#akumu-pause

[zerukye]

PAUSE OC CHALLENGE!

TAG UR MOOTS AND SHOW YOUR CHARACTERS!

@frenchfryturtle @somemismatchedsocks @majesticallystoopid @generichoneydew @head---ache (Its crowwithapen btw hi) @galacticghoste @leilanising

[dreams-of-kalopsia]

[Contains spoilers for Akumu no Sumu Ie]

In the manga it was just mentioned in passing that Naru and the others built a barricade of furniture in front of the full-length mirror, but in the novel they actually used the monitors from the base, too. So it got me wondering if Naru will worry about his monitors when it's time to start cleaning/packing up XD

————

"Well then," Matsuzaki-san said, "what will we do with those?" She pointed at the heap of broken monitors by the full-length mirror.

By now most of the furniture used for the barricade had been returned to their proper places, and the chaos in the Agawas' residence had begun to wind down. All that remained to be organized were SPR's equipment. Half of it stayed miraculously safe within the base, while the other half was pushed to an unobstructive corner of the corridor.

"I don't mind cleaning up, but man..." Bou-san shook his head regretfully. "It kinda hurts seeing these high-quality monitors destroyed." He turned to Noll, who was leaning by the wall and overseeing the cleanup. "Sensei, are these insured?"

Noll shrugged. "They’re not so expensive as to qualify for insurance."

Mai interjected with a sideward tilt of her head, "But didn’t we use all of our monitors? Even if one monitor isn't expensive, wouldn’t twenty actually cost a lot?"

That gave him pause. She had a point.

"And didn't we upgrade to these monitors just before you went home?" she added. "Wouldn’t you get in trouble with SPR?" He saw the first signs of worry lining her face, and he couldn’t help frowning, too.

Again, she was correct.

While Noll had been fortunate enough to be awarded a research grant by the Londenberg Foundation, his balance was unfortunately not unlimited. Asking for more money as soon as he arrived in Japan and a mere few months after being given a generous special grant didn't seem feasible.

However, a potentially fatal situation called for emergency measures. Surely he could appeal to both reason and sympathy when he begged.

Slightly relieved by his conclusion, he replied, "Don't worry about it."

"Hah. You're awfully confident, aren't you?"

"I'm the most valuable asset of SPR, after all." Rather than a reply, it was more of a reminder to himself.

His team stared at him with thunderstruck expressions. Now that they'd uncovered his identity, they were also aware of his credentials. They wouldn't be able to refute him.

He smirked, even as he scrambled for a plan to report this to SPR in a way that would generate funds instead of reprimands.

————

This was in Naru's pov, but without his reasoning behind his replies everyone would be like

Mai, devastated: 'Y-You—! You narcissist!'

Bou-san, resigned: '...It's true and he has the right to say that... I guess...'

Ayako, blasé: 'What a narcissist.'

Masako, frsutrated: 'Why do I like this guy?!'

John, troubled: 'Shibuya-san...'

Lin, already suffering because he knows he'll be handling the paperwork: '...'

Anyway, what do you think? Will Naru worry about the monitors or is he too valuable an asset to care? Lmao!

[mya-valentine]

The Sadistic Sorcerer: Juri's Revenge

Synopsis: Juri Akumu, a formidable sorcerer with a hidden vendetta, is assigned by Gojo to train Itadori Yuji, the vessel for Sukuna. Juri, initially resistant and dismissive, agrees reluctantly, intrigued by the potential to face Sukuna herself. As she trains Itadori, she struggles with her own dark motives while testing his limits.

The weight of her history sat like a storm cloud over her head as Juri Akumu strode through the halls of Jujutsu High. Her sharp eyes, filled with equal parts malice and amusement, surveyed her surroundings. The old mantras of discipline and purpose spouted by the higher-ups were a joke to her. She wasn’t here for their rules or for some noble cause. She was here for herself.

Sadistic Sorcerer, they called her. Successor to Gojo Satoru. What a laugh. The thought alone made her smirk, lips curling upward in a way that spoke of danger and defiance. If they only knew who she really was, the blood that ran through her veins—how many of them would tremble?

They killed her parents, yet those same higher-ups hadn’t the faintest clue that the infamous Juri, who toyed with her enemies like a cat with a mouse, was their child. No, they wouldn’t know, not until she was ready to tear their world apart.

"Another day, another waste of time," she muttered, kicking open the door to the training grounds with enough force to make it fly off its hinges. The few students who were already there flinched but knew better than to say anything. Juri wasn’t in the mood for small talk, and everyone who valued their lives had learned to stay out of her way.

“Juri, ever heard of restraint?” Gojo's voice rang out lazily from the opposite end of the room, where he leaned against the wall, sunglasses in place, arms crossed.

She shot him a sidelong glance, her smirk widening. “What’s the point? The door's still standing. Besides, isn’t restraint your job? I’m just here for the fun."

Gojo chuckled, stepping forward. “Yeah, yeah. Fun. But we both know why you’re really here.”

Juri’s eyes flickered with a glint of something darker, though her expression didn’t change. Gojo was the only one who knew—about her parents, about her plan, about the slow-burning revenge that kept her moving. And for whatever reason, he’d decided to help her, or at least try to.

“I’m here because you need me to play nice with the others,” she retorted, voice dripping with sarcasm. "How long do you think that’ll last, old man?"

"Long enough for you to get what you want," Gojo replied casually, but there was an edge to his words. "I told you, I’m not here to stop you. But if you want to tear them down, you’ll need to be smart. Reckless doesn’t win wars.”

She scoffed, looking away, her arms crossed over her chest. “I don’t need you lecturing me. I know exactly what I’m doing.”

“Sure, you do,” Gojo said, a teasing grin tugging at his lips. “But you’ve still gotta cooperate if you want to pull this off. You can’t just kill your way to revenge. Not with these guys.”

Juri’s fingers twitched, her craving for violence always lingering just beneath the surface. Cooperation wasn’t in her nature, but for now, she would tolerate it—him—if it meant getting closer to her goal.

She turned, starting to walk past him. “Don’t pretend you care. You’re just bored. This is a game for you.”

He said nothing at first, just watching her go, his usual carefree demeanor masking whatever thoughts were running through his mind. As she moved to leave, his voice came again, softer but serious.

“I do care, Juri. I care enough to make sure you survive it.”

Juri paused at the door, the weight of his words sinking in. She hated that she needed him—hated even more that, in some twisted way, Gojo understood her better than anyone else ever could.

Without turning back, she chuckled darkly. “Survival’s easy. It’s winning that I’m after.”

And with that, she left him standing there, her footsteps echoing down the hall. She had a mission—revenge was a dish best served cold, but Juri? She’d serve it with a side of carnage.

Juri had barely made it ten paces down the hallway when Gojo’s voice called after her again, his tone far too casual for her liking. "Hey, Juri. Got a favor to ask."

She stopped, one brow twitching with irritation, but she didn’t turn to face him. She hated favors. Favors were just another way for people to waste her time.

"Not interested."

“You haven’t even heard what it is yet,” Gojo replied, and she could hear the grin in his voice.

"I don't need to. I already know it'll be something annoying."

Gojo chuckled but continued, undeterred. “Itadori could use a little training. I want you to help him.”

That was enough to get her to turn around, her eyes narrowing with disbelief. Training Itadori? The kid who Gojo seemed way too invested in? “You’re joking. Why the hell would I waste my time on that brat?”

“I’m not joking,” Gojo said, his tone light but serious. “You two are about the same age. It might do him some good to train with someone who understands what he’s going through.”

Juri barked out a laugh, the sound sharp and mocking. "Oh, yeah? And what exactly do I understand about being a goody two-shoes meat puppet for Sukuna? You want me to babysit him? Not a chance."

Gojo shrugged, a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. “It’s not about babysitting. It’s about preparation. You help him get stronger, and when the time comes, you’ll be the one who gets to take down Sukuna.”

Her expression shifted slightly, amusement giving way to something more calculating. The thought of facing Sukuna had crossed her mind more than once. A monster like that, lurking inside an idiot like Itadori? That fight would be fun.

But she wasn’t about to give Gojo the satisfaction of thinking he could manipulate her that easily. "Why don't you train him yourself, if he's so important?"

“I do train him,” Gojo answered smoothly. “But you’ve got something I don’t—a brutal edge. No holding back. He needs that. You can push him in ways I can’t.”

Juri folded her arms, considering it. Her mind was already racing with potential scenarios—testing Itadori’s limits, dragging him through the mud until he either broke or got stronger. And the promise of taking down Sukuna...that had her interest. No one would be able to stop her from doing whatever she wanted once she had that demon's head.

“Fine,” she finally said, though her tone was dripping with disinterest. “But if he dies during training, that’s on you.”

Gojo chuckled again, his grin as wide as ever. “Deal. But I think you’ll find he’s harder to break than you think.”

Juri’s eyes narrowed at that, her curiosity piqued. She had no doubt that Gojo was holding something back, but she wasn’t here to play detective. If Itadori was stronger than he looked, then she’d find out soon enough—and if he wasn’t? Well, that was his problem, not hers.

As she turned to leave, Gojo added one last comment, his voice taking on a more thoughtful tone. “You know, you two really aren’t that different. Both of you were thrown into this world without asking for it. Both of you have to carry a weight that no one else can understand. Maybe you’ll see that if you bother to look.”

Juri stopped again, her back still to him, her jaw clenched in frustration. She didn’t need Gojo comparing her to that wide-eyed idiot Itadori. They weren’t the same. She wasn’t some naive kid trying to do the right thing.

She was here for revenge, plain and simple. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Don’t project your savior complex onto me, old man. I don’t care what Itadori’s been through. If he wants to survive, he'll need more than sympathy." Her voice dropped, cold and menacing. "He’ll need to be a killer.”

Gojo tilted his head, watching her walk away. “You say that like you aren’t one yourself.”

She didn't respond, but Gojo's grin only widened as she disappeared from sight. He knew Juri better than she liked to admit. This was going to be interesting. If she could push Itadori to new heights, maybe they’d all get what they wanted.

And when the time came for Juri to face Sukuna... Gojo could only imagine the chaos that woul follow.

The Burden of Strength Masterlist

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[stella-ignis-rosea]

Smash or Pass + Itto for Akumu

The deity paused at the Ask, confused but he thinks hard on the question, he will admit, Itto is gorgeous, attractive, beautiful, and-

“Smash-“

Welp-….you heard him

[guardianakumu]

Just a bit of lore about Silver Stark!

Silver Stark was a old friend to Akumu Kokuryuu. He was adopted into a rich family who happens to adopt others to give them a place to call home. Or so he thought. Blackstar was the one who “adopted” him and referred him as the very first subject called “Subject Zero”. He was nameless but he was often referred as Zero many times by the other scientists. There are others like him but different species. He would play with them but each day, one by one, never returned. Blackstar would come in and take one, only for them to be never seen again. He grown used to it and actually hopes they will be happier. Until he’s the last one. He then looked forward to it as he walked out of the playroom, only to realize the hell he will go through only begins. Each day brings pain and sleepless nights. Until another subject came in. Subject 2 as it stated on the left arm. She was the first one that returned. Well. A new one that came in. 2 looked very frail and human-like, just like him. 2 would often leave and return to her little corner to hide. Each day, there’s something new on her. She would be the first to leave and then, it would his turn. He then tried to get 2 to play but it was hard for her as she was very shy. This process repeats until she completely looks different. Much bigger and more purple. Less human. He still looks the same. Then, she would become more toned and muscular.

Until the huge explosion and the playroom would shake slightly. The door opened as the alarm would go off. He saw it as a chance to escape and he did. As the sun hits his pale skin, he could feel the massive amount of energy from elsewhere. He wondered if that was her or someone else. But he could careless as he wanted to run away from the pain. Fast forward to couple years later, he has taken up a job as a warrior as all he knew was fighting. He then visits the small village called White Village, where he finds 2 talking to others. That moment he realizes that was her that escaped the lab. He turned away as he feels it wasn’t the right moment to meet her again.

It was another decade before he came across 2 again but he heard stories of a purple dragon leading a small group into battle and won with no casualties to either side. She wasn’t referred to as number 2 but she is referred as “Akumu”. He decided to seek out this purple dragon he made friends with. It wasn’t long before he finds her on a black and white horse. She greeted and smiled before she moves on. She didn’t recognize him at all. Then, he called out,”No. Wait!”

She stopped her horse and turned her head with curiosity,” Oh? What is it?” It was a long pause before he spoke up,” Do you remember me..? From the lab?” She gave a surprise look and hopped of the horse. She walked closer and sniffed him. Immediately, she realized who this was. “Yes! I remember you. From the room. You played with me. A lot. You escaped form that place?” He nodded,” Yea. I heard a loud explosion and the door opened so I used that chance and ran.” She chuckled,” That explosion was from me. I didn’t want to stay there anymore. It’s all thanks to the scientists there. Except you know who.” She looked away and continued,” I want to find that place again to save them but I had no luck. I worry for them, even it has been a long time.” He nodded,” Yea. I can agree..”

“Well! I am sure glad you’re alright! So, I want to show you around here! But I got the feeling you already know White Village. I never seen you around here, although.” She hummed, trying to remember where she saw him. He gave a dry chuckle,” I have but uhh.. I may have intentionally avoided you as I didn’t want you.. to think of me differently otherwise.” She gave a look before she said,” Really??? Why would I think of you any differently? You are practically my brother at that point! I would have been happy to see you again.” She gave a soft smile.

He gave a smile as well before he said,” I’m.. my name is Silver Stark. Everyone calls me that. You can call me anything.”

“Can I call you Silv?” She gave a grin, almost mischievous.

[anar-k3y]

Dreamflower

pt1

Pt2 - you are here

Pt3

TW: mentions of blood and murder

-

Chapter 2

"The day the Flower Wilts"

-art by me

Yume's POV 

------------------- 

“I was in the forest and I heard t…this voice! And it took me to a statue! And I broke it…! And this… thing came out if it! Akumu, I don't know what I did…” Before I could continue, I took in Akumu's appearance “why are you so beat up again…?” I asked “It's nothing, Yume… I promise, but what do you mean a statue…? Can you show me to it…?” Akumu asked, rubbing my back gently as stayed hugging “I don't wanna go back.. Not right now…” I leaned onto Akumu, my head resting onto him “can I tell you more in the morning…?” Akumu nodded before pulling me over the rope ladder leading to what we considered our home. 

As we got comfortable under our blankets, I turned my back to Akumu, thinking over the day aside felt the other wrap around me, holding me close and he mumbled “it'll be okay…” as he fell asleep “I hope so… sleep well…” I sighed, soon following into a dreamless sleep

Akumu's POV 

In the dreamrealm… 

It's so much Gloomier then normal… I was asleep, standing in a completely pitch black area but it sounded like.. Something was moving? 

“Akumu~”  a voice spoke and I looked around quickly “who's there..?!“ I started to feel panic rise in my non-existant stomach, starting to walk around in search for the source if the voice “I’m not there~“ the voice said, almost teasing me with that I couldn’t find it, it sounded.. A lot like what Yume described.. “who are you?! Where are you?!“ I walked the opposite way then the way I had been walking “I want to help you“ They spoke in a much more sincere voice that time

“help me..? I don’t need help!“ I half-yelled, standing in one spot now “oh? I see otherwise, with those... Villagers“ the voice spoke, the tone shifting into a more mad one “how do you know about them..?“ “I know a lot, Akumu, and I want to help you“ “why should I listen to you?“ I looked to the direction the voice came from this time, seeing two red eyes looking towards me “because I can give you everything you could ever want~ now, will you think about it, at least~?“ I paused for a moment befor “yes.. I’ll think about it..“ “charming! I’ll return before you wake up~!“ 

everything around me cut out before returning to what seems like a normal dream for me, I was in a library, standing near a beanbag in front a fire, books stacked next to a small cup of coffee, I believe that's what they called the drink “what... Just happened..” I took a deep breath, sitting myself on the beanbag “they want to help.. And I don't want to be like this forever...” 

By the time I had started to truly relax the world faded back to how it started in the beginning of my dream  

“have you made a decision?" I heard them say, all I did was a simple nod, I didn't know what to expect from this.. “good, now all I need yoy to do, is eat one of the dark apples.“ and before I could even respond, I woke up. 

-

My eyes opened, the first thing I see being Yume made me relax from the sudden end of my dream 'what did he mean… I have to eat one of the apples…?' I looked towards the apples I was supposed to protect and sighed 'I'll decide later if I go through with this… I don't want to hurt her…'

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

Dreamflower

Chapter 3

"The Flower Dies"

Akumu's POV

-

'Why does the flower sting…?' I brought my hand up to the flower near my left eye and felt it was smaller, looking around to see petals scattered over our blankets "I have to hide this from Yume…” I got up, slowly and quietly, climbing down from the Tree and going off into the forest to a river, as I walked I saw.. Petals we're falling…? What? This can't be good…

as I arrived at the spot, the Sun slowly rising  causing lines of pure Sunlight to flow from the spaces in between the trees the sky turning to a watercolour painting of beautiful shades, the sound if the river softly flowing and birds chirping

As I leaned over, looking into the water I saw my reflection, my yellow flower… it was almost completely gone… oh no, what's happening to me. First I get told to eat the apples and now thi- the apples!! I could try…? Eating one won't hurt, right..? And I can do it when Yume’s with the villagers so I won’t scare her, but the flower.. It’s never fallen at all..

I returned to the tree a few hours later knowing that Yume would've gone to do her usual rounds around the village, I took a look around and went to my side of the tree, reaching up to grab one of my black and purple apples.

Yume's POV

I woke up, seeing the Sun was up and not feeling Akumu next to me, looking next to me I saw that Akumu was gone. 'Maybe he's just gone for a morning walk! He sometimes likes doing those…' with a yawn, I climbed down from our home dusting myself off, checking one more time around the tree for Akumu. Sighing, I went off into town to go see the villagers… I really hope we don't play 'that' game again.. It hurt.. 

A few hours into my usual rounds I heard screaming from… The tree?! Without a second thought, I sprinted to the village seeing a crowd of people surrounding the hill, it was so negative he- the apples… they're all Akumu's, oh no.. What happened..?! I tried to make my way to the front of the crowd, they were all scared and angry.. Yelling at Akumu.. I don’t understand.. What happened..? 

“everyone! Calm down! I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for thi-“ I tried to speak, only to get pushed away by villagers with pitch forks charging towards the tree.. “no!! Leave akumu alone-!“ 

Akumu’s POV

As soon as I touch the apple all of them turned into my darker ones, I heard screaming for a second only for it to be muffled by 

“EAT IT AKUMU.“ 

The voice.. Without a thought in my mind, I went ahead and took a bite, and then another, and another.. The muffled screaming continued in the background and.. Five apples in I heard.. Yume..?! That’s Yume’s voice! I snapped out of my haze and saw the villagers charging towards me 

And I felt a surge of pain throughout my body, I fell to my knees, coughing up a mixture of blood and.. Goop..? I couldn’t form a single thought but I could hear Yume trying to say something.. My eye became covered with goop as it poured fromskull, joints, any crack possible, it was burning, it burnt so much... 

Then it just... Stopped...? I stood up shakily, my back felt heavier.. I don’t understand why... Everythings blurry.. Looking ahead at all the villagers I felt so mad. They’ve done so much to us. Both myself and Yume, they deserve PAIN. 

SPLASH

they were gone, so quickly, that wasn't any fun. All of them are gone now?.. How did I- I didn't mean too- I looked to my side, the tree... It was gone... I cut it.. I looked forward.. Yume.. She had blood on her, shaking and frozen in place, shocked, her body was becoming.. Stone..?! 

I ran forward to her, just fast enough to hear 'I still love you...' faintly from her.. No.. No... what happened..?! 

"We killed them all, and finally I'm free! Good job, Akumu” 

That voice.. “you promised to help me! This isn't helping! Yume's..yume's stone..“

“well, yes, but she'll be free in a few hundred thousand Years give or take, and I did help, you can do anythingggg~ you want now!”

"But... All I wanted was to be happy with Yume..” 

"Hm.. That's an issue. How about you make a new home for yourself and Yume?”

Yume's POV

Within a moment of them all storming at Akumu they were killed by these goop like tendrils coming off of.. Akumu..? He was smiling and then it dropped... He was panicking.. I can't move.. Why can't I move..?! I need to go comfort him..! 

I looked down seeing my body was quickly turning into stone, it hurts.. It's so painful.. Like fire burning up every inch of my body 

Once I looked back up, Akumu was running towards me "Akumu.. I still love you.." I managed to mutter out before the word went dark...

[rainy-rose]

Apple and moon for the ask game!

Hullo and thank you for the ask ^^

🍎 apple: let’s talk about friendship in your wip. do you have any favorite friend/platonic dynamics? any friendships gone sour?

I admit i struggled a bit with this one :(. Friendship is a theme in all three of my WIPs, but apparently I suuuuck at describing them lol :)))

I don't have a favorite one, but I am bit partial to Takeru and Vincent from Silver Serpent.

They are the heads of their respective departments, criminology for Takeru and weapons for Vincent. They met each other when they were somewhere in their twenties and got partnered up for a mission. They are both quite silent and brooding people and they felt comfortable with each other pretty quickly. The fact that Takeru has Akumu (a fear controlling youkai) with him all the time did not push Vincent away, as it did with other people.

Vincent is currently in a messy divorce (been at it for 10 years, only he knows how) and a recovering addict, so Takeru (and on occasion his cousin Rika) has seen it all.

Because Takeru is constantly worried about his friend they have a "secret handshake" for lack of a better term :)). When they meet, they grab each other's wrists so that Takeru can check Vincent's pulse. Takeru also can detect when somebody lies to him, so they both had to learn how to deal with that. Takeru will always push for the truth (especially if Vincent has been away for a while) and Vincent has specific words, phrases, glares he uses to get his friend to pause and wait.

Do their coworkers ship them? Yes! Would anyone dare tell that to their face, specifically to Takeru? Nope! Welll, maybe Alma would... if they catch either of them in the right mood.

I will also tackle a friendship that soured cause the idea popped into my brain on my way home from work :))

Rio and Mentris from The Kilveh's Inheritance.

*long sufferign sigh* Okay, so! These two are messy and I still don't know how they will end up.

They were friends before plot, quite close friends. Borderline friends with benefits territory - something - power imbalance be damned territory. Mentris is a royal, they are the ruler of Isled while Rio is a palace guard. Correction, Rio was Mentris' personal guard and one of the few Kilveh that did not treat Mentris either like a child or as if they were made of precios stone one should not even dare look at, let alone touch. So yeah, tehy were close.

It suddenly stops and starts souring 10 years before plot when Rio vanishes randomly. It sours further on, during plot, after they come back, changed, and refusing to give an explanation. Mentris is not innocent is this either, they hurt Rio, badly! Mentally not phisically... although they do scream loud enough for Alurac (Mentris' older sibling and captain of the royal guard) to come barging in with 10 to 15 soldier after them, so there is that :)).

The last thing I wrote with them (whIch I already dread editing, lucky me I still have a looong way until then) - a few months ago - ended with Mentris plagued by guild and an unconscious and mentally unstable Rio (not that they were very stable when they came back, but that is beside the point) being taken away to either his room or some sort of cell *glares at Alurac cause I am in need of specifics*.

So yeah... Messy.

🌙 moon: do any of your OCs have dark backstories or secrets they’re trying to keep?

Sort of... they are more like secrets that the immediate family knows, but not the rest of the cast.

Silver Serpent:

Elise - she had two blood siblings. The records now show only one blood brother and one adopted brother

she is part of the reason why one of said blood siblings died

Takeru - when he was six he accidentally killed one of his family's elderly servants

Akumu was more or less at fault and he knows that Takeru is still affected by it

Scales and Petals

Axel - not dark, but he doesn't like people knowing that he is in love with Bolin

October themed asks

[gh0stiegirlie]

Synopsis: You have been a pro-hero for the past three years, and a damn good one too (although, you don’t think so). When you and Ground Zero are assigned on a stakeout case together to capture a member of the Dark Akumu, which is currently Musutafu's most threatening Villain League, it changes the entire course of your career-- and your life.  

Length : 2.2k words

<- pt. 1                                                                                                  pt. 3 ->

You wake up. Go upstairs. You shower, do your morning skincare, brush your teeth. You go downstairs. Turn on the stove. Crack an egg, scramble the egg and eat the egg. The same as always.

 Except today, you have something special to look forward to. Something intriguing. Something exciting. Something new!

Your research on Ground Zero last night issued expected results; Bakugou is the same imprudent idiot he’s always been. In a way, it’s comforting, because you know what to expect. But how has he reached the list of top ten heroes with his hasty mannerisms? How will he climb up on that list, let alone remain on it? 

You spend the rest of your day checking out your fellow 3-A classmate’s careers. Unsurprisingly, Izuku is currently the number five hero with a heart of gold. Uraraka isn’t in the top ten, but she’s quickly rising to the top fifty. Considering she’s only twenty, that’s a feat. He and Uraraka finally admitted their feelings (you laugh at the image of how awkward it must have been for the two of them. They’ve never been the type to confront and thoroughly manage their emotions) and have been dating for two years, which is adorable. Todorki is approaching the top twenty, with Yaoyurozo, Kirishima, and Kaminari not far behind. Tsuyu is only within the top one hundred, which is discouraging; You know she holds more power than that. But being a hero at sea, she doesn’t receive much notoriety for her deeds. 

At 2:30 you’re on your way to the station, your stomach craving the promised spicy food. When you arrive, the station is flooded with civilians. As to not accidentally poison someone, you throw on a hoodie over your shirt and zip up a sweatshirt over that. You squeeze a pair of sweatpants over your leggings, pull up your hood, and walk into the building.

You move with the current of the crowd, though try avoiding contact with anyone by yelling "excuse me," and "sorry!" with every move you make. It’s a relief when you finally reach the conference room at 2:55, feeling comfortable enough to shimmy out of your sweatpants and take off your sweatshirt. 

 “Y/n! You sure found this place easily through that crowd,” Chief Sheriff Chie notes.

“I followed the scent of this sweet, spicy wasabi.” You eagerly grab a plate of sushi and promptly dip it into a small Wasabi bowl. After taking a satisfying bite, you look back up to Chie. “I’m surprised I made it through there and survived to tell the tale. Why is it so crowded?” You ask before shoving more sushi in your mouth.

“Did you not see the news last night?” she questions, and you shake your head. “Another Dark Akumu attack followed with multiple instances of robberies and looting all over the city.” Chie runs a hand through her thinning hair. Her undereye bags darken and her wrinkles grow more defined with every day that passes. “This is why we need your help, Ether. And Ground Zero--”

Chie is cut off by a crash of the door slamming open. You turn around, and there he is.

 Ground Zero. Katsuki Bakugou. 

A piece of fish slips out of your gawking mouth, though you quickly pick it up and shove it back in. Ground Zero completely disregards your presence, preferring to take the seat five chairs away from you that's closest to the food. He aggressively grabs a cup of donburi and sprinkles on shichimi togarashi, his biceps subtly flexing with every movement. He leans back into his chair, throws his feet up on the table and sighs dramatically.

“Let’s get this shit over with so I can kick some supervillain ass,” he grumbles before shoving chopsticks of rice in his mouth. Both you and Chie gawk at Ground Zero before meeting eyes with a gulp. Then you take another bite of your sushi as Chie starts the presentation.

She finishes rehashing the information she discussed with both of you yesterday in about a half-hour, which is enough time for you and Ground Zero to devour your meals.

“Now, the goal is for you to capture Youkai. Don’t bother with the other criminal; The Dark Akumu is our top priority. We don’t know when the deal is going to take place, but we do know where.” She clicks her remote, and a picture of the infamously beautiful forest in your area appears; The forest where you and the rest of class 3-A experienced your second villain attack, back when you were class 1-A. “A clearing in the Beasts forest.” 

“You two will stakeout until the villains arrive. When you capture Youkai, call me and I’ll immediately alert the police force. Your time starts,” the Sheriff looks at the clock. 4:45. She stares at the two of you with a wide grin that’s hungry for justice. “Now.” 

Ground Zero immediately stomps out the door, leaving his mess for you to clean up. Once everything is thrown out and you’ve grabbed your sweatshirt and sweatpants, Chie pulls you to the side. 

“You’re an amazing hero, Y/n. And the two will make an amazing team. Don’t doubt yourself, and don’t let emotion cloud your judgment. You can do this.” 

When you catch up with Ground Zero he’s leaning against his expensive-ass car, twirling his keys around his pointer finger. Before you so much as open your mouth, he announces you’ll be taking his car. Though you don’t object, as it’s very spacious, making it more than suitable for a nightlong stakeout.

When you climb in shotgun you close the door as gently as you can, as to not piss off the walking bomb you're being forced in a car with for several hours. At the same time, Ground Zero shuts the door with a slam that rattles the entire car. He keeps the radio off but turns on the AC to create white noise. Although, the monotonous buzzing drives you insane. 

“Can we turn on the radio or something?!” You moan after only ten minutes into the thirty-minute car ride. Ground Zero shakes his head. You groan and turn to face him.“Please! We have all night to silently bask in the AC, we can at least have some fun now.” He rolls his eyes and picks up his phone to start typing. 1“No texting and driving, Mr. hero.” You tease. He ignores you and passes you his phone with Spotify already open. 

“Fine. But my car, my music.” You could live with those terms. “Put on Together PANGEA.”

You type in his band selection and press play before putting the phone in a cup holder. You reluctantly lean deep into your car seat, getting comfortable without letting your guard down. 

You expect Ground Zero to be into headbanging, rave rockstar type shit. But surprisingly, you enjoy his indie punk selection. You smile and wiggle your shoulders a bit to the rhythm, and when the song ends, another by the same band follows. You giggle when you notice Ground Zero tapping his fingers against the car wheel to the beat. 

You rest your head on the window and gaze into the sunset. Maybe if you and Ground Zero weren’t so rigid and awkward, maybe if you were normal people (or possibly a normal couple), you would enjoy a sunset like this together. 

When you arrive at the forest, the car creeps between trees until it reaches a hidden area outside the clearing. At 5:15 Ground Zero brings his car to a halt and turns it off. Music, AC, and all. 

The two of you sit in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time. Ground Zero pushes his seat into a lying position and kicks his feet up on the dashboard, engrossed in his phone, while you stiffly remain in your seat beside him. This is the most intimate you have ever been with him. While six years ago you would’ve loved this and taken advantage of it, currently you’re fidgeting with the door handle and staring blankly at your phone. After a few more minutes of this, you decide to put your layers back on. You zip up your sweatshirt and slide on your sweatpants. Though with the AC off, you quickly grow hot. Ground Zero notices the perspiration dripping down your chiseled cheeks and looks at you for the first time in years. 

“You don’t have to keep all those layers on, you know. I can handle your quirk,” he comments, flicking his attention between you and his phone. 

You don’t look at him, instead choosing to focus on wrapping your sweatpants string around your finger. “I don’t want to take any risks. I’ve involuntarily hurt people before.” 

“I secret nitroglycerin sweat, Y/n. I can inhale some of your gas.” he retorts before he pauses. When he realizes what this really is about, he sets down his phone. “Plus, that nerd Deku’s forgiven you by now. And long forgotten about it.”

This is when you turn to Ground Zero in shock. He… remembers that?

“You were so wrapped up in wishing death upon everyone in the class I’m surprised you even remember that.” You admit. You mean for it to come off harsh, but a faint snicker escapes your lips. Ground Zero did spend a lot of time threatening to kill Deku and several other classmates. But he was just being dramatic. (Hopefully) 

He laughs menacingly, which you guess is the only way he knows how. Honestly, you’re not sure if he feels any other emotion other than passionate violence. “How could I forget? That all-powerful loser was stuck smooching with recovery girl for a week! I was mad I didn’t do that.”

You gasp, pushing yourself to the edge of the car seat to distance yourself from him. “Why would you want to do that? He was in a coma!” You clear your throat after taking a deep breath. “I put my friend in a coma.” You wrap your arms tightly around yourself to suppress a shutter from the memory. “Because I couldn’t control my quirk.”

“Oh, cut it with the emo crap,” he growls. “Your quirk is strong and he couldn’t handle it. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Because of my quirk, toxins are constantly leaking out of my body. For combat, I can concentrate the mass of the fumes into certain areas, but no matter what, they’re always oozing into the air. Everywhere.”  You stare at your hands, watching them steadily emit a nearly imperceptible gas. But you know it’s there; You know its harmful. You force your hands into fists, keeping the fumes entrapped in your clutches. “I have to protect others from myself. I’m toxic. I can’t hurt another innocent person.” You look up at Ground Zeroes' blurring body. Within seconds, all you can make out is the outline of his grenade gauntlets and signature spiky hair. That’s when you realize you’re tearing up. 

“Y/n--” he reaches out to you, but you slap his hand away. 

“It’s Ether, Ground Zero. Ether.” You snap, blinking away the tears before they dare spill from your eyes.

All of high school, he never so much as noticed you outside calling you an “extra”. And now he finally wants to address you by your name, like you’re friends. Like he ever treated you with an ounce of damn respect. 

No. He’ll call you by your hero name. So he’ll be forced him to refer to you as an equal. He’ll never call you Y/n. Not until he proves he won’t hurt you again; Which he won’t, because this is Bakugou you’re talking about. 

“What’s your problem, shitty breath?” he mocks. Even though that was just the cruel nickname he gave you in highschool, you blow into your hand and sniff in the air. Your breath smells fine.

“Who are you calling shitty breath, hothead?! It’s not even clever!” You bicker. “I’m a pro-hero now. We’re not at U.A anymore; You can’t call me shitty names and get away with it.” You squint your eyes at the ‘hero’ and cross your arms. “I won’t let you.” 

“Oh, you won’t?” A smirk spreads across his face, and you refuse to let him see how startled you are. Another perk of being a hero; You know when to put on a mask, and how to keep up that facade. “How do you plan on stopping me?” He places his hands behind his head and closes his eyes, maintaining relaxed, poised body language. “If I remember right, you were never able to beat me back at U.A. What makes you think you can now?” When he opens his eyes, fire dances within them. And that’s when you finally understand. Bakugou has learned to control his demeanor to appear composed and carefree. But on the inside, he’s the violently spirited fighter you’ve always known him to be. 

Embers that haven’t so much as sparked in a while ignite within you. You quirk an eyebrow.

“Are you challenging me, Bakugou?” You haven’t used his name in so long, and you love the way it feels on your lips.

Bakugou's smirk morphs into a shit-eating grin, but the determination in his eyes frightens you.He’s relentless, and he’ll fight until you drop if it means he wins. And you know its his unbreakable determination that will fuel him till the end. 

But you’re ambitious too. Your brain says you can’t beat him, but your heart encourages you to try. 

When Ground Zero gets out of the car, you follow. 

You won't let him treat you like shit without standing up for yourself.

Never again. 

[fantazeerps]

No More Mistakes

Rey was tuning his violin for the fourth time in as many hours when he heard the soft shff of the tent flap opening. No clank of armor, no heavy footsteps, no immediate, enraged ‘REY!’ greeted his ears. That eliminated almost everyone, except for...

“Yes, Bon?” He asked, not turning around to face the papercraft goblin. He focused his effort on twisting the peg just slightly, and running the bow across the strings as he listened for the smallest imperfections.

“So the sacrifice thing is a bust.” Came the reply. Rey didn’t need to see Bon to know that the goblin was standing stock still in the middle of the floor, just staring into his back. He could feel the little bugger’s gaze on him, like a fly. Or a beam of sunlight. It took him a few seconds to remember what Bon was even talking about, taking about halfway into his next sentence to recall talk of demonic allegiance and ritual bloodletting. “Zokai said no. Tsagani said ‘under no circumstances.’ Then she tried folding me into a paper airplane.”

rrrrrrrnnnnt

Rey muttered a G-rated curse under his breath, the chuckle that had slipped out drowned by the sound of the bow raking awkwardly over the strings. Now he had to make sure none of them had come loose again. “What about everyone else?” Never let it be said he didn’t support people’s hobbies.

“Does it matter?” Rey felt the goblin’s gaze move off him as the little thing wandered over to his ‘bed,’ the collection of loose papers and scrolls taken from all over camp. A nest, more like. “Zokai runs the place, and she said no. I don’t think she’ll let me transform them, either.” His voice was flat, but Rey could hear the disappointment. Rey knew the frustration, perhaps better than anyone. Whereas Bon had dealt with it for only a few days, Rey had been suffering a lack of progress on anything but his songwriting for weeks. He’d been ordered to stop testing his spells after the third fool ran screaming into the desert, and had been essentially twiddling his thumbs since then.

He plucked the string he’d been tightening. Better. Ran the bow across it. Perfect. Now for the others.

“Transform?” That was new.

“Yeah.” He heard Bon sit up in his pile, and knew in an instant he’d opened a floodgate. He braced himself for the tide. “There’s a demon called the Rutterkin. Its bite is poisonous, and anyone that dies while poisoned becomes a Wretch. Not really strong, but useful for...”

Rey half-listened, focusing instead on getting the other strings perfect. In a way, he was glad that someone was actually talking to him in a way he could understand. On the other, it was about something he only moderately cared about. Still, Bon rattled on, undeterred by the fact the conversation had been one-sided. “... told Saffron about it but he only seemed interested in the bargaining-with-a-lord part. Can’t blame him, it’s a good idea if we could pull it off, but getting into contact with any Lord I’ve read about would take time and resources we don’t have. He did bring up the possibility of working with Mar’rak, though.”

Rey’s finger stopped its slow descent down the string. “Did he now.” Have you gone crazy too, inventor?

“Yeah. I wish I could have been here to actually study the thing so I could figure out if it’d be a good idea or not, but apparently we’re leaving in like two days.” Flat tone, prickled by frustration again. Rey almost felt sorry for him.

“it’s an idea.” Rey piped up, now sitting up a bit straighter, his tuning halted entirely as he stared down at the instrument, “And a possibility.” He felt that soft pressure on his back that told him Bon was staring at him again. “Mar-mar’s been free for nearly a month, and hasn’t made any progress out of the wasteland... He’d probably jump at the chance for assistance.” And better us than the gnolls.

“... yeah. Everyone else seems bent on shoving him back in his cage, though. If that’s the case, I could probably find a way to siphon his power.” Rey heard that book of his crack open, each turning page accompanied by a flurry of hushed whispers, “With the knowledge Alexius has, it should be easy to figure that one out. All the benefits with no chance of being backstabbed.” Bon muttered something else, but Rey didn’t hear. His focus was elsewhere, in a haze of irritation.

Alexius. Rey set his violin down, and stared at the wall as though willing it to vanish so he could gaze forlornly into the horizon. That lich seemed to have everyone at its defense. Celos, Vastalin, Akumu, Ziskudar, all wrapped around its bony fingers, ready to shield its with their own bodies if it needed. Three weeks they had spent with this creature, coming back and spinning a tale of a time anomaly. Ridiculous. He’s seen strange things, done more, and believed in many, but he knew of spells like Modify Memory and Geas, and personally knew the power of Suggestion, Charm, and Dominate. It would be child's play for a creature like Alexius to seize control of his allies.

... He had checked them for those spells though, most of them. Scooter could rot in the thing’s dungeon believing it to be the God’s gift to the world, for all he cared, but everyone else? Dispel Magic brushed against nothing. Even if it had failed against the magic, he would have still felt its presence there. They couldn’t be getting controlled directly.

He thought he was being paranoid, thought he was dwelling on it too much, but then came his talk with Celos. Poor, dear Celos. A wreckage, stripped bare of his elegance by whatever events had happened in that tower. The man nearly broke down in tears talking about how he’d ruined Alexius’ life. And then there was Akumu, stoic and stonefaced as he ever was... Until he talked about Alexius. Softened expression, softer tone. He even referred to the lich as an example of what humanity should strive for, in that he was trying to undo his mistakes. 

And then there was Ziskudar, deep in thought and planning, hunched over maps and seeking to end her conversation with him as fast as possible, ignoring his jabs and needles and brushing him off with a wave rather than a threat. She even allowed him the last word in their little spat.

The people he knew weren’t acting like the people he knew. Not controlled, but definitely influenced by something the lich had done. They had to be.

“Hey.” At some point, Bon had drawn closer. He could see the soft red glow of the goblin’s eyes in the corner of his own vision. “You listening?”

“Barely.” His answer was itself answered with a frustrated exhalation. “... Something about backlash with your power siphoning idea.”

“That’s about it, yeah. Alexius’ wife exploded when he messed up last time, but I think if I could convince him to write down how the ritual worked, I could find out what went wrong, correct it, and perfect it.” The glow on the wall vanished, and more whispers filled the air as Bon flipped through his book. Celos’ warning came back to mind, of the dangers of pushing Alexius. “I only saw it twice, but through my detection I got a good enough look of how the spell flowed with the...” The damn lich just kept coming up, but Rey found a bit of catharsis in how the goblin explained the situation; without care or compassion, treating everything and everyone around him like a resource. It was an admirable trait, one Rey tried to emulate with questionable success. Even now.

“Bon.“

“Eh?”

“Do you believe Alexius will help us defeat Mar’rak?” A question he’s asked five times, now. The tiebreaker.

“...” A pause in the endless banter as the goblin mulled the question over. Rey already knew what Bon would answer... But he just needed reinforcement. He needed to hear it and hope the words would give him the final nudge he needed. “Probably not. Guy’s biggest goal right now is to die, so he’ll likely fling himself in the thing’s path just to get obliterated. I’m hoping he’ll at least teach me to summon Spectators before then.”

Rey’s shoulders slackened. Tasked with finding a weapon to beat the demon, and they failed. We don’t know if he can be beaten.

They failed.

But it solidified his decision. It was all he needed to hear. Rey stood in one smooth motion, tucking his violin away into the haversack at his side. He’d packed everything he’d need for a lengthy journey ahead of time. Days ago, in fact. Before they had returned.

I won’t.

“Second question. You know Phantom Steed, yes?” He’d been puttering around for too long, hemming and hawing about the decision, the pros and the cons, the costs and the benefits.

“... Yeah?”

“I’d like to make a suggestion, then.” No more of that. No more holding himself back. No more being held back. No more being stifled.

I’m sorry, Celos.

[askhoennlegends]

(ask-maat) Maat@Akumu: "You've taken on an impossible task." Maat pauses. "I should rephrase that. You have taken the incorrect path if what you seek is your children to mesh together harmoniously forever. You would only manage such a feat if you destroyed them. Ripped their consciousness from them and buried them. You lack the heart to do so though that is not necessarily a bad thing." She narrows her eyes. "Let them quarrel. If the world dies, then it dies. Hardly a loss."

Akumu tensed and coiled at the Reshiram’s words.

Destroy Aoi and Akai? Akumu had been tasked with looking over them and assuring the survival of the world they inhabited. But here…. the Pokemon of Ideals stood, content with the idea of letting the two beasts fight to the death.

Akumu tapped their claws together.

“I see…”

“It may seem impossible, but considering I was tasked with this by Arceus themselves, they must deem it probable. It can be done. I won’t kill them. I can’t. You’re right, I lack the heart.”

The serpent turned their head and faced towards the horizon. The roars and growls of the two titans echoed throughout the island. This had gone on long enough. It was time.

“It’s time I put Δ stop to this once Δnd for Δll.”

[yellowninjaleopard]

Glitchhope chapter three: when worlds collide.

Sans eyes shot open with a blue flare and a sharp gasp, sitting up he looked around the small room. "I need some kechup" said sans to himself, getting off the bed and walking up the stairs. As he entered the kitchen he heard frisks voice along with two others, curious he went upstairs to investigate. "Ok, how do we do this?" Said Frisk as he slammed his hands on the small table. Chara snapped his fingers and said "assys our brother! We've just gotta remind him of how much he means to us! We can use the lockets!" Frisk then puts his arms over both heathers and chara's shoulders. "So the plans set! Me and chara go after asriel while heather fights Betty!" Said frisk. "Problem solved. Team determination does it again!!" Said chara raising his fist in the air. Frisk and heather laughed. Heathers soul suddenly turned blue as she was slammed against the wall, frisk and chara looked to see sans with an angry look on his face. "Sans stop!!" "Yeah! let her go you comedian trash!" Sans just growled. "No! She's a fear soul! I'm killing her!" Heather's world came to a stop at that sentence, one she has heard many times before. 'kill her!' [*no...] 'demon!' 'murderer!' [*stop it...Please..] 'freak!' 'monster!' 'fear soul!' [*I'm not her...] 'go die you demon!!' [*I'm sorry....] chara and frisk tackled sans to the floor just as the front door opened. "SANS?!" Said papyrus as he ran up the stairs. "Papyrus?! Dad?!" Sans power dropped heather as he turned around. Frisk and chara ran to heather's aid, Lulu began to fly around and panic. After an explanation and a serious scolding from toriel, sans was told to apologize to heather, he felt very bad about treating her the way he did, when he opened the door to her room, heather was nowhere to be found, sans ran downstairs and told everyone. "We need to find her." Said Gaster. Meanwhile. In a nearby playground, heather was sitting on the swingset, Lulu flew in front of her. "Are you ok? You look like your gonna cry.." said Lulu in a concerned voice. Heather lifted her head up and looked at Lulu before showing her soul, which was now light grey with a dark grey outline, along with a few cracks. Lulu felt a twang of sadness shoot through her blob like form, wrapping her tail around heather's wrist, she nuzzled heather's face. "I'm so sorry chick, i couldn't protect you.." said Lulu, heather smiled at the nickname and closed her eyes. The two sat like that for a moment until a voice could be heard. "Greetings." Heather opened her eyes to see a girl and a goat monster. [*Oh, hello. I'm guessing by those eyes...You're bete nior?] Betty smiled and said "lucky guess" Betty paused when she saw heather's broken soul, knowing she couldn't take it because it would serve of no use to her. Curiousity got the best of her. [*As you can see...My soul is useless, so i don't see why you'd want it but...We could just talk i guess?] Betty thought for a moment before separating from akumu and sitting on the swing next to heather. Akumu flew next to Lulu. "You have one too? What's her name?" Asked Betty. [*Alulia, or Lulu for short.] "Alulia...That is a very pretty name." Lulu blushed at that comment and said. "Quite the charmer aren't you dolly?" Betty yelled at Lulu's voice. "She can talk?! Aww, mine can't!" Said Betty while pouting, kumu looked at Betty angrily. Heather chuckled. [*So...Why are you here? What's your pourpose?] Betty looked at heather before replying. "To make sure humans and monsters never live in peace..Why?" Heather looked at Betty. [*Well, what happens if you succeed, witch you probably will considering the poletics around here, but what'll happen to you then? When your goal is complete? Will you fade? Die? Or just cease to exist? You haven't even thought about it have you?] "Well, I'll just..." 'wait...What would happen to me..?' Betty paused and put her finger under her chin in thought. Akumu gave a thoughtful look as well. Heather reached into her backpack and took out two cans of cream soda, handing one to Betty, who took it hesitantly, heather opened hers with a hiss and drank it, looking over, she noticed Betty was looking at the can confusingly while kumu sniffed it cautiously. Heather sighed and signaled Lulu to open it for her. Lulu floated over to kumu and nuged him away, taking the can with her tail, growing tendrals and then opening it with her said tendrals and then handing it back to Betty. Betty took a small sip before drinking it happily. [*Y'know, your not too bad of a kid Betty. We should hang out more..] Betty thought for a moment, before nodding "i never got your name, what's your name?" Asked Betty. Heather smiled [*it's heather]. Heather then looked to asriel and said [*your family must miss you huh?] Asriel gave a thoughtful said look. Suddenly  voice could be heard, it was frisk, chara, papyrus, toriel and undyne "HEATHER?!" "oh heather please come out my child!" Betty stood up and remerged with kumu. "I'll see you later, heather." Said Betty before she and asriel flew off. Heather noticed some small white fragments on the floor, [*Lulu, reassemble these.] Lulu ate the pieces and opened her mouth again revealing a half empty monster soul. [*Keep healing it, use some hope.] Lulu nodded before closing her mouth again.heather decided to go home, walking towards the voices she stepped into toriels sight. "My child!" Toriel picked heather up and hugged her, heather hugged her back and soon fell asleep in toriels warm embrace. Toriel smiled softly before walking back to the others. "Mom! Is she ok?" Asked chara. Frisk then said. "Is she hurt?" Toriel answered "she is asleep my children, she is perfectly fine, let's go home so she can sleep in a bed.." when they arrive home, toriel placed heather on her bed and tucked her in, kissed her goodnight and walked out of the room. Sans was sitting on the couch when toriel approached him. Sans said "I'm sorry...I almost killed our last hope... Litterally.." toriel sighed. "It's not me you should be apologising to..But you'll have to wait until she wakes up.." sans sighed. "I know...I really need some kechup.." said sans.

To be continued...

{*The feeling of making a new friend with your opposite fills you with HOPE💗}

[ask-dawnanddusk]

akumu @ dawn aku floated up to the other with a lot of curiosity "pardon me for asking but do you have any places in the universe that would /really/ wanna see?" a pause "im curious to know as a night creature I dont think ive seen a lot not that I can really recall anyway.."

Dawn: Oooh, interesting places! I reeeeally want to visit a mesa! Specifically a place called the Rainbow Mountains! All those layers of stone and sediment come together to make a really beautiful terrain!

Dusk: I would love to visit the sand flats after a rain. Seeing the earth become a massive mirror and reflect the sky above... I imagine it's a magical sight.

[stella-ignis-rosea]

“Young Angel if I was one of her goons you’d be dead where you stand….you may know how to fight…but is it enough for what The Fates have in store you?…nay dear Angel…I’m not here for a fight but if you challenge me don’t expect me to hold back…”

He chuckled at the angels reaction, though his words were harsh and blunt, his voice was a bit aggressive, but it didn’t seem threatening, well..not threatening the world at least..the deity paused as he could see the Angel was on edge, it only made him chuckle even more…it was kinda funny

“..who am I?…what a shame..I guess I should have expected the other gods to keep quiet about me…~”

The deity came out of hiding, moon colored pale skin, hair and wings made of purple mist glittering with sparkling stars..tattoos on his arms that seem very familiar..almost like pyrrhons. His red eyes stared deeply into Pit’s ocean blue eyes, glowing dimly with immense power of a god…it was like starring deep into the abyss of space…

“..you may call me Akumu..God of the Moon..”

@stella-ignis-rosea liked for a starter (Pit)

Being the captain of the Goddess of Light's Guard, Pit had to make sure he stayed diligent with his training of both his body and weapons. Though of course he needed time to recover from the fatigue and maybe even relax with some good food to recharge. So he decided to relax with some ice cream before he went back to training

[anar-k3y]

DreamFlower

Pt1 - you are here

Pt2

¿How it all Started?

“We were just getting to that young one, slow down so I can continue the story” the Elder chuckled, taking a deep breath before continuing the story 

"Where the two gods had made their arrangement, sprouted an apple tree, where Yume and Akumu were founded, one side was cheerful, bright, yellow and warm, the other was miserable, dark, purple, these two sides of the tree made it easy for the two to protect and slowly a blossoming town was formed around the tree and our two guardians…" the elder paused, making sure none of the children would interrupt as they continued on

“the tree only blooms once a year, but the twins have two flowers on their faces, one purple the other yellow, we're not fully sure what this means, but those flowers are part of the two, as if it means something to their relationship… the two started as two tiny fireballs that brought warmth or would make you freeze, but one way or another they were adorable~!” 

"The two twins aren't seen as family, despite their history, they are a combination of all good and evil, they're very close to each other, but it's believed they will have to sacrifice everything to continue anything else” the elder then stopped as the story was finished, the group of kids sat in front of them bombarding them with questions

"Why was there a war?!" "why are they here? Will they hurt us?!" "is Akumu bad…?" “Should we kill them both?!”

“calm down kiddos, I can answer your questions next time, your parents are here to pick you up now” The elder smiled and waved as all the kids left with a parent one after another.

-art by me

Chapter 1

The Day the Soil is Corrupted

Yume's POV

“Akumu, I'm gonna go explore for a bit, okay?” I smiled seeing him nod, running off quickly “thank you! I'll get back before sunset!” 

I ran off into the forest before any villagers could see. 'I can't wait to see all the animals! I even brought some bread for the birds!' I giggled as I thought, running off into the field of flowers Akumu and I had found through previous exploration. 

Not even ten minutes into making flower crowns, a few deers had joined me in relaxing in the field 'they seem to like it here too! I oddly actually like the quiet' I kept smiling, putting a flower crown onto a fawn sat next to her. 

“Yumeeee~” a dark voice spoke saying my name.

 

"W-who's there?!" I yelled, scaring off my new deer friends as I turned around to try and find who the voice came from. 

“I need you to walk forward, darling, you'll see me soonnn~” the voice spoke again, without even thinking properly Yume's body walked forward. 

“I d-don't.. I don't know… okay… it's fine…” Yume's let herself follow the voice, her positivity getting replaced by fear, her pace quickened seeing a gray figure behind some trees and bushes “um... Hello..?“ Yume stuttered as she walked closer. 

She felt herself relax seeing it was a statue, they had wings folded behind their back, a tail that was stuck in motion, they were sat with their legs crossed, horns on their head, they seemed to be in a suit with a few tears in it “how have I never seen this before? It looks so old…”

“you should touch it Yume~”  The voice suggested to her. 

Without meaning to Yume found herself moving without meaning too “I don't want too!! I could damage it-!” the more negative she found herself, the faster she moved to it, falling into the statue as she attempted to catch herself on it, the statue shattered and black mist as well as a surge of negative energy surged out of it, swarming around Yume as soon as she could, Yume jumped up and sprinted back to the tree. 

"Awe, I didn't even get to thank my lovely Daughter”

Akumu's POV

⚠️TW, bullying, swearing, mentions of sexual assault and transphobia ⚠️

"I'm gonna Go explore for a bit, okay?” Yume said, I simply nodded, as she ran saying she would be back before sunset or something, I just kept reading my book, She had gotten me a few books from the library the other day, the other two were more… illustrated then this one this one was about history. 

'And as the people tried to steal an-' I got my book snatched from my hands “look guys! The nerds reading a history book!” bunny laughed as she waved the book in the air to her friends “a history book?! She's Fucking nerd!” they laughed, all her friends surrounding me

"You think the she's learnt a thing or two from those books?” they were all talking to each other 'this is my chance…!' I thought to myself, about to run away and escape “where are you going, pretty boy~?” Susan spoke in a flirty tone “let me go! Yume will be back soon…!” I tried to speak "I think she should be taught a lesson~” another spoke up, undoing my shirt as I started to cry… 

After awhile they all left me, getting myself redressed I heard “you know, eating the Apple could make all your pains go away~” a dark voice spoke to me, when I quickly shook my head and looked around “Yume!! Where have you been?! Why do you look so panicked?!” I saw her run to me and hugged each other tightly.

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@vivi-draws-stuff @anonry99anonymous @orange-dreamzer

[babymetaldoll]

Danger Days - Chapter thirteen: "Screaming infidelities"

Word count: 15,4K

Summary: It's Gubler's birthday and like the title says, someone will fuck it up.

Warnings: Cheating, cursing, angst, hurt, pain, alcohol, mention of oral sex.

A/N: Kids, I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this, but... it's done. Please don't hate me.

Masterlist

Chapter one | Chapter two | Chapter three | Chapter four | Chapter five | Chapter six | Chapter seven | Chapter eight | Chapter nine | Chapter ten | Chapter eleven | Chapter twelve | Chapter thirteen | Chapter fourteen | Chapter fifteen | Chapter sixteen | Chapter seventeen | Chapter eighteen | Chapter nineteen | Chapter twenty | Chapter twenty one | Chapter twenty-two | Chapter twenty-three | Chapter twenty-four |

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::: Paris, March 1st, 2011 :::

Joey stared at the ceiling of her room and sighed. She was alone. It was already midnight. She was happy she finally had a room on her own, after weeks traveling on a bus with the band. They were in Paris, and she was weary. But still, she couldn’t sleep. She stared at her phone and sighed. Matthew had said “I’ll call you back” an hour ago, and still, he hadn’t called her back. That was killing her.

She hadn’t seen her fiancé in over a month, and they were both in different time zones, which made it pretty hard to talk. She was nine hours ahead. At the moment, she was fighting to stay awake to talk to him, but he wasn’t calling her. Would it be wrong if she insisted? Matthew was working… maybe Joey should just sleep. She was weary after all, too much traveling, too many shows. That tour was fucking eternal, and she just wanted to go home.

The young woman walked to her bag, grabbed one of Matthew’s shirts, and put it on a pillow. Yes, she dressed a pillow in her boyfriend’s clothes. That’s how much she missed him. She could deal with loneliness ‘cos she was used to being alone. Still, somehow, she couldn’t deal with the loneliness that meant being far from Matthew.

- "It’s a good thing I decided to marry him then"- she said to herself as she stared at the ring on her finger.

A big part of her wanted to time travel and tell four-year-old Joey everything would be ok, that she was going to be happy after all. That she was going to manage to trust not one but two people. Her soon-to-be husband and her best friend, Mikey Way. If there was something she could cherish from being on tour with My Chem for months now, it was calling Michael James her brother.

Joey wrapped her arms around “Mattpillow” and smelled his perfume on it. Maybe it was better to text him and tell him she was gonna call earlier; it was… three in Los Angeles. If she set the alarm at six in the morning, she could catch him around nine. Yeah, that was much better.

- “Call you later. I’ll sleep a little, love you! Take care!”- she texted him.

::: Barcelona, March 5th, 2011 :::

Mikey, Ray, and Joey walked outside the arena, searching for the best sangria they could find before the show. Joey’s mom had sent them on that quest, repeating over and over again there was no way they left Spain without having tasted it. And considering it was alcohol, they didn’t argue a lot with Mrs. Sigmundsson.

- "Dude, I’m so fucking tired"- Mikey whined as he finished his hundredth cup of coffee of the day.

- "I know, I need a break from touring"- Joey said and yawned- "I wanna go home."

- "Me too"- Ray added and looked at his phone- "I miss my wife."

- "Oh, shut up!"- Mikey argued right away- "I don’t wanna go over this conversation again, you have someone you love, and you miss them. I don’t miss home, I have no one, end of the story"- Joey and Ray looked at each other and raised an eyebrow.

- "Is your underwear too tight today, or are you just being a little bitch because you want to?"- Joey asked right away, Ray chuckled, but Mikey didn’t think it was funny.

- "Shut up, Bug."

- "Not in the mood to be nice, then."

- "Nop"- that last “p” sounded like the end of it. But that wasn’t going to stop Joey.

- "Sorry, we are…"- what stopped Joey was her cellphone. Her eyes shone like diamonds when she saw Matthew’s face at the other side of the screen, waking up.

- "Yami! Good morning!"

- "Akumu!!!"- Ray and Mikey looked at her and walked a little faster to give her some privacy.

- "Is she still sleeping with the “Mattpillow”?"- Toro asked- "That shit is creepy"- and Way laughed, finally, he had been pretty serious that day. And the day before.

- "Yeah, that’s a thing. I’ve taken pictures I wanna use to blackmail her in case I ever need it."

- "Good plan"- Ray looked around. Joey was standing half a block behind, still on the phone- "Mikey, are you ok?"

- "Yeah, why?"

- "‘Cos you don’t seem to be ok at all,"- Toro felt it was his duty as a friend to tell what had been in his mind for the last couple of weeks- "Dude I’m sorry, I just… don’t think you… it’s shitty you are getting a divorce. I just don’t think you are taking it well."

- "Can you take a divorce well?"- Mikey simply replied, and that was enough to shut Ray up.

- "I’m just trying to tell you I’m here if you want to talk, and you don’t have to get so drunk every time we are out or whatever."

- "Is this an intervention? ‘Cos we had many those for Gerard back in the days. I can recognize an intervention."

- "No, Mikey! It’s not. Everybody should be here reading letters if it was"- Ray had a point- "I’m just trying to tell you, I’m here for you, man. And we can talk about anything."

- "I know, Ray… I just… don’t feel..."

- "You don’t feel like talking, I know, you haven’t talked about it, ever I guess… and I don’t feel that’s working for you. I’m scared and worried, and I’m your friend, I had to tell you."

Way and Toro stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. Mikey knew Ray was right; he had shut down from all his friends, basically for the last three months or so. Still, he didn’t feel ready to share any kind of thought or feeling with any of them.

- "Ok kids, around the block, there’s a place called “Las tapas de Pepe.” Apparently, they have a killer sangria"- Joey clapped and walked past them on her way to the bar.

- "Wait, how do you know that?"

- "Because, Raúl me enseñó muchas cosas nuevas, (Raul taught me a lot of new things)"- the two musicians looked at her frowning not getting a word, so the girl turned to them and smiled- "That guy over there, his name is Raúl. I asked for sangria, he gave me an address. Come on!"

Joey turned around again, avoiding looking sad in front of her friends. The truth was, she wasn’t doing that well about being far from Matthew. It was getting too hard. She was thinking about quitting. And every time she talked to him, she was feeling more sure about that decision. She never told him, though. She didn’t want to make him feel responsible in case she made a mistake leaving the job. She also didn’t want him to know how much influence he had on her, Joey didn’t want to lose power in his life, she didn’t want to stop being independent, but it was hard.

::: Germany, March 8th, 2011 :::

Mikey was sugar rushed, jumping around the bunks as the bus traveled from Zurich to Munich. He and Joey had bought most of the chocolates in Switzerland and ate half of them in less than two hours. They were in heaven. Sugar heaven.

- "Can you please stop it?"- Gerard yelled at them from his bunk.

- "Nope"- his younger brother answered and jumped like a kid on top of him.

- "Leave me alone! I wanna sleep!"

- "Fine. Come on, Bug, let’s get away from this loser"- his words were so childish Joey burst out laughing.

- "Get in, loser, we are going shopping"- Joey said and flipped her hair. Gerard stared at her walking away with his brother, and groaned as he covered his head with the pillow.

He was fucked.

The last month had been torture for him. Joey was now not even talking to him. Never. It felt she honestly hated him, and he knew he couldn’t ask. Lynz kept asking for her, and he was sure she suspected something was going on.

- "So, have you and the guys have fun these days?"- she had asked earlier that day when he called her before the show.

- "Fun like going out fun? No, we are too tired to move. These weeks have been killers."

- "So you are all just at the bus locked the whole time?"

- "Pretty much"

- "On each other’s faces?"

- "Yeah… I wanna kill Mikey."

- "And how’s Joey doing?"

- "Good… we haven’t talked much."

- "She hadn’t talked to you or you hadn’t?"- the singer made a pause thinking about that question, and most of all thinking what would be an intelligent answer to that.

- "We don’t share a lot"- that all he had- "I guess we don’t talk to each other"- he made a pause and lit a cigarette, walking on his own through the backstage- "Why do you ask?"

- "I don’t know, I guess you never talk about her, and I thought it might be because you have…"- Lynz made a pause to make her husband even more nervous- "A problem with her or something."

- "No, we don’t have a problem, we aren’t friends, that’s all…"

Now on the bus, Gerard closed his eyes, still hiding under the pillow, Joey’s laughter all around him, while Frank and Ray played video games. What was he going to do?

::: At the bus, close to Munich. March 9th, 2011 :::

It was Matthew’s birthday, and Joey was miserable ‘cos she couldn’t spend the day with him. But still, she set her alarm at eight am and locked herself in the back of the bus, texting him. She wanted to be the first one to sing happy birthday to him. And so she waited, looking at the clock.

She went through old pictures to kill time, watched part of a movie Mikey had left on the DVD the night before. Matthew didn’t reply to her text. And so she waited longer. Joey wanted to call him at midnight. She was nine hours ahead. Minute by minute, she waited. Until it was time. She smiled and dialed. Nothing. Again. Nothing.

- "Where the fuck are you?"- her stomach was made a knot as her brows furrowed. Third call. Matthew finally picked up the FaceTime call.

- "Yami!!!"- he yelled, wasted- "It’s a party!"- he pointed around and moved the camera of his phone like a maniac, making Joey dizzy right away. No wonder why he wasn’t picking up.

- "Happy birthday, Akumu!"

- "Hey! Hey!"- he tried to walk through a lot of people as Joey frowned, wondering where the hell her fiancée was.

- "Wild party!"- she said as soon as she noticed Gubler had locked himself in a bathroom to talk.

- "Yeah! The guys set a little surprise party for me"- he slurred and smiled- "I love you."

- "I love you too."

- "No, I love you more. Why aren’t you here?"

- "‘Cos I’m working, but I’ll be home in two weeks, so wait for me."

- "I want you here now."

- "I wish I was there."

- "Then quit"- Joey sighed. Arguing was useless; Matthew was drunk.

- "Hey! Akumu, is Paget there? Is she gonna drive you home?"

- "No, she’s not here."

- "You are not partying with your friends?"

- "Yeah, with the guys from the movie"- Joey raised an eyebrow, thinking she had no idea where Matthew was or with who.

- "Are you sure you are ok?"

- "Yeah, baby! It’s my birthday, we are gonna party like it’s my birthday!"- Joey’s heart ached at the thought of what could go wrong. But she loved and trusted her boyfriend, and she knew he would never hurt her.

- "Hey Matthew"- she said and looked straight into his eyes through the camera- "I love you."

- "I love you too."

- "I’ve got your heart here with me all the time"- she showed him her necklace, and he nodded- "There’s gonna be a present from me waiting for you when you get home."

- "Nice!"- Joey smiled, thinking it was probably Matthew wasn’t going to remember that conversation- "Listen, Yami, someone is trying to get into the bathroom."

- "That’s ok, I’ll call you later, ok dorky?"- he nodded and waved, the girl kissed the screen, but he had already hung down.

Joey hated being in Germany at the moment.

Could Gubler be an asshole and cheat? No way, Joey trusted him with her eyes wide shut. But he was hot and drunk, and she was sure there were more than just a couple of girls trying to get into his pants. If the guys were there- his friends- she wouldn’t even worry about it. But they weren’t. He was with some random people from the set she hadn’t even met.

Soon the regret of their last fight came to mind. They weren’t mad at each other, but perhaps… no, there’s no way he would be an asshole because of that stupid fight. It was a silly fight for her. Was it serious for him?

A few nights before, Matthew had gotten mad at a conversation with Joey ‘cos she didn’t want to change her last name. That’s what he picked from the conversation. She just said she didn’t think it was necessary to do so. He didn’t take it that well.

- "What’s the problem with changing your name?"

- "I’m just saying the tradition of women changing their last names after they marry it’s a bit old fashion. It makes me think women are still treated like an object that “belongs” to a man."

- "So you won’t change your last name?"- the girl frowned, staring at Matthew’s wide-opened eyes on the screen.

- "That’s not… do you want me to change it?"

- "Yes! of course, I do! you are gonna be my wife!"

- "So? If I’m still Joey Sveinbjörndottir after we marry, I won’t be your wife?"

- "That’s not what I meant"- Gubler was more frustrated than he had felt in months over any conversation they had ever had. This time, it was serious.

- "Then what is it?"

- "I’m just saying you should change your last name ‘cos we will be married, and I’d love for you to be Mrs. Gubler."

- "I will be your wife, isn’t that enough?"

- "Why do you always have to be so fucking independent?"- Matthew just yelled- "Can you just try to understand I want you to be mine? My wife! And I want everybody to know it!"

- "So you wanna put me on display?"

- "No!! Fuck no!!"- Matthew was tired and defeated. It seemed that stupid argument was more about a bunch of little things that had grown inside his head instead of just about the last name.

- "Why can’t I be independent? Is that a bad thing?"

- "No! It’s a good thing! I just... "- Matthew bit his tongue and sighed, trying to rearrange the thoughts in his head. He needed to make sure whatever he was going to say would explain his feelings clearly.

- "You just?"- Joey asked, standing in the middle of the hotel room she was staying at that night. She just stared at the wall, thinking she had no idea what had gotten into her boyfriend’s head.

- "I just don’t feel you need me sometimes."

- "What? Are you crazy?"

- "No, that’s what I feel. Are you gonna blame me for feeling?"

- "Well, you are being silly!"

Joey was real angry at him at the moment. Everything he had said hurt her. It seemed he had insulted all the kindness and love she had given him when it was very hard for her to show her feelings and let someone into her heart.

- "What is it that you want from me, Matthew? Do you want me to be needy and clingy? ‘Cos you know that’s not who I am!"

- "I know that! I just sometimes… it feels like you’d be great without me."

- "What?"

- "Like you don’t…"- but the girl didn’t let him continue.

- "Don’t say you feel I don’t love you!"

- "I know you love me."

- "Then?"

- "You don’t depend on me the way I depend on you"- the drummer was in shock at those words. Did he depend on her?- "You leave me here, you tour the world, you are happy, I’m here, I miss you. Every time we talk, you are shining… meanwhile, I am here, dying, waiting to be with you!"

- "First of all, you could come!"

- "I’m working too!"- but Joey cut him off and continued.

- "Second, who says I don’t miss you? Just because I’m not crying when we talk doesn’t mean I am not miserable! Matthew! What the fuck are you saying? I fucking love you with my whole life! I hate being here when I could be there with you at this very same minute doing anything together, even when that anything is staring at the wall! But I have to work, and I happen to love my job, the same way you love yours! You can’t blame me for not quitting!"

Joey bit her lips as she stared at Matthew at the other side of the screen. She was making her best not to cry. She had never been so mad at her fiancé before.

- "I just…"- he tried to continue, but his voice broke- "I feel like I’m going insane here without you"- tears fell from his eyes as Joey wiped off hers from her cheeks.

- "Matthew, I miss you too! Fuck! I’m going crazy, just like you! I want to be there. I wanna kiss you! I wanna make love to you! But… you can’t ask me to be someone I’m not! Can’t you just be happy your girlfriend loves you, misses you, and will marry you as soon as she finishes touring?"

Gubler sighed and stared at her.

- "I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, Matthew Gray Gubler. I don’t care about the last name. I don’t care about anything as long as you are beside me."

The young man sighed and cut her a short smile.

- "How do you always end up making me feel like a dork for getting mad at you?"

- "‘Cos I’m gonna be your wife, that’s my job"- she chuckled, and they stared in silence for a few seconds.

- "I love you so much, Joey."

- "I love you more, Matthew Gray."

That had been days before. Was Matthew still upset at her because of that? No way. He didn’t sound mad at all. He was just drunk and happy to celebrate his birthday.

- "You are overthinking this ‘cos you are far from him"- the girl reassured herself out loud and looked at the screen again- “Love you dorky”- she typed and sent her boyfriend a message. That was something he couldn’t forget.

The girl stayed still looking at the TV in front of her for a few seconds, but the knot in her stomach was too tight, and the thoughts in her head were too scary. She felt sick, scared, anxious.

Joey was jealous, shit!

She ended up puking in the bus’s tiny bathroom, just like every time she felt seriously distressed.

- "Hey, are you ok?"- Gerard found her on the bathroom floor, flushing, pale, and a little weak.

- "Yeah…"

- "Are you sick?"

- "No, I just… I’m ok."

- "Sure?"

- "Yeah, I just need an herbal tea. I felt dizzy all of a sudden"- she held the hand he offered her and stood up.

- "I’ll put on the kettle"- Joey stumbled a little as she walked with Gerard to the front of the bus.

- "Hey Bug"- she heard Mikey’s voice as he opened the curtain of his bunk. She slowly moved over and sat next to him- "Did you talk to Matthew?"

- "Yeah, he was wasted"- and Mikey chuckled.

- "That’s my boy."

- "I didn’t like it."

- "Come on, he is a good kid. He will probably drink his liver away and then go to bed, have a killer hangover, and talk to you until either of you falls asleep like he always does."

Mikey reassured her, and the girl chuckled, nodding. Her friend was right. She was still dizzy, though, so she carefully laid down next to him and felt his arms around her slowly.

- "Bug, you are freezing."

- "I’m ok. Gerard is making me an herbal tea… I should do it, actually; he ain’t my nanny"- the girl tried to stand up, but Mikey held her.

- "You should get into your bunk for another while. You might be getting the flu."

- "I’m ok, trust me"- she finally stood up and smiled at her friend.

- "Here, take my hoodie."

- "Thanks… it stinks."

- "But it’s warm, does the trick"- she smiled and put it on. Gerard had just left the cup of tea on the table. She walked over slowly and cut him a smile. An honest and nice smile.

- "Thank you, Gerard."

- "You can call me Gee, you know"- she nodded and sat down by the table.

Gerard sat in front of her, sipping his fresh cup of coffee. The two of them were quiet. Joey was thinking about Gubler. What was he doing at that very exact moment? Why wasn’t she there? How would it have been if they were together? They would probably be naked in his bed. And that would be great. It would be way much better than what she was doing at the moment, sitting on a bus staring at the window.

- "Are you sure you are alright?"- he whispered, and she nodded again- "Do you wanna go back to bed? I mean bunk."

- "No, I’m fine here… besides, we should be getting ready…"- she stayed quiet and looked outside- "Where are we?"

- "Munich"

- "Great… we had a hotel room here, right?"

- "Yeah"

- "Finally!!!"- she raised her arms, and he chuckled- "I need a real bed."

- "Me too."

- "And a long fucking bath"- he nodded and looked into her eyes. They were stuck in the cup of tea again.

- "We’ve got the Valencia gig in a couple of days."

- "Right! The MTV streamed no stressful at all show in Spain"- he chuckled and nodded.

- "Nervous?"

- "Not really"- she lied, the fact MTV was going to stream the show was freaking her out, but at the moment, she didn’t care that much. Her head was back in Los Angeles. Her phone hummed, and she quickly grabbed it. “I love you too,” Matthew had written, and a deep sigh came from her lips. Gerard was going to ask something, but not a word came from his lips. Instead, Jeff - their tour manager - opened the door and smiled.

- "I got you an early check-in at the hotel."

And those words were music for Joey’s ears.

That day was hell for the girl. The good thing was the band didn’t have anything to do but play the show, which meant: movies with Mikey and Frank, the best way to keep her head busy from thinking the worst.

- "I’m bored"- Frank whispered as he played with Joey’s hair, who was laid next to him.

- "We have to leave for the show in a while"- Mikey whispered, half awake, half asleep.

- "Great"- the girl murmured, eyes glued at the screen- "I’m hungry."

- "You just ate."

- "I’m bored. Boredom makes me hungry."

- "Come on, let’s get something to eat"- Frank grabbed Joey’s hand and stood up- "I need to move from this bed, or I’m gonna die of boredom."

- "Can you bring me some ice cream?"- Mikey asked from the bed as Joey and Frank put on their shoes.

- "Nope, if you want something, you gotta come with us"- the girl smiled at her friend, who didn’t move.

- "Damn it! Fine… I won’t have ice cream."

- "Good for you, see ya!"

Gerard was just done jerking off in his bed. He wasn’t happy about it, but he didn’t have much to do. He had tried to make music, but shit wasn’t working. He had thought about calling his wife, but it was five in the morning in Los Angeles. He was miserable. He wanted to find a way to end his agony. But all he could think about was Joey walking around the bus in her pajamas. Joey sleeping in the back of the bus in those shorts and a tank top. Joey curled on a couch reading Edgar Allan Poe. His cock was killing him, and his hand hadn’t been enough. He wanted her so bad it hurt, and masturbation just wasn’t enough anymore.

He wanted to tell her that he loved her. That he was willing to make her happy. But he knew he couldn’t do either of those things.

- “Come live with me and my wife, ‘cos polygamy ain’t illegal or whatever.”

The singer sighed and looked at the ceiling, toilet paper all over his hand, cleaning the mess he had left.

- "You have issues, dude"- Gerard said out loud and closed his eyes. Honestly, there was nothing he could do but to love the girl from a safe distance and hope for his feelings to fade as soon as the tour was over.

Way didn’t want that tour to end because he didn’t want to be apart from Joey. In fact, Gerard was starting to feel obsessed. He hated it, but still, he didn’t know how to stop.

Frank kept laughing like a kid as he and Joey sat at the hotel’s roof deck. He was drinking a beer and smoking while she finished her second ice cream.

- "Mikey Fucking Way"- she argued, frowning- "Because of him, I can’t stop thinking about getting ice cream."

- "You are so fucking high in sugar"- Frank added and grinned.

- "I know! It’s gonna be hell when I get my sugar hangover."

- "I can kiss your temples if that helps"- he answered and winked at her. The girl smiled and raised an eyebrow.

- "Why are you such a flirt with me, Frank Anthony?"

- "I am not a flirt!"- he answered, nearly insulted, but still chuckled after a few seconds as his friend stared at him right into the eyes.

- "Come on! We’ve been friends for a long while now. You are always such a flirt with me. Are you like this with all the girls?"

- "Define like this"- he answered with a lower voice and made his best to look as hot as fuck.

- "Just what you did, you are adorable and hot and cute and all innocent. Why are you like that?"

- "Why? You don’t like it?"

- "I love it, it’s so fucking funny and cute, like you. But sometimes it makes me wonder if you are like that with all the girls…"

- "Why?"

- "’Cause I know you are just my friend, and you can be as flirty as you want; I know it’s a game. But what if you do this with someone who doesn’t get it as I do… then what?"- Frank stayed quiet, looking at his friend. Then took a long drag from his cigarette.

- "What if I’m just a flirt with you?"

- "I surely doubt it"- Joey quickly answered, laughing- "I’ve seen you flirt with basically 99% of the girls we’ve met this tour. You just don’t notice it."

- "I haven’t!"

- "You do, Frank, that’s why I know you are harmless"- that frustrated the guitarist, though he knew he wasn’t going to get any with her anyway. She was his friend; he loved his wife. He just thought Joey was hot.

- "Tell you what, I like flirting with you ‘cos you are cute, and you don’t get nervous"- Iero simply confessed.

- "Of course, I don’t! You are my friend, and this is like…"

- "The nature of our friendship?"

- "You just read my mind, Jersey"- the two of them stayed quiet and smiled.

- "I would hit on you if I wasn’t married, though"- Joey burst out laughing at those words, but Frank just smiled- "I mean it."

- "I know."

- "If I wasn’t… and I did… do you think I’d stand a chance?"- the girl blushed and finished her ice cream.

- "I’d say you would if Gub wasn’t in the picture, of course. We could have gone out on a couple of dates, have fun."

- "And fuck like bunnies"- Frank added, and Joey hit his arm.

- "Dude, you are my friend. Friends don’t fuck."

- "What? So friends make love? besides, we are talking about an alternative universe that will never happen!"

- "Shut up!! You are gross!!"- Joey covered her face with both hands as she shook her head- "You are so fucking funny Jersey, I’m glad I met you."

- "I’m glad I met you too, Iceland. You should stay forever"- she smiled and nodded.

- "I’m not going anywhere today."

- "I mean, you should sign to be a member of the band, like… one of us."

- "One of the guys?"

- "Yeah"- she smiled and held his hand.

- "You are taking this relationship too fast. We’ve been together a few months. We haven’t even moved in together. I don’t think we are quite there yet."

- "You live on my fucking face, Iceland"- Frank laughed and pushed her- "Which reminds me, you have to do your fucking laundry."

- "Yeah… I swear I’ll do it in Spain, while you do all the press and I have the hotel all by myself."

- "You know, sometimes I hate you for that."

- "For not having to do any interviews?"

- "Yeah… I hate those things."

- "Why? 'cos you have to sit in front of a microphone for hours answering the same fucking questions, over and over again?"- she said, smiling.

- "Fuck you."

- "I’m sorry!!"- she laughed, and he grinned- "I bet press sucks, but it comes hand in hand with being a rockstar."

- "I hate that too"- he said and scratched his head, stubbing his cigar in an ashtray- "I just wanted to make music. I don’t know where everything else came from. Sometimes I wish I could stop it all and go home, be with my babies, with my wife."

Frank suddenly had gotten too serious and too deep, something Joey knew was like the comet Halley: it happened once in a lifetime around her.

- "Why don’t you stop?"- she innocently asked, mostly ‘cos she had thought about stopping herself.

- "I don’t know, it’s like… you somehow got trapped in this machine, and it won’t stop working, and if you take a step back, it all collapses…-" he looked at his hands as he spoke, but Joey held them and smiled.

- "I don’t think anything is gonna collapse if you stop doing tour after tour for a while"- she whispered- "There are more important things in life than concerts, you know."

- "Name one"- he said and looked into her eyes.

- "Your kids"

- "Nailed it"- and Joey burst out laughing- "It was too easy!"

- "Exactly, nothing is more important than the ones we love, so shut the fuck up and man up! ask for a break every once in a while, ‘cos this leg of the tour, I must say, has been misery for all of us."

- "I know!"- Frank gesticulated in the most Jersey Italian way that always made Joey laugh- "It’s been hell!"

- "The only good thing of it all, other than the money, I mean"- she said and chuckled- "It’s the fact I can call you my friend."

- "Awww, Iceland. You could have called me your friend from day one, even when I hated the guts out of you."

- "Why did you hate me, by the way?"

- "‘Cos I wanted to do you so bad I didn’t want you in the band"- Frank simply answered, and the drummer raised an eyebrow.

- "Are you joking?"- by her face, Iero could tell the comment hadn’t been the best he had done.

- "Of course, I am!!"- no, he wasn’t- "I just didn’t want to make a circus out of the fact you are a girl. I knew people would start making up stories, and Jamia would be nervous and jealous because of you… having a woman in the band back then meant a mess I didn’t want to deal with."

- "And why did you change your mind?"

- "Mikey forced me"- Joey nodded, and Frank smiled- "And Jamia was really into you from day one. She loved the idea of adding a girl into the tour ‘cos there weren’t enough women in rock… but mostly ‘cos I told her your boyfriend was the hot guy from Criminal Minds, and I swear, she nearly yelled. She wanted me to friend you so she could meet him."

- "I’m in this band ‘cos your wife thinks my soon to be husband is hot?"- and Frank nodded- "I owe Jamia more than I thought I would. Maybe I can send her a picture of Matthew naked"- Frank raised an eyebrow as Joey smiled- "You know she is gonna love those."

- "But he is so tall… he is gonna make me look bad"- he joked, and Joey laughed like she hadn’t laugh that whole day.

- "Of course, he is. But in your defense… he could make every single fucking man on earth look bad. Have you seen his feet?"

- "Joey!! Shut up!!!"

Matthew woke up on his bed, his head killing him and a complete blur of what his night had been. He just sat and scratched his head.

- “What time is it?... wait, how did I get home?... fuck!! What happened last night?!”

The young actor nearly jumped as he started to recap his birthday party. The cast from the movie had arranged a party in a local bar, he was really happy about it, though he almost declined it. He was tired, but his co-star convinced him it was a great idea to go out, get to know everybody a little better, and start his birthday celebration.

- "Oh fuck"- he grunted- "My fucking head is killing me…"- he reached out for his phone and found it on his nightstand. He had a few unread messages from Joey

- “I love you Akumu!”- he smiled right away- “Remember to leave a bottle of water by your bed to keep you hydrated”- and he had indeed left one there- “Save some birthday belated celebration for my comeback in a few days.”

- "Honey!"- his mother’s voice took him from his head as he looked at his bedroom’s door

- "Mom! What are you doing here?"

- "Happy birthday, honey!!"- he stood up and walked over to hug her immediately.

- "Mom! Thank you so much for coming!"

- "I had to come, I have to give you something"- the actor frowned- "This came into the mail for you a few weeks ago, but I had to wait until today to give it to you"

Mrs. Gubler smiled as she gave her son a box. It was completely hand-drawn with jako lanterns, cute skulls, ghosts, and hearts.

- "What is this?"

- "A present that you got from very far away, or so it seems."

Matthew grabbed the box and sat on his bed to open it. Inside, there was a letter from his fiancé, a couple of gorgeous kimonos, Japanese books, art, a few Halloween shirts, and unmatching socks. Matthew was speechless, staring at the box. It was amazing.

- "I can’t believe this"

- "Joey sent it when she reached London, and we agreed I would bring it to you today."

- "Thank you"- he moved over and gave her a hug.

- "Don’t thank me for coming over on your birthday, honey. I love you, thank the girl at the other side of the world who gathered everything you might love and shipped it to you on your special day"- she kissed his cheeks and stood up-" I’m gonna make you breakfast, and you are gonna take a shower ‘cos you stick, are you still drunk?"

- "No mom"

- "Then call your wife! And thank her for the presents!"

- "Yes, mom!"

Matthew grabbed his phone, smiling, and dialed Joey’s number. It rang once. It rang twice. He was about to give up and try later when the girl picked up and smiled at the other side of the screen.

- "Birthday boy!"

- "Baby! You are amazing!"- he quickly said and laid back on his bed- "I just got my presents."

- "Did your mom give you the box?! did you like it?"

- "Hell yeah! It’s amazing, thank you"

- "Did you like the kimonos?"

- "They are the softest!"

- "I know!! I was in shock! You can hang them in the kimono closet!! So when you get home, you can get naked, grab a kimono and just relax!"

- "Are you gonna be naked under your kimono too?"- the girl giggled nervously.

- "That’s very likely"

- "I like that idea. Where are you?"

- "Backstage warming up, we are playing at eight… did you just wake up?"

- "Yeah…"- he whispered and closed his eyes.

- "You were fucking wasted last night."

- "I thought you didn’t notice"- he answered, chuckling, still feeling uneasy about his wild night out. It felt off. Probably ‘cos he was way too hungover.

- "Matthew Gray Gubler, I’m gonna be your wife. I know when you are drunk, you can’t fool me even if you tried your best"- the actor laughed softly (laughing also hurt) and nodded at Joey- "Wait, the guys wanna say hello."

Matthew saw Mikey, Frank, and Ray appear and waved at the camera.

- "Happy birthday, dude!"- Ray said smiling- "How’s the hangover?"

- "Killing me!"

- "Save some liver for our party, man!"- Mikey said and waved too

- "Hope you have a great day!"- Frank added.

- "Thanks, guys!"- Matthew said and waved, yet his eyes were glued at Joey, who kept looking at him with a warm smile.

- "Where’s Gerard?"- Mikey asked and looked around. Gerard. Gubler frowned immediately. He hated him deeply, and he hated the fact Joey worked with him.

- "He was smoking outside"- Frank answered and waved again at the screen- "See you, Gubler!"

- "Bye guys!"- the band walked away, and Joey was now again all alone- "Hey, gorgeous"

- "Hey, wild party beast. What are you doing for the rest of your birthday?"

- "I’m not leaving this bed"- Joey laughed and looked at him in silence for a couple of minutes.

- "I’m gonna be in that bed with you in twelve days, can you believe that?"

- "I’ve waited so long it seems to be an eternity, but at the same time, it feels like it’s gonna be tomorrow."

- "I know exactly how you feel."

- "Honey! breakfast!"- Matthew’s mother yelled from the kitchen, making the young man laugh.

- "I am ten years old again, or was that just a strong flashback?"

- "Go eat, I’ll play a show, and I’ll call you from the hotel, ok?"- he nodded and smiled.

- "I love you so much, Yami."

- "I love you more, Matthew Gray “birthday boy” Gubler. Talk to you in a couple of hours."

The actor hung down and sighed. He felt happy to know he had her in his life. That she was gonna be his wife. As he thought about it, he started going through some of the pictures from the night before. He remembered half of it, but it felt like he had fun.

- "Fuck!!"- he shouted and wide opened his eyes.

Maybe a little too much fun.

Matthew stared at the screen in shock. There was a picture of him kissing two girls at the same time. Two. Girls. Kissing. Him. At. The. Same. Fucking. Time. And it didn’t help when he noticed, one of those girls was his ex-girlfriend.

- "Shit! Shit! Shit!"- he kept going through the party pictures, shots, laughter, his ex kissing him while they danced. Bunch of people, more people laughing, his ex and her friend kissing him again.

- "Fucking shit! What the fuck did I do?!"

Matthew’s heart was about to come out of his throat as he started deleting every single photo from his phone. Why were those there? Why did he do that? Who saw him? Where were those pictures now?

- "What the fuck did you do, mother fucker?! What else did you do?!"

Matthew couldn’t move. He just sat with the phone in his hands, thinking if he erased those pictures from his phone, it was like it never happened. But now it was in his mind, and he couldn’t stop the memories from coming back.

He was drunk and sad after talking with Joey. He had another shot and decided to go home, but his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends- part of the team of the movie he was filming- appeared and invited him to dance. Drunk Matthew didn’t seem to think it was a bad idea and joined them on the dancefloor. They danced, the girls started kissing. Gubler liked it and didn’t move away when they moved closer to him and started kissing with him too.

- "Oh fuck!!"- he wanted to kill himself.

But that wasn’t all. He wished it was, but it was all coming back now. His ex took him to the backroom.

- "No!"- Matthew yelled, widening his eyes- "No!"- he repeated, as his mother appeared running into his room.

- "Honey! What is it?! What happened?"

- "I fucked it up!"- he simply answered and didn’t move an inch

- "What are you talking about?"

- "Last night at the party… I ran into Annie, and she was with a friend and…"- the actor made a pause and scratched his head aggressively

- "Matthew?"

- "And they kissed me happy birthday…"

- "Matthew?"

- "And then… mom sorry, I can’t tell you this"- the young man tried to stand up, but his mother stopped him.

- "Matthew Gray Gubler, what did you do last night?"

- "I made out with them, and Annie gave me a blowjob"- he covered his face with both hands, embarrassed and regretful. He felt sick, dirty, gross. He felt like an animal, like everything he had always hated, like a man who cheated.

He cheated. And he wasn’t going to be able to undo it or even forget it.

Matthew broke into tears quietly at first, but his sobbing grew bigger, sadder, and more desperate. He hated himself, he needed to find a way to forget about what had happened, but he couldn’t. Instead, the memories kept coming; Annie kneeled in front of him.

- "Mom… I fucked it up."

- "Yes"- she simply replied- "You did, and Joey is gonna find out, no matter if you don’t tell her."

- "How do you know? Maybe no one saw us"- the actor was in denial and desperate to find anything that could keep him from dealing with the truth- I might have just dreamt the whole thing, maybe it never happened

- "Matthew?"

- "Maybe I can forget about it. If I don’t remember it, then it never happened."

- "Matthew"

- "Mom, I can’t tell her!"- he nearly shouted, nervous and grossed out by himself.

- "I didn’t raise a liar or a cheater"- the young man looked at his mother with watered-up eyes.

- "How am I supposed to tell her something like this? she is gonna hate me! She is gonna break up with me, mom. I know her."

- "You have to take responsibility for the things you’ve done, Matthew. You said you wanted to marry her. You can’t start that commitment with a lie."

- "She is gonna hate me… fuck, I hate me…"

- "Well, you brought it to yourself, Matthew Gray, so you have to fix it."

Gubler took a long shower and cried half of it. He couldn’t believe what he had gotten into. Or why. What had gotten into him to get so drunk ‘till the point of letting his ex-girlfriend give him a blow job? That wasn’t him. He remembered he felt bad after talking with Joey. He knew he couldn’t stop thinking she was touring with Gerard and hated him. What if he had tried to make his move on her? What if she fell for him? She wouldn’t. But what if she did? They had been apart for so long. No, he trusted her with his life. She would never do such a thing.

Then why had he done it?

Matthew honestly wanted to kill himself. That’s how guilty he felt. He knew Joey was never going to forgive him, and he was considering not ever telling her. She was never going to find out if he didn’t confess. Maybe he could take it to the grave.

Mikey hugged Joey goodnight and watched her walk to her room. Gerard looked at them from the other side of the hallway. The girl waved at him, and he waved back.

- "Hey! What are you doing?"- Mikey asked his brother as he lazily walked over him, weary after the show.

- "I just wanted to know if you wanna hang out. James and Frank are locked in their rooms already. Maybe we can watch a movie or something. I don’t feel like being on my own for a while"- Mikey nodded at Gerard.

- "Sure, man. Let me take a shower, and I’ll be right there."

Originally, Gerard wanted to drag Joey along with his brother, ‘cos it seemed like the only way to hang out with her. But she had disappeared way too fast to make his move.

The girl took a shower, put on her pajamas, and dialed Matthew’s number. He didn’t reply.

- "Hangover man has to be hanging out with his mom"- the girl thought out loud and grabbed a book to kill time. He was going to call when he was ready to talk.

Was he?

Matthew saw his cell phone right and froze. His hands shook when he reached out to answer, and that’s when he realized he couldn’t. He wasn’t going to be able to lie to her. But he couldn’t tell her either. He was home alone. His mom was out, mainly to give him space to think and talk with Joey in private. But yet, Matthew didn’t know what to do or what to say.

- "Ok, she is the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with, and you are willing to do everything that’s in your power to keep her by your side"- he said and looked at his reflex in the mirror and then washed his face.

- "Akumu!"- Joey smiled as soon as he saw him- "How was breakfast?"

- "Chocolate chips hotcakes with a whipped cream smile on top, and lots of coffee."

- "Spoiled by your mother on your birthday, lucky man"- he smiled and felt a knot in his throat.

- “Fuck! this is going to be so hard!” And how was the show?"

- "It was good, not the finest though… we are all so fucking tired"- the girl laid on her bed and smiled at her boyfriend- "When I get home, I’m not leaving that bed Matthew Gray Gubler, I’m gonna spend every second there... sleeping."

- "I’m not planning on sleeping if you are in this bed"- he answered and felt his voice shake at the end of the sentence, guilt taking over him.

- "You are gonna have to let me sleep at least a day. I’m so fucking tired and jet-lagged all the time. This tour ruined my sleeping schedule"- Joey joked but frowned as she noticed her boyfriend had tears falling from his eyes- "Akumu, what is it? Are you ok? Why are you crying?"

- "‘Cos I miss you"- he simply answered- "I miss you so fucking much! Can we just get married when you get here? I’ll pick you up at the airport, drive us to the nearest church, and we just get married right away"- the girl sighed with watered-up eyes herself as she stared at Gubler sobbing.

- "I miss you too… and I can’t wait to marry you either."

- "Can you promise me you’ll always be with me? No matter what?"

- "Matthew, I swear I’ll always be by your side"- the girl felt broken-hearted by the emotion in her fiancé’s words. She had never seen him so sad before, was it because she wasn’t there on his birthday?- "That is the main reason why I wanna marry you dorky, ‘cos I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, in one eternal Halloween"- Matthew smiled at those words and wiped off his tears.

- "Sorry, I’m just a little emotional… ‘cos I miss you, and I need you here."

- "I’m sorry I couldn’t be there."

- "No, Yami, don’t be sorry. You are working! And you are so awesome and incredible. I swear I don’t deserve you."

Matthew kept trying to stop crying, but it was harder than he thought. He was feeling so guilty, so low, the worst human on earth. And the girl on the other side of the world was just telling him she thought he was the best man amongst them all.

- "Yes, you do! You are an incredible man, hangover boy! I should be the one telling you how amazing you are, it’s your birthday! I want to make you feel happy all the time, please don’t be sad!"

- "I just need to see your face to be happy today"- he answered without hesitation and sighed- "You know what?"

- "What?"

- "I’m gonna tour with you."

- "What?"- Joey frowned and looked at how Matthew sat correctly on his bed and fixed his hair.

- "Yes, I will. I hate this. I hate being apart from you this long. So next couple of months, I’m gonna follow you wherever you go."

- "You’d do that for me?"- the girl widened her eyes

- "Joey, I would do anything for you"- Matthew made sure to pronounce every word as slowly as possible as he looked at her eyes- "So I’ll schedule plane tickets to be with you."

- "And your work?"

- "You are more important than my job. I can’t be like this anymore, we are gonna finish the movie in two weeks, and after that, my only job will be to clap after every song you play"- Joey smiled, feeling her heart swell with love, as a few more tears fell from her eyes.

- "You are making me so happy."

- "My plans for as long as I live exactly."

Mikey and Gerard were laid watching tv. Mikey kept surfing channels while Gerard sipped his diet coke and scrolled down his Twitter timeline. Neither of them felt like talking, pretty much ‘cos they were tired, and after being so many weeks stuck together, there wasn’t much new to say.

- "Weird!"- Mikey chuckled as they caught a Criminal Minds episode and Matthew as Spencer Reid appeared on screen- "I never thought I’d friend this guy."

- "Why did you do that? he is an asshole"- Gerard simply answered and kept his eyes stuck on the phone.

- "He’s not an asshole. He is hilarious. You’d like him if you met him."

- "Not interested"- Mikey frowned and kept surfing channels- "Wow, I thought you were going to watch your boyfriend’s show."

- "Wow, very mature, Gerard."

- "Sorry"- the singer knew he had crossed the line, mostly ‘cos he shouldn’t show how much he hated Matthew because…

- "Why do you hate him so much?"- because Mikey could start asking questions, and he didn’t want to talk.

- "I don’t hate him. He is not my friend, which is very different."

- "And Joey is not your friend either"- Mikey added- "You never talk to her."

- "She never talks to me"- Gerard added, and his voice betrayed him, showing some bitterness in his words.

- "Well, maybe because you didn’t want her in the band."

- "It’s been months. Get over it."

- "Now that I think about it, you are not even close to her at all…"

- "You are way too close to her, close enough for the two of us"- Gerard spit those words, still not looking at his brother.

- "What? Are you jealous or something?"

- "No!"- he snorted- "Why? Should I?"

- "I don’t know. You are being an asshole."

- "I’m just tired…"- Gerard came up with the worst excuse ever

- "Ok, if you are tired, I’ll leave you to sleep, dude, you are not what I call a pleasure to hang out with anyway"- Mikey stood up and walked to the door- "See you tomorrow at the plane."

Mikey left the room, and Gerard groaned, annoyed. He grabbed the remote control and surfed the channels until he found Criminal Minds again. He just wanted to see Matthew’s face to hate him even more.

- "What’s so special about this asshole? He is just a pretty boy, no talent, definitely no acting skills… He is tall. That’s all he has in his favor"- Gerard was arguing with the television out loud.

- "I mean… it’s clear he is not as smart as his character, and he ain’t funny either, shit! I bet he hasn’t done anything but this stupid tv show and those 3 minutes in the Wes Anderson movie."

Gerard opened google and searched for information about Matthew Gray Gubler, just to make sure he was a loser. He hated to know he wasn’t, though Gerard thought everything he had done had been pathetic so far. Everything but proposing Joey. And that was what Gerard hated the most. It was sick, and he knew it, that obsession he had about that girl, the one he couldn’t have. He just couldn’t take the idea of being with her out of his mind. Why? Was it because obviously, she didn’t want him? Many girls hadn’t wanted him before. Why was this one killing him slowly?

- "Oh fuck!"- Gerard nearly shook with his coke when he saw a picture of Matthew’s birthday- "Oh man!! I knew you were too good for my girl!!"- Gerard wanted to jump when he saw a picture of Matthew making out with a girl and the comment: “Matthew Gray Gubler birthday, 2011”.

- "You are going down!!"

::: Munich, March 10th, 2011 :::

Ray and Joey walked out of a Krispy Kremes at the airport, waiting for their flight to Valencia, holding a huge box of freshly made donuts. Joey was in heaven, and Ray was laughing at how excited she was about coffee and sugar.

- "Touring with you and Mikey together has been the best training to be a dad one day"- the guitarist said, chuckling.

- "Are you planning on having babies, dad?"

- "Yeah, it’s something me and Christa have talked about a few times. I want to wait until life gets a little bit less… messy ‘cos I wanna be with her the whole way and enjoy our babies."

- "Oh, dad, you are so cute"- the girl pout and punched his arm- "I want babies too, but I don’t think it will happen soon."

- "Why?"

- "Well, ‘cos I guess I want to wait until I have a steady job first."

- "And what is this for you?"- Toro gesticulated.

- "I’m your drummer for the tour Ray. The tour will end at some point, though it seems endless right now, and I will have to look for another job. And what if I get another tour drummer job? I’m gonna have to travel again. When am I going to be home with my husband to make and raise a baby?"

- "Well… after the tour you could be our studio drummer too, and you can stay in Los Angeles with Matthew and start making babies"- the girl chuckled at those words, though she liked the idea- "You should name your firstborn Ray though, I’ll put that in the contract"- both of them laughed and reached their gate.

- "Kids! Sugar!"- Joey’s smile shone as she gave Frank and Mikey the donuts box.

Gerard looked at her and sighed, thinking he wanted to tell her what he knew about Matthew, but it hurt him to know how much damage it was going to mean for her

- "Hey, Gerard!"- she snapped her fingers in front of him- "This one has your name on it. I figured you’d like a cappuccino cream donut."

- "Thank you"- he felt his cheeks blushing as he held the donut and smiled at Joey- "Sugar low?"

- "Yeah, my body needs some fuel to work until we reach the next hotel, and I can sleep some more."

- "Why? You didn’t sleep well last night?"- Gerard bit his donut and stared at Joey’s cheek turning red.

- "No, I stayed up talking with Matthew until three am."

- "Wow… really? Everything ok?"- Gerard’s heart beat a little faster with those words. She wouldn’t be so happy if she knew what Gubler was doing behind her back. Or did she not care? No, it was more likely she had no idea.

- "Yeah, we just miss each other a lot, and it was his birthday. I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, even on FaceTime."

- "His birthday!"- Gerard nodded- "Right, so he didn’t party or whatever?“Smooth dude, good”

- "He did, the night before with some friends from work, he was kind of hungover"- Joey smiled again- "So last night was our moment to celebrate."

- "Dude, please. I don’t wanna picture you and Matthew having phone sex"- Frankie showed up and grabbed Joey’s coffee- "I mean, you, that I can imagine, but him… not so much."

- "Jersey!!"- the girl frowned and smacked him.

- "What?!"

- "Stop being disgusting!"- he chuckled, and she took her coffee back from his hands

- "We all knew what you meant when you said you “stayed up talking with Matthew until three am”- Iero air quoted and laughed again- "We’ve all been there, I’ve been there like three times in the latest weeks."

- "Come on!!!"- Joey smacked him again and walked away. Frank kept laughing for a few seconds and finished his donut.

- "Hey guys, come closer"- Gerard whispered as he noticed Joey had walked away, probably to the bathroom- "I need to tell you something."

- "What?"- Mikey raised an eyebrow as he moved closer ‘cos his brother had whispered.

- "Last night, I was on Twitter, and this picture of Gubler appeared… he… he cheated on Joey at his birthday party."

Gerard had prepared the speech to make sure no one would ever know he had been looking for information about Gubler and saved the picture as proof.

- "What the fuck?"- Mikey grabbed the phone from his brother’s hand and took a look at the picture.

- "Are you sure that’s him?"- Ray moved closer and took a long look at the picture.

- "Yeah! It’s him! He cheated on the party Joey told us he had with his friends"- Mikey was in shock. He walked away and closed his eyes, thinking about Joey and how she would take the news. Frank was so mad. He wanted to kill that guy. He also walked away and murmured curses for a minute straight. Ray couldn’t believe it, and his only concern at the moment was:

- "We have to tell her"

- "How can we tell her that?!"- Mikey pointed at the phone- "We are gonna break her!"

- "He broke her!"- Gerard argued- "He is the one who fucked it up! We are her friends, and we have to let her know what’s going on"- the band stayed quiet, neither of them knowing what to say.

- "Hey kids!"- Joey appeared suddenly smiling- "Why did you all get all serious? Did something happen?"

- "Yeah"- Gerard said, and Frank quickly interrupted him.

- "I ate the last donut and didn’t share it"- the girl raised an eyebrow.

- "Bullshit."

- "No, Gerard wanted it, and it seems I tend to hoard all the sweets…"- Joey frowned at that nonsense.

- "You do"- Mikey supported his lie flawlessly- "You always eat more than us!"

- "Ok… sure…"- Joey walked to a chair and looked at her phone. Mikey turned to his brother and punched his arm.

- "Not here! Don’t be an asshole! We wait until we are in the hotel! You can’t do this in public!"- Gerard felt like an ass. His brother was right. He was so desperate to end that relationship he wasn’t thinking straight.

He wanted to end a relationship that wasn’t even his. What had he turned into? A cold-blooded asshole who craved a girl so much, he was willing to ruin her life to get a chance to be with her?

Mikey was playing with his fingers nonstop. He just wanted to get out of the plane and avoid Joey for a long while. He was thankful the girl was sound asleep next to him ‘cos he knew he wouldn’t be able to pretend things were cool and peachy. Mikey knew he was a lousy liar. He wasn’t going to act like everything was good.

- "Hey"- Frank waved and pointed to the back of the plane. Mikey stood up and followed him, there Ray and Gerard were waiting for them.

- "What is it?"

- "We have to talk about what happened. When are we going to tell her?"- Gerard said, and the four of them looked at each other in silence for a few seconds- "I know it’s crap, but we can’t leave her in the dark about it… can we?"

- "No man"- Frank said and took a look around, scared the girl might see or hear them- "But… she is gonna be a mess, and I don’t wanna feel like we did this to her."

- "He did this to her"- Gerard quickly replied- "This whole shit is his fault."

- "Gubler should tell her"- Iero added. He didn’t feel like he could do such harm to her friend. He was going to harm Gubler, but not Joey.

- "He won’t do that, Frank"- Ray said- "But… I don’t want to be a cold bitch here, but we’ve got the Valencia show in two days, and that shit will be televised… if we tell her… and she wants to leave…"

- "Dude, we can’t wait that long"- Gerard interrupted him.

- "Why not?"- Ray asked, and Way didn’t reply. His honest answer was: “Because I wanna hold her tight and tell her “everything is gonna be ok” as soon as possible. And I also want to ruin Matthew’s life in the shortest notice”.

- "Because if she finds out that we knew and we didn’t tell her, we are gonna pay. She is gonna think we betrayed her"- Mikey answered instead of Gerard, ‘cos he had a reasonable answer.

- "You are right"- Ray nodded- "And that would be hell"- the four of them nodded.

- "So? Tonight?"- Frank asked- "We should get her something…"

- "Like what? Flowers?"- Gerard asked, confused.

- "Like alcohol, chocolate, chick flicks"- Mikey frowned at his brother- "So you never helped a friend when her boyfriend dumped her?"- and Gerard stayed still- "Wow, you can’t cease to amaze me."

- "I didn’t have many girlfriends back in the days"- Gerard explained.

- "Whatever…"

- "Ok, so after dinner, we go to her room"- Frank finished, and they all accepted- "Ok, now let me go to the bathroom ‘cos I need to take a piss, come on, move it."

Ray looked around his room and sighed. He had called Christa and told her what was going on. He felt responsible for Joey’s wellbeing, and at that moment, he was scared of what would happen. His wife was in shock. She couldn’t believe Matthew had done such a thing. She even doubted it was real.

- "Are you sure that the picture isn’t photoshopped?"

- "Yeah!"

- "Really?"- Ray doubted

- "Well, it looked very real to me"

- "Why don’t you ask him?"

- "Yes, honey! He is going to come clean right away!"

- "I mean it, baby! Maybe it wasn’t a party, maybe it was a scene from his coming up film out of context, maybe it was a bad angle."

- "Christa, the tongue of two women were liking him at the very same time unless he is doing porn, there is no way that’s from his upcoming movie!"- Ray made a point, and his wife’s silence made it clear. Now he was walking in circles, trying to set his mind straight. He had never done this before, and shit, he didn’t want to.

The guitarist grabbed the Pride and Prejudice blu ray he had gotten that afternoon and sighed. It was time. He walked out to the hall and into the elevator. Just outside of Joey’s room, he bumped into Mikey and Frank. One held a paper bag with some chocolates and candies, and the other, a whiskey bottle. Of course, the whiskey guy was Iero.

- "Should we wait for Gerard?"- Ray asked

- "Nah"- Frank knocked and waited- "He is always late."

- "And you are always so on time"- Mikey joked and chuckled.

- "Hey! Ready for that movie?"- Joey opened the door smiling- "Say hello to Matthew!!"- the girl flipped her phone, and her boyfriend waved at the band.

- "Hey guys"- but neither of them smiled at him.

- "We are gonna watch a movie"- Joey turned and walked back- "I’ll call you in a while, ok?"

- "Sure, Yami. I love you so much!"

- "I love you more!"

- "Have fun"- Joey hung down and looked at her friends, narrowing her eyes, upset- "What the fuck is your problem?"

- "Bug, we need to talk"- the knock on the door interrupted Mikey, but Frank walked over quickly and opened it.

- "We are starting. What did you bring?"- Gerard frowns at that questions

- "You weren’t kidding? We had to bring something? Like a birthday party?"

- "Shit, you are an asshole"- Frank just shook his head.

- "Mikey, Ray? What is it?"- the girl sat on her bed, leg crossed, as Mikey sat next to her and held her hand.

- "Turns out we’ve got some news for you."

- "Am I fired?"- she wide opened her eyes in shock- "I am, right? Fuck I knew this was gonna happen eventually."

- "No, Bug, you are not fired"- Ray sat next to Mikey and smiled- "We are more than happy to have you here, and we would love to have you with us forever."

- "Yeah, Iceland, you are one of us now. Deal with the fact you are doomed"- Frank said and moved closer to the girl to mess with her hair.

- "Then?"- she asked and looked at the four worried faces in front of her- "What is it? ‘Cos it seems serious."

None of them knew how to say it, though each of them had practiced it in front of the mirror. And Gerard, the one who was anxious to say it, suddenly felt the remorse of being the one to break it on Joey’s face. He knew it had to happen, though. That didn’t make it less sad.

- "Joey, last night I found this picture of Gubler’s birthday party on Twitter"- the singer simply said and gave her his phone.

Mikey closed his eyes, and Frank looked down. Neither of them was able to face the girl at the moment. Joey just stared at the screen in silence for at least a minute, holding her breath. There he was, Matthew. Cheating. What she thought was impossible happened. And the most profound pain she could feel took over her body second by second.

Her world fell down. She couldn’t believe it. Matthew was kissing his ex-girlfriend. She recognized her right away, the other girl, she had no idea who she was.

He betrayed her trust. He destroyed her heart, she could feel it breaking inside her chest, with deep aching pain, and it didn’t let her breathe. She wanted everybody out of the room to cry alone. She wanted to smash Gerard’s phone against the wall. And most of all, she wanted to find an explanation, maybe an excuse for that fucking image. It was to be a lie. Matthew would never do that. Never. Thoughts kept rolling down her head. It was a lie. It had to be. Maybe a fan photoshopped it. Perhaps it was old. Maybe it wasn’t Gubs, just a lookalike.

- "Joey…"- Mikey whispered- "Are you ok?"

- "Is that the only picture you saw?"- the girl asked with a cold tone in her voice.

- "No"- Gerard murmured and frowned as he noticed the lack of emotion in Joey’s face

- "Can you send me the pictures, please?"- her voice was turning shaky while she made an effort to stay calm.

Joey hated to cry, and overall, she hated to cry in front of people. She hated when people pitied her, and at the moment, it was all she was feeling coming from her friends. Pity.

-  "Bug, it is ok to be sad"- Mikey said and held her hand tight.

- "I’m not sad, I’m mad"- her eyes were filled with tears she refused to cry. Her jaws felt tight. She didn’t even want to talk anymore.

- "Hey, we are here- Ray kneeled in front of Joey and tucked away some of her hair that was falling on her face. He kept his brown eyes in hers, locked, trying to read her reaction. He realized how much she was trying to hold back. He knew his friend pretty well, and he could tell how embarrassed she was to share this with everybody. So he whispered:

- "Joey, do you want to be alone for a little while?"- and she quickly nodded, biting the inside of her cheeks.

- "Dude, we can’t leave her alone!"- Gerard immediately said and hit his friend’s arm. But Ray didn’t leave Joey’s eyes, not even for a second, and she did the same.

- "No, she is going to be ok, we are going to leave her alone for a while, and I am going to take her key, is that ok, Joey?"- the girl nodded again- "Ok, so I’ll take your key. I’ll come back in an hour to see if you need anything, ok?"

Joey couldn’t even say a word, so she nodded one last time and looked at Ray stand up.

- "Dude? What the fuck?"- Gerard was in shock, but Mikey understood immediately what Ray was doing.

- "I love you"- the youngest Way whispered and kissed Joey’s cheek. She got even tenser at his touch. She felt she was going to break into tears if anyone else touched her. So she refused to hug anybody.

- "Bug, if you need a drink, I left your favorite whiskey on the table… I’ll stop by later to have a shot with you, ok?"- Frank whispered and cut her a short smile. She nodded and watched them walk away. Gerard didn’t want to move, he took a few steps closer and opened his arms, but Joey quickly moved from him and frowned, like a frightened cat trying to escape from everything and everybody.

- "Gerard, leave her, she is ok"- Ray grabbed Gerard’s arm and pushed him- "I’ll come back in an hour, Bug"- the girl watched them walking to the door, Gerard kept looking back at her, concerned and scared she wasn’t going to be ok on her own.

- "Dude, this is wrong"- he argued the second they closed the door- "We can’t leave her there! It’s not safe!"- and just then, Joey’s yells crying froze the four of them- "Give me the key!"- Gerard argued and tried to take it from Ray’s pocket.

- "No! She needs to be on her own! She needs to cry, and she is never going to cry in front of us!"

- "What the fuck do you know?"- the singer questioned obfuscated.

- "Calm down, Gee. Ray is right"- Mikey said and sighed- "Joey needs to be alone, she ain’t going to kill herself, she just needs to yell and cry, and probably call that mother fucker and break up with him."

- "Yeah, come on"- Frank tapped on Gerard’s back and started walking- "Let’s get a beer, smoke a cigarette, and we can come back in a while. Ray has the key, so we know she won’t lock herself alone."

Gerard hated his friends at that moment. He had to be there for her, hold her, kiss her, console her. What the fuck was he doing with those guys? She needed him. He had to be with her. Why were they doing this?

- "So you don’t care?"- Gerard squabbled, and Mikey simply sighed.

- "You don’t know how she is like…"- and his brother’s words were enough to insult Gerard and shut him up.

Joey was on her knees on the floor, crying. Gasping for air every few seconds and feeling how every tear in her body came out at the same time. There was a void in her chest, right where it used to be her heart. Matthew Gray Gubler broke her heart. He broke her. All the fears she had locked inside ‘cos Matthew made her trust were now out again, and a voice in the back of her head kept telling her, “You knew this was going to happen if you were stupid enough to trust someone.”

But he was so good for her. How could he do that? Was it something she had done? Was it because she wasn’t there? You can’t be stuck with somebody to keep them from cheating. You don’t cheat. If you are not happy, you break up.

Joey felt sick in her stomach and had to rush to the bathroom. She puked crying, she couldn’t stop doing either of them. She kept choking with tears as she vomited. Until it was done. She flushed and stayed there, on the bathroom floor, crying and shaking in sadness. In fear. In disappointment.

What was she going to do? She had to break up with him. She couldn’t marry a cheater, and she wasn’t going to trust him ever again. Two fucking girls at the same time. What if he had done it before and got caught just now? For how long had he been doing that? What if she was seeing other girls regularly?

- "I knew this was going to happen. You don’t date a guy like that and expect him to be faithful…"- the girl whispered to herself, weeping- "He had nothing to do with a girl like me. Take a look at yourself, you dumb slut!"

Joey never said it out loud. She never let herself think about it. She refused to accept the fact she was weak. She had always hated herself. She felt she wasn’t worthy of anything good. All the years in the orphanage had left more than scars on her skin. They were also in her mind. You don’t spend years watching kids leaving with families and don’t convince yourself you are not good enough to be picked, to be happy. And when a family picks you up, you think it’s not you. It’s pity.

Sure, you can cover it up. You can be serious. You can stay away emotionally from people. You can find shelter in music and hide from the world in it. You can kick people’s ass when they hurt you or insult you. You can lie and say you are not “a people person,” whatever that means. But none of that can erase the fact that you feel alone, unwanted. Worthless.

- "I wanna call this mother fucker and fucking yell at him the kind of scumbag he is!!"- Frank said as he lit another cigarette and took a look at his watch- "She has been alone for half an hour, do you think she is ok?"

- "Of course, she is not ok, but she has to handle it. She is a grown woman"- Ray answered and sipped his beer.

- "I can’t believe he did this to her"- Mikey whispered- "She, of all the women I’ve known, doesn’t deserve to be treated like this."

A few tears filled his eyes, and he quickly wiped them off, lighting a cigarette too.

- "I’m gonna kill him, as soon as we get home, I’m gonna kill this mother fucker. I’ve got his fucking address, I’m gonna get there, and fucking break every bone in his body with my own hands"- Mikey was losing his cool. He stood up and walked around the hotel’s terrace, and looked at the city lighten in front of him. Frank stared at his friends and stood up too.

- "I’m with you, but we can’t be like this in front of her."

- "I know"- Mikey scratched his head and smoked in silence for a few seconds- "I’m not doing press tomorrow,"- he announced- "I’m staying with her all day long."

- "You can’t just…"- but Gerard’s words were lost in the air knowing his brother wasn’t asking, he was letting them know what he was doing.

- "Maybe we could take turns"- Frankie thought out loud- "You stay with her in the morning, Ray stays with her after lunch, and so on"- they all nodded. Gerard felt excited there was a chance he was going to get time alone with her.

- "Let’s see if she approves it first"- Ray said, and Mikey smiled for a second. He could picture Joey arguing she was ok, and him simply just staying with her, not taking no for an answer. She was going to be pissed.

- "Can we please check on her?"- Gerard tried to ask, but in real life, it sounded like he was begging- "I’m worried"- Ray sighed and took a look at his clock

- "Thirty more minutes"

- "Why at the hour?"- the eldest Way questioned

- "‘Cos she has to put her shit together before we come back, and she knows we’ll come back in an hour."

Joey walked around her room, holding a glass of whiskey. Her third glass of whiskey. Her phone was in her hand, and her finger was about to push “dial.”

- "You can do this"- she said to herself. She had cleaned her face, wiped off all the tears, combed her hair, and taken a long time calming herself down. More than anything, she didn’t want Matthew to see her cry. She couldn’t show any weakness to him.

She knew she would never be fully ready to do this, but if not now, when? So she dialed.

- "Hey Yami!! How’s the movie? Is it over yet?"- Matthew’s face filled the screen, and Joey needed a few seconds to put herself together again. His face was too much to handle. She still loved him too much to see him after what had just happened. Maybe FaceTime hadn’t been the best idea.

- "You cheated on me"- she managed to say. Matthew’s heart stopped- "It’s all over Twitter!!! You fucking cheated on me, and you just pretended it was all perfect??!"

Gubler sat on his couch and looked at his mom, who was next to him, reading. She slowly stood up and walked to the other room. He kept his eyes on Joey’s face and held his breath. Why did he think he could hide it from her? Now, what was he going to say? Was he going to deny it? Could he?

- "Yami, I..."

- "Don’t fucking Yami me, Matt"- she spit the last word with disdain, ‘cos she knew how much he hated being called that way- "You lied, you cheated, and you ruined everything!"

- "Joey, please, listen to me"- the young man stood up and started walking around the room, not knowing what to do or what to say.

- "What should I listen to? Do you think you can talk your way out of this?"- Matthew brushed his hand on his face and scratched his hair, confused and scared.

- "Joey, listen, I was drunk. It didn’t mean anything."

- "What? So being drunk is the perfect excuse for me to accept the fact your ex-girlfriend’s tongue was down your throat, and with another girl too? What the fuck?!"

- "Joey, it didn’t mean anything! It was a mistake!"

- "A “mistake”? How many “mistakes” have you made ever since I left? Tell me."

- "Please, Joey, listen to me. I was drunk, they started dancing, and they kissed me and…"

- "And you fucking took them home and fucked the two of them at the fucking same time. I can picture that very clear, the same fucking bed you said you wanted me to be in."

- "Joey! No!! That’s not what happened!"

- "Then enlighten me, Matthew. Tell me, what the fuck happened?"

Gubler sighed and bit his lips. He didn’t want to tell her, but he knew he had to. She was going to find out the truth one way or another. Maybe if he came clean with her, she would understand. He loved her. She knew that. It was a mistake, a horrible mistake, but it didn’t mean a thing, anything at all.

- "We were at the party, and you called… we talked, and I decided to go home."

- "Sure"- she interrupted sarcastically.

- "Listen, I wanted to go home ‘cos I missed you, but Mark found me and got me a couple of drinks. I was super drunk already when Ann appeared."

- "So you had invited her?"

- "No! No way! I had no idea she was there!"

- "But you got thrilled to see her."

- "I didn’t care! Joey, please, believe me. I was just drunk and stupid, but it didn’t mean a thing!"

- "You fucked her!!"

- "I didn’t fuck neither of them!"

- "There are pictures!! Pictures of you and her and… you were leaving together"

- "We didn’t fuck! Joey, I swear!!"

- "Sorry, but I can’t believe you! I can’t believe a word that’s coming from your lips!"

- "Joey, Yami, baby, love… I swear, I didn’t fuck with them"

- "Then what happened?"

Joey was severe and cold. She had managed not to cry so far, and that made her feel proud. She was devastated and nearly suicidal inside, but she wasn’t going to give Matthew the pleasure of seeing her destroyed because of him. Not that day.

- "Joey… nothing happened."

- "Matthew, if you are going to lie, and I discover that you did…"

- "Ann took me to the back room and decided she wanted to give me a birthday present, so she..." - Joey closed her eyes and threw the phone to the bed.

- "Hijo de la gran puta!! (son of a bitch!!)"- she managed to yell, losing it for a second.

- "It was just a blowjob. Nothing else happened, I swear, Joey! and I stopped her!"- Matthew broke in tears as Joey walked around the room, poured herself another whiskey, and looked at the phone still on her bed.

- "Just a blowjob??! Just a blowjob, Matthew?? Do you fucking believe that shit??"

- "Joey, it meant nothing!!! I didn’t want to do it!!"

- "Bullshit!!"- Joey grabbed the phone again and cut him a look so full of hate Matthew knew he was losing her second by second.

- "Yami, please, I hate myself too, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t give to undo this!! I was too drunk! I thought it was you, and when I saw her, I stopped it"- Joey scoffed and bit her lips to stop the tears- "I regret everything that happened, it was stupid, and it meant nothing, I fucking love you, Joey, you are my bride! you are my love and my whole life!"

- "No"- she quickly replied.

- "Joey, please."

- "No, Matthew. I am not your bride, and I am not your life, not anymore. I am merely the girl you fucking broke and lied to."

- "Please, please try to understand, it wasn’t me, it was a mistake! I didn’t mean it!!"

- "But it happened, Matthew, and that’s it. You can’t undo it."

- "Please, please! you have to forgive me."

- "Why should I forgive you, Matthew? ‘Cos I love you? Is that enough?"- the girl stopped talking, ‘cos her eyes were filled with tears, and she was still making her best not to cry in front of him. But it was getting too hard. Nearly impossible.

- "Joey, please don’t leave me"- the boy begged, his voice as a whisper at the other side of the line. He was crying like a baby, sobbing and walking around his house, not knowing what to do- "Yami, I need you"- every word that came from his lips cracked each of her already shattered heart into another tiny piece.

- "You should have thought of that before, shouldn’t you?"- the girl answered coldly- "You know how much it took me to trust you, Matthew, how much it took me to give you my heart, to you, for the very fucking first time in my life."

- "Please, please… give me another chance…"- he was sobbing, and Joey couldn’t hold it anymore. She broke into tears in front of him as well.

He looked at her, still thinking there was a chance she could forgive him. He didn’t mean to hurt her. It was a mistake. He loved her. She knew it. What did he have to do to change her mind? To keep her by his side.

- "No"- Joey answered, whimpering- "There are no second chances, Matthew."

- "Please, Joey, I am so so so sorry!"

- "Being sorry doesn’t fix anything."

- "I love you"

- "You didn’t care about that when she sucked your dick, did you?"- Joey managed to say, drying the tears from her eyes- "You just fucking enjoyed it, and fucked with my feelings, ‘cos I wasn’t supposed to know."

- "I love you so much"

- "So what?"- she simply answered- "So I should forgive you ‘cos you love me?"

- "I’d do anything for you."

- "You should have started by not cheating."

Joey took a deep breath and looked at Gubler sobbing at the other side of the line, desperate, honestly desperate

- "Bye, Matthew."

- "No, Joey! Wait! Don’t!"

But that was all Joey could handle. She threw the phone back to her bed and fell on the floor, crying her eyes out again. It was too much for her; she wasn’t going to make this alive. Joey loved him so much, but Matthew had damaged her to the edge of sanity. She was proud she had managed the situation mostly cold-headed. She wanted him. She wanted to forgive him so badly. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t going to believe him ever again.

- "Bug?"- Ray opened the door and found her lying on the bed. Mikey ran to her and held her. She wasn’t crying anymore. She looked in shock. He almost broke into tears next to her, not knowing what to do. She merely blinked. She wasn’t talking. She just laid there, curl up, almost lifeless. Barely alive.

Mikey hugged her tight, lying next to her, trying to keep her warm, ‘cos she kept shaking. Frank wiped off the tears from his eyes as he turned around and poured himself a whiskey.

Gerard looked at the scene from a safe distance while Ray tried to talk to Joey, and Frank started drinking, trying not to show how insanely angry he was. Gerard felt like shit. He didn’t think it would affect him so much. But suddenly, he was feeling guilty. Honestly and deeply guilty. He was the one who found out. He was the one who was eager to tell her. He was the one who told her. And an hour ago, he was excited about it, ‘cos it meant she wasn’t going to be with Matthew anymore. But he was so selfish he never stopped himself from thinking what was going to happen to her. How it was going to affect her. And Gerard felt now like a monster.

- "I’m ok kids"- Joey whispered and cut Ray a slight smile- "I’m just tired."

- "Do you want something to eat?"- he asked, but she shook her head- "I’m gonna leave these chocolates here, ok?"

- "Thank you…"- Mikey kissed the top of her head and snuggled her closer. Her phone kept ringing on the floor. Frank quickly grabbed it. It already had five missing calls from Matthew.

- "This mother fucker is gonna…"

- "Please don’t"- but Joey’s words were useless, Frank picked up, ignoring her.

- "Joey!"- Gubler yelled at the other side of the line.

- "Don’t you fucking dare calling her again!!"- Frank yelled with hate- "You are not getting close to her. You are not talking to her. You are dead! Heard me? You are dead to her, and if you fucking get close to her, I am gonna fucking kill you, heard me? I’m gonna kill you!!"

Frank didn’t even let him reply. He hung down and turned off the phone.

- "Why did you do that?"- Joey whispered and took a deep breath.

- "I’m not gonna let that guy hurt you again"- Frank murmured as he kneeled by the bed and kissed her temple sweetly- "Never, I’m not gonna let him make you cry or break your heart again, ok?"

Frank’s words were so full of honesty and emotion, even his voice shook. Tears fell from his eyes, and Joey stared at him in shock. He cared that much for her. It was shocking to realize how much they all cared for her.

- "Thank you, Frank"- he smiled

- "Hey, whatever you need"- he smiled shyly- "Now make room"- the girl and Mikey moved, as Frank crawled on the bed next to her. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head as Mikey laid at the other side of her, still cuddling her.

Gerard stared at the scene and wondered how they could just do that, it was what he wanted to do, but he could not move from where he was standing.

- "Wanna watch a movie?"- Ray grabbed the remote control- "Let’s see what we can find"- he knew Pride and Prejudice wasn’t right for the moment, so he tried to find the most random movie he could in pay per view. Die Hard was the chosen one. He and Gerard laid on the bed with the others and didn’t say another word. The girl wanted to be alone, but she knew they weren’t going to let her. It felt good in a way, knowing they cared about her and wanted to be with her at that dark moment.

Matthew was crying, sitting on his bed. He didn’t seem to be able to stop the tears from falling. He held the phone and dialed over and over again. It was off. The wedding was off. His whole life was off at that point. He had made the biggest mistake, and now he knew he couldn’t fix it. But he had to. He wanted to.

- "Yami, please, I’m so sorry"- he talked with her voicemail- "I need you to forgive me, I didn’t mean it, I didn’t want to, it was a mistake"- the call ended, he dialed again- "Yami, I can’t live without you, I can’t, I swear, please, I’m so sorry, I’d do anything you want, anything, but please, please"- the call ended, he dialed again- "Please… Joey, I love you so much, I need you so much, I..."

- "Honey"- his mother whispered as she walked into his room and found him weeping on the phone.

- "She left me, mom"- he whispered and felt her arms around him- "She broke up with me"- he couldn’t say another word ‘cos the tears, and the sobbing didn’t let him talk. His mother kissed his temple and hugged him tightly.

- "You are gonna fix this, baby. It’s gonna be ok."

- "How?"- he managed to murmur.

- "She loves you so much, she is going to forgive you. I know she will."

- "I hurt her mom. She doesn’t deserve this... I don’t deserve her… she is an angel, and I ruined it"- Matthew couldn’t say another word. He just hid his head on his mother’s neck and cried.

Taglist

@all-tings-diego @worryd0ll

[seoulsborne123]

Haunted Houses and Ghosts

Shortly after Yasuhara takes the picture… PK ‘splosion. Chill, Naru. 

Haunted Houses and Ghosts

Rating: General

Category: Parody/Humor

Words: 5954 (Oneshot)

Background Info:

A fic featuring the gang playing DnD (GH style) to parody themselves, but it isn’t crack. It’s part of my post-canon fic collection that begins 3 weeks after the events from Akumu no Sumu Ie, mainly exploring Naru’s growth as he settles in to his place with the JSPR bunch. This particular piece is set about three years after. By this point MaiRu is a thing and Naru is continuing his studies in England and comes back to visit Japan whenever he gets a break.

This was previously posted on FF.net, but I’ve made some heavy edits to it and will re-upload there when I can. For now you can read below the cut, or head on to AO3, if interested.

September 08. 9:30 pm

"The sun had set three hours ago. The equipment are finally all set up and the entire group is at base, planning the next course of action, when suddenly the entire school building experiences a black out. Thanks to the back-up generators, all the equipment are unaffected so that the small monitors end up as being the only source of light, casting off a soft bluish hue. There's something strange in the air, and all of you, to different degrees, feel that something is not right. A strange sound comes from the hallway. It's faint, but it sounds a lot like a child's laughter. All of you know that the entire school is deserted—no one else should be on campus tonight but yourselves."

Yasuhara looked up and scanned everyone's faces before finally landing his gaze on the blonde priest to his left. "Okay as the leader of this group, what would you like to do, Naru?"

"Uh-uhm... I think... I would like all of us to head outside in the hallway to check for the source of the sound. Is that okay?"

"You are the boss. If the rest of the group agrees, then you may do as you please."

John nodded. "Okay, then I look at the others and wordlessly go out the door, knowing that they will follow."

"You're good at this," Bou-san murmured in awe, making John turn a slight pink as he chuckled sheepishly to hide his embarrassment.

Yasuhara continued. "Naru is the first one out of the door, followed soon by everyone on his heels. It's pitch dark, but everyone attempts to scan the immediate vicinity anyway, though as expected, find nothing in sight. Just as soon as everyone thought everything's clear, the laughter rings out again. A little more distant this time."

"It's moving. We should follow the source, right? It sounds like it's trying to lead us somewhere," Mai interjected and looked around to gauge everyone's reaction.

"I think Jou-chan is right."

"Then, should we follow it?" When most of his team grunted in agreement, John nodded and solidified his decision. "Okay, then I tell the others, 'We'll follow and investigate the sound, but since we have no idea whether it's paranormal or not, it's better for everyone to stay together for safety.'"

"Wait, is my weird animal instinct thing going off?" Ayako asked.

Mai huffed angrily. "Ayako! It's not ‘animal instinct’! It's my intuition!"

Ayako shrugged carelessly and turned her attention to Yasuhara. "My intuition should be telling me something by now, right?"

"Indeed. Your skill is enough to detect that something isn't right, but you don't know why. You feel uneasy."

"That's useless. I need to know more information. I want to know if we should follow this sound, or what?"

Yasuhara picked up a card from his stack of notes and scanned a few lines before replying, "Alright, let's have you roll for it." He handed Ayako the dice and waited for its results. "A seven... hm. You feel that little voice inside you saying something, but for some reason it's speaking in Swahili so you can't understand a thing."

Mai scrunched up her face and blurted in astonishment, "What the heck? That's not how that works."

Yasuhara ignored her. "Anyway as usual, Mai will need Gene to spell everything out for her." Mai lightly kicked him under the table, making him yelp out in surprise but he persisted on, "Well, sorry but sadly Mai's insight skills are not enough to determine the truth at the moment."

"What score did you give my insight skill? Why did you get to create the character sheets on your own anyway, and why are you the only one allowed to see it?"

"Sorry Mai. I am trying to be as realistic as possible so I rated all your skills as objectively as I could, but I'd really rather not show you all the breakdown in fear of a backlash. Just roll with what I say, I think it's pretty fair. Besides," the young man continued flippantly, "in this case, even if your instinct did tell you to not follow, wouldn't you just write it off and think you're just being paranoid, anyway? You are a very curious kitten, after all."

Ayako laughed. "That is exactly true. Alright, then as Mai, I decide to keep my bad feeling to myself even though it most likely would have been a good idea for the entire group to know."

"Okay, Mai keeps her mouth shut and everyone decides to follow the sound. It seems to be getting louder so you know you're approaching whatever it could be, but then suddenly, all noises stop. The air stills and feels clammy, and the darkness seem to be creeping in closer, sending goosebumps on everyone's skin. Panic sets in. There is still nothing in sight."

"Does Hara-san detect anything? Oh," John caught himself and eyed the boy sitting across the table before continuing, "I turn to Hara-san and ask, 'Do you sense anything, Hara-san?'"

The boy he addressed only looked at him, but did not say a word.

"Come on, Naru-bou, say something!"

Beside him, Mai offered him an infuriatingly reassuring look and Naru felt a tick of annoyance twitching in the back of his head. How could he have been so idiotic to have allowed himself to be roped into playing some god-damned role playing game with these morons again?

-00-Earlier-00-

September 08. 9:00 am

Although he originally should have had about three more weeks in Japan until he had to leave again for England, Naru found himself frequently mentally checking off a list of things he needed to pack. It had been quite hectic the past two days, to say the least.

Martin had phoned him three days ago, letting him know that BSPR recently accepted an extremely rare case of a twelve-year-old girl exhibiting legitimate PK-ST tendencies, and mentioned that his expertise would be greatly appreciated. Naru momentarily struggled to make a decision whether to accept or not, but it was entirely short lived. It only took him the span of taking a breath before he answered, "Give me three days to sort out my things. I'll take the earliest flight out."

It was the day before his flight and he decided to go to the office to look through his notes one final time to make sure he didn't overlook anything, when the door suddenly opened and Yasuhara's energetic voice greeted him a cheery morning. He barely managed to grunt a response.

Yasuhara set his bag down at his desk and noticed the absence of the keyboard clacking from Lin's office and asked, "Is Lin-san not in today?"

"He'll come in later."

"Oh how fortuitous. I was going to ask you something about him in secret." When Naru did not give any form of response, the boy continued, "Has he always been the girly type?"

Naru raised his eyes to look at him.

"I mean does he enjoy dolls, or anything of that sort? Or wait, you know what, I'm stupid. Maybe he has a daughter. Or a niece?"

"What are you talking about?"

Finally getting what he had been fishing for, Yasuhara beamed and left his desk, inviting himself over and relaxing into the sofa across from his boss. "Yesterday I thought I saw him shopping around for a stuffed toy, contemplating between a neon pink or electric blue teddy bear." Seeing his boss' attention immediately shut off, he added, "But I think he decided to go with the typical brown type. The clothes looked kind of ugly though, to be honest. But you know, I really couldn't tell if it was him. I don't often look at his figure from the back, I'm more of a Takigawa Hoshou appraiser--" For a second, Yasuhara feared Naru would walk away, but his boss merely readjusted his position. Even so, he hastily changed the subject.

"Anyway are you all set for your flight tomorrow? You're suddenly leaving on such a short notice. It’s a shame Mori-san isn't able to come immediately to take your place. And we had just scheduled a case for next week, too. So with both the heads gone, Lin-san has to stay behind a bit this time and take care of business first until Mori-san can come take over, right?" An idea suddenly clicked in his head and his eyes widened in excitement. "Ah! Do you think Lin-san wanted to make sure you had a companion for your flight out? Now it makes sense! He probably figured you could put the teddy bear on the seat beside you on the plane so you wouldn't have to sit next to some random person. Plus it would be like he was with you in spirit."

Naru finally closed his book in exasperation, stood up, and started making his way toward his office, yet despite this, Yasuhara chuckled in amusement and crooned, "That Lin-san, always the thoughtful, practical joker. That is so him."

"Yasuhara-san. Tea."

"Oh, roger!"

Naru silently closed the door behind him with a sigh and rubbed his temples. It was too early for this...

He slumped down into his seat and rummaged through his drawers, pausing when a sharp piece of cardstock poked him. He pulled it out and spread it apart: two tickets to Tokyo Disneyland. On the left-hand-side of the ticket, the date 19xx.09.19 was in bold letters. And she had been looking so forward to it, too...

He sighed and put the tickets face down on his desk.

A few minutes later Yasuhara knocked softly and asked permission to enter his office. He looked up and watched as the boy approached, nodding his silent thanks as the Yasuhara bent over to set the cups down on his desk.

"Need any help packing?"

"No, thank you," he answered curtly.

"They must really need you there, huh? Professor Davis wouldn't have called you up to disturb your already short vacation otherwise, right?"

Naru took his cup and sipped its contents, softly drumming his fingers on the table. "Yes, and he correctly guessed I would have wanted to take part in this excellent research opportunity."

Yasuhara laughed weakly. "Yes, of course." When he noticed his boss pause for a moment, absentmindedly curling and uncurling his fist without realizing what he was doing, he decided to take a seat. "What's the matter?"

Naru blinked and looked at him. He set the cup back down and picked up the tickets on his table. "You may have these tickets. I have no need for them anymore."

"Whoa, two tickets to Tokyo Disneyland? Oh I see, it's for two weeks from now. So what was supposed to be the occasion?"

"Nothing important."

"You're just giving it to me? I can pay you, at least. I'll take it for a discount."

Naru shrugged.

"Who do you want me to give the second ticket to?"

"Whoever you go with is none of my concern."

Yasuhara smiled. "If you want me to take Mai, just say so. She'll be feeling down for a while because of you suddenly leaving, but Disneyland should cheer her up a bit. She's been wanting to go for years. Although are you sure about that? I can be quite hands-y, you know."

"I don't care who you go with," he reiterated irritably.

"Well alright if you say so," Yasuhara chirped. "This ticket is an excellent bribe to get myself a date. I'll just pocket these and buy Mai some ice cream then, or something. She's pretty easy to placate anyway."

Naru stared at him hard, but was unable to say a word. Sensing his victory, Yasuhara relented. "Alright, alright, since you ask me so nicely. I'll consider taking Mai with me, but on one condition."

"Yasuhara-san—"

"—We play a bet."

"Yasuhara-san."

"Come on, Naru-bou, it's been awhile since you've played a bet against me. I still remember the last time [1] like it was yesterday. Wasn't it exhilarating? Not knowing whether you were going to win or lose?"

"No."

"Alright, then I think I'll ask Priscilla-chan if she’d like to go. Priscilla-chan is this girl at the place I intern at. You know the type: hard to please, just like yourself, but this ticket might do."

Naru breathed out in annoyance and muttered, "Fine, let's hear it."

Yasuhara nodded. "So Lin-san and that bear. What do you think? I believe I saw Lin-san buy that teddy bear for you so you can have a travel companion and I bet you'll be receiving it sometime before you leave for tomorrow."

"Are you aware how ridiculous that sounds?"

"No, I think Lin-san is hilarious. He'll be just the person to play that prank. So what do you say?"

Naru knew to be cautious. He's had the misfortune to fall into Yasuhara's trap in the past, forcing him to take a bet that ended up with him playing some sort of ridiculous game. No doubt he had similar plans now. The boy wasn't one to make bets without knowing something to his advantage.

He sat back and contemplated the scenario. The fact that Yasuhara saw Lin purchasing a teddy bear must be true; the act itself wasn't in the realm of impossibilities. The only question to consider is in regards to his intentions. Lin would obviously never consider ever buying him a parting gift, let alone a ridiculous teddy bear, especially since they were going to end up seeing each other again in a few weeks. Therefore the only explanation is that Lin was purchasing it as a gift for someone else. Slightly more likely: it could really be meant for him, but Lin wasn't buying it on his own volition. Somebody must have coaxed a favor out of him so he was purchasing it in lieu of someone else. Either way, Yasuhara's claims would be wrong. He frowned. Was that it? Could Yasuhara be thinking that he could win just because Lin was the one who technically purchased it? If so, he was barking up the wrong tree. Naru inwardly smirked.

Or… did their top investigator have something up his sleeve? He became uncertain again. Either way, he couldn’t say he wasn’t curious…

"Fine," he said eventually.

"If I'm wrong, then I'll take Mai on a fun date for you, but honestly I think she's looking forward to going with you. Anyway if I'm right, then I take Mai anyway because I'm not heartless."

"Then what is the point of me accepting your bet, Yasuhara-san?"

"If you hadn't accepted it, I wouldn't have agreed to take her at all. It isn't right for me to take someone else's girlfriend on a romantic date, you know. But since we're cool, I'll take your feelings into consideration and make it a friendly date."

"Fine."

"Wait, I wasn't done yet. My other condition is: if I'm right, then you—"

"'—Owe me', yes I'm aware that's what you're after."

"Oh good, we understand each other then."

Naru finished up the last of his tea. Last time he had lost their bet only because Mai was a weakness he somehow found hard to resist. This time, perhaps he could trust Lin. He reiterated, "Good."

September 08. 1:00pm

Naru entered his office and froze. On top of his desk was a brown teddy bear wearing an ugly tie-dye shirt and faded jean overalls. Behind him he heard Lin exit from the restroom.

"Lin," he called out, making the taller man pause in his tracks, and unfortunately, catching the attention of a certain cheeky part-timer as well. "What is this." Both Lin and Yasuhara made their way toward him.

"That is a present, for you."

"Oh?" Yasuhara grinned and threw a conspiratorial wink towards their boss. "Well, well, how unexpected. Who bought it?"

"I bought it.”

“Ohhhh?” Yasuhara’s voice raised an octave, while Naru resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Lin stared at the two in slight confusion, but continued anyway, “Yes, although I paid with Taniyama-san's money. It is her parting gift to you, Noll. She was unable to purchase it herself as the news of your departure was too sudden and she's been busy with university, so she asked me for a favor. Is there a problem?"

Naru sighed. "Why a teddy bear?"

"As your travel companion. She had joked you can put it on the seat beside you so that you would not have to sit with strangers."

Yasuhara roared in laughter. "Ah, that's right! My mistake. Mai is the thoughtful practical joker, not Lin-san. Silly me."

Naru crossed his arms. "Laugh all you want, Yasuhara-san, but technically I won our bet."

The boy stopped mid breath. "How so?"

"Lin may have physically bought it, but he didn't do so with his own money. Gifts, as I'm told, are all about feeling and intention. And since the present wasn't from him personally, I argue the bet is null."

"Hm, I'll be glad to report to Mori-san that you're taking her lessons to heart. At any rate, you are right. Mai technically bought it for you. But still, I'm afraid you didn't win, boss."

Naru frowned.

"Recall what I said exactly. I admit I may have been technically wrong when I told you Lin-san bought that teddy bear for you, but I said that I bet you'll be receiving it sometime before you leave for tomorrow. And that teddy bear is on your desk exactly sometime before you leave for tomorrow. Wording, Naru-bou."

Naru bit the inside of his cheek and cursed before slamming his office door on their faces.

-00- Back to current time -00-

September 08. 10:00 pm

With a heavy sigh, Naru finally relented and asked in reply, "Is Hara-san's intuition high enough to detect if it's a spirit and understand what it wants?"

Once again Yasuhara checked his cards. "By this point in the story, it could be. Roll a d20 and we'll see."

Naru leaned over the table to grab the twenty-sided die Yasuhara held out for him. He shook it lightly in his hand and let it roll on the table. "Is it enough?"

"Hm, not quite, even with the addition of your skill modifier... You detect something but can't see it fully. It's kind of hazy to you, but at least you know for sure you're dealing with some kind of spirit. It certainly looks like a child, but you feel something is off, like it's tricking you. You feel animosity coming from it."

"Is there just one spirit?"

"One presence you could feel strongly, but there are many others. You just don't know how many, exactly."

Ayako clicked her tongue. "What's up with our useless psychics?"

"Pretty realistic to me," Bou-san offered.

"Hey! And Ayako, I don't think you have any right to be complaining about anyone else being useless when you yourself have countless times-"

"Shut it, Mai."

Yasuhara simply laughed and returned his attention back to his boss. "Okay, now that we've done the game mechanics aspect, you have to let the whole team know what just happened. You need to act it out. How would Hara-san explain to the others?"

Naru stared frostily at the young man, but Yasuhara seemed entirely unaffected and returned the stare evenly with his carefree, asinine grin. A few seconds ticked by. Yasuhara merely folded his hands and re-adjusted his glasses patiently until Naru sighed in annoyance. "I teeter as I walk up to Naru and foolishly, and quite dramatically, attempt to fall into his arms."

This elicited several muted snickers in the room, while Masako looked slightly offended.

"Ah, I catch her carefully and hold on to her, asking if she's alright," John, the ever kind and helpful priest, quickly interjected in fear of the make-believe Hara falling flat on her face.

The real Naru paled as the snickers turned into full blown guffaws, with Bou-san crying out between breaths, "Wow. How unbelievably chivalrous of Naru-chan!"

Immediately John realized his mistake and sent Naru an apologetic smile, but the boy made no show of acknowledging the gesture.

However, Naru figured if he was going to be playing along with this ridiculous farce anyway, then he might as well do it as realistically as possible. He recited blandly, "I mumble quietly to the sleeve of my kimono, 'There are countless spirits manifesting here. Their pain and anguish is making everything appear distorted, but there is one presence among them that stands out. I cannot tell who it is. It appears as a child, but it is unmistakably dangerous and cannot be trusted.'"

Yasuhara clapped. "Nice, nice! That sounds precisely like Hara-san, indeed! Alright, soon after Hara-san informed the group, loud banging sounds thunder along the entire hallway, progressively getting louder and louder, and even more aggressive. It seems as if all the doors in the entire school are repeatedly being opened and then closed shut and—"

"—Nau maku san manda bazaradan kan!"

"Wait,” Yasuhara hastily reached out, cupped Mai’s hands on his own and set it back down beside her, “okay Mai, you don't actually have to do the hand gestures, you know? Let’s be careful here. And I'm assuming you want to use your Mantra skill? You are aware that spell can only be used twice per day, right?"

Mai frowned in serious contemplation. "That's what Bou-san would do, so yes, let's do it. I can regain the spell back once the morning comes, right?"

Yasuhara nodded. "Alright, always with his quick-thinking, Bou-san recites his Mantra and with such conviction that all sounds suddenly stop once again—" in the background, Mai squealed in awe at how powerful she was, "—The air clears first, then the lights go back on. The heavy feeling has disappeared as the spirits seem to have gone away for now. It seems nothing further will be happening for the night. What's your plan?"

"First I thank Takigawa-san, then I tell the others, 'Let's all head back to base and consider our next move.'"

"Is everyone okay with that? Okay, so the entire party makes their way back to base. Everything appears as it was before you left. What do you want to do next?"

Masako sighed, aware that she hasn't said much for the entire night and tentatively offered, "I... wordlessly go back to the monitors and review the recent footage for any clues."

"As expected of our Lin-san," Bou-san chuckled to himself. After thinking for a few seconds, he suggested, "I think we should go over the case file again and see if we can gather some clue from it, right? Where's Shounen in this? Maybe he's got new information for us."

"Yasuhara had to skip the case because he'd just been recently promoted and was working admirably at his new law firm agency for the whole day."

"You're still an intern, Shounen. Interns don't get promoted."

"Well in this timeline Osamu is no longer just an intern. He had long graduated university and is now a working young adult. And right after his work, he went to meet up with his gorgeous girlfriend for a romantic dinner. Maybe he'll finally work up the courage to propose. You can attempt to call him now and see if he'd pick up his phone."

Mai muttered under her breath, "Someone has grand dreams."

"Alright, it's a good idea to try and contact him, then. I stand up, open up my black notebook, and begin summarizing my case notes for the entire group," John announced as he also picked up a piece of paper in front of him full with his own neat handwriting. Earlier, Yasuhara had provided everyone with a blank sheet of paper and a pen so that they can jot down anything they think might be helpful in solving the make-believe case. Everyone, except Naru and Lin, appeared to have taken meticulous notes (although the latter had a blank piece of paper only because he had his laptop with him).

John continued, "'The client is Yashima Akifuki-san, principal of Rokuroku High. He claims the entire school grounds is cursed and even brought in the latest victim with him, a young student named Tachibaki Ana-san. She disappeared for two days and was later found unresponsive by the school entrance. Some witnesses claim they saw her walking away with a strange man, but she doesn't remember much of what happened. When she came to, she was found to have no sign of any mental or physical injury, except for the appearance of an intense rash encircling...'" Here John sighed. "An intense rash encircling her entire head? Yasuhara-san, I'm still not clear on its meaning. Do you mean to say her face is entirely covered in rash?"

"No, just the top of her head."

"Oh, does Tachibaki-san not have hair?"

"Of course she does! Think of it like a hippie-headband. Do you know what I'm saying? It's a band around her forehead, but it encircles the entire top head. Is it clearer now?"

John was still unconvinced but let the matter rest. "So a rash encircling her head, and Yashima-san claims it looks like some kind of bloody wound, but gives Tachibaki-san no pain or itching. Aside from what happened with Tachibaki-san, previous activities reported were mild compared to what we experienced today. Yashima-san said that other students have reported seeing shadowy figures in the old school building, hearing disembodied voices during class, had small fires start in the locker rooms, had all furniture in the teachers' lounge get suddenly rearranged at an angle, and had volleyballs get scattered in the gym after hours after being put away. Does anyone have anything else to add?"

Bou-san rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Something isn't sitting right with me."

To everyone's surprise, Naru suddenly let out a long, aggravated sigh. They waited for him to elaborate, but after a few seconds he simply sunk back into his seat and crossed his arms without any further explanation.

"Okay... Can my intuition thing go off again? I want to use it."

Yasuhara blinked. "Oh, uhh of course you may make use of your abilities. What exactly are you suspecting, Matsuzaki-san?"

"Everything."

"You're going to have to be more specific than that."

"Him, Yashima-san, and her, Tachibaki-san. And the school. I don't know, anything. There has to be something suspicious, Hoshou is right. Something feels off and Naru is acting weird."

"Okay... roll, please."

Ayako did as she was told. "18. Plus I have that modifier so that's 20."

The dungeon master pursed his lips in thought. "Okay, Mai feels her stomach squirm. Something wasn't right, she thought. She squinted her eyes and carefully studied her beautiful, raven-haired boyfriend speaking before her for a couple of minutes until suddenly, the answer hit her. Naru's fly was undone."

The group fell over in shock and collectively groaned but it was Ayako who shouted, "I scored a 20! Surely there's something much more important than that piece of information?!"

John, completely immersed in his character, blushed deeply despite himself and cried, "Goodness, forgive me! I immediately notice so I turn around and discretely zip it up."

"Okay, let me just speak out of character here for a second and explain: there wasn't supposed to be anything suspicious by what had been said so far."

"No, but there's something definitely off--"

Yasuhara cut her off. "--Do you mean in-game, or in reality? I think you're getting confused here, Matsuzaki-san. Your intuition ability only works in-game, not in real life, so even if you yourself feel something is off, rolling a dice won't help you figure it out, you know."

"You little--"

"--Alright, let's just call Yasuhara-shounen. It seems he might have more information for us," Bou-san interjected neutrally.

"I take out my phone and use my speed dial. Ring, ring, ring! Hello, Shounen?"

Yasuhara smiled at Mai and played along. "Hello, Hoshou-kun. Have you missed me?"

"Of course! I've been so lonely without you, Osamu-kun. Don't tell Ayako."

Bou-san paled and reached over to pinch Mai's cheeks. "Jou-chan," he growled, "can you not make me out to be a creep?"

"Sorry, sorry. Alright, I put the phone on speaker so everyone can hear and I say, 'Yasuhara-shounen, were you able to gather more information about the Yashima case? We're hitting a dead end here.'"

"'Yes. I dug more records on the school property and found some interesting history behind it. Rokuroku High used to be an elementary school, but there was a serious accident that occurred fifty years ago involving an entire class of students that forced them to close it down for a year. During a field trip, the bus carrying an entire class full of fourth graders, as well as their beloved homeroom teacher, swerved off the road and fell down a cliff, then blew up before the wreckage even hit the water. None of the bodies were ever recovered.'"

Everyone covered their mouth in horror and began exclaiming:

"That's horrible!"

"Those poor children..."

"Oh dear, it must have been awful for those parents..."

Naru, seemingly the only sane one in the group, pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered silently, "It's only a game."

"Then this is clearly the work of earth-bound spirits."

At hearing this sentence so suddenly, everyone stopped to turn their heads and gaped.

Lin stared back at them unflinchingly. "What is it? It makes sense. Hara-san said earlier that there were more than one spirit, and judging by what we heard, it sounded like children. The powerful presence could be the teacher. Perhaps all of them are unable to accept their sudden, violent death."

"Wow, even Lin is getting in character. You should slam the table too, for more realism."

A tiny smile formed on Lin's lips and he gave Takigawa a slight bow, while Ayako proceeded smack her boyfriend on the back of his head.

"You should try harder too, Bou-san. Your character hasn't said a word yet," Yasuhara admonished.

"Well John isn't usually very talkative anyway. I'm just waiting to see when Naru will need me to perform some exorcism. John, you don't need to be so modest about wanting to use yourself, you know."

"Thank you, Takigawa-san, but it isn't like that. I just haven't found the need for my skills yet. At any rate, I say out loud, 'Yasuhara-san, did all the problems start occurring after this event?'"

"'Not immediately. After the school closed down, they decided to wipe their slate and turn it into a high school. Construction happened in the span of two years. There were no incidents reported during that time, and even another year into the new school's opening. It wasn't until a janitor found a thin, dirty old log washed up on the bank of the lake--"

Bou-san cut-in. "Wait, the school has a lake?"

"Yes, in the back. An underground sewer is also nearby, if you're curious. Anyway a thin, dirty old log washed up on its bank. The janitor, aware of the history of the place, believed it to be an image of the binbougami and therefore deified it in hopes that it will turn into fukunokami and grant him, and the school, good luck. However instead, a string of bad luck started occurring in the school grounds.'"

Mai raised her hand. "Okay so obviously that makeshift idol is the source of all this. Can I attempt to exorcise it? I want to use my weapon and powers."

"My vajra and the nine cuts isn't something to fool around with, Mai..."

"'Furthermore, ten years ago there was a student who caused mass panic, claiming to have telekinesis. Sekiguchi Momoaki, a third year student, was called on to do a demonstration and actually levitated a piece of chocolate in front of the school assembly.'"

Ayako scoffed. "Couldn't he have chosen a more impressive item than a sorry piece of chocolate? Why not make it at least an entire chocolate bar, for crying out loud."

Curious, Masako asked, "What type of person was this Sekiguchi-san?"

"Lin-san wouldn't ask that."

"I'm not asking as Lin-san," the medium retorted angrily. "I'm asking for myself. Or if it matters to you so much, then Naru will ask as Masako on my behalf."

"Only if Naru-bou is alright with you putting words into his character's mouth."

Naru shrugged and waved his hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter to me."

"Okay. 'Sekiguchi-san was a strange kid. As an introvert and a social outcast, he didn't have many friends except for his physics teacher and the teddy bear he constantly carried around with him.'"

Ayako laughed and scoffed again, "No wonder the kid doesn't have many friends. Who levitates a piece of chocolate to show off and has a doll as a friend, let alone decides to carry it around school with him?"

This time, Masako sighed and pushed her notes away in disdain before folding her hands on the table. Takigawa was beginning to fidget as well.

"This teddy bear. It has a name?" he asked.

"Why yes. Are you asking?"

"Fine, as John I ask out loud, 'What is the name of Sekiguchi-san's teddy bear?'"

"'The bear? His name is Winnie.'"

At hearing this, John smiled, while Bou-san finally stood up and began laughing uncontrollably, much to the confusion of Ayako and Mai.

"What? What's so funny?" Mai asked. She and Ayako shared an uncertain glance.

"Jou-chan, don't all the events remind you of something we've all experienced in the past? They're just all jumbled up into one giant mess of a case," Takigawa answered between fits of laughter. He first turned to the young man and gave him a thumbs up, then turned to Lin and Naru. "Lin, when did you figure it out?"

"Not too long after Naru sighed. I did not suspect anything prior to that."

Mai frowned. "Huh. Then when you made that comment about earth-bound spirits, you already knew? How come you didn't tell us anything, Lin-san?"

"I did not think Matsuzaki-san would have realized the truth, so as her, I feigned ignorance."

A small tick formed on Ayako's forehead as she angrily growled, "I feel like that was a very thinly veiled insult, Lin."

"I've been having that strange feeling I couldn't place, but I didn't realize what it was until Masako-chan made that face. I got too invested in the game to realize it completely. The names are very clever."

"Why thank you--"

"--Now if you're all done, go home." Naru cut in, standing up from his seat and glaring at everyone equally.

"My goodness, it's already thirty minutes past midnight! That game went on far longer than I intended. Sorry Naru-bou, will you be okay for your flight tomorrow? Your flight is in four and a half hours!"

Mai shot up as well and covered her mouth. "Oh no, no, no. There's no way I'll get up on time to see you off if I go to sleep now!"

"Well we're already up and awake anyway and already all together. Since we were all planning on seeing him off later, how about we just continue playing until it's time for Naru-san to leave?" John suggested.

The rest of the group cried out in agreement, much to Naru's annoyance. Although mildly irritated, Naru had to admit he wasn't in the least bit sleepy. Forcing himself to sleep now would only make things worse later. And so despite his urge to seek some peace and quiet, he found himself settling back into his seat between Lin and Mai, silently committing everyone's faces and voices to memory until the next time he'd meet them all again in three months’ time.

---FIN---