou. Slight slow burn!

The story may not be accurate to the manga/anime. Reader has her own story!

────────────────────────────

You know you were one of a kind. You know you were gifted. Blessed by excellence. Always on the top. Growing up you were always first. In every single aspect. But why is it different now?

Ever since you moved to Rakuzan High, you've been stuck in second place. First assessment exam in spring? Second place. Mid-term examination? Second place. Summer exam? Second place. Mock exam before finals? Second place. Every test, always second place.

You don't understand. Why is this a reoccurring situation? Is this just a mere coincidence? You didn't pay any attention to this until your friend— Shiori pointed it out.

"You're always in second place." Your friend said when she was looking at your report card.

You titled your head. Confused so you snatched your report card from your friend and took a look into it. You compared it with your previous report cards. You didn't even bother to look at your position. You were just looking at your grades and sigh in relief.

"I'm pretty sure it's just a coincidence." You said. Then, you got curious. "Who's first?"

Shiori took a look around the classroom. She smiled, "Akashi Seijurou."

You nodded. Your eyes drifted to the certain red head. He was vigilantly taking down notes for his flashcards. The textbook and notes given by the teacher was displayed on his desk. It's study block and he's revising. Talk about being diligent.

"You know, he's always has been first place. It's impossible for him to drop. Perfect scores here and there... Blah blah blah." Your friend was babbling and your head drifted off elsewhere.

Your mind is thinking about how to defeat this Akashi guy. You felt sour, uneasy. Like your ego is crushed. You wanted first place now. There is no way you can accept second place in Rakuzan High— a prestigious high school where the best attends. How are you going to apply for a scholarship then? They're definitely seeing the 'second place' repeatly on your records.

You felt challenged. You were determined to win this game. After all, first place is amazing. You've always has been first. You wanted to take back your glory. That's your goal. To beat this Akashi guy. Well there's an upcoming biology test the next day. Who will win first place?

Your fingers fidget while your teacher returned your test paper. You flipped it over with your eyes closed.

Please... First place please...! These words repeated in your mind all day.

You opened your eyes. You saw the 59/60 on your paper. A 98%! Isn't that great? That's good enough to beat him! You smiled in satisfaction.

"100%!?" You heard a soft exclaim behind you.

You took a peek behind. A classmate was amazed by looking at the test paper. Akashi was beside him. He was slightly smiling, proud of his work.

You scoffed quietly and went back to look at your own paper. You sighed in dissatisfaction. Your friend who witnessed it asked, "You all right?"

"I can't believe it! He got a perfect score while I got a mark off. This is not fair!" You placed your paper down and put your hands on your cheeks.

"At least you got a 98%. I got a 75% and that's just a B!" Your friend said, showing you her paper. Her voice shows desperation.

"That's because you decided to not study." You chuckled.

"C'mon I thought it would be easy." Shiori pouted, looking down as she was not impressed by her score.

The day followed by a few more lessons until it was time for extracurriculars. The school was quiet— no more squeaks or the sound of the chalk rubbing against the black board.

During this time, you usually hold a daily study group with students who were struggling in the study room. It was a small group that consists of 4 or 5 people exclusively. However, today everyone could not make it and you were not informed until the last minute.

"Are you coming to the study group later?" You asked a classmate. She was already putting her books into her locker.

"Sorry, I couldn't make it. I have a family emergency." She apologizes and quickly ran off of the classroom.

You blinked and that was the last person that was supposed to attend the study group. You booked the rook for nothing. That was a waste of time.

You sighed and pulled out your phone to notify your chauffeur about the last minute changes. While waiting, you decided to take a short stroll around the school.

Initially, you wanted to visit Shiori at the student council office but you figured that she could be busy locking in on the paperwork and planning with the committee members. This is what happens when you're friends with the vice president.

In a distance, a tumult of shouting and screaming broke out. The sound of something repeatedly hitting the ground, swishes, whistles blowing, and boys shouting. You slowly approached the open doors, observing the clamor in the gymnasium.

Coach Shirogane was blowing the whistle, his voice rising while giving out his evaluation on the boys' performances. They all looked so focused, nodding at every word that Coach Shirogane stated.

"Interhigh is soon boys! I need all of you to work hard, you never know what would happen to the other teams."

As expected from Rakuzan's basketball team. Five years consistently winning Interhigh and Winter Cup proves that the school's basketball team strength.

At the bright atmosphere by the gym's door, you took a quick look at each of the players. You recognized one of them, the red headed boy across the room. He was unaware of your gaze locking at him until Coach Shirogane finishes his speech. He hesitated when he felt eyes in him. A mix of curiosity coursing in his veins, he caught your eyes.

Their eyes met, and for a second the world paused. His fierce crimson eyes mirrored a storm of unspoken words, while your eyes sparked with interest. As the moment lingered, a silent familiarity passed between them. Your breath quickened as your phone buzzes. You ended the eye contact, answering the phone.

You walked away from the gymnasium, speed walking to your classroom to grab your bag before returning home.

On a random Friday, your friend wanted you to deliver this set of documents to the student council room. Apparently Shiori to go somewhere but had a set of documents to submit to the president today. The 'going somewhere' is definitely attending another last minute company party. Knowing your friend, she could not remember her schedule that well (only the things she's not interested in). Well, she's a member of the student council why can't she just submitted it early you may ask? Well, she just finished it and printed it out before her chauffeur messaged her that he arrived to pick her up for the company party soon.

You can't really say no since you had no choice. You sighed and agreed. She beamed and passed you the set of documents. She quickly rushed to the main entrance to not keep her chauffeur waiting.

"I'll pay you back!" She shouted before sprinting off.

Here's the thing, the president of the student council is Akashi. He has been on your nerves lately, even though it was indirectly. You don't even know why. He didn't even do anything to you other than being the top every time, right?

You knocked the wooden door before entering. In the room, you see Akashi reading up some papers. You clear your throat before speaking up.

"Shiori wanted to give this to you. Don't worry. I did not take a peek." You said, trying to sound polite. You know the rules about the student council confidentiality.

He nodded as he receives the paper. "Thank you." He says.

You nodded and turned back to get out of this room. This is your first interaction with him since you attended this school. You never talk to him, not even a greeting.

As you were about to leave, you heard his annoying voice. Your back facing him while you were holding onto the doorknob. Slowly turning to face him.

"You're (Y/N) right?" He asked, while signing the documents.

"Yeah."

"Oh, okay." He nodded.

After that, you left the room.

Ever since that day, you keep seeing him around at school. You're entirely sure that he is stalking you since he asked for your name. It was like unlocking a new game character.

One time during recess, you were going to the bathroom and he was right behind you on the hallway. Another day was when you were going to the library. Boom, there he was studying. Today, you see him in the cafeteria with his friends.

You averted your eyes away from him. His presence annoys you! You hate him! His voice. His presence. Everything. You hated how he is everywhere and literally better than you in terms of academics. You could not find a way to beat him.

You also tried to find a way to avoid him but no avail.

Scratch that! Just focus on your grades. You don't need to dwell too much on this guy.

You saw your friend group. You smiled widely. Your friends lifted your mood instantly. Shiori immediately wrapped her arm around your waist, she wanted to yap her way to you about her day.

Across the cafeteria, his crimson eyes were on you. You were always surrounded by your friends. Smiling, laughing, playfully hitting each other as you were laughing at the jokes. Eyes filled with laughter.

He had always admire you. Your determination. Your nobleness. Your kindness. Your selflessness. Your integrity. You were humble. You're always there to help others. You never flaunt about your grades nor your privileges. You offered to tutor your classmates whenever they're struggling on a topic. You were a woman with dignity. An angel fallen from heaven.

Recently, he had a move. Asking your name. Then remembering your routine at school so he can see you anytime of the day. He made sure it's not all the time or else it would be suspicious.

He has a strange way to approach but it works. Now you noticed him.

For the next few weeks, you've been on next to neck with Akashi. On every tests given. Every closed book exercises. Even on the monthly quiz! You two were competing who would be the best of all. The finals is the decision maker.

You studied all day and night. Working your ass off every hour, minute, and second. You wanted to prove that you are indeed the champion. The winner. The conqueror of academics. That was your goal.

You were ready. The moment you sat down in your chair in the exam hall. You remembered every single formula, working, words, structures of the questions. You'd definitely aced the exam.

Wasting no time, you were writing non stop. One look at the question, you recognized the clues and connected the dots.

You exited the hall with a proud grin. You glanced at Shiori who was cheering that the finals are over.

"Let's go to Tokyo to celebrate. It's been a while since we went out together." Shiori mischievously grinned, wrapping her arms around yours.

On the weekends, you've been cafe hopping with Shiori. Shopping for clothes, cosmetics, skin care products, collectables, and your favourite celebrity's merchandise. Shiori was looking at her favourite K-pop group pop up sale, stacking her cart with the jacket, dolls, and photo cards.

A week after the finals, your homeroom teacher had passed out the report card. Feeling uneasy, you were hopeful that you win this game. Your chest tightening, the sound of your heart quickening.

You shut your eyes, hands gripping onto the report card. Slowly flipping it while opening one eye.

Eyes open wide. You felt blood rushing through your veins. Dopamine rushing in. You dropped the report card and excitedly turned to Shiori smiling.

"First!" You exclaimed.

Shiori clapped. This news has spread through your class. Your classmates heard the both of you and cornered you to ask questions.

"You got first place?"

"Congratulations!"

"This must be a miracle!"

After hearing the positive comments from your classmates, you never felt happier. This was just the first step to victory!

The next two years in Rakuzan was one of a hell drive for you. You spent 2 years being on another neck on neck with Akashi. Everyday at school was same. Seeing Akashi everywhere you go. Excelling on your academics. Placing first or second on every exams.

It doesn't matter, since you're graduating from Rakuzan with valedictorian. With Akashi, again. You don't give a shit anymore, because this will be the last time you will see him. You couldn't wait to not see his face!

You got a scholarship to study engineering in Cambridge University. You were excited but sad that you couldn't see Shiori anymore because she's studying law at Harvard University.

A few years has passed, you returned back to Japan. Breathing in nostalgia, lingering on your nostrils. The scent of sanitizers. Cool breezes from the AC. You graduated as the valedictorian again at Cambridge. One of your proudest moments in life. Years of putting in effort, new experiences, meeting people from all over the world.

Back in Cambridge, you actually got a paid internship, giving the opportunity to other talented students. You rejected because you planned to join your family business at home. Your family owns one of the best engineering services in the world. Whether it's buildings, roads, ships, cars, machineries, any sort of vehicles, even the planes used in the military.

When you joined your company, your family decided to make you start your career from scratch so that it would be fair for the other interns. It's a relief that you as a member of this family business is not public.

In the morning of your penthouse, the heat wave hit. Temperatures went soaring. The early morning sunlight gives away the rays of the day bringing warmth.

You put on your name tag. Slowly adjusting to look presentable. You gave yourself a twirl for an outfit check. A soft grinned on your lips. Amazed by how professional you look.

Closing the door of your penthouse as you walked towards the exit. The elevator brings you to the basement where you hopped on your car, driving off to the company.

Entering the large cooperation, a sense of unfamiliarity. The large room bustling with foot steps, the bell from the automatic sliding doors echoed. A pool of working adults passing through the revolving doors. A subtle, floral aroma wafted in the open space, calming and refreshing.

Walking pompously by the corridor, the noise from your heels reverberated, the radiant small smile on your head brightens the mood. Your co-workers greeted as you passed by each other.

You came to your office, sat on your soft chair. Laying back while closing your eyes. You took a breather before starting your work.

Let's just say that you are the Head Chief for the manufacturing company. You are in charge of the production, creation, assembling, testings, distribution, and so on. You insisted on handling them because you wanted to be the best.

Your secretary came with a tablet into the work shop where you were assembling the parts of an upcoming project. She called out your name and handed you the device.

"A representative from a client wants to talk to you in your office."

You arrived at your office. You vaguely saw a figure sitting in the sofa. You quickly grabbed a towel to wipe your hands dry. You turned to look at the client that was already waiting.

When your eyes met with the client, you froze.

"Akashi?"

[kokofromwattpad]

Dearest tutor

Plot: Star student of the Royal Academy has been sent to tutor the only Prince of the Imperial Royal family of Lilabett Corona. They then somehow enrapture the interest of the prince and his elder sister, the Crown Princess.

Cw: Crown princess! Female! Yandere x Tutor! Gn! Reader x prince! Yandere, mentions of torture, mentions of cult(briefly), blood, yandere tendencies.

A/N: Holy fucking shit it's finally out, I'm sososo excited.

Word count: 5.3k

The student stood outside the gate of the Imperial palace with sweat streaking down the side of their face from the harsh blaze of the sun. They had textbooks held under their armpit, tightly to their right side as their left had awkwardly tried to fix the hair that had begun to fall into their sightline.

[Name][Lastname] was an extraordinary person when it came to academics. They excelled in any subject they were put in and always came out on the very top of the board when the exam results had been revealed.

But they were born with common blood flowing through their veins. Their father was a poor baker and their mother was a school teacher for the orphans by the local children's home. Because their mother had always prided herself with the fact that she believed that knowledge was a better virtue than beauty, their mother would make [Name] read and memorise any textbooks she could get her hands on.

While [Name] considered it good luck that they were able to enrol in the royal academy and had gotten a full scholarship, they were petrified when they found a neatly folded envelope on their dorm bed with a wax seal baring the Imperial family's coat of arms.

The summarised version of the letter read that the imperial advisor acknowledged their extreme academic prowess and wanted them to visit the imperial palace to tutor the empire's only prince in the few subjects he had been recently struggling with in his own classes.

Terrified out if their mind, [Name] agreed in the most cursive calligraphy they could muster with their violently shaking hand.

And now, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the young student will have to spend their afternoon tutoring a bratty prince. Honestly, they were shaking in their boots from the mere thought of having to interact with royalty.

A cough abruptly interrupted the student's thoughts and made them shoot their head up in surprise. A tall man with long midnight black hair stood on the other side of the twisting gate. He looked to be in his late 30s, with a face and aura that screamed 'strict' and 'do not get me mad'. His dark hair was swept up to a waterfall like pony tail at the back of his head. He wore thin lensed glasses that seemed to be nearly falling off the tip of his nose. Hie eyes however were a lovely soft sage colour.

The man placed his right hand above his heart and bowed only his head at the young student. "Good evening mx.[Lastname]. My name is Von Alaric-Holloway. It is the Koinig family's honor to have you tutor your young master." he greeted. His voice was as smooth as his hair. The student nodded at his words. "The honour is all mine Mr.Alaric-Holloway." they said back, not trusting their voice to say anything else without stuttering, or falling over their own words.

Von nodded his head at the guards, giving them the silent order to open the sill closed gates.

The gates swept open as swift as the wind, letting the advisor and the student stand in front of each other face-to-face. Von nodded his head again at the student, signaling them to follow him as he pushed his falling glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He walked gracefully, with both of his hands held tightly behind his back and his head raised high in pride. The student trailed after him, struggling to keep up with his pace.

"The young master is about two years younger than you are, so he is around your age. The empress hopes that you and her grandson will become good friends with each other." Von said in quick voice, not giving [Name] the chance to actually process the words he was saying.

The student nearly nodded their head at his words and kept their head down. Every guard or maid that the pair walked past, bowed their head down, and gave sympathetic looks towards the two. Obviously, [Name] was going to notice by the third or fourth time that they had done this.

"Mr.Alaric-Holloway, why is everyone giving us such pitiful looks?" they asked the him.

Von cocked his eyes towards the sound of [Name]'s question. "I suppose it is because of the rumour that the young master is a troubled child." Von pushed his falling glasses back up the bridge of his nose. [Name] nodded at his words and continued to follow his pace down marble walkway.

Finally the two came to a grandiose staircase with gold linings that supposedly lead to the prince's study.

A young girl stood at the very top of the stairwell.

She looked around a year younger than [Name], so possibly 17 years old. She was short but not too short. She had long golden, nearly glowing blonde hair that was tied into a flattering bun to the back of her head. She wasn't wearing any makeup, which was odd for a noble to do. Her eyelashes were blonde as well. She was also wearing what seemed to be a military training uniform. [Name] noted to themself that this woman looked like a sinister fairy. The only reason she seemed sinister was from the deep red eyes that was embedded into her sockets and the very real and very sharp sword being held in a leather scabbard attached to her left hip.

"Von, may I ask who this commoner is, who is trespassing into my home?" she quipped at the advisor.

Von kneeled on his right knee with his right hand covering his heart again. His face had a thin layer of sweat covering it as he stared intensely at the ground.

"Crown princess, Frieda. The commoner behind me is prince Beta's new tutor. They are here to assist the prince in a few academy subjects that he is having trouble grasping." Von answered in a wavering version of usual tone of voice.

'Wait... what did he say? Crown princess...?' thought [Name] as they stared blankly at the blonde woman.

'SHIT!'

Once they're sense of self preservation finally returned to them, [Name] fell to their knees and buried their head into the cold flooring.

The Crown princess stayed silent at the student's sudden movements. She gracefully walked down the flight of stairs, and stood infornt of [Name]'s bowing head.

"Please raise your heads you two." she commanded in a gentle but firm voice.

[Name] raised their head, only to see that the princess was kneeling infront of them. She held the student's jaw in her right hand and lifted it higher. She turned their head left and right, checking both sides of their face.

She then got back on both of her feet and looked down to the student with a grin. "Take good care of my little brother, alright?"

The student was stunned into silence, but quickly shook their head in agreement. Satisfied with their answer, the princess strieded away, down a seperate hallway from the pair and disappeared from their line of sight.

Von let out a what sounded to be a strangled out sigh of relief. He then whipped his head to look at [Name] with an odd look to his face. He then got up and helped the student back to their own feet, while their feet wobbled from how scared they were from the encounter.

Surely the prince couldn't be that bad if that was the CROWN princess?

He wasn't as bad as they had originally thought.

[Name] had introduced themself to the Sixteen year old prince of the empire, with no response.

He looked nearly identical to the Crown princess. Same glowing gold hair, same deep red hair. His skin wasn't tanned, rather it was a pale white colour, showing how little time he spent outside, the complete opposite of his sister.

The prince was quiet, scarily so. Whenever he was finished answering an exercise, he would look ominously at the young student until they noticed and would mark it for him and then explain how he got whichever answers wrong.

"Do you understand Prince Beta?" [Name] would ask.

The prince would then just nod at their words and write down his corrections next to his wrong answers.

The main sound that echoed throughout the study was the grandfather clock that stood in the corner, signaling the end and beginning of every second. [Name] almost every ten minutes would quickly whip their eyes towards the clock, checking to see when they could leave and run back to their dormitory back on school campus.

Once the Prince was finished with his exercises, he pulled out a thick, leatherback book from a drawer in his office desk. The lettering on the front read in gold cursive 'The rise and fall of cults.'

'Holy fucking shit. This brats' into cults' thought the student.

Instead of feeling an impending sense of neverending doom, they almost squeeled in absolute delight.

[Name][Lastname] was a true crime junkie.

Every murder mystery case, every cult, they knew all about it. The reasons as for the murders, the childhoods of the cult leaders. They. Knew. Everything.

The student cautiously stalked closer to the Prince, like how naive prey checks to see if it's predator is asleep. The Prince lifted his head from the inside of his book to look at the person coming closer and closer to him.

The student asked prudently, "Prince Beta, are you a fan of true crime?"

His eyes almost immediately grew a light in them that was not there before. His cheeks tinged a bit with pink as he looked curiously at the young student. "Are you?" he asked back.

Quickly, the student nodded their head aggressively, agreeing with the prince's question.

A smile stretched onto the boy's face almost immediately. "You are?! You don't think it's an odd interest?!" he screamed out.

[Name] nodded again with an even larger smile on their face. "Yes of course! I find true crime ever so fascinating! I'm even studying to go into criminology when I graduate!"

The Prince's eyes nearly sparkled like a small child's. He immediately got up from his chair and ran up to the young student. He wrapped his fingers around [Name]'s hands and brought them up in a clasp.

He then burst out in exclamation, "You, as of now, are my best friend!"

Being the new best friend of the only Prince of the Empire came with a lot of responsibilities. He now follows the commoner student around the academy grounds like a lost puppy. People had begun to whisper about how [Name] had cast some sort of spell on the prince to make him lighten up so much.

Because of his much more friendly nature, a lot of people had begun to approach him, hoping to become as close to the prince as [Name] did, but all he would do is wrap his arms around [Name]'s left arm and drag them away as he ranted away about a new cultist book he got his hands on a couple days ago.

At the end of the school day, [Name] went back to their dorm room to rest until dinnertime. They did not have to tutor Prince Beta that day since it was a Thursday, so [Name] was able to catch up on their loss of sleep.

They fell onto their creaky bed and groaned from the ache they felt in their bones. The young student shoved their head into the sunken-in pillow and nearly fell asleep.

Suddenly, a loud knock echoed throughout the small bedroom. [Name] groaned loudly again and got up to answer the person outside the door. The student opened their dorm door to be met with a maid in her early thirties. "Mail." she stated and then gently handed the student a neat envelope. That was unusual. Usually, the maids would shove their mail, tear it up, they would even spit on their mail. They did all of this just because the student was a commoner.

The maid walks away from the open doorway, leaving [Name] alone with their thoughts. They closed the door and stalked back to their small, wobbly desk.

The envelope was sealed with a ruby red seal, bearing the seal of the Imperial family. [Name] fingered the envelope open and took the letter out with soft fingers. The letter was written by the Crown princess, written in curly and swirly handwriting. It was an invitation to a small tea party with a couple of other noble ladies who were friends with the Crown princess.

[Name] wrote in simple print lettering a thanks and acceptance to the invitation. They licked and sealed it closed. The student then left to go to the on campus post office to send it to the Crown princess.

The student then went back to their dorm to go and try to fall asleep again.

[Name] stood outside the large glass greenhouse in the back garden of the Imperial palace. Abruptly, a young maid opened the door of the greenhouse to let the student enter.

"Welcome Mx.[Lastname]. The Crown princess has been waiting eagerly for you. Please follow me." greeted the maid as she bowed shallowly. [Name] nodded as well in greeting and followed behind the maid as quickly as they could.

The maid lead the young student through different sections of flowers ranging in shapes, sizes, and colour. What specifically caught [Name]'s attention was a small patch of pink Azaleas. 'How lovely.' thought [Name]

After a little bit more walking, the maid had lead the young student to an elevated seating area, where several tables and chairs were sprawled about.

The Crown princess sat at a table right in the middle. She was wearing a lovely red dress, with a cascading skirt that swept below her ankles. It had puffed out, see through red sleeves thst reached up too her knuckles. Her hair was tied up in a pretty up-do hairstyle, leaving little bit of hair hanging on her shoulders. Overall, she exuded an air of elegance and superiority.

Crown princess Frieda noticed that [Name] was standing on her left side, making her sweep her head in her direction. A small smile graced her face as she welcomed the student, "Good morning Mx.[Lastname], a pleasure to see you once again."

Frieda then stood up, showing her velvet red heels with a large diamond studded into the front of it. The princess pulled out the empty chair that was next to her, and gestured for them to sit down next to her. Understanding her intention, [Name] sluggishly walked up to the princess and sat down in the seat she wanted them to sit in.

The Crown princess sat back down in her original chair and sipped on her tea. Slowly, [Name] reached out and took a cookie from the large platter of baked goods. A maid came to the student's side and poured some tea into their cup as they nibbled on the sweet treat.

"So Mx.[Lastname], you are the commoner who attends the royal academy, correct?" quipped a young daughter of unnamed Baron. She placed her teacup back down in the saucer and with a smile, rested her smiling face on her intertwined fingers.

The student looked up from their cookie with a confused expression painted on their face. Recovering quickly from their confusion, they answered in shaky voice, "Indeed. I am able to attended the Royal Academy due to a scholarship I was gifted on my 16th birthday."

The baron's daughter giggled and whispered something into the woman's ear right next to her. The commoner looked down embarrassingly into their lap, wondering what they had said to warrant such a reaction from the other woman.

The Crown princess was sitting at the head of the table, her head held high, making everyone aware of her presence. The tutor sat on the seat on Frieda's left side, which definitely caused some stares from the other attendees. Definitely wasn't a good look for the poor tutor.

Frieda coughed into her clenched fist and looked at Alicia with a blank look on her face. "The honourable Alicia Crusainia. Please mind your manners towards my guest. Don't forget your place here."

Alicia's face became a bright, hot tomato red and looked down at her lap, similarly to the young student. "Mx. [Lastname]. Lift your head."

Almost under a spell, [Name] lifted their head from their lap and looked at the Crown princess in awe. Frieda was looking at [Name] with an odd looking face with her eyebrow raised. It was a mix of boredom and curiosity.

"You are my honored guest. My little brother treasures you quite a lot, therefore, so must I." She stated as if it was a well known fact.

"Yes, your royal highness." They said in a calm and deft tone.

Freida nodded her head, making her golden curls bounce. She then turned and took another sip of her tea.

"So, [Name]! How was the tea party with my sister?" questioned Beta during one of his and the student's tutoring sessions.

The student looked at Beta with a confused look on their face. "It was alright, nothing special happened." They answer the prince.

Looking confused, Beta's head knocked to the side. "Really? Because from what I heard, my sister ripped some Baron's daughter a new one for making fun of you!"

'Making fun of me? Was that what she was doing?' [Name] thought to themselves.

"It seems that you were unaware. Maybe I could ask my sister to invite you to balls more often so that you can get better at catching on to these things!" Beta suggests with a large smile on his face, proud of his brilliant idea.

"No no no no no! I could barely handle a simple tea party! No way I'll be able to survive a ball where I have to dance!" [Name] panicked.

The prince pouted at their words, disappointed in their answer. He slumps over his desk and makes his head fall into the crook of his arms. His blonde hair fell over his arms, looking like a veil over his arms.

"Mhm.... I mean.... if you can convince your sister, and I don't have to dance... then I'll agree." [Name] softly said, scratching the back of their neck in nervousness.

Beta's head immediately shot up and with an absolutely large smile, he nodded aggressively convincing the student that he may be half bobble head.

"Then you will come to my birthday ball, right?"

[Name] answered, "Of course your majesty."

The student then sat down across from the young prince with their textbook and continued on with their lesson.

After the lesson was completed, [Name] was walking steadily through the velvet covered floors of the castle's hallways. The student placed their hands on the back of their neck and rubbed tough circles into the nape of their neck, relaxing their muscles after two and a half hours of being on the tip of their toes. Even though Prince Beta had claimed them as their best friend, [Name] still stayed on guard around him, just incase he was the type to have extreme mood swings.

[Name] groaned in pleasure as they passed through another hallway of the residential wing of the Imperial castle.

"Mx.[Lastname], have you finally finished your lesson with my brother?" a voice asked behind the student.

The student whipped their head around and caught the eyes of the young Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess was wearing a light cream colored dress with many flowy layers that what [Name] assumed was to let wind in more easily to cool the princess down.

"Your Royal Highness, you are correct. I have just finished mine and the prince's tutoring session." answered the student with a cautious look on their face.

Frieda giggled maturely at the look of [Name]'s wary expression. "Have no worry Mx.[Lastname], I don't bite." she joked.

They nodded at the Princess's words.

"Then why don't you join me in my office for some tea? I'd like to discuss something of importance with you." she proposed.

The student nodded, making the princess walk past their side and leading them towards the direction of her office. The pair walked past several paintings of similar blonde haired individuals, who the student assumed was members of the Imperial family who had unfortunately passed.

The two came to two large wood doors that lead to Frieda's office. One of the guards who were standing on duty, opened the doors for the pair to let them in.

[Name] realised that the Crown princess' favourite colour was a red and gold. Many of the furniture was lined with a deep velvet including the long curtains with gold linings and stitches. The only things that were not those two colours were the floor, her desk and her book shelves that lined every wall of the office.

In the middle of the room were two overstuffed couches with a coffee table in the middle, most likely to hold meetings such as the one the student and princess were about to have.

"Tell Isabella to prepare some tea for my guest and I. Also tell her to bring some of the new pastries we received from the Levan kingdom." The princess ordered one of the knight, making him turn is tail and gallop to where [Name] guessed was where the maid was.

"Please Mx.[Lastname], take a seat." Frieda says while gesturing to the couch.

With unprecedented caution, they shift over to the sofa and sit down and nearly sink in due to cushiness. The princess giggle from their distress as they tried to sit up in the embracing seat.

A maid enters the office with a cart being pushed by her. Ontop was a large teapot and two teacups with saucers. On the level below it was a tower of pastries which [Name] recognised from it's appearance at the tea party from the day before.

The maid sets the teacups and saucers down in front of the pair and quickly prepares the tea and pastries. She then curtsys to the Crown princess, bows her head at the young student, turns on her heel and leaves.

Frieda languidly picks the teacup up and takes a long sip of the steaming hot tea. While [Name] is wandering how the princess is not reacting to the pain of the most definitely hot beverage, Frieda speaks up, "I have asked you to come here with me today because I would like to apologise to you."

She places the teacup down in it's saucer and looks and [Name] with a sympathetic look on her face. "What the honorable Alicia Crusainia did at my tea party was extremely rude and uncaring. She simply has no idea how tough one's life can be."

[Name] stunded in silence. Why was the Crown princess apologising to a commoner like them? Not wanting to deny the princess' words, the student looked down into the light brown of their tea and said, "It's alright. Honestly speaking, I didn't even understand what she had said, so I didn't feel anything."

Frieda looks surprised at their words. "But aren't you the top student at the Royal Academy? How could you not know?" She questioned.

They look embarrassed as they quickly answer, "I am just book smart! And I honestly have a lot of trouble applying my knowledge in real-life situations. I read a royal etiquette book before I left for the palace, but it honestly didn't come in very handy..." they muttered off.

The Crown princess' face morphed into a look of conviction. "Then, after school every day when you don't have to tutor Beta, you will spend it with me, and I will teach you everything you need to know about social cues, etiquette, conversations, everything!" the princess says in a voice that screamed determined.

Nearly jumping out of their chair, [Name] tries to plead that the princess did not need to go out of her way to teach a commoner. The princess merely ignored them and gently ordered them to eat the prepared pastries.

Now the young student's weekly schedule would consist of every Monday, Wednesday and Friday being spent tutoring Beta, and every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday being tutored by the Crown princess. They would almost always leave the palace absolutely drained of their energy, a mere husk of their former self as they rode the carriage baring the Imperial coat of arms back to the dorm houses on the school campus.

The days were feeling longer and longer as Beta's birthday ball's date came closer and closer. The blonde prince would chat with the young student about anything and everything that came to his mind. The friendship between the two of them had become even stronger than before for no particular rhyme or reason. Beta would lug behind them during school hours, despite not being in the same year, and would frighten off the little amount of friends that the student would have had before the prince.

Soon enough, Beta's birthday ball came up.

A formal invitation had already been sent to them, written personally by the spry prince himself in loopy lettering.

The student got dressed in the most formal clothes they had on hand. Sure it was a bit tattered and a few small holes were sprinkled on the ends, but it would be fine as long as no one looked at them! And besides, they're a commoner! They are probably just going to sit in the corner of the hall and only get up to get more food and drinks.

With that plan in mind, the student climbed carefully into the imperial branded carriage once again and rode off to the party.

Soon enough, the young student arrived at the Imperial palace. They stumbled out of the carriage and brisket walked into the large building, not wanting to be noticed by the announcer so that they could hide away as best as can from the nobles attending the ball that night.

They had finally reached the banquet hall, entering and hiding away from plain sight from the noblesmen and women.

"Now then! Announcing the entrance of Crown Princess Frieda Köinig and Prince Beta Köinig!" announced a high ranking servant from the top of the large staircase in the middle of the banquet hall.

The entire hall was decked to the nines with red, gold and white. The diamonds hanging from the chandelier were burning even more brighter than what the young student assumed was usual. Long banquet tables were lined with finger foods of all varieties.

A servant walked up to the scholar and offered them a tall flute of champagne. Gingerly, they took the glass off the tray, making the servant walk away, and taking a few sips and proceeding to nearly lurch it out from the taste. Okay, they are definitely not a fan of champagne, duley noted.

In that moment, the Crown Princess and the prince entered through the doors at the top of the stairs. Beta held his elder sister's hand in his as he lead her down the stairs. All of the noblemen and women stared in awe of the siblings.

Beta was wearing a lovely white suit with light red and blue jewels sprinkled all of the jacket. He wore blue cufflinks and large rubies were studded into the edges of his collar. This was a big upgrade from the white tunic and black pants he wore during their tutoring sessions, or the navy blue military styled uniform they wear at the academy.

Frieda looked stunning as usual. She was wearing a new cream coloured ball gown, embedded with small diamonds across the fabric. Elbow length gloves covered her arms and gold sleeper rings were slid up her fingers, making them glimmer in the chandelier light. A floral styled tiara sat on top of her head, the same coloured diamonds were set in it as well.

The siblings came to the end of the staircase and gracefully smiled at the crowd. Frieda and Beta were quickly surrounded by the stuffy noblemen and women. [Name] stood aside and stayed out of sight of the siblings.

Beta leaned into Frieda's ear and whispered something to her. His words made the princess look around, almost frantically. The curls in her hair bounce from the movement of her head. Frieda quickly caught the eyes of the commoner, making a graceful smile spread onto her face. She tapped Beta's upper arm and pointed into [Name]'s direction, whispering something into his ear. All of this happened while the said student was slowly sipping on their champagne and gazing outside the stained coloured window.

Frieda and Beta walked past all the noble people, making them gasp and quiet down immediately. "[Name]! You're really here!" announced Beta as he unhooked his sister's hand from his arm.

Frieda smiled in happiness from the sight of Beta speaking animatingly with his tutor. "I am quite glad to see you here Mx.[Lastname]. I hope that you have so far been having a good time."

[Name] nodded at the Princess's words with a chuckle. "I have. No need to worry your royal majesty." Frieda nodded at their words and let her younger brother control the way the current conversation is going.

The cusp of the birthday ball was on it's way. Everyone was jovial and talkative. Frieda had left [Name] and Beta to themselves to that she could converse with the other invitees. Beta stuck to [Name]'s side like usual.

The duo had moved closer to the end of the hall, nearer to the food lined banquet table.

Suddenly, a loud trumpet sounded through the hall, bringing attention to a well dressed servant standing at the end of the staircase. Frieda stood in the middle of the staircase, her dress flowed down the stairs like a flowing river.

Frieda with a calming smile, announced, "I would like to present my gift to my little brother. He and I had a long discussion together about what would be the best present for his birthday. And I would like to present to you all what I had come up with. But first, I would like [Name] [Lastname] to come near the front."

[Name] stood in fear from the sound of their name leaving the princess' lips.

'Shitshitshitshitshitshit.' thought [Name] while they cautiously approached the front of the thick crowd of loudly dressed nobles. When the commoner finally reached the front of the crowd, they stood there, shifting there weight from foot to foot, shivering under the eyes of the Crown princess.

Soon enough, the princess signals at someone from behind her to do something. The large doors open up and a young woman comes tumbling out. An imperial guard grabs what little left of her brown, wet hair and roughly shoves her down the stairs. She stops rolling conveniently infront of [Name]'s feet, dirtying it with blood from a large gash on her right cheek.

Frieda climbs down the stairs and grabs the girl's hair and forces her head up to look into [Name]'s terrified eyes.

"Do you remember this girl Beta?" questioned the Crown princess, looking at her younger brother who was standing right next to his tutor. Beta looked down in awe at the beaten and bruised girl kneeling infront of him and [Name]. He then leaps from his tutor's side and falls into his sister's embrace. "Thank you thank you thank you! Oh, I love this present so so much!"

The young student stared at the bloodied girl with a look of terror in their eyes. This girl looked so oddly familiar. As if they had seen her before.

"Who is this girl, may I ask your royal majesty?" asked the tutor, not looking away from the nearly catatonic girl.

"This, my dear, is the honorable Alicia Crusainia, the one who had made fun of you at my tea party two months ago." answered the princess in a matter of factly tone of voice.

'Holy fucking shit she's fucking crazy!'

Beta made a nearly inaudible squeeling noise of happiness and quickly when back to [Name]'s side. "Now I get to take care of her properly for making fun of you! Aren't you so excited!?"

A thick sheet of sweat covered [Name]'s face as they stared down at their bloodied shoes. Frieda took notice of this action and nearly flung herself to [Name]'s side when she saw the blood on their shoes.

Frieda stomped on Alicia's head making her lower her head for the commoner.

"Now then, let's discuss our future from this time onward. How about we begin with giving you a proper title and moving you into the palace with my little brother and I"

Posted on: 30 August 2024 23:46

[at0michips]

people pleaser — art donaldson

summary: after years of worrying about other peoples needs, art finally finds the pleasure of having someone do everything it takes to make him satisfied.

Art Donaldson was known for lowering his head for a long time, as a kid if his grandma asked him to do some chore he'd drop whatever he was doing and obey her, just to hear a "Thank you nana's love, let's bake you some cookies". At boarding school, Patrick would always be making bets with him just because he knew Art would do the stupidest things just so he could see his friend smirk and pat his back saying how impressed he was that Art really did that. During his marriage things were no different, Art would do whatever Tashi said inside and out of court. He was determined to make her satisfied, to be seen and rewarded just how it happened his whole life, in all his relationships.

However, this didn't last forever. During Lily's first years of life, Art didn't felt the pressure of pleasing his wife, in fact it was the first time he didn't felt the need to please anyone around him. All he wanted to do was care and protect his baby, and he was so happy to do so, until she was big enough to stay with Tashi's mom and they had to go back to the routine. After this it seemed like something shifted and Tashi was way colder and bossy about his performance, and all of a sudden he wasn't able to please her anymore.

It did took some time, but Art finally built up enough courage to ask her for the divorce and shortly after, retire from tennis. He bought a big house, decorated Lily's room with her during recess and thought he had finally found some peace.

And for sometime he was, he kept on going to sports events, watched some tennis matches and kept as much sponsorships as he was able to. But then one day, he was invited to a sports event at Stanford, where all the students who played something would be listening a lecture he and other alumni would say how much the university helped them in their careers, answer some questions and maybe take some pictures. Nothing out of line, right?

That was until the end of the event, when one of his former professors approached him with a girl by her side. She introduced her as the top of her class and, an amazing tennis player just like you were. Art notices that he does know this girl, he remember avid movements on court, how she basically devoured her opponent. She was in fact an amazing tennis player, and also a fan of Art Donaldson.

Art learned how to aprecciate his fans more with time, enjoy the attention, and as they both walked through campus he was enjoying it too. Although she was basically asking him things about his career, he noticed how she was nervous about being around him and even stuttered sometimes, seemed to be worried about the next line.

But the moment he could see the nervousness in her eyes, was when they were sitting down both with a cup of coffee on their hands and she asked the question "i was hoping you would be my coach". The nervous girl was able to make the confident Art Donaldson spechless. Coach? Art had never thought about it, let alone after retiring, but he would be lying if he said he didn't missed the feeling of competing, and as he heard her reasons Art started to wonder if maybe, it wasn't what was missing in his new life, a little bit of his old one.

As soon as you graduated you went pro. You couldn't believe it when you heard him agreeing with becoming your coach, it seemed like a dream, you remember being eleven and watching one of his matches with your dad and immediately falling in love with Art, and just like every girl who's obssessed with a celebrity, started consuming everything related to him, and yes it meant that you also begged your parents for tennis classes. The surprise came when you were actually good at it and started to enjoy it, good enough to earn a scholarship to Stanford.

With time, your crush on him became less and less intense and eventually escaped your head. That was until your favorite professor and you were having a talk about your future and you revealed the wish to go pro to her and she started saying about how one of her best former students became a professional tennis player, and how he could help her with that.

The first time you met him, it felt like you were eleven again and as he started to coach you it got even harder.

It didn't took much time for Art to start regretting his decision, you were great, and after he started coaching you got even better. The public saw it, the brands saw it and quickly everybody noticed you, by your talent and also your coach. But being on the spotlight again was not what was bothering Art, it was how you would move as he told you, hit the ball as he told you, at how powerful he felt as you looked sad when you would screw something up during training and immediately try to fix it, was how even outside the court you were always trying to find the right words to talk to him and how eager you were to be perfect for him.

Your body became stronger, your were always showing off your toned legs and everytime your eyes weren't on the ball, they were set on him. He wasn't stupid, he knew you had a thing for him and he knew that if he asked you for any favor you'd just drop whatever you're doing and help him out, if he decided that you would receive some embarassment punishment after a mistake in court you would just do it, and he was pretty sure that if he simply bent you over the bench you would simply stick your ass up to his cock. And he enjoyed it, he genuiely enjoyed how much power he had over you.

And for that he hated himself, you were barely legally drinking while he was retired, divorced and a father, it was impossible for anything to happen between you two.

That's what he thought while he was setting down on his hotel room, it was the first time you and Art had to travel for a tournament, it was a big one and it would start the next day, however your coach wanted you to know the court you'd be playing, train a bit and enjoy a good night of sleep without having to worry about waking up late and fuck everything up. You'd be lying if you said that you weren't shaking nervous, everything you did after Art became your coach was milimetrically calculated to be perfect and meet his expectations, you were living the dream and wouldn't let it all go away with your stupid mistakes, this you could and would control. You weren't so sure about how hot he was, Art was on his 30s but he really couldn't look hotter.

You kept trying to get rid of this thoughts all day long, but the fact that he was always there watching you closely and talking to you wasn't helping at all.

Even after a cold shower and a good 30 minutes tossing and turning around your hotel bed, your mind wouldn't stop thinking about Art, not giving you any peace of mind to focus on your breath and fall asleep. Tired of it, you decided to take a walk around the hotel, hoping it would finish tiring your body. Shit, Art would be mad if he saw you awake this late? Or would he have a disappointed look on his face? 

Grabbing a sweatshirt and putting it over your head was all you did before opening your door and facing your coach. “Y/N, what are you doing up this late?” he said in a low and rough voice

You looked up at Art, caught off guard by his unexpected presence. His sharp gaze met yours, a mix of concern and something more inscrutable flickering in his eyes. The hallway was dimly lit, casting shadows that seemed to accentuate the tension between you.

“I... I just needed to clear my head,” you stammered, trying to sound more confident than you felt. The late hour and the quiet of the hotel made the situation feel even more intense.

Art stepped closer, his imposing figure filling the space in front of you. His presence was both intimidating and oddly comforting. “You should be asleep,” he said, his voice softer now but still carrying an authoritative edge. “You’ve got an important match tomorrow.”

You nodded, feeling a mix of anxiety and excitement stir within you. “I know. I just couldn’t stop thinking... about everything.”

Art’s eyes softened, a rare glimpse of vulnerability from the usually unyielding coach. “Thinking about me?” he asked, his tone almost teasing but laced with something deeper.

You hesitated, your heart pounding in your chest. “Yeah. About how I messed up during practice and how I’m not ready.”

He chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that sent a shiver down your spine. “You’re ready,” he said firmly. “You’ve been working hard. But I get it. Sometimes the mind doesn’t shut off as easily as we want it to.”

You looked up at him, meeting his gaze with a mixture of gratitude and uncertainty. “I didn’t expect you to be out here. I thought you’d be asleep too.”

He smirked slightly, the corners of his lips curling up in a way that made your breath hitch. “I have my own ways of dealing with things,” he said cryptically. “And right now, it seems like you need something else to help you unwind.”

Before you could react, Art closed the distance between you, his hand gently cupping your cheek. The warmth of his touch was startling, and you could feel the electricity crackling between you. His thumb lightly brushed against your skin, sending a shiver through your entire body.

“What are you—” you started, but the words died in your throat as he leaned in closer.

His lips met yours in a kiss that was both fierce and tender. It was as if all the unspoken words, all the hidden desires, were being conveyed through that single, intense connection. You melted against him, your initial surprise giving way to a deep, burning need to reciprocate.

Art’s kiss was demanding, yet gentle, his hands sliding to your waist as he pulled you closer. Your own hands found their way to his shoulders, gripping them as if they were the only thing anchoring you to reality. The kiss deepened, both of you lost in the moment, forgetting the world outside and the looming challenges.

When the kiss finally broke, both of you were breathless, your foreheads resting together. Art’s eyes were dark with a mixture of satisfaction and something that could only be described as tenderness.

“You needed that,” he murmured, his voice low and rough once more. “And I needed it too.”

You nodded, still trying to catch your breath. “Yeah. I think... I think we both did.”

Art’s gaze softened further, and for a moment, the stern coach was gone, replaced by someone who seemed genuinely caring and vulnerable. “Go back to bed,” he said gently, his thumb brushing your cheek one last time. “I’ll be right here if you need anything.”

You nodded, feeling a newfound sense of calm. As you turned to head back to your room, you couldn’t help but glance back at him. Art’s gaze followed you, a silent promise in his eyes.

“Goodnight, Art,” you said softly.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he replied, his voice carrying a note of warmth that lingered even as you closed your door behind you.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Shoot Your Shot Part 1

Bayou Barbie Meets the Hometown Hero

Synopsis: When you are playing a game in Louisville a certain person in the audience couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. Not wanting the opportunity to pass him by, he quickly makes it his goal to grab your attention before the night is over

Pairing: Jack Harlow x Basketball Player!Reader

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

A sigh of relief finally escaped you as you lifted your arms in order to shoot a three pointer and successfully scored making your team win the game. You were currently in Louisville going against the Cardinals and as good as a team that they were, tonight you had proved to be better.

Currently, you played for LSU in the position of point guard on a full scholarship and you were in your sophomore year. Even though you grew up in Maryland, this was the only school that you had your eyes set on for as long as you could remember. 

Your teammates quickly crowded around you and embraced you as the buzzer went off signaling the end of the game. 

As you walked off the court, different people were congratulating all of you, but all you wanted to do was get food, go back to your hotel and sleep all weekend until you boarded a plane to go back to Louisiana.

Studying for your midterms would also be thrown in there somewhere.

But it was Friday night and more than likely your teammates were not about to let that happen.

You quickly showered and got dressed, but as you were putting on your shoes, one of your best friends, Kelsey, sat down next to you and simply eyed you.

She played center and towered over you at 6’4 even though you were 6 feet yourself. 

“Why are you just staring at me you little weirdo?” You asked when she finally caught your eye.

“Uhh did you see your boyfriend staring at you tonight?”

“Who?!? Me and Tristan broke up so what in the world is your ass talking about? Was he here?!”

“Not him! Jack Harlow!”

“Girl, what?! Now, I know you’ve lost your mind.”

The entire team knew how big of a crush you had on him and would tease you about it all the time, and you would constantly be fighting for your life in the group chat. Kelsey had actually gotten you tickets for your birthday to see him in concert before.

Multiple times.

“He was staring at you the entire time!”

“Uh, because he was watching us play?” You responded as you put your curly hair up in a bun on top of your head.

“Nah, not us, YOU!”

“I second that!” Screamed Ebony from across the room, but you just looked at the both of them dumbfounded.

“If you two say so, now I’m hungry so where are we about to go and eat?”

“Zombie taco, I think we should be able to walk to it from here. I looked it up before we even got here."

The restaurant wasn’t far from the arena and you and a few of your teammates walked a few streets over. As you were all standing in line, your other best friend Briana pinched you and told you to look to your left.

“Ow! What the hell Bree?!”

“Your husband is over there and so is his fine ass best friend Urban. I’d do anything to kiss those lips of his.”

“First, he’s my boyfriend and now he’s my husband? I’m going to need for the two of you to make up your mind!”

“He obviously wants you since he keeps staring at you.”

“Everyone stares at me. I’m used to it. I’m tall.” You replied while shrugging. 

“Bitch, we’re all tall! You’re actually one of the shortest ones on the team!” Kelsey quickly said and all you did was roll your eyes and playfully push her.

You were the last to order and as you went to take out your card to pay, the girl at the cash register quickly shook her head.

“No need, someone already paid for your food for you.”

Kelsey and Briana heard this and you quickly looked over at them to see them both smirking.

“It wasn’t us. We’re broke college students, bitch.” Briana said while taking a swig of water from her courtesy cup that she had gotten and all you could do was laugh.

“I got you when I make it to the WNBA.” Kelsey added and you just smiled at the cashier.

“Do you mind me asking who paid for me?”

“Dude with the curly hair sitting in the corner. I think you already know his name.” She replied as she smiled at you.

You looked in the direction where she pointed and of course, she was pointing to no one other than Jack himself and your eyes went wide.

“We told you.” Was all Briana said as the three of you waited for your food. 

“I hear wedding bells and Harlow babies in the future.”

“I will make you walk back to our apartment.”

The three of you found a table not too far from where Jack was sitting and Kelsey and Briana sat on one side making it so you actually ended up facing him and you quickly rolled your eyes at the two of them.

“You two get on my nerves.”

“We just want to see this love connection unfold. Don’t be mad at us!”

“I’m not mad at all, but come on. He’s tall himself, what does he need with a tall girl too?”

“You’re a catch and I’m going to need for you to stop talking about yourself that way.”

“I’ve hardly met any guys who want to date tall girls. Tristan doesn’t count because that relationship was a dumpster fire on wheels.”

“The team celebrated when you dropped him.”

“WHAT?!”

“Come on, he treated you like shit. You deserve happiness and we can’t understand why you of all people can’t see that. You have the biggest heart and we’re tired of seeing you get hurt. Take a chance with him because his number will definitely be in your phone by the time we leave. Mark my words.”

“Bree, unhand my nacho before I stab you with my fork. If you wanted some, you should have gotten some.” You responded as you avoided what she had said before. The thing is that you knew that she was right, but now that basketball and school took up most of your time, doing anything else with you was like pulling teeth.

“Didn’t I tell you I was a broke college student?”

You wanted to thank Jack, but didn’t want to interrupt him with his friends, however Kelsey and Briana could tell you were trying to make your way out the door before saying anything to him and they weren’t having it.

“Nope, come on. Let’s go right now!” Kelsey said as she tugged at your arm.

“What?! No!”

Before you knew it all three of you were in front of Jack, Urban, Clay, Ace, Sunni, Cope, and Nemo with you in the middle and Kelsey and Briana on each side.

“Hey! Our best friend just wanted to say thank you for paying for her food. Right, Y/N?” Briana said and you quickly smiled at him.

“Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it.” You quietly said and Jack couldn’t take his eyes off of you.

“Anytime, pretty girl. You three played a hell of a game tonight.” Jack answered and you could feel yourself getting hot.

“Well we have no choice when we have a captain as good as she is. We have to do our best to keep up with her.” Kelsey said while looking over at you.

“Well, Y/N, I want to be able to keep up with you too, so put your number in my phone if you’re up for it.” Jack replied while handing you his phone and you quickly took it. You already knew Kelsey and Briana were internally screaming and you wouldn’t hear the end of this for weeks.

As you finished putting your number in, you quickly handed him back his phone.

“You doing anything tomorrow?” He asked and you started to answer, but Kelsey quickly cut you off.

“Being with…”

“NO! SHE’S FREE! Pick her up at 8! We’ll send you the address. Come on Y/N!” Kelsey said as she pushed both you and Briana out of the door. 

“See you then gorgeous.”

“Okay, can’t wait.”

When the three of you got outside, you all looked at each other before collectively screaming.

“Bitch! What did we tell you?!”

“Okay, I admit you two were right because a lot of times yall aren’t.”

“That was one time on the sociology final. You aren’t going to keep hanging that over my head, Y/N! That was freshman year!”

“I- you know what Kelsey, I forgive you for that. Even though that was just literally last semester.” You said while laughing.

“Oh shit, I can’t wait to pick out your outfit!”

“Uh oh.”

“Uh oh, what?!”

“I don’t have anything to wear!”

“Uhh? You literally look like a model out of your uniform, how do you not have anything to wear?”

“All of my cute clothes are at our apartment… In LOUISIANA!” 

“It’s okay. I have my credit card my parents gave me for emergencies. I think it's almost maxed out, but there should be enough for us to get you something.”

“Bree…..”

“This is a fashion emergency so tomorrow we’re going shopping to get you ready for your date with Jack Harlow.” 

Suddenly you had stopped walking and when they both noticed that you were behind them instead of beside them, they looked at you concerned.

“Y/N? Everything okay?”

“Did he just call me pretty girl or was I imagining that?”

“You definitely didn't imagine it. He wants to get to know the bayou barbie for himself.” 

[mimi-0007]

Lucy Diggs Slowe (July 4, 1885 – October 21, 1937) was an American educator and athlete, and the first Black woman to serve as Dean of Women at any American university. She was a founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first sorority founded by African-American women.

Slowe was a tennis champion, winning the national title of the American Tennis Association's first tournament in 1917, the first African-American woman to win a major sports title. In 1922, Slowe was appointed the first Dean of Women at Howard University. She continued in that role for 15 years until her death. In addition, Slowe created and led two professional associations to support college administrators.

Lucy Diggs Slowe was born in Berryville, Virginia to Henry Slowe and Fannie Potter Slowe. While various sources put her birth year as 1885,[3][4] others have said 1883. She was one of seven children. Her father's occupation has been reported as a hotel operator, restaurant proprietor and farmer. He died before Lucy turned one and her mother died shortly after. Following her mother's death, Lucy and her sister Charlotte were raised by her aunt Martha Price in Lexington, Virginia. At thirteen, Lucy and her family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she attended the Baltimore Colored High and Training School. She graduated second in her class in 1904, receiving one of the two-sponsored scholarships to Howard from the Baltimore City School Board.

Slowe was the first person from her school to attend Howard University, the top historically black college in the nation, at a time when only 1/3 of 1% of African Americans and 5% of whites of eligible age attended any college.

After graduation in 1908, Slowe returned to Baltimore to teach English in high school. During the summers, she started studying at Columbia University in New York, where she earned her Masters of Arts degree in 1915.