#and a more current <we know what the lights are and they’ve been explained to us. the magic and the memory is no longer what it was>

[velocesainz]

Seb n his F1 rival(from karting days) realise thru friends that they do love eachother thru their actions whether they admit or not

Unknowing love

F1 Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Taglist

Summary: Seb and reader have been rivals since their karting days and after years of rivalry and reaching formula one realise they’ve loved eachother throughout this time

Pairing: Rbr Seb x f1!driver!reader ft. Mark Webber

Warnings: a light bit of angst

Reader pov:

Me and Seb have been feuding for as long as we’ve known eachother which is over 20 years at this point when we met during my first karting race

Sebastian was this adorable boy who after the race had some rather rude words to say. It was really a shame, I really would’ve liked to be his friend.

After that day for the next year after every race he would have some rude or sexist comments to say to me which I ignored for the most part

After a while I started reciprocating these words to him as well and our rivalry grew even more intense

We were now in formula one, the pinnacle of motorsport and we still hadn’t grown out of our silly bickering

We were currently in imola and had just started the race being a few laps in when a red flag was raised and I was asked to return to the pits

“Who crashed? That’s quite the wreckage” I asked my engineer as to who crashed as I approached the crash site

“I believe that was the red bull of Vettel that went into the barriers there” my engineer replied

My heart dropped. Was he alright? That looked like a really bad crash

I didn’t think, I stopped my car by the side of the track and ran to check on Seb

Knocking on his helmet I invoked no response. My mind was spiralling. I helped the marshals get his body out of the car and was forced to return to my pitbox and not Seb who was being taken to the hospital.

The race resumed but all that clouded my mind was Seb. How was he? Did he sustain any serious injuries? Was he going to be ok?

I could barely focus and my team noticed too and asked me to keep focusing and told me they would update me on his condition which made me incredibly grateful

I finished the race on the second step of the podium but I didn’t care for the press or the celebrations and rushed through all of them

I was pacing around the paddock waiting for mark to go visit Seb at the hospital

“About time you guys realise that you care for eachother” he said as he approached me

“What are you talking about Mark? Also what do you mean about time? I’ve hated him forever. I’m just looking out for a fellow driver” I retorted.

“Any person not deeply in love wouldn’t care this much dear. Look at the rest of us. We care sure, but not so much that we drop everything and go visit him” Mark explained

Albeit it was a weirdly rude explanation I realised he was right.

We reached the hospital and let Mark go in first as he was his teammate after all

Mark pov:

Entering Sebs room I placed the flowers y/n has got for him insisting that I give to him in a vase.

“How did you know I love sunflowers?” Seb asked looking at the flowers

“ That’s because I didn’t, y/n got them and wanted me to give them to you” I said

“She’s here?”

“Indeed she is. She was worried as soon as she saw the crash site”

“Whatever not like I care she’s my mortal enemy”

“Aw don’t be like that, I know you have the most massive crush on her”

Seb started at me wide eyed with a red hue tinting his cheeks

“I’ll send her in, she’s waiting outside”

I left and sent y/n in who was relieved to hear that he was ok

Seb pov:

I saw y/n enter the room and looking at the immense concern etched into her face I asked myself why I decided to create such an enemity with this beautiful soul

I knew I had to confess soon as her potential suitors were getting harder to drive away.

“Hey”

“Hey”

“How are you feeling now?”

“I’m better now that you’re here”

I watched as her face heated up turning her into the cutest tomato

“I love you”

“Seb..”

“I love you y/n. I have since the day we met”

“I love you too Seb. Always have”

With that we connected our pups in the most magical kiss ever.

We broke apart to the sound of Mark Webber cheering for us from outside

Chuckling we embraced.

I couldn’t have asked for a better ending.

A/n: hello lovelies! I’m sorry it took me this long to complete I’m sorry but I’m much more free now and I’ll start posting more. I’m getting the catalogue ready and would love for any suggestions about what the theme could be! Let me know your thoughts. Kissies ✨

Taglist:

@grantaires-waistcoat

@tellybearryyyy

[a-little-podcast-blog]

welcome to night vale + the lights above the arby’s

[wtnv 230 - carlos, explained // wtnv 100 - toast // wtnv 1 - pilot]

[loveinhawkins]

Steve’s bat bites start to bleed again during the drive out of The War Zone.

It’s a slow realisation, a creeping dampness on his skin.

He stays as still as he can, keeps his movements small and contained when turning the steering wheel; he thinks he mostly gets away with it, manages to park the RV and pitch his voice on just the right side of normal as he tells the kids to scram.

Awareness of his surroundings grows a little fuzzy around the edges, but he senses enough to know that he’s alone—the silence feels heavy, makes his ears ring.

He lifts himself up out of his seat, one hand clinging onto the headrest for balance. The ringing gets sharper, more high-pitched; he shakes his head to try and clear it.

One step forward, then another, and another.

There’s a slight rocking motion under his feet. It feels a little like he’s in a boat that’s docked, constant movement even in the gentlest of waters.

His palms brush against the bathroom door.

“Okay,” Steve whispers to himself.

He hangs onto the sink to keep himself upright—feels the room sway, as if the waters underneath have suddenly become stormy.

With one hand, he finds the knot in the bandage.

“Okay, okay…”

Pulls.

Steve doesn’t think he blacks out, not quite, but there’s a shift, a dizzying tilt… and then, somehow, he’s sitting on the closed toilet seat.

And…

The bat bites must cause hallucinations or something.

Otherwise, Steve cannot explain why Eddie—who notoriously threw up and passed out during a dissection in Biology—is currently pressing a clean bandage against his stomach, staring down at the blood like he can’t look away.

“You’re good, you’re good,” Eddie’s saying.

He’s clearly trying to sound calm, but it’s just coming out strained, like what he really means is this is all a fucking nightmare actually, but we’ve gotta find something to be optimistic about.

“Think it just needs some more pressure,” he goes on. “Yeah, there, see? It’s stopping. Oh, thank God.”

Steve feels more gauze getting wrapped around his middle—if he wasn’t injured, it’d almost be a nice sensation, Eddie’s touch somehow the perfect mix of both firm and gentle.

As he works, Eddie hums nervously.

“Talk to me Harrington,” he says in a shaky sing-song. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging, man, gimme some awkward small talk. Got any hopes? Dreams? Anything I should know?

Oh, so many things, Steve thinks, still light-headed.

But then he really does mull that over: his mind goes to The Upside Down, to belatedly telling Eddie about the hive mind, and oh shit.

“Hey, weird question,” Steve says, “but I’ve not been, like, asking you to make it cold in here or, um, anything like that?”

Eddie blinks. “Uh. No?”

“Okay.” Before he lets the relief of hearing Eddie’s answer sink in, Steve adds, “If I ever do, you need to lock me in here and get out. Tell Nancy.”

Eddie’s staring at him like he’s grown a second head. “Sure. Cool. Cool! Uh, for any particular reason or—?”

“Just in case—like, I don’t feel any different, but—one time, Will Byers, when he was in The Upside Down it, like, infected him? Like a virus. Except more… possession. And they had to kinda… burn it outta him.”

“Ha,” Eddie says. A beat. “Oh fuck, you’re serious.”

“I really don’t have the energy to be messing with you, dude.”

“Sorry. Sometimes you all just say things, y’know? And if I don’t get it, I’m like, well, they’ve been living through this for a while, maybe they’ve got a code going on.”

“I mean,” Steve says, “we kinda do.”

Eddie shakes his head. “So when Buckley said she dealt with a human-flesh-based monster, and the one before that was smoke-related, that wasn’t just, like, a really fucked up metaphor?” Eddie’s eyes are wide, pleading. “Please say it was a metaphor.”

“Sorry,” Steve says sincerely.

Eddie sighs through a lacklustre chuckle. “You’re fine, Steve. As for, uh, being possessed, I don’t think so. You’re no weirder than usual, but—”

“Wow, thanks. Means such a lot coming from you.”

“—you were a bit, like, out of it for a few seconds, but it just looked like you were gonna faint on me. Um. How’re you feeling now?”

“Good,” Steve says. When Eddie raises an eyebrow, he tacks on, “As good as I can be, I guess. Still.” He groans slightly as he stands, goes back over to the sink. “Better check.”

“Check? What?”

Steve runs the water as hot as it will possibly go, until the steam is evident. He sticks his hand right into the stream, hears Eddie hiss as the water scalds his skin.

“Okay, yup. Not possessed.”

“Fucking fantastic. Now I want it cold,” Eddie says.

He takes control of the faucet, nods for Steve to put his hand under the now cold water.

After a minute or two, Eddie sighs and collapses onto the toilet seat himself.

There’s a squeak as Steve turns the faucet off—his skin’s probably not had the good of the cold water for nearly long enough, but it’ll do.

Eddie’s tipped his head back so he’s facing the ceiling, eyes closed. Steve watches him with sympathy; he really must hate blood.

“Eddie. You can go.”

“Mm, nope,” Eddie says without opening his eyes. “I’m fine right here.”

“Suit yourself.”

Steve turns back to the sink, frowns at the tiny mirror above it; there’s black spots on the glass, but he can make out enough. Christ, the bags under his eyes are horrific.

“Relax, Casanova,” Eddie says, almost as if he’s heard Steve’s thoughts. “You look good.”

“Uh-huh. Think your brain’s fried from being on the run.”

Steve leans against the sink with one hip, finds Eddie looking at him with a small smile.

“Yeah, probably. Or maybe being on the run just suits you.” Eddie’s eyes flicker down. His smile falters. “You know, in an ideal world,” he says conversationally, “you’d be in a hospital getting stitches.”

Steve scoffs. “In an ideal world, I’d be in bed sleeping.”

“Amen to that,” Eddie says lightly. But he still looks sombre. “Seriously, though. If it gets… you know. I’d drive you.”

“To the hospital? What are you gonna do, Eddie, wander up to the front desk? Sounds like a real interesting way to get arrested.”

But Eddie doesn’t leap at the chance to make a joke.

“Steve,” he says softly. “I mean it. I wouldn’t care.”

“That would sorta ruin the whole priority of hiding you.”

“That’s—” Eddie huffs. “That’s not the priority.”

“Huh, that’s funny, cause it is in my book.” Steve nods at the door, to his whole world just outside. “One of many.”

Eddie’s eyes narrow. “And your name better be right at the top, Harrington.”

Steve hums.

“In bold. Underlined.”

“Whatever you say.”

Eddie groans quietly, runs a hand down his face. “You worry me, man.”

“I’m not trying to.”

“I know. Just…” Eddie hesitates. “Don’t go off alone. You know?”

Steve thinks it over. He steps forward and offers Eddie his hand.

Eddie takes it.

When Steve pulls him up, he stumbles a little, as if he feels like he’s on a boat, too.

“Oops, sorry.” He grabs onto Steve’s forearm for balance. “Think this should be the other way round, man.”

“Hmm, I don’t think so.”

Steve leads the way out of the bathroom—doesn’t mention the fact that, really, they’re both holding each other up.

There’s a bottle of water left in the back. Steve twists the cap off. Drinks.

“You too,” he tells Eddie.

“Huh?”

Steve considers him—thinks of the little flare of panic he felt when watching Eddie walk through the woods, tiptoeing around vines. How he had a sudden instinct to catch up to him, to make sure he wasn’t alone.

“I’m making a deal,” Steve says. “I won’t go off alone if you don’t.”

He lifts the bottle up as if making a toast—drinks again then passes it over to Eddie.

For the slightest of moments, their fingers brush; Eddie’s rings skim over Steve’s knuckles.

“So what’s this?” Eddie asks. “Legally binding magical water?”

Steve shrugs. “Cool metaphor,” he replies.

You say you just turn heel and run, Eddie. But sometimes I think if there was a fire, you’d run towards the flames if it meant no-one else got hurt.

Eddie smiles. Tilts the bottle towards Steve.

“Guess it’s a promise, then,” he says.

He drinks.

Steve prays that it holds.

[gay-dorito-dust]

I JUST SAW YOUR ONE WITH BILL POSSESSING READER AND OMG, adding onto bill possessing the reader and pushing them into the portal, can you do one where readers just like "fuck it, if I betrayed him and everyone thinks that might as well" and joins bill, I just think k it would be a cool concept, especially if Ford realizes way too late that reader was innocent.

I’m combining these who requests cuz they are practically the same.

Bill came to you the night after Ford had kicked you out of the shack in the form of a dream.

You didn’t even need to see him to know it was him, there was signs and the obvious one was when the birch trees opened their eyes to stare at you. ‘Bill.’ You said calmly.

‘My favourite fleshbag!’ Bill replied as he hovered in front of you, tipping his top hat towards you but you only looked at him blankly, having had your heart ripped out of your chest mere moments ago, that nothing was left from the encounter other then a dull ache where your heart should’ve been.

‘Hope you’re happy because I’m despised for the things YOU DID AS ME!’ You roared as you grabbed ahold of Bill with your bare hands and bringing him close to your face so that he could see the hurt, the betrayal; but most importantly the angry balding within your eyes so clearly like star constellations on a cloudless night.

‘And they didn’t let you explain? Not even mr logistics himself fordsy?’ Bill asked, finding this really heard to believe as your reality, but the way your eyes became sharp as steel at the mention of Ford’s name only made Bill start to believe that the nerd could’ve done something so heartless. ‘Oh you poor flesh bag.’ He coos as he pats your face with his small hand. ‘I knew I could smell the desire for revenge from dimensions away.’ He adds and you push him away, scoffing as you brought your attention to the landscape that your mind took; a serene forest with fairy lights hung from the branches high about you with the sound of frogs croaking and crickets to accompany the perpetual drizzle of light rainfall.

It was a weird place for you to be, especially with what you went through just moments prior, it felt too calm for a reflection of your current mental state and Bill noticed this abnormality too. You went through the biggest betrayal of your life and your dreamscape was barely affected by the reality you lived in, how fascinating. ‘I don’t want revenge.’ You said to Bill.

‘Are you sure? They didn’t even give you room to explain yourself, they took it at face value and tossed you aside like you were nothing.’ Bill said as he watched your face for every possible expressing he could get out of you. ‘Ford didn’t value you, neither did Stanley so why bother keeping your loyalties to men who don’t see your worth, nor value your loyalty that you’ve given them as they curse your name because they didn’t think you’d do anything in retaliation. Think about it getting even with them while dropping the truth on them will be a spectacle for the ages.’ Bill finishes as he leans towards you while whispering promises into your ears.

You let bill into your head once and you promised that you wouldn’t ever again, you’ve learnt your lesson but you were lost within your emotions, your grief of your friendship with Ford as you allowed him to shatter your last hope for someone to take your side in this long winded argument. That and Bill’s whispers of revenge and getting your own back at the old men has you succumbing to thoughts you’d never thought you were comfortable of thinking so freely as you did in that moment.

‘You promise to make their lives hell?’ You asked.

‘You’re not the only one they’ve wronged. I’ve dedicated my long life to seeing them helpless as I destroy their everything.’ Bill replied as he stuck out his hand, blue flames licking at his palms as it illuminated the dark forest and yourselves. ‘There’s no point denying it kid, you and I? We’re more alike than you think. We both wanna see lesser Sixer and Sixer eat dirt for what they’ve done to us, so let’s make that a reality partner.’ He adds.

-mini skip-

‘We need to wait for my partner, I can’t start torturing you all without them, I kinda promised them a front row seat to your demise.’ Bill said as he caged up Stan, Ford, Dipper and Mabel into their respective prisons.

‘You? A partner? You said it yourself Bill you don’t do partners!’ Ford replied sarcastically but something within him told him that something was wrong.

Bill laughed as he waved his hand. ‘Things change Stanford, and besides me and this person have more in common then I originally imagined when I first possessed them.’ He mentions off handedly as the doors open and the Pines Family saw a familiar figure come into the light, dressed in a dark suit/dress with eyes patterned across it as though to show that no corner of the room went unseen by this person; this person being you as you stopped by Bill’s side.

‘Y/n?’ Ford whispered.

You looked at him with a blank look. ‘Hello Stanford. Having fun in your little cage?’ You asked.

‘Y/n please tell me this isn’t true, that you’re working with Bill?’ Ford pressed on as he fought hard to suspended his disbelief for your sake and for the sake that this was all a horrid dream that he’d soon wake up from.

You shrugged. ‘Like he said, we’re more alike than he originally imagined when he first possessed me into pushing you into the portal.’

The family gasped.

‘He possessed you?’ Dipper asked.

‘This whole time…’ Stanley trailed off.

‘You were being used against your will,’ Ford continued as he realised that his and Stan’s treatment of you was unjust and unwarranted, ‘and now you’re working with him…why you’re my assistant!’ He adds knowing that Bill was using you against him once again.

‘Oh don’t get all jealous that your partner has found someone better fordsy.’ Bill said as he puts a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it possessively. ‘Besides they just found someone better to spend eternity with.’ Bill adds as Ford could only sit in the realisation that if he had let you speak instead of assume the worst of you, then maybe you’d still be by his side, happy.

But he failed you as much as he failed his brother and Fiddleford. Ford had no one to blame but himself and it’ll be something he’d have to live with for the rest of his life, assuming he should live that long after you and Bill we’re through with him.

[ham1lton]

013 with charles!

013. a great ballroom during an elegant party w/ CL16.

— part of a series of drabbles! <3

one day after classes, you had come home to see an unfamiliar elderly woman sitting with your mother in your small flat. your mother had placed her cup of tea down on the coffee table and introduced the lady as your grandmother, and as the current queen of the small kingdom of genovia.

thanks to that one night, you were now here at a genovian ball held in your honour but instead of being out on the floor and mingling with the guests, you had hid in an alcove. a side-effect of becoming the crown princess means a makeover. your hair had been styled to frame your face, and you were wearing more jewels then you’d ever seen in your life. it was a bit much but it’s not like anyone had asked you how you felt about it.

one day you were attending college, crushing on carlos, who was your best friend’s older brother, and now you were the only heir to a kingdom you hadn’t even heard of before.

before you could think about your circumstances any longer, someone had slid themselves into the alcove. you screamed.

“wait! wait! sshh! please!” a hand covered your mouth as your eyes widened in shock. you’re gonna die in an alcove and around five minutes away from your security. your introvert tendencies are going to kill you. this is the worst day of your life.

“don’t kill me! please!” you say, fighting his hand.

“what?” he asks, voice filled with shock. “i’m not going to kill you!”

“you’re not?”

“no!” you can hear an accent when he speaks. “i’m just trying to hide from my responsibilities. i didn’t want you bringing attention to us. this is my hiding spot when i come to genovian balls.”

“are you from here?”

“no. i’m from monaco. my mum is the monegasque ambassador to genovia.”

“explains the accent.” you say. you can’t see him but he stands slightly tall as he leans against the wall opposite you. “i’m y/n.”

“y/n?” his voice is shocked. “y/n, as in the crown princess y/n?”

“indeed.” you sigh. “that is me.”

“what are you doing hiding away? isn’t the queen looking for you?”

“you’re hiding too. isn’t your mother looking for you?”

“touché.” he laughs. “i guess we’re both running from our duties tonight.”

“so, what’s your name. you know mine and i’m at a disadvantage now.”

“charles, charles leclerc.” he laughs. “i never would have thought in a million years i’d be here with you. this alcove is usually empty.”

“is being here with me a bad thing?”

“oh! no! god no! it’s just unusual. who else can say they’ve been here with a princess.”

you chuckle at his response, feeling a bit more at ease with charles's lighthearted demeanor. "well, charles leclerc, i'm glad to have some company in this unusual situation."

he smiles warmly at you, the brightness of his teeth glinting in the darkness. "likewise, princess. i have to admit, this is definitely a first for me."

you both share a moment of quiet companionship, enjoying the brief respite from the grandeur of the ball. it's a strange feeling, finding solace in the presence of a stranger amidst the opulence of royalty.

"perhaps we should head back before we're missed," you suggest reluctantly.

charles nods in agreement, offering you his arm as you both make your way back to the ballroom. as you step into the light and the music surrounds you once again, you can't help but feel grateful for the unexpected connection you've found. you turn to communicate this to charles, only to be shocked into a stupor.

“what is it?” he asks as you stare at him. “something on my face?”

he was very attractive and your face heated up with embarrassment at the fact you accused the very handsome stranger of attempting to murder you. god, he put his hand over your mouth. was your makeup smudged? did you look okay? you had the telltale signs of a crush forming, and you were transported back to high school all over again.

you were definitely calling your best friends about this later tonight.

you shake your head, trying to push aside the embarrassment of your earlier reaction. "no, it's nothing. just... lost in thought for a moment."

charles gives you a curious look, but doesn't press further. instead, he offers you a reassuring smile before leading you back into the bustling ballroom.

as the music swells around you and the guests continue to dance and mingle, you find yourself stealing glances at charles when you think he's not looking. despite the initial shock of your encounter, you can't deny the flutter of excitement in your chest at the prospect of getting to know him better.

the only thing you miss are the glances he sends back.

•───────•°•❀•°•───────•

author’s note: princess diaries au with charles as ur love interest, carlos as lily’s brother and lando as lily. spoilers! charles and reader end up getting married and he becomes her trophy king <3 also, two people requested this prompt!! hope u both enjoyed it <3

[scary-grace]

Enough to Go By (Chapter 5) - a Shigaraki x f!Reader fic

Your best friend vanished on the same night his family was murdered, and even though the world forgot about him, you never did. When a chance encounter brings you back into contact with Shimura Tenko, you'll do anything to make sure you don't lose him again. Keep his secrets? Sure. Aid the League of Villains? Of course. Sacrifice everything? You would - but as the battle between the League of Villains and hero society unfolds, it becomes clear that everything is far more than you or anyone else imagined it would be. (cross-posted to Ao3)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Chapter 5

You end up on a rooftop, you and Tenko and Kurogiri. Tenko has a pair of binoculars, and he lets you look through them before you have a chance to ask what he’s looking for. “We’re in Hosu,” he says. “The current location of the Hero Killer.”

“Are you going to fight him?”

“I’m doing what you said.”

You can’t remember what you said, except for your stupid joke. “Making him unfuckable?”

Tenko snickers, and somewhere behind you, Kurogiri does the same – which is extra weird. “No. Putting us back in the headlines.”

“Oh.” You don’t like this. “I’m not a strategist. You shouldn’t listen to me.”

“Why?” Tenko gives you a weird look. “You’re not stupid. Your ideas aren’t any worse than mine.”

“I don’t want you to get mad at me if it goes wrong,” you say. “I’ve heard you get mad at Kurogiri.”

Kurogiri chuckles. “That’s different,” he says. “Shigaraki Tomura. Tell her why it’s different.”

“Shut up,” Tenko says. He put the hand back over his face once he let go of your hand, but he’s turning red around it. Again. “Kurogiri’s not my sidekick. I don’t have to listen to him.”

“You don’t have to listen to me, either,” you say. “I don’t know anything about being – this.”

“You understand them better than I do,” Tenko says. He gestures at the expanse of Hosu before you. “What would it take to make you stop trusting heroes?”

You already don’t trust heroes very much. What would it take to move people like your parents or your siblings, who live in the other Japan, to where you are? “To see them choose wrong.”

Tenko gives you a curious look. “What do you mean?”

“Heroes can’t save everybody. They can’t be everywhere. They can’t be there all the time. But nobody ever thinks that the heroes won’t choose to save them,” you explain. “If you wanted to shake things up, you’d have to make it so the heroes choose wrong. For everybody to see.”

Tenko’s eyes light up, and the smile on his face this time looks less like your friend’s and more like the villain he’s become. “Then we’re in the right place,” he says. “This city is crawling with heroes looking for Stain. Let’s put them in a bind. Kurogiri, bring the Nomu. All of them.”

“Nomu?” you squeak, even as multiple portals open around you. “You have more than one?”

“We have lots. Sensei only gave me three.” Tenko gestures proudly at the monsters emerging from the portals. Everything about them looks like they’ve been put together wrong, from their staring eyes to their featureless faces to their pasty skin that smells like rot. The news reports about the attack on UA were clear about one thing – the Nomu that faced off against All Might was fast and extremely strong. “What do you think?”

One passes close to you and you cringe away, closer to Tenko. “They’re awful.”

“Exactly,” Tenko says. He stares down at the city, an expression on his face that’s somehow grim and vicious at once. “Let’s see what the rest of them think.”

The Nomus crawl down the sides of the building and vanish into the city. Tenko hasn’t given them orders, and neither has Kurogiri. You have questions – a lot of questions – but you’re not sure what it’s safe to ask. You’re Tenko’s sidekick, but that doesn’t mean his plans are yours to comment on. It feels weird to keep quiet, too. You and Tenko used to get in trouble for talking in class because you never ran out of things to talk about.

“You don’t look weird.”

You cough. “What?”

“You don’t look weird,” Tenko says again. You look at him, surprised, and find him looking straight ahead, peering through the binoculars. “I should have let you fix my shoulder the rest of the way.”

“What did you end up doing with it?” You reach over and part the cut fabric on his shoulder, wincing as you get a look at the bandaging job. “Next time, just let me finish.”

“Can you fix the rest of it?”

“I can’t do more stitches when it’s been open this long,” you say. Tenko grimaces but doesn’t swear at you. “There’s a chance it’ll get infected. If it does –”

“I’ll send Kurogiri to find you.”

“Tell him to give me a heads-up instead of just snatching me. I might need to grab antibiotics and I don’t want to make two trips.”

Tenko nods like this makes sense, which it does, except for the context. You’re standing here on the roof of a building in a city that’s already facing one villainous threat, while your childhood best friend turned aspiring supervillain has just released another – on your advice, no less. You try to rationalize it. Hosu is crawling with heroes, like Tenko said. If they’re good heroes, they’ll divert their attention to protecting the civilians. Heroes fighting Nomus will get Tenko the headlines he wants for the League of Villains, and if nobody gets hurt aside from the heroes who signed up for the job –

You need to be careful with that line of thinking. With that line of thinking, you could excuse what happened to the students during the attack on UA. “Can I ask you something?” you say, and Tenko nods. “Why did you go after the students?”

“I wasn’t after them. The point was All Might.”

“But you brought all those other villains,” you say. “On the news they said that Kurogiri moved the kids all over the training facility so the villains could kill them. And –”

You’re thinking of something else you heard, from Kazuo – that Tenko tried to kill at least three students directly, and All Might’s arrival was the only thing that stopped him. “He was supposed to be there from the beginning,” Tenko says. “All Might. Dividing the students up was supposed to distract him. Split his focus so he’d be more vulnerable to Nomu.”

You don’t know what you were expecting him to say, but it wasn’t that. “Those villains were weak,” Tenko continues. “The brats could deal with them on their own. It would have taken All Might two seconds. But two seconds is all we would have needed.”

“So it was – strategy.”

“Yeah.” Tenko lowers his binoculars, glances at you. “Do you believe me?”

The words leave your mouth before you can think better of them. “I’d believe you more if I could see you.”

Tenko was in the process of looking away. Now he glances back, and you can tell he’s startled, even through the fingers of the hand. You’re not sure what the hands are for. When he attacked the USJ, he was wearing multiple sets, but usually he only wears Father around you. You haven’t asked him to remove the hand before – only asked him where it was when he wasn’t wearing it, and when you think it over, you can’t see any commonalities between the times when it’s off and the times when it’s on. Maybe it’s the kind of thing you can ask about now that you’re Tenko’s sidekick again.

Tenko grips the binoculars one-handed, reaching up to remove the hand with the other. “The brats weren’t the real target,” he says.

“But you still tried to kill three of them.”

“Yeah,” Tenko says, like it doesn’t matter, without care – and without malice. “They were right there, and I thought All Might wasn’t coming. Everybody had to see how he failed again.”

Again? You’re not the biggest All Might fan, but you don’t remember hearing about All Might failing to save children who were being held hostage. In fact, when All Might has to prioritize, he saves children first. Tenko is watching you now. “Do you believe me?”

“I believe you,” you say, and you see his shoulders relax. “You’re not a very good liar.”

He never was. When you were trying to get away with things as children, you did the talking. Tenko’s job was to stay quiet and not make eye contact with whichever adult was questioning the two of you. No matter how desperate he was not to get caught, a few seconds of eye contact was enough to break him. In the present, Tenko smiles slightly. “Lucky I’ve got you.”

You like seeing him smile, and you’ve seen it twice tonight. The knot in your chest relaxes, only to tighten again as a chorus of screams rise from the city below. Tenko lifts his binoculars eagerly and you twist your hands together, trying to contain your unease. You have your best friend. He wants you with him – his sidekick, just like you used to be. You still know how to make him smile. And he’s a villain, the kind of villain who, when his plan to kill All Might looked like it wouldn’t pan out, decided to kill three children instead. What are you doing here?

More screams from below. You wonder how many civilians are being hurt, how many heroes are protecting them versus chasing Stain. You know there’s a free clinic branch in Hosu, one that’s open overnight just like yours is. They’ll be busy tonight. At least you won’t have to worry about them treating injured villains as well as civilians.

Or will they? What are the Nomus, exactly? Where did they come from? Is that the kind of question you’re allowed to ask Tenko now that you’re friends again? “Um,” you start, but he doesn’t look at you, just keeps peering through the binoculars. Sometimes he focuses so hard it’s like his ears stop working. You remember that from when you were kids. “Tenko?”

He still doesn’t answer. You reach out, touch his shoulder, and he startles so badly that he drops the binoculars. If he grabs them with all five fingers, they’ll disintegrate. You catch them for him, since it’s your fault, and pass them back once he’s ready. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s – fine.” Tenko’s shoulder is tense beneath your hand. You’re still touching him, and you shouldn’t be. You pull your hand back. “What is it?”

“The Nomu,” you say hesitantly. “What are they?”

It’s quiet for a second. “Shigaraki Tomura,” Kurogiri warns. “You should not –”

“She won’t tell,” Tenko says without looking at him. He hasn’t put the hand back over his face. “They’re – I guess you could call them zombies. They’re made from bodies. Usually two or three bodies, and three or four quirk factors. It’s usually the same quirk factors. Shock absorption, regeneration, speed. I don’t care if you touch me.”

You’re too busy trying to wrap your head around the fact that somebody’s figured out how to raise the dead to catch the last thing. It takes you a second to get to it, and even then, you have to ask a clarifying question. “You don’t care? Or you don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind.”

Something is wrong with you. Something is really wrong with you that you’re more interested in why Tenko doesn’t mind if you touch him than in the fact that Tenko has multiple zombies at his disposal to turn loose on unsuspecting heroes and civilians. You try to focus. “Where do the bodies come from?”

“I don’t know,” Tenko says. He’s frowning slightly. A moment later, he puts the hand back on his face – but before you can decide if it’s because he’s mad at you, he hands you the binoculars. “Look.”

You look through them. You’re looking in the wrong spot, and after a few seconds of trying to give you directions, Tenko gives up and just covers your hands with his, moving you in the right direction. His index fingers are lifted, protecting you from his quirk. You see what he wanted you to look at quickly enough – heroes facing off against the Nomus. Endeavor facing off against the Nomus. It looks like the heroes chose right.

You can’t deny that it’s a relief. The civilians will always be your priority, and even if almost everyone has a quirk, most of those quirks are useless when it comes to defending against zombies with multiple quirks, and they’re banned from using them anyway. But you have the sense that Tenko’s not pleased, and when you look at him, you see him scowling behind the hand. “They’re making it look too easy,” he complains.

“These Nomu were not as strong as the Nomu from USJ,” Kurogiri says. “You were made aware, Shigaraki Tomura.”

“These heroes aren’t as strong as All Might,” Tenko snaps in response. “Master set me up – again –”

You spot something through the binoculars. Something Tenko needs to see. You push them back into his hands. “Look at that.”

Tenko’s still scowling, but he lifts the binoculars to peer through them. A second later he startles. Even without the binoculars, you can see a dark shape in distant flight over the city, something clutched in its claws. You don’t know who the Nomu grabbed, or where it’s taking them, but Tenko can’t fail to be pleased with that. Can he?

He can. A moment later he swears. “Fucking Hero Killer –”

Your heart sinks. “What happened?”

“He killed it. To save some hero brat.” Tenko’s binoculars are crumbling in his hand. You wonder if he even notices. “Fucking Hero Killer. Fuck!”

You’re pretty sure that’s not the end of the story. The Hero Killer saved a hero, after claiming that there’s only one true hero, and it’s All Might? You slide your phone out of your pocket, clear a bunch of notifications from your friends’ group chat, and navigate to Twitter. Somebody’s got to be reporting on this live, and sure enough, you find “Hero Killer” trending, plus a livestream of Stain’s arrest. He’s getting arrested, and with at least twenty murders under his belt, there’s no way he’s getting out of Tartarus in this lifetime. You touch Tenko’s shoulder again – after all, he said it was fine – and speak quietly. “Hey.”

“What?”

He won’t look at you. “Look at this,” you say instead, holding out your phone. “The heroes got him.”

“So?”

“So that’s it for him,” you say. “He’s going to prison for the rest of his life. All Might’s definitely not going to fuck him now.”

It’s quiet for a second, aside from a wheeze emanating from somewhere behind the two of you. It’s still weird to hear Kurogiri laugh. You don’t even know if he has lungs. Beside you, Tenko’s doing everything in his power to hang onto his scowl, and it’s not working very well. “Is that the only joke you know?”

You feel a surge of relief. “I’ll stop using it when you stop laughing at it.”

You hear the sound of helicopter blades in the distance, growing closer. Tenko can hear it, too. “Kurogiri, let’s go. We’re done here.”

You barely have a second to wonder where you’re headed before the black mist wells up, and you’re not entirely surprised to find yourself back in the bar. Kurogiri’s behind it already. Tenko’s sitting at it, the chair next to his kicked outwards. As you watch, Kurogiri sets two glasses down and lifts an unopened bottle of champagne. He opens it, pouring first Tenko’s glass, then the glass in front of the empty chair.

Tenko glances over his shoulder, spots you, and gestures impatiently at the chair. You sit down next to him and study the glass of champagne. Tenko’s already chugging his, but he stops halfway and glances at you. “Why aren’t you drinking it?”

You could lie, but you don’t want to. “I watched him pour it, and I don’t think you’d drug me. But I still have to be careful.”

Tenko doesn’t look offended. Instead he swaps glasses with you, and Kurogiri makes a discontented noise. “She doesn’t want to drink your backwash, Tomura. Even if you did brush your teeth before we left.”

“Shut up,” Tenko snaps at him. He’s turning red again. You look down into your new glass, trying not to laugh. “I brush my teeth all the time. You’re not special.”

That one gets you. You start laughing, and Kurogiri makes that weird wheezing sound. You’re starting to realize that unlike the villain you met earlier today, who was all over the place, Kurogiri’s got two distinct aspects – one that’s more formal, more severe, and another that’s significantly more relaxed. The second one sounds younger, too, and the impression only grows stronger when Kurogiri speaks again. “If you drink someone else’s backwash, it’s like making out with them indirectly.”

“No it isn’t! I didn’t ask you!”

Tenko is bright red and sputtering, and Kurogiri’s yellow eyes are crinkling, almost the way a person’s would. It occurs to you what this aspect of Kurogiri reminds you of – a sibling. You teased your younger siblings the exact same way, when you could get away with it. Well aware that you’re making some kind of statement about the whole thing, you pick up the glass that used to be Tenko’s and take a small sip. It doesn’t taste like anything but champagne.

When you look up, you find Tenko and Kurogiri watching you. Staring, more accurately – Tenko’s jaw is dropped. You will your face not to flush. “Thanks for switching with me. As long as you don’t pass out in the next half an hour, we’re good to go.”

“So you have to stay at least that long.”

He doesn’t want you to leave. You take another sip of champagne, giving yourself time to get under control. You don’t want Tenko to know how pleased you are with the thought, or how ambivalent you are at being pleased by it. “I guess I do.”

You stay for another hour and a half, reading over the news coverage of the Nomu attack and the Hero Killer’s capture until you can barely keep your eyes open. But you have an early morning, and even though Tenko complains that you have to go and makes fun of you for agreeing to take Yoshimi to her appointment, he doesn’t suggest that you back out of it. As Kurogiri is determining where to set a warp gate to send you back to Yokohama, you ask him why not.

Tenko gives you a weird look. “I know you,” he says. “That’s not who you are.”

He’s right. It isn’t. And as much as you’re pleased by the thought that your best friend still knows you after all these years, the disquiet lurking underneath it follows you home, curls up on your chest as you try to fall asleep. You’re not the kind of person who’d turn your back on a friend, or go back on your word once you’ve given it. But apparently you’re the kind of person who watches a villain turn monsters loose on innocent people and does absolutely nothing to stop him.

You might have made your choice already. You might have stepped over the line. But you have a bad feeling that you’ll be looking back over your shoulder at it until it’s vanished over the horizon, knowing you made the wrong call and knowing deep in your bones that there’s nothing else you could have done.

You’ve done basically nothing, but you still get the sense that you’re leading a double life. You comfort yourself with the thought that even if you went to the police, you’d have nothing useful to tell them. You don’t know where Tenko’s hideout is. You don’t know anything about who makes the Nomus or where they’re hidden. You don’t know anything about Kurogiri except that it seems like there are two personalities in there, and what Kazuo said about his quirk not being natural. You’re still not sure what Kazuo meant by that. Just like you’re not sure who Tenko’s master is.

The things you know would be absolutely useless to them. You know that Tenko recovered from his USJ injuries only to get immediately slashed up by Stain. You know Tenko likes champagne but can’t hold his liquor for shit. You know he’s smart and strategic, a lot more than the news gives him credit for, which is bad for them and probably also bad for you. You know he likes video games more than he did when he was a kid, but he likes you just as much as he did back then. You like him just as much, too. Probably too much.

You haven’t seen him again since that night in Hosu. You know he’ll send Kurogiri to find you if he needs you, and the fact that he doesn’t need you means he’s not getting hurt. But you’re watchful anyway. No matter where you’re walking, day or night, you find yourself keeping a close eye the shadows, watching from your peripheral vision in case one of them hides a warp gate. Or better yet, hides Tenko.

“Hypervigilance,” Kazuo remarks when he catches you at it, one partly cloudy day in early June. “A hallmark of traumatic stress. You could benefit from counseling.”

“It’s not wrong to be wary,” you say. “Things are more dangerous than they used to be. Don’t you feel it?”

“Another hallmark of PTSD. Persistent, negative cognitions about yourself, others, or the world, exemplified by statements like The world is more dangerous than it used to be.” Kazuo can be a real asshole sometimes. “But you’re correct. Crime rates have steadily increased as All Might’s taken a step back from the public eye.”

“You really think it’s All Might?” You glance sideways at Kazuo. “Not the League of Villains?”

“The League of Villains is a symptom,” Kazuo says. The two of you got to the park early; the rest of your friends are running late for your meetup. “I looked into the backgrounds of those who were captured in the attack on USJ. For the most part, I found petty crime – thievery, fleeing from the police, physical violence committed in the course of fleeing a crime scene or an altercation with heroes.”

That tracks with the kind of villains you run into at work. Most of them have done next to nothing to earn the title. “Looking back further,” Kazuo continues, “I found poverty, substance abuse, quirk-based discrimination, childhood trauma. There were some among the criminals at USJ who sought violence specifically and consistently from an early age, but for the majority of them, it was far from inevitable that they would become criminals. It could have been otherwise.”

Thinking about what’s going on with Tenko, you’ve gotten in the habit of playing devil’s advocate. “And that’s on All Might? One hero can’t fix poverty, or childhood trauma –”

“No, they cannot. But the presence of heroes gives everyone else an excuse not to try to fix anything,” Kazuo says. He gives you a look. “There will always be some villains. The existence of enough villains to allow your friend to form a League of them means that society is failing.”

“You’re not wrong,” you say. Usually when you admit that Kazuo’s right, he moves on, but this time he keeps looking at you. “What?”

“At least try to deny it,” Kazuo says, and you know what he’s talking about. “One day I won’t be the one asking.”

You know he’s right, but as much as Tenko occupies your thoughts, you don’t have much time to dwell on him on a daily basis. Yoshimi’s sick, cancer in her lymphatic system, and with her family out of the picture and her shitty boyfriend dumping her the second he found out, you and your friends are on overdrive trying to support her. Since you’re the only one who works in the field, a lot of the daily stuff is falling on you. You’ve been taking some shifts at the central clinic so you can check in on her while she’s there for treatments, and since the high school students are all studying for their medical assistant exams, you’ve been grabbing fill-in night shifts at your regular clinic at the same time. You’re getting four hours of sleep a night, if that.

You’re exhausted. So exhausted that, when the shadows in the corner of your vision turn out to be mist as you’re walking home from the park, you keep walking straight into Kurogiri’s warp gate without a second thought.

When you arrive in the bar, Kurogiri seems surprised to see you. “I thought you might run.”

“I’m too tired to run,” you say. “Does he need me?”

Kurogiri nods, as much as a person with mist for a head can nod. “Follow me.”

You balk when you realize where you’re headed. “He doesn’t want me in there.”

“He asked me to bring you there specifically,” Kurogiri says. “Don’t worry. He’s cleaned.”

“Oh.”

The door to Tenko’s room is open, but Kurogiri knocks anyway. “Shigaraki Tomura, the girl –”

“You’re here.” Tenko appears suddenly in the doorway, the hand clamped over his face. “That was fast. You didn’t run away?”

“What kind of sidekick runs when their boss calls?” You look Tenko over. “Kurogiri said you needed me. Are you hurt?”

“My shoulder’s a mess,” Tenko says, unconcerned. “I needed to talk to you. Come in.”

He takes a few steps back, leaving room for you to step through the door. The memory of how Tenko reacted last time is still fresh in your head, and based on Tenko’s expression, he can tell. “I cleaned it,” he says impatiently. “Come in.”

In spite of the fact that your best friends have usually been boys, you haven’t spent a lot of time in boys’ rooms. The ones you have been in aren’t exactly standard. Kazuo’s room looked like an interior design magazine spread even before his mind snapped, so minimalist it was hard to imagine anyone actually living there. Sho’s room looks more like a girl’s room than yours does. Tenko’s room back when you were kids just looked like a kid’s room. Like how you would have wanted your room to look if you weren’t already sharing it with two siblings.

Tenko’s room, compared to the last time you saw it, is no longer filthy. You can see the floor, at least, and some rearranging has occurred. The desk and monitor setup has been shifted unceremoniously into one corner of the room, and on the wall where it previously sat is a flatscreen TV. You can see that it’s hooked up to a router, as well as a cable or smart TV box, and there are a few consoles and controllers strewn around nearby. Across the room from the TV is a coffee table. And behind that, a bed.

You gesture at it. “Was this here before?”

Tenko doesn’t answer. “Kurogiri, go,” he orders, and you glance over your shoulder just in time to see Kurogiri vanish from the doorway. “Sit down.”

You sit down on one end of the bed and Tenko sits on the other. He slides a collection of games across the coffee table to you. “I like all of these. You can pick which one we play first.”

“I’m not good at games.”

“I’ll teach you what you need to know,” Tenko says. He pushes the games at you again. “Pick.”

You start sorting through the games, searching in vain for any title you know while you try to shift the subject back into reasonable territory. “You said something was wrong with your shoulder. Can I look at it?”

“It’s not that bad.”

“You said it was a mess,” you point out. “Let me see.”

“Pick a game and then you can see it.”

You see exactly one title you know – Call of Duty. You hold it up and Tenko frowns. “We can play that one for a bit. In co-op mode. But after that –”

“Show me your arm.”

Tenko scowls, but he moves from the other end of the bed until he’s within reach. He’s wearing a short-sleeved shirt, oversized to the point where you can draw the neckline aside and reveal the wound. It’s clear that the stitches have been disturbed. The wound site is red and angry-looking and you can see scratches around it. There should be a scab on the part that Tenko wouldn’t let you stitch, but it’s clearly been peeled away. It’s either infected already or about to be, and either way, the healing process is going slower than it should be. A surge of frustration sweeps over you.

You look up at Tenko and find him watching you, unrepentant. “What?”

“You were scratching this.”

“It itched,” Tenko says. He gives you a weird look. “You never said not to.”

“I didn’t think I had to say not to scratch your open wounds.” Your frustration seeps into your tone. “You should have sent Kurogiri to get me as soon as the swelling started.”

“I tried. You’re always busy.” Tenko’s voice takes on the quality of a sneer. “Kurogiri’s been watching you for three days. You’re at that other clinic with that girl all the time.”

He didn’t use to be like this. He didn’t use to be jealous. “She has cancer. She needs someone –”

“She has other friends and doctors and parents and some loser boyfriend somewhere,” Tenko says. You start to argue that Yoshimi doesn’t have a boyfriend, courtesy of said boyfriend being a loser, but Tenko cuts you off. “She has lots of people. I only have you.”

He has Kurogiri, his master, the doctor, the Nomu – or does he? Shigaraki Tomura has those people. Tenko only has you. You peel your eyes from the angry mess Tenko’s wound has become and look up at him. “If I had known you needed me, I’d have found a way to be here. You’re my best friend.”

“I know. I –” Tenko breaks off, frustrated. “I didn’t mess with it so you’d come back.”

“I didn’t think that,” you say. “I know you scratch sometimes. It seems like less than before.”

“Only when you’re here.” Tenko shifts in his seat. You’re about to tell him he shouldn’t worry about that when he speaks again. “I feel different when you’re here. Can you fix it?”

“I’ll need to take the stitches out and clean it before I bandage it up again, but yes.” You look around for the medical supplies and Tenko pries open a drawer full of them. “Then we can play the game.”

“I can’t believe you like Call of Duty.”

“It’s just the only one I recognize,” you admit, and Tenko laughs. You like hearing him laugh. “Get ready to lose all respect for me. You might want a better sidekick.”

“I don’t need a better sidekick,” Tenko says. “I’m good enough for both of us.”

Warmth floods through you, pooling in your cheeks and your chest and the pit of your stomach. He remembers. You pull on a pair of gloves and open the suture kit. The sooner you rebandage his wound, the sooner you can play a game with your best friend for the first time since you were kids.

But after you’ve taken out the stitches, as you’re bandaging his shoulder, you notice something. The other times you’ve seen Tenko and treated his wounds, he’s been wearing long sleeves, and when you’ve cut them to get a look at the injuries, you haven’t paid much attention to whatever else might be underneath them. Now, with his arms exposed by design, you can see things you didn’t before. Tenko’s always scratched. After fifteen years of scratching he’d naturally have scars. But when the two of you were kids, you never saw him scratch his forearms. And you’ve never seen scratches look so uniform, so evenly spaced. You’ve seen things that look like that before. They weren’t scratches.

You look up and find Tenko looking at you already. “Sensei had me do them. So I’d be stronger,” he says. Your heart seizes in your chest. “Not in a while, though. When I got strong enough he let me stop.”

“That’s messed up.” You’ve been careful not to speak against Tenko’s master, not when you know so little about him, but you can’t hold back this time. “Hurting yourself doesn’t make you stronger. It just makes you hurt.”

“What would you know about it?”

“Lots. I see it every day.”

Tenko gives you a look that tells you just how little he thinks of whatever you’ve seen, and you lose patience. You let go of his arm and pull up the sleeve of your own short-sleeve shirt. “I don’t mean at work.”

Tenko’s jaw drops behind the hand. “Who made you do that?”

“Nobody made me. I did it myself, which makes me a lot dumber than you,” you say. Tenko’s lines are even. Yours are jagged, because you were angry or crying or hurrying to finish up before one of your siblings needed the bathroom or your mom came back to keep arguing with you. “Was your master trying to make you stronger? Or was he trying to teach you not to show when something hurts?”

Based on the way Tenko’s red eyes flash, you know you’ve hit the nail on the head. “What were you trying to do, then? When you were being dumber than me?”

You were being really dumb. So dumb that it’s embarrassing to talk about. “It’s a reset, biologically. Injuries force the body to release endorphins, which make you feel better for a little bit. There was a while where I had trouble controlling my temper. It helped me do that. Or at least not show it.”

“A while,” Tenko repeats. “You should have had trouble the entire fucking time.”

“I did,” you admit after a second. “You used to tell me it wasn’t okay, what my family was like. It took a while to believe you.”

Half the reason you didn’t believe Tenko was because you knew his family was messed up, too. No matter what else your dad did, he didn’t scream at you or lock you outside without dinner. But as you got older, you realized why your parents didn’t do that: They needed you too much. They needed your help with the extra kids they shouldn’t have had, and the older you got, the more it started to infuriate you.

You saw evidence of it everywhere, in places it was and places it wasn’t. They didn’t wipe your memory because they cared that you were upset about your missing friend, they did it because they needed you to be quiet and helpful instead of sad. They didn’t let you choose your favorite snack or go to a birthday party once in a blue moon because it was the fair thing to do, they did it so you wouldn’t complain about all the times you weren’t allowed to. They promised they’d make it up to you every time they shorted you in favor of your siblings with quirks, hoping the apology would make you forget. By the time you were fourteen, you weren’t forgetting anymore.

Tenko’s watching you from behind the hand, but you don’t want to be watched right now. You focus on placing the bandage. Maybe if you do that, you can pretend this isn’t happening. “What happened?” Tenko asks. “With your family.”

“Nothing,” you say. Nothing like what happened to his. “They’re out there. They call me on my birthday. Every so often they ask me for money. Do you really want to talk about this?”

Tenko doesn’t follow up. On that, at least. Three of his fingers brush across your exposed upper arm and it takes every ounce of self-control you have not to jump out of your skin. “These are old, right?”

“Not as old as yours,” you say. “They aren’t recent, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I stopped, so you should, too.” Tenko’s palm covers your upper arm for a moment, then lifts away. “It wouldn’t kill you to control your temper less, anyway. When was the last time you got really mad?”

“Three days ago. Yoshimi’s boyfriend ditched her, so I called him and lit his ass up.”

“Sure you did. I bet you never raised your voice,” Tenko says. You look up, offended. “You probably sounded like some kind of evil shrink, telling him what a piece of shit he is and how you understand that he can’t help being an asshole but it would probably be best for everybody if he took a long walk off a short ledge –”

He’s mimicking the soft, semi-conciliatory tone you use when you’re trying to de-escalate a situation, looking at you from behind the hand with a smirk on his face. You’d get mad, except it’s a pretty accurate imitation, and you like the thought that he knows you well enough to pick on you like this. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about getting really mad. Really losing control. When’s the last time you did that?”

You can’t remember. You shrug helplessly. Tenko heaves an exaggerated sigh. “It’s a good thing we’re playing Call of Duty next. If getting your ass kicked in a video game can’t wind you up, nothing will.”

It’s been a while since you played an actual video game. You were bad at it then, and you’re really bad at it now. Tenko makes you play a round in single-player mode to see what you’re good at and where you’re weak, and he spends the entire time laughing so hard that you’re worried he’s going to dislocate a rib or fall off the couch. It takes you way too long to hide away from the enemies onscreen long enough to ask Tenko a question. “What’s so funny? I know I’m not doing it right –”

“You’re just –” Tenko wheezes, then makes an effort to get it together. “Up here in the corner of your display is the map. The dot is where you are. And then everything in front of you is your point of view. That’s why it’s called a first-person shooter.”

“I know,” you say. “The display –”

“You control that on this side of the controller. And that’s where your trigger is, too. The other side handles motion,” Tenko says. His shoulders are twitching, like they do when he’s trying to hold in his laughter. “I’ll watch the map for you. Just go where I tell you to go.”

“Okay.” You adjust your grip on the controller and prepare to be humiliated.

Tenko directs you to move straight forward, which you do. Then you make a left turn and jump up on a crate for a better firing angle, at which point someone shoots at you. “Shoot back,” Tenko orders. You press the trigger. “Nice work. Okay, now jump off the crate and –”

You jump off the crate as requested, but then you get your buttons jumbled, and instead of running in the direction Tenko told you to run, you find yourself bumping into the wall repeatedly with your viewpoint stuck directly upwards. “Tenko –”

Tenko is howling with laughter again. The hand dislodges and falls off his face, and you see his eyes crinkling at the corners, his smile just a little too big. Some girls in your class said his smile was creepy, but you always liked it. You liked that you always knew which of his smiles were faked and which weren’t. “I’m stuck,” you say, and he laughs even harder. “What did I do?”

“If you were doing what your character is doing right now, you’d be doing this.” Tenko mimics pointing a gun straight up at the sky, and suddenly you get why he’s laughing. “You’ve been running around like this –”

No wonder you keep running into walls. Now you’re laughing, too. “You weren’t kidding,” Tenko says, shaking his head. “You really are terrible at it.”

You set the controller aside and wipe your eyes. “You sure you don’t want a different sidekick?”

“I have the sidekick I want.” Tenko glances at you, almost shyly. “We’ll need allies, though. I want you to meet them.”

Your stomach lurches. “Do you have them already?”

“One of the brokers is bringing them. He finds them through the black market.” Tenko sets the controller back down in your hands, adjusting your fingers to the right buttons. Then he unpauses the game. “Once I have them all – go right. No, your other right. Once I have them all, I want you to meet them. I need them to work together, and to stay calm instead of fighting each other. You’re good at getting people to do that. Watch out, there are – nice work.”

He’s giving you a strange look. “What?” you ask. “I didn’t get killed yet.”

“You’re better at shooting people than running around. That’s weird.” Tenko’s expression stays odd for another moment; then he grins. “Works for me, though. As long as you don’t mess with your viewpoint too much, we can play together.”

“Works for me.” You’re still going to be pretty useless, but at least you can protect Tenko’s back. That’s more than you’d be able to do in a real fight. The thought kicks off a flood of anxiety, and before you can stop yourself, you find yourself speaking out loud. “Tenko –”

He pauses the game mid-switch to co-op mode. “Yeah?”

“I don’t know if I can help you the way you need me to,” you say. He gives you a skeptical look. “Medical stuff is one thing. I’m good at that. If your allies need help with that, I’ll help them, too. But the rest of it, I’m not – planning, getting people to follow you –”

“I can do that part. But villains fight all the time. Like kids do,” Tenko says. He smiles slightly. “If you can handle me, they’ll be easy for you.”

“But I know you,” you say. “It’s different.”

“So you’ll get to know them, too.” Tenko’s confident, just like you remember him being. Once he’s decided how something will be, it’s hard to shake him. “Come on. Let’s clear this level.”

It’s an easy level, or you think it’s supposed to be. You spend most of your time running backwards, keeping one eye on the map so you don’t lose track of Tenko and the other eye out for enemies of any kind. On reflection, you do think your accuracy with shooting is a little weird. Between this level and the next one, you rack up a decent number of kills. “You’re already getting better,” Tenko says, grinning. “I bet we can beat this thing if we keep playing.”

“I’d like that,” you say – but you’re still thinking about Tenko’s semi-crazy idea that you meet a bunch of villains for crowd control. “About the allies – you trust me, but they won’t have any reason to. I’m still a civilian.”

“You’ll need a disguise,” Tenko says, which wasn’t what you were hoping he’d say. “Something that hides your face. “If any of them have a problem with you, they can take it up with me.”

You don’t know what to say to that. The idea of Tenko getting into it with other villains over you makes you feel sick. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. I don’t want you to get hurt at all. You’re my best friend.”

“I’m not your boss,” Tenko says, which doesn’t make any sense. Your confusion must show on your face, because Tenko elaborates. “Earlier. You said sidekicks don’t run from their bosses, but I’m not your boss. I don’t want to be your boss. I want –”

He breaks off, clearly struggling with what to say. There’s a patchy flush coming up in his cheeks, and you see his hand rise, twitch toward his neck – then fall back. “I don’t want to be your boss,” he says again, looking everywhere but into your eyes. “I want – you should –”

“Shigaraki Tomura.” Kurogiri’s voice issues from behind you, and you and Tenko both jump. “Your master wishes to speak with you. You are overdue.”

“Shit,” Tenko mutters. His grip on the controller tightens, and you lift it out of his hands before all five fingers can touch it. “Where’s – I need –”

“Here.” You pick up the hand from the floor and pass it to him, feeling a chill go down your spine as you touch it. “Go talk to him. It’s okay.”

“I’m late. It isn’t.” Tenko settles the hand back over his face. His free hand rises again, clawing at the side of his neck, and something about the image, the situation, feels uncomfortably familiar to you. “I’ll send Kurogiri to get you again soon. For another date.”

“This was a date?”

“Of course it was.” Tenko gets up, heads for the door. “Remember. Find a disguise. I’ll see you soon.”

He’s gone, and a second later, so are you – Kurogiri drops you in an alley off the street you were walking on. He lingers for a moment, and the question explodes out of you. “It was a date?”

“I told him it’s not a date unless both people know it’s a date.” Kurogiri looks vaguely uncomfortable, and his voice is in the other register – the one that sounds more like an older brother than a servant. “Next time I’ll tell him I can’t find you.”

“Don’t do that,” you say at once. Even reeling like you are now, you’re sure that you want to see Tenko again. “Just – warn me, if you can. If it’s a date or something else.”

“I can do that.” Kurogiri vanishes, but his voice lingers for a moment more. “You protect him, too.”

What does that mean? Maybe it means that Kurogiri sees you like he sees himself – a protector of Shigaraki Tomura, although if there’s anyone you’re trying to protect, it’s Shimura Tenko, your best friend. Your best friend, who’s in a lot more trouble than you thought he was.

You’re standing in the middle of an alley. You need to get moving before someone peeks in here and starts asking questions. You slide your phone out of your pocket, raise it to your ear, and lower it as you step back out into the flow of traffic on the sidewalk, like you were taking a call that just ended. Your apartment’s not far away, so you’ll get there, and then you can think about all of this. The villains – the date – the scars on Tenko’s arm that look too much like yours – the scratching that didn’t start until after the hand covered his face. The hand he calls Father.

And that’s when you realize what it reminded you of, what happened when Kurogiri told Tenko his master was waiting for him. He was himself when you spoke to him, even after he put the hand back over his face – right down to how he reacted when his master called for him. Because his reaction looked the same as his reaction to his father calling for him when the two of you were kids.

You had a bad feeling about Tenko’s master, and now it’s worse. You have a bad feeling about what your involvement with Tenko means now, because he wants you to back him up when it comes to dealing with other villains, to take the de-escalation and conflict resolution skills you learned the hard way and put them to use keeping a band of villains together under Tenko’s control. You have a bad feeling because Tenko’s told you to find a disguise, to hide your identity like the villain you aren’t. You aren’t a villain. Are you?

Maybe you aren’t a villain – yet, a voice in your head whispers, you aren’t a villain yet – but there’s something wrong with you. There must be. Because knowing all that, knowing that you’re getting drawn further into Tenko’s plans, doesn’t do a thing to dampen your excitement at the thought that he wants to go on dates with you. That he likes you. That your best friend, who you always thought you’d have developed a crush on if the two of you had gotten to grow up together, might feel the same about you as you do about him.

[snk-smartpass]

TEXT Vol. 04 Connie’s Operation Proposal

Sometimes during training, one has no choice but to use their head. At times, this means having to write many words. In logical order, at that…

[Supplie Requasition

Bread: A bunch

Potatos: Around 5 boxes?

Milk: Not spoiled

Blades: Enough to attack Titans

Gas: A good amount]

“Start over.”

The instructor thrust Connie’s strategy to proposal back at him after little more than a glance. Dejected, he took the page.

••••••

“…How do you even begin to teach an idiot like this?”

“Forget about what he should be writing. I don’t even think he knows how to count supplies…”

Connie’s corpsmates had a good laugh at the document Connie wrote having summoned up all his brainpower. This wasn’t funny to him.

“I can pass the practical exams fine! Making it to the top of the class might even be realistic if it wasn’t for these tests where you have to write stuff…”

“Guess that means we don’t have a good reason to bother teaching you. The fewer competitors we have, the better.”

The other recruits may have been his corpsmates, but they were also his rivals, all competing for top marks. Connie’s desperate plea had backfired.

“C’mon! You can’t abandon me like this!

His fellow recruits laughed and ignored him as they returned to the barracks.

••••••

Two people happened to pass by Connie as he studied alone in the cafeteria. It was Reiner and Marco, who had just been helping the instructor with something. Two recruits with not only high practical marks, but top grades in the classroom too.

“Connie… You’re still studying?”

“It feels like they’re gonna send me back to my village if I keep getting these bad grades… I have to…”

Becoming a soldier was an important goal for Connie, someone who’d always been looked down upon as stupid. No matter how much trouble he had with something, he needed to get it done. His mother would surely be happy, if he finished with top marks this way. After Connie explained his situation to them, Reiner patted him on the shoulder.

“You understand what materials are required. All you need is to take your time with the numbers and be specific as you put them down. It’s fine if you write it in your own words.”

“You should also be more careful about your handwriting. Write it in a legible way, one that gets across just how much you need the materials.”

“Marco, Reiner… You guys are really kind.”

The two gave him words of encouragement, and Connie began again on his rejected document having processed their advice in his own way.

••••••

[Supply Requasition

Bread: Three days worth for five people

Potatoes: See above

Milk: See above. Fresh

Blades: Half a horse cart’s worth

Gas: Half a horse cart’s worth]

“…Looks fine.”

Through his corpsmates had insulted his document, it was ultimately accepted. Not only that, the instructor put it up in a place for everyone to see and learn from.

“What you need in a chaotic situation isn’t beautiful prose, it’s to write in a way that gives any reader an easy and accurate understanding of the current conditions. The words used by Recruit Springer in his requisition may be crude, but they show a proper understanding of the minimum needed by the squads that will be carrying out the operation they’ve been given. One could say that this sets an example of sorts, given that a soldier’s duty is to always be on the front lines.”

“Heh… So I am a genius.”

Frankly speaking, Connie only understood the part when the instructor said his work “sets an example.” Still, his corpsmates seemed to view him in a new light now. He decided he’d be as diligent as possible in his coursework, all in the hope that he’d get to experience this feeling again.

••••••

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 3

TRANSLATION: Ko Ransom

[dreaming-medium]

Animals Without Direction

Chapter Eight - Twenty Laps

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Masterlist

As it turns out, when one hold declares war on another, it’s not like in the books you’ve read where the entire army marches and the leader makes a grand speech at the gates. In reality, it’s a handwritten letter from one Jarl to another with their terms and conditions in order for peace between them. 

Chan wrote up his letter immediately and sent it with the fastest messenger Miroh has. The poor thing was shaking in his boots after the Jarl stressed how fast he wanted that letter delivered. 

Part of you was worried that Chan would send you to deliver the letter like he had done previously. But he didn’t, and for that you were thankful. 

‘Not this time,’ Chan noticed your jaw clench when he spoke about someone delivering the letter. ‘The next time you step foot in Erbus, it will not be alone.’

It’s been a week since the messenger left for Erbus. It’s been a week since you revealed a sliver of your past to the Jarl. It’s been a week since you’ve known relaxation.

In that week, you’ve spent most of your time in the throne room or hovering nearby. Chan immediately started commanding different legion commanders to get their armies ready, to prepare for the worst. He’s leaving no stone unturned: sharpen the swords, smith more arrows, strengthen the armor.

Yes, they’re waiting on a letter, but it never hurts to be prepared. And if you know Erbus, the preparation is necessary.

Chan, Minho, and Jisung were all currently standing around a table in a room tucked away behind the throne room. Various maps and papers were tacked on the walls and tables. The table that the three men stood around was exceptionally large. It had the same map you saw a month ago spread out on top of it. 

Both you and Jeongin stood by the door on either side, your stance more relaxed than his. He stood ramrod straight with his eyes fixed on the conversation.

You were paying attention, but you allowed your eye to wander around the room.

A large desk was by the way with more papers and a globe of the world on top of it. There were compasses and other charting tools everywhere.

They’ve been discussing various plans for the stone forts closer to the western border and how they want to strengthen them; but they also need more protection to the north. 

Chan reaches over and grabs a small blue flag, placing it on the map. “I have been trading written correspondence with Eldred of Oakenmaw, a village to the north east of here. He owns Hollypond Farm, he is ready and willing to allow soldiers to house and set up camp on his land. Given how close to Inuin’s border his farm is, it is perfect for this.”

That was the letter you delivered for Chan. Eldred had given you one back for the Jarl, which you delivered without a hitch. Eldred was more than happy to send you off with a warm meal and enough food for your journey back to the capital. 

“I know not what will happen with the other holds once open war is declared. I do not know if they will show support for sides or if this will stay between Miroh and Erbus.” Chan explains.

“Miroh has a close relationship with Daefall, I am sure if this was to turn into a large scale war, they would stand with us.” Minho says to them.

“But the same goes for Bewaes and Erbus, they have been tied to one another in every conflict the land has ever seen. Their alliance is older than my bloodline.” the Jarl says back. “What we truly need is Upera’s alliance since they share a border with Bewaes.”

“And what of Inuin? How do you think their alliance would fall?” Minho asks, both of his hands placed flat on the table.

Chan shakes his head, “I know not.”

Minho nods and moves a few smaller markers on the map, Jisung places another red flag. 

“While we were in Erbus, it seemed that their military postings were light, not many soldiers to be seen around them. And if they were there, they were drinking or eating.” Jisung explained, marking several forts with little red flags. 

“They do not even suspect a declaration of war.” Minho adds, keeping his eye on the map. His lips in a sneer. 

“In past councils with all the Jarls, I have not been quiet about my distaste for Erbus’ treatment of Elves. It is almost an insult that Sisk has not taken these warnings seriously. If only I knew the true nature of this ‘banishment’.”

At the mention of the Jarl’s name, a shiver runs down your spine. Before living in Miroh, the stories of his horrible nature rivaled Chan’s. But after being here for a month, you’re sure that Chan’s stories were made to keep Elves from running across the border for safety. 

Their discussion makes you stop and think. You know for sure that Erbus’ military postings have some of the most evil fighters around. They use dirty tactics and are the ones who send the guards to slaughter the Elves. 

Your eyes narrow, words form in your mouth but you’re not sure if you should speak up or not. 

‘You could have stood in the room for that conversation, you are a member of the court.’ Seungmin’s voice echoed in your mind.

“My lord,” you speak softly. Chan immediately turns around and looks at you with a curious expression. 

“Yes, Y/N?” he turns his body to face you.

“Most of the military outposts are very well hidden throughout Erbus,” you explain, your eyes moving from him, to the map, then back to him, “I may know of a few, may I look at the map to see if you have them identified?’

Chan smiles sadly, “You do not need to ask, Y/N.” His voice is soft and caring, his eyes are warm. Minho and Jisung turn to look at you as you approach the map.

“How do you know of these hidden outposts?” Jisung asks.

You look down at the map, all of the ones you know about are not marked at all.

“My mother and father would tell me which places to avoid while playing outside.” A sad smile creeps on your face as you recall the bittersweet memory of your parents. They tried so hard to shield you from the horrors of the world. “Being a curious youngling, I would go anyway and sneak around to see what I could.”

Minho laughs under his breath at your statement, but the three stay quiet and watch you.

Grabbing about five red flags, you place them on top of each hideout you knew of. “Their top soldiers stay in these hidden forts. They send the lower level guards to the forts that are out in the open.”

When you look up, you see Jisung staring closely at you.

“I apologize if I overstepped,” you bow your head as an apology and take a step away from the map. Jisung was gone for an entire month to find military outposts, and you practically told him that he did a bad job at it. 

A warm hand on your lower back made you stop. “Do not apologize, Y/N.” Chan said from next to you, “We appreciate all the help we can get. Any information is valuable.”

“Agreed.” Jisung adds afterwards. When you look over at Jisung, he nods at you.

You then look up at Chan, the same warm expression on his face. The hand on your back is the only thing you can feel at this moment.

“Aye, my lord.” you bow your head once more.

The hand on your back twitches, “Chan.” he says, before dropping it and allowing you to go back to where you stood next to Jeongin.

The squire makes eye contact with you on your walk back towards him. He’s smiling at you a little, there’s a playful glint in his eye.

“We should focus more on trying to find these hidden camps then.” Minho says to them, leaning over the map and looking at the flags you placed. “Y/N, how recently did you see these hideouts? Are you quite certain they are still there?’

He grabs your attention from Jeongin. “I had not laid eyes on them in a few months before coming to Miroh, but they were there for my entire life before then. I do not believe they would shut them down.”

Minho never looks at you, he just nods and keeps looking at other places on the map.

“We should send another, smaller, reconnaissance team to Erbus to try and find these hidden postings.” Chan looks over at Jisung, “You just returned, so I want you to stay here. Send out a team of only five of your men. I want it kept secret.”

Jisung nods and moves towards the door. Before he leaves, you catch his attention by calling out his name. 

“I know not if it’s true,” you say, looking down at your feet. Jisung stops in his tracks, his head turned towards you with rapt attention. “But I have heard that the Elves of Erbus have created a marking system carved into trees to warn others about these hideouts. I have only seen one for myself; it is shaped like an Elf’s ear, the point facing the direction of the camp.”

You look up and meet Jisung’s chocolate brown eyes, they search yours. It’s only a split second, but it feels like you’re watching each other for an entire minute.

“Thank you, Y/N.” he says quietly before leaving the room. 

When you look up, you see Minho staring at you from the other side of the table. His mouth is behind his hand in a sort of ‘thinking’ pose, so his eyes were your only means of reading his face. As soon as you make eye contact with him, he looks back down at the table.

Chan and Minho begin talking again about various other plans.

“Will you be at training tomorrow morning?” Jeongin whispers to you.

“Aye, I will. Will you?” 

Neither of you turn your heads to face each other.

“Aye, I believe Changbin would have my head if I did not show up.” 

You both chuckle under your breath. Jeongin’s hand brushes against yours lightly, you make no move to take it away. The touch was featherlight but a zing of electricity shoots up your arm and your fingertips tingle a bit. 

“His morning exercises are getting a bit harsh, no?” You ask after a moment of silence between the two of you.

“I agree, aye. I think it’s from his nerves. Everyone is handling the idea of war differently.” 

All you do is nod in agreement, both you and Jeongin then turn your attention back to Chan and Minho.

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

You can’t sleep. Even in your large, cozy bed, your mind refuses to turn off. These past four nights, if you had gotten a collective two hours of sleep that would be generous. 

Thoughts raced through your mind, coming up with every single negative scenario possible due to the impending war. What was the Jarl of Erbus going to respond with? There was no way he would agree to Chan’s terms without a proper fight. 

What would your role be as his mercenary? You weren’t quite a soldier, you weren’t quite a guard, you fell somewhere in the middle of everything. Were you expected on the front lines?

The idea of fighting in a grand battle turned your stomach. One on one fights were something you could handle, but a bloodbath where you couldn’t tell your friend from foe at any moment? That was a different story. 

The closest you’ve come is a brawl in a bar, but even then you just threw punches and hoped for the best. 

With your body turned towards the window, you watched the room grow brighter with the sunrise. Sunlight streamed in your window. 

No time like the present to get up and continue with your daily schedule. 

As you discussed with Jeongin. The training has gotten harsher, more intense. The amount of laps that Changbin had the group do increased every morning. By the time you would finish, you’d be drenched in sweat, your legs screaming for you to take a break. 

You knew why he was doing this, but it still seemed like too much. 

“Five more laps around the keep!” Changbin commands. 

Five more laps. You can do five more. Right? 

It feels like cotton was shoved into your mouth, your teeth are throbbing in your gums. It tastes like iron on your tongue. 

You had already done twenty laps around the keep nonstop. 

Five more. Just five more.

You needed to push yourself, harder, harder . Finish the laps, Y/N. Come on, you can do this. Your body needs to be in tip top shape if you’re going to fight for the Elves freedom. 

Your fingertips go numb, the sweat on the back of your neck turns cold and clammy. It felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest. 

The edges of your vision begin to fade. 

Maybe if you just slowed down, you’d be able to regain your stamina. The jogging pace you set began to decline. 

Your chest is heaving up and down, lungs desperately and greedily trying to suck in oxygen. It looked like you weren’t the only one struggling, there were many guards who looked a bit worse for wear. 

“Pick it up!” Changbin yelled from behind you, he didn’t sound winded in the least. He always ran at the back of the group to make sure no one was slacking. 

Where was Jeognin? Was he at the front? You bet he wasn’t even struggling with these laps. Sure, you trained as a mercenary, but never like this.

Picking up your pace, you swallowed the bile rising in your throat. 

You tried, you did. But after two more laps, your world began to tilt. Your hip flexors locked when you took a step, your knees buckled underneath you and suddenly you had a faceful of dirt. 

A low groan came from your throat and you tried your best to lift yourself from the ground as quickly as you could. But each time, your elbows would shake and buckle beneath your weight. 

Cursing underneath your breath, you shift your weight around to try and roll onto your back, but every single one of your limbs seems to be numb. Your mouth has never been dryer in your entire life. 

A strong hand grabbed your shoulder and flipped you over onto your back. Changbin’s eyes were full of worry. Sweat was dripping down his face, his tunic stained a darker color from all the perspiration. 

His eyes scanned your face but you couldn’t focus on his long enough. It sounded like someone had their hands over your ears. It looked like his lips were forming your name over and over again.

Changbin moved his hand from your shoulder and pressed the back of it against your forehead. 

“Sorry,” you tried to choke out, but your throat was drier than a desert. It only sounded like a rasp. Changbin’s eyebrows furrowed even deeper in concern. 

Jeongin’s face appeared above you suddenly, the same concerned expression crossing his features. Changbin said something to him and leaned down towards you.

It looked like Jeongin said something back to him but you couldn’t hear anything other than your rapid heartbeat.

Before you knew it, you were scooped up in Changbin’s arms, one arm under your knees, the other behind your shoulder blades. Second by second, your eyelids were growing heavier and heavier. 

With your ear against his strong chest, you could now hear and feel his heartbeat as well as your own. His voice rumbled in his chest and then he began walking into the keep.

Like a ragdoll, your arms and legs dangled from his gentle hold. By the vibrations against his chest, it sure felt like he was talking to you, but you couldn’t make it out. 

Eventually, you allowed your eyelids to close. But you didn’t fall asleep, no, your body still would not give into the pull of slumber. 

The world underneath you moved around with every step that Changbin took.

Once they stopped, you felt yourself being placed on a bed. Another, colder hand pressed against your forehead as Changbin’s arms came out from underneath you. 

Cracking your eyes open, you were met with the homey sight of the healing ward again. 

Changbin carried you to the healing ward, you were having definite deja vu, all that’s missing are the ropes keeping you tied to the bed. 

Felix stood on one side of the bed, Changnbin on the other, both of them were looking at each other and not you. Their lips moved as they spoke to one another.

Since no one noticed you opened your eyes, you decided to close them again, it was much easier this way. 

“... hard, Changbin. How do you expect anyone to fight in a war if they’re worn down.” Felix said lowly. It was a step above a whisper.

“And how do you expect them to fight a war if a few laps around the keep is what takes them down?” he responded harshly.

You would’ve frowned if you had the energy.

“A few laps?” Felix said incredulously, “Three laps around the keep is easily a league! Twenty laps, Bin, that’s too much.”

A beat. “She did twenty two.”

“That does not make me feel better.”

There’s a long moment of silence before Changbin speaks. “I need to get back to the training grounds. I’ll leave her with you, Felix.”

Felix only sighs and you hear Changbin’s footsteps leave the room and the door closes behind him. The hand on your forehead returns followed by a low curse.

He walks away from the bed but comes back quickly and what feels like a wet rag is placed on your forehead. 

“You can stop pretending to sleep,” Felix whispers, wiping away the cold sweat on your face.

With as much of a smile as you can muster, you crack open your eyes. 

“Hello, Y/N.” he smiles down at you. Pure sunshine.

“Hello, Felix.” you croak.

When he hears your voice, he frowns and turns around, picking a glass of water off the bedside table and bringing it to your lips.

Eagerly, you gulp down the entire cup. 

“Easy, easy.” He chides when some drips down the side of your mouth. 

With a strong intake of breath, you pull your face back from the glass. “Sorry,” you say, your voice is a lot stronger now. 

Felix puts the glass down and turns to look at you, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Each time I see you, something is wrong.” He frowns.

A sheepish smile comes over your face. “If I am not injured, how am I supposed to see you?”

Quicker than you could blink, Felix reaches down and flicks your forehead. “Do not be daft, we share a wall. You do not need to be in need of healing in order to say hello.”

You roll your eyes and mutter another apology. 

He thinks for a moment before his face falls into a sadder look. He was so empathetic to other people’s pain and emotions, it’s no wonder he became a healer. Everything about him screams that he loves caring for other people.

Felix sits down on the edge of the bed, his body facing towards you. 

“Changbin is pushing you all harder than he needs to be. I suspect you won’t be the only one that I see. I give it twenty more minutes before I have a ward full of soldiers looking for revitalization remedies.”

“I do not understand why he is doing so.” You admit to Felix. He stares closely at your face, eyes scanning every feature. 

Felix hesitates before answering, “I believe he is more worried about the war than he lets on.” 

You nod, looking away from Felix. The exhaustion from everything is sitting on top of your chest like a boulder.

“A war…” You trail off, keeping your eyes locked on the ceiling, “I cannot believe that this is really happening,” you admit softly. “I never thought that anyone cared deeply enough about the Elves to fight for them.”

Felix tenses next to you. 

“Why do you think so?” his voice sounds different, like it’s laced with a deep sadness.

You fiddle with the sheets underneath your palms, “That is what we were told our entire lives in Erbus.” a lump forms in your throat, but you swallow it down. “Over and over again it was simply ingrained into everyone’s minds that Elves were lesser, evil creatures. They even taught it in schools, propaganda is out of hand in Erbus. I had a friend when I was little that was so afraid of Elves because the guards told her that the Elves were plotting to kill her in the night.” You shake your head, trying to clear the nasty thoughts. 

“We had no idea that other places were better. As a child, I remember hearing my parents talk about moving to another hold. My mother begged my father to leave,many nights she cried and held him. Clear as day, I can hear his voice, ‘Why go through the struggle of picking up my life just for my head to be cut off in another land.’ Every day I think about how I wish he had listened.”

Felix stayed quiet for a long moment. You had just thought that he was processing your words, letting them settle in. There was a loose string on the blanket that your fingers continued to pick at. 

A soft hand cradles your cheek and brings your face to look over at him. His eyes are shining down at you with a gentle, compassionate look. It looks as if he grabbed the stars from the night sky and put them in his pupils. His thumb rubs your skin gently, swiping a stray tear away that you didn’t know had fallen. 

“Y/N,” he says your name so softly, it reminds you of the first fall of snow hitting the grass in the winter. “Why didn’t you tell me you were an Elf?”

What?

What?

Your jaw dropped open a little and your eyes widened. 

When did you?

Oh.

“I did not- '' you begin to stutter. Like a fish, your mouth opened and closed over and over again. “I did not mean to– I just– Please, I– Only half, I–” Nothing was coming out right.

Your brain was so exhausted, you let it slip. After all these years, you finally slipped up. 

At this point, keeping your lineage to yourself was not self preservation. You knew Miroh’s stance on Elves, you knew you were safe. Now, it was more embarrassing than anything else.

You didn’t want their pity. Didn’t want them talking to you like an injured child who needed to be coddled. 

To cut off your rambling, Felix pressed his thumb to your lips. Immediately, you shut up. There’s a knot in your throat.

Your heart was racing, you couldn’t tell if it was from his touch or from his discovery of your true blood.

“It was not a tonic you took that day, was it?” 

You hesitate before shaking your head.

His eyes welled up with tears, a brilliant smile crossed his face. The sun was high in the sky at this time and it did not even hold a candle to his smile’s brilliance. 

Felix’s other hand came up to hold your face, his skin was so soft, his caress was gentle.

“I am so glad you are here, Y/N.”

A sob bubbled from your throat. It came up so violently and suddenly, you couldn’t stop it from happening. 

Your lip quivered and more tears threatened to come down from your eyes. 

Out of everything he could have said to you in that moment, nothing would have felt more like a blanket being draped over your shoulders than that, than those eight little words.

Felix’s smile turned sad and his eyebrows furrowed, “I cannot imagine what you’ve been through. But you’re here now, Y/N, you’re safe.”

Again, as if he could sense every emotion running like wild horses in your mind, he brushed away the tears as they began to fall down your cheeks.

Truly, in the month you’ve been here, you’ve never really thought about how safe you were. You never considered that telling anyone about who you were would not hold the sort of weight that it did back in Erbus.

But here, in Felix’s gentle hold, you let your body relax; and finally, after a month, you allowed your brain to come out of fight or flight. Like ice melting off the side of a mountain, your heart begins to thaw.

Sobs emit from your throat and you lean into Felix’s calming touch. 

He leans down and wraps both of his arms around you, lifting your top half up off the bed and into a hug. Your head presses into his shoulder and you squeeze him so tight. 

One of his hands comes up and rests on the back of your head, smoothing your hair down. The other hand stays on your back, rubbing soothing circles. 

You cry and cry. Cry for the little girl who had her parents torn away from her. For the teenage girl who pierces her ears with so many rings to hide the point. For the young woman who thought no matter where she went, that she would be spit on and killed. 

Felix begins to rock you both back and forth a little, he whispers small words of comfort into the crown of your head. 

He smells so good. Like fresh laundry in the sun. Like running through a meadow when all of the flowers bloom in spring. It’s the most comforting smell you’ve ever experienced.

His lithe fingers comb through your hair, undoing any knots that had formed since the morning. You hadn’t felt comfort like this in so many years. You never wanted to leave his warm embrace.

Felix’s whispers slowly turned into low humming and the rocking continued. The song was soft and his voice was deep and soothing. After your tears ran dry, you stayed in his arms.

You turn your head and let your ear press against his collarbone, his chest vibrating with each hum. 

A sleepy, weariness settled deep in your bones. 

“I attempted to go into Erbus once,” Felix says after a while of humming. He stops rocking the two of you as well.

“Really?”

“Aye, it was many years ago. There is a certain species of plant that only grows on the island off the western coast of Erbus. I wanted to study it for a potion. My hair was much shorter back then, I suspect it was easier for the guards to identify me.”

Your eyebrows furrowed, cogs turning in your brain.

Slowly, you peeled yourself from his embrace, but stayed close. Reaching your hand up, you gently tucked his hair behind his ear revealing a soft point. 

He’s an Elf too. 

This makes two members of Chan’s inner court Elves. 

You softly trail your fingertips down his sharp jawline, your eyes still studying his pointed ears. 

“What did they do to you?” You whisper. 

Felix smiles sadly, “I took one step over the border and the guards immediately began slinging the most vile words at me. Luckily, I had Jisung with me. The two of us turned and immediately went back to Miroh. Since then I never even go close to the hold.

“Knowing what I know now, I see that I was extremely lucky to only have insults shot at me instead of arrows.”

Finally, you met his deep blue eyes. They hold so much sadness in them, but so much wisdom and other emotions that you can tell he feels so deeply. His empathetic soul is reaching out through them to comfort you. 

Both of your hearts connected at this moment. He managed to break through and surround you with a comfort you’ve never known. Never in your life have you felt anything like this.

Felix is staring at you intently, as if trying to read your mind; perhaps he really could, you would not be shocked if that was the case. His lips part for a split second, his tongue coming out to wet them. He then pulls his bottom lip between his teeth. He looks like he’s weighing something in his mind.

As he opens his mouth to say something, a sharp knock comes from the door.

Both of you jump and split apart from one another. Felix jumps to his feet and you clear your throat, looking down at your lap.

“Come in!” Felix calls, his voice a little strained. 

About six guards stumble in, all panting and sweating buckets.

“Felix, is there any way we could–”

Felix cuts them off, “Revitalization tonics? Give me a few moments."

[sunkenma]

a home with you

in which you and miya osamu attempt to find a place to call home, but he has bigger and more special plans

1.7k words, fluff

osamu is never the type to be picky.

for the entirety of the time you’ve known him, he has always been relatively laidback and easygoing; unperturbed, for the most part, by trivial matters so long as they don’t concern his brother. for the entirety of the time you’ve loved him, he’s been exceptionally patient and considerate, a good listener who opts to swim in the currents of your preferences and decisions.

this is not to say that osamu is completely void of his own opinions and personal tastes. he has his own reservations, but chooses to remain compliant when the topic at hand isn’t within his scope of interest. but when he’s really earnest about a particular subject, he makes sure to make it known, either with words or actions. or rather, a lack of words.

thus, you can’t help the tides of curiosity that wash over you upon watching him silently nitpick each apartment you two have viewed and hoped to call home. your first home together to be exact.

something is bothering him, bubbling underneath the surface with each shift of his eyes and the contempt twisted into his lips. subtle gestures that are accumulating and waiting to emerge.

“and here’s the kitchen! as you can see it’s quite roomy, with ample space for the both of you to cook in here together without feeling cramped. It’s fully stocked with…” your realtor continues to ramble on, voice drowning into a muffled dissonance. she goes on about the apartment—a small one-bedroom unit that contains all the facets you and osamu could want. in other words, it’s a strong contender for the title of home.

yet, all you can focus on is your fiancé.

osamu stands idly on the other side of the kitchen counter, a mask of pseudo-interest and a stiff smile stretching across his face. perhaps he has your realtor fooled, but not you. you’ve known and loved him long enough to memorize his mannerisms like the back of your hand. you see the way his stormy-grey eyes are clouded with indifference. the way his hands repetitively shift between clasping and unclasping—a habit he does when he’s restless.

and you yourself have a habit of worrying when he does just that.

“conveniently located next to the kitchen is the master bedroom, which is that door on the right,” the realtor explains, her voice bending into a curt yet friendly chuckle. “i remember you two specifically asking for them to be close.”

“we did! thanks for remembering,” you requite with a polite giggle of your own.

you watch as osamu silently disappears into the aforementioned bedroom, prompting you to follow after him. you find him rooted by the bedroom windows, the blinds drawn back to let him have a look outside as he falls into a maze of his thoughts. meanwhile, the harmonizing hues and tones of sunset drip in, cascading in ripples all around the room; around your fiancé, who looks especially ethereal under the veil of kaleidoscopic light.

you often ponder about how lucky you are to call him yours.

“ah, let me show you the—”

“would it be okay for us to take a look around by ourselves? just for a bit,” you inquire sheepishly, wanting to take this opportunity to finally talk to osamu. the realtor, albeit slightly taken aback, happily obliges, stepping away to let you two explore on your lonesome. but not before slipping in a brief enthusiastic pitch about how the bedroom is exactly as you two asked for.

“samu,” you step closer to him, slinking your arms around him in a back hug. he welcomes you fondly, habitually raising his arms up to let you press closer against him. your hands find refuge in his, fingers naturally intertwining like they’ve always been meant to be between his.

and you both know they are.

“you’ve been quiet this whole time. what’s on your mind?” you ask, dotting a chaste kiss on his back before resting your cheek on it.

“are you so in love with me that you notice every little thing about me?” he quips teasingly, pushing you to raise a knee to dig into his ass in response. the subsequent fluctuations of his laughter are enough to tame the flame of your worries, though you still wonder what’s weighing heavily on his mind.

as if he could read your thoughts, which you swear he could actually do given that he’s always in step to your tune, osamu raises your hand up to his lips to pepper gentle kisses before continuing, “sorry babe, I didn’t mean to be so distant. just got a lot on my mind.”

his voice is woven with faraway wistfulness, fogged with a raincloud of longing that you can’t quite see through.

“about what?”

he gestures to the view laid out before you, crooking your head from behind him to take a peek at what exactly he’s so fixated on. from where you two stand, you can clearly see the street unravelling below. quaint boutiques and local restaurants line the sidewalks, bustling with life as people percolate through them. the line of stores give way to a vast park, sprinkled with remnants of fall foliage and the recent embrace of winter snow.

dotted along the park are young families out on walks, basking in the last waning glow of sunset. a few children zip around in a game of tag, their father feigning his speed to let them scamper away in glee. other children eagerly welcome winter as they dive into ivory blankets of snow, persuading their parents to join them. A symphony of laughter and jovial squeals hangs in the air, permeating warmth despite the cold zephyr.

it is the epitome of an idealistic neighbourhood; an optimal location for any young couple to settle down. an optimal location for you and osamu.

“so…” you break the comforting silence, “am i supposed to stare out this window with you and figure out what’s bothering you on my own or are you gonna tell me?”

“you know just how to ruin a moment, don’t you?”

“shut up,” you whine in slight annoyance, though the way your voice flows into a light giggle begs to differ, “actually no, don’t shut up. tell me what’s on your mind.”

osamu swivels around to face you, his body molding perfectly against yours as his arms fold around you in a tender hold. his chest rises and falls in steady rhythms, starkly contrasting the way his heart is thundering. thundering as if it’s a herald to the blizzard of thoughts and emotions swirling inside him. you tighten your grip on him, reassuring him that you are always ready to brave the storm with him.

he gently dusts his lips against your forehead, lingering there for a moment before he speaks, “ever since we started apartment hunting, i’ve had this nagging feeling inside me. tellin’ me that there’s something missing.”

something missing?

“the whole time I was thinkin, how can that be? I already got everythin’ I could ever want right here in my arms,” his face smooths into one full of love, lips curled into a smug smirk as his once cloudy grey eyes now twinkle like iridescent raindrops after a downpour.

you roll your eyes, smacking his chest lightly to express your distaste for his cheekiness. though, the way you pull him closer tells him otherwise. a whisper of a chuckle blows past his lips, bringing his hands up, calloused from years of volleyball and culinary practice, to cradle the side of your face.

“and that’s when it hit me… while we were lookin’ out at the view. you saw it too, right? the parents and their little kids runnin’ around,” he continues, watching you nod in response. though, you can’t nod away the confusion carved on your face.

what is he getting at?

“rather than finding a home, i want to build one with you.”

his voice is gentle yet steady; saturated with fond softness, yet spoken with the weight of his heart’s yearnings.

“like from scratch? I love your ambition but I think that’s a little out of our budget,” you respond, tilting your head at him quizzically.

osamu pinches your cheek, groaning out a complaint, “i mean build figuratively. i don’t wanna find a place just for us to live in, i want a place where we could start our future together.”

your eyebrows furrow in contemplation as you try to piece the mosaic of his words together. start a future together? isn’t that what you two are already doing as you anticipate your upcoming wedding and first home? what else does starting a future together entail?

“the parents and their little kids runnin’ around.”

your thoughts play back like an old film; back to the picturesque scenes of earlier that seemed to be drawn straight out of a christmas movie. those parents were once like you and osamu, starry-eyed lovers who dreamt of the endless possibilities they could achieve together. once like you and osamu, young couples who sowed their dreams to plant a blossoming future that not only included them, but their children too.

“i want a home where we could build a future that doesn’t only include the two of us. i guess what i’m tryna say here is… i wanna start a—”

“family,” you finish for him.

osamu nods, face soft and anticipatory as he waits for what you have to say. you pull him close to lean your forehead against his, gazing into his eyes that you’ve looked into countless times before. starlit grey eyes that speak no lie or hesitance in what he’s asking of you. and you are quick to realize, neither did yours.

“let’s do it. let’s find a house we can start our own forever in,” you say softly, the chorus of children laughing with their parents reverberating off the apartment walls; the apartment that seems so distant from what you two want now. because now, you want walls—no, you want a home that reverberates with the laughter of your own children and your husband-to-be.

“okay but…” you start, piquing his curiosity. “you really said all of that when you could have just told me you wanted a house instead of an apartment.”

he grumbles, “you really know how to ruin a moment, don’t ya?”

[zeldaelmo]

Congratulations on your two milestones!

Have fun:

“What do you mean you ate it?”

Hey B! Thank you for your prompt! This was fun. 😆 Thank you @flutefemme for betareading!

Imagine Link speed ran both games for this. He didn't do the tears quest apart from the one Impa half-dragged him into. Crack fic, kinda, takes place after the ending.

Of Rocks

Link peeks into the cooking pot and then back at Zelda who sits on a log and scribbles furiously in a notebook. He speaks up anyway; she usually gives him her attention if he keeps talking. Old habit from when he hardly got words out.

“I'll have to admit, I was a little confused earlier, you know, back with Rauru and… his wife. What did you say was her name?” He shakes his head to himself. Sometimes he thinks his memory took more damage than they thought.

“Sonia,” Zelda breathes absently and continues taking notes.

“Yeah, Sonia. Anyway, maybe you can tell me more about this Light Dragon thing.”

That makes her look up. She rubs her ink-stained fingers at each other, frowning when he underlines his words with the sign for ‘noodle’. Another old habit.

“Did it… swallow you?" he asks. "Kinda like the Calamity?”

The fire under the cooking pot pops and Zelda sighs like she always does when he brings stray animals home or weapons that are too good to be tossed away (they are!).

“You didn’t search for the geoglyphs, did you? Just like you ignored the pictures on the slate the first time. I even made them easier to find this time, they’re glowing in the dark and all.”

He narrows his eyes on her. “Zelda. You fell into the abyss when we accidentally stumbled over the mummy of the Demon King. You were gone. Poof, swallowed by golden light. So, no, I didn’t feel like searching for anything but you.”

She stares at him for a moment, but then she puts her notebook aside, and faces him fully. “The secret stone here”—she taps the golden, tear-shaped gem on her necklace—”it amplifies the powers of the wielder. It can also be used to perform a forbidden ritual that turns the wielder into a dragon who isn’t bound to the limits of time. Performing that ritual was the only way to heal the sword for you.” Her gaze searches the small clearing where they’ve set up camp on their way to Hateno. It's not far from where they fell from the sky.

Link points his thumb in the general direction behind him where the sword leans against his pack. “I got it, no worries. Didn’t forget how mad you were the last time when I rushed to the castle with a soup ladle.” He lifts the stew-covered one currently in his hand for good measure. Then, he mulls over what she said and tries to piece it together with the strange things that happened in the sky. Or realm. Might as well have been a different realm with the clouds, the hovering, and all that. He stirs the soup, watching her through his lashes. “So, the Light Dragon, that was you?”

“Yes.”

Now that answer came quicker than he had expected. “Huh.” He scratches his head. “So, the other dragons, Naydra, Dinraal, and Farore…”

“Were once priestesses who swallowed a secret stone to guard the springs eternally, yes.”

“Wait.” He leans the ladle against the brim of the pot and frowns.

“What do you mean, you ate it?”

“Well, it’s part of the ritual.” She crosses her arm in front of her, voice growing impatient.

Yes, yes, he should have tried to find more of the geo-thingies. They would probably have explained everything, but they've been through this before; he doesn't feel like dabbling when her life is on the line. And he didn't even have amnesia this time!

“So when you eat a stone that's fine but when I do it, you get mad?”

She blinks and blinks and blinks. He clicks his tongue. Seems like she has been mad at him so often that she can’t even remember it.

“Goronia,” he jogs her memory.

“Oh!” she calls and leaps up, the notebook toppling into the grass. “Oh, now that was completely different!”

“Is it now? You ate rocks, I ate rocks. Seems pretty similar to me,” Link says, unwrapping a dark clump directly in front of her eyes. His little diversionary tactic nearly works out when he drops it into the cooking pot and the whole content shifts to a dark blue, but she shakes off the urge to investigate.

“You ate the rock roast for sports. For me, there was no alternative to this measurement. I took the risk of losing myself entirely to give you a fighting chance!”

“Well, I saved diplomatic relationships with the Gorons, as you surely remember. And just for the record, it was a Rock Roast Flambé.”

“You are ridiculous and you know it.”

“Ridiculous, huh? The Princess of Hyrule causing a scandal by refusing to eat traditional food prepared especially for her? I saved your ass back then.” By now, he can’t help the grin tugging at his lips. Her eyes flash dangerously when he passes her a bowl of dark soup. "What?" He laughs. "It's true and you know it. Just admit that you're just as unhinged as I am."

"It was a sacrifice," she insists, blowing over her spoonful of blue soup. "For Hyrule. And you. Although you make me second-guess myself about the latter."

"Ah, come on. You seemed pretty happy to see me earlier although it has hardly been two weeks."

"Two we—" she starts, her spoon freezing mid-air and soup dripping back into her bowl.

"I know, I know, last time I only needed a couple of hours after I woke up. Rauru kept holding me back. Tricked me into thinking you were at the sky island."

"Well," she deadpans. "It sure felt like an eternity for me."

He knows he's missing something with the way she chuckles dryly, but she'll bring it up again later. He'll feel stupid for the things he said, then, but she says it's part of his charm, so he doesn't mind.

They eat in amicable silence, fire cracking and soup simmering. Farore buzzes in the distance, climbing the skies at her own, leisurely pace. Link's gaze follows her for a while, but then he turns back to Zelda.

"Did you chew it?!"

"Link!!!!!!"

[anonomouswriter-blr]

Kyo Sohma X Reader: Protective [fruits basket]

You love your school friends, but one has always been a little more protective than the others.

      Even though I’ve been at school since the beginning of the academic year, I’m still not adjusted well with the students. Some students still treat me with disrespect and no remorse. I’m happy to at least have supportive friends like Tohru, her friends, and the Sohma’s; especially Kyo.

For whatever reason, he’s been very protective of me as of late — as weird as it is to put it that way. Truth be told, it does get on my nerves sometimes. His support is appreciated and all, but I can also take care of myself. Though none of this is to say I want him to change. I wouldn’t change my friends at all.

It’s currently the morning of the school day. I’m putting away my shoes in my locker when Kyo, Tohru, and Yuki walk up to meet me. Yuki gives me a wave, partnered  with a "Good Morning" and Tohru says a quick hello in passing. The two of them head to class, though Kyo hangs behind with me.

     "So, Kyo, How's your morning been so far?" I ask him. He scratches the back of his head.

     "Annoying. Yucky Yuki's already ticked me off," he says.

     "Oh, is that a new record? I’m sure he’s done worse sooner," I say sarcastically.

     "Haha," he feigns an unenthusiastic laugh. "What about you? No one's tried to mess with you yet, have they?"

     "Kyo, I can handle myself. Besides, no one gets violent. Just a couple of crude words,"

     "I want to make sure you're safe,"

     "I know, Kyo. Thanks,"I say, resting my hand against his shoulder. "C'mon. Let's get to class,”

The two of us start our trek to class. I noticed Kyo trying to hold my things for me, and while I appreciate the gesture, I tell him I can take care of things myself. We arrive at the room well before homeroom starts and claim seats with Tohru, Uo, Hana, and Yuki. Of course when the teacher actually gets here we’ll have to move to our assigned seats for the whole day, but for now some light chit-chat should be fine.

“Hey, you guys. Where's Yuki?” I ask, noticing his absence.

“He had some prince business to attend to. He’ll show up later,” Uo explains.

“I hope he’s doing alright,” Tohru says.

“Me too. He didn’t seem to want the student council position to begin with, much less to be the president. I hope he knows if he’s struggling he can come to us. That goes for all of you, as well,” I say.

“He’ll be fine. He was practically born for the role,” Kyo says, rolling his eyes. This, of course, earns him a quick jab to the ribs, courtesy of myself. Our chatting continues as the class waits for things to begin. For some reason, I thought it would be a great idea to drink a huge can of an unhealthy, sugar-filled beverage first thing in the morning, and I start to regret it as I feel a strong need to pee.

“So close to class? Excuse me guys, I’m going to use the restroom quickly,”

*

Yuki walks into the room just as class is about to begin, but sees you are nowhere in sight.

“Good morning everyone. Where’s Y/n? Didn’t she come to class?” Yuki asks before finding his seat.

“Now that you say that, it has been a while since she went to use the bathroom,” Hana notes. “Do you think she’s alright?”

“Orange top! Go check on Y/n!” Uo demands.

“Hah?? Don’t you tell me what to do!”

“It’s okay, I’ll do it,” Tohru suggests, but Kyo rises from his seat before she can.

“Sit down. I was going to check on her anyway,” Kyo says. As he goes to leave the room, the teacher stops him.

“Haven’t we been over this? Quit trying to skip my class,”

“I’m not trying to skip nothin’! I’m going to check on Y/n. She went to the bathroom a while ago and she’s not back yet. I’m doing your job here,”

“Just go. Don’t cause trouble,” the teacher excuses him and Kyo heads off.

*

The bell rings and I know I’m late for class. But it’s not completely my fault. Two students, a boy and a girl, had stopped me on my way back from the restroom. I don’t know their names, but they’ve stopped me before. They’re not really my biggest fans. I stand there against the wall as they ask and say to me things no one should ask or say, cruel words I would rather abstain from repeating. But it doesn’t really affect me. I stand there with no reaction as they berate me. Turn the other cheek, you know? 

“Hey!” The interjecting voice is immediately recognizable to me. Kyo. His eyes are narrow as he walks up to the two students and I. “How about you shut your mouths? The both of you,” Kyo offers.

“Kyo, it’s alright, I got it,”

“No, I think these idiots need to learn who they’re talking to,”

“Kyo I said I got it alright? Getting aggressive isn’t going to change their perspective so let’s just head back,” you say. He grabs my hand, passing the two students a dirty look as he drags us away from the scene and back to class.

*

The bell rings, concluding the school day and letting the students out. To be truthful, I’ve been avoiding Kyo a bit. I’m not mad, just a bit annoyed. It’s great having such a considerate friend, no one has ever looked out for me the way he does, but when he steps in for me it looks like I can’t handle myself. I open my shoe locker, pulling out my things to leave. When I close the locker door, Kyo is leaning against the ones next to it, looking down at the floor.

“I’m sorry,” he says. I cross my arms and lean against the lockers myself.

“About what?”

“I know you don’t like it when I get really protective of you,”

“Yeah, what were you even doing out there?”

“You hadn’t come back yet and we were starting to get worried. I was starting to get worried,”

“You’re a good friend for staying by me, and I appreciate what you do for me, wanting me safe and happy, but I can fight my own battles. You can stick up for me, but you don’t need to act responsible for me,”

“I know. I’m trying to not get annoyed by them, it’s just…” Kyo trails off, debating his next words, “I don't like when people make fun of the person I like"

“What?”

“Gosh, ya need me to spell it out for ya?” I stare at him for a moment before realizing.

"You… like me? More than a friend?”

"Well duh. Why wouldn’t I?” I shrug.

“I don’t know. It’s not like you flirt with me. I don’t remember you telling me or asking me out,”

“You seriously never noticed?”

“Didn’t have a clue,”

“Well, then you must be really dumb because I made it really obvious,”

“Hey!” I say, nudging his arm. “I guess like you too… dumb dumb,”

Kyo smiles. He stands up straight, extending his hand to me. “Want me to walk you home?”

“Sure,” I say after rolling my eyes. I take his hand and we walk off the premises together. I guess I should pay more attention to things.

[demonio-fleurs]

Nico Robin & The Light of Revolution

Warning: Spoilers for the Egghead Arc + Manga

One thing that has always interested me since watching One Piece for the first time is the epithet that the Revolutionary Army has given Robin— “The Light of Revolution”/“The Light of The Revolution”.

Obviously, the epithet makes sense for Robin. She’s been on the run from the World Government for over twenty-two years, for the crime of existing while being able to read the Poneglyphs. She is, in a sense, a symbol of what is wrong with the way the world currently works in One Piece. When people can be labeled as a criminal for no other reason than being able to read a specific language, something is broken and wrong.

And when we got to Egghead, we learned that not only did Dragon know Professor Clover, but he also visited Ohara to pay his respects, and Ohara was the triggering point for him in forming the Revolutionary Army. This knowledge answered some questions about the Revolutionary Army and their connection to Robin, but to me it also posed a question that is currently unanswered:

If Ohara was the triggering point for Dragon, then why does Bunny Joe say that they’ve only been looking for Robin for “over” ten years, and not twenty?

So far we haven’t seen anything to hint that they’ve been looking for Robin for longer, so why did it take Dragon so long to have the Army search for her?

This question has been bubbling around in my brain for a while, but a few weeks ago I was going through the Library of Ohara’s timeline in order to put together a more focused timeline for the Revolutionary Army to use as a reference for myself when writing. And while going through, I noticed something interesting that might actually explain why Robin was called the Light of Revolution when she did.

You see, the Rev Army only started calling Robin the Light of Revolution around roughly 12 years ago (Or more, but I think 12-14 years ago is the most likely range), and that was around two years after Ginny was kidnapped and enslaved by the Celestial Dragons.

I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that Ginny was a very popular and important member of the Revolutionary Army. She joined at the same time as Kuma, one of the known founding members, and was very close to him. She was the Captain of their Eastern Forces. She was also very popular among the members of the Rev Army, with members even openly lamenting her affection towards Kuma and not them,

Her capture was probably both a pivotal moment for the Rev Army, and also a gut punch in terms of morale. It was known that Ginny had caught the eye of a Celestial Dragon, and it was (probably) one of the first times that one of their (the Rev Army) high ranking officers was captured. If someone so high up can get captured and enslaved, what about the rest of the army? And what does that line of thinking do to an army made up of former slaves and victims of the world’s nobles?

And most importantly, when such a thing happens, how do you inspire your army once more? What can you give them to distract them from those harsh realities and keep them focused on their goal?

It’s simple: You give them hope. You give them something to fight for.

I think that it was after Ginny’s capture that Dragon told the Revolutionary Army about Robin, and Ohara, and asked them to look for her. And I think she was given that epithet—The Light of Revolution— to give the army something to fight for. Something tangible that they can hold onto, and a goal that they can accomplish. “We might not have been able to save Ginny, but maybe we can save this girl” line of thinking.

As for why Dragon didn’t come right out and have that be a goal for the Rev Army from day one, well… I’ll admit I’m still mulling about trying to think of the answer to that. Although we’ve learned so much about Dragon in the Egghead arc, he still feels like an enigma to me. Could it have been out of respect for Ohara? Did he want to wait for the right time? I’m not entirely sure— but I welcome other people’s theories!

[the-moon-lullaby]

Can you write How the hsl boys would comfort you after your bestfriend betrayed and ghosted you

The HSL boys comforting you after your « best friend » betrayed you

N/A: Oh man, betrayal from so-called "best friends" are the worst if you ask me. If anyone has been through this before or is currently going through that, please keep in mind that this says more about them than about you. You don't deserve this and no matter the circumstances, this is absolutely not your fault <3

𝙲𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚕:

First things first, Castiel knows pretty well how does it feel like to be betrayed by someone you loved and trusted (I mean Debrah did him really wrong as we know)

Hence, even if he's a tease most of time, when you start telling him about what your so-called best friend did to you, he'll listen diligently

He wouldn't say much while you explain the situation but anger is starting to grow inside him

Because, that would make him mad

Once your done, he would totally let out some insults ( he would also  encourage you do the same as well because just let it out dear)

If you are crying, he'll probably be a bit disarmed as he's doesn't really know how to comfort people (he mostly deals with his problems on his own so looking for comfort is not something he's used to, let alone comforting someone else )

So he'll do what feels right to him which is taking you his arms while you calm down a little

If your best friend ghosted you after betraying you, he'll kinda be like "yeah they can f*ck off, you don't need this snake in your life anyway"

Honestly, even if somehow your "best friend" comes back and apologised, he'll still remember (and he'll be pissed if your forgive them because maybe you moved on but he hasn't lol)

He would totally take it personally because betrayal is a sensitive topic for him and the fact that it happened to you enrages him (bcs you don't deserve this treatment, who tf would do that ???)

If they attend school with you guys, he'll certainly throw them a death stare each time they pass by (and he knows how to look scary) but won't go talk to them or anything (even though he really wants to let them know what he thinks of them so if you give him a green light he might go and roast the shit out of them)

𝙻𝚢𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 :

You would tell him about the situation and he would listen without interrupting you 

If you’re crying while speaking, he’ll gently whip the tears off your cheeks

When you’re done, he would take you his arms for as long as you need to

He would find the words (because when does this man doesn’t know what to say-)

He would tell you that they didn’t deserve you anyway (and he’s right) and ask if you want to do something to change your mind

Would be up to do anything as long as it makes you smile

If they ghosted you after betraying you, he’ll be mad because not only they’ve hurt like that but they won’t even face the consequences ? Tsss cowards

The following days, he’ll try to be present for you as much as possible because he can only imagine the pain and how lonely you feel

I think that one of the reason why Lysander keep such has such a small circle of friends it’s because he knows that, personally, he would hurt like hell if someone he loved and trusted betrayed him (he has a sensible heart and always give his all in any relationship therefore this is probably the worst thing that could happen to him)

𝙰𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗 :

Okay so Armin isn’t really a man of drama or at least that’s what it looks like 

However, his brother is Alexy (I think that says it all)

It means that he’s going to end up in the drama anyway so he’s kinda use to it (because as he already said it in the game Alexy’s would come to the rescue of his worst enemy so it’s not hard to imagine that Alexy already ended up trusting the wrong person and then went to Armin for comfort)

While you’re telling him about it, he would sometimes interrupt you by saying « No way ?! » or « That bitch » ‘cause yeah, even he (and he heard a lot of these stories before) did not expect your « best friend » to be such a snake

Then once you’re done telling him, he’ll do what he does when it happen with Alexy 

Be the better person ? Come on, we don’t believe in such things in this household

He’ll ask you if you want to take revenge and if you do, then you guys will be setting up some machiavelous plan

But if you don’t (and according to the circumstances you might be right because snakes like these aren’t worth the trouble, let alone a detention you know), he won’t insist 

He’ll probably ask you if you want to play some games to distract yourself and you’ll end gaming with Armin for hours and you’d have fun (he’s trying harder to make you laugh to cheer you up and that’s kind of sweet)

Even if you said that you didn’t want to take revenge or anything, he’ll never miss a chance to embarrass them 

Be prepare for him to make up some nasty and snarky remarks just for them

Others say it’s a childish thing to do but for Armin, he sees an opportunity to give them a taste of their medicine

𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚕 :

He didn’t expect it (in HSL he wasn’t yet in his « can’t trust anybody » phase and he was kinda new to the concept of friendship since he just got his freedom)

He’ll be pissed because Nath is loyal person so he can’t even understand how your best friend could even think of doing something like that 

He’ll hug you tight, he feels so sorry for you. He would ask you if you to talk a bit more about it and if you do, he’d listen. 

If you don’t well he’d find something else to do because he can’t stand to see you so upset

Would probably take you to see Blanche in hope that this would cheer you up and you would spend the entire afternoon at his place , with him by your side

Now, be the better person ? No, no. Unlike Armin, he wouldn’t straight up want to come up with a plan to put them down 

He’s the Student Body President so he’s not supposed to condone this kind of behaviour 

However you have to admit that his position offers some advantages 

People blindly trust his word and he might use it to his (and your) advantage 

He’ll go to them and be like « Oh yeah, you know that exam that counts for 80% of the final grade in this subject ? Well, I just heard that it was due for next week actually » (it’s not, it’s due in 2 days and we know that they didn’t study it since they thought they had time)

He’ll enjoy seeing their face literally crumbles during the test

After that he’ll only address to them with this passive-aggressive tone of his

𝙺𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗 :

He would be as upset as you are (if not more)

I feel like Kentin is really empathetic (he’ll deny it to death but he do feel things very deeply and can easily get affected by other’s emotions especially if it’s someone he loves and cares about)

If you’re crying, he might end up crying with you because this is too much for him

He’d hug before you’re even done explaining the situation because you obviously need some comfort (and so does he)

When you both calmed down, he’ll be pissed

He wants to stand up for you and if you’d like him to, he’d totally go teach them a little lesson 

He’s not sure how he would manage to do that but that’s not going to stop him from trying 

Anything to make you feel better honestly 

There you go ! Hope you liked it !

[raayllum]

insp by this interview bc i know exactly where my brain went (even if the show won’t)

“Quick,” she says, skidding lower into the underbrush, “in here,” so Callum follows, heart still pounding madly in his chest.

He doesn’t know what those creatures were, and feels even worse about leaving his aunt behind, but Aunt Amaya had been right: they had to get out with the location of Aaravos’ prison, and New Aurea was her fight, not theirs. At least for now.

It’d surprised him, though, how easily Rayla had agreed to leaving. But maybe in the past he too would’ve fought harder to stay. 

Going by foot had been the only option since Rayla couldn’t also fly, and they wouldn’t have been able to fly the two of them with Stella and with Bait. Not enough hands and arms, and creatures with too many crevices, and—he focuses on his breathing, and putting one foot in front of the other.

“Where are we—” Callum spits as a twig hits him in the face, his eyes still adjusting to the dark. He holds Bait with one arm to push the rest of the brambles out of the way. The glow toad’s extra light would be useful under different circumstances, but they don’t want to attract any attention to themselves... even if he’s sure (alright, decently sure) that they have enough distance between them and the site of the attack.

“Almost there,” Rayla says, but he can’t tell if she’s talking to him or to Stella. 

Finally she stops walking, so suddenly he almost bumps into her, and presses her palm to the wall, whatever they’ve stopped in front of little more than a particularly large boulder. There’s a faint bluish glow, and then the rocky wall gives way, and Rayla crawls inside. The positioning of his staff is awkward, but Callum manages too, on his sore hands and knees.

The wall closes up behind them as they crawl instead, the light from his staff and then Bait more than enough to light the small, cramped space. There’s barely enough for a bedroll, which sits crumpled along one wall, and a tiny hole in the ceiling for campfire smoke that’s currently leaking with water.

Rayla sits up against one wall as Stella chitters, drawing her knees up to her chest.

“What is this place?” Callum asks, a sinking feeling in his stomach. 

“A little safe house,” she says, not quite looking at him. She has an expression on her face like she’s barely here at all, too cloaked in—memories. Then she tips her head back and opens her eyes. “Old moon magic spell, with an Earth amulet I managed to barter for. Nobody can get in without magic, and those creatures clearly don’t, so...”

“Oh, good. That’s good.”

A silence, and then she explains, “It was one of the first places I uh, stayed, after I left.”

Here in a cramped, damp hole, not enough space to even cook anything for herself in the summer heat, while he’d been sleeping in a lush bed in the castle, just beginning to get his appetite back with the best food money could buy.

Callum swallows the lump in his throat and rests a hand on her shoulder. “Least you’re not here alone, this time,” he tries, because she’s not, and he needs her to know that in ways she clearly didn’t before.

Rayla meets his eyes and manages a tiny, watery smile. She rests her hand over his and it feels like he lost, somehow, as she says, “I’m just glad you’re safe,” because why can’t it be both of them?

Why can it never be that both of them are safe?

[rae-raewrites]

Hi! I goshed over how cute the dog ask was!.and it gave me an idea for a part 2 how would the riddlers react if they or another member of the rouges gallery lost their little buddy's only to see A Dog found poster with there dog on it and has been found by Bruce Wayne!?

The sequel I didn’t realize we needed but now I know we do lol

The riddlers with dogs part 2: lost and found

Or it’s secondary title,dog dad’s panicking

Arkham

Immediately knows somethings up when there’s no sign of Einstein for hours.

He knows the pooch doesn’t exactly have a schedule but this certainly wasn’t normal.

Panic finally sets in when he doesn’t show up the next morning

He’s checking everything from security cameras to every traffic light around the block.

It’s one of his informants that makes him aware of the lost dog poster out of wayne manor.

He is one pissed super criminal

That rich boy is going to suck the intelligence out of the poor pooch!

5 people get kidnapped and a ransom letter is sent to GCPD

Batman and Gordon are trying to figure if the dog is apart of some elaborate scheme

Upon time for the trade off Einstein is wagging his tail,while well pampered at Wayne manor he missed his genius dad.

“Animals aren’t normally something you’re interested in,I hope you’re not intending to hurt him.” “Oh please dark knight this sweet simpleton is apart of a much larger scheme! With lasers! Something even you won’t see coming!” (Eddie literally has a line of dialogue about it in Arkham city)

He’s almost about to sob when they get home. Almost.

Of course he’s not happy Einstein escaped.

They have a long talk about responsibility in his office

BTAS

Jervis calls him practically sobbing. Mumbles something about the door being open when he went to go check on Francine

Quite literally leaves a meeting with Harvey point blank

He’s a whole mess when he finds an empty apartment

She’s a smart girl! Surly she remembers how to-

Oh god somebody took her didn’t they!?

He is stressed out,like he’s barely able to solve a puzzle right now

It’s jervis who finds the poster.

The two of them immediately decide holding up Wayne enterprises is a great idea

I mean they’ve done worse for less.

Bruce is a little taken aback at first but the green detailing in the poodles hair immediately clicks with both him and alfred

“I must admit you certainly take good care of her.” “Royalty deserves the best Mr Wayne and Francine is royalty.”

Francine is just unbothered by this entire thing,girl gets taken care of wherever she is

They spend a long time cuddling afterwards.

BTAA

When lupa is nowhere to be found in the riddle lair she’s had BOTH Eddie and Tuesday panicked

“What do you mean she’s gone!?!” “I mean she’s gone Eddie! As in i can’t find her!”

Tuesday sends out what is essentially a dog amber alert via social media

They have a good half of Gotham not doing well

Edward nigma has having a short out,no riddles are being carefully handcrafted by this time

Tim is the one who finds out where the pooch currently sleeping on the couch came from.

“Aahh so that explains the purple tie…”

While both the caped crusaders heads go immediately to trap they both realize it’s probably not best to do this while Eddie is most likely not doing well

They’re not wrong of course

It becomes a whole affair with GCPD especially considering Tuesday didn’t expect to get a DM from the GCPD account.

The dog goes home but if they try arresting the two the riddler is about to make the park a wasteland

You better believe he is creating the most ambitious gps collar ever made

This isn’t happening. EVER AGAIN

Zero year

He went to bed……and now his dog roommate is gone and the door is open

Just great.

He’s more pissed off than anything let’s be honest here.

I mean they get into disagreements all the time the Shiba Inu just decided to be even more petty

So you can only imagine the shock on his face when he sees Helios on the news with Bruce Wayne by his side.

Oh dear he’s gonna have to go see Bruce isn’t he?

He straight up drives to Wayne manor with every intention of dragging Helios home

“Edward…..how pleasant it is to see you again..” “ya ya great to see you too brucie,Helios get your ass over here!”

Helios is smiling like he hasn’t just made him panic

Doesn’t even wait to get home and starts reprimanding him in the car.

“Really? And you ended up with him?!”

[todayisawthewhxlewxrld]

I was just doing my nightly routine of “sad emo depressed “you can’t fix a broken heart”🖤🥀” music so I can sleep like a new born baby

Me after my “sad emo depressed “you can’t fix a broken heart”🖤🥀” music

And then it occurred to me that these two songs are so insanely Y/N and Megumi coded I feel the need to explain it right now.

I just threw out the love of my dreams - weezer:

This is Y/Ns literal anthem idec. Sure to me when I just listen to the song I typically feel like it’s more about a breakup since it says “I just threw out the love of my dreams” and “want for him to stay” as in hes leaving bc they aren’t tgth anymore but flip it and reverse it and you get a whole new meaning, if you focus on different words. The first line imma focus on is “never before have I felt this way” well we know that for a fact Why Enn(Y/N I’ll do anything but call Y/N Y/N these days‼️)is literally emotionally constipated like she’s unable to work out why they feels the way they do because they’ve never felt that way before about anyone, esp someone they’re meant to hate. And let’s go back a little to the start of the song when it says “I’m so tall can’t get over me I’m so low can’t get under me” and “I must be made of steel” they also really represent Why Enn and again, they’ve been emotionally inept thus far, they’re a stubborn person and they stand their ground, people can’t move them yk? And then the “for I just threw out the love of my dreams” if we take this in a new light, look at it differently, Why Enn knows deep down they like megumi but they refuse to admit this fact and that’s leading to complications in their current relationship which could COULD ultimately wedge a gap between them. Also the “even though my love is a world a way” is kinda megumi coded bc Why Enn be so delusion I think they be living on planet zog Gaddamn🙏😭

I don’t smoke - Mitski

Again, the meaning of this song is absolutely not this, but idk music is music and I’d be damned if it wasn’t up for interpretation. Anyway this song is the EPITOME of megumi for many reasons, first the most obvious part of the song “if you need to be mean be mean to me” this is megumi coded bc he literally didn’t care WHAT Why Enn did to him so long as they acknowledged him, he also just wanted to help them the best he could. Another part of this song is “being with you makes the flame burn good” again, so megumi, bc as I already mentioned he would do anything at one point so long as they acknowledge him. Another line, tbh all of them show the same thing bc that’s kinda what the song is about “you can lean on my arm as you break my heart” again, being told by the “love of your life” (quotes bc at this point it wasn’t set in stone) to not play a joke on them is pretty painful but he still took it and literally bounced back yk like a king🙏🙏

Okay anyway i think this should be more of a message to me bc instead of putting this much analysis into a song why don’t i do this for my literature revision‼️‼️🤣🤣🤣🙁 sorry for the long ask I needed to get this out into the world (or onto smth just out of my head)

BAE BAE BAE BAE COLLAPSES TO MY KNEES AND HAS A HEART ATTACK OH MY GODDDD UR FUCKING MIND????? THE WAY THESE R SO ACCURATE ??? i adore u . i adore when people psychoanalyze and assign characters or situations songs i’m going to eat ur brain . i was hyped and nodding and agreeing the whole time i was reading this… thank u…