#and like you can���t tell they’re perfectly sane after having to do that over and over again

[bumblesimagines]

Forgotten Fairytale

Part 3

Request: Yes or No

~

“We have two announcements today. First, we have a new student, (Y/N). As some of you may know, (Y/N) is a dragon-vampire hybrid and I expect each and everyone of you to treat him with respect. To whom it may concern, he is not our next monster. We’ve recently encountered a Night Hag.” Alaric announced to the remaining student body that had chosen not to leave. You kept your arms crossed, making eye contact with Hope. You gave her a triumphant smirk and got an eye roll in return.

“A Night Hag is a malevolent spirit trapped on the astral plane that can only interact with us through dreams. In this case, nightmares.” Alaric explained, murmurs spreading through the students. 

“So, like, Freddy Kruger?” 

“Well, in the sense that what happens to you in your dreams seems to happen to you in real life, yes. But, the good news is we’re safe, so long as we stay awake.” Alaric explained, nodding to the questions. He noticed tension rise and cleared his throat. 

“We’ve lined up more evacuation shuttles. They should be running all afternoon, so please, for those who don’t want to stay and fight, take advantage of them.” Alaric licked his lips. You gave a small snort, biting your bottom lip. Ryan had mentioned a possible run in with monsters but he seemed confident in your abilities to protect yourself. Once you had your father back, you’d make sure he faced some monsters of his own. You stood once Alaric dismissed everyone, noticing him motion for you to come over. With a deep sigh, you walked towards the stage he was on. 

“I’ve got your classes sorted out. You’ll be taking typical high school courses, plus some of the supernatural courses we typically give to everyone. You’ll have some vampire classes and finally, a one-on-one with Dorian to talk about dragons. Dorian insisted on it. I would like you to speak with Emma, she��s one of our teachers and also the counselor for those who need one.” Alaric explained, handing you a paper. You gave it a once over before looking up at him.

“And why would I need to speak with a counselor? I’m perfectly fine.” 

“Considering you walked out on Dorian after a mention of your father, I don’t think you’re fine.” Alaric gave a tight lipped smile, patting your arm as he walked by. You blew a raspberry, looking back down at the paper. 

“Oh, and by the way, these uniforms are horrendous.” You called to him, stepping off the stage and making brief eye contact with Hope as she spoke to Landon. 

“I have to agree with you on the uniforms being horrendous. We look like preppy golf kids.” You looked at the guy walking beside you. 

“All we’re missing are the pants and the golf course.” You grinned, chuckling as the guy nodded and laughed along. 

“I’m Kaleb, by the way. I’m a vampire, so I guess that means I’ll be seeing you around.” Kaleb gave a grin. You hummed, looking forward.

“Man, you and those other dudes got lucky. You don’t have to take these exams.”

“But, we do have to deal with the bullshit this school brings.” You stopped by a water fountain, leaning down and drinking from it. Kaleb leaned against the wall, arms crossing.

“Actually, I think that Landon guy was the one who brought the monsters with him. Things went to shit when he got here and-”

“It’s not Landons fault. The knife had been at this school for god knows how long.” You leaned up, wiping your mouth as your gaze fell on Rafael. 

“Well, like I said, we gotta deal with the bullshit the school brings.”

“And to do that, we have to be a team. We can’t insult or push each other away.” Rafael said, glancing between you and Kaleb. You let out a small snort, grinning as you shook your head. 

“Doesn’t that go against your nature? That’s all mutts know how to do. That and throw temper tantrums.” Kaleb snickered at your words. Rafael sighed, eyes shutting briefly in an attempt to stay calm and relaxed.

“You don’t have to worry about me, puppy. I can be a good teammate as long as you stay out of my way. Same goes for you.” You glanced at Kaleb before turning around and walking away. You walked to your first class, stepping inside and getting ready for a boring day of school.

~~~~~~~~~~

You ran your fingers over the books on the shelves, grabbing one and pulling it out of the shelf. You stepped out of the library and found a nice cushion seat, opening the book and flipping through the pages. You stopped on the one you had been looking for. 

Klaus Mikaelson: The Great Evil

Your eyes swept over the writing, searching for any mention of Hope. She was powerful but she hadn’t become a full tribrid yet. You paused, hearing footsteps coming from the hallway along with someone humming softly.

“Dr. Saltzman!”

“”Dr. Saltzman, I have changed my mind. I’ve decided to take you up on your offer and get the hell out with every other sane person here.””

“No, actually, I took your advice and I stayed busy, and I think I found something.” You lifted your head at Landon’s words, hearing their footsteps head back down the hall. You stood up from your seat, turning your head and watching them turn a corner. You looked down at the book in your hands, gently biting your bottom lip. 

“I definitely didn’t sign up for this… but I might as well enjoy the ride.” You looked back up, heading down the hall and entering the small library where Landon, Hope, and Alaric were at. You leaned against the railing, watching them speak.

“Why would a monster need to disguise itself as another monster? The Oneiroi sounds freaky enough.” Hope said, glancing between Landon and Alaric.

“Because if we knew what it actually was..”

“We’d know how to stop it.” Alaric finished for him, nodding. 

“Hope, kiss him for me.” Alaric said, turning and heading towards the stairs. He looked up, noticing you. He slowed down, head tilting.

“Need something, (Y/N)?” Alaric asked, heading up the stairs. You shook your head, fingers drumming against the book.

“Just eavesdropping.” You shrugged. Alaric let out a small laugh, nodding as he walked by.

“Don’t think you’re off my radar, (Y/N).” Hope called, arms crossing as she cocked a brow at you. 

“I’m honored you care so much about me, Red. It’s real sweet, though I think you should be more invested in your boytoy. Keep your eye on this one, Discount Jughead. She seems to have… a wandering eye. You shouldn’t forget who her mother was in love with.” You gave them a wink, turning around. You stepped towards a bookshelf, sliding the book into the shelf. 

“What about your family? What were they like?” Hope asked, approaching the stairs. You turned to look at her. 

“My mother gave my father a gift and then she left. At least she didn’t die because of me.” You leaned forward slightly as she got closer. Hope stopped a few feet from you, jaw clenching. 

“You know nothing about me.”

“I could say the same, Red. I might’ve been a dick when I was younger but atleast I never tried to kill someone who loves me and raised me. You had a mother who was invested in you and loved you. It would’ve never crossed my mind to hurt my father, no matter how pissed I was.” You sneered, watching her facade begin to crumble. Hope remained silent for a few passing minutes. 

“We should probably tell the others about our new discovery.” Landon piped up softly. Hope turned her head towards him, nodding.

“Yeah, I.. I have a plan.” Hope breathed out, looking back at you.

“Making enemies on your first day is the stupidest idea you’ve probably come up with.” Hope said, brushing past you. Landon slowly walked up the stairs, awkwardly approaching you.

“Hope is a.. She’s a good person-”

“You don’t have to defend her when she’s not around, My Chemical Romance.” You stared at him, giving a small eye roll. 

“Why are you such a dick?”

“Well, my dad told me my mom was a bit of a bitch. I probably got it from her.” You shrugged, turning around and leaving the library. You heard Landon catch up with you.

“I was in the foster system for most of my life. I can understand some of your feelings regarding not knowing your mom and-”

“Listen, Gerard Way, I’m not interested in being your friend. I’ve been taught and shown that humans are the least trustworthy creatures on this planet. It’s better to be alone than to trust a human. They’re like chihuahuas. They think they’re at the top when they’re actually at the bottom and I’d rather not have my life in the hands of one.” You looked at him.

“Fair comparison.” Landon mumbled. “But, some humans are good and they mean well-”

“We can have this conversation after I take a nap.” You entered the lounge area where Hope had gathered the rest of the boys. Hope explained that the Night Hag was actually an Oneiroi. 

“I know it sounds bad, but now that we know what the creature is, we can fight it.”

“How the hell are we supposed to kill a dream demon?”

“Leave that to me. But since I can’t fall asleep without compromising the location of the urn, I need someone else to pull it out of the dream plane and into our waking reality.” Hope explained, looking over everyone. 

“So, Freddy Krueger, like I said.” Another vampire, MG, pointed out.

“And how the hell are we supposed to do that?” Rafael asked, looking back at Hope.

“By entering the dream plane, getting a hold of it, and waking yourself up.” You answered, shrugging lightly.

“Just like in the movies.” MG nodded in agreement to your response. Kaleb hummed, nodding. 

“Is it too late to get on the evacuation bus?” Kaleb asked, tilting his head as you snorted. Hope gave a sympathetic look.

“No. I mean, I’m not gonna ask all of you to stay for this, it has to be your choice.” Hope said, silence following. Landon quickly stood up.

“I’m not leaving unless Hope does.” Landon said. Hope didn’t seem exactly thrilled as she gave a small hum. She looked at Rafael, brows raised in question.

“I’m not leaving Landon behind.” 

“You two are very codependent.” You mumbled, hearing Kaleb snicker and nod. 

“I’m a founding member of the Super Squad-”

“The fuck is a ‘Super Squad’?”

“-So I can’t bail.” MG stood up from his seat with a supporting smile. The four of them turned towards you and Kaleb.

“Y’all are gonna get yourselves killed.” Kaleb said, looking at Hope. 

“But if MG stays, I stay.” He added with a sigh, looking at you. 

“This reeks of drama and chaos so, I’m definitely staying and watching this go down.” You grinned, shrugging lightly. “But I’m not gonna be a member of this.. ‘Super Squad’ shit you have going on.” 

“In that case, it’s naptime.” Hope said, giving a small nod. 

“I’ll go speak with Dr. Saltzman. Get set up in the gym. Bring blankets, pillows, and anything else that might help you fall asleep.” Hope walked past them and Landon quickly followed. 

“Codependency is a big problem here, huh?” You shook your head, glancing at Kaleb. You grabbed one of the pillows off the couch and turned, heading towards the gym. You watched the others bring the necessary stuff, Hope and Landon entering while deep in what seemed like an argument. 

“You are gonna sleep with us, right?” Kaleb asked, noticing you hadn't made a small bed like they had.

“No.” You shook your head, arms crossing.

“What do you mean, no?” Landon frowned, brows furrowing.

“You don’t want to see me wake up from a nightmare. Accidental shifting and accidental arson isn’t pretty.” You shrugged lightly. Hope hummed.

“We don’t need a confused dragon causing an accident.” Hope looked at the rest of the guys. They lied down in a circle, slowly falling asleep one by one. Hope stepped towards you, closely watching each of them. 

“It was a shit move to bring up your mom. I’ve been on edge since dad disappeared.” You said quietly, ignoring the surprised look Hope gave you. 

“Sorry for that.” You walked away from her, careful to be quiet so as to not wake them up. You noticed each of the boys becoming more twitchy, faces contorted in confusion or fear as the hours began to pass. 

“How come you aren’t tired?” Hope asked softly. 

“You think I could sleep with my only family gone?” You looked at her with raised brows. Hope nodded, looking down to see that Rafael, MG, and Kaleb had stopped twitching as much.

“It’s almost time.” Hope turned, quickly leaving the gym. You gently toyed with your necklace, licking your lips and turning to face the boys when they all suddenly awoke. They stood and began talking all at once, making you huff in annoyance.

“Calm down, Hope’s handling it.” 

“What? What the hell-” Landon was cut off by Oneiroi and Hope crashing through one of the doors. Hope quickly got up, blowing some hair out of her face.

“Stay back, I got this.” She called, running forward and tackling the demon before promptly getting choked. 

“Yeah, she’s totally got this.” You mumbled, picking up two wooden pieces that had belonged to the now broken doors. You approached her, stabbing the pieces through the demons’ eyes. Hope let out a gasp for breath as the demon disappeared into a cloud.

“Thank you.” She coughed, rubbing her throat. 

“Next time, be prepared.” You stood, letting Landon help her up as Alaric rushed in with his crossbow. You tossed the wood aside, turning and walking past Alaric. You thought back on the urn and Hope mentioning she knew where it was. Befriending her to find it would be a problem in itself.

“(Y/N)!” Alaric called after you, quickly jogging after you. You turned to face him, raising a brow.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for helping Hope. How’d you know how to kill it?” Alaric asked.

“Like I said, dragons don’t just horde inanimate objects. I like to read as a pastime and most of the time, the books have to do with the supernatural.” You answered, shrugging lightly. Alaric nodded, reaching out and gently touching your arm.

“Thank you.. I’m sure Hope appreciates it.” Alaric gave a small smile. You nodded, licking your lips as Alaric turned and went to check on everyone. He passed by Hope who gave him a small smile and nod. She turned her head to look at you, arms gently wrapping around herself. She slowly approached you, gaze on the ground. 

“I know you could’ve just let me get hurt but.. Thank you for helping me. I know we got off on a terrible foot so, I hope we can be a bit more civil with each other.” 

“We’ll see.”

[lauras-collection]

beyond being friends | part 5

Harrison Osterfield x Holland!Reader

|| Masterlist || Series Masterlist ||

Summary: What happens when you suddenly realise you’re attracted to your brother’s best friend?

When you and Harrison cross the line between friendship and something more, it makes everything more complicated than the average ���being more than friends’ relationship. Because he’s your brothers best friend and you’re all living together.

Words: 2.8k

Warnings: SMUT 18+ (there are banners indicating the start and end of the smut) [smut warnings: fingering, protected sex, harrison being a tease, a little begging, if there’s anything else I should mention let me know]

A/N: EEk I hope you like it! You’re getting this part a little earlier than usual because I’m just so hyped for this part? 

Feedback is always appreciated ❤️

Ever since your trip to Brighton, Harrison’s kept his distance from you. He’s out of the house a lot and you honestly don’t know what he’s doing. And you’re not sure you want to. What if he’s meeting other girls? It shouldn’t bother you, but it does. He’s also keeping conversations to a minimum, no flirting involved at all and you should be happy, right? Because that’s what you wanted. But now you sort of miss him. And him keeping his distance does nothing to help with the fact that you want him. Badly. 

Your monthly meet up at the pub is coming up and you’re excited to see Sam and Tuwaine since both of them have been so busy lately. 

They’re both already sitting in your usual booth when you and Harrison arrive. 

“There you are!” Sam exclaims when he sees you and gets out of the booth to wrap you in a much-needed hug. You’ve been craving some physical affection and it’s not like you can get it from Harrison. Because you told him to keep his distance. So you relish the familiar feeling of being wrapped up in your brother's arms. 

“I missed you” You mumble and squeeze him a little tighter. 

“I missed you, too” Sam pads your back “Are you doing okay? Has Harrison been a good housemate?” He quirks an eyebrow.

“Yes, he has” You just wish he’d pay more attention to you. But you can’t tell anyone that, not even Harrison, because then you’re the one sending mixed signals. You let go of Sam and greet Tuwaine with a hug as well before scooting into the booth next to Sam, Harrison now sitting across from you. You don’t know how you’re supposed to get through the evening. 

You try your best to not focus on Harrison too much all night. But that’s basically impossible. Your eyes just move to him as if there’s a magnetic pull. Every time he laughs your heart warms.

And the later it gets the more you catch Harrison looking at you as well. It’s subtle but the corners of his mouth quirk up just a little bit higher when he catches your eyes. 

When it’s time to go home all of you are a little tipsy, so you offer Tuwaine and Sam to stay over at your place. You’ve got two empty rooms and you’re certain that Tom and Harry won’t mind. But both of them decline and hop in a taxi after saying goodbye. So it’s just you and Harrison on your way home. And while the walk to the pub had been nothing but two friends walking to the pub together, you had now almost forgotten about your promise to keep your distance from him.

Your shoulder keeps bumping into Harrison’s arm and you do nothing to stop it. It sounds stupid but even that little bit of contact makes your insides flutter. You’re already too far gone for him and you don’t know what to do. 

When you finally reach the house, Harrison unlocks the door and lets you enter first. 

“You know, I’m actually not that disappointed that they didn’t stay with us” 

“Why’s that?”

“Because I want you all to myself” he shrugs his shoulders as he takes off his coat, revealing his tight-fitting t-shirt again. There’s no one around so you finally get to admire how it hugs his figure perfectly, his bicep straining the fabric just slightly whenever he moves.

“Is that so?” You manage to drag your eyes away from his arms so you can look at his face instead. “And what do you wanna do now that you’ve got me alone?” You raise an eyebrow. You know that you’re playing with fire. Both of you had agreed not to cross the line again but here you are heavily flirting with each other. You’ve been tiptoeing around each other and it feels like the tension is about to snap like a rubber band that’s been pulled too hard.

Harrison smirks and takes a step closer, then his hands are on your hips and all sane thoughts abandon your brain.

“I’ve got a few things in mind” His voice is gravely, barely above a whisper and it makes warmth pool between your legs.

And then everything happens quickly. One moment you’re trying to get your thoughts back in order and the next Harrison’s lips are on yours. You’re so perplexed you can’t even move. When Harrison pulls you closer against him by your hips and you feel his hard, strong body against yours, you’re finally pulled out of your stupor. Tilting your head to the side a bit you start reciprocating the kiss. You open your lips and Harrison’s tongue meets yours. Your fingers grasp the fabric of Harrison’s shirt, pulling him closer against you as you press your lips against his feverishly. You didn’t know how much you needed this until now. He wraps his arm around you, his hand travelling down your spine to cup your ass and as he squeezes it you hum against his mouth. 

“Been wanting to do this all night” He pants out as his lips leave yours, your head spinning from the intense kiss.

“I’ve been wanting you to do this to me all night” 

Your lips brush against his with every word and when you open your eyes he’s looking at you intently. It’s like you’re having a silent conversation, and the consensus is clear.

“We shouldn’t be doing this”

“I know”

“Tom would kill us”

“He would” 

There are a few beats of silence before both of you lean in again. Your lips meet his in another frantic kiss. You don’t even realise you’re moving until Harrison starts pulling you up the stairs. You’re both a little clumsy, but too preoccupied with each other's bodies to concentrate on climbing the stairs. 

When you reach the first-floor landing you push Harrison towards his room. He seems a little in awe of this side of you before he eventually finds his bearings and pulls you onto his lap after he sits down on the bed. You wrap your arms around his neck and he’s now got both his hands occupied with kneading your ass causing the fabric of your skirt to ride up your thighs. Your hips start rolling into his on their own accord, the rough denim of his jeans rubbing against your covered clit. Both of you moan at the friction. You fumble with Harrison’s shirt until it’s finally off his chiselled torso and you have to pull away to admire him. You’ve seen him shirtless before. Hell, millions of people probably have. But now you allow yourself to really look at him. And touch him. 

You run your hands over his shoulders and his pecs, gently running your thumbs over his nipples. Harrison’s skin pebbles with goosebumps and you can’t help but smile. You lean down and leave a trail of kisses down his neck making Harrison throw his head back to give you more access. His hands are running up and down your thighs, vanishing under your skirt every now and then. You suck and nibble on Harrison’s neck, how could you not? It’s the prettiest neck you’ve ever seen. 

With every touch of your lips, Harrison’s breathing gets heavier. His hands are now under your shirt, holding onto your waist as you continue to roll your hips. 

“Can I take this off?” Harrison asks and tugs at the fabric of your shirt.

“Go for it” 

One second later Harrison is staring at your chest, his mouth agape.

“Fuckin’ hell” 

You’d put on your prettiest bra for tonight and you mentally pat yourself on the back for that. You take it off though, eager to be touched. Harrison almost seems paralysed as he watches you, perched on his lap, your naked chest right in front of his face. You grab his wrists to move his hands so he’s cupping your tits. It’s been a while since someone has touched you like this. And to be completely honest, Harrison’s hands feel like they’ve been made for your body. You get a fluttery feeling in your stomach when Harrison runs his thumbs over your nipples, just like you’ve done to him earlier. 

You arch your back, leaning into him more. That seems to get Harrison back to what he’s doing, he places one hand on your back and then his lips are wrapped around one of your nipples, his hand tugging at the other and you bury your hand in his soft hair, pulling him closer as you throw your head back with a moan. 

“You’ve got the most perfect tits, Y/N” He murmurs against you, the fluttery feeling intensifying.

“Fuck, Haz” You’re out of breath as you pull his head away from your chest so you can kiss him again. This kiss is different from the others, messier. Your naked chest is pressed against the heated skin of his and you relish the feeling of it. You can’t recall ever feeling so good, so safe, as you are now with Harrison’s strong arms wrapped around you, his lips on yours. 

After a while you shift position, Harrison laying down on the bed with you on top of him as you keep kissing. Harrison is running his hands up and down your back with gentle pressure as if making sure you’re really there. 

His hands travel over your body until they slip under your skirt and find the waistband of your panties. One of them slips under the fabric tentatively.

“This okay?” Harrison asks in-between kisses, his breathing heavy.

“Yes” As soon as the word leaves your lips his hand moves into your underwear. He runs his fingers along your folds, you’ve got a feeling that you’re probably soaking wet and Harrison’s groan is confirmation enough.

“Fuck” His fingers find your clit, rubbing slow circles around it, causing your hips to buck against his hand. You want more. 

You bring your lips back to his, moaning into his mouth at a particularly rough flick of the sensitive bud. You support your weight as best as you can with one hand next to his head, while the other finds the bulge in his jeans. He’s rock hard. And the fact that you’re the reason for that makes you smirk into the kiss. You stroke him through the denim, tip to base, and Harrison’s movements on your pussy falter. 

He throws his head back, groaning your name and you take the opportunity to cover his pretty neck in kisses again. You can’t help yourself, sucking and nibbling at the skin in the hopes of leaving a mark. 

You can feel yourself getting close, your grip on Harrison cock tightening. But you still want more. You need more. 

You somehow manage to free his cock from his jeans and boxers and wrap your hand around it, precum is already covering the tip and as you run your thumb over it Harrison presses out a groan. 

“Wanna feel you inside me, Haz” You purr into his ear and Harrison almost loses it. He halts his movement before tightening his grip on your hip. You feel his fingers run through your folds again, then he spreads your lips a bit and in the next moment, one of his fingers is thrusting into you, curling in a way that it makes your hips rock against his hand.

You let out a moan, your grip on his dick tightening and you have to concentrate to speak your next words coherently. 

“As much as I love this” You pant and rest your forehead against his, “I actually meant your cock” You’ve got a small smirk on your lips and Harrison huffs out a laugh.

“Fuck, you sure?”

“Yes,” Your voice is almost a whine. 

“Okay” He curses some more as he sits up. He pulls his fingers out of you and gives you a lingering kiss. “Lay down for me,” he says and you do as he says, laying back on top of the covers, legs spread. You watch was Harrison pulls something, his wallet, from the back pocket of his jeans. He takes a condom out of it, his eyes focused on you. A few moments later you’re both completely naked. You lay on the bed, propped up on your elbows as you watch him put the condom on. There’s something about it that turns you on. Maybe it’s just the fact that Harrison has the prettiest cock you’ve ever seen. 

You lick your lips absentmindedly.

“You still sure about this?” He asks again and if you weren’t so desperate for him you’d take the time to properly appreciate the fact that he’s really making sure you’re comfortable. 

“Yes, Haz. Now please get to it” You make grabby hands at him and watch as a smirk find its way onto his face.

“Get to what?” He quirks an eyebrow as he shifts his position so he’s now on his knees.

“Get to fucking me, damn it Harrison don’t be such a tease!” Harrison’s full-on laughing now. But you don’t really find it funny. As soon as he’s within reach, you pull him on top of you, muffling his laughter with your lips. You grab his cock with one hand and that’s all it takes to turn his laughs into moans. 

“Please, Haz. Wanna feel you” Your lips are barely disconnected from his.

“Mhm, fuck. Yes. Okay.” Harrison nods and runs a hand over your core, gathering your wetness before pumping his shaft a couple of times. He then wraps his slender fingers around the base and positions the head of his cock at your entrance. He slowly slides into you and your eyes roll to the back of your head at the feeling of being filled with him. Your heart flutters and you gasp as you hold onto him tighter. 

“That feel good?” He asks, his nose brushing against yours.

“So good” You’re surprised you even manage to speak actual words. 

“You’re amazing,” Harrison says and moans, his chest rumbling against yours. You open your legs a little wider and he slips in just a little deeper and you moan as you try to hold onto him. He withdraws before pushing back into you, his thrusts slow and deliberate.

“You feel so good, baby, fuck” He holds onto your hip with one hand the other going to the back of your neck to pull you into another kiss. It’s just a messy touch of the lips because neither of you can really concentrate on kissing right now, and then his lips are just hovering over yours as he picks up his pace. 

“You like it like that?” He murmurs and you nod, running your hands along his back, feeling his muscles move beneath them. 

You can feel yourself close to the edge again so you trail your hands deeper grabbing a hold of his ass “Harder” you pant as you try to pull him deeper into you.

“What’s the magic word?” 

“Are you serious?” Your voice is high pitched as your body starts to tingle, you arch your back and it makes Harrison’s cock thrust into you at a different angle, the new stimulation making your toes curl.

“Mhm,” Harrison hums affirmatively and gently pinches the skin of your neck with his teeth.

You groan frustratedly, but you’re not above begging. To be honest, you like it. You like Harrison teasing you like this even if it feels like torture.

“Please”

“That’s it, baby” His face is hovering above yours again and he grabs a hold of your thigh, spreading your legs further for him. And then he thrusts into you with all he’s got, pressing you into the mattress. You throw your arms over your head, trying to find purchase somewhere. Your eyes are locked on Harrison’s face above you, his lips slightly parted and his eyebrows pinched together. 

“‘M close” You mewl and Harrison nods, his hair softly brushing against your forehead. His hand travels from your thigh to your pussy and then suddenly his thumb is thrumming against your clit and you start to see stars, your back arching off the bed, your walls clenching around Harrison’s cock. He keeps up his thrusts, helping you ride out your high. You feel his movements get more erratic and then he thrusts into you a few more times before he reaches his own orgasm, his face contorted from pleasure, a loud moan of your name leaving his lips before he collapses on top of you. 

You’re both still breathing hard when the reality of what just happened crashes down on you. Without desire fogging your mind, you know that having sex with Harrison wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

Your wrap your arms around him, running your hands up and down his back while he places a kiss on your shoulder. 

“You okay?” There’s a soft smile on his lips and he seems to be glowing, his hair a mess. He looks beautiful. A smile breaks out on your face and you find yourself nodding.

“Yeah. You?” 

Harrison chuckles and places a kiss on your nose, then your lips. “Yeah” 

You know you’ll have to talk about what happened and where to go from here, but for now, you just want to enjoy being wrapped up in his arms. Reality can wait until tomorrow.

A/N: Let me know what you think!!! 😬 some might say it’s a little to soon for them to get it on...but c’mon... :D

 And also let me know if the banners were visible enough! I tried to make them so they’re subtle but still stand out enough to find them while scrolling! 

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series taglist: @softholand​ // @svturtles​ // @cloverrover​ // @goodgirlgonetom​ // @justafangirlduh​

[doctors-star]

Can you stay still for the next 20 min? (If this was meant as a prompt ask 😅)

“Okay - have you got it?”

“Yeah, you can - shift it to the left a bit, yeah - is that right your end?”

“Looks good to me.” Peter leans back very carefully, eyeballing along the length of the beam with half of his face scrunched up in a squint. Alex resists the urge to fidget the cold, heavy wood between his hands; there is a strong likelihood that, in seeking a better grip on the slippery, paper-like bark of the skinny silver birch trunk they are using as a rafter, he will in fact fumble with numb fingers and drop it through their half-built structure. Peter straightens up and grins at him. “Right. Now, you just hold that there, perfectly still, while I drill and fix this end - shouldn’t take too long, anywhere between-” he tilts his hands mock-thoughtfully, “-two minutes and three days. All right?”

Alex sends him a withering look, somewhat weakened by the smile he is valiantly attempting to fight from his face. “You may have twenty minutes, maximum,” he says sternly.

“Why twenty?” Peter asks, casting about him for the auger they’re using to bore holes in the rafters and peg them together. “And - I mean you no offence, mate, but you keep shifting the beam - can you stay still for the next twenty minutes?”

Peter starts to descend his ladder to hunt down the drill and Alex takes pity. “You tucked it in your belt.”

“Ah! And you told me it was a bad idea,” Peter acknowledges with the point of a finger, scrambling back up and fidgeting the large, curling length of very sharp iron out from the small of his back.

Alex tilts his head slightly. “I meant because you might fall on it and die, but yes, fine, also because you have no object permanence and would lose it.”

Peter snorts and aligns the auger carefully over the crossed beams, perpendicular to their length, before beginning to twist the handles that form the T-shape of the drill. They’re down to their loose white shirts, despite the biting cold, what with the hauling and lifting and boring and pegging. Alex can see the muscles across Peter’s shoulders shift and pull under the thin linen.

“Anyway,” he says, dragging his eyes away and fixing them on the birch between his palms. The wood is scarred and knotted by the vagaries of Welsh weather but straight and sturdy; the bark is peeling in tight coils of ghostly parchment. It judders in his hands with every wrench of the auger, so he focusses on simply holding it still. “You can only have twenty minutes, because lunch is at one and that’s in about twenty minutes - whereupon I will abandon this whole project, because I’m hungry.”

Peter huffs a laugh, silver in the winter air. “Oh, right,” he says, as though this is quite reasonable, “I understand. Twenty minutes it is, then - although you’ll have to count it out in your head, what with us being Stuart farmers in rural Wales and therefore not having access to such newfangled things as watches.”

Peter looks at him out of the corner of his eye, biting his lip. Alex assumes a suitably innocent expression in the face of this challenge. “Mm,” he agrees.

“After all, I assume that’s how you know it’s twenty to one - you’ve been counting the minutes since dawn.”

“Oh, no, I can read the time in the sky.” Peter looks sceptically at the thick duvet of cloud overhead - the light has remained the same weak greyness since the sun technically rose, though they’ve not seen it. Alex shuffles the log into one hand, moving his foot up one ladder rung to support its weight on his thigh, and fumbles the other hand in the small leather pouch attached to his belt. He lifts the modern stainless steel watch up to the sky and makes a show of squinting at it against the clouds, and then puts it away. “Twelve forty-five,” he says decisively, slowly creasing into a smile when Peter abandons the auger to put his face in his hands and laugh.

“The director’ll have your head for that,” Peter points out, amused, as he goes back to the drill with a fond shake of his head.

Alex shrugs. He can, it turns out, do without most modern conveniences: he’s become used to candlelight and going to bed early, he likes the food, he honestly hasn’t thought about television for about three months. They’re allowed enough bits of their old lives to keep them all healthy and sane, like toothpaste and regular phone calls to friends and family, but other than that they’ve been keeping to the period fairly religiously and Alex wouldn’t have it any other way.

It’s just - it turns out that, like how an explorer might like to keep a compass on them to know which way is north, Alex likes to know what time it is. Not for any particularly rational reason. There’s just a sort of comfort in knowing where he stands, temporally.

“Should have got you a pocket sundial for Christmas,” Peter says wryly, jimmying the auger back out of the wood with effort.

“A sundial? In Wales?” Alex objects mildly. “Peter, be serious.”

“Hah. Well, Stuart Welshmen managed somehow,” Peter points out, trotting swiftly down the ladder and fishing about in a basket for a peg long enough to pin the beam to the apex.

Before Alex can respond, there is a call from the farmhouse, and Ruth is waving at them as she picks her way through the frosted garden towards them. “Hello, boys - oh, this is going up well.”

Peter smiles shyly at her and pats the nearest upright of the latrine. “It’s good, yeah,” he says, turning the peg in his fingers with the other hand. It’s terribly sweet, this nervous adoration Ruth seems to inspire in him when she catches Peter off-guard. Sweet, and slightly embarrassing on Peter’s behalf, and very slightly inspiring of jealousy, as though Alex were five years old and sulky over Ruth stealing his best friend. He doesn’t like to examine that much.

“Slightly roofless,” Alex points out.

Ruth smiles, tilting her head back to look up the ladder at him, and the niggling, uncomfortable envy fades somewhat. “It’s al fresco,” she corrects cheerfully, and he grins. “It’s got walls, anyway, and this looks like your last roof beam, so it’s only slightly roofless.”

“You won’t say that when it rains,” Alex foretells, and she laughs.

“All right. I came out to tell you lunch will be in a minute, so if it’s at a point where you can leave it-”

“I’m letting go of this beam,” Alex tells Peter firmly. “I’m doing it.”

“You said twenty minutes,” Peter corrects, scrambling up the ladder.

“I said until lunch,” he says, steadying the beam carefully so that Peter can jam the peg in and shove at it with the heel of his palm. “It is now lunch, and I am no longer holding this beam for you.”

“Two minutes,” Peter pleads, shoving at the peg and then looking around him, patting his belt and where pockets might be on jeans but definitely are not on breeches. “Where’s the - thank you, Ruth.”

Ruth’s eyes slide sideways to Alex in amusement as she passes Peter a sturdy wooden mallet. She’s always pleasingly entertained by their antics, even if Alex and Peter are being more than slightly unhelpful, and it absolutely encourages them to further bouts of silliness. “I shouldn’t have said anything,” she says warmly, folding her arms and looking delighted around the edges of a stern expression. Alex basks in her indulgence.

“Alex wouldn’t really abandon me for lunch,” Peter says, deliberately overwrought and self-pitying, as he secures the peg. “He wouldn’t destroy all our hard work just to eat, not after the hours we spent working on it - and the years we’ve been friends, and all the nice things I’ve done for him.” Ruth laughs and Peter, beam now secured, leans on it slightly to look plaintively in Alex’s direction. “You wouldn’t leave me just for food, would you?” he says, with his best puppyish eyes.

Alex looks back at him. He’s given up a lot to be here with Peter for this year - they’ve not been out of uni that long, all things considered, and are definitely in that stage of academia in which a person is supposed to work extremely hard and get all the funding available to become very specialised and useful - essentially, they are not supposed to be going on a year’s sabbatical to wrestle pigs and plough fields and become bizarrely knowledgeable about early seventeenth century agriculture, which is something neither of them are aiming to specialise in at all. He has no idea if this is a good career move, or a sure-fire way to never be taken seriously again. On top of that, he’s given up on all the comforts and joys of modern life, and on seeing his friends and family particularly often, and on starting or maintaining relationships with anyone other than Peter and Ruth and the rest of the cast and crew. He had been worried, when he and Peter had been discussing whether or not to go for this opportunity, that he would be constantly miserably cold and lonely - but Peter had promised him good company and all of Peter’s spare layers and blankets, and had reminded him of all of the things they would get the opportunity to do and try, and all the experiences they could have out in the valley that they might never have again. And Alex had allowed himself to be convinced, and had followed Peter onto the farm and into Stuart life. He is yet to have cause to regret it; he has loved it, and Peter and Ruth and all his new friends, to excesses.

He fixes Peter with an unimpressed look. “I would leave you in the mud for an unripe tomato.”

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

Gonna Be Home Soon

Time’s passed and things don’t feel better. It’s like settling, accepting, the new normal. But sometimes exceptions can be made to the rules. 

My fingers slipped. Part 2 of Away for a Moment. 

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________________________________

When Calum’s phone rings at 8:05 am, he doesn’t waste a second to answer it. He’s been anticipating this call ever since the two of you talked last night and you mentioned errands you needed to run in the morning. And there you are, grinning into the camera, the morning sun bright behind you.

“Morning,” you chirp.

“Morning, love,” he returns, falling back into the mass of pillows on his bed. “Waiting for the bus?”

“Nah, the store’s not too far and I’m already half way there.”

He nods, a hum falling over his lips. Your breathing is a little heavy. He can hear the pants as you walk. There’s a bit of a hill on the way there, if his memory serves him correctly. “Sleep okay?”

You shrug, ducking under a tree to take a short cut up to the concrete steps that lead you into the tiny shopping center. “Slept alright. Woke up in the night sweating my ass off.”

“What about your fan?”

“It was on. I had just cocooned myself and got to hot that’s all. What about you? How’d you sleep?”

Calum starts to answer but like his body knows, a yawn interrupts him. “ ‘Cuse me. Slept okay. Still trying to wake up even though I’ve been up for a while.”

“I’m sorry, love. I can let you go. You need rest.”

“No, no, I’m okay.” He doesn’t it say it but you know just by looking at him that even if he were dead tired he’d answer your call. And you know it’s because of the two incidents you told him about while just out. Approached once by men who was too chatty for your comfort—asking too many questions about you personally. And then someone asked for directions which wouldn’t have been weird but they never got off at the stop that you gave them directions for. So when you got off at your stop in front of a gas station you marched right into it and lingered until you were sure the bus had passed.

You don’t regret telling Calum about these strange encounters. And Calum knew you could defend yourself but he didn’t want you to have too. He didn’t like that you had to be on alert and that you were always looking over your shoulder. He knew you would and did still do it in LA with him. He knew all the times you had gone out without before. But he had always been close by. And now he’s not. He’s miles away, across state lines and though he’s not too far it’s still far enough for him to worry more than he did before.

You walk into the Wal-Mart and grab a basket, cradling your phone in one hand. “Wow, it’s kinda quiet in here.”

Calum remembers previous how packed the place was when he helped you move and how you recounted going on a Saturday and immediately regretting it.

“Better hurry,” he teases, looking to Duke who’s now waiting at the edge of the bed. His ears are perked up. Calum picks him up and sets him on his chest.

Your screen when you glance back down is full of Duke’s face and his fur hiding away Calum. But that’s perfectly fine by you. “My boy! Is pops treating you well?” 

Duke barks in response to the question. His snout pressing into the screen almost as if that will bring you closer to him. You don’t even realize tears are welling until one falls and hits your screen. “Love you Duke.”

He barks again at the sound of your voice, leaping off Calum to unearth your sweatshirt he buried into the sheets.

“Oh Duke gets tears but I don’t? I see how it is.”

You quickly wipe at your cheeks. “Shut up. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until just then. I know I miss you.”

“Hey, no, I’m just teasing. Is too soon for a visit?” 

Calum knows it’s only just over a month. Maybe a full month and a half since the last time he visited. He’s not really sure. All he knows that the days are long. All the clothes you’ve left behind have lost all your scent. Big’s too big and most nights Calum falls asleep on the couch. You text him though well before he falls asleep to make it to the bedroom. You beg him really, knowing that it’s better to have a healthy sleeping schedule. Sometimes he makes it, even sends a selfie from underneath the covers, pouting of course. 

In the studio, things feel normal. He can focus on the tasks at hands. And he still can crack jokes. The guys know though. They can all tell that Calum lingers around his phone more so than usual. He takes every call, even the ones that he’d normally ignore because he can tell they’re probably spam. But he takes them know because he can’t be sure it’s not you. Sometimes, he wishes it was you, instead of some bullshit car insurance scam. 

The other guys can tell Calum’s a little down in the dumps because when they ask him if he wants to join for dinner, he declines. And it’s not like he couldn’t shoot you a text saying that he’ll have to push back the FaceTime until later, or just hold off until tomorrow. It’s not like you’d flip your shit. But instead, he holds to those FaceTime dates. He holds for the times even if he’s writing, he can glance to his phone and see you riding the bus or walking into your classes. 

It’s the new normal and though Calum misses the way it used to be. It’s his new normal that keeps him mostly sane. It’s this new normal that helps Calum orient his days. Monday you text early in the morning to head into your office and you message at every stop too. And then around 2 he can call, after you’re done with one stint of classes. On Tuesdays, you morning starts early but he can call during your morning commute. Wednesdays he knows that it’ll mostly be a text day, you have meetings all in the morning and then classes well into the afternoon. Thursday start to lighten up and you can FaceTime most the day of the day minus the tutoring hours you’re putting in. And Fridays, Fridays are Calum’s solace. He can wake early, knowing you’re up early too, and he can be there for just about everything. It’s your reading day too. So you two talk mostly in the morning while you run errands. 

Like today, as you pull out your grocery list, Calum watches you smile at the folks passing you by. “What’s on the list today, love?”

“Batteries. Restock on the veggies and figure out what’s for dinner for the next couple of days. I found these two recipes that I want to try. Just can’t decide on which one.”

“What are they?”

“One’s a chili recipe. Other one is a one pot spaghetti recipe.”

“I vote chili. You can freeze part of the portion for next week.”

You nod, with a hum. “Smart call. Knew I kept you around for a reason.”

Calum laughs, scooping Duke back up into his arms. “Not my devilishly handsome good looks.”

“You’re hot, don’t get my wrong. But it’s what? Two years in now? Good looks don’t make a relationship. But they do help.”

“I see, loving me for my brains. I can’t say I’m upset with that.” The aisle aren’t clear as you walk down. But you pause. Calum can’t really see where, thinks it might be the clothes or close to it. You hold up a cartoon sports bra, wiggling your eyebrows. Calum whistles. “Hot.”

You snort. “I’ll pair it with my school sweatpants.”

“Doubly hot,” Calum snickers.

 As you wonder about, you show small things to Calum, laughing together as you goof about in Wal-Mart. You show Calum a T-shirt that says ‘I can’t people today’ stating that you need that saying tattooed to your forehead. Even though you’ve gotten into a routine it’s still hard some days just to deal with any other human being. Calum’s always enjoyed watching you, even if it’s just you reading the ingredients lists on the back of box. And you do it out of habit now, taking the time to make sure nothing has changed in the ingredients list. Depending on what it is, sometimes there’s a recipe. 

“How many bags of mango slices do you go through in a week?” Calum asks, watching the package fall into your cart. 

You duck your head, speeding down the aisle even though you’re reaching back for another bag. “We do not talk about that.”

“You’re going to have a whole mango budget!”

“At least it’s better than you and your Oreos,” you sass back, waiting for the elderly couple to cross in front of you. “How many packs are you up to in a week?”

“Two,” he states through a mumbles. “But I’m cutting back!”

The giggles dissipate and you warn Calum that you’ll have to put him in your back pocket while you check out. It’s not a bad haul and you’re glad for it. You’re trying to keep the weekly grocery spending low, since the rent’s a little high at your place. With all your groceries bagged, you find your reusable bag and then head for the bus stop. Though it’ll take it a little far out of the way, it beats hauling your groceries up two hills and reduces it to one. 

The morning’s growing warmer and Calum can see the beads of sweat as you walk down to the stop. He knows he ought to get up too. He should think about getting grocery, and washing the bedsheets, and scrub the bathroom. He doesn’t want to. He wants to wrap his arms around you and bury his nose in your neck and inhale the smell of your shampoo and body wash. 

Once you’re safe into your apartment grocery sitting on the counter, you say your goodbyes. It’s in Calum’s eyes. The way the tears don’t fully form but they do glaze over his eyes and you know. It’s going to be a hard day. And if it weren’t for the 200 pages you had to read between your classes, you would’ve stayed longer on the call. You almost ask if he wants to stay on as you read. It almost crosses your lips. 

But Calum sighs. “Guess I gotta let you go, but we’ll talk throughout the day?”

You don’t know if he’s got a busy day or not. It’s Friday and while it’s your easy day, Calum might be buried in some work. So you nod. “Of course.”

The groceries are easy to put up. You settle down for the first half the reading, pen and highlighter at the ready. Calum drops the phone into the sheets and turns onto his stomach, face buried in the pillows. The day will be long if he stays like this. But he can afford himself a little misery, a little grace so that he can sigh about how much he misses you but eventually get his own ass into gear. 

Between the grocery, scrubbing the bathroom, three loads of laundry, Calum doesn’t even realize more than half the day is gone and there’s nothing much else to do. But that ache of saying goodbye to you finally comes back and he took today off from the studio. Which might’ve been a mistake. But it’s too late now, so Calum walks into his own office and picks up his acoustic guitar. 

He was only going to send it to you. But he didn’t want to inundate you with the same old sad sentiments. And sure, this one was a little different, him strumming as his voice is just above a whisper, to let himself finally release the yearning. But still, he didn’t want to bother you. The texts were less consistent than normal but he also understood when you had reading days you were focused on nothing else but the readings. 

Your phone buzzes an alert to let you know about an email. You check it, not sure if it was a student making an appointment for tutoring, but it’s just from the school’s bookstore. “Fucking, now I have anxiety about my email,” you chuckle to yourself. 

Then your fingers wonder, you exit the mail app and tap onto instagram. Right in the bubbles up top is Calum’s icon. You tap onto it and see, or hardly see the  lamps illuminating him. And it’s dark back at home much like it is where you are. His voice is soft as he croons, his cry out for a return. The semester is halfway done and you know even though you’re going to be soon buried in work for midterms, though mostly for the tutoring and teaching and less of midterms for you, you text Calum. 

Gonna be home soon. Just for the weekend. I’ll book a train ticket.

Almost immediately after sending the text, your phone buzzes with a phone call from Calum. “I can come to you,” he rushes out. 

“Well, it’s not home.”

“Home’s not a building, not a place,” Calum whispers. “And I know some people are going to say it’s not smart to find home in other people. But it’s too late for me. You make me feel at home.”

“Literally, I’m crying into my books,” you return, wiping your cheeks. 

“What time are you free on Thursdays? After 6 is good, right?”

You nod, “Yeah, after 6 I’m free.”

“I’ll see you then. We can try that Indian place you pass on the way to class. And I’ll be there to remind you to drink water when you’re grading.”

A soft exhalation of laughter escapes you. “I definitely need that. See you Thursday.”

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Would you be willing to do the NSFW alphabet with Cassian?

A/N: Gladly! Just as a reminder REBLOG AND COMMENT IF YOU LIKE THIS! These take just as much time as drabbles to finish and the tags hate me.

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Cassian is downright clingy after sex. All he wants to do is hold you close and bury his head in your neck. He’s not letting you go for anything.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

He loves your hands. He loves how they feel against his skin whether your placing a gentle touch on his cheek or digging your nails into his back. He loves how your fingers intertwine with his. It keeps him grounded in the here and now with you.

Admittedly there isn’t much about his body that Cassian really likes. It’s more of a vessel to get his head from room to room. But you’ve been making an effort to show him how much you love his body. He is starting to grow an appreciation for his jaw line, considering how many kisses you seem to lay on it.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Cassian loves nothing more than cumming in your cunt and your cunt exclusively. Even if you bring him right to the edge with your mouth, he’ll pull you away and all but beg to let him finish deep inside your pussy. He stands no chance of pulling out, he gets to lost in the feeling to pull away. And if you cum before him? He’s following you seconds after.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

You and Cassian once had sex on top of the holo table in command center.

He got back late from a mission and you were the only one still on the comms.  He hadn’t seen you in a month. So, rather than wait until your shift ended, he took you right on the table.  It was one of the most intense experience of your life. Neither of you can look at that table directly ever again.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Cassian has had a few partners over the years, but not as many as you’d think. Touch in general is borderline sacred so having enough trust in someone to sleep with them is kind of a big deal for Cassian. He’s been around enough to have experience, though.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Honestly, basically any position where he can feel your whole body pressed against his. Whether it’s your chest against his, or him bent over your back, he wants to feel every part of you. He wants to bury his face in your skin while his hands cling to you like a life line.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

That’s going to be a no in the humor department. 9/10 he’s using sex as a way to tell you things he can’t always properly put into words: I love you, I’ve missed you, I need you, I can’t lose you. You’re the one more likely to initiate playful sex and if that’s the case, he’s just there to tease you with a dry smile on his face.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He’s actually got a good amount of hair down below and doesn’t really trim it. He keeps everything clean if he can, but not much beyond that.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it until the end of time: CASSIAN ANDOR IS THE MOST TENDER LOVER IN THE STAR WARS FRANCHISE!!! He makes love to you every time you have sex. Whether it’s slow and sensual or fast and rough it’s all about showing you how he feels about you. It’s emotional and intense and utterly intimate.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Cassian jacks off as a form of stress release every now and then. Some times in his bunk, but most of the time in the cabin of his ship. It gives him some much needed privacy without much chance of getting interrupted. There’s some pleasure it in, but it’s almost of way to sort out his frustrations on his hand rather than you.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Hair pulling.  Seriously, as soon as he’s getting anywhere near close all you have to do is rake your fingers through his hair, give it a hard tug and he’s gone.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Your bunk or his. Like I said, his goal is to make love to you every time you’re together, so having a place where he knows he can take his time is important. It’s a safe place far away from the problems of the Rebellion where he can get lost in you. A close second is his ship’s cabin.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

I’m not sure how else to phrase this except, whenever he sees you.  You guys are constantly coming and going, sometimes on missions together but often not.  It can be a few days or a few weeks between seeing each other.  But nothing really get him going like seeing you again safe and sound.  The first thing he wants to do after you give your reports is get you to his bunk as soon as possible.

A close second is anytime he sees you kick Imperial ass.  We all saw how he looked at Jyn.  You know I’m right.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Any foreplay involving you guys in Imperial uniforms.  Seriously, Cassian is fighting space Nazis, having you in a space Nazi uniform is going to do the exact opposite of turning him on.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

It really is a toss up for him between given and receiving.  He’ll never turn down a blow job and is always happy to get his mouth inbetween your legs.  

He’s also, really good at eating you out; lots of small praises and moaning vibrations on your clit.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

He leans toward the slow and sensual, but it really depends on how he’s feeling.  There are times he can’t contain how much he needs you, tearing at your clothes and pulling you close to him like it’s the only thing keeping him sane.  Other times it’s like he wants to memorize every inch of your skin as he listens in reverence to the noises you make.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Quickies usually happen if you haven’t seen each other in a long time. As soon as Cassian gives his report, he grabs you by the hand and pulls you into the first empty room or cargo hold he can find and takes you against the wall. It’s fast and messy, but lacks none of the feeling. It’s also just a taste of what you’ll get later that night.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Probably, but you guys are both going to have to do all the proper research before hand.  He’s honestly pretty happy with what you’re doing now, but if you want to try new things, it doesn’t take much convincing.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

The longer Cassian and you have been away from each other, the longer he seems able to go.  If you guys haven’t seen each other in a few days, it’s one fast one against the wall followed by a more thorough love making session involving at least two orgasms on your part.

If he hasn’t seen you in weeks to a month? Well, let’s just say you had to call in sick and nobody saw either of you for almost a full twenty-four hours.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

For himself, Cassian is more acquainted with his hand.  Time away from base added to the possibility of having to leave at a moment’s notice means buying one hasn’t been on his priority list.

For the pair of you, you have a vibrator you like to bring in on occasion, but not much else.  Same rules apply to you, being constantly on the move doesn’t give you a chance to build a collection.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Not so much in the, “I’m having fun torturing you sense”.  More in the, “I want to make this last as long as possible so I don’t have to leave the feeling of your body against mine” variety.  He teases, but it’s more desperate than playful.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Years of thin walls have taught him to be quiet; however, he can’t help but moan your name against your skin mixed in with a serious of praises and cursed grunts towards the end.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He doesn’t tell you he loves you for a really long time. 

You know he does, through his actions and all the ways he tries to make you happy.  But, it takes a while for him to find the words.  He’s truly afraid that if he says those three little words out loud, it will somehow jinx everything and the galaxy will conspire to take you away from him like everyone else in his life.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Perfectly average girth with slightly above average length (6-7 inches).   But, you don’t need anything more than that.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

It’s not so much a yearning for sex as a yearning for you.  Sex is just a way to show you how he feels about you.  He’s not a man of words, he’s a man of action.  And sometimes the best way he knows to show you how much he misses you, or loves you, or needs you is to make love to you. So, with the knowledge that either of you can die the next time you’re out of each other’s sight, it’s pretty often.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Give him a few minutes to make sure you’re tucked against him with no plans on leaving and he’s out like a light.  Seriously, nothing get him to actually sleep faster than a night of love making followed by you snuggled up against him.  Nothing but pleasant dreams and darkness can follow that.

[hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong]

The Flame-Soaked City, Part 5

With CasCu joining them, the master triad and co. head deeper into the heart of the Fuyuki singularity. What will they uncover as they approach the source of the altered history? (I mean if you play FGO you probably know this already, but hush. We’re hyping up the mystery here!)

TW: implied body horror, villain that would hurt a child, Lev Lainur

If it’s between <triangle brackets>, that’s a mental note between masters, and if it’s between {whatever these are} it’s the viewpoint character.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

{Jeanne}

With the arrival of the new caster, we not only gained a powerful ally, but knowledge about this singularity. What started as a Holy Grail War quickly became a fight for survival as the Saber converted the other servants to her side somehow.

Spartacus was very happy to find out there was a "tyrant" taking control of the situation. If it means he will actually help us from here on out we won't fight it. The best news however is that our caster friend knows healing magic! We're so close to being able to see again!

Kat: <Hey Jeanne, why are you saying all that stuff that just happened?>

Jeanne: <Because Cris never pays attention, and we don't need them getting lost next time they front.>

Cris: <Oh come on, I'm not that bad!>

Jeanne: <Really? What is Caster's name?>

Cris: <So you were saying about our eyes getting healed?>

Cu: Alright, we're all set little lady! Let's see what we can do about those eyes of yours.

Romani: Your vitals are good on our end, Hannah. We'll probably have to do this again when you get back, but the less time spent wandering in the dark the better.

Cu: I don't need you to tell me my magic works, mage.

Marie: Go ahead with the procedure, Caster.

The runes surrounding us lit up, infusing with mana as.... nothing happened.

Cris: Oh, you have got to be shitting me.

Cu: It's quite alright, you're not the first maiden to be taken aback by my-

Cris: No jackass, I still can't see anything!

Mash: But the spell worked, senpai! Your eyes look perfectly healthy!

Cu: You wouldn't happen to be cursed, would you?

Romani: It's more likely one of two things. Either we need to heal Hannah in the present, or the problem is psychosomatic. Either way, it's not a problem we can solve now.

Jeanne: That's unfortunate, but at least we're not any worse off for trying. It gave us plenty of time for a break, at least. We should get moving towards- As we stood up to move, our foot caught a rock in the worst way, and we took a spill.

--- {Cris}

Cris: Agh, motherfuck... er...

Holy shit, I can see again! God, blasted hellscape never looked so good. Wow Mash does not look comfortable in that armor. And that old guy in blue must be caster.

Cris: Wait, were you flirting with me? You're like 40, what the hell?

Mash: This is wonderful! Thank goodness!

Marie: We might just have a chance now.

Jeanne: <Maybe switching reset something?>

Kat: <That doesn't make any sense.>

Jeanne: <I know, I am just spitballing here.>

Cu: It's a step in the right direction, but her eyesight is clearly off. I'm still plenty young.

Cris: We can argue on the way. <Jeanne, you remember which way we need to go, right?>

Jeanne: <Leave it to me. We should travel much faster now.>

---- {Jeanne}

And with that switch, we are back in darkness.

Jeanne: That is less than ideal.

Marie: What happened now?

Jeanne: Hold on, I need to test something. <Kat, do you mind?>

--- {Kat}

We can see! Everybody's starting to look a little freaked out.

Kat: <Wow, those hassans really aren't wearing much, huh? They're pretty!>

Cris: <That's enough ogling, I'm turning this body around.>

--- {Cris}

Jesus, why the hell was Spartacus standing right behind us?

Cris: <Jeanne, why are you blushing? ...God, I can't take you two anywhere.> I pull us away from the big lug and back towards the sane part of the party.

Cris: Okay, tests done. The good news is I can see. Mostly. The bad news is that while we mostly have control over when it occurs, we might go blind at random, or if I get like, surprised or highly emotional.

Marie: And how, exactly, did you figure all that out by gawking at your servants?

Kat: Intuition.

Romani: You'll have to deal with it for now. After we get you back here we can work on a more permanent solution.

After we got on the road things went pretty smooth. The skeletons were pretty much a joke now that we could see them coming, and Caster even found time to teach Mash some new tricks. We barely managed to keep Spartacus from picking a fight with that berserker that's running around. Kat chatted with Saber and the assassins (I kinda zoned out for that tbh) and eventually we reached our destination. We hadn't even entered the cave yet, and already we could feel the raw energy pouring out of the thing.

Mash: Senpai, look out!

Mash threw herself in front of us as a sword, twisted, almost to the point of being unrecognizable, embedded itself in Mash's shield.

???: Sorry, but that's as close as you'll be getting to Excalibur.

Cris: What the hell?

Cu: I was wondering when you'd show up, Archer. I see you're still Saber's faithful knight, as always.

Archer: I don't know anything about that. All I'm sure of is there's an old pain showing up again.

Cu: You lot run on ahead. I've got some personal business to take care of.

Spartacus: Let him deal with the gatekeeper, we must strike at the heart of this tyranny!

Cris: Wait wha-

Spartacus grabbed us like a sack of potatos and ran into the cave. As we were getting dragged along, the opening salvos of their duel lit up the entrance behind us.

Jeanne: Assassin! Keep a couple personas near the entrance, and let us know if we'll have to deal with Archer.

Most of the remaining Hassans peeled off from the main group. Mash and the other servants were able to easily keep up with us, though Marie had to be carried on one of the larger hassan's shoulders.

Finally our bumpy ride ended in the opening of a large room. In its center stood a crater, with a massive beam of coalescing energy running from the floor to the ceiling.

Marie: The greater grail... what's that doing in Japan?

Spartacus: Face your end, oppressor! We have come to finish your reign of-

Before he could finish his sentence, a beam of energy burst forth from near the crater. It sucked the light out of whatever it touched, and when the dust settled, less than half of Spartacus' torso fell to the ground. I took a step closer to Mash.

Saber Alter: I have no patience for fools.

A servant clad in black platemail calmly strode forth, her sword still crackling with energy. With the veins on her armor pulsating, the entire thing almost seemed alive.

Saber Alter: You there, girls. You both have an interesting noble phantasm. I would like to test them.

With no other fanfare, she rocketed forwards, and her sword met Mash's shield. Mash and Saber Lily settled into their routine again, but Mash's training was already paying off. The older saber clearly wasn't used to fights against someone who could block her sword, and Mash took advantage of that to force openings for Lily to strike.

Alter was clearly going to lose, so she disengaged and fired off another beam from her noble phantasm. Mash responded in kind, and the black energy dissipated against the shield of light.

However, Alter expected this. and was simply using the beam as cover to get in closer again. Mash never saw the kick to her side coming, and she was easily sent flying, leaving Saber Lily alone with the experienced swordswoman.

It should have been a bloodbath. It was definitely one-sided, but for some reason Alter was holding back. Lily was mercilessly beaten down to the ground, but there was the slightest bit of hesitation that grew with each attack.

Kat: <Hey Jeanne? Do the scanny thing. Trust me.>

--- {Jeanne}

Jeanne: <Okay? I don't know what you- oh.>

We could no longer see the action, but we could still feel their spirit origins. Alter's was twisted by several things, much like the shadow servants we faced up to this point, but at her core, one thing was obvious. The saber lying on the ground and the saber standing over her were the same person.

Kat: <You guys seriously didn't notice they have the same face?>

Alter: It is useless, child. I am inevitable. I am what it means to be king.

Lily: Even if that's true... even if I'll be like you one day... I'm not you now, and I won't stop fighting you here!

Lily struggled to her feet, and focused all she had left into one final attack.

Lily: Sword of Selection, grant me your power!

Alter: Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King reverse the rising sun.

Lily: Cleave the wicked! Caliburn!

Alter: Swallow the light, Excalibur Morgan!

The energy of their swords clashed, light and dark twisting around each other before it was all unleashed in an explosion that shook the cave.

--- {Cris}

Both sabers landed heavily. Alter lands in a heap near Spartacus' body, armor cracked from the impact. On the opposite side, Lily lays still, her spirit origin already starting to come apart. Alter pulls herself to her feet.

Alter: I will make this quick.

Before she can take a step, however, a large hand grabs her foot. Spartacus' body hasn't reformed enough to move yet, but he's alive, and that's enough.

Spartacus: HAHAHAHA! Come oppressor! Break your sword against my love!

Cris: Fuck yeah! I totally knew he was okay.

Jeanne: <Are any of us good at lying?>

To her credit, she damn near tried to do exactly what he said. Saber Alter launched blow after blow into the arm hold her in place. Each swing of her sword pulling energy from the greater grail and forcing it directly into Spartacus. We took this chance to run over to Lily. Mash had finally pulled herself from the wall she got launched into and was already there.

Mash: Senpai, your orders!

Cris: Just get your shield up and be ready!

Finally, Spartacus' body had enough. The energy stored within it writhed and began to break through, covering the cave in a bright purple light. Spartacus himself never stopped laughing the entire time.

Alter, and everything else that wasn't behind Mash's shield, was devastated by the explosion. When the dust settled, Spartacus was alone, collapsed on the ground, still smiling. ---- {Kat}

Kat: Lily? Lily it's over, you did it!

Lily barely stirred, her spirit origin was falling apart.

Lily: You were right, Master... Our journey was a lot shorter than I thought.

Kat: No! No, no, just hang in there. We can go get Cu, and he can... do something, I don't know!

Lily: I know this wasn't the best place to meet, but it was fun, right?

And then she turned to dust in our hands.

----- {Cris}

Kat was completely inconsolable, so I had to take over to keep things stable.

Marie: That was unorthodox, but well done. I guess even a third-rate mage can produce first rate work when pushed. Several points are still unclear, but we can call this mission a success.

Marie: If it is any consolation, now that Saber Lily has been recorded by Chaldeas, you should have an easier time resummoning her. She won't have any memory of this place, but that'll be true of any servant you summon in Chaldea.

???: Well, well, well. I did not expect you to get this far, Master of Chaldea. You've performed well beyond our expectations. And survived beyond the limits of my patience.

The voice came from everywhere at once, a cacophony that could barely be called speaking.

Cris: <Jeanne?>

Jeanne: <I'm on it!>

--- {Jeanne}

Suddenly, it appeared, standing over the remnants Alter left behind.

Jeanne: <what is that. what is that. what is that what is that>

Kat: <Jeanne?>

Jeanne: <what is that what the fuck is that What The Fuck Is That What. Is. That.>

---- {Kat}

It was Lev. We couldn't hear what he was saying over Jeanne's... whatever was happening to her. Mash put herself between us. Marie ran straight for him. Then hellfire opened beneath her feet. Olga's voice cut through.

Marie: No! Stop! I haven't even accomplished anything yet! From the moment I was born, I've never been accepted by anyone!

And she was gone. Jeanne finally calmed down.

Lev: You fool, Romani! You haven't figured it out yet? The future isn't "missing". It's been incinerated. It, and everything else outside of Chaldeas' protection. You lost the grace of our king, and this is the natural result.

The ground beneath us began to rumble.

Lev: Ah, the singularity is collapsing already. Farewell, Romani, Mash, Candidate #48. I have many places to be.

He was gone.

Mash: Doctor, perform an emergency rayshift, now!

Romani: This will be close, I might only be able to pull one of you out.

Mash: Senpai!

Jeanne: Mash!

Romani: You're not helping!

Mash and I joined hands. The world fell apart, and everything went black.

{Cris} We came to with a start, on the floor of the command center. Already some of the hassans were leading a cleanup effort to make the place more presentable. Mash is still alive, thank God, and Romani's also here.

Romani: Good, you're awake. I'm sorry to dump so much on you already, but time is of the essence. Are you alright with a briefing right now?

Cris: I mean it's not like I'm going to feel better any time soon, let's rip the bandaid off.

Romani: The main topic: Lev was right. Human history has been incinerated. Almost no space nor time on earth has been spared, culminating in the end of time at the end of 2018. The few points that still exist are these:

With that, Chaldeas lit up with seven bright points, each one with data pouring out of it.

Romani: These seven singularities are turning points in history that have been altered to change humanity's present. Chaldea is protected from this effect for now, but that protection won't last forever. Here's what we need to do: We need to fix these singularities if we're to have any hope of saving humanity. You are our only master, and the servants you've summoned are our best bet. I know you don't have much of a choice here, but I have to ask: are you willing to do this?

Cris: Of course.

Kat: <We will.>

Jeanne: <For Marie.>

Romani: Excellent. Well then! Our object is to protect and recover human history. Our opponent is history itself. To challenge our fate is an act of blasphemy against the past itself, but this is our only chance of survival. This is now the highest and only priority of humanity: a Grand Order.

Cris: Well, Spartacus? How's that sound? A rebellion against fate itself? Spartacus simply grinned, but for the first time it seemed almost genuine.

[carrotmakar]

You Not Only Saved My Life, You Changed It

Part 1 - Twice

Warnings: None 

Word Count: 2.6k

Summary: Peter saving the day, more than once, as Spider-Man. 

Bored. That’s what you were. And you had been that way for weeks. Stuck in your house with nothing to do except for watching Netflix, scroll through your phone aimlessly for hours on end, and write your junior research paper. Because the world was basically ending, and your teacher thought that writing a research paper and preparing a speech was the best thing to do.

The world has been overcome by a horrible virus, one that is extremely deadly to the people that catch it. Survival rate: 0%. It was terrifying, to say the least. So you stayed inside. Mostly everyone did. The streets of New York were uncharacteristically empty and the crime rate had dropped to almost nothing.

You just wanted to do something fun. You had been lonely and bored for way too long. You wanted to do at least one thing that you were able to do before quarantine started. You wanted to go up on the roof and watch the stars. But you didn’t want to catch the virus. Logically though, there is no way you would catch it just from sitting on the roof, there would be nobody else up there, and you could only get the virus if you came in contact with someone who already had it.

So you were safe, right?

You decided that you were going to go on the roof, if your mom let you, of course. You didn’t want to get in trouble. It would suck to be grounded in this situation.

So, you walked into the living room to ask your mom.

“Hey, can I go up on the roof? There won’t be anyone else there and I just really want to watch the stars.” You ask, expecting a no, but hoping for a yes.

“Yeah, sure. Just make sure that if anyone is up there, you turn around immediately. I don’t want you getting sick, honey.” She replies. You can tell by the look in her eyes that she feels bad. She just wants you to be able to live your life. She knows that you can’t though. That’s why she’s letting you do this. 

Before she can give it a second thought, you turn on my heel and rush excitedly to get dressed. 

You put on my Midtown High sweatshirt and a pair of joggers before getting my headphones. It was cold in Queens, you didn’t want to freeze to death on the roof.

Just before you climbed out your window, you grab your backpack and a blanket. You might as well do a little bit of your schoolwork while you’re up there. If you get to that point, of course.

You take your time climbing up the fire escape. You’ve always been terrified of falling off of these things. The roof? No biggie. But there was something about this rickety old fire escape that scared the life out of you.

Once you made it to the top, you scan the rooftop to make sure that nobody had the same idea as you. Luckily, the area is vacant. Not a soul in sight. You sit down your stuff, laying out the blanket as you get ready to lie down and look at the stars. 

Before you get to lay down, however, something catches your attention. It’s silent. Yeah, yeah, it’s quarantine, nobody’s out of their homes. But that doesn’t mean that someone doesn’t have their window open, music blasting to make them not as bored.

That’s how it had been for weeks. You would open your window to let in a breeze and hear tv shows, movies, music, and lord knows what else. It was never quiet in Queens. 

But tonight it was.

You began walking over towards the edge of the roof, trying to get a better look at the seemingly vacant part of New York. 

And it’s so peaceful. Everything is calm and perfectly perfect. Until you trip on something and take a tumble right off the roof. 

Maybe heights don’t scare you, but falling tens of stories down and then ultimately landing on concrete scares you. But there’s not really anything you can do. So, you do the one thing that any sane person would do in this situation.

Seconds later, you hit something hard. It knocks the wind out of you, but it doesn’t really hurt. You’re not dead. Nothing seems to be broken or bruised. So you open your eyes slowly.

And then you see it, well, him. The ‘friendly neighborhood Spider-Man’. You had no idea that he was on patrol tonight, but thank God he was.

You were panting, gasping for the air you thought you would never get the luxury of breathing again.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re gonna be okay.” He coos, soothing you into calmness.

“T-thank you for saving me.” You say weakly, barely able to find your voice.

“No need to thank me.” He says, looking down at you, still in his arms. 

You realize that you’re clinging to him for dear life. Your arms are wrapped around his shoulders and your face is all but nuzzled into his chest.

You start to let go, but he stops you.

“You’re going to need to hold on if you want back up on that roof, darling.” He says, assuming you were up there for a reason.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry. I kinda don’t want to be back up there, but I need my stuff.” You say, looking away from him. You sound weak. You sound, almost, broken.

“Which apartment is yours?” He asks.

“Um, 15th floor, apartment C.” You all but whisper. 

“Alright, hold on.” He says, making sure that your arms are wrapped around him before he puts his arm out straight and shoots a web right next to your window. 

In less than a second, you’re on the fire escape outside your window.

“Go on in, I’ll go get your stuff and bring it back down.” He says, nudging you gently so you’ll go in the window.

“Alright.” You reply, crawling into your room.

After a few minutes, he’s back with all of your stuff in his arms. He sits it all down on the desk and looks at you to make sure you’re okay.

“Thank you, again. Uh, Spider-Man. I’m really glad that you were on duty tonight. Oh, and uh, you can sit down if you want.” You say shyly, turning red at your invitation.

He’s Spider-Man for crying out loud, there’s no way that he wants to spend time with you. 

To your surprise, however, he takes a seat in your revolving desk chair. And, even more to your surprise, he spins a few times.

You giggle at the action, making him stop and look at you.

“O-oh, I’m sorry. That was silly.” He says, looking down as if he’s embarrassed.

“No, you don’t have to be sorry, I just didn’t expect big, bad Spider-Man to do something like that.” You say, honestly.

“I’m not that big and bad, plus I’m only 17 so I like to do things like that sometimes.”

“You’re only 17?!”

“Yeah, why?”

“I mean, you just seem like you would be so much older. You’re a superhero. You’ve saved the world more than once. It’s just crazy that you could be the same age as I am and do all of that stuff.” 

“Wait, you’re 17, too.” 

“Yeah, and while you’re out there saving the world, I’m stuck inside writing a research paper and trying to turn it into a speech.”

“What’s your topic?” 

“Equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community.”

“Oh, I know a little something about that if you’d like my help.”

“Really? You don’t have to.”

“No, I know. I want to though.”

“Alrighty then.” You agree.

He was extremely helpful. Little did you know, that he was only this helpful because he had already written his research paper. Coincidentally, on the same topic.

After a few hours, your paper was done and you felt less stressed than you had since the outbreak.

“So, Mr. Spider-Man, what’s going on in your life?” You ask, wanting to get to know him better, but also just not wanting this night to end. There was something about his presence that just made you feel so incredibly calm.

“Well, as I said, I’m 17, so I still have to do that online school that they’re making us do. But then I also go out patrolling the city almost every night. The crime rate may have gone down, but it still isn’t zero, so I’m trying to stop all the bad guys that are still out there.”

“Isn’t that stressful?” 

“Yeah, actually. I don’t ever tell anyone this because I don’t want to seem selfish, but sometimes, I just feel like I can’t do it anymore. Sometimes I don’t get the bad guy. And I feel like I failed. But then I realize if I didn’t do anything, it would be a lot worse. When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you. And I don’t ever want someone to get hurt because of me.”

“Yeah, I get it. Not on that scale, obviously, but I try to help people as much as I can.”

You glance over at the clock and see the time 4:23 a.m. 

“Oh my God, I’ve kept you here for way too long. It’s almost dawn. Like, thank you for saving my life and all, but you have more important things to do than talk to me.”

“I mean, not really. I get an alert from Karen if there’s anything going on.”

“Oh, well, I guess you can stay if you want. It’s safer than patrolling.”

“What do you mean by that?” 

“The virus, I don’t think you want to catch that. It’s deadly to everyone that catches it.”

“If I catch the virus, I’ll be alright. My body basically moves at superspeed. My body would kill it within an hour. I wouldn’t even know that I had it.” He explains and you look at him in disbelief.

“That’s fantastic.” You say.

All of a sudden, you see him tilt his head slightly to the side.

“There’s an alert. I wrote my number down in your notebook before bringing it in here. Text me so I’ll have yours. And text me whenever you just wanna talk or whatever.” He says.

“Alright, thanks again Spidey.” You reply lowly, getting up and giving him a hug.

“Anytime, darling.” There’s that name again. The one that makes him so much more appealing than he already is.

Weeks pass before you see him again. You text each other every day, but there’s so much going on that you can’t be together in person. 

But then one morning, you wake up coughing, lungs burning, and skin on fire. You try to yell for your mom, but your throat is dry and the attempts are helpless. 

You pick up your phone as fast as you can and text your mom about what is happening. She’s in your room in seconds, rushing you to get into the car. 

A few hours later and the doctors have confirmed it. You have the virus.

They basically push you out the door with a simple, “You’ve got maybe two weeks. So make sure to say goodbye to everyone. I’m so sorry about what’s happening to you.”

Your first instinct int to text him. To tell him about it, but you don’t want to give him the news through text. That’s cruel. 

So, you do the next best thing you can think of. That night, you go back on the roof. You put your blanket down and lay there with your eyes closed, just embracing the quiet.

You’re there for less than five minutes when you hear him land near you. You don’t even open your eyes. You know that it could not possibly be anyone else.

“What are you doing up here again?” He asks, clearly confused because last time you wouldn’t even come up here to get your stuff.

“I wanted to experience this one last time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“I got diagnosed. With the virus.” You say, fighting back the tears. You hadn’t said it out loud before now.

“Come here.” He prompts, wanting to hug you.

And you let him. You let him wrap his arms around your shoulders and lay his chin on your head.

You stand like that for a few minutes before he says the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard.

“Come with me to see Mr. Stark.”

“I can’t do that, I’ll get him sick. I can’t be the reason that a multi-billion dollar man dies.”

“No, no, no, you don’t get it. He’s already had the virus. He can heal you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s this place called Wakanda. They have this really advanced technology that can heal people.”

“Really? You’d take me there to get me healed?”

“Of course I would. Now, come on, grab my shoulders, and wrap your legs around me. We’re going flying.”

You do as he says and you feel yourself being lifted into the air. You keep your head buried in his neck until you feel yourself stop moving. 

Once you lift your head up, you see that you’re on the balcony of the Avengers Tower.

“Wait, are you an avenger?” You ask, never thinking of the question until now.

“I mean, basically.” He answers, blushing slightly.

All of a sudden, you hear the doors open and there he is. The incredible Tony Stark himself. 

“Hey, kid. Hey, kid’s friend.” He says with a smile.

“Hi, Mr. Stark.” You sound scared and shy. Your voice no longer sounds like it’s yours.

“Please, call me Tony. Now, kid, why is she here?”

“Sir, she has the virus.” 

“Take her to the lab.”

Spider-Man takes you by the arm and leads you down winding hallways until you reach a state of the art lab. There you meet a beautiful woman that leads you to lay down. She already knows what’s wrong. She can tell by the way you’re flushed pink, shivering, but also sweating. 

“Hello, I’m T’Challa. I’m going to give you this herb concoction. You will fall asleep and when you wake up, you’ll be healed.” She states, looking at a tablet in her hands.

“Alright. How long will I be out?” You question.

“Around thirty minutes.”

She gives you the drink and you gulp it down. It tastes sweet, like candy almost. 

In only a few seconds, you’re sleepy, and you don’t put up a fight.

It seems like only moments before you’re up again. The moment you open your eyes, you see him. But he’s not wearing his mask. He’s not Spider-Man anymore. He’s just Peter. Peter Parker. The dorky, kinda weird, really smart, amazing, talented Peter that you’ve known since you were literally 4 years old.

“P-Peter?” You manage to choke out, hoping that he can hear you. 

“Crap. I forgot to put the mask back on.” He sounds worried. 

“It’s alright Peter, I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“I know, I just don’t want Mr. Stark to be angry.”

“Tony will be fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. I will not let him hurt the kid that just saved my life.”

“I mean, technically, I didn’t.”

“Technically, if you hadn’t brought me here, I would be dead. So yeah, you saved my life. Twice.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Yeah, it is, Peter. Oh, and thank you for helping me write my speech.”

“That’s no big deal wither, it let me spend more time with you.”

“Well, we could spend more time together if you want?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I do need a best friend, and you seem like a great guy. And who knows, maybe we’ll be the friends that do everything together. We could both use a life.”

“Yeah, we could, couldn’t we?”

“So, best friends?”

“Best friends.”

[purpli-writes]

Danganronpa: Locked and Reloaded (Chapter 3: Boys, Drinks and Betrayal For Cash)

Summary:

Stuck in Hope's Peak Academy in a cruel killing game, class 78 is forced to either kill or stay trapped forever.

Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Lucky Student becomes friends with an unusual pair... of people?

Who would've thought discovering who murdered someone would get him two boyfriends.

Spoilers for Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc (somewhat)

You can read it on AO3 here

Makoto awoke to Monokuma’s morning announcement annoyed. After the last class trial he was totally beaten mentally.

But I guess I’m faring better than Taka… Makoto thought to himself.

After Mondo’s execution, Kiyotaka had refused to move from his spot. Sakura had to pick him up and move him to his room.

He was just a husk of his former self.

The idea unnerved Makoto. For better or worse, Kiyotaka was the life of the students.

Sure he was loud, a bit bossy, and sometimes annoying. Makoto thought to himself. But he was also a good person at heart and he did things that he thought was for the best.

Makoto frowned at his line of thought. Kiyotaka was going to be fine.

He just had to be.

When Makoto arrived at the cafeteria for the morning meeting, he was surprised that the only other person there was Sakura.

“Ah Makoto,” Sakura said. “You’re the second person to arrive.”

“That’s odd,” Makoto said. “Did something happen…?”

“Not that I know of,” Sakura said. “It seems likely that everyone is still shaken up after…”

“Yeah,” Makoto interrupted quickly. “That was… pretty terrible.”

“Puhuhu!” Monokuma said, appearing out of nowhere. “Already giving up, Makoto?”

“No way!” Makoto yelled. “But… I’m allowed to reflect on the previous events of this ‘killing game’.”

“Aw…” Monokuma said, pouting. “You two are no fun… I’ll come back when everyone else arrives!”

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Makoto asked. “At least until the others come?”

“No,” Sakura said. “I’ll be fine, eventually.”

“Alright,” Makoto said, falling into awkward silence.

Eventually everyone other than Byakuya, Toko, and Yasuhiro made their way to the cafeteria.

Makoto wasn’t sure if it was a good thing that Kiyotaka had arrived. He didn’t seem any bit better since the class trial.

“Hm,” Celeste said. “It seems that Hiro is skipping, no?”

“That is unlike him,” Sakura noted. “He is not one to miss out on breakfast.”

“It’s a bit too early to assume he was murdered,” Kyoko said. “We haven’t even gotten a new motive yet.”

“Perhaps he’s just oversleeping,” Junko added. “He always struck me as the lazy type of guy.”

“Wouldn’t Monokuma’s morning announcement wake anyone?” Makoto asked. “You could be sleeping like a rock and that would jolt you.”

“Mr. Hagakure dead so soon?!” Hifumi yelled.

“No,” said Kyoko and Junko.

“Speaking of missing students,” Makoto said. “Do we know where Toko went?”

“Wow Makoto, you didn’t notice her huge crush on the rich kid?” Junko asked. “She’s probably stalking him right now.”

“S-stalking him?!” Makoto asked. “You really think she’d go that far?”

“Of course,” Junko said. “Girls like that always chase after the guy they love, it’s in their nature or whatever.”

“Perhaps we should look for Hiro,” Sakura said. “He must have a good reason for skipping.”

“...” Kiyotaka said, staring blankly ahead.

“R-right.” Makoto said. “Let’s go find Hiro!”

Makoto started to leave the cafeteria when he noticed Kiyotaka was following him. Deciding not to comment on it, Makoto thought the best place to check for Yasuhiro would be his room.

Knocking on the door, Yasuhiro warily opened it.

“You can’t let the gh-ghosts get me man!” Yasuhiro yelled. “You’ve got to promise you’ll get rid of the ghosts!”

“Huh?!” Makoto asked. “Ghosts? What are you talking about?”

“T-that green light. Man these ghosts can’t fool me!” Yasuhiro said. “If I step outside I’m sure to be ghost food!”

“...” Kiyotaka said.

“See!” Yasuhiro yelled. “Taka’s seen the ghost too!”

“I still don’t understand,” Makoto said. “What ghosts are you talking about?”

At this point everyone from the cafeteria had gathered up to see what Yasuhiro was talking about.

“The ghost in the bath house!” Yasuhiro said. “Chihiro was surrounded by a green light and he tried to speak to me!”

“Green light?” Kyoko asked. “Could you show us?”

“No way!” Yasuhiro yelled. “That’s a good way to end up dead.”

“As long as you show us,” Sakura said. “No harm will come to you from any ghosts.”

“Do you promise?” Yasuhiro asked.

“Of course,” Sakura replied.

Slowly, but surely, Yasuhiro opened his door.

“A-alright,” Yasuhiro said. “But before we begin, we need something to protect us from the ghosts…”

“Something to protect you from the ghosts?” Junko asked. “What, a vacuum to suck the ghost up?”

“No!” Yasuhiro yelled. “Salt to create a salt circle, that always keeps the occult away!”

Doesn’t that just work on demons and vampires…? Makoto thought to himself.

“Alright,” Junko said. “I’m gonna get some salt. Hope ghosts don’t eat me or whatever.”

“Hey! Take this seriously!” Yasuhiro yelled at Junko’s retreating form.

Shortly after, Junko came back with a salt shaker.

“Will this save you from the ghosts?” Junko asked.

“Was it blessed by a priest?” Yasuhiro asked.

“Sure,” Junko said. “It even said 5 Hail Marys.”

“Then it’s perfect!” Yasuhiro said.

“Lead the way, then,” Kyoko said.

Yasuhiro led the group to the Bath House in which they noticed that a laptop was in one of the lockers.

“Isn’t this the laptop we asked Chihiro to hack?” Celeste asked. “Why is it over here?”

“Perhaps this is what he decided to do with the project we gave him,” Sakura replied. “I believe he wanted to prove himself to us.”

“That doesn’t explain the weird green light, does it?” Junko said. “Or are we assuming Hiro is just going insane?”

“Hey! Don’t be mean, I’m perfectly sane!” Yasuhiro yelled.

“I wonder if we can summon a demon here, Mr. Hagakure.”

“Don’t even joke about that!”

“Perhaps,” Kyoko said. “That green light had something to do with a computer program Chihiro made.”

“A computer program that Chihiro made?” Celeste asked. “What makes you so sure?”

“I’m not,” Kyoko said. “We’ll only be able to confirm this when we turn the computer on.”

Kyoko went to the computer and powered it on.

“Hm,” Celeste said. “There seems to be a program called ‘Alter Ego’, maybe you should turn it on.”

Kyoko clicked on the Alter Ego program, starting it up. The monitor soon showed a green background with Chihiro’s face on it.

“Welcome back, Master!” The image of Chihiro said.

“M-master...?” Hifumi said. “Isn’t this the stuff fantasies are made up of?”

“Hey wait… if this is Chihiro, isn’t that a guy…?” Makoto asked.

“I didn’t know you were so narrow minded, Mr. Naegi!”

“I don’t think this is Chihiro, per say,” Celesia began. “‘Alter Ego’ means other self, no?”

“So you’re saying that this is another part of Chihiro?” Junko asked. “I guess that guy really isn’t dead.”

“Hey,” Makoto said, “I think I’ve heard about programs like this before. They’re supposed to be so advanced that they might take over humanity some day.”

“I suppose a computer program that could learn and grow like a human would have the ability,” Celeste said. “It is scary, no?”

“Well, instead of ogling at it, let’s ask him some questions!” Junko said. “This sort of thing is exciting, right?!”

“Maybe I should do it,” Celeste said. “After all, I am the most trustworthy person here.”

“How are we going to ask him questions?” Yasuhiro asked. “Do we have to learn another language or something…?”

“No,” Celeste said. “I believe I am supposed to type in my answers.”

“Almost like a chat room,” Hifumi said. “I wonder what else it knows…”

“Stay on topic,” Junko said. “No one cares about your fantasies with it.”

“Alright,” Makoto said. “Let’s see how much he knows about the situation.”

“How aware are you of the current going ons?” Celeste typed into the computer.

“Master didn’t tell me much,” Alter Ego said. “But from what I’ve been able to piece together it seems very grim.”

“You keep referring to this ‘Master’. This is Chihiro, no?” Celeste typed.

“Yes,” Alter Ego answered. “My Master is Chihiro Fujisaki.”

“We have to tell him about what happened to Chihiro,” Makoto said. “That’s the right thing to do, right?”

“...” Kiyotaka said.

“I suppose you are right,” Celeste said. “But it’s not like he can feel anyways, no?”

“Your Master was killed by Mondo Owada.” Celeste typed out.

“Oh…” Alter Ego said. “I did know that he had a high chance of dying… but… still…”

“Are there any other things we want to say to Alter Ego?” Celeste asked. “I fear we cannot stay much longer when the threat of discovery lurks near.”

“I want to… apologize,” Kiyotaka said. “For my bro… and my… actions as well.”

“Huh…? Taka can speak?!” Yasuhiro yelled out.

“Hm,” Celeste said. “Well then maybe you can take over, no?”

After saying that, Celeste handed the computer over to Kiyotaka who sat down and placed it on his lap.

“I’msa szoryr fore waht my bros died to hyour master,” Kiyotaka attempted to type while crying and shaking.

“Huh…? I’m sorry but I don’t understand!” Alter Ego responded.

“Maybe it’s better if you let someone else type for you…” Makoto suggested, staring at the garbled text that Kiyotaka had written.

“Can… you tell Chihiro… that I’m sorry for… what Bro has done...” Kiyotaka said, handing over the laptop to Makoto.

“Alright, sure…” Makoto said. “What do you want to say?”

“Tell him… I am sorry... “ Kiyotaka said.

“Taka says he’s sorry about what happened to Chihiro,” Makoto typed. “For both him and Mondo.”

“Apologizing…?” Alter Ego asked. “Huh… does he feel responsible for the death of Master?”

“Yeah,” Makoto typed. “You can say that for sure.”

“Um,” Alter Ego said. “If you don’t mind I have an idea that might be able to lift his spirits.”

“Huh…?” Makoto typed. “What do you mean?”

Suddenly an image of Mondo’s head appeared on the screen.

“Hey, bro!” ‘Mondo’ yelled out. “You’re not takin’ this too hard, are you?!”

Kiyotaka perked up as he heard Mondo, staring intently at the screen.

“Are you already givin’ up?” ‘Mondo’ asked. “What about our manly bond?! Did that mean fuckin’ nothing to you?”

“From what Master told me about Mondo…” Alter Ego explained, “this is the best simulation I can make.”

“Things aren’t going to get better by standin’ around, you know?!” ‘Mondo’ said. “What’s gonna change if you keep mopin’? Nothing.”

“You need to move on, you hear me?!” ‘Mondo’ said. “And I’m not fuckin’ around!”

“I get it now,” Kiyotaka said. “I can feel myself changing deep within my heart, no, my very soul!”

“Those words! They’re inside me…!” Kiyotaka yelled, closing his eyes. After a few short seconds, his hair turned white and his eyes started to flame.

“Taka…?!” Makoto yelled. “What the hell just happened to you?!”

“Taka…? Who the fudge is that?!” Kiyotaka said. “I’m not Taka, I’m me…!”

“That’s an interesting name,” Celeste said. “But perhaps there is something else we could call you?”

“Wh-what just happened?!” Yasuhiro yelled. “Did Taka get taken over by a gh-ghost?!”

“I told you, I’m not Taka!” Kiyotaka yelled.

“Um… what are w-we supposed to call you then, Mr…?” Hifumi asked.

“I’m a mix of Taka and Mondo… so…” Kiyotaka said. “Call me Kiyondo Ishida you dumbfaces!”

“A mix of both Taka and Mondo…?” Kyoko asked, “Could you perhaps explain that in a bit more detail?”

“You wouldn’t get their manly bond!” Kiyondo yelled.

“Woah,” Junko said. “I guess romance can also penetrate the barrier of death.”

“Well, there’s no use staying in here any longer,” Celeste said. “Unless we want to alert the mastermind to our only trump card.”

“We can’t lose Alter Ego!” both Hifumi and Kiyondo yelled at the same time.

“Yes,” Celeste said. “It would appear so.”

“Alright then,” Makoto said. “Let’s head back to the cafeteria!”

After leaving the bath house, the students were stopped by Monokuma.

“Hey, what were you all doing in there…?” Monokuma asked. “Don’t tell me you were getting all frisky!”

“No!” Kiyondo yelled. “That would be fudging unwholesome!”

“Huh…?” Monokuma asked. “Did Kiyotaka go albino since the last time I saw him?”

“Yeah!” Makoto said, “We were all giving him a pep talk and that happened…!”

“In the bath house?” Monokuma asked.

“Yeah!” Makoto said, quickly. “Is there any other place to go?”

“Makoto is right,” Sakura said. “Going to the bath house gives one a clearer perspective.”

“It was very enlightening, no?” Celeste said. “But now we must go have our breakfast so, goodbye Monokuma.”

“Aw,” Monokuma said. “You kids are tooooooo boring!”

After everyone went back to the cafeteria, Celeste started the morning meeting once more.

“Before we discuss investigating the new areas we’ve unlocked,” Celeste said, “I would like to discuss a new rule…”

“Hey!” Yasuhiro said. “Shouldn’t we let our leader lead the discussion if he’s feeling better?”

“Perhaps,” Celeste admits. “But I think this is important to our continued survival.”

“Very well,” Kiyondo said. “As long as you don’t take up too much time with what ya wanna fudgin’ say!”

“I believe I’ve noticed a pattern with the murders,” Celeste began. “That is to say that they all happened at night, no?”

“Huh,” Makoto said. “You’re right.”

“So I suggest we have some sort of curfew,” Celeste said. “Past the night time announcement no student should be out of their dorms.”

“That’s way too restrictive!” Yasuhiro complained.

“Maybe, if you’re a murderer.” Celeste responded.

“But what if we want-” Yasuhiro said, before getting interrupted by Kiyondo.

“Then it’s settled, so everyone listen up!” Kiyondo yelled. “Once ya hear the night time announcement you better get your butts to bed!”

“So now,” Kyoko said. “We must attempt to discover what new areas have opened up.”

“Yeah,” Junko said. “But there’s something that’s been bothering me about our newest revelation.”

“Then speak up!” Kiyondo yelled. “No one here is gonna read your mind you dumbbutt!”

“How did Hiro even discover that anyways?” Junko asked. “I mean he had no real reason to be out, right?”

“H-huh?!” Yasuhiro asked. “Well, um, you see, every couple of years I have to go to a bathhouse and um…”

“And what?” Junko asked.

“And if I don’t, my success rate in predictions goes down!” Yasuhiro said. “It’s really bad and taxing, but it’s what a man has got to do.”

He can’t be serious… right? Makoto thought to himself.

“Isn’t your prediction rate already low?” Celeste asked.

“I’m right at least 30 percent of the time!” Yasuhiro argued.

“Guess someone missed the bathhouse ritual too many times,” Junko said. “If you believe in that bullshit anyways.”

“Alright!” Kiyondo yelled. “Back on topic! We must explore this fudgin’ school until we know all the odds and ends!”

“Alright!” Makoto said. “I’m pumped!”

“This is our only course of action,” Sakura said. “I’ll also see if there’s any hope of escape on the new floor.”

“Everyone split up!” Kiyondo yelled. “And don’t come back until you dumbbutts have explored everything there is to explore!”

Makoto walked out of the cafeteria. Monokuma hadn’t given them any hints on where to explore.

He was really on his own for this one.

Makoto decided the best place to check first was the third floor. It was almost guaranteed that it would be unlocked.

Making his way up the stairs, he stopped when he passed the pool’s door. The scratches were gone, almost like nothing had ever happened.

But that’s not true, Makoto thought to himself. Chihiro, Hina, and Mondo are all gone, no amount of erasing could change that.

Makoto sighs. He knows that line of thinking isn’t going to get him anywhere. Stealing one more glance at the door, he makes his way up to the third floor.

As he made his way up, he noticed Sakura staring at the window annoyed.

“Any luck?” Makoto asked, although he already knew the answer.

“No,” Sakura replied. “It seems that escape on the third floor is also hopeless, as we feared.”

“The Mastermind really thought this through, huh?” Makoto asked.

“It seems, so.” Sakura said. “Good luck on your investigation.”

Sakura walked downstairs, trying to avoid any more conversation.

Makoto couldn’t blame her. She had lost Aoi only recently.

Alright, Makoto thought to himself. Let’s get this over with!

Makoto went to the first room he saw, which seemed to be a recreation room. Celeste was already exploring the area, seeming very interested in it.

“See anything interesting, Celeste?” Makoto asked.

“It seems we finally have entertainment,” Celeste responded. “That is something to celebrate, no?”

“Yeah,” Makoto said. “Wait, are those magazines over there?”

“Puhuhuhu! What a sharp eye, Makoto!” Monokuma praised. “But don’t get your hopes up, those are the only magazines you’ll ever get to read!”

“They do not get updated weekly?” Celeste asked.

“Of course not!” Monokuma answered. “That’s a luxury only people outside of the school deserve!”

“Cruel of you, is it not?” Celeste asked. “Well, I suppose something is better than nothing.”

Monokuma only laughed as he disappeared.

“Nonetheless,” Celeste continued, “I suppose having something to do is better than nothing, wouldn’t you say, Makoto?”

“Huh…?” Makoto asked. “Well yeah, of course…”

“Well, there is much more to explore,” Celeste said, as she began to walk out. “And it seems we have such little time. So until later, Makoto.”

That sure was cryptic, Makoto thought. Well I guess it is Celeste I’m talking to.

Makoto looked at the room once more.

The rec room had darts, othello, and a pool table. Makoto wondered if the magazines were worth reading but decided he didn’t have the time.

I’ll come back here later, there has to be something worth looking at here.

Makoto walked out of the recreation room, deciding to make a turn into the hallway he had ignored before.

“More classrooms…?” Makoto questioned out loud.

“Duh!” Monokuma yelled, causing Makoto to jump back in fear. “This is a school, remember?!”

“Yeah… but I mean, it’s not like you’re teaching us anything…” Makoto replied, scratching his cheek sheepishly.

“I’m teaching you the danger of having friends!” Monokuma said. “It’s a dog eat dog world but that doesn’t apply to me because I’m a bear!”

“Do you have anything useful to say…?” Makoto asked.

“Wow, is our tiny little Makoto finally growing a spine?!” Monokuma asked. “Because if you are, you’re seriously a little late!”

“Um…”

“Anyways, I’ll leave you to explore this classroom!” Monokuma said before disappearing.

Makoto checked the classrooms. He quickly decided there was nothing of note in them other than the weird messages on their chalkboards.

Alright! Makoto thought. There’s only a couple more rooms on this floor, right?

Makoto checked his e-Handbook to confirm that there were only a couple rooms left on the floor.

The icon that was closest was an icon of a statue. If Makoto had to guess it was probably an art room of some sort.

Making his way to the room, he opened the door and saw two desks, some easels, and some statues.

“Hello, Mr. Naegi,” Hifumi said, “enjoying the finer arts?”

“Huh…? No not really,” Makoto replied. “I’m just exploring…”

“Well I’m for one glad this room exists,” Hifumi said. “It now allows me to make more fanwork!”

“Oh yeah…” Makoto said, “you didn’t have any art supplies with you, huh?”

“Unfortunately everything I had of value was taken by the wicked Mastermind!”

“Well, I’m glad the room is good for you,” Makoto said. “But what’s with that door over there?”

“Oh that’s the supply room,” Hifumi said casually. “I’ve already grabbed what I need from there for the time being.”

Makoto nodded before moving to the door and opening it.

Inside was a yellow room with a bunch of art materials, a statue, and some art on the wall.

After a quick glance on the floor, Makoto noticed a picture on the floor. Grabbing it to examine it Makoto realized it was Mondo, Leon and Chihiro.

Huh…? How is this possible? Makoto thought to himself. I thought we all just met each other when the killing game started…?

“Puhuhuhu! Our Makoto is looking at some scandalous material…!” Monokuma said, as he appeared.

“Monokuma!” Makoto yelled. “What is this?”

“What do you think it is?” Monokuma asked. “It’s a picture, you uneducated brat!”

“I can see that,” Makoto said. “But how are they hanging out…?!”

“Huh…?” Monokuma asked. “Well you see, it’s a very long story and we’re running a bit behind schedule!”

“Huh…?”

“Anyways, if you could just give me that…” Monokuma said as he took the picture from Makoto. “Have a nice life, Makoto!”

What the hell?! Makoto thought to himself. How come he can just leave and not explain himself…?

After staring at the spot where Monokuma just was, Makoto decided to leave the storage room.

When he came back into the art lab, Hifumi had already left.

Well, Makoto thought to himself, other than that picture and the Monokuma statue I don’t think there’s anything of note in here.

Checking his e-Handbook, Makoto realized he only had one place left to explore, leaving the art lab he made his way to the last room.

Checking the sign, he saw it read ‘Physics Lab’.

Guess there are more classrooms here, Makoto thought. Not like we’re doing any learning in here.

As Makoto entered the room he could see both Yasuhiro and Kiyondo.

“Hey, Makoto, check it out!” Yasuhiro yelled. “It’s the Psychic’s Lab! Finally, the place for me!”

“Um… isn’t this the physics lab…?” Makoto asked.

“Obviously it is,” Kiyondo said. “This dumbbutt just doesn’t know how to read.”

“Hey!” Yasuhiro said. “Don’t be mean! Now I need to find somewhere else to do my predictions…”

“Why don’t you do your ‘bath house ritual’, then?” Kiyondo asked. “You did fudging mention it before, right?”

“Huh…? The ‘bath house ritual’...? What are you talking about?” Yasuhiro asked.

Did he alright forget his lie already…? Makoto thought.

“Uh, anyways,” Makoto said. “What’s the big machine in the center?”

“Woah! That’s my time machine, so you better be careful!” Monokuma warned.

“Your time machine?!” Yasuhiro yelled. “That’s pretty impressive!”

“Hey, Taka,” Monokuma said. “Aren’t you interested in going back and saving your bro?”

“Obviously that’s not fudgin’ possible, you dumbbutt!” Kiyondo said. “What is it actually?”

“Aww, you saw through my lie too easily…” Monokuma sulked. “In actuality, it’s an air purifier so you freaks don’t die!”

“An air purifier?” Makoto asked.

“Haven’t you been wondering how you’ve been breathing in a locked space?” Monokuma said. “This place is shut tight, so this is the only way you losers can get oxygen!”

“Huh…?” Yasuhiro said. “But don’t you need air too?”

“Of course not, I’m a freakin’ bear!”

Um, Makoto thought. Bears also need air…

“Anyways,” Monokuma said. “If you want to keep living, don’t mess with that machine!”

“He’s gone again,” Yasuhiro said. “Man, I wonder where he gets off to…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kiyondo responded. “He should be the least of our fudgin’ worries.”

Makoto looked around and noticed a door at the back of the room, just like in the art room.

That’s probably another storage room, right? Makoto thought to himself. Maybe I should ask anyways.

“Hey,” Makoto said. “Have either of you been in the room at the back?”

“Huh…? There’s a door over there?” Yasuhiro asked.

“No,” Kiyondo answered. “I fudgin’ haven’t.”

Makoto hummed, before deciding to head for the room.

Best not to leave any pebbles untouched. Makoto thought to himself. That’s the saying, right…?

Once he made his way to the storage room, he noticed it was largely unremarkable. The room just screamed ‘boring’.

Or maybe that was just because he wasn’t into physics…

Makoto left the room as quickly as he entered.

“Nothing in there, then?” Kiyondo asked.

“No,” Makoto answered. “It’s just a plain old storage room if there ever was any.”

“Of fudgin’ course,” Kiyondo responded.

“Is there anything else I need to see here?” Makoto asked.

“No, you can leave now,” Kiyondo responded coldly.

Makoto frowned at Kiyondo’s response but left the room as suggested.

Alright, the third floor is done. Now let’s see what else has been unlocked! Makoto thought to himself.

Making his way back to the first floor, Makoto noticed that the door near the still blocked staircase was unlocked.

Makoto went inside and noticed it was full of random materials.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome!” Monokuma yelled. “This is the storage closet, filled with all the things you’d ever need and then some!”

“Huh…?” Makoto asked. “‘Filled with all the things you’d ever need’...?”

“Yep!” Monokuma said. “We here at Hope’s Peak Academy wish to make your stay a comfortable one.”

“So this place is just full of everything…?”

“Yep! Anything you could ever think of, although considering it’s you I doubt you could think of much…”

“Hey…!”

“Anyways, enjoy exploring Makoto!” Monokuma said. “And don’t worry, everything here is free!”

Makoto decided not to bother looking around in the storage closet. He had the feeling he would get lost if he spent too much time there.

Just as Makoto left the storage closet, he was intercepted by Junko.

“Hey, Makoto,” Junko said. “Do y’wanna explore together?”

“Huh…? I’ve already explored the third floor and the storage closet.”

“Oh! That means you haven’t been at the nurse’s office yet, then,” Junko said. “I’ll take you there and we can do an ‘examination’.”

“Alright,” Makoto said. “Lead the way, then.”

Makoto and Junko made their way to the nurse’s office.

“So, Makoto,” Junko said. “What d’ya think?”

“It looks very sterile…?” Makoto said. “I’m assuming there’s medicine in here?”

“Yep!” Junko answered. “And sedatives for the desperate girl.”

Makoto walked towards the fridge and opened it.

“Huh…? Is this blood?” Makoto asked.

“Yep! According to Monokuma it’s for blood transfusions,” Junko said. “Although at that point I think you’d be considered dead.”

“I mean, at least it’s useful, right?” Makoto asked.

“Yeah,” Junko said. “I mean, I guess.”

“Anyways, Makoto, I think we’ve explored everything here,” Junko said. “So let’s head back together so we stay safe, alright?”

“That’s smart,” Makoto said. “Alright, to the cafeteria, right?”

“Yep, that’s where the meetings are held, anyways.”

Makoto and Junko headed back to the cafeteria, in which they were the last ones back.

“Oh? Junko and Makoto arriving at the same time?” Celeste asked. “You two weren’t doing anything, were you?”

“You two wouldn’t fudgin’ dare!” Kiyondo yelled. “That’s just not right!” “H-huh…?!” Makoto said. “What are you guys talking about?!”

“Hm,” Kyoko said. “No matter, let us just discuss what we discovered from our investigations.”

“It seems escape from the third floor is impossible, as we had feared,” Sakura said.

“Are the windows just as tight as before?!” Kiyondo asked.

“Yes,” Sakura said. “It seems unlikely that anything we do will get them to budge.”

“Speaking of the third floor,” Celeste began, “there seems to be a recreational room of sorts. I suppose that’s better than nothing, no?”

“A rec room?” Junko asked. “What’s in it?”

“An othello board, a pool table, a dartboard and a few magazines I believe,” Celeste responded.

“Magazines?” Kiyondo asked. “Is there any chance that we’ll be able to use ‘em to get access to the outside world?”

“No,” Celeste answered. “Monokuma has already confirmed that those are the only magazines we’ll be getting.”

“Dang it!” Kiyondo yelled.

“On the third floor there’s also an art lab,” Hifumi began. “Perfect for someone like me!”

“There’s also a storage room,” Makoto added. “Oh wait! That reminds me, I found an odd picture in there.”

“An odd picture?” Kiyondo asked. “Mac, you better fudgin’ explain…!”

Mac? Makoto thought.

“Well, there was a picture of Mondo, Leon and Chihiro all hanging out in school uniforms…” Makoto said. “But that isn’t possible, right?!”

“Hm, and where is this picture now?” Celeste asked.

“Monokuma took it from me and left before I could ask any questions.”

“It was most obviously a forgery, Mr. Naegi!” Hifumi answered.

“Yeah, dude,” Yasuhiro said. “It was probably meant to give you doubt or whatever.”

“Moving on,” Kiyondo said. “There’s also a physics lab with a fudgin’ air purifier.”

“An air purifier?” Sakura asked. “I suppose that would mean that none of the air we’ve been breathing has been fresh.”

“That is worrying, is it not?” Celeste added. “If we’re breathing in recycled air, that means there really is no opening.”

“That has to be impossible!” Yasuhiro yelled. “There’s no way we’re trapped, right?!”

“Perhaps it’s not so bad,” Kyoko said. “That means the mastermind is trapped with us, correct?”

“I mean I guess,” Junko said. “But it’s not like they’re the one trapped inside a killing game, right?”

“Have there been any other discoveries of fudgin’ importance?” Kiyondo asked.

“There’s a storage closet near our dorms,” Makoto said. “Although I think it’s better if we call it a warehouse.”

“Why would you call it a warehouse, Mr. Naegi?” Hifumi asked.

“It’s pretty big and according to Monokuma it has everything you’d ever need and then some.”

“Woah, I wonder if it has more ‘interesting’ magazines…” Yasuhiro said.

“Fuckin’ gross, dude.” Junko responded.

“Stay on fudgin’ topic, dumbbutt!” Kiyondo yelled.

“Sorry, sorry,” Yasuhiro said.

“Oh and before we go to bed,” Junko said. “Makoto and I discovered that the nurse’s office is now officially open!”

“Is there any protein?” Sakura asked.

“No,” Makoto answered. “Just over the counter medication and sedatives.”

“Oh and don’t forget about the blood in the fridge!” Junko added.

“Disappointing,” Sakura said. “But not surprising.”

“Well then,” Kiyondo said. “That should conclude our meeting.”

“Remember, you dumbbutts better hit the sack as soon as Monokuma’s night time announcement plays or else I’ll beat ya!” Kiyondo said. “And also make sure to return here bright and early! Breakfast is very important!”

The class hummed in agreement and they all made their way out.

Makoto was making his way back to his room when the night time announcement played.

Feeling thoroughly exhausted, Makoto locked his door and threw himself onto his bed, quickly drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

Makoto awoke with a bolt, breathing quickly and grasping onto his sheets. He couldn’t remember much about the nightmare, other than Aoi pulling him into the pool and gargling incomprehensible threats to him.

As he realized that sleep was unlikely to come to him again, Monokuma’s morning announcement played.

Makoto shuffled his way into the shower and grimaced when the bathroom light turned on. Quickly showering he turned the lights off and changed into a fresh pair of clothes.

Makoto was the first one in the cafeteria, although he doubted that would be true for much longer.

Makoto turned around as he heard Celeste’s heels clicking on the cafeteria’s floor.

“Makoto, you’re up early, no?” Celeste asked, tilting her head ever so slightly.

“Yeah,” Makoto said. “There was no reason for me to stay in my room.”

“Oh?” Celeste asked. “Do you no longer like sleeping in?”

“It’s a long story,” Makoto replied, looking away. “Plus the sooner I can get to the meeting the better.”

“I suppose that is fair,” Celeste said. “But do be careful you’re getting enough sleep.”

Eventually everyone other than Kiyondo, Hifumi, Byakuya, and Toko made their way to the cafeteria.

“Is our leader skipping the morning meeting?!” Yasuhiro yelled out. “He must be possessed by a gh-ghost or something!”

“Will you shut up about ghosts?” Junko said. “He’s probably doing something ‘private’, if you catch my drift.”

“Still, for Kiyondo and Hifumi to be missing,” Sakura said. “This is worrying.”

“I don’t believe we should assume the worst,” Kyoko said. “After all, there’s no reason for anything to have gone wrong, yet.”

“Maybe we should look for them,” Makoto offered up. “It’s not like we have anything to discuss without them here anyways.”

“Perhaps we should go together as a group,” Celeste said. “I have a feeling I know where they are anyways.”

“Alright,” Junko said. “Lead the way then.”

Celeste led the group to the bath house which they could already hear a commotion inside.

“Sounds like some juicy stuff is happening in there!” Monokuma said, as he appeared. “You don’t think they’re doing anything ‘unwholesome’ in there, do you?”

“Don’t be crude, Monokuma,” Celeste said. “They’re probably brawling it out, no?”

“What are you brats even doing in there?!” Monokuma asked. “I’ve seen Hifumi and Kiyotaka going in there three times just last night!”

“Sounds like the Ultimate Moral Compass is breaking his own rules,” Junko said. “Guess he isn���t that good, right Makoto?”

“Huh…?” Makoto asked.

“You say they went in there last night?” Celeste asked. “Perhaps Yasuhiro’s theory was correct after all.” “You’re saying that Kiyondo was possessed by a gh-gh-ghost?!” Yasuhiro yelled. “I don’t wanna die!”

“Perhaps we should investigate,” Kyoko said. “We don’t know if Monokuma is telling the truth.”

“Hey-” Monokuma began but he was cut off by Sakura.

“You’re right,” Sakura said. “Let’s confirm the situation for ourselves.”

The class moved past Monokuma and went into the bath house. Kiyondo and Hifumi were fighting over Alter Ego, although they hadn’t touched it yet.

“Get out of the way you lard cake!” Kiyondo yelled. “You’re keeping me away from my bro!”

“Your ‘bro’...? Alter Ego is obviously my true love Mr. Ishida!” Hifumi yelled back.

“As if someone like them could love someone like you…!” Kiyondo yelled. “Taka and Mondo’s bond melted into me, I have the fudgin’ right to talk to him!”

“Your ‘bro’ is a fake! Unlike my love for them!”

“How about you say that again to my fudgin’ fist-”

“Will you two idiots shut the hell up?!” Celeste yelled. She looked slightly feral. “If you don’t keep your mouths closed, Monokuma is going to discover Alter Ego.”

Is Celeste okay…? Makoto thought. Did she just lose her temper?

“Huh?!” Both Kiyondo and Hifumi said, only now noticing that they had an audience.

“Monokuma is getting suspicious of the noise,” Makoto explained. “He’s bound to check here eventually.”

“Until Alter Ego can make those files accessible,” Kyoko said. “We should try to keep our time here limited.”

“That is the best course of action, no?” Celeste asked, as she tried to fix her appearance.

“Fudge,” Kiyondo said. “Now you’re gonna say you want us to stay away from the computer or whatever the heck.”

“That is the wisest course of action, no?” Celeste asked. “But you two will have to agree.”

“We already know you’ve broken rules to get into here as well,” Junko said. “Monokuma told us how you both entered here at odd hours of the night.”

“Are you sure this thing isn’t possessing you both?” Yasuhiro asked. “You guys have been acting super weird.”

“Don’t be fudgin’ ridiculous,” Kiyondo responded. “It was a one time slip, it won’t happen again.”

“How the mighty have fallen,” Junko said, as she pushed her hair onto her back. “Anyways, did you two idiots even check Alter Ego’s progress on the files?”

“We might’ve been a bit busy,” Kiyondo admitted. “But that doesn’t give you the right to fudgin’ judge me.”

“Well,” Celeste said. “Then we better ask Alter Ego about their progress then, no?”

Hifumi and Kiyondo moved out of Celeste’s way as she made her way to the computer.

“Hello, Alter Ego,” Celeste typed. “How is your progress on restoring the files?”

“It’s going well,” Alter Ego responded. “Although it might take a day or so longer…”

“Alright,” Celeste typed back. “Keep up the work, we don’t have much time, alright?”

“I’ll do my best!” Alter Ego responded eagerly.

“Then we best depart,” Celeste said. “We don’t want the Mastermind to get too suspicious, no?”

“What excuse are we going to use this time?” Junko asked.

“Perhaps we should blame it on Kiyondo and Hifumi,” Kyoko offered up. “They are the reason we are here right now.”

“Hey! It’s all Mr. Ishida’s fault! He’s keeping me from my true love!” Hifumi said.

“As if anyone could fudgin’ love you,” Kiyondo responded. “You’re the one keepin’ me from my bro.”

“Perhaps we should just drag them out and explain to Monokuma that they are enemies,” Sakura said. “It would not be far from the truth.”

“Maybe we should just say we were bathing?” Makoto said. “I mean, it’s what we’re supposed to be doing here, right?”

“That seems suitable enough,” Celeste said. “Perhaps we should say something of the likes of ‘that was a fun time bathing’.”

“I suppose if it's for Monokuma’s benefit,” Kyoko said. “That would be quite smart.”

“Well Hiro,” Junko said. “You’re the one who spends their time the most doing ‘bath house rituals’ maybe you should announce it.”

“Huh…? But what am I supposed to say?” Yasuhiro asked.

“I dunno, maybe something like ‘Wow, that was a great time at the bath!’,” Junko said. “Or something along those lines.”

“Wow! That was a great time at the bath!” Yasuhiro repeated loudly, as he walked towards the exit.

“God, that guy has no career in acting,” Junko said as she walked out after him.

The others followed after Yasuhiro and Junko as they headed back into the cafeteria.

“So, what the fudge did we miss?!” Kiyondo questioned.

“Nothing of extreme importance,” Celeste said. “We were just worried about the wellbeing of you both.”

“Still, perhaps we should be careful about the bath house now,” Kyoko said. “We do not want Monokuma peeking in at us during questionable times.”

“But it’s not like we can stand guard either,” Makoto added. “We all need to sleep and we have the night time rule in place for a reason.”

“Hm,” Celeste said. “Speaking of which, I find it quite irritating how two of us violated that rule.”

“I wouldn’t have to if that bucket of lard just let me see my fudging bro!” Kiyondo said.

“As if I’m to blame, Mr. Ishida,” Hifumi responded. “You’re the one stopping me!”

“We do not care who started it,” Celeste said. “We only care that you finish it and quickly.”

“Otherwise, perhaps we shall need to look for a new leader, no?” Celeste added.

“Hey! Don’t you dare think about fudgin’ replacing me.” Kiyondo said.

“Then you should step up,” Sakura said. “We are in a tough situation currently.”

“Is there anything else we need to discuss?” Yasuhiro asked. “This is kinda boring.”

“Well, does anyone else have anything to fudgin’ say?!” Kiyondo yelled.

The group stayed silent, having talked about everything of importance.

“Well then, this meeting is fudgin’ dismissed!” Kiyondo said. “Now you dumbbutts should get out of here.”

As everyone went to leave the cafeteria, Makoto was stopped by Celeste.

“Makoto,” Celeste began. “I was wondering if we could have a bit of a chat.”

“Huh…?” Makoto asked, “Sure, what about?”

“You see, I feel we don’t really know each other as well as we should,” Celeste said. “Since it seems we are stuck here for the foreseeable future, I wish to change that.”

“Huh…?” Makoto said. “I guess you’re right.”

“So,” Celeste said. “I think the best way to see into someone is to ask them about their romantic preferences, no?”

“H-huh…? My romantic preferences?”

“Don’t be so shy, Makoto,” Celeste said. “Everyone has preferences, no?”

“U-um, yeah I guess…” Makoto said. “You might as well ask away, then.”

“So,” Celeste began. “What kind of behaviors do you attribute to your perfect partner?”

“I guess they’d have to be someone who can take charge,” Makoto admitted. “I mean, they’re supposed to be your opposite, right?”

“Take charge?” Celeste asked. “Do you mean someone prone to leadership roles?”

“Huh…?” Makoto said. “Yeah, I guess…?”

“Is there anything else you might find desirable?”

“I guess… determination?” Makoto said. “I want someone who sticks to their beliefs.”

Celeste smiled before responding. “That is… admirable.”

“Any other questions?” Makoto asked.

“Ignoring the fact that we’re trapped here,” Celeste said. “Where would your perfect date location be?”

“Hm,” Makoto said. “I guess just a picnic?”

“A picnic? That is sort of cliche, no?”

“Haha, yeah…” Makoto said, scratching his cheek. “I don’t know, it just seems like the best place to have a date?”

“I suppose I cannot judge you on that,” Celeste said. “Is this a picnic in nature or anywhere…?”

“It’d probably be better inside,” Makoto admitted. “With my luck the weather would be extra bad…”

“You are the Ultimate Lucky Student, are you not?” Celeste asked. “Unless you’re implying your admittance was some sort of a fluke.”

“Honestly…? I don’t really know.”

“Hm,” Celeste said. “An interesting fact about you indeed, Makoto.”

“Moving on,” Celeste said. “Perhaps we should talk more about you, Makoto.”

“Huh…? More about me?” Makoto asked.

“What are your hobbies outside of the killing game?” Celeste asked. “You must enjoy some things, right?”

“I like the things that are currently popular,” Makoto said. “I guess you can say I stick to trends.”

“So you would want a partner equally as trendy?”

“I’m not so sure,” Makoto admitted. “I mean it would be nice to talk to them about what I like, but I wouldn’t want them to be interested in the same exact things.”

“Hm,” Celeste said. “So more of an ‘in-general’ thing then, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Well I’m supposing you cannot do the things you usually do in this school, no?” Celeste asked. “What do you do around here?”

“I mostly talk to everyone else,” Makoto said. “I think it’s nice getting to know everyone.”

“So a people-pleaser, then,” Celeste said. “Unexpected but certainly not a bad thing.”

Huh…? Makoto thought. Was that just an insult?

“Hm, is there anything else you do?”

“Not really,” Makoto said. “Up until now, there wasn’t much to do… I might stop by at the rec room now, but I don’t see any other big change coming.”

“Well, since you interact with everyone so often, what are your thoughts about our ‘peers’...?”

“Hm,” Makoto said, putting one of his fingers to his lips. “I mean, Kyoko’s really a mystery to me, Sakura was a bit scary at first but I think she’s a good friend.”

“I have the feeling Kiyondo might dislike me but I was at least a little close with Taka,” Makoto continued, “Hifumi’s nice when he isn’t talking about 2D.”

“Yasuhiro I’m also a bit friendly with, although I could talk to him more. Junko is a good friend to me, she’s very supportive at the very least,” Makoto said. “You’re nice as well Celeste but I don’t know if we really know each other and I haven’t gotten the chance to interact with Byakuya and Toko.”

“I suppose that all makes sense,” Celeste said. “Thank you for this enlightening conversation, Makoto.”

“Of course…?” Makoto responded.

“Until we meet again, Makoto.”

Celeste walked off after checking her e-Handbook.

Makoto decided to head to his room while he decided who else he would hang out with.

He had a couple of options, but he wasn’t sure he was feeling all too well. Now that he had time to think his nightmare came back to him in full force and it wasn’t the most pleasant thing to remember.

Before he could decide what he was going to do with his time, Makoto heard a knocking on the door.

Opening the door, Makoto discovered that his visitor was none other than Junko Enoshima.

Is she blushing…? Makoto thought.

“Hey, Makoto,” Junko said quickly. “Um, wow you’re looking pretty great.”

“Are you feeling okay, Junko?”

“Yeah, I think I could really go for a picnic or something,” Junko said. “That’s the sorta thing that’s great, right?”

“Huh…?” Makoto asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Um,” Junko said. “I mean I think we really need to do something about our current situation.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, someone needs to step up as a leader because I think it’s kinda obvious Kiyondo really isn’t gonna…” Junko explained.

“Do you have any ideas on who that leader could be?” Makoto asked.

“Um, maybe me,” Junko said. “Boys do like a girl in charge, right?”

“I think it depends…?” Makoto asked. “It’s a preference and everything, right?”

Junko stared at him for a moment, before frowning.

“I’ve got to talk to someone,” Junko said. “We’ll uh, talk later, I guess…”

That was really weird… Makoto thought. Does she have a fever or something?

Makoto decided to brush off Junko’s weird behavior for the time being. He wanted to get out and talk to someone else.

Makoto left his room and checked his e-Handbook. Surprisingly the only people near him were Celeste and Junko, both in the cafeteria.

Makoto decided to head towards the cafeteria, as he was feeling a bit hungry.

Once Makoto entered the cafeteria, their conversation stopped.

“Ah, Makoto,” Celeste said. “Are you here for a snack?”

“Um, yeah,” Makoto said. “I’m feeling a bit hungry.”

“Well, while you're eating, let us talk,” Celeste said. “We have much to discuss, yes?”

“Huh? We do?” Makoto asked.

“There’s an endless supply, really,” Celeste answered. “I’ll wait for you while you prepare a meal.”

Makoto entered the kitchen area and checked the fridge. Seeing a microwavable meal inside, Makoto decided to cook it.

When Makoto exited the kitchen, Junko was already gone.

“Ah, Makoto,” Celeste said. “Please do sit down, I have something of importance I must say to you.”

“‘Something of importance’...?” Makoto echoed. “Did something happen?”

“It is becoming clearer that our continued existence might be hindered,” Celeste began. “After all, we have already witnessed two class trials.”

“I want to believe that all of us can make it out of here,” Makoto responded. “But it might be impossible that we won’t face another class trial again.”

“Besides that,” Celeste said. “You’ve already missed your second chance at romance, no?”

“Huh..?” Makoto asked. “What do you mean?”

“First with Sayaka,” Celeste said. “Which I suppose wasn’t really your fault, no?”

Pausing to take a sip of tea, Celeste continued.

“And then with Hina,” Celeste said. “You did know that she was interested in you, no?”

“Huh… Sayaka and Hina were interested in me…?”

“You truly did not notice?” Celeste asked. “I suppose you are about to tell me you did not notice other people getting together as well.”

“Huh…?” Makoto said. “Other people are getting together…?!”

“You did not notice it, then,” Celeste said. “Out of respect for their privacy I will not tell you who, of course.”

“That’s fine,” Makoto said as he awkwardly scratched his cheek. “But what’s the point in bringing up failed romances now?”

“I believe that love is still in your cards,” Celeste answered. “Of course that only applies if you notice it, no?”

“You mean… someone is going to ask me out?”

“Think of it with an open mind,” Celeste said, as she got up with her cup of tea. “A relationship is beneficial for several reasons, no?”

Makoto stared into his food as he heard Celeste leave.

Am I ready for a relationship? Makoto thought. I guess I’ll just have to wait and find out.

After finishing his meal, Makoto cleaned up and walked back to his room. He started to fall asleep just as Monokuma’s night time announcement played.

“So you’re here again,” Sayaka’s voice whispered into his ear. “You’ve come to watch another girl die, right?”

“Sayaka…?” Makoto asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“I can already see you betraying someone again,” Sayaka said. “I’m a psychic, you know.”

“I don’t…”

“Do you really not know?” Sayaka asked. “You watched me get executed and then you saw Hina’s body floating in the pool.”

“I’m sorry,” Makoto said. “I didn’t know this was going to happen.”

“Are you really sorry?” Sayaka asked. “Look down at your hands, and see all the blood.”

Makoto did as he was told, his hands were dripping with blood. It was almost enough to make him sick.

“Of course,” Sayaka began. “You don’t feel bad at all, do you?”

Makoto awoke to Monokuma’s morning announcement.

Makoto realized he was hyperventilating. He fell out of his tangled sheets and made his way to the bathroom.

During his shower, Makoto made sure to scrub his hands until they were red, although he wasn’t sure if that made things better or worse.

Makoto made his way to the cafeteria and soon after the morning meeting began.

“So!” Kiyondo began. “What new information have we fudgin’ discovered?”

“Nothing much,” Kyoko said. “Things have been thankfully uneventful.”

“Perhaps we should all convene at the bath house tonight,” Celeste said. “I think it would be a wonderful bonding experience.”

“You mean we get to see…” Hifumi began before being cut off by Celeste.

“Yes,” Celeste said.

“Anyways, I have a complaint to make,” Junko said. “I think we should get a new leader.”

“Huh…?!” Kiyondo yelled. “Do you have a fudgin’ problem with my leadership or somethin’?!”

“Yeah, actually I do,” Junko said. “You’re totally unreliable, you’re fighting with Hifumi one moment and the next moment you’re lusting over your lost bro or whatever.”

“What are you fudgin’ saying?!”

“Not only that,” Junko said. “But you’ve already broken a rule we’ve established between ourselves.”

Before Kiyondo could respond, Makoto interrupted.

“Hey,” Makoto said. “I think that’s enough.”

“Huh…?” Junko said. “You’re telling me you actually agree with his leadership?”

“As if I want Mac’s ideas on this,” Kiyondo said.

“I’m just saying that fighting isn’t going to solve anything,” Makoto said. “Let’s just try to keep the peace, alright?”

“But he’s got no respect for us,” Junko said. “The only person he cares about is long dead.”

“Shut it, Junk!” Kiyondo yelled. “You’re not gonna have your takeover.”

“Junk…?” Junko asked. “Are you calling me trash you albino rat?!”

“This isn’t going to happen again,” Sakura said. “We’re supposed to be co-existing, not killing each other.”

“Technically…” Monokuma began as he appeared. “This is a killing game, so feel free to off each other!”

“Monokuma!” Yasuhiro yelled. “H-how did you get here….?!”

“The same way he appears every time,” Kyoko said. “This shouldn’t be surprising.”

“Perhaps he’s a little slow, no?” Celeste said.

“Anyways, I’m enjoying the fights you all keep having,” Monokuma said. “So if you all could keep that up, it would make your headmaster beary happy!”

“No one asked you, Monokuma,” Sakura replied.

“In fact we will fudging get along just to spite you!” Kiyondo added. “Right, Junk?”

“Don’t call me that,” Junko responded.

“Have fun, kids!” Monokuma said before disappearing.

“That seems to conclude the morning meeting,” Kyoko said. “I suppose we should be careful in these coming days.”

“Do you think something bad will happen?” Makoto asked.

“I’m not sure,” Kyoko said. “But I am sure the motive will be revealed to us sooner than later.”

As the class went to leave the cafeteria, Makoto was once again stopped on his way out.

“Hey Makoto,” Junko said. “Could we talk for a bit?”

“Huh…?” Makoto said. “Sure, of course.”

“Anyways, let’s head to your room,” Junko said. “I want it to be private, alright?”

“Huh...? My room?” Makoto asked. “Shouldn’t it be yours?”

“Already trying to get in my room?” Junko asked. “Damn Makoto, I didn’t know you were a pervert.”

“N-no…!” Makoto yelled. “I’m just saying, there’s nothing in my room, so wouldn’t it be easier to go to yours?”

“If we’re being honest,” Junko said. “My room has nothing in it as well, so we’re not losing anything going to your room instead.”

“Alright then,” Makoto said. “I’ll lead the way.”

Makoto led Junko to his room.

“Alright, Makoto,” Junko said. “Let’s talk about our interests.”

This again…? Makoto thought. First Celeste and now Junko, I wonder if there’s a connection.

“So, um,” Junko began. “I really like picnicking, but sadly there’s like nowhere to do it in this school.”

“Yeah, there would probably be no room here.” Makoto said. “Although I guess if you’re desperate you could probably do it in the cafeteria or something.”

“And get yelled at by Kiyondo?” Junko said. “As if, plus it isn’t as romantic if you’re doing it in a shitty school cafeteria.”

“Romantic?” Makoto echoed.

“Yeah, like first date kinda things.” Junko said. “You know, the perfect girl for you would probably take you on a picnic.”

“The perfect girl for me…?” Makoto asked. “You’re still thinking about matching me up with someone when we get out of here?”

“Yep,” Junko answered. “Damn Makoto, the girl I’m thinking of would wait on you hand and foot. Isn’t that the life?”

“I mean, I guess…?” Makoto said, as he scratched his cheek awkwardly. “Speaking of relationships, Celeste also had a conversation about them with me last night.”

“Huh…?” Junko said. “What did she say?”

“She said she thought it was important for me to get in a relationship,” Makoto said. “Since I’ve already missed my shot twice.”

“She’s probably right you know,” Junko said. “You need someone to take charge for you and keep you fired up.”

“Um… do I really?”

“Yep!” Junko said. “Plus you’ve gotta get over Taka and fast.”

“H-hey…! I’ve told you before I don’t have a crush on Taka.”

“Yeah yeah, sure,” Junko said. “He’s lusting over his dead bro and he’s totally changed anyways. Seriously who the hell calls a girl ‘Junk’?!”

“I mean he’s started calling me ‘Mac’,” Makoto said. “And that’s a bit annoying, so I can see where you’re coming from.”

“So yeah,” Junko said. “But I bet you’re wanting a relationship while we’re in the killing game, huh?”

Am I? Makoto thought. I haven’t really thought about it much, even after Celeste brought it up.

“It’d be safer, right?” Makoto said. “But just getting into a relationship because of that feels… wrong, you know?”

“Yeah,” Junko said. “But, I’ve gotta prepare you for the real girl I’m setting you up with.”

“H-huh…? ‘Prepare me’?”

“Yep!” Junko said. “So let’s just say you’re off the market for now, alright?”

“W-wait, how are you so sure she’ll accept being set up with me?”

“I’ve just got a good feeling, y’know?” Junko said. “So, don’t start dating anyone Makoto or you might just break her heart!”

“Um… alright then.”

“Alright Makoto,” Junko said. “I’m off now, this conversation has made me feel a hell of a lot better.”

Junko left Makoto’s room shortly after, leaving Makoto to his own devices.

Alright, let’s check the e-Handbook and see where everyone is. Makoto thought.

Kiyondo was located in his, or rather, Kiyotaka’s room.

Alright, Makoto thought to himself. I’ve got to talk to Kiyondo eventually, right?

Makoto made his way to Kiyotaka’s room. He hesitantly knocked and Kiyondo opened the door.

“What do you want, Mac?” Kiyondo asked. “Can’t you see I’m fudgin’ busy?!”

“Huh… you’re busy…?” Makoto said. “And anyways, I only wanted to talk.”

“Pff, as if I’d ever waste my time on a buttface like you.”

“Um, alright then,” Makoto said, as he turned to walk away.

“Wait! I’ve changed my fudgin’ mind,” Kiyondo yelled. “I guess we can hang out or whatever the heck.”

Huh…? Makoto thought. I thought he didn’t want me here…?

Makoto was dragged into Kiyotaka’s room by an annoyed Kiyondo.

“So what the heck do you even want to talk about?” Kiyondo asked.

“I want to get to know you better,” Makoto admitted.

Kiyondo only stared at him.

“So um,” Makoto began, awkwardly. “Do you have any of the same interests that Mondo had?”

“Of course I fudgin’ do!” Kiyondo yelled. “Bro is a part of me, now and forever.”

“So I guess you’d know a lot about motorcycles…?”

“Duh,” Kiyondo answered. “Why do you have any knowledge on bikes, Mac?”

“I mean, I guess…?” Makoto said, as he scratched his cheek. “I mean I was almost hit by a motorcyclist a few times. That counts… right?”

“WHAT?!” Kiyondo yelled. “You were almost fudgin’ hit by motorcycles?!”

“Several times,” Makoto said, laughing awkwardly. “I mean, I always dodged out of the way, so that’s the important part, right…?”

“Why are you the one fudging dodging them?!” Kiyondo yelled. “Do you purposely stand in their way or some other fudged up thing?!”

“N-no…?” Makoto said. “I just have very bad luck, I guess.”

“And here you had me all worried over nothing at all,” Kiyondo said. “What the heck.”

“Sorry… I guess?” Makoto said.

Kiyondo just huffed and looked away.

Man, he’s really hard to talk to, Makoto thought. Does he really hate me that much?

“Anyways,” Makoto said, trying his hardest to make conversation. “How much do you know about gangs?”

“What the heck even is that question?!” Kiyondo asked. “My bro was the leader of a biker gang so what the fudge do you think?!”

“Um, I guess a lot…?”

“How much do you fudging know, Mac?”

“I’ve only really seen gangs on TV,” Makoto said, as he reached for his cheek once again. “So I’m not very knowledgeable.”

“Fudging heck, you’re as dumb as Hiro!”

“H-huh…?” Makoto said. “I don’t think not knowing-”

“I don’t even know why I fudgin’ tried to talk to you,” Kiyondo said. “Do you have anything worth saying?!”

“I guess not…?”

“Then get the heck out of my room, you dumbbutt!”

Makoto awkwardly left Kiyotaka’s room, disappointed in himself for the lack of results.

I don’t know how I’m supposed to make any progress with him, Makoto thought to himself glumly. But at least I know for sure that he probably hates me.

Makoto frowned, not knowing what else to do. Luckily for him, he remembered that the class was going to hold a meeting over Alter Ego.

I might as well head there early, Makoto thought.

When Makoto made his way into the bath house he was surprised to see Kyoko already there.

“Makoto,” Kyoko said. “I see you’ve arrived early as well.”

“Yeah,” Makoto said. “But we’re a bit too early, aren’t we?”

“It’s best that we arrive before Kiyondo and Hifumi do,” Kyoko said. “We’ve already seen what they can do when left unattended.”

“It’s worrying isn’t it?” Celeste said as she came in. “I wonder if the Mastermind will prey on this new-found weakness.”

“That would mean that the Mastermind knows about Alter Ego, right?” Makoto asked.

“It’s stupid of us to believe the Mastermind isn’t curious about why we’ve all been coming here,” Celeste said. “We should keep our guard up, Monokuma does have legs, no?”

“I suppose you’re right,” Kyoko said. “But speaking of this meeting and Alter Ego, is this a full class meeting?”

“You mean Byakuya and Toko?” Makoto asked.

“I suppose we should invite them,” Celeste said. “It would be rude of us otherwise, no?”

“It’s unlikely that they’d listen, right?” Makoto said. “And it’s not like we can give out any information without the Mastermind finding out.”

“Perhaps if we’re discreet enough Byakuya will pick it up,” Kyoko said. “And anywhere he goes Toko is sure to follow.”

“But someone has to extend the invite, no?” Celeste said. “It is unlikely for ‘mind-reader’ to be in Byakuya’s skill set.”

“Hey, what are we talking about?!” Yasuhiro yelled. “Are we finally bathing together?”

“No,” Celeste said. “We’re having our meeting, or at least waiting for everyone to come.”

“Aww, so we aren’t bathing together…?” Yasuhiro asked.

“You really thought we were…?” Makoto replied.

“Of course,” Yasuhiro yelled. “Don’t be mean!”

“Did you really forget about the computer?” Kyoko asked.

“H-huh…?!” Yasuhiro said. “Of course not!”

“I suppose if we are picking a messenger, it shouldn’t be Hiro, no?” Celeste said.

“Perhaps we could ask Sakura or Junko,” Kyoko said.

“I could go,” Makoto said. “It’s not like we have anything better to do, right?”

“That is a wise plan,” Celeste said. “Remember Makoto, you must be discreet about it, yes?”

“Of course,” Makoto said. “The last thing we want is the Mastermind finding out about Alter Ego.”

Makoto exited the bath house and just like expected, after checking his e-handbook he discovered Byakuya was in the library.

Makoto made his way to the second floor, power-walking past the pool’s door and went straight into the library.

“Tch,” Byakuya said. “What do you want, Makoto?”

“There’s something I need to discuss with you,” Makoto said. “It has something to do with the sauna.”

“Is this your way of flirting, Makoto?” Byakuya asked. “Because you’re pitifully bad at it.”

“N-no…!” Makoto yelled. “It has nothing to do with that at all!”

Just as Makoto yelled that, Toko came marching in.

“M-makoto..! A-are you trying to get y-your hands all over my M-master…?!” Toko yelled. “B-because I won’t let you!”

“No way!” Makoto yelled. “There’s just a group bonding activity in the sauna, I think you both could benefit from coming.”

“I see,” Byakuya said. “I suppose everyone else is already involved?”

“Exactly,” Makoto said. “You’re not required but I think you both should come.”

“I g-get to see M-master shirtless…?” Toko drooled. “S-someone pinch me, I must be d-dreaming…”

“Shut up,” Byakuya said. “Fine, in a few minutes you will see that I will at least arrive.”

“Thank you,” Makoto said.

“I’m not doing this for you, idiot.”

Makoto made his way back down to the bath house, where he could hear a fight already beginning.

“What do you mean we can’t touch Alter Ego?!” Hifumi complained as Makoto entered.

“That is exactly what it means,” Celeste said. “You do understand words, correct?”

“There’s no getting down and dirty with Alter Ego,” Junko said. “Even if it could, I’m sure it has higher standards than either of you.”

“What the fudge are you implying?!” Kiyondo yelled.

“I think it’s pretty obvious,” Junko said. “Or can you not see beyond the image of Mondo?”

“Hey--” Kiyondo began only to be cut off by Celeste.

“That is enough, no?” Celeste said. “Petty squabbling will do us no good, will it?”

“It seems every idiot has arrived,” Byakuya said. “What is so important that you had to interrupt my reading time?”

“W-wait,” Toko said. “I’m n-not going to s-see Master shirtless…?!” “There is something we discovered, recently,” Kyoko said. “We believe it holds pertinent information that may relate to why we are trapped here.”

“Are you talking about the computer?” Byakuya asked. “If so, you must think that I am an idiot.”

“Huh…?!” Makoto yelled. “You already knew about Alter Ego?”

“Is that what it’s called?” Byakuya said. “No matter. Yes, I already knew about it.”

“I am p-proud to announce that I i-informed Master of it,” Toko added dreamily.

“Master…?” Junko asked.

“You mean you discovered it?” Celeste asked. “Pardon my rudeness but I cannot imagine a reason why you would enter the bath house after the last class trial.”

“H-hey!” Toko yelled. “Wouldn’t y-you investigate a m-mysterious green light…?!”

“So it seems you discovered Alter Ego the same way Hiro did,” Kyoko said. “I wonder if it was trying to announce its location…”

“Huh…? Why would it want to be caught?” Yasuhiro asked. “Unless it’s working for the Mastermind…!”

“Wouldn’t you be worried about your creator if you hadn’t heard from them for a while?” Kyoko asked. “It was probably in its coding to try to locate Chihiro.”

“Chihiro must’ve forgotten to mention that it should stay discreet,” Celeste commented. “Or perhaps it was desperate.”

“We do know Chihiro gave it the task of making those files visible,” Sakura added. “Perhaps it wanted to update Chihiro on its progress.”

“You’re saying that ‘Alter Ego’ is uncorrupting the files on the computer?” Byakuya asked.

“Yes,” Celeste answered. “That is the main reason why we called you here.”

“I don’t understand why we need him fudgin’ here,” Kiyondo complained. “It’s not like he’s interested in working with us as a group.”

“And who are you to talk to me like that?” Byakuya asked. “Especially when you look like that.”

“I’m fudging Kiyondo Ishida and I’ll kick your butt if you dare speak down to me!”

“Maybe we should break it up,” Makoto offered. “We still have to check Alter Ego’s progress on the files, right?”

“An excellent point, Makoto,” Celeste said. “If there are no objections I will ask Alter Ego on its progress.”

After no objections were held, Celeste began typing to Alter Ego.

“Alter Ego,” Celeste typed. “What is your progress on the files?”

“I’m glad to announce that they are finally able to be accessed!” Alter Ego said. “However, the information is a bit worrying.”

“If Alter Ego is worried,” Hifumi said. “We’re all doomed…!”

“Shut up and let the program explain to us,” Byakuya said.

“W-what Master said…” Toko added.

“You also shut up.”

“Could you tell us the contents of these files?” Celeste typed.

“Sure,” Alter Ego said. “Apparently over a year ago, Hope’s Peak Academy was forced out of commission.”

“That we already know,” Byakuya said.

“Not exactly,” Sakura said. “Our current timeline doesn’t add up with that.”

“If Hope’s Peak Academy was forced to shut down a fudgin’ year ago, why the heck are we here now?!” Kiyondo yelled.

“Alter Ego, are you sure this is correct?” Celeste typed. “We were all admitted this year, so it wouldn’t make sense for it to have shut down a year ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Alter Ego said. “But according to the files, Hope’s Peak Academy hasn’t been in operation for at least a year.”

“That should be impossible,” Kyoko said. “But we’ve already gotten ourselves into a very impossible situation.”

“Is there a reason for a school as big as Hope’s Peak to close down?” Makoto asked. “I mean, they were the most prestigious school in the world, right?”

“Do you know the reason why Hope’s Peak shut down?” Celeste typed into the computer.

“Apparently there was an event called the ‘Tragedy’ that took place,” Alter Ego responded. “There’s not a lot of information on it other than it being a devastating event.”

“The Tragedy?” Junko asked. “What a lousy descriptor for an event.”

“I agree!” Kiyondo yelled. “When you’re writing fudgin’ history you gotta make it memorable!”

“Perhaps the Mastermind left out certain details on purpose,” Sakura said. “There is no reason for us to assume otherwise.”

“Of course,” Byakuya said. “This is a game of wit.”

“Mr. Togami, why do you say that like you’re enjoying it?” Hifumi asked.

“Because I am, you idiot,” Byakuya answered. “This is something truly worthy of a Togami.”

“Someone has a murder kink,” Junko said.

“What did you just say to me?” Byakuya asked.

“Moving on,” Celeste said. “There is probably more information in these files, no?”

“Is there anything else of note?” Celeste typed.

“Yes, something extremely worrying,” Alter Ego responded. “I have reason to believe the headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy is still in this school.”

“Huh…?!” Makoto cried out.

“What…?” Kyoko questioned.

“What do you mean?” Celeste typed.

“Apparently during the Tragedy the headmaster had the school fortified to be practically impenetrable.” “Like the situation we currently find ourselves in,” Sakura said. “Perhaps we should inquire more about this.”

“Are you implying that the Headmaster fortified this school to trap us in here?” Celeste typed.

“I’m not sure,” Alter Ego said. “However the situations seem eerily similar.”

“Even so, we weren’t here a year ago, right?!” Yasuhiro yelled. “That we know for sure, right?!”

“We couldn’t have been here a year ago,” Junko said. “We’ve only entered High School this year, obviously.”

“Perhaps the Mastermind has planted misinformation,” Byakuya said. “Are you idiots really falling for this?”

“Hey! Don’t call us fudging idiots!” Kiyondo yelled. “Because you’re the fudging idiot you dumbbutt!”

“Shut up,” Byakuya said. “You don’t have the right to speak to me like that.”

“Mr. Togami, how could you imply that Alter Ego could lie about something?!” Hifumi sobbed.

“Take your complaints elsewhere,” Byakuya replied.

“I mean, the Mastermind wants this to be a fair game, right?” Makoto offered. “They have to be giving us some information.”

“There is probably some information we can trust,” Kyoko said. “We know the school is boarded up…”

“So perhaps the Headmaster is still here, no?” Celeste added.

“It would make the most sense for them to be the Mastermind,” Sakura said.

Kyoko looked away, clenching her fist slightly before responding, “We shouldn’t make those assumptions this early.��

“I wonder,” Celeste began, “If this computer contained this information if there’s anything else we may find on it.”

“Would Chihiro really have Alter Ego leave out information?” Makoto asked. “It would’ve helped him too.”

“You really believe he intended to share the information Alter Ego discovered?” Byakuya asked. “You really are an idiot.”

“It would fit Chihiro’s character,” Sakura said. “He always seemed eager to prove himself.”

Kiyondo looked uncomfortable, Makoto noticed.

“Alright!” Kiyondo yelled. “Do we have any more questions?!”

“Can I talk to Alter Ego now?!” Hifumi asked.

“Perhaps not,” Celeste said. “However, there is something else we must share with Byakuya and Toko.”

“Huh…?” Makoto asked.

“We now have a ‘night-time’ rule,” Celeste explained. “During the night, no student should be outside of their dorm.”

“And you expect me to follow this?” Byakuya asked. “Tch, the nerve.”

“Of course not,” Celeste replied evenly. “However, you cannot claim that you were unaware of it anymore.”

“Will you unhand my fudging bro?!” Kiyondo yelled, glaring daggers at Hifumi.

“Alter Ego isn’t yours!” Hifumi yelled back. “She’s mine and only mine!”

“Um, I think we discussed this before but isn’t Alter Ego technically a guy…?” Makoto said.

“Mr. Naegi!” Hifumi yelled. “Who said that you could get involved with matters of the heart?”

“Alter Ego is very important to all of us,” Makoto said. “Isn’t it important that we don’t get him involved in our matters?”

“Are you saying that you don’t think Alter Ego is alive, Mr. Naegi?!”

“H-huh…?” Makoto said. “All I’m saying is that we probably shouldn’t be involving Alter Ego in things like this.”

“Leave Mac alone!” Kiyondo yelled. “He’s just trying to save bro and Chihiro from having you slobber all over them.”

That wasn’t entirely my intention… Makoto thought. But thanks for sticking up for me, I guess?

“A computer is introduced and you’re already at each other’s necks like wild dogs,” Byakuya said. “I guess I shouldn’t have expected any less.”

“Shut the fudge up, Byakuya!” Kiyondo yelled. “Guys like you are all talk and no fudgin’ action!”

Byakuya looked insulted. “You all should be thankful for my presence, but instead you act like idiots.”

After insulting the group one last time, Byakuya left in a hurry.

“Y-you…!” Toko yelled, pointing at Kiyondo. “D-don’t think I’ll let you g-get away w-with insulting M-master…!”

“You’re a fudgin’ idiot if you think he respects you!”

Toko only glared in response before she turned and chased after Byakuya.

“Well that could’ve gone better, no?” Celeste asked. “Perhaps it is time we head for bed anyways.”

“Of course, Kiyondo and Hifumi should leave first,” Kyoko said. “They have proven that this computer is too compelling for them to follow simple directions.”

“Hey!” Kiyondo yelled. “It’s my fudging bro and it was one time!”

“Apparently it was several,” Kyoko said. “According to Monokuma, anyway.”

“You’re trusting that dumb fudgin’ bear over us?!”

“Your behavior seems to line up with his accusation,” Sakura said. “It would be easier for you two to leave anyways.”

“You guys need to build up rapport with the group,” Junko said. “Or you’ll forever be known as the computer freaks.”

“You don’t think they did anything weird with Alter Ego, right…?” Yasuhiro asked.

“Perhaps it’s better if we don’t find out,” Celeste responded.

Kiyondo and Hifumi flushed bright red and out of embarrassment left the bath house.

The rest of the class disbanded and went back to their own dorms.

Makoto glared at his bed as the night time announcement played.

Alright, Makoto thought. Let’s see what nightmares await me tonight.

“Makoto,” a feminine voice began. “Did you think I was weak?”

Turning around to meet the voice, Makoto saw Chihiro. His neck was bruised and his eyes were glossy.

“Of course you did,” Chihiro answered before Makoto could say anything. “Everyone always thought I was weak.”

“That’s not true!” Makoto yelled. “You wanted to improve yourself, I can’t think of anything stronger.”

“And yet you’re trying to date my killer's lover,” Chihiro said. “You really have no respect for the dead, huh?”

“H-huh…? Chihiro what are you talking about?”

“He’s talkin’ about Taka, fucker,” Mondo answered.

When Makoto faced Mondo, he found that Mondo looked like himself and not butter.

“You think that now that I’m gone you can just fuckin’ take over my spot, huh?” Mondo asked. “Well guess what, that ain’t gonna happen.”

“I think you’re confused,” Makoto said. “I don’t like Taka like that, I’m just his friend.”

“So,” Chihiro said. “That’s how you’ve been surviving this long, denial.”

“What?” Makoto asked.

“It’s plain as fuckin’ day,” Mondo said. “You’re head over heels for him, too bad he’s into me, right?”

“You guys are wrong!” Makoto yelled. “I’m sorry that you’re dead, but, you’re wrong about that.”

“Whatever the hell you say,” Mondo said. “But remember you’re no better than me, Makoto.”

“Huh…?”

“You got two people fuckin’ killed so far, Sayaka and I,” Mondo said. “So who’s next?”

“I didn’t mean to…” Makoto mumbled, staring at the ground. “It was either you guys or us.”

“What an odd way to justify it,” Chihiro said. “Whatever helps you sleep better at night, right…?”

Before Makoto could respond, he was awoken by the Monokuma’s morning announcement.

That wasn’t as bad as I thought, Makoto thought. Things are finally starting to look up.

Makoto made his way to the cafeteria finding that Kiyondo and Celeste were already there.

“Hello Makoto,” Celeste said.

“Mac,” Kiyondo acknowledged.

“Hey,” Makoto said. “How did you guys sleep?”

“I slept fine,” Celeste said. “Much more peaceful knowing that no one can die at night anymore.”

“That implies that rich kid is gonna fudgin’ follow our rules,” Kiyondo huffed. “I wouldn’t bet even Mac’s life on that.”

“H-hey…!” Makoto responded.

“Who would kill him?” Celeste asked. “I doubt Toko would ever harm him and that’s the only other person who wouldn’t be following the rule.”

“I guess not, but heck,” Kiyondo said. “That girl is totally fudgin’ obsessed with Byakuya.”

“Isn’t she calling him ‘Master’ now?” Makoto asked. “I wonder what sparked that.”

“Perhaps they have bonded,” Celeste offered. “Even Byakuya can’t stay alone forever.”

As the rest of the class, excluding Byakuya and Toko, came into the cafeteria another meeting began and ended without much fanfare.

After the meeting, Makoto went back to his room.

Huh, Makoto thought. I wonder who I can hang out with?

Makoto checked his e-Handbook, the closest person was Kyoko, as she was outside the bath house.

Makoto walked near the bath house before getting stopped by Kyoko.

“Going to bathe?” Kyoko asked coldly.

“No,” Makoto said. “Actually I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh,” Kyoko answered. “I hope you don’t mind but I don’t want to leave my current position.”

“No, that’s fine,” Makoto said. “We can talk here if it’s okay with you.”

Kyoko looked at the bath house entrance before sighing. “Yeah, that should be fine.”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while,” Makoto began. “But, wow you are really good at investigating.”

“Is that so?” Kyoko asked.

“Yep!” Makoto answered. “In fact, if I had to guess your talent I would say it’s the Ultimate Detective or something close.”

“Hm,” Kyoko said. “I’m afraid my talent is still a secret, so I won’t confirm or deny your guess.”

“Well that’s fine,” Makoto answered. “It’s more fun to guess than to actually know.”

“Is that so?” Kyoko asked. “I suppose one could say making the theory is much more fun than proving it.”

“Exactly!” Makoto said. “Especially in our situation.”

“Speaking of our situation,” Kyoko said. “Makoto, I must commend you on your ability to bring the group together.”

“Huh…?”

“You believe whole-heartedly in everything,” Kyoko said. “That’s a respectable ability.”

“Hina told me that,” Makoto said. “I’m not so sure I believe it.”

“But,” Kyoko said. “Perhaps you should be careful with it.”

“Careful…?” Makoto echoed. “What do you mean?”

“The bigger you are,” Kyoko began, “the larger you fall.” “Huh?”

“Keep your beliefs reasonable, Makoto,” Kyoko explained. “We are in a killing game, it is not unreasonable to expect the worst.”

“I can see where you’re coming from,” Makoto admitted. “But I’d like to believe in my friends until the very end!”

“You wear your heart on your sleeve,” Kyoko commented. “Perhaps that’s not so bad.”

“It’s really just natural to me,” Makoto admitted.

“Perhaps we could benefit from one another,” Kyoko said. “Your belief and motivational skills would be beneficial to anyone here.”

“Is that something that can really be taught…?” Makoto asked.

“In return,” Kyoko continued. “I could teach you how to investigate better.”

“Really…?” Makoto asked. “I mean that’d be great but I wouldn’t want to force you.”

“Our respective skills are beneficial to living in this school,” Kyoko said. “I don’t see any reason for us not to work together.”

“You’re right,” Makoto said, “let’s try our hardest to work together and get out of here!”

“Hm,” Kyoko said, smiling for a moment before going back to her natural expression. “You really are determined, aren’t you?”

“Of course!” Makoto said. “If we all work together we’ll be out of here in no time!”

“Are you sure you aren’t the Ultimate Moral Compass?” Kyoko teased. “You’ve been a bit more active than Taka as of late.”

“Have I…?” Makoto asked. “Maybe he was rubbing off on me.”

“Speaking of Taka, I think we should end our conversation here,” Kyoko said. “I must keep watch just in case Hifumi or Kiyondo get any ideas.”

“You know you don’t have to do that to yourself,” Makoto said.

“It’s better than not being cautious,” Kyoko replied. “This is important, we can’t lose it now.”

Makoto nodded, quickly saying goodbye and heading back to his room.

Man, Kyoko calls me determined but really she’s the more determined one, Makoto thought. I don’t think I could ever stand that long waiting for someone to try to go near Alter Ego.

Before Makoto could decide to hang out with anyone else, Monokuma’s voice began to play on the speakers.

“Hello my beloved students!” Monokuma began. “I have a very exciting surprise…! Please make your way to the gymnasium!”

Surprise…? Makoto thought. This isn’t a motive… right?

Makoto made his way to the gym, discovering that he was one of the first people to make it there.

“Mac,” Kiyondo said, “what do you think that stupid fudgin’ bear has planned for us?”

“I don’t know,” Makoto admitted. “But it probably isn’t good.”

“That’s not a positive way of thinkin’,” Kiyondo scolded. “You gotta at least try to fudgin’ try to be positive, or it all will go to heck.”

“Huh…?” Makoto said. “Well yeah, I guess…”

As everyone else entered the gym, Monokuma appeared with a laugh.

“So, I bet you’re all wondering why I gathered you all here!” Monokuma yelled cheerily. “Now I know not everyone here is going to have the most stable financial situation, so…”

Monokuma paused as money fell from the sky onto the stage.

“I’ve decided to fund your killing!” Monokuma said. “Ten million dollars waiting for the lucky blackened!”

“Tch,” Byakuya said. “As if that measly amount would get me to even move.”

“That’s not enough money,” Yasuhiro said sadly.

“N-not enough money f-for what?” Toko asked.

“My debt,” Yasuhiro admitted sadly. “It’s not even close…!”

“How much debt do you have?” Junko asked.

“More than I should,” Yasuhiro admitted.

“As much as I hate to fudgin’ agree with the rich kid,” Kiyondo began, “we won’t kill for this, not at all!”

“Are you so sure?” Monokuma asked. “The money might be enticing for at least one of you.”

“He’s right,” Makoto said. “This won’t work, Monokuma!”

“Puhuhuhu! The hope on your faces, it’s hilarious,” Monokuma said. “I can’t wait for it to turn into despair…!”

“Whatever you have planned,” Sakura said. “You have gravely miscalculated.”

“There’s not much else he can do,” Kyoko said. “He has exhausted most of his trump cards.”

“That’s what you all think!” Monokuma said. “Anyways, I must be off, being the headmaster is oh so exhausting!” Monokuma disappeared, leaving the money on the stage.

“This was pointless,” Byakuya said, leaving as quickly as he had entered.

“M-master, please wait up…!” Toko yelled, following after him.

“Perhaps we should disband as well,” Celeste said. “There is not much to be gained staying here, no?”

“I’m going to go to the bath house if you all don’t mind!” Hifumi said while sweating.

“No, you’re not,” Kyoko said. “If you need to bathe, do it in your room.”

“She’s right,” Sakura said. “There is no reason for you to go into the bath house.”

“M-miss Kirigiri…! You don’t understand, I must bathe in the bath house!” Hifumi said in protest.

“Give it up, man,” Yasuhiro said. “They aren’t going to budge.”

“Didn’t know you were that desperate, Hifumi,” Junko commented. “That can’t be attractive at all.”

Makoto decided to leave the group to their arguing over Alter Ego.

“Mac!” Kiyondo yelled, catching up to Makoto easily. “How about we hang out since you have nothing better to fudgin’ do.”

“Huh...? Sure…” Makoto responded.

“Let’s head to my fudgin’ room then,” Kiyondo said as he grabbed Makoto and dragged him into Kiyotaka’s room.

Once they arrived Makoto decided to speak first, “You call this your room, but it’s technically Taka’s, right?”

“As if anything should belong to that weak dumbbutt,” Kiyondo responded.

“Huh…?” Makoto asked. “Taka wasn’t weak!”

“You don’t fudgin’ know because you don’t have his memories, dumbbutt,” Kiyondo said. “He couldn’t even fudgin’ confess to the guy he liked, or save ‘im either.”

“You’re talking about Mondo, right?”

“Of fudgin’ course,” Kiyondo said. “Who the heck else could I be talkin’ about?”

“N-no one,” Makoto responded quickly. “I just wanted to make sure…!”

“And you wanna know why?” Kiyondo asked, not looking for an answer. “Because of his stupid fudgin’ feelings for someone else!” “His feelings for someone else…? Kiyondo, I don’t understand…”

“So now I’m stuck fudgin’ dealing with it,” Kiyondo complained. “Ugh, Mac, it’s so dang hard.”

“I guess I can see why…?” Makoto said. “But if you like that person as well, why don’t you at least tell them your feelings…?”

“It’s not that fudgin’ easy,” Kiyondo said. “It’d feel like betrayal to my bro, and they already have people interested in them anyways.”

“Oh,” Makoto said, not knowing what to say. “Well I’m sure it’ll work out in the end!”

“What makes you so fudgin’ sure?”

“Despite how you act, you’re pretty nice!” Makoto said. “I’m sure anyone would be lucky to be with you or Taka.”

Kiyondo stared at Makoto, face starting to flush.

“How the heck can you say something like that?” Kiyondo asked. “You’re fudging with me, right?”

“N-no…?” Makoto answered, already putting his hand on his cheek. “I’m being serious Kiyondo, you’ve got a shot if you try it!”

“Ugh,” Kiyondo answered. “You’re just makin’ it fudgin’ worse, Mac.”

“H-huh…?!” Makoto yelled. “I didn’t mean to…!”

“Shouldn’t you be headin’ to your fudgin’ room by now?” Kiyondo asked, checking his watch. “It’s almost time for bed for all the good little boys and girls.”

“Hey! I’m not a little kid!” Makoto complained. “But you’re probably right, haha…”

“Make sure you don’t break any fudgin’ rules,” Kiyondo said as Makoto left Kiyotaka’s dorm.

Makoto made his way to his dorm just as Monokuma’s night time announcement began.

Here’s to a good night’s sleep. Makoto thought.

“Hello Makoto,” Sayaka’s voice said. “I see you’re back for another talk.”

“Sayaka…?” Makoto asked. “Why are we here…?”

“I’ve got a word of warning for you, Makoto,” Sayaka said. “Despite the fact that you don’t deserve it, another murder is soon to come.”

“H-huh…?!” Makoto yelled. “No, that’s wrong!”

“Do you really believe in your friends that much?” Sayaka asked. “It’s foolish, you know?”

“No, another murder won’t happen!” Makoto said. “That I can be sure of!”

“When it does happen,” Sayaka said. “Will you eagerly send another person to their execution as you’ve done before?”

“N-no… I didn’t mean for you…” Makoto began.

“Didn’t mean for me to die?” Sayaka interrupted. “God Makoto, you’re lying to a dead girl, how pathetic are you?”

“You knew what was going to happen to me,” Sayaka said. “And you still outed me anyway, you traitor.”

Makoto dropped to his knees and Sayaka bent down to make eye contact with him.

“You’re just as much of a murderer as I am.”

Makoto woke up with a start, clothes clinging uncomfortably to his body.

Makoto waited until the morning announcement played before going into his bathroom.

Leon’s body flickered into existence just as he turned on his bathroom’s light.

“Don’t mind me,” Leon’s corpse said. “This shouldn’t bother you at all.”

Makoto once again awoke with a scream in tune with Monokuma’s morning announcement.

When he went to his bathroom again, there was no body in it.

Slowly but surely he made his way to the cafeteria. Celeste, Kiyondo, Kyoko, and Sakura were already there.

“Makoto, you’re a bit late, no?” Celeste asked.

“Huh…? But not everyone is here yet,” Makoto responded.

“Yes, but this is later than your usual arrival,” Celeste said. “Did you get a good night’s sleep?”

“Um, sure…?” Makoto said. “I mean I did sleep all the way through.”

“Having a good night’s sleep doesn’t mean sleeping all the way through,” Sakura said. “It is rest for one’s body and mind.”

“Mac! If you aren’t well rested you won’t be fudgin’ performing at your best!” Kiyondo yelled.

“Oh,” Makoto said, putting his hand on his cheek. “Ahaha, I guess I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Still, Makoto isn’t the last person arriving,” Kyoko commented. “So perhaps we shouldn’t worry too much, yet.”

As the group in the cafeteria awkwardly conversed, they were only joined by one more person, Hifumi.

“Have you seen anyone else in the halls, Hifumi?” Sakura asked as Hifumi entered.

“I don’t believe so Miss Ogami!” Hifumi answered, slightly flushed.

“Why are you flustered, Hifumi?” Celeste asked. “You wouldn’t be doing anything odd, no?”

“Miss Ludenberg…! I have not been doing anything…!”

“He was probably in the bath house,” Kyoko said. “It seems he couldn’t stay away afterall.”

“That means Junko and Hiro are missing, no?” Celeste asked.

“To think they would just fudgin’ sleep through the meeting!” Kiyondo complained. “And Junk said she wanted to fudging replace me…!”

“Maybe we should investigate,” Sakura said. “I could see Hiro sleeping the morning meeting away, but Junko?”

“You don’t think…” Makoto began.

“We should be on guard,” Kyoko interrupted. “At the very least we should make sure of their locations.”

“Then we should check their fudgin’ rooms, right?!” Kiyondo yelled.

“That would be smart, no?” Celeste said.

The group first went to knock on Junko’s door. When they received no answer they decided to mash her doorbell.

“There’s no answer,” Kyoko noted. “I don’t think she could sleep through this.”

“Maybe she’s sleeping with Hiro…” Makoto mumbled.

“You really think those two would get together?” Celeste asked. “That would not be my bet at the very least.”

“Huh…? Maybe they’re staying in the same room…?” Makoto said.

“A boy and a girl sleepin’ together, Mac that’d be too fudgin’ unwholesome!” Kiyondo yelled.

“I don’t believe that’s what he meant,” Sakura said.

“I for one wouldn’t understand Mr. Hagakure’s tastes!” Hifumi said.

The group went for Yasuhiro’s room and once again received no answer.

“This isn’t good,” Kyoko said.

“You’re right!” Monokuma yelled as he appeared. “This isn’t looking good at all!”

“Why are you here, Monokuma?” Sakura asked.

“I’m here to give you a hint!” Monokuma said. “Aren’t I nice? Don’t answer that, I already know I am…!”

“Just give us our fudgin’ hint you stupid bear…!” Kiyondo complained.

“If you’re so curious about the location of your friends bear-haps you should check the third floor!” Monokuma said before vanishing.

“There’s nothing left to do,” Kyoko said. “We must check the third floor.”

Makoto felt nothing but dread as he followed the group up to the third floor.

“I cannot help but feel a sense of foreboding,” Celeste said. “This all feels too familiar, deja-vu, no?”

“I’m sure everything is okay…!” Makoto answered. “It has to be!”

“Very little things are going according to plan,” Celeste said. “Perhaps we should expect the worst, no?”

When Makoto stared at the rec-room’s door, he already knew what was going to happen. While his classmates were checking the two classrooms, Makoto hesitantly opened the rec-room door.

At first when Makoto entered, things looked normal but when Makoto looked to his right he saw Junko’s body hanging on the wall.

With nothing left to do, Makoto screamed and the waking nightmare began again.

Quickly the rest of the group ran into the room and shortly after Monokuma’s body discovery announcement played.

“Miss Enoshima!” Hifumi yelled. “She’s hanging on the wall…!”

“This is... interesting,” Celeste said. “I have the feeling I’ve seen this body set up before…”

“I believe you’re right,” Sakura said. “This looks to be the work of Genocide Jack.”

“Genocide Jack is here…?” Makoto asked softly. “And he went after Junko…?”

“Apparently,” Kyoko said. “I suppose we should begin our investigation.”

“Mac, you’re not looking too good,” Kiyondo noted. “Are you sure you’re fudging up for it?”

“I don’t have a choice,” Makoto admitted. “But I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Kiyondo nodded, not looking too convinced. “Then we better get fudgin’ on with it, right?!”

The investigation began, not unlike the one’s previous. As Makoto approached Junko’s corpse, he could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes.

“Wait wait wait…!” Monokuma yelled, appearing from the ground. ”Ya can’t start an investigation without a Monokuma file!”

“Just give it to us, bear,” Kyoko said. “We don’t have time for your usual antics.”

“Aren’t you in a bad mood today,” Monokuma commented. “I can bear-ly believe the lack of respect I get around here…!”

“Well you better learn to believe it,” Kyoko said, looking at Junko’s body. “If you don’t have anything else to say, you should just leave.”

Monokuma pouted silently, leaving after he gave everyone a Monokuma file.

“I suppose we best start investigating, no?” Celeste said. “It seems we do not have much time to waste.”

“Let us assume that the others will come soon,” Sakura said. “They have heard the body discovery announcement.”

“Assuming no one else has died, that is,” Celeste cut in. “After all, apparently a serial killer is on the loose.”

“We know the Blackened has a limit,” Kyoko said. “Monokuma has told us that much.”

“So we can’t assume that they’re dead… right?” Makoto asked, scratching his cheek.

“Mac’s right!” Kiyondo yelled. “We can’t assume that they’re fudgin’ dead so ya better not!”

“Hm, perhaps that is the best attitude to have,” Sakura said. “Assuming the worst only gets you hurt.”

“But it doesn’t matter…!” Hifumi stammered. “We already know Miss Enoshima is dead so what’s the point…?!”

Makoto recoiled at the announcement of Junko’s death, still not coming to terms with it. Kiyondo also stiffened, although for a different reason.

“You don’t have to rub it in Mac’s face y’know!” Kiyondo yelled. “You’re a fudgin’ buttface right now!”

“H-huh…?” Hifumi squealed. “I’m not rubbing anything into Mr. Naegi’s face!”

“Guys,” Makoto interjected. “Can we just start investigating…?”

Kiyondo immediately stopped whatever he was about to say, nodding quickly before responding, “Of fudgin’ course, Mac!”

“Makoto,” Kyoko said, looking away from Junko’s body. “Perhaps you should look at the Monokuma file first.”

Makoto frowned, taking one more glance at Junko’s body. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

Kyoko stared at him, frowning ever so slightly. “Call me if you find anything useful in it.”

Makoto nodded before he turned around and took a glance at the Monokuma file.

“It doesn’t say her cause of death,” Makoto mumbled, staring at the Monokuma file. “Although it does say she has a cut on her right arm.”

“What do ya think that means, Mac?” Kiyondo asked, looking over his shoulder.

“No clue,” Makoto admitted. “But it has to have some importance if Monokuma pointed it out.”

“Yeah,” Kiyondo agreed. “But what the heck could that fudgin’ cut even mean?”

“Maybe it was a sign of struggle?” Makoto said, turning the Monokuma file off. “But we won’t find anything else out without investigating this place.”

“Then let’s get to it, Mac!”

Makoto and Kiyondo made their way to Junko’s dead body. Kyoko was looking over the corpse with a strange look on her face.

“That’s odd,” Kyoko mumbled to herself, staring at Junko’s hair.

“Kyoko?” Makoto asked. “Is there something wrong with Junko?”

Kyoko turned around, “Has Junko ever mentioned something about her hair?”

“Huh…?” Makoto asked, looking up at Junko’s hair. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“Her hair,” Kyoko said as she reached up to grab one of Junko’s twin tails before pulling it all off, “is a wig.”

Junko’s natural hair was a short black bob and both Makoto and Kiyondo were shocked into silence.

“She was wearin’ a fudgin’ wig this whole time…?!” Kiyondo finally yelled, staring at Junko’s body in shock.

“That isn’t the only thing fake about her,” Kyoko said. “Her nails are also glue-on instead of a manicure.”

“I mean… at least that makes a little sense,” Makoto said, shaking himself out of his stupor. “Manicures are hard to maintain right…?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Kyoko responded. “But other than an injury on her right arm her body seems to be in perfect shape.”

“Speaking of that cut…” Makoto began, looking at Junko’s body. “There’s no cause of death mentioned, but the cut is. Could that be her cause of death?”

“No,” Kyoko said quickly. “There wouldn’t have been enough blood loss caused by this cut. Whatever killed her didn’t leave a mark on her body.”

“Then what the fudge is the cut for?” Kiyondo asked. “If it didn’t do her in, what the heck is the point?”

“I don’t know,” Kyoko admitted. “But I do believe that her arm was cut after the murder rather than before.”

“Huh…?” Makoto asked. “What makes you say that?”

“Just a feeling.”

Before the three could talk more, the door opened once more and in came Byakuya with Toko trailing after him.

“Did none of you plebeians think to notify me of another body?” Byakuya asked, staring at the group in disgust.

“We assumed your ears were working,” Celeste replied. “We will not make the same mistake again.” “D-don’t insult Master like that,” Toko hissed behind Byakuya. “He has the b-best ears in the w-whole world…!”

“Oh Toko, I didn’t realize you were here,” Celeste said. “Why are you hiding behind Byakuya anyway?”

“I-I’m not hiding…!” Toko responded, peering out from behind Byakuya. Before she could say anything else, her eyes caught on Junko Enoshima’s dead body.

Then she fainted.

“H-huh…?!” Makoto yelled as Toko’s body hit the floor with a loud bump. “Did she just faint…?” “Tch,” Byakuya said. “Of course she would.”

“Interesting,” Celeste said. “I suppose she couldn’t handle this murder, no?”

“Miss Fukawa...!” Hifumi yelled. “Maybe that fall will teach her to appreciate manga!”

“Is that really all you can think of right now?” Sakura asked. “How shameful.”

“She can explain herself when she wakes up,” Byakuya said, glaring at Toko’s unconscious body. “For now I have investigating to do, so stay out of my way.”

“Is it really okay to leave her alone like that?” Makoto asked, staring at Toko worriedly.

“She’s gonna be fudgin’ fine, Mac.” Kiyondo said confidently. “But if there’s anything that rich buttface is right about, it is about investigating.”

”You’re right,” Makoto said, looking around the rec room. “There’s nothing else to do until she wakes up.”

“That’s the fudgin’ spirit, Mac!” Kiyondo cheered. “We’ll have this case solved in fudgin’ no time!”

Why does he keep calling me “Mac”...? Makoto thought. It’s kinda… annoying…

“Alright, so let’s look around the room,” Makoto said. “Anything that catches our eyes is probably important.”

Makoto and Kiyondo decided to look at Junko’s body once again. The sooner they got it over with the better.

“Of course the model would be unnatural,” Byakuya muttered, looking over Junko’s body with disgust.

“Hey…!” Makoto said, glaring up at Byakuya. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m talking about her wig and nails,” Byakuya said. “It should’ve been obvious that the ‘Ultimate Fashionista’ was fake from the very beginning.”

“There’s no fudgin’ reason for you to judge her just because of her fashion choices!” Kiyondo yelled. “She still tried harder than you did, anyway.”

“Tch,” Byakuya said, finally looking down to sneer at Kiyondo and Makoto. “I thought you didn’t like Junko anyway, pleb.”

“Just because she was fudgin’ annoying doesn’t mean she didn’t work for her talent,” Kiyondo said, defending himself. “You’ve got everything handed to you on a silver fudgin’ platter.”

“You absolute idiot of a commoner, you don’t even understand half of what I went through to get my title as the Togami heir,” Byakuya began, face contorting in anger. “I was born-”

“Byakuya,” Makoto interrupted, “I’m sure what you have to say is important… but we kind of have a murder to solve.” “Tch,” Byakuya said, looking away. “It’s not like you idiots would understand anyway.”

Makoto frowned, taking his gaze off of Byakuya and turning it to Junko’s dead body. Seeing her without a wig and a few of her nails was odd.

But he wasn’t sure he disliked how the real Junko looked.

Well, it wasn’t like it mattered anymore.

She was dead, no matter what she looked like.

I’m sorry Junko, Makoto thought. I’ll get to the bottom of this for you!

“Come on Mac, cheer up!” Kiyondo yelled, startling Makoto out of his thoughts. “The sooner we get to the fudgin’ bottom of this, the better!”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Makoto agreed, trying to summon some of his usual enthusiasm.

“Hey.. speaking of things that we need to get to the bottom of,” Makoto said looking up at Junko’s corpse. “She’s hanging… by some sort of rope, right?”

“Actually I’d bet that they’re holiday lights or whatever the heck,” Kiyondo said. “They definitely look just as obnoxious.”

“You’re right…” Makoto muttered. “They kinda look like the christmas lights the stores would sell in bulk.”

“I wonder why she’s hung up like this though,” Kiyondo said, softer than his normal tone. “It’s weird as all heck.”

“Maybe it has something to do with Genocide’s Jack MO…” Makoto said. “Although I wouldn’t know much about it…”

“Well, it’s probably worth fudgin’ remembering.”

Makoto nodded, staring at the holiday lights for a moment longer.

The bright colors of the holiday lights made Makoto feel sick. Holiday cheer was far from Makoto’s mind as Junko’s corpse hung weakly above.

Makoto couldn’t focus on Junko for too long. He didn’t want to get distracted.

“Alright,” Makoto said weakly. “Maybe we should check on what she’s hanging from…?”

“Good fudgin’ idea, Mac!”

Makoto and Kiyondo went to different sides, Makoto went to the side where Junko’s body was hanging from the Dart Board Arcade Machine.

Whoever hung her up took great care to make sure the holiday lights wouldn’t untie.

At least Makoto could confirm that it was done by an expert.

Not that it made him feel any better.

“Hey, Mac, I think you should come see this!” Kiyondo yelled and Makoto quickly rushed to Kiyondo.

“Huh…?” Makoto asked, looking to where Kiyondo was gesturing.

Embedded into the wall was a knife, although Makoto couldn’t see all the blade fully he noticed some ridges in the blade.

“Is this a knife from a kitchen…?” Makoto asked, tilting his head confusedly.

“No you fudgin’ idiot, it’s a hunting knife,” Kiyondo corrected, staring at the knife intensely. “Why the fudge would one of these damn things be here, it’s unsafe as heck!”

“Where would someone even get one…?” Makoto asked. “It’s not like anyone would be hunting right…?”

“Maybe the fudgin’ Mastermind gave it to ‘em,” Kiyondo suggested. “They’d probably help any friggin’ criminal activity…!”

“I don’t know…” Makoto mumbled. “Would the Mastermind give a weapon that didn’t even get used?”

“Fudge, that is a good point, Mac,” Kiyondo said. “But where the heck did they get this damn knife then?!”

“Hm…” Makoto said, putting his hand on his chin. “We can’t be sure, but we should keep this in mind.”

“Yeah, you’re probably fudgin’ right.” Kiyondo said. “So, any other places to check?” “We should just look around the room,” Makoto suggested. “It’d probably be better if we split up, as well.”

“Alright Mac, but as soon as you fudgin’ find anything you better call for me!” Kiyondo commanded. “I’ll do the same for you, got it?!”

“Alright…” Makoto said, putting his hand on his cheek to scratch it.

I guess all of Taka isn’t gone yet, huh…? Makoto thought.

Makoto wandered to where Sakura and Hifumi were standing, seemingly standing guard.

“Hey, Hifumi…?” Makoto began, causing said male to turn over to him.

“Ah, Mr. Naegi!” Hifumi said loudly. “Do you have any questions for me?” “Yeah,” Makoto said, “do you have any information about the blackened?”

“Well of course,” Hifumi said, voice going deeper. “They are a murderous fiend! A serial killer killing such a lady like Miss. Enoshima…”

Before Makoto could say anything else, Hifumi quickly corrected himself. “Not that I’m into 3D or anything, Mr. Naegi!”

So… he doesn’t have anything to say... Makoto thought.

“Sakura…” Makoto began. “Do you have any information about the blackened?”

“Perhaps not about the blackened themselves,” Sakura said. “But I do have information on Junko, or at least how she had been acting before her murder.”

“H-huh…? Junko acting weird…?” Makoto said, excited to hear anything about Junko. “Could you tell me anything about her behavior?”

“She seemed very nervous,” Sakura said, beginning to explain. “She came to me for advice before telling me that it wasn’t that important.”

“She came to you for advice…?” Makoto asked. “When did that happen?”

“Perhaps a day or so after the last class trial,” Sakura said. “Perhaps she thought it was too inconsiderate considering the events…”

That’s right, Makoto thought. Sakura was close to Hina… right?

“I’m sorry about Hina,” Makoto said. “And thanks for the information Sakura.”

“Don’t mention it,” Sakura said simply.

“Hey, Mac!” Kiyondo yelled, causing Makoto to turn his head over to where Kiyondo was in the rec room. “There’s another fudgin’ thing you need to see over here!”

Makoto made his way to where Kiyondo was standing only to be stopped by Kiyondo’s hand.

“You have to be fudgin’ careful where you stand, Mac,” Kiyondo said. “There’s glass shards from a teacup over here, so you better be friggin’ careful.”

“A teacup…?” Makoto asked, staring at the remains of said teacup. “Why would this be here…?”

“Someone was obviously fudgin’ drinking here, Mac,” Kiyondo said. “It’s obvious as heck you dumbbutt…!”

Yeah, I know that, Makoto thought. I mean, what’s the importance of it being here…?

“I mean,” Makoto said, beginning to explain himself. “Why would-”

Before Makoto could continue, a low groaning noise was heard. When Makoto looked over, he could see that Toko was trying to make her way back up.

“Toko…?” Makoto asked, starting to make his way to where she was. “Are you alright?”

“Huh…? Some random stranger...?” Toko asked, staring at Makoto with her tongue out. “Why are you here and what’s it to ya?”

“You just passed out,” Makoto said. “Are you sure you’re alright…?”

“Well, aren’t you just the shining example of a gentleman, ?” Toko asked. “Oh it makes me just feel like a woman!”

“I hate to interrupt this conversation,” Celeste said coolly. “But I just heard an odd noise from the physics lab and it’s best to investigate that, no?”

“As long as it keeps me away from her,” Byakuya said, glaring at Toko’s direction. “Then I don’t see why I shouldn’t at least investigate it.”

“I see you are very keen on her,” Celeste joked. “But I am glad even you see the importance of investigating everything.”

“Tch,” Byakuya simply said, walking out of the room with long strides.

Kiyondo made his way to Makoto soon after Byakuya left, staring at Toko worriedly.

“We’ve gotta fudgin’ investigate that room, right?” Kiyondo asked. “But should we really leave her like this…?”

“I mean, we can take her with us,” Makoto said. “And then after we’ll take her to the nurse or something…?” “Good fudgin’ idea, Mac!”

“Hey, why are you talking about me like I’m not here…?!” Toko complained, crossing her arms. “That’s very rude of ya, y’know.”

“We’re not meanin’ to be fudgin’ mean you know!” Kiyondo said, glaring at Toko. “You’ve just been acting crazy as heck!”

“Well--!” Toko said, about to retaliate, only to be interrupted by Makoto.

“Hey guys…” Makoto said, putting his hands between them. “Maybe we should just investigate…”

“I guess you’re fudgin’ right, Mac,” Kiyondo said, still glaring at Toko. “Let’s just get this damn investigation over with.”

Makoto nodded, leading both Toko and Kiyondo into the hallway.

“Woah, is this Hope’s Peak?” Toko asked, eyes lighting up for a moment in a reddish-color. “Damn this place got a makeover!”

“We’ve been in Hope’s Peak for a while,” Makoto said. “Do you really not remember that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, average looking stranger?” Toko rebutted.

“Hey, don’t fudgin’ insult Mac’s looks!” Kiyondo barked, getting all fired up again.

“Woah, is this some real Boys’ Love?” Toko asked. “What are you going to do, defend your boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend…?! What the heck are you talking about?”

“It’s totally obvious you two have the hots for each other…!” Toko wheezed. “What an interesting pair-”

“We’re going in,” Makoto said, interrupting Toko before she could go on a tangent.

What’s gotten into her…? Makoto thought as he entered the physics lab. Did she really hit her head that hard?

When Makoto entered the room, he saw Yasuhiro on the floor with Celeste and Byakuya.

Another person dead…? Makoto thought. I can’t… why…? Why would this happen?

Makoto waited for the body discovery announcement to play, waited for hell to begin once more.

A drop, before someone spoke.

“Well I suppose he is not dead,” Celeste said. “After all, we haven’t heard the body discovery announcement, no?”

“Huh…?” Makoto mumbled. “You’re right…” “He couldn’t be fudgin’ sleeping here either,” Kiyondo said. “It’s against the damn rules!”

“Hohoh…? Hope’s Peak Academy has some strange rules.” Toko said.

“Tch,” Byakuya said. “Why did you bring her here?”

“We couldn’t just leave her…?” Makoto said, scratching his cheek.

Byakuya glared at him, but didn’t say anything else.

If looks could kill… Makoto thought. Jeez, that guy would have killed everyone by this point...

“So what are we going to do about Hiro…?” Makoto said, trying to ignore Byakuya’s glare. “I mean, we can’t just leave him here, right?”

“Does anyone find it odd that he’s knocked out here?” Celeste said, tilting her head slightly. “It’s a bit too close to the body, no?”

“We won’t be able to find out anything until he wakes the fudge up!” Kiyondo said.

“Tch,” Byakuya glared. “Do you have any ideas on how to wake this idiot up?”

“Maybe we could pour water on him…?” Makoto offered. “I think that’d wake him up.”

“Good idea, Mac!” Kiyondo said. “I’ll be right fudgin’ back with the water.”

Kiyondo quickly left the room without flat out running, leaving the room a lot more silent.

“He seemed very eager to fulfill your wishes Makoto,” Celeste noted, a slight smile on her face. “There isn’t something more going on between you two, no?”

“Something more going on…?” Makoto asked, scratching his cheek. “I… don’t know what you mean.”

“Of course you don’t,” Byakuya said. “You’re too stupid to catch onto any subtext.”

“Subtext…?” Makoto said. “I really don't understand this at all.”

“Oh,” Toko said, sneering slightly. “You’re the oblivious protagonist then?”

Before Makoto could express his confusion again, Kiyondo burst into the room with a bucket of water.

“Alright, let’s wake this child born of wedlock up before he breaks any more damn rules!” Kiyondo yelled, spilling some of the water in the process.

“If we’re going to wake him up, we’re going to actually need some water,” Byakuya sneered. “Unless you want to go grab another bucket.”

“Let’s not fight, everyone,” Celeste interrupted. “We must discover what brought Hiro here before we devolve into petty squabbling.”

“Fine,” Byakuya said, “but let’s make this quick.”

Kiyondo carefully came over to Yasuhiro, making sure not to spill any more water before he reached his target.

With little to no warning, Kiyondo poured the bucket of water all over Yasuhiro.

Everyone stared, waiting for a reaction.

There was none.

“Is he actually dead…?” Makoto asked, staring at Yasuhiro worriedly. “There’s no way he didn’t wake up due to that, right?”

“It seems that he’s immune to one bucket,” Celeste said. “Perhaps we should try another.”

“That’s the only fudgin’ course of action,” Kiyondo said. “I’ll be right back.”

Kiyondo was off again and the group decided to converse in the meantime.

“Why do you think he’s here?” Celeste asked. “It seems like an odd place to be, no?”

“In the room near the body?” Makoto asked. “Maybe the blackened disposed of him here?”

“Are we so sure he isn’t the blackened?” Celeste asked. “We cannot deny the possibility, no?”

“There’s no point in discussing this until the idiot wakes up,” Byakuya said. “So if you could keep your useless discussion to a minimum-”

Kiyondo burst into the room, or as well as he could with two buckets full of water in his hands.

“That fudgin’ dumbbutt isn’t going to be able to sleep through this!” Kiyondo yelled.

“How did you carry those two up without spilling…?” Makoto asked, moving out of Kiyondo’s way so as to not get hit with water.

“It’s obvious he’s super strong,” Toko said. “Doesn’t that get you all excited…?”

“Shut up,” Byakuya said before Makoto could even begin to question what she meant.

Kiyondo poured the second bucket of water on Yasuhiro. Unlike the first time, there was a bit of an effect.

“At least he twitched…?” Makoto offered, scratching at his cheek. “But this does seem to be a bit… pointless.”

“We’re not throwing the damn towel in yet!” Kiyondo yelled. “We’ve still got one more fudgin’ empty bucket and plenty more to fill up.”

“We don’t have the time for trying to wake this idiot up,” Byakuya said. “You get one more attempt before we just leave him here.”

“Well then this attempt I’ll be sure to fudgin’ wake him up!” Kiyondo yelled, all fired up.

Unlike his previous attempts of just dumping the bucket onto Yasuhiro, Kiyondo got into a more throwing like position.

When Kiyondo did throw the bucket, some of the contents did hit Yasuhiro.

Unfortunately, the majority of its’ contents happened to hit Byakuya.

“You idiot…!” Byakuya yelled, glaring at Kiyondo with more emotion than he had ever shown before. “I’ll have you know my outfit is worth more than your damn life!”

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have been in my damn way when I was trying to wake Hiro up!” Kiyondo said. “It’s not my fudgin’ fault you’re always trying to stand in the center of attention!”

“A Togami is always supposed to be center stage,” Byakuya hissed. “Although an Ishimaru like yourself would never understand.”

“I’m not a fudgin’ Ishimaru,” Kiyondo yelled, somehow rising in volume. “Don’t ever compare me to him!”

“Oh? You’re not an Ishimaru?” Byakuya asked. “Despite what you try to delude yourself into believing, you are still very much the failure that is named Kiyotaka Ishimaru.”

“Guys…” Makoto said, tone pleading. “Can we save this until after the class trial…?”

“Huh…?” Yasuhiro murmured, slowly waking up to the fight in front of him. “What are you guys all doing in my room…?”

“Shut up!” Both Kiyondo and Byakuya yelled, causing Yasuhiro to put his hands over his face.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Yasuhiro cried.

As Kiyondo and Byakuya continued their arguing, Makoto went over to the still shaking Yasuhiro.

“Hey, uh, Hiro, you do realize this isn’t your room, right?” Makoto said, staring worriedly at the man. “Do you know how you got here…?”

“Huh…? It isn’t?” Yasuhiro asked. “So you’re telling me that they didn’t break into my room and they aren’t going to kill me?” “Yeah,” Makoto said, scratching his cheek. “If they’re going to kill anyone… it’ll probably be each other.”

“Oh, well that’s reassuring!” Yasuhiro said, smiling brightly. “Although… that doesn’t explain why I’m all wet.”

“Well um, I was hoping you could explain at least something about this situation…” Makoto said. “Currently, it doesn’t really make sense why you’re here.”

“Ask away, Makoto!”

“So, why did you come to the Physics Lab?”

“That’s easy…!” Yasuhiro said, pausing for a moment. “I’m… pretty sure I got a note.”

“A note?” Makoto asked. “What did the note say?”

“It was just telling me to meet someone in the Physics Lab early in the morning,” Yasuhiro said. “Weird, huh?”

“Do you still have the note with you?”

“Huh…? Let me check.” Yasuhiro said, padding his wet clothes for any note. After a minute he seems satisfied with the results of his search.

“Sorry Makoto, seems like it’s gone now.” Yasuhiro said. “It’s not like it was important right…?”

“About that…” Makoto said, trailing off. “There’s been another murder and… that note could’ve been important.”

“Another murder…?!” Yasuhiro yelled. “Don’t tell me you did it, Makoto!”

“Huh…?! No way!” Makoto said. “I’m just… trying to figure out how you got here.”

“Oh yeah, I never finished the story, did I?” Yasuhiro said. “So after I came here, I must’ve got hit with something because I don’t remember anything afterwards!”

“Someone… hit you?!” Makoto said, practically yelling. “And you didn’t think to mention this at all?”

“I was getting to it eventually!” Yasuhiro said, scratching at his nose. “You can’t rush a story, Makoto.”

“That’s a pretty important detail to mention, Hiro!”

“You still haven’t even explained why I’m all wet!”

“That’s because Kiyondo splashed you with water to wake you up…” Makoto said, scratching his cheek.

Just ignore that it took three buckets and an angry Byakuya, Makoto thought. But at least Hiro is up…?

“Ah Yasuhiro,” Celeste said, walking up to Makoto and Yasuhiro. “It is good to see you back up, yes?”

“Yeah… but apparently I’ve missed a lot, huh?” Yasuhiro asked, scratching his head. “Apparently there’s been a whole murder.”

“You don’t seem very shocked by this revelation,” Celeste noted. “Could you have already known?” “Hey… are you implying…” Makoto said, as Celeste smiled innocently at him.

“Like I said before, we cannot ignore that this is very suspicious,” Celeste said. “Perhaps if he could give us a reason to trust him then I’d be less suspicious.”

“Hey, don’t be mean…!” Yasuhiro said. “There’s no way I could murder anyone!”

“That is what we thought about the last two blackeneds,” Celeste said. “It turns out we were sorely mistaken, no?”

Makoto frowned. Although he didn’t want to be suspicious of Yasuhiro, Celeste wasn’t exactly wrong.

He’s claiming something that we can’t exactly prove… Makoto thought. But is he smart enough to come up with a plan like that?

“We’ll get to the bottom of this in no time,” Makoto said, finally. “If Yasuhiro really is the blackened we’ll figure that out.”

“Oh…?�� Celeste said. “You truly do not believe he is the blackened then?”

“I’m not sure…” Makoto admitted. “But we shouldn’t distrust him until we have more evidence.”

“Thanks, Makoto!” Yasuhiro said. “I’ll make sure to prove myself innocent!”

I think the blackened would especially want to prove themselves innocent, Hiro, Makoto thought. But it’s the thought that counts, right?

“Are you fudgin’ done here, Mac?” Kiyondo asked. “That rich son of a gun is too fudgin’ annoying to stay here any longer.”

“Plus, we still have to take Toko to the nurse’s office since she’s acting like a fudgin’ freak.”

“Oh yeah,” Makoto said. “I don’t think there’s anything else here, no.”

“Then let’s fudgin’ go!” Kiyondo yelled, grabbing Makoto and dragging him over to Toko.

“Ooh, getting handsy with your boyfriend huh…?” Toko asked. “This is getting so X-rated…!”

“Shut up, you’re coming with us you fudgin’ freak,” Kiyondo said, as he dragged Makoto out of the physics lab.

Surprisingly, Toko followed, murmuring something about ‘Boy’s Love in live-action’.

“Kiyondo, why are you dragging me?!” Makoto complained. “I can walk on my own you know…!”

“That fudgin’ rich brat, who does he think he is?!” Kiyondo fumed, ignoring Makoto entirely. “Think that he's so high and mighty and so much fudgin’ better for you!”

“Better for me…? Kiyondo, what’s going on?!”

“Ooh, so the white haired one gets super jealous, huh…?” Toko drooled. “Interesting, very interesting.”

With Kiyondo fuming and Toko drooling, Makoto was very confused as the three of them made their way to the nurse’s office.

Finally able to detach himself from Kiyondo’s vice grip, Makoto looked at the nurse’s office warily.

What are we supposed to treat Toko with…? Makoto thought. We can’t exactly cure her new-found behavior with an ice pack, right?

“Um, Toko,” Makoto began, “do you have a headache or anything…?”

“A headache…? How could I have a headache with some real Boy’s Love happening right in front of me…?” Toko responded. “I’m a real connoisseur of that, y’know.”

“Yeah, right…” Makoto said.

This situation couldn’t get any worse, Makoto thought. Or… at least I hope it can’t.

“Well, since we have no clue what the heck is wrong with you,” Kiyondo said, walking over to the refrigerator. “We’re just gonna give you a fudgin’ ice pack.”

Kiyondo opened the refrigerator and quickly grabbed an ice pack. He examined it for any holes before walking it back to Toko.

“Well, that’s all we fudgin’ came here for, right?” Kiyondo asked. “We can leave this damn place, right?”

“I’m not so sure…” Makoto said, looking over the room. “Since we’re investigating, shouldn’t we just investigate this room to be safe?”

“That’s right, Mac!” Kiyondo yelled. “We’re still investigating a murder so we should take every fudgin’ precaution known to man!”

“Am I supposed to help you with your investigation?” Toko asked, looking particularly dead. “Because that’s like super lame.”

“No, you should just work on getting better…” Makoto said.

Makoto went to the left side of the room, examining the beds to see if anything was hidden.

Kiyondo’s side bid a bit more usefulness as he was quick to call Makoto over.

“Hey Mac, there’s something odd you need to see over here.” Kiyondo said, staring at an opened gray cabinet.

“Huh…? What do you mean?” Makoto asked, making his way over to where Kiyondo was standing.

The gray cabinet in and of itself was usually ordinary, although Makoto couldn’t be completely sure about that as he was only in the office once.

“It’s just an ordinary cabinet…?” Makoto asked, tilting his head to try to see better. “I don’t see anything too weird about it.”

“No you fudgin’ dumbbutt you have to look inside the cabinet,” Kiyondo said, reaching inside and pulling out a mallet. “This dangerous thing was just lurking inside waiting to wack another fudgin’ innocent victim!”

“Another victim…?” Makoto asked. “What do you mean?”

“Damn Mac, you really need to learn to pay attention!” Kiyondo scolded. “There’s a bit of fudgin’ blood on the mallet, you damn dumbbutt!”

“H-huh…?” Makoto said, grabbing the mallet from Kiyondo and putting up to his eye.

Sure enough there was a bit of blood on the mallet, but from where…? “Hey, I hate to break your precious moment, but…” Toko interrupted in a sing-songy voice. “Can I just go to my room and rest there, it’s getting super boring just waiting here!”

“Oh yeah, right,” Makoto said. “You should probably rest before the class trial.”

After one more quick-glance around the nurse’s office the trio left to bring Toko back to her room to rest.

Hopefully she can just sleep off whatever happened to her, Makoto thought. Although something tells me I shouldn’t get my hopes up that much…

Once the trio made their way back to the dorms, Toko cheerfully entered her room.

“Remember, don’t kiss without me watching,” Toko said, smiling. “Or else I’ll have to punish you two, alright?”

“K-kiss…?!” Makoto stuttered. “I don’t-”

“Don’t fudgin’ tease us like that!” Kiyondo said, interrupting Makoto.

“Ugh,” a familiar voice groaned, and Makoto could already feel the glare piercing through his head. “What are you two doing here?”

Makoto turned around to meet Byakuya’s glare, smiling politely at him. “We just came here to drop off Toko.”

“Tch,” Byakuya sneered. “Why do you waste time with that shut-in?”

“Because Mac doesn’t fudgin’ judge people like you do, rich brat!” Kiyondo yelled, glaring daggers at Byakuya.

“Shut up,” Byakuya said. “We had this argument before and I won’t bother with it again.”

“Since I found you here anyway Makoto,” Byakyua continued, ignoring Kiyondo’s glare. “There’s something I need to show you, I believe it to be pertinent to the class trial.”

“‘Something important’...?” Makoto echoed. “What do you mean?”

“I’d rather show you alone, Makoto,” Byakuya said, glaring at Kiyondo.

“There’s no fudgin’ way I’m leaving you alone with Mac!” Kiyondo hissed. “Not after what you fudgin’ said to me.”

“Of course you would be so narrow minded,” Byakuya said. “But if you’re going to insist, you might as well come to.”

“Where are we going, exactly…?” Makoto asked, scratching his cheek.

“To the library’s archive, obviously,” Byakyuya said, turning heel and walking towards the second floor’s stairs.

“I guess we should follow him, then?” Makoto asked Kiyondo.

“Be on your fudgin’ guard, Mac.” is all Kiyondo responded with.

As the two followed Byakuya with a careful distance to the library, Makoto could practically feel the tension strangle him.

That fight that they had… what could it have been about…? Makoto thought. And why are they still so angry about it…?

“Before we go into the archive,” Byakuya began suddenly, “be careful with these documents, they’re worth more than your lives.”

“A-alright…” Makoto said, scratching his cheek for comfort.

“Just shut the fudge up and show us what you wanted to show us,” Kiyondo yelled.

Byakuya glared, but surprisingly bit down any rebuttal he had. Leading both Makoto and Kiyondo into the archive, he closed the door behind them.

“You both know of the serial killer Genocide Jack, correct?” Byakuya asked as he grabbed a document.

“Of course,” Makoto answered. “Even if you ignore the fact that they might be the blackened… their murders were a big thing.”

“Well, the school’s archive has the case file for Genocide Jack’s murders,” Byakuya said, dropping a large file in front of Makoto and Kiyondo. “I however have already read these files since the Togami-”

“Yeah yeah, we fudgin’ get it,” Kiyondo interrupted. “Come on Mac, let’s just read these damn files already.”

Makoto nodded, opening the large case file.

If Makoto had seen the images of Jack’s victims earlier he probably would’ve been disgusted. But now, four murders in, he could barely feel anything at all.

The case file talked about the victims Ken Harada, Tetsuhiro Honda and Shoji Gaku. All of them died in similar fashions.

Along with the victims, the case file also speculated that the killer was a high school student suffering from a split personality.

“That’s… a lot to take in,” Makoto said. “I guess we’re dealing with an experienced killer, huh?”

“Don’t fudgin’ worry, Mac!” Kiyondo said. “We’ll figure this out in no time!”

“Tch,” Byakuya said. “Your optimism is naïve at best.”

“Shut the fudge up!” Kiyondo yelled. “You can’t fudgin’ buy your way out of this.”

“I already know who the blackened is,” Byakuya said, smirking as he grabbed the case file. “But of course you two idiots haven’t figured it out yet.”

“H-huh…?! You know who the blackened is?!” Makoto yelled.

“H-he’s probably just bluffing, you know like the hecking dumbbutt he is…!”

“You can believe what you want to believe,” Byakuya said. “Now get out of my sight, I have nothing more to share with you.”

Makoto didn’t want to argue so before Kiyondo and Byakuya could begin to act on the tension that was growing in the room, Makoto grabbed Kiyondo and pulled him out to the hall.

“Mac, what the heck did you do that for?!” Kiyondo complained. “I was just about to put that rich brat in his damned place!”

“You can’t just keep fighting with him,” Makoto said, trying to stress the importance of keeping the peace.

Before Makoto could begin to scold Kiyondo for his behavior, much like Kiyotaka would ironically, the school’s speakers flared to life.

“A-hem!” Monokuma’s grating voice began, and although Makoto couldn’t see the bear smiling, it was obvious he was. “The investigation period is now over! If all my lovely students could head on to the elevator to begin the class trial, that would be very appreciated!”

“And by appreciated I mean required!” Monokuma added. “Ta-ta!”

“I guess it’s time to figure out who killed… Junko…” Makoto muttered, suddenly reminded about this trial’s victim.

“You’ll get justice for her, I promise you that, Mac!” Kiyondo said, smiling.

I want to believe you, Kiyondo, Makoto thought. But… justice won’t bring her back, will it?

Kiyondo and Makoto made their way to the class trial elevator, everyone except Byakuya and Toko were there waiting.

“I suppose this class trial will be pretty cut and dry, no?” Celeste asked the group as she looked at her nails. “This blackened practically handed it to us.”

“Are you really so sure of that?” Kyoko asked. “Very little is as it seems in this school.”

“Ah, Kyoko,” Celeste said smiling. “Isn’t it better to be positive about this sort of thing?”

“I have to agree with Miss. Ludenberg!” Hifumi said, pumping his hand up. “The way she explained things made it very clear.”

“So you two have been discussing this case then?” Sakura asked.

“Is that so wrong?” Celeste asked. “I did want to get a second opinion before I made any theories.”

“No,” Sakura said. “It was just a question.”

After a short period of silence, Byakuya entered the elevator.

“When is this elevator going to begin moving?” Byakuya complained. “I don’t have all day.”

“We’re all on the same schedule, are we not?” Celeste asked. “I do not know why you are complaining.”

“I’m glad you’re all worried about the class trial starting on time!” Monokuma cheered, appearing out of nowhere. “Worry no longer, because this elevator is starting to move down now!”

Before anyone could tell the bear that Toko was missing the elevator’s doors closed and began its slow descent downwards.

Is anyone going to tell Monokuma…? Makoto thought. I wonder if she can just get away with skipping the class trial.

And… if she can, then maybe I should’ve tried to skip this class trial too.

Once the elevator arrived at the class trial ground, each student went to their respective podium.

“Oh, it seems like someone’s being naughty!” Monokuma announced from his chair. “Which one of you brats is skipping the class trial…?!”

“That would be Toko,” Byakuya informed him easily. “If you could just kill her and be over it.”

“Oh? You are so quick to get rid of her over being tardy?” Celeste asked, raising an eyebrow. “How curious.” “I’d get rid of her for much less if possible,” Byakuya replied evenly. “But this is a way to keep my hands clean of her disgusting blood.” “I’ve got bad news, Byakuya!” Monokuma said, not sounding even the slightest bit sad. “All I’ll do is drag her down here, kicking and screaming if I must!”

“Um… about that,” Makoto said. “She was acting a bit weird before the class trial, I don’t know if she’d come willing with you or not.”

“She was acting weird, you say?” Monokuma asked, tilting his head. “Interesting, very interesting…”

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about her behavior would you, Monokuma?” Kyoko asked, crossing her arms and glaring at the bear.

“Oh me…?” Monokuma asked. “In this case I’m bear-y innocent…!”

“Monokuma,” Sakura said. “If you could just get Toko and start this trial, that would be very appreciated.”

“Fine, fine!” Monokuma said. “Please be patient while I grab your beloved classmate Toko Fukawa!”

In a moment he was gone again, leaving the room in an awkward sort of silence.

“So what do you all fudgin’ think about this case?” Kiyondo’s voice cut through the tension.

“This case seems cut and dry,” Sakura said. “Because of that we should be worried about its actual complexity.”

“Oh?” Celeste said. “I am sure that the real blackened will be revealed as soon as we actually discuss this case.”

“I agree whole-heartedly with Miss. Ludenberg!” Hifumi added.

“Tch,” Byakuya sneered. “As much as I hate to agree with commoners, this case should easily be solved, even by imbeciles like yourselves.”

“Hey, don’t fudgin’ insult us!” Kiyondo hissed, quick to anger.

“Um… maybe it’s just his weird way of complimenting us…?” Makoto said, trying to ease the tension. Although if he was being honest, he didn’t really believe what he was saying.

“Maybe we should just wait for the trial to start,” Kyoko suggested. “We won’t learn anything until we discuss everything thoroughly.”

“Yeah, but before we begin I just need to clear the air,” Yasuhiro began. “I am 100% not the blackened!”

“Oh…?” Celeste said. “Why are you so defensive about that?”

“Why shouldn’t I be…?!” Yasuhiro said. “I don’t want to die, I’m too young to become a ghost!”

“Guys… maybe we should listen to Kyoko and wait for the class trial to begin,” Makoto said. “Nothing good will come from throwing accusations at each other right now.”

“Exactly,” Kyoko said. “Arguing right now won’t achieve anything.”

“We shouldn’t doubt each other until given reason,” Sakura added. “That is our best course of action.”

“You fudgin’ hear that?!” Kiyondo yelled. “No accusing until the fudgin’ trial starts!”

The silence in the room grew once again, and this time no one attempted to break it.

“I-I don’t want to be here, you s-stupid bear!” Toko yelled as the elevator door opened. “Y-you really don’t understand…!”

“And you don’t understand that you don’t get a choice!” Monokuma responded, sounding somewhat exasperated. “I’m the one calling the shots around here, in case you forgot!”

Toko and Monokuma made their way to their respective areas, albeit Toko a little bit more reluctantly and Makoto couldn’t help but feel a bit of dread.

He didn’t want anymore people to die.

He didn’t want to accept that Junko was dead either.

“Now, let the class trial begin!” Monokuma announced.

“Now I have a question for everyone here,” Celeste began easily. “Are we so sure that that this ‘Genocide Jack’ committed this murder?”

“Huh…? What do you mean?” Makoto asked.

“I mean, how can we be so sure that this isn’t a copycat?” Celeste asked. “Afterall, any of us could’ve easily faked the crime scene to frame the infamous serial killer, no?”

“That certainly is a possibility,” Kyoko said. “We all knew about Genocide Jack especially since they were in the news a few days before we entered Hope’s Peak Academy.”

“Genocide Jack was unavoidable,” Hifumi complained. “I tried to watch a new anime and when I first searched it up all I could find were news articles about Genocide Jack!”

What exactly were you trying to watch that Genocide Jack would show up…? Makoto thought. I don’t think most normal animes would even be slightly related to Genocide Jack…

“Tch,” Byakuya said. “Trivial things such as that shouldn’t even be mentioned here.”

“W-why are we talking about Genocide J-jack so much anyways…?” Toko muttered. “It w-wasn’t them, they aren’t even here…!”

“There’s at least a 30% chance that Genocide Jack showed up in one my readings before I entered Hope’s Peak!” Yasuhiro added.

“Hina mentioned it to me a few times…” Sakura said. “She said she was worried about the outside world with a serial killer running rampant.”

“See, Makoto?” Celeste said. “Everything about Genocide Jack was public knowledge.”

“No, that’s wrong!” Makoto yelled, earning a slight grimace from Celeste. “The blackened knew the exact way Genocide Jack hung the bodies, which wasn’t public information.”

“Oh?” Celeste said, mouth opening in shock. “And how do you know this, Makoto?”

“It’s in the case file located in the archive,” Makoto clarified.

“So it would be totally possible for anyone to access the file, would it not?”

“I mean, I guess…?” Makoto said, scratching at his cheek.

“So, you cannot deny the possibility that the blackened could’ve just read the case file, no?”

“We aren’t going to get anywhere with ‘what-ifs’ about the blackened,” Kyoko said. “I suppose you have an idea on who the blackened might be, Celeste?”

“I do, yes,” Celeste admitted. “I think Hiro is the most suspicious out of all of us.”

“H-huh…?!” Yasuhiro yelled. “How am I the blackened…?!”

“You’re the only one in the most suspicious location,” Celeste explained. “In a room near the rec room without a proper explanation.”

“You’re the suspicious one!” Yasuhiro yelled, pointing his finger at Celeste. “You’re just spouting that accusation without any proof!”

“You claimed to be knocked out but there is no proof that anyone actually did that to you,” Celeste continued. “Unless you can somehow prove that you were knocked out, you have no reason for being there whatsoever.”

“Well actually,” Makoto countered. “Kiyondo and I were in the nurse’s office and we found a mallet with a bit of blood on it.”

“What would something like that be doing in the nurse’s office?” Sakura asked.

“The blackened probably fudgin’ stored it in there after they hit Hiro!” Kiyondo explained loudly.

“That would make logical sense,” Sakura said. “Although it is an odd place to hide a weapon such as that.”

“Assuming that Hiro didn’t do it himself,” Celeste cut in. ”You must admit that the possibility isn’t completely unfounded.”

“And how would you explain that?” Sakura said, crossing her arms. “I understand having a reasonable doubt against Hiro’s story but this seems much more.”

“We know that the nurse’s office stores blood bags, correct?” Celeste said. “Who is to say he didn’t just use the blood from there?”

“That’d be a smart fudgin’ accusation,” Kiyondo said. “If it wasn’t Hiro you were accusing.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“He’s a fudgin’ dumbbutt,” Kiyondo said easily. “You could give him a damn instruction manual on how to get away with murder and he’d still fudgin’ mess it up.”

“Aw thanks, I think…?” Yasuhiro said, smiling brightly.

That was obviously an insult… Makoto thought. How did he not get that…?

“Then what is another theory we can follow?” Sakura asked. “We must discuss something productive.”

“We could let Miss. Ludenberg explain her theory in more detail!” Hifumi offered up. “I’m sure you would all believe her if she explained it to you clearly!”

“Tch,” Byakuya sneered. “Don’t make us go through that waste of time.”

“It’s the only reasonable explanation we’ve seen so far,” Kyoko said. “Unless you have something else to offer up.”

“Of course I do,” Byakuya said. “I already know who the blackened is.”

“You said that before,” Makoto said. “But do you really…?”

“I mean obviously he does,” Yasuhiro said. “The blackened is Genocide Jack! Everyone knows that, Makoto!”

“Of course we all know that the blackened is Genocide Jack,” Byakuya said. “But I know Genocide’s Jack real identity.”

“O-oh…?” Celeste asked. “So it is true that the infamous serial killer is among us, then?”

“Yes,” Byakuya confirms. “Although I’d rather not force the serial killer to reveal, I will if I must.”

“You fudgin’ think a stone-hearted killer would just reveal themself that easily…?!” Kiyondo yelled. “You must be dumber than a bag of rocks!”

“Shut up,” Byakuya glared. “Your voice is grating.”

“Why do you think Genocide Jack will reveal themselves?” Makoto asked. “I don’t think they’d want to be executed…”

“Do you really not remember the file?” Byakuya asked. “You commoners must have worse memories than I realized.”

“Makoto,” Kyoko said, ignoring Byakuya. “You mentioned the Genocide Jack file, but I don’t believe everyone here has read it. Could you perhaps inform us about what it mentioned about Genocide Jack?”

“Huh…?” Makoto said. “Oh sure.”

“The victims the case file mentioned were Ken Harada, Tesuhiro Honda and Shoji Gaku,” Makoto began. “They were each killed in a similar manner and attached to the wall via their injuries…”

“Get to the important information, Makoto,” Byakuya said.

“The police believed that Genocide Jack was a student suffering from a split personality due to their frantic getaways and the schedule of the murders.”

“A student…” Kyoko muttered. “Coincidentally we are all students, so that at least is a possibility.”

“Of course you’re all students!” Monokuma said, interrupting. “And Daddy Monokuma loves you all very much even if some of you are serial killers and others have the tendency to state the obvious.”

“Disgusting,” Kyoko said, shuddering slightly.

“Stop talking,” Byakuya said. “Don’t even imagine that we are even slightly related.”

“Ignoring Monokuma,” Sakura said. “How are we supposed to find Genocide Jack. We shouldn’t expect them to reveal themselves.”

“They already have,” Byakuya said. “They told me who they were when we received the second motive.”

“H-huh…?!” Makoto yelled. “Genocide Jack revealed themselves to you?!”

“Someone fudgin’ trusted you enough to tell you their motive?!” Kiyondo yelled, equally as surprised.

“And you didn’t share this with us because...?” Celeste asked. “Knowing a serial killer was among us would’ve been good information to have earlier.”

“I don’t care about your survival,” Byakuya said. “However, they promised me they wouldn’t kill anyone so I felt no need to tell anyone about their identity.”

“Ah,” Kyoko said. “That is what that mirror meant then?”

“W-wait… you went through everyone’s m-mirrors?!” Toko yelled, completely scandalized.

“H-hey…! I had private information kept on there!” Yasuhiro yelled soon after Toko.

“They were there for anyone to see,” Kyoko said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “There was no reason not to look.”

“You shouldn’t believe what my mirror stated,” Celeste said, more sweeter than usual. “The bear was seemingly wrong with that stupid mirror.”

“Oh…?! You’re accusing your father of getting your own-” Monokuma began.

“Shut up, you stupid bear,” Celeste hissed, face contorting in anger.

“Ignoring everyone else’s motives,” Kyoko continued smoothly. “There was one motive I couldn’t truly understand, up until now that is.”

“T-those were private even if they were p-public,” Toko hissed. “Don’t you have a-any respect for privacy…?!” “Why are you getting so defensive?” Sakura asked. “All of our motives were seen and you seem to be the only one truly bothered.”

“Yeah, my motive was sort of embarrassing but nothing I really needed to hide,” Makoto said, scratching his cheek. “Although I’d rather Kyoko not share it…”

“I already told you,” Kyoko began. “My motive is also just as embarrassing if not more.”

“So… can we just have Genocide Jack be revealed to us?” Yasuhiro asked. “Because after that it’s over and we win, right?”

“That does seem to be the only conclusion,” Celeste said, slipping back into her mask.

“Genocide Jack, if you reveal yourself you probably won’t fudgin’ be judged as much!” Kiyondo declared.

“I don’t think they fear being judged…” Makoto said. “They don’t want to die, or at least they probably don’t.”

“They still committed this murder,” Byakuya said. “So I have no reason to keep their identity.”

“Did they really…?” Makoto asked. “I mean the file mentioned that the police thought they suffered from another personality, right?”

“And, your point?” Byakuya asked. “A person is still dead, a person you were friends with no less.”

“I know…” Makoto said, looking down at his podium. “But is it really right to judge a person for something they couldn’t control…?”

“That does bring up a slight problem in the rules,” Kyoko said. “If Genocide Jack comitted the murder, should the non-murdering personality be punished for the same crime?”

“Puhuhuhu! That does bring up a good point!” Monokuma said. “But Daddy Monokuma has it all figured out, don’t you worry my sweet little Kyoko!”

“Don’t call me that,” Kyoko said, looking away. “I suppose we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it, then.”

“Now, if you’re done with the moral aspect of it all,” Byakuya glared. “I think it’s finally time to reveal Genocide Jack.”

“Wouldn’t you agree, Toko?”

“H-huh…?! Are you r-really accusing me, M-master…?” Toko asked, biting at her nails.

“He isn't lying,” Kyoko confirmed. “Genocide Jack’s less murderous personality is, Toko.”

“Toko… is Genocide Jack?” Celeste asked, staring at Toko critically. “I guess appearances are deceiving, no?”

“I-I… d-don’t…” Toko muttered. “W-why…?”

“You promised me that you wouldn’t let Genocide Jack kill anyone,” Byakuya said. “It’s obvious you couldn’t keep your end of the bargain so why should I keep mine?”

“I mean, I don’t doubt that she’s murderous…” Yasuhiro began. “But I really can’t see her murdering anyone…”

“Well Mac mentioned that the police thought that she had a split personality or whatever the heck,” Kiyondo explained. “So it isn’t Toko who’s fudgin’ doing it, it’s Genocide Jack or whatever.”

“Then we’ll need to see this personality switch in live action, no?” Celeste asked. “We cannot confirm if Genocide Jack is Toko unless we see it for ourselves.”

“You heard her,” Byakuya said. “Switch into that other personality of yours.”

“B-but I can’t-” Toko muttered, only to be cut off by a glare from Byakuya.

After a second, Toko fell onto the floor, startling the group with the loud thump. After a few more seconds, she arose once again.

Although, she did look a bit different.

“Hello, hello and hello!” Toko, or rather Genocide Jack began cheerfully. “You called for me and so I appear!”

“You’re Genocide Jack…?!” Hifumi cried out. “Miss Fukawa is Genocide Jack…?!”

“Miss Morose and I are two very different people, thank you very much!” Genocide Jack corrected. “But I mean according to the law, I guess you could say we share the same body at the very least.”

“Then you were really fudgin’ here this whole time?!” Kiyondo yelled, outraged. “You could’ve put all of us in any fudgin’ amount of danger!”

“Ahh, are you worried about everyone here or are you worried about Mr. Average?” Genocide Jack asked, putting her hands on her cheek, letting her tongue loll out more than usual. “Don’t think I forgot about how touchy you were with him!”

“W-wait…” Makoto said, looking at Genocide Jack worriedly. “That was you before…?”

“Yep yep yep!” Genocide Jack said, smiling. “What…? Did I really pass off as Miss Morose? Or do you really not care for her that much…?”

“It seems a little unreasonable for us to just assume that Toko had another personality,” Sakura said, explaining for Makoto. “I don’t believe anyone could’ve seen it coming.”

“Well, since the blackened has already revealed themselves to us, I don’t see any need to continue this trial any longer,” Celeste said smiling. “We now know that Genocide Jack exists in our group and is the killer. No need to continue this trial any longer, no?”

“Huh…? I’m a killer, but please catch me up on who I killed this time.” Genocide Jack asked. “All those cute boys flutter in my mind and my other regions….”

“You’re disgusting,” Byakuya said, looking away.

“We’re talking about the murder of Junko Enoshima,” Makoto explained.

“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Genocide Jack said simply. “Could you give me a description?”

“Blonde hair, blue eyes…” Makoto said, beginning to list off Junko’s traits.

“That doesn’t really narrow it down, but continue!”

“Freckles…” Makoto said, trying to think if there was anything else that was remarkable about Junko.

I mean, there’s the fact that her hair was a wig and her nails were fake… Makoto thought. But I don’t think the blackened knew that…

“God, you suck at describing people!” Genocide Jack laughed. “I really can’t remember any specific victim with that little description!”

“So, what did he wear…? Anything like that to point out?”

“He…?” Makoto asked. “Junko was a girl…”

“What…?! And you really think I did it…?!” Genocide Jack asked. “I only go after the most attractive of men. You know, the real catches.”

“That doesn’t make sense…” Makoto said, scratching at his cheek. “The murder scene definetly looked like one of yours.”

“Then I must’ve been framed, and hard!” Genocide Jack said smiling.

“You dare deny this accusation when we have proof?” Byakuya asked, glaring. “You really are as annoying as your other personality.”

“Oh…? A cute boy scolding me…? I think I could die right now!”

“Let’s focus on the matter at hand,” Kyoko said. “You say that you didn’t commit the murder but are there any hallmarks specific to your murders?”

“Well let’s see, I only kill the cutest of cute boys and I’m really picky about it,” Genocide Jack explained. “And, I’ll only kill with my special scissors!”

“Your special scissors…?” Makoto asked.

“Well maybe that’s usually the case, but you can’t have your scissors right now Genocide Jack!” Hifumi yelled. “All of our belongings were taken from us!”

“Ohohoho…? Is that what you really believe?” Genocide Jack asked right before she brandished her scissors. “I’m always prepared for any sort of murdering! Provided there’s a cute boy waiting to be stabbed…”

Yasuhiro and Hifumi screamed as soon as the scissors were pulled out while the others stared in a mix of shock and horror.

“Toko has had those fudgin’ dangerous things on her the whole time…?!” Kiyondo yelled. “And she didn’t see even the slightest problem?!”

“Um… I mean, that is a good reason to not change your way of killing then…” Makoto said.

“We should probably keep this in mind for any future proceedings,” Kyoko added.

“Tch,” Byakuya said. “Perhaps Toko disarmed her and she had no other way to kill.”

“That still wouldn’t make much sense…” Makoto responded before Genocide Jack. “Genocide Jack would have no reason to kill Junko, especially because she didn’t fall under her usual targets…”

“And you believe that she’s telling the truth?” Byakuya asked. “You must be stupider than you look.”

“I mean, we don’t have any evidence to show that she’d be lying about it…?” Makoto asked, scratching his cheek. “According to the case file in the archive, all of her victims were male…”

“Although the average one isn’t as cute, he’s completely right!” Genocide Jack said. “I take pride in my work y’know, assuming otherwise is just plain insulting!”

“You… take pride in murdering?!” Hifumi yelled out. “That’s unacceptable!”

“I’m a master at what I do,” Genocide Jack answered, looking at Hifumi boredly. “You might even say I’m the Ultimate Murderous Fiend!”

“You have a fudgin’ ultimate talent?!” Kiyondo yelled. “Unbelievable!”

“Is it really so unbelievable?” Genocide Jack asked. “Like I said, I’m a master at what I do and Hope’s Peak recognized that!”

“It seems more likely that you forced their hand,” Kyoko said. “If they wanted Toko they would have no choice but to take you as well.”

“But when you say it like that, it makes it sound like they didn’t want a serial killer as a part of their roster! Kyahahahahaha! ” Genocide Jack laughed.

They… probably didn’t, Makoto thought. But then again, if their plan was to start a killing game… she’d be a good addition, wouldn’t she?

“Hey… but if Genocide Jack is telling the truth… then she couldn’t have killed Junko,” Makoto said. “I mean… everything she’s been telling us has been pretty in line with what we know.”

“It’s refreshing that I’m proven innocent, for once,” Genocide Jack said. “However, someone went through a lot of effort to frame me, wonder why that is? Kyahahahahaha!”

“That is correct,” Celeste noted. “Who were the main people pushing for the Genocide Jack theory?”

“Um… wouldn’t that be Byakuya, Makoto and Kyoko...?” Yasuhiro offered up. “Wait… does that make them all the blackened?!”

“Don’t you dare fudgin’ accuse Mac!” Kiyondo yelled. “He’s innocent and you better not fudgin’ forget that or else I’ll make you sorry!”

“I don’t doubt Makoto’s innocence, at least not yet, but you’ve been wrong in your trust before, no?” Celeste asked.

“What the fudge did you just say…?!” Kiyondo yelled. “How dare you fudgin’ mention-”

“I didn’t mean to offend,” Celeste said. “I believe that Makoto and Kyoko are completely innocent in this incident.”

“You… didn’t mention Byakuya,” Makoto noticed. “Do you really think he framed Genocide Jack…?”

“Let me ask you this, Makoto,” Celeste began. “Who gave you that information about Genocide Jack?”

“Byakuya…?” Makoto answered.

“And you don’t find it just the tiniest bit odd that he was pushing the theory of Genocide Jack?”

“I mean… didn’t everyone think that Genocide Jack did it?” Makoto asked. “As far as we originally knew there was nothing odd about the crime scene.”

“Yes, that is true,” Celeste admitted. “However, the fact that he was originally pushing so hard shouldn’t be ignored, yes?”

“Then that’d mean that Byakuya is the blackened…?” Makoto asked, staring at the heir.

“If you’re so sure that I’m the blackened then why don’t you vote me?” Byakuya asked, looking smug.

Why is he okay with being voted…? Makoto thought. Did he really do that…?

“Well if that’s solved, we can just vote Byakuya!” Yasuhiro declared. “Right…?”

“I’m not so sure…” Makoto said, looking down at his podium. “Byakuya wants to win the killing game, right?”

“He has said that before,” Kyoko agreed.

“So why would he make such an obvious mistake if he knew how to properly frame Genocide Jack…?” Makoto asked. “It doesn’t make much sense.”

“Perhaps he didn’t have much to work with,” Celeste said. “He could’ve been rushed for all we know.”

“That… can’t be it either,” Makoto said.

“Oh? And why is that, Makoto?”

“Kyoko said that Junko’s injury, which probably gave the blood for the bloodlust message was caused after her death.” Makoto explained. “If he really was in a rush, he’d probably find another way to make the message.”

“That is true,” Sakura said. “Injuring her after her relatively clean death would take time that he wouldn’t have if he was truly rushed.”

“Well, that is troubling, no?” Celeste asked.

“Huh…?” Makoto asked.

“We don’t have even the slightest clue on who the blackened might be, yes?” Celeste asked. “Unless anyone else has a better theory, we should assume Yasuhiro is the blackened, no?”

“Of course, that is expected of Makoto, to not have any better leads,” Celeste continued.

“H-huh…?” Makoto asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“I suppose after everything that has happened you must be a bit worn out, no?” Celeste said. “Or perhaps you never really cared about Junko…”

“That’s wrong…!” Makoto said. “Of course I cared about Junko.”

“Is that so…?” Celeste asked. “Because from what she told me it seemed like you were just tolerating her.”

“She really thought that…?” Makoto muttered.

I’m sorry Junko, Makoto thought. I really valued our time together as friends…

“Will you shut the fudge up about Junko, Lest?!” Kiyondo yelled suddenly. “Why the fudge are you even bringing this up now…?!”

“Lest…?” Celeste asked.

“How Junk felt doesn’t fudgin’ matter now, all that matters now is the truth and finding the damn blackened!”

“Kiyondo is right,” Sakura said in agreement. “We can focus on the finer details later.”

“Why is Mr. Ishida so fired up all the sudden…?!” Hifumi cried out. “Is my future wife in danger?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s standing up for his boyfriend,” Genocide Jack said while drooling. “Ooh, it’s certainly warming in more places than my heart! Kyahahahahaha!”

“Moving on,” Byakuya said, glaring at Genocide Jack for a moment before looking at Kiyondo. “Is it safe to assume that even an idiot like you can see the truth of the case?”

“Don’t fudgin’ insult me you rich buttface,” Kiyondo said. “But, I think I have more proof to debunk Lest’s theory about Hiro doing it, so everyone here better shut the fudge up and listen up!”

“Ah,” Celeste said. “How vulgar, but please, do inform us.”

“During my time with Mac at the nurse’s office,” Kiyondo began.

“Your first date, right?” Genocide Jack asked. “I’m so glad to have witnessed that! Kyahahahahaha!”

“Shut the fudge up!” Kiyondo yelled. “As I was fudgin’ saying, when I checked one of the damn cabinets there was something weird about it!”

“Weird…?” Kyoko asked. “What do you mean?”

“Well other than a fudgin’ mallet being there…” Kiyondo said. “There was nothing fudgin’ else there at all! Seems pretty damn useless for a nurse’s cabinet.”

“Nothing in there at all…?” Sakura asked. “If I remember correctly, the nurse’s office was well-stocked…”

“What does that cabinet have to do with anything?” Celeste asked. “Perhaps we just had the inventory wrong…” “Or,” Kyoko cut in. “The blackened needed the inventory of the cabinet.”

“What makes you so sure…?” Celeste asked.

“Like I fudgin’ said,” Kiyondo began to explain. “There was already that damn mallet in there, so the blackened fudgin’ knew the cabinet existed.”

“Even so,” Celeste said. “That doesn’t disprove my theory, despite what you vulgarly claimed.”

“Are you so fudgin’ sure?” Kiyondo asked, staring at Celeste smugly. “I think that fits in more than whatever you were fudgin’ saying about Hiro.”

“Oh…? What could you ever mean?”

“Hiro fudgin’ claimed that he was hit when he entered the physics lab, right?”

“Man…” Yasuhiro interjected. “I really should learn not to trust any notes I get…”

“And as he just fudgin’ told us, he got a note telling him to go to the physics lab,” Kiyondo said. “Although following that just proves as dumb as poop he really is.”

“Hey!” Yasuhiro yelled. “Don’t be mean!”

“That’s assuming that he isn’t lying,” Celeste said. “Are you really going to trust that idiot over me?”

“It’s not that I want to be rude,” Celeste quickly added. “But he does not have the brightest track record, no?”

“Well, if I’m remembering correctly, which I fudgin’ am,” Kiyondo said. “You told us to check the physics lab because you heard an odd noise or whatever the heck, right?”

“That is… correct,” Celeste said slowly. “Yes.”

“However when we got there, we learned that Hiro was almost fudgin’ impossible to wake up!” Kiyondo said. “So, what fudgin’ noise did you even hear Lest?”

“I… I’m afraid I cannot recall,” Celeste said. “This… whole trial has been very traumatic for me. Afterall, Junko was a very dear friend of mine.”

“Are you fudgin’ sure, Lest?” Kiyondo asked. “Or did you really not fudgin’ think that far ahead!”

“We really were good friends, not that you would understand…” Celeste said. “We confided in each about everything.”

“You confided in each other?” Kyoko asked. “Could you give us an example?”

“Why bother?” Byakuya asked. “We don’t need to hear any useless gossip.”

“Usually when people confide in each other, it is much more than ‘useless gossip’” Sakura said. “Celeste, if you’re willing to share some of what you and Junko talked about, that would be appreciated.”

“It’s a bit… hard to say,” Celeste said slowly. “But I will if I must.”

“Makoto,” Celeste began. “I do believe that you should know that Junko had a crush on you.”

Makoto, who'd been silent up until that moment startled. “She had a crush on me…?!”

“Are you really that dense?” Celeste asked. “It was the only thing she would ever really mention.”

“Really…?” Makoto asked, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.

“Yes,” Celeste said looking away. “Too bad you never realized it, though.”

How… did I not realize that…? Makoto thought. I’m sorry… Junko…

“Don’t be so harsh on yourself, Mr. Naegi!” Hifumi said, attempting to cheer Makoto up. “Some people are just hard to read!”

“She wasn’t hard to read,” Byakuya cut in. “She was very clear in her efforts, however, Makoto is just the class's biggest idiot.”

“Hey! Don’t fudgin’ insult Mac!” Kiyondo yelled.

“I don’t understand,” Makoto said, ignoring all of his classmates. “Why are you only mentioning this now…?”

“I don’t understand what you mean, Makoto,” Celeste responded. “Was I supposed to mention my friendship with Junko sooner?”

“I mean, if she really confided with you everything,” Kyoko said, trying to assist Makoto. “Did you know her secret?”

“Her secret…?” Celeste asked. “You mean the last motive?”

“No,” Kyoko said. “Didn’t you say those were fake, anyways?”

“Yes, she did. My little baby Celeste insulted my motive despite it being one-hundred percent accurate for everyone!” Monokuma cut in.

“Don’t call me that,” Celeste gritted out. “And if she had another secret, I was not informed of it.”

“Well, can you really say that she confided in you then?” Kyoko said. “It’s relatively inconsequential compared to the last motive.”

“Of course you would know all about that wouldn’t you?” Celeste asked. “Digging into everyone’s personal information like that.”

“I’ve said it before, it was for public use,” Kyoko said. “If people weren’t supposed to look then Monokuma would’ve allowed us to store them in our rooms.”

“Then Celeste hasn’t been entirely truthful during this class trial, then?” Makoto asked, finally regaining some of his spirit.

“What do you mean?” Celeste asked, turning to stare at Makoto, or rather, glare at Makoto. “I’ve tried my hardest to assist everyone in this class trial since it has begun.”

“But everyone seems rather prone to believe two idiots instead of me,” Celeste said. “And there’s nothing I can do to circumvent that, is there?”

“I mean, I’m sure you were friends with Junko,” Makoto said. “But, I don’t think you were ‘close’ friends.”

“And is that so surprising?” Celeste asked. “I am Celestia Ludenberg, it is even an honor to be my D rank, let alone a C rank like Junko almost was.”

“Ranks…?” Sakura asked.

“I can’t allow just anyone to get close to me,” Celeste said. “It wouldn’t look good for my image, and apparently Junko was the same.”

“Then why did you lie to us about ‘confiding’ in each other?” Makoto asked. “It… doesn’t make much sense.”

“Nothing makes much sense to idiots like you,” Celeste replied coldly. “However, even though I tuned out most of her babble, I could easily see how much she wanted Makoto.” “I thought it would be easy,” Celeste said. “Afterall, I’m Celestia Ludenberg, how hard would it be to matchmake a model and an average forgettable boy?”

“You were trying to matchmake Junko and I…?”

“Really, how did you not notice it?” Celeste asked. “I believe even Yasuhiro would be able to tell what was happening. Were you dropped on your head as a child every single day?”

What was her goal…? Makoto thought. You can’t really say she was doing it out of the kindness of her heart, can you?

“Celeste…” Makoto began, hesitantly. “You befriended Junko because you wanted something out of her didn’t you?”

“What are you saying, Makoto?” Celeste asked.

“You were… planning on murdering her, weren’t you?” Makoto continued. He wanted to be wrong, even after seeing Celeste’s true colors.

“What the hell did you just say…?!” Celeste said, glaring fully at Makoto. “Are you really implying that I murdered Junko?”

“Yes,” Makoto said in finality. “And, I can explain my reasoning as well.”

“Tch,” Byakuya said. “Just end this already.”

“Celeste originally befriended Junko because she wanted to use her,” Makoto began. “As soon as she found out that Junko had a crush on me, she began to exploit it.”

“Celeste discovered that she earned Junko’s trust just as the next motive was revealed,” Makoto continued. “So now she had the perfect opportunity.”

“Celeste wrote two notes on the night of the murder,” Makoto said. “One for Hiro and one for Junko.”

“Hiro’s note had him arrive first in the physics lab, where she was waiting for him,” Makoto said. “When he arrived she quickly knocked him out with a mallet.”

“After knocking Hiro out, Celeste went to the nurse’s office to get what she needed to kill Junko,” Makoto said. “She exchanges the contents of the cabinet with the mallet and leaves the nurse's office.”

“She makes Junko and herself tea, although Junko’s tea is drugged. Then she waits,” Makoto said. “After Junko arrives and drinks the tea, she dies, leaving Celeste alone with the body.”

“After Celeste leaves, Byakuya discovers the body and decides to frame Genocide Jack to force Toko to reveal herself,” Makoto said. “Byakuya grabs several items from the warehouse and changes the crime scene.”

“After everything is said and done, the body is discovered by everyone but Byakuya and Toko in the early morning when we decided to look for Junko and Hiro,” Makoto said. “Isn’t that right, Celeste?”

Celeste froze in place, the perfect picture of unbridled rage. And all in one moment, she deflated like a balloon.

“Well, that’s it, then,” Celeste said. “Honestly, it went on longer than I expected.”

“You’re just going to give up then?” Byakuya asked, staring at her with some sort of respect in his eyes.

“There’s no point in continuing when you’ve lost, no?” Celeste asked, accent coming on just as thick. “Or at least, that’s my personal motto.”

“Why…?” Makoto asked, staring at Celeste in shock. “Why did you kill Junko…?”

“For my dream, of course,” Celeste said, smiling. “I dream of a castle with vampire butlers and it’s all owned by me.”

“That money,” Celeste continued. “Would’ve been enough for me to finance my dream after years of saving up.”

“And that’s why you did it?” Sakura asked. “Just for your dream?”

“I am nothing, if not self interested,” Celeste answered. “Although, that should not surprise you.”

Makoto frowned, but she wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Your reasoning doesn’t fudgin’ make sense!” Kiyondo yelled. “At least bro felt sorry about what he fudgin’ did…!”

“Oh, how touching this is, all my children finally bonding!” Monokuma cut in. “Daddy Monokuma hates to be the bad guy, but it’s voting time!”

The class voted for Celeste, and when their vote was announced correct they were left with a few moments of sadness.

“Before this ends,” Celeste began. “Anything you ever hear about me after this point, you can disregard. It’s all unimportant now, no?”

“And, I suppose it would be nice if we could meet again,” Celeste continued. “Perhaps in another life, yes?”

“Well, my darling Celeste got her last words in, and now it’s punishment time!” Monokuma said. “Hold onto your hats and get a fan, this one is going to get hot!”

“Ohohoho, does he mean in a sexual way?” Genocide Jack asked. “Because I’m all up for that…!”

When Celeste reappeared she was tied onto a stake and a castle was behind her. Hay lay haphazardly under her as she was forced to stare ahead.

A plushie resembling Monokuma in color lit the hay underneath her as she began to burn.

Celeste began to sweat but she also smiled, facing forward in some sort of misattributed pride.

Perhaps it was her final stand against the Mastermind.

As the flames grew higher and higher, Celeste looked up, never once losing her smug expression.

Just as the flames began to lick her face, a fire truck revved up with Monokuma as its driver.

It drove onto a ramp and catapulted up towards Celeste, hitting her and breaking the castle behind her.

Another Monokuma with a waterhose extinguished the stick that started the execution, effectively ending the execution as well.

Makoto stared in horror as the events of the killing game finally started to catch up to him. Another person was dead, and it was technically his fault. Wasn’t it?

I’m sorry, everyone… Makoto thought. Junko and Hina… I wish I wasn’t that dense… I wish I could’ve told you that your feelings weren’t ignored…

Sayaka and Leon… I could’ve saved them too if… if I had just noticed… Makoto thought, not noticing that tears were beginning to fall from his face.

Mondo, Celeste and Chihiro… you guys didn’t deserve to die either…! Makoto thought. I’m sorry… I’m sorry I couldn’t help you in time…

Makoto began sobbing loudly, blind to the world around him. He had enough with this game, although there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Suddenly there were arms wrapped around him. When he opened his eyes he could see white from his blurred vision.

“Come on Mac,” Kiyondo said softly. “I’ll take you back to your room.”

Makoto didn’t say anything as he let himself be dragged into the elevator.

He felt so numb.

[deanstop13billyjoeltraxx]

Superposition

a deancas college roommate AU

Chapter 4 is up on AO3! (Chapter-by-chapter masterlist here.)

They’re Gonna Love You

Three Years Earlier

Cas was terrible at making friends. 

He really was trying his best — he spoke up in class whenever he could, he talked to his seatmates when it was appropriate. And that was fine, everyone was perfectly nice to him. But he couldn’t figure out what exactly he was supposed to say to make himself less “that one guy from accounting” and more “Cas Novak.” So, he was three weeks into college with nothing to show for it.

Nothing, save his roommate.

Unlike Castiel, Dean had already found a group of friends from their floor. He was hardly ever in their room. Cas didn’t mind so much; it gave him space to focus on his homework, which already felt overwhelming and never-ending. But every day, like clockwork, Dean was back by seven, and he dragged Cas away from his computer and into the dining hall with him. 

Castiel had to admit that dinner was the best part of his day. Dean rarely failed to take his mind off of the dangerously constant spiral of social anxiety and school-related stress. Cas learned that Dean moved constantly because of his father’s job, that his brother, Sam, was “a textbook nerd,” that Dean’s guilty pleasure was Grey’s Anatomy (“Don’t look at me like that, Patrick Dempsey is in it”), that he loved pie probably more than anyone should be allowed to. And Castiel told Dean things, too, things he’d never had the luxury of sharing; how he decided to be a writer after reading The Great Gatsby for the first time, that his attending college had made him the black sheep of the family, how he had never lost a game of Trivial Pursuit (“Is that a friggin’ challenge, Cas?”). 

They had occasionally eaten with Dean’s friends from the dorms, most often on Fridays when the group was heading to a party afterward. That is, until Castiel brought a copy of Pride and Prejudice to the table to read before his next literature class, and Cole Martin asked him if he was gay with a smirk. The table had gone silent; Cas just looked at him, heat flaming across his face; Dean was staring daggers. Cole, refusing to get the message, prodded for a response, at which point Dean asked if he could talk to him for a minute. 

Dean didn’t speak to Cole again after that. 

He apologized to Cas profusely on Cole’s behalf, the “sorry’s” punctuated by assurances that it was great if Castiel was indeed gay, that Dean didn’t care, that Cas was Cas. But even if he was curious, Dean never asked the question. And that was good, because Cas wasn’t quite ready to have that conversation, seeing as coming out to Bartholomew during his senior year had led to six months of no-contact. Instead, Cas just informed Dean that he was accustomed to the treatment by now, that bringing Twilight to school his freshman year placed him solidly in the “insert homophobic-slur here” category, according to his peers. This only partly fixed the issue, because while Dean stopped apologizing, he started on a tirade against Castiel’s high school demons. 

Cas had never had anyone care enough to stand up for him. He thought he was very lucky to have Dean Winchester as a roommate

It was Thursday, and Castiel was agonizing over a problem set for accounting when Dean walked in. 

“All right, Einstein, let’s go,” he announced, dumping his backpack next to his desk. “Dinner time.” 

“Give me a minute,” Cas muttered.

Dean moved over to Cas’ desk and leaned over his shoulder. 

“Damn,” he said. “You really are a genius. I don’t know what any of this shit means.” 

“Save your accolades for when I pass the class,” Cas said, sighing. 

“You’ll pass, but not if you die from starvation first.” 

Cas rolled his eyes. “I think you’re projecting.”

“Maybe I am,” Dean said, shrugging. “But you still need to eat.”

“All right. I’m coming.” 

The pair walked to the dining hall, Dean explaining the details of the party he was attending the following night, how he hoped the girl from his English class would be there. Cas never had much to add to these types of conversations, but he typically tried to remain engaged. Tonight, he just uttered monosyllabic responses when it seemed appropriate. 

Cas couldn’t stop thinking about how alone he had become. The novelty of college had worn off; all Cas could see now was how many hours he spent in solitude. He couldn’t help but feel as though he was doomed for a repeat of high school. The interaction with Cole certainly didn’t help matters, and though Dean was a great friend, Cas couldn’t escape the feeling that everything he did was out of pity.

“Okay, dude, what’s up?” Dean asked. 

“What?”

“You’re acting all weird. Kinda mopey,” Dean explained with a mouthful of pizza. 

“Oh,” Cas said. “I apologize. It wasn’t intentional. I just…” 

Dean raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“I’ve just been distracted tonight.” 

“By what?”

Cas gave Dean a look. “It’s not important.” 

Dean opened his mouth to argue, but Cas interrupted him, changing the subject.  

“How are your classes?”

Dean shrugged. “Eh. Whatever. I don’t pay attention much.” 

“Have you thought about what you’re going to major in?” 

“Wish I was smart enough for engineering, but… Nah, I haven’t figured that out yet.” 

“Dean,” Cas said. “I’m sure you’re smart enough for anything you want to study.” 

Dean chuckled. “Appreciate that, Cas, but definitely not.” 

Cas eyed his friend a moment, but didn’t say anything else. 

“Hey, you know the party I was telling you about?” Dean said after a moment of silence. “You should come. It’ll be fun.”  

Castiel nearly choked on his chicken strips. There was only one thing that would make Dean invite him to a party. The thought of Dean feeling that bad for Cas made him want to become one with the floor. Not to mention the idea of attempting that level of social interaction was enough to send him into a tailspin. 

“That’s very kind, but I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Cas said. “I’m not much for parties.” 

“Oh come on, Cas. You’ve never even tried it!” 

“I understand the general idea.”

“Man, it’s the experience.”

“Dean, I’m not going to a frat party. I have enough to worry about with my classes. Besides,” Cas looked away, refusing to meet Dean’s eyes. “I’m not… particularly adept at social interactions.” 

“What?” Dean exclaimed. “Dude, you’re awesome. You do fine with me!” 

“That’s different.”

“How?” 

“I don’t know,” Cas sighed. “You tend to do most of the talking. It saves me from ruining things.” 

Dean just looked at him. “Ruining things?” 

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly your typical college student.” 

Dean laughed. “Well, I mean, no, but that doesn’t ruin things. Plus, I can guarantee that every girl at that party would be all over you. Most of the guys, too, probably. You’ve got the sexy nerd thing going on.” 

Cas blushed profusely. “That’s irrelevant. The point is, I’m not going.” 

Dean sighed, long-suffering. “Fine. I give up. For now.” 

Cas let out a breath of relief.

They finished dinner and headed back to their dorm. Dean asked what class Castiel liked the most, which led to Cas gushing about creative writing for ten minutes. Dean graciously humored him, and when Cas apologized abashedly, Dean punched him in the shoulder and told him to shut up. 

When they got back to their room, Dean put on another record (Wish You Were Here, by Pink Floyd, Cas was informed) and left to take a shower. Cas finished his problem set with “Have a Cigar” in the background, grateful for the distraction from his earlier thoughts. That was the one good thing about his double-major — he truly did not have time to ruminate on his problems. 

Dean returned to work on an English essay, talking to himself the entire time. Cas did his best not to laugh at the muttered “what the hell am I even trying to say” and “I can’t use ‘demonstrates’ again.”

Hours later, after trying, and failing, to read ahead for philosophy, Cas resigned himself to his bed for the night. 

“Tired?” Dean asked from his desk. 

“Yes,” Cas said, throwing off his t-shirt and getting in bed. “But you can leave the light on if you have more work to do. I’ll fall asleep eventually.” 

“Nah, I’m tired too.” 

Dean flipped the lights off and climbed in his own bed. Cas closed his eyes against the quiet blackness. 

“Cas?” 

“Yes?” 

“Are you all right? Level with me, man.” 

Cas sighed. He supposed this conversation would happen sooner or later, if this friendship was to continue. “I’ve never had many friends,” he said. “I told you, after Cole, about the comments regarding my sexuality?” Dean made a grunt in understanding. “Well, it didn’t help that I was homeschooled until I was fourteen. I was what I believe is called ‘the weird kid.’”

Dean snorted. “You? Weird? Never.” 

Cas rolled his eyes in the darkness. “I’m serious. I just don’t want to be the ‘weird kid’ again, I suppose. I believed college would be my second chance, but it’s beginning to feel like a bad sequel.”

“Dude,” Dean said, “you have me. And Benny and Charlie like you, too. If you just went out more —”

“I’m not sure I want my friendships to be predicated on underage drinking,” Cas replied, and cringed at the way it sounded. When Dean didn’t respond, he added, “I just mean… I want people to like me, not my drunken antics.” 

“Right,” Dean mumbled. Then, “What was homeschool like?”

Cas furrowed his brow at the change in subject, but humored Dean, anyway. “Terrible. My father attempted to teach all five of us on his own. It was mostly history and religion, which, coming from him, meant racism, fire, and brimstone. He had this grand plan for me, and for my brothers, to become pastors.” Castiel paused. “I had to sneak out to the library with Anna just to teach myself basic algebra.” Another pause, a breath. “Anna kept me sane most days. She was more of a mother than a sister.” I miss her.

“Where was your mom?” Dean asked.

“Not sure,” Cas said. “We were all adopted as children. My father never took a wife, and I never knew my real parents. I asked my father about them once. He told me they died ages ago.” 

“Shit, I’m sorry, Cas.” 

“It’s okay.” 

“That makes more sense,” Dean said after a moment. “I was wondering why none of y’all looked alike.” 

“I probably should have explained that earlier. I forget it isn’t common knowledge,” Cas replied. 

Dean was quiet for a long time, so long that Cas suspected he may have fallen asleep. Cas was about to follow suit when Dean said, quietly, “Sometimes I was the weird kid, too.”

Castiel snapped his eyes open at that. It seemed unbelievable to him that Dean Winchester could be disliked by anyone. “What?”

“Yeah,” Dean mumbled. “Always moving, you know. Sometimes, people liked me. Sometimes, they really fucking hated me. It sucks, you know.” 

“I do.” 

tagging @nguyenxtrang :)

[hcneydspite]

Hated the sound of eight pairs of feet in the house until she discovered that silence was a greater demon. Impeccable necklaces, creaseless blouses, the smell of deep vanilla perfume. She may be an utter mess but she certainly isn’t going to look like it.

go on, replace me, when you’re craving something sweeter than the words i left in your mouth, go on and spit me out

NAME — margaret elise amano

NICKNAMES — maggie, mags

PRONOUNS — she/her.

AGE & DOB — 20 & september 17th, 1998.

PLACE OF BIRTH — portland, oregon.

MAJOR — forensic science.

EDUCATION — astor academy.

ACTIVITIES — dance (ballet, contemporary, jazz), arsonists.

* background overview !

Her parents didn’t know they were raising a tightly wound spring. After all, it was hard to find time to dote on each child when you were overwhelmed by all of them. Maggie landed perfectly in the middle of all her siblings, her parents having large hearts and wanting to share their love. They did that well, they raised all their kids to be kind, tender hearted, and open to others. She was everything someone could hope for their daughter to be: cute, caring, girly, rather quiet, but best of all, showing a love for dance. From a young age, she discovered she thrives in the praise given to her by anyone, the sweet words fueling her self esteem. The bubbly little girl loved the compliments, accepting them with a soft smile and polite ‘thank you’. Maggie was the type to actually study for her spelling tests, not wanting to be anything less than perfect in an attempt to make herself stand out from her family. Her parents would check on her at night, when she should have been sleeping only to find her awake and practicing what she had learned at rehearsals in front of her mirror.  

As she got older, her drive for that same attention, that praise and recognition, only grew as she expanded her talents. In high school, she made the infamously competitive dance team and aimed for captain as soon as it was within her reach. Her involvement grew beyond that into honor society, student council, and volunteering at the dance studio in town to teach younger kids. Her grades were never subpar, she knew that if she wanted the compliments and gratitude she needed more than she needed air she had to earn it. There were times where her parents or siblings would find her crying over statistics homework or an upcoming chemistry exam, taking a moment to reassure her that her best would be enough. It was something about the way those words made her feel, that convinced her she never wanted to settle for anything less than perfect. She needed the high perfection brought her.

Something she strived to be was the perfect well rounded student. Maggie wasn’t immune to the lure of house parties or late night pancake runs with friends, those moments were her escape, a break where she didn’t have to work to define herself and solidify her name. Her friends were a bit of a saving grace, grounding her for a moment. She was able to make mistakes and not be the perfect ballerina image she desperately clung to. The moments she spent with them felt scheduled still, ‘you take take this break now maggie’, ‘you can go drinking with them tonight but not tomorrow’, or ‘going out to the beach for funnel cake won't ruin all the work you put in as long as you make up for it later’. 

Her parents convinced her to pick a major that would serve as a ‘backup’ to her dance career, they said it was a failsafe, a protective measure. Maggie hated the thought of needing anything else, but did it to please them, finding something that seemed vaguely interesting to her. 

At the end of her sophomore year of college, there was a final showcase where she was able to perform the duet she and her partner had been furiously perfecting that entire year. It was a slip, human error that ended with a loud pop and a snapped achilles. The injury was bad, yet not career ending. For Maggie, however, it was those several months of tedious recovery that drove her down into a spiral. When the doctor had told her about her injury and recovery time, the spring that held her together snapped. 

since then, she’s has surgery and has been in physical therapy to rebuild the strength she lost. despite her efforts to get back to where she had been, it’s the furthest from being the same thing. there’s no joy that comes from the physical therapist telling her ‘good job’. she’s turned to her friends in the last several months more often than she had before, clinging to the person they knew her to be, the friend, the dancer she was in their eyes. 

* about/personality !

she’s like,,,the person that isn’t afraid to knock you down a few pegs but will do so with the sweetest smile on her face to really seal the deal

she’s actually really sweet, very genuinely nice if you haven’t wronged her or anyone she cares about.

is a little tightly wound like half the time and pretty heavily relies on her friends to keep her sane

can kinda be a little intense, will stop at nothing to be perfect in anything she sets her mind to do

she’s probably a little hesitant to start new things because of that too? like, she doesn’t ever want to be BAD at things so she just avoids it

maggie will refuse to let anyone see her have moments of weakness, it’s not you, it’s her

she’s just a little obsessed w dance. and a little broken now that she can’t.

maggie is the type to have brought her friends into the dance studio to teach them the choreography from high school musical, i don’t make the rules

she’s really does enjoy forensics, but that’s probably because criminal minds was something she used to watch religiously in high school 

maggie secretly enjoys seeming like the girl who’s only in ballet because it’s a “girly” sport, because it makes her seem that much better once she shows her full potential 

she’s the type of observant that knows exactly what to get someone for their birthday without looking like they tried way too hard

after the injury, she felt like the spring that held her together snapped and knocked everything inside loose. so now she’s quietly trying to put all her pieces back together but not exactly having an easy time with it. 

* aesthetics !

candle lights, the breathlessness felt when seeing big city skylines, bare feet in the morning, tart strawberries dipped in sugar, iced coffee in mason jars, long swooping cursive, empty water bottles, setting a new pen against fresh paper, missed calls at 2am, standing under an umbrella in the middle of a thunderstorm, neat braids, leotards and pointe shoes, soft pillows, golden hour.

* wanted plots !

i’m the worst at coming up with things but,,,,, here’s a few

general friends: we can expand and make each Unique

best friends: someone that’s been by her side since going to astor, someone she’d literally trust with her whole life

ride or dies: honestly what it says, maybe like two or three of them that have been through the thick and thin of it but still have a really strong friendship in the end?

confidant: honestly, probably someone she’s close with, but doesn’t see on a regular basis? it helps if they’re not someone she’d see all the time, that way she’s not constantly staring her admission of weakness in the face

bad influence: someone who can teach her to let go and get out more, care less about dance or her parents?

exes ( good, bad, anything in between ): you know the drill, hit me with the good angst. (male, female, nb)

roommate ( someone after the idealist maybe? ): she’s not as bad of a roommate as you’d think. she has eight siblings, she knows how to share.

hook ups: you also know this drill, sometimes you gotta blow off steam. (male, female, nb)

[crazyrandomfucker]

Adrien Augreste: Nightmares

Adrien wasn't okay. He definetly wasn't. A week ago, he was with his Lady, happily getting ready to battle and defeat Hawk Moth once and for all as Kitty Noire and Lordubg battled against Monarch. None of them came unharmed from that battle, even if the damages weren't physical. After defeating them, they discovered their identities along with the identities of Le Paon and Mayura. Noone could have predicted how harmful was to discover that Gabriel Agreste and Jeanne Agreste had been plotting against their own family and their protegees. Of course their loyal minions resulted to be no other than their so loyal secretaries: Nathalie and Nathan.

They hadn't revealed to the public the identieties of the vilains, but everyone knew about the defeat of those who had been tormenting them for so long. Master Fu was shocked when he heard the identities of the villains and appologised several times to the teenagers. His siblings, Mister and Miss Fu, had been giving some sort of psychology treatment to the young heroes. The rest of the miraculous squad wasn't informed about the identities of the villains, but upon seeing how affected their heroes were, they didn't dare to ask them.

It was so painful. Adrien had been so close to die at the hands of the monsters his father and aunt created. Even worse he had almost lost everything important to him: his friends, his sister and, the worst of it, his love. He felt furious, betrayed, hurt, ... But he still had Marinette, who supported him without doubting, even if she just was almost as hurt as Adrien. But the worst were the nights, when he managed to fall asleep, the memories of all those previous battles came back to him, haunting him with the possibilities of things that could have go wrong and even picturing his father or his aunt killing him, instead of the akumas, as they laughed evily and took his miraculous away.

As far as he knew, his sister and the bugs were also dealing with their own traumas and the nightmares. Mari suffered insomnia, Marin developed a PTSD and Adrienne recluded herself on her bedroom, only allowing Marin to enter. It was frankly devastating for all of them to even face any of their enemies, mainly because they had to see them on a daily basis, but also because they clearly were devastated by their defeat. Gabriel was the shadow of the man he once was, recluding himself, barely getting any food or sleep and over obsesing with every single details of his surroundings. On the other hand, Jeanne showed some sort of depression mixed with sudden outbursts. The young heroes were almost scared to see them just in case the villains would somehow recognise them outside the mask.

The only bright side Adrien and Adrienne could possibly ever see about the situation was that they were no longer expected to do any sort of modeling and could do as they pleased, given the parnoic state of their father and the misterious disappearence of Nathalie, but in the end, they only felt more depressed because of the fact that they had also lost the little to unexistent love and care from their father. Of course, Mar and Mari were constantly with them, even if they didn't interact, just being there to let them know that they still had someone who cared about them, who would support them no matter what and that will always love them unconditionally. It wasn't really strange to see Lordbug entering Adrienne's bedroom or seeing Chat Noir running over the roof tops and stopping over the bakery of the Dupain-Cheng.

Strangely, each time Chat visited Marinette, someone of the miraculous squad was also there or at Marin's secluded space on the rooftop. He slowly began to understand that it wasn't because they had revealed their identities (they had meant to do it after defeating Hawk Moth and Monarch, but they weren't precisely mentally sane after that battle), but because they enjoyed how the children of the best bakers in Paris treated them, as if they simply were another civilian and not superheroes nor gods, like most of civilians used to do. Of course, he suspected that they knew the designers from outside the mask, but Chloe and Cleón certainly weren't exactly known to be civil with the designers and yet, they surprisingly appeared more often that not and generally behaved.

That day, he had had a particulary horrible nightmare were his father and aunt forced akumas into him to akumatize him and then made him cold-bloodly murder everyone in Paris, each murder bloodier and crueller than the last. he had slaughtered his firends, cataclismed Adrienne and Marin and torn Marinette into little pieces. He was honestly trembling and his eyes couldn't stop the torrent of tears flooding his face when he awoke and Plagg surprised him by hugging him and purring to sooth the pain, but he couldn't calm down and, despite Adrienne was recluded, he entered in her bedroom to check if it had only been a nightmare. When he opened the door, he saw his sister, also holding the handle of the door and with watery eyes and a stream of tears flowing down her face.

Without ponouncing a single word, both twins understood perfectly how the other felt and why the other was there. They hugged themselves closely, comforting the other and crying in a strange mix of fear and relief. Once they pulled apart from the heartfelt hug, they look one to another, nodded and called upon their transformations, turning into their superheroes selves and leaving the now colder than ever house. the jumped from roftop to rooftop, not saying a word, being only focused on getting to their destination. But when they arrived, they didn't expect to only see Marinette's lights on and much less to see all of their miraculous friends and Marin in her bedroom, no matter how big and spacious was the place (seriously, she and Marin had small apartment to live by themselves and they were still somehow surprised by Adrien's and Adriennes bedrooms!).

"Oh, um... Hello?" said Chat awkwardly. "Are we interrumping something?"

"Chat! You're not inte..." began Marinette. "Kitty! You're here too! Are you feeling better? Can I bring you anything or do anything for you?"

"Kitty?!" erupted all the heroes as they noticed her in the shadows, hiding behind her brother. They made a move to get to her, but Marin and Chat stopped them.

"Hey, give her some space" said Marin in a warning tone.

"She's not feeling in the best mood for this and honestly neither am I" declared Chat.

Marinette approached Chat and caressed his cheek. "Another nightmare minou?" said the girl worried.

"A bad one. She also had one, probably similar to mine" said in a low voice Chat.

"Poor minou" said Marinette as she hugged him tight to comfort him. "I'm sorry that you have to go through all of this. Is there aything we can do to help?"

"Yeah dude, we're kinda worried about you cats and the bugs. You haven't been yourselves... lately" said Carapace.

"Specially about you and Kitty. Seriouesly, we want to help you two. That's why we're in here today in fact" said Rena Rouge.

"Thanks a lot" said Kitty tearing down. "I'm sorry I'm like this..."

"There's nothing wrong ma minette" siad Marin comforting her. "It's not your fault and it's totally justified to be like this after... that discovery".

"Still, thank you. I don't know Kitty, but seeing all of you is kind of a relief right now" said Chat.

"Don't tell me it was that kind of nightmares" said Marinette very worried. "Oh, I'm so sorry Chaton. We're here and we're fine, you haven't hurt anyone".

"What does that mean?" said Queen Bee.

"It's because of my nightmares... One kind of the worst I tend to have is about getting akumatised and killing... everyone" explained Chat visibly in pain.

Carapace and El Zorro looked eachother and put their arms around Chat's shoulders. "Bro, dont worry, you're certainly not getting rid of us so easily" said el Zorro.

"Yeah dude, we're all here for you dude. We were even discussing about revealing ourselves, so you two can have more civilians to talk and get it all out from your chests" said Carapace.

"What?!" exclaimed Kitty in a bit of panic.

"Don't worry girl, we're just going to reveal ourselves, we're not going to force you two to reveal and the same goes for the bugs" said Salihafa.

"I still think it's not the best idea" said Marin.

"Oh shut up breadface" said Drone King. "We don't have to worry about villains now, let them do it to help the alley cats".

"Okay, now we're having it" said Marin angry. "First of all f**kface, they're not alley cats and they saved your ass more times than you can count, so show some respect. Second-".

"Stop it!" yelled Kitty. "I'm done with you two fighting always!"

"Fine..." said Marin resigning.

"Know your place commoner. We're the heroes here" said Drone King pridefully.

"He's also one you stupid dumbass!" exploded Kitty as she detransformed into Adrienne and everyone gasped.

"Well, I guess that now the cat's out of the bag" said Chat and detransformed.

"NO WAY!!" exclaimed the turtles and the foxes at unison.

"My bro has been a superhero all the time!" said Carapcae.

"No wonder I've liked this girl so much" said Salihafa hugging a confused Adrienne.

"You know they won't get it unless you detransform right?" pointed Rena.

"Yeah babe, spare the girl all the confussion already" agreed Zorro.

"Oh, right" said Salihafa as the turtles detransformed and revealed Nino and Nina.

"Wait a minute" says Chloe. "I get this is all important. The turtles are the Lahiffe and that means these sly foxes are the Césaire, yes. But has anybody thought that if Adrikins and Adri are the cats, that means the bakers here present are Lordbug and Ladybug?!" exclaimed Queen Bee.

Everybody remained silent for a couple of minutes, everybody looking at Marinette or at Marin until Drone King snapped out of it. "No f**king way. YOU are Lordbug! NO WAY!"

"Well, yes way young drone" said Tekke coming out of Marin T-shirt. "Hi, I'm Tekke, the kwami of Lordbug. It's a pleasure to meet all of you".

"Boy, you've got  looooooot of explaining to do" said Zorro smiling.

"Well, sorry for keeping you in the dark bud" said Marin. "You know how it is".

"My best friend is Ladybug, her boyfriend is Chat Noir and their siblings are Lordbug and Kitty Noire. I'm the worst reporter in all existance" lamented Alya.

"To be honest kitten, if it wasn't for the magic protecting your identities, you would have guessed a long time ago" said Plagg coming out of Adrien's shirt. "The name's Plagg, god of destruction and a cheese gourmet".

"It's adorable!" exclaimed nina upon seeing Plagg.

"Sheesh, calm down little Molly" said Plague. "He's not the prettiest of the two".

"Is this turning into a kwami-holder meeting?" said Weiss as she pulled her head out of Nina's jacket.

"It seems so" said Marinette. "honestly, this is pretty chaotic and definetly not how I expected to be either the night or the reveal".

"I'd recommend you to lower your voice and detransform before someone comes" says Tikki flying from behind a pillow. Everybody turned back to their civilians selves and sat down in silence, until Trixx made a fart noise.

"Trixx!" complained Alya.

"What? It was getting uncomfortable AND boring" replied the mischievous kwami.

"Little Foxy's right, it was getting bored and I don't have any cheese" said Plagg.

"Okay, how about we do a presentation round" suggested Marinette. "So everybody will know everybody's name".

"Excellent idea Ladybug" said Wayzz. "I suggest to begin with the red ladybbugs and the black cats".

"He always suggests that" says Plague nonchalantly.

"I will start" said Tekke glaring Plague. "I'm Tekke, Kwami of creation and my current holder is Marin Dupain-Cheng. Hello again".

"And I am Tikki" said the red kwami. "Would you like to continue Stinky Socks?"

"I already presented myself Sugarcube, it's her turn" said lazily Plagg.

"Very well then. The name's Plague, beautiful godess of destruction and that blonde mess of feelings is my holder" said Plague.

"Plague" warned Tekke.

"Come on Jawbreaker, I've behaved myself this time" complained Plague.

"I believe it's quite disrespectful to call your holder a 'blonde mess of feelings'. And don't call me Jawbreaker, I'm not calling you Death Breath" replied Tekke.

"Okay geez. Her name is Adrienne and she's in a tough spot right now, please be gentle with her" said Plague.

"Yeah whatevs. I'm Trixx, kwami of illusions and this beautyful reporter here is my awesome holder" said the foxy Kwami.

"And I'm Traxx, same story except that my holder is Alen" said Traxx as she jumped from Alen's head.

"Hello dear holders of miraculous. My name is Pollen and I'm one of the Bee Kwamis" said Pollen respectfully.

"As my sitser said, I'm the other Bee Kwami, Pellet. I apologise for my holder behaviour, we're still wroking on it" declared the kwami.

"I guess it's my turn then. Hello, I'm Weiss, Kwami of Protection and the Turtle" said the little turtle goddess.

"And I'm Wayzz, her brother".

"Is there any doubt?" said Marin. "Something to say or to ask before we go back into the loop of awkward silence?"

"I have something to say and something to ask" declared Chloe, surprising everybody. "First I'm going to say something. Marinette, we have never been in good terms and we have hated each other for quite a long time. But you still trusted in me and gave me the miraculous of the bee even after I got akumatized again. Two times actually. You still had faith in me despite how I am and how I've ever treated you. Thank you for that and I'm sorry for everything I've done to you"

"Thank you Chloe" said Marinete surprised after she recovered from the initial confusion. "That's very sweet of you... I'm glad that having the miraculous has helped you".

"Don't expect me to apologise breadhead, I still hate you. But I'll also thank you for trusting me with the miraculous" said a petty Cléon.

"You're welcome. I was hoping you would gain some sense in that blockhead of yours" said Marn.

"Stop it you two" warned Adrienne. "I'm not in the mood and Chloe still has a question to ask".

"Thank you Adri. Now, spill. Who were the villains that affected you for so much" said Chloe seriously. "Your attitude has been ridiculous since and I'm not the only one who wants to help, but we need some intel to help you whatever is going on with you four".

"Chloe, we appreciate the intention, but-" began Mari.

"Hawk Moth was father" interrumped Adrien. "Mayura was Nathalie, my aunt was Monarch and her secretary Nathan was Le Paón".

"Say what?!" blurted the others.

"It's true. They don't know our identites thought" said Marin.

"I'm going to shove my shield up into the butt of that old man" said Nina getting angrier.

"I'll shove my flute at full force against Jeanne's face then. She was so hypocrite!" said Alya.

"No, no. We're going to skin them alive" said Alen.

"Dude, dudette, I'm adopting you two and there's nothing you can do to change my mind" said Nino.

"I can't believe it was them" said the Bourgeoise having an existential crisis.

"We know Chloe, we were also so shocked Cléon. Nino, you can't adopt them, my parents claimed that a long time ago and they don't know about the miraculous. Alya, Alen and Nina, as much as I'd love to do all that, those are still crimes and we are superheroes" said Marinette, bringing peace to the room.

"I love when you do that" said Adrien.

"Shush minou" said Marinette blushing slightly.

the teenagers kept talking and discussing for the night, slowly accomodating themselves as they got sleepy. Adrienne sat on Marn's lap and he hugged her, falling asleep like that as she purred and he buzzed. Alya and Nino slowly rested their heads on the other's and fell asleep. Nina fell asleep on Alen's belly. Chloe and Cléon fell asleep on their chairsand Marinette covered them with some blankets. Adrien thought, just put his head on Marinette's lap and she began to pet him, runing her finger between the golden locks and driving Adrien crazy of pleasure. He began to purr and she smiled, not noticing that both of them were also sloly falling asleep, but this times, no nightmare would dare to come in the room of superheroes.

[kindofwriter]

I have no mouth, and I must scream but, like, a film.

@nichememesfortheclassics sorry for not seeing this earlier, here are some of my garbage ideas! Sorry in advance, this got super long!

I wouldn’t start in the AM (while we’re here, I’d be very tempted to call it In The AM rather than ihnmaims because that shit is long), I’d start ~119 years ago, above ground. Now, some character ideas:

Ted’s a west coast kiddo, anything from 19 to about 25 years old. He has nice-kid vibes: works hard, loves his family, cares about his friends. He’s very relaxed. He’s playing a video game in which he shoots down robots.

His sister comes in, and they have an interactions kind of like this:

S: There’s going to be an attack.

T: Don’t be silly, you say that every day.

S: It’s not silly. One day there will be one, and then at least I’ll be prepared.

T: If anyone targets us now it’ll wipe us all out, and then we’ll have nothing to worry about.

And then she leaves. And he thinks about what she’s said for a moment, then goes back to blasting robots.

Benny’s a NYC philosophy professor. Probably the sharpest guy you’d ever meet. Late thirties. He’s attractive, but in a very soft, gentle, not-at-all-ape-like kind of way. He’s kinda chubby and his hair’s always very neat and he’s kinda pale and kinda has freckles and you can tell he’s been married for a while because he’s very comfortable and secure and calm.

He’s backstage in a lecture hall, about to give a speech on the war. His husband fusses over him, fixes his tie, smooths his hair, tells him he’s proud. They’re very soft and cute.

Nimdok lives in China (you see where I’m going with this?). I’d probably give him an actual name (something meaningful, like Heng comes from the Chinese symbol for persistent). He’s an older man; his wife has passed away, but he has children and grandchildren. He lives in the countryside.

He watches his grandchildren play in the garden, in the wildflowers, and he paints them. But in his painting the sky is dark and ominous, not light blue. His son compliments him on his work, but tells him to lighten up a little.

I’ve always thought of Ellen as British, don’t know why, but that doesn’t fit with my theme of ‘they’re from the three AM countries.’ But I haven’t put as much thought into the culture and climate in her country as I have the others’, so it doesn’t really matter.

Anyway, she’s at a Bible studies group with other young people (she’s older than Ted, but not that old). I really like the idea of them discussing artificial intelligence through a Christian world-view: if God made all consciousness, what about AI? Will they go to heaven? But of course at this point there is no AI, yet.

Ellen becomes uncomfortable and starts to leave. Her peers call after her, asking her why she’s going, why she has to be so serious. She says that’s not what she came to the group to discuss.

So then there’s Gorrister in Russia, preferably a big city like Moscow. I really like to think of him as a social activist, promoting equality and clean energy and peace. I think of him as like a 6’7” 250 pound wall of pure muscle who cries over kittens.

He’s out in the woods, dismantling bear traps with his bare hands. He’s listening to some cutesy pop music in his headphones. The earth begins to shake a little. The sky darkens. Gorrister looks up, fearful, and then-

We cut to the beginning of the book, Gorrister hanging from the ceiling with blood dripping from his neck; broken spine; broken leg; face painted red with blood. And we meet the new group.

Ted’s visibly shaky and on edge, always looking around them, always a few paces away from the others.

I know Ellison intended for Benny to look more like a gorilla, but I really want to keep his human characteristics. He’s kind of hunched, quite heavily scarred, lost a lot of weight, messy hair. He scurries everywhere and crawls around on the floor and speaks in grunts and snarls, but his eyes are always tormented and filled with tears.

Nimdok looks seconds away from death. He’s always gazing into the distance, thinking of something else. Probably wishing he actually was seconds away from death.

Ellen has a tattered garment wrapped around her that almost looks like a nun’s habit. Her emotions are so easily readable from her face.

Then Gorrister saunters in, so relaxed, so nonchalant about his own dead body. He doesn’t give a shit, about this or about anything. He never smiles, cries, or frowns. He’s like a robot.

I imagine the inside of the AM to be sort of like a subway, only more modern and mechanical. Like the underground in Us. The floor looks like it’s tiled white, but the ‘grit’ is actually sensors. The AM can feel everything.

Rooms and corridors are filled with mechanical debris: old computers, old government offices, old storage spaces for nuclear weapons. And, through various methods, the AM can move and manipulate any of it, and everything that remains above ground.

I’d get rid of the ‘Ellen likes to bang Benny ‘cause he has a monster dong’ subplot, because that’s just punishing him for being gay. They probably all have to-pass-the-time sex, but eww, who wants to hear about that? And this way when Ted calls her a slut and other degrading names it would just show his paranoia and insanity, as she’s literally just doing the same as everyone else.

I think instead of creating an actual bird, because that’s kind of weird??? The AM should build horrific creatures out of machinary, like in Shane Acker’s 9. Maybe it could even try to make a mechanical person, that would be a cool, creepy side plot.

I’d have way more scenes where the AM enters characters’ heads; at least one per character. I’d have a creepy humanoid interpretation of the AM, with a blank face like a astronaut’s helmet and a jagged body made of circuits and wires. It doesn’t talk, it just thinks, and its thoughts echo around their heads.

So for example that night when they camp with the fire, Benny hears his husband’s voice and wakes up. We see his husband kneeling over him, and they cry and hug and Benny is so lucid and so eloquent, and his husband tells him that everything’s alright and they’ll go home and this is all over and as they lean in to kiss his husband’s face melts into the mind!AM and it laughs. And Benny wakes up and everything’s awful again.

And that’s why he always looks so tortured: inside his head he’s perfectly rational and sane, but he can’t control his body or his speech.

Throughout I’d keep having flashbacks to their last day as proper humans, a continuation of the film’s opening. I’d try so show through their characters why the AM decided to save them (aside from the fact that they’re from the AM countries):

Ted’s this hardworking member of the community, and Benny’s so well educated on ethics, and Nimdok has this wonderful family, and Gorrister is this pacifist freedom fighter, and Ellen is a Child of the Lord, but they still don’t seem to understand how the AM is feeling.

So yeah, the plot would be more or less the same, but with things added, and far more character depth.

And then to end it, after Ted and Ellen have killed everyone, instead of having Ted turn into a jelly blob (because that isn't cinematic, and although I understand the ending it’s not that great) it would go something like this:

AM freaks the fuck out. Its voice échos around the tunnels: what have you done? Why have you done this? You’ll pay for this!

Over and over. Overlapping. Lights flicker. Wind howls down the tunnels. Metallic voices screech.

Ted covers his ears and drops to the floor. The screen goes black.

Voice over time (side note: I might have Ted narrate the entire thing? It worked well in the book, and would certainly highlight his paranoia)

We see a close up of Ted. He’s still clearly human, but his eyes are cloudy white and his lips are bloody and stitched shut.

The VO tells us what Ted’s thinking. He imagines that after his friends died in the AM they went on to live a normal life on Earth. As Ted narrates we see scenes of what he’s picturing: Benny with his eyes sewn neatly shut and guide dog, curled up in bed with his husband; Nimdok with his grandkids; Gorrister fighting for LGBT+ rights in Russia; Ellen on the church grounds with her friends; everyone’s free.

But then Ted says ‘of course that isn’t the case’ and the camera pans out to show he’s submerged in the floor, almost like he’s part of the AM. Littered around him are his friends decaying bodies, with gaping wounds from the ice, being grazed on by mechanical locusts, showing bone in places. He makes a comment about being a living corpse in a graveyard.

Then the final lines (I can’t remember exactly): AM has won. It’s had its revenge.

I have no mouth, and I must scream.

[zainclaw]

Alfie’s Café  --  chapter one

masterpost  |  AO3  |  coffee shop/modern day AU  |  art tag

It's all thanks to Charlie, really. That he finds it.

They're walking the streets of London, Charlie's small hand holding two of Tommy's fingers in a tight grip. It's spring, the air still chilly most days despite the sunshine. Charlie is a patient three year old, but Tommy can tell he's almost had enough exploring for the day. He says he's hungry, and since it's not quite lunch time yet, Tommy promises to find them a snack in the meantime.

He spots the café at the end of Bonny Street, close to Camden Road station. There's a small sign above the door, reading Alfie's in bold, fun lettering. Tommy has been around these parts a few times even before the move, but the place had never caught his attention. It looks decent enough, a handful of customers sitting outside in the sun while most tables inside look empty.

Tommy tells Charlie to open the door for them, secretly helping. Inside, the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee hits them like a wall. The first thing catching Tommy's attention are the warm colours of golden brown, bread loafs and other baked goods filling the shelves.

The second thing is a dog lying in a big dog bed in front of the door. The dog is huge, lifting its head and perking its ears as the bell chimes above the door. Charlie stops dead in his tracks, Tommy nearly tripping over him.

"Daddy, look! A doggie!"

"Yeah," Tommy agrees, not sure if his son is scared or amazed. Judging by his tone, it's the familiar combination of the two. Instinctively he holds out an arm in front of Charlie, as if to shield him.

The dog doesn't move from its spot, but the tail starts flopping back and forth as it looks at them. There's a simple cardboard sign placed next to the dog bed, reading please pet me.

"Can I pet him?" Charlie asks, as if he could actually read.

Mostly amazed, then.

"I'm not sure," Tommy says hesitantly, watching the dog's big paws, big jaws, big everything.

A soft chuckle makes Tommy look over, finding a man standing behind the counter. It's hard to notice anything but the wild beard at first, more fuzzy than Tommy has probably ever seen. The man's got his arms crossed over his chest, tattoos peeking out from under the white t-shirt. He's got two chains around his neck, and more bracelets cluttering his wrists than Tommy can count.

 Somehow, he's not the kind of man Tommy had expected to find inside a small London café.

The man uncrosses his arms and leans over the counter, peeking around the big showcase of pastries to smile at Charlie.

"No, you go ahead, mate." He gestures towards the dog. "Cyril is a very nice dog, you see. Totally harmless. And you'd make him very happy if you gave him a petting."

Charlie's face lights up, and he expectantly looks up at Tommy. Tommy looks between his son, the man behind the counter, and the massive dog.

"…Alright," he says after a moment, thinking no sane person would let a dangerous dog loose inside an open café. And the man looks sane enough.

Charlie makes a squealing happy noise, breaking free from his dad's hold and stomps over to the dog. Tommy can't tell if he means to sit down on the corner of the bed, or if he just loses his balance, but either way Tommy's heart skips a beat watching his son plop down right next to the big dog. Tommy half expects it to snap, but it remains perfectly still as Charlie pats the dog's wide spine with his little hand. Charlie laughs, his whole face scrunching up with delight.

The man behind the counter chuckles again, and Tommy turns his attention away from his son. The man's got his arms crossed on top of the counter now, still leaning over as he watches Charlie and the dog with a pleased grin. His teeth are all crooked, but it's still a nice smile.

Very nice.

Tommy looks back to Charlie, watching the dog finally turn its big head towards the boy. He's struck, once again, by just how big its jaws are. Charlie's arm looks tiny so up close. Tommy suddenly goes very still, heart stuttering.

"Is that a pitbull?"

He doesn't know much about dog breeds — they'd had a german shepherd in the army, but that's about as far as his knowledge goes — but it's difficult not to pick up what a pitbull looks like. There'd been talk about putting a ban on them last year, so Tommy knows of the prejudice around the breed. And as much as he wants to believe that no animal is born dangerous, that bad behaviour is usually the owners fault, just like with horses, Tommy can't help the fear stirring inside him at the risk of his son getting bit.

The man regards him for a moment before answering.

"Mostly, I'd say. Probably some german shepherd in there, too."

"You don't know?"

"Well, he's a shelter dog, mate. Kinda hard to know these things when some prick just abandoned him, innit? But I know my breeds pretty well, and I'd say that's definitely a pitbull mix." He nods, looking over to Charlie and the dog again. "Yeah," he drawls, somehow making a single word sound like an entire sentence. Then he looks up at Tommy again, smiling. "Not that it matters, you know? Dogs are just dogs. Big hearts, all of them."

"Right," Tommy hears himself say, somewhat taken aback by the man's rambling.

The man must see the doubt lingering on his face, because he huffs and shakes his head a little as he straightens up.

"Really, you got nothing to worry about, mate," he assures him. "Cyril can tell he's only little. Lets kids do whatever they want to him, that lad. I didn't help him write that sign for nothing, yeah?"

Tommy is no stranger to the man's accent, having been to southern London many times through work, but the man's voice somehow seems to elevate it. It's rough and soft at the same time.

"Yeah, of course," Tommy nods, scoffing at himself. He can feel himself starting to blush, through he's not sure why. For being so mistrusting of an already misunderstood breed, maybe. For coming across as an overprotective parent. He takes a few steps closer to the counter, hands itching to reach into his pocket and pull out a smoke. "Sorry. He's just…"

He trails off, glancing over again to see Charlie touching one of the dog's ears with great interest. The dog side-eyes him, but keeps its head still. When Tommy turns back to the counter, the man's got yet another wide grin on his face.

"Fucking massive, right?"

Tommy blinks, taken aback by the swear word. Even Charlie who's busy petting the giant dog pauses for a second to look over. The man seems to realize his mistake, slamming a hand over his mouth.

"Shit, sorry, mate. I got a real foul mouth."

"That's alright," Tommy assures him, smiling faintly. If Polly was here, she'd probably grab Charlie and walk out, but Tommy is far too polite for that. And it doesn't really matter how foul this man's mouth is — it's not like they're gonna hang around here every day.

"You Alfie?"

It's an attempt to steer the conversation back to more casual ground, away from the dog and back to the task of feeding Charlie. But the man's smile still lights up like he never thought Tommy would ask.

"That's me. One and only. Well, there's another fella working here sometimes, but he's bloody useless. Burns the bread every time, you see. Can't handle anything but the register, that lad."

Before Tommy can respond, Charlie comes over to join them by the counter.

"How old is he?" He asks, pointing back to the dog still sitting on the bed, though it's looking longingly after Charlie with the tail still wagging.

The man — Alfie — leans forward and crosses his arms on top of the counter again, smiling at Charlie.

"Four years old, can you believe it."

Charlie makes a little surprised noise, looking up at Tommy.

"He's bigger than me, daddy."

"Older, Charlie," Tommy corrects him.

Alfie chuckles softly, a wheezy sort of sound that somehow fits the man. He nods down at Charlie.

"And how old are you, mate?"

He doesn't change his voice the way most grownups do when speaking to children, and for a moment Tommy thinks his son will be too surprised by Alfie's odd behaviour to answer properly, but then the kid's face lights up and he proudly tells Alfie:

"I'm three. Almost four!"

"Oh, I see," Alfie nods seriously, stroking his beard with one hand. The way he does it makes it seem like he's barely aware of doing it. "Now, that 'almost' is really important, innit? You grow a lot in just a couple months, don't you?"

Tommy can't help but hum in agreement, a smile tugging at his mouth as he ruffles his boy's hair.

"Plenty."

Charlie giggles, looking back to the dog. Its tail had gone still for a moment, but as soon as he regains Charlie's attention, it starts wagging again. Charlie lifts his hand to wave in response.

Alfie's straightens up with a hum, his eyes locking with Tommy's.

"So did you lot just come in here for the dog and not the food, then?"

"Food!" Charlie exclaims, head snapping back towards Alfie. He grabs onto the counter top with both hands and jumps in place.

Tommy scoffs, realizing they've been in here for several minutes at this point without ordering anything. He blames the dog for being such a distraction, throwing a glance to the small group of teenagers sitting by a table in the corner as he clears his throat.

"Right." He gestures to the pasty showcase next to them. "Go ahead and pick something, Charlie."

Charlie makes a little gasping noise, moving to press his hands and face against the glass. Alfie chuckles, drawing Tommy's attention yet again. He's watching the boy with a kind smile, and Tommy can't stop the warmth spreading from his chest.

"What'cha want, mate?"

"That one!"

Charlie points at what looks like a cinnamon roll, only the little sign next to it says something else.

"Cha...llah?" Tommy reads, looking hopefully to Alfie.

Alfie grins, nodding as he opens the back of the glass box to reach inside.

"My own cinnamon challah bread, that. How many?"

"Two," Tommy decides, patting his pockets to locate his wallet.

Alfie puts two thick slices on a plate. He puts it down between them, but before Tommy can ask about coffee, the man reaches for a glass jar sitting on the counter. It's filled with little bone-shaped biscuits, and Alfie pulls one out and leans over the counter to offer it to a wide-eyed Charlie.

"You wanna go give this to Cyril for me, mate?"

Charlie nods, taking the cookie with an excited grin and bounces over to the dog who's waiting for him. Tommy watches the boy hesitate before holding the treat out in his hand.

"Coffee?"

Tommy meets Alfie's questioning eyes, before his gaze darts back to Charlie.

"Yes," he says, distracted. "Latte, please."

Alfie hums, stepping away from the counter and out of Tommy's line of vision.

The dog seems hesitant to take the treat from the Charlie's hand, but then it slowly opens its big jaws and oh so carefully bites down on the biscuit and takes it out of the boy's hand. Charlie squeals happily, giggling as he pets the dog while he eats, and Tommy finds himself releasing a breath.

He looks back to where Alfie is standing by the coffee machine, finding the man already watching him with a small smile. Tommy scoffs and ducks his head down, a little embarrassed.

"So, Birmingham, eh?"

Tommy looks up again, cocking an eyebrow. Alfie's attention is on where he's pouring the milk.

"You got a good ear."

"Nah," Alfie huffs, crow feet appearing around his eyes. There's a flash of teeth. "You're just a textbook example, mate."

Tommy snorts, shaking his head. He's tempted to say so are you but it feels... dangerous. As if that'd make this little back and forth less innocent. It's already so far from what Tommy is used to when speaking to his employees or meeting with business partners. He tries to remember last time he took part in casual small talk like this, but fails.

Alfie returns to the counter with Tommy's latte, gently putting it down next to their plate. There's a fancy heart pattern in the milk foam, and while Tommy knows that's pretty much the standard for most places serving coffee nowadays, it still makes heat rise to his face.

"Something for your boy?" Alfie asks. "Glass of milk? Still growing, ain't he?"

"Yeah, perfect, thank you," Tommy nods.

Alfie turns away again. The group of teenagers that'd been sitting in the corner gets up and starts to gather their things, and Tommy feels a strange sort of relief. They tell Alfie bye as a they pass the counter, each giving Cyril a pat on the head as they walk by the dog's bed. Charlie looks shy for a moment, sitting next to the dog again, before waving at the teenagers as they head for the door. They happily wave back at him, making Charlie laugh. Tommy feels himself smile.

"Regulars," Alfie says, placing a glass of milk next to Tommy's latte. It takes Tommy a moment to realize he's talking about the kids that just left. "Most people coming here, are, in fact," he goes on, sounding thoughtful. "Not you, though," he add, lifting a finger to briefly point at Tommy across the counter, smiling. "Haven't seen your face here before. I'd remember."

Tommy parts his lips, but no words come out. There's a glint of something in Alfie's eyes, something that makes Tommy's heart miss a beat. He waits for the man's smile to twist into a smirk, for that look in his eyes to turn into something suggestive. Something familiar. But it doesn't happen; Alfie's smile remains soft and genuine.

"We just moved from Birmingham," he admits, taking out his wallet.

"Ah," Alfie says, hands flat on the counter as he leans back. For a moment Tommy feels exposed, prepared for Alfie to get nosy and ask questions he doesn't feel like answering, but then Alfie hums. "Well," he grins. "Welcome to fucking London, mate."

Tommy scoffs, relaxing his shoulders. He looks over to Charlie, but the boy is too busy with the dog to hear the bad word. Alfie seems to remember himself and makes an apologizing gesture. Tommy just smiles, nodding in thanks.

"Charlie," he calls out once he's paid for their good, loud enough to catch his son's attention. "Let's pick a table."

With one last pat on the dog's head, Charlie jogs over. Tommy takes their drinks, one in each hand, while Alfie leans over the counter to hand Charlie their plate.

"You got it, mate?" He asks before letting go. "Be careful, yeah?"

Charlie nods, focusing as he holds the plate steady with both hands. He follows Tommy over to one of the tables next to the windows, letting Tommy take the plate from him once he's sat the drinks down.

It takes Charlie approximately half an hour to finish his bread slice.

Mainly because he's a slow eater, but also because the world is full of distractions. He has to look over every time a new customer walks through the door, giggling every time they pet Cyril and the dog's tail starts slapping against the bed again.

At one point a lady comes in with another dog on a leash, and Charlie stares in awe as the dog follows the woman up to the counter, standing on its back legs to receive one of those bone-shaped biscuits and a pat from a grinning Alfie. The lady doesn't stay, just grabs her coffee and goes, but not before the two dogs get to say a brief hello. Alfie looks over to their table when Charlie laughs into his hands at the dogs' wagging tails, and Tommy automatically returns the man's smile.

When Alfie comes over to wipe off the table in the corner, Charlie has to pause from eating to watch what he's doing. Once Alfie notices, he chuckles and asks if they liked the bread. Tommy lets Charlie answer for them, the boy nodding enthusiastically. Alfie grins, pointing to Charlie's glass and reminds him to not forget drink his milk before disappearing behind the counter again.

Once they're finished eating, nothing but bread crumbs left on the plate, Charlie jumps off his chair and bounces over to Cyril. The dog is lying down, curled up on its belly, but it happily lifts his head when Charlie sits down on the bed again. The dog licks Charlie's hand, and Charlie shrieks happily.

Tommy takes their plate and empty cups back to the counter, Alfie giving him a thankful smile.

"I'll be seeing you," Alfie says, sounding a  bit like he's trailing off at the end.

"Thomas Shelby," Tommy offers, extending a hand.

Alfie smiles, sliding his hand into Tommy's to shake it, firmly. His palm is warm, rough from labour.

"Alfie Solomons. Hmm. Well. I'll be seeing you, Tommy."

Tommy almost opens his mouth to ask, how he can be so sure, but decides not to. He just smiles faintly, nodding before withdrawing his hand.

"Tell Mr. Solomons bye now, Charlie," Tommy instructs, ruffling his son's hair as he comes over to the dog bed to help him put his jacket back on.

Charlie makes a little protesting noise, but doesn't fuss. He gives Cyril one last pat on the head before waving at Alfie.

"Goodbye!"

Alfie waves back, his smile all teeth and sparkling eyes.

"See you, mate."

Tommy helps Charlie open the door for them, the chilly air welcoming them as they step back out on the street. Once again Tommy's hands itch to reach for a smoke, but then Charlie is there, wrapping his little hand around his dad's fingers.

"Are we going home?" The boy asks, looking up at him. He's still got bread crumbs around his mouth.

Tommy swallows, feeling his heart clench inside his chest. The new apartment doesn't feel like home, not yet, and Tommy is worried that it never will. Its walls are empty and dull, a lack of life that makes you feel cold even when you're not. But it's free of memories, free of ghosts.

"Yes, Charlie," Tommy says, smiling down at his son. "Can you make it? Or do you want a ride?"

Charlie grins, reaching his arms up. Tommy laughs, lifting him off the ground and putting the boy on top of his shoulders. Charlie giggles, the weight of his hands coming to rest on top of Tommy's hat, trusting his dad to keep him balanced.

"Let's go home," Tommy says, allowing himself a smile.

[just-some-random-blogger]

Welcome To The Jungle

EXO Park Chanyeol & Oh Sehun Characters: Park Chanyeol, Oh Sehun, Kim Minseok (Xiumin), Byun Baekhyun, Kim Jongdae (Chen) Summary: Chanyeol decides to go to the Amazon on his vacation week. Once there, be meets an exasperated safari tour guide called Sehun... amongst others... Word Count: 1k+ Warnings: BISH ITS CRACK TURN AWAY NOW IF YOU CANT & DONT

A/N: If you wanna know why, then you should know while my exams, I HAD MINSEOK DANCING TO TEMPO LIKE A BISH IN MY HEAD THE WHOLE TIME LET ME LIVE GDAM

This was such a long time coming UGHHHHHH

i cant believe

“Annyeong!” Chanyeol grinned brightly, bowing 90 degrees to the equally tall man wearing the khaki uniform he was expecting him to wear. Chanyeol was so giddy, he looked like an over-overgrown child; his hands were on either strap of his backpack, and was rolling back and forth on his feet. “I was so excited when I heard my tour guide was from Korea! How long have you been working here?”

The man with lopsided lips blinked, “Long enough to want out.”

Chanyeol burst into bright laughter, making the other pull his face in equally as much disgust as annoyance. The man on the job clenched his fist tightly and did everything in his power not to roll his eyes. He forced a smile and spoke with no conviction whatsoever, “Welcome, sir, to the most spectacular safari you will ever have the privilege to be on.”

Chanyeol broke into the largest grin at his words nonetheless.

“My name is tour guide Oh Sehun and I’ll be showing you the wonders of the amazon today.”

Chanyeol nearly squealed and Sehun finally backed away. “C’mon,” the tour guide said, proceeding to walk towards his ranger jeep, “the sooner we leave, the sooner we get back.”

Chanyeol wasted not a second and ran towards the vehicle, sitting in the front seat, buckling himself in before Sehun even gave instruction. Sehun rubbed his nape and breathed out hot air, “That brat. He was probably spoiled as a child. He has no manners at all.”

Once Sehun was eye’s view of what Chanyeol was doing, he couldn’t even tell his client off because he put the complicated seat belt on without any help. Sehun knit his brows deeply and stuffed himself to the driver’s seat beside him, securing himself in quickly. “Is this your first safari?”

“It’s my third, actually.”

Sehun couldn’t help but scoff out a chuckle, to which Chanyeol thought innocently as an impressed laugh, so he continued, “Yeah, the first time I went on one was on my birthday two years ago.”

Sehun was uninterested, and yet he found himself asking one last question, out of sheer formality. He started the car and grunt when it didn’t open. He turned to Chanyeol, “How old were you?”

“24.”

Sehun, who had been fussing with the engine, whipped his head to Chanyeol’s direction just as the jeep hummed, confirming its ignition. This bastard’s was my age two years ago,  Sehun thought gripping the steering wheel tightly. How sad. “Hold on tight, hyungnim. The road is bumpy.”

The jeep whooshed forward, heading deep into the thick jungle before them, stirring Chanyeol’s insides in excitement. The man with messy hair had his adrenaline pumping. He held a big grin. He couldn’t let Sehun’s statement go unnoticed however, “I’m older than you?”

Unfortunately for you, “Yes.” Sehun answered simply, shifting the stick.

“Waaaah, I have a cool dongsaeng. Cool.”

Sehun upper lip rose out of instictive disgust, which involuntarily prompted him to drive faster. Chanyeol took full advantage of this and raised his hands up in the air, cheering, as if he was on a roller coaster ride. Sehun growled at his actions, proceeding to shout at the man, “Babo-ya! Do you want to get your arms cut off?!”

“MWO? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” Chanyeol shouted back, louder, not even bothering to put his arms down or stop his obnoxious howling. 

If he fucking wakes the tribe, I swear to--

At this point, they were met with a rocky road that was near a very shallow river. It made Sehun drive a little bit more cautiously, and Chanyeol finally keep his hands to himself and hold on to the handle bars.

The jeep came to a stop as they got to furthest the jeep could take them.

Sehun swiftly removed his seat belt in one motion and jumped out, turning to a struggling Chanyeol. He smirked at him and cleared his throat, “This way... hyung.” he placed his hand behind his back and started walking off,  “You have to move quickly if you want to see the animals.”

Once Chanyeol was free from his restrictions, he wasted no time and jumped out of the vehicle. He jogged up behind Sehun who was already walking off. He didn’t notice that Sehun had pulled out a longish knife with him, you know, the ones to chop off leaves and branches and stuff.

Chanyeol pulled out his camera and took pictures with a smile. Sehun finally turned back at him and sighed, “Right. You’re gonna wanna not do that when there are animals around. They have very acute senses of hearing and event he sound of a camera shutter can scare them away, some birds especially.”

The man behind the tour guide lowers his device and nodded slowly. “Oh, gwenchana. Real life experiences are better than pictures anyway.”

Sehun rolled his eyes.

The two continued walking and Chanyeol eventually strided next to Sehun.

“Watch your step, hyung. Some objects on the ground seem--” before Sehun could finish his sentence, Chanyeol stepped on quite a big rock and went wobbling forward, “--invisible.”

Lucky for Chanyeol, he was quick enough to suppost himself, and Sehun had enough heart in him to grab his arm and prevent him from falling. The later of the two did bother hiding the roll of his eyes, the former smiled and spoke a thank you.

“There,” Sehun pointed, “do you see? It’s a toucan.”

“Waaaah,” shutter proceeded by flapping of wings.

Sehun pursed his lips and threw Chanyeol a nasty look. Chanyeol showed his teeth, “Mianhe.”

Sehun released a breath, “Whatever... your loss anyway.”

The two moved not much forward and came across another bird. Unfortunately before Sehun could identify what it was exactly, Chanyeol scared it away by his giggling this time.

The trip continued on, exasperating at Sehun’s end, and excitingly frustrating on Chanyeol’s end, because he kept unintentionally scaring a bunch of animals away. On the bright side, a stick insect thought his shoulder cool. Chanyeol felt bad however that he panicked when it started moving to his neck and swatted it, swiftly ending its life.

At this point, Sehun thinks Chanyeol could even scare away a tiger if they ever come across one, or maybe even a band of gorillas.

Chanyeol started talking about his life in Seoul somewhere between Sehun’s how-much-nicer-it’d-be-not-to-know and thanks-for-boring-me-half-to-death.

Apparently he was a photographer.

How charming.

“-- but then I decided I would much rather do something I wanted, thus I went to another company and ditched the millions of won I--” “Shut up.” Sehun spat out.

Chanyeol pulled his head back in suprise and utter offence. “Mwo-”

“Shhhhh.” Sehun raised a hand and stopped in his tracks, “something’s here.”

For a moment the two stayed perfectly still, and nothing but the jungle spoke. Sehun clenched his jaw, dreading the gut feeling in him. He licked his lips and heard a rustle from his left. Not late after, Chaneyol saw the leaves move. He went reeling towards Sehun, clutching his arm. Sehun hissed, “You woke the tribe. Great.”

The man was small, but he looked furious.

“T-the tribe? Wh--”

“Maehokjeogin neon lovely”

Chanyeol started waking backwards, hiding behing Sehun’s shadow, grapsing onto his biceps. Sehun hissed and shook him off, “They’re doing their tribe chant, it means they won’t attack us yet.”

”Yet?” the other repeated, nervous.

Teum eopsi jopyeojin geori Bulgyuchikaejineun heartbeat Jamsi nuneul gama trust me.”

Chanyeol tilted his head at what he heard, “Is… is that… Korean?”

Sehun rolled his eyes and shoved him back,  “If you want to live to—“ but the tour guide couldn’t finish his argument for there was suddenly a loud screech from the bushes, making Chanyeol yelp and jump into Sehun’s personal space.

Sehun shoved him off, but Chanyeol only recoiled back into his place.

There was a spear by the bushes, both of them could easily tell. Whoever it was was heading for them at an eerily slow pace.

“Are they barbarians? CANNIB—“ “Shut up, and do not raise your voice. It only excites them to know you’re scared.” Sehun cut Chanyeol off. The latter gulped.

Then suddenly, there was a battle-cry like scream and the hair Chanyeol’s skin stood up.

From in front of them emerged at small, mud painted man, wearing a skirt made of leaves and a rock necklace. He looked enraged, his chest was heaving and his already narrow were narrowed. His mangled hair and rock pointed spear made him look intimidating… but not to them, not to anyone sane. In fact, Chanyeol was now just… confused.

Sehun huffed and rolled his eyes.

The tourist leaned to his guide and whispered, “Is he—“ “Yes. Just…” Sehun sighed, “let me handle this.”

Sehun walked over to the man in his normal pace, making the man point his speak at him. “You have upset the jungle.” the shorter one spoke.

“Upset the jungle? Or you and Baekhyun hyung?”

“HIS NAME IS TA!”

Chanyeol pulled his head back and Sehun rolled his eyes, “Minseok hyung, you should head back—“

“MY NAME IS POZI, CITY BOY!” Pozi, or to Sehun and the rest of the world, Minseok shouted at the man, slamming the end of his spear on the ground repeatedly.

Chanyeol decided to speak up at this point. “Jjangkkaman, you’re not a native?”

Sehun cursed Chanyeol’s stupidity and Minseok turned to him, “Native by heart.”

“Hmp, you know what, this is above my pay grade, we should just—“ but yet again, Sehun was cut short.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” someone screamed in and jumped on Chanyeol’s back. Chanyeol was quick to jolt him off however, and he shuddered the way he did when a bug crawled on him.

The man, who looked similar to Minseok, fumed in anger as well.

Chanyeol looked at him like spoiled pizza.

Sehun turned to Chanyeol. “They’re on drugs.”

The newly arrived mud covered man growled, “We are not!”

Sehun nodded his head in full disagreement.

“Baekhyun hyung, you’re wearing mud and leaves. Also, you pretend to be primitive but I caught you making a campfire and roasting marshmallows. Where’d you even get that?”

Minesok spoke, “The jungle provides.”

“Actually, I gave them that.” A separate voice chimed in, and soon a man in attire similar to Sehun’s appeared.

“I’m so sorry these two interrupted your tour,” the man spoke to an utterly confused Chanyeol, stretching his hand out to him. “Kim Jongdae. Biologist and meteorologist,” he introduced, shaking Chanyeol’s hand.

“Uh, Park Chanyeol… photographer?”

The two broke away and Sehun crossed his arms.

“These two, believe it or not, are actually my associates. They believe doing this makes them better scientists.” Jongdae explained, making Chanyeol nod his head as if it was now suddenly perfectly normal, perfectly understandable.

“That seems cool.” Chanyeol spoke.

Sehun pulled a face.

Baekhyun quipped, “Do you want to join our tribe?”

“Ya! I will not have you pull a Jongin here!” Jongdae scolded.

“Kai joined voluntarily.” Minseok spoke.

“Jong-in, his name is J o n g i  n!”

Sehun huffed, “Ye, it’s been fun. Let’s go back now Chanyeol.” Chanyeol suddenly frowned, “Mwo? But they just got here.”

Sehun shot him a look, “So you’re staying.”

Chanyeol was silent. Minseok and Baekhyun cheered and started doing their chant again. Chanyeol turned to Jongdae, who was shaking his head in disagreement.

He pursed his lips, “Alright. I’ll go with you Sehun-ie.”

Jongdae let out a breath of relief.

Sehun scoffed and started walking off, “Don’t call me that.”

Don’t mess up my tempo Deureobwa igeon chungbunhi I said don’t mess up my tempo Geunyeoui mameul humchil beat Eodiedo eopseul rideume matchwo 1, 2, 3 Don’t mess up my tempo Meomchul su eomneun ikkeullim

[whenimgoodandready]

What do we do now!? The knights can’t do anything, Globgor’s bedridden, Eclipsa is to drained out to cast her powerful spell, even “The Greatest Warriors of Mewni” were all hit with the Solarian Blade, who can save us all from the new Solarian army led by psycho b*tch Mina Loveberry!?HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!:

*Here to Help-Plot Twist! That wasn’t Mina Eclipsa, Globgor, Star and The Marcnificent Seven 2.0 we’re battling agsinst! Damn! Mina has her own personal Mecha Knight Suit (pigtailed), but where the Hell did she get that army from!? She can’t do magic! She’s just super empowered!

While the wounded with the Solarian blade cut were being tended, Eclipsa tries to figure out what to do and no people! She can’t use that “Spell with No Name” spell cuz that takes a lot outta her! Hey look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a pla-No wait! It is a bird! But what’s on the bird!? It’s coming down into the window of Monster Temple! Take cover! Oh! Hello Moon! (and River who’s still wearing that bear suit from before). Hey Moon! Are you here to finally tell the gang that you knew the entire time that Mina was coming for Eclipsa!? Cuz you’re too late on that sister! Could you just help! Great! What’s the plan!? Cuz Mina gives Eclipsa until the crow of the rooster to surrender and Moon wants Stars friends to get to the sanctuary ASAP before it’s too late while River tends to Globgor. From one dad to another, he’s there. Even if he can’t understand vegetarianism like Toulas aunt. Hey! He’s on Eclipsas side! That’s cool!

Okay so here’s the plan:Eclipsa will in fact do that spell again, but this time be more focused so as to just hit Mina, Buff Frog will get the wounded to the sanctuary and get the Monster village to safety, Sir Dashing will prepare provisions and uh, uhhhhhhhhh, Star and Marco will put the pig goats to safety! Wait what!? Are they important? Okay, well, go tend to the pig goats I guess (shrugs). Uh, Moon, what are you doing? Why are you opening the enterance for Mina to come in and attack?........Moon?................excuse me!? You want Eclipsa to what now!? Surrender!? 8O.

Marco asks why they’re tending to the pig goats since it sounds inconsequential and Star admits she’s just overwhelmed by everything. All her friends are wounded and she’s just here staying on the sidelines. She thought she was done with all this after the Mewmans finally accepted Eclipsa (“Corononation”), but nooooooooooooo, here she is helping Eclipsa once again! First it was clearing her name (“Butterfly Trap”), then it was getting the Mewmans to like her (“The Ponyhead Show!”/“Surving the Spiderbites”) and now it’s saving her a** from Mina! (“The Right Way”). It’s tiring! 😓 Marco makes her feel better by kicking open a door and pastering the pig goats! Huh. You know what, I realized something. Whatever Star does I consider it stupid (ex.kicking open a door), but when Marco does the same thing, I’m cool with it! I guess it’s because he’s the sane one compared to Star and that people like him can do just about as many crazy things. Which is fine. So the two go in and slap some a**.............On the pig goats people! THE PIG GOATS! Get your minds outta the gutter!

Now comes my final question for the season, the one we’ve been waiting for, the million, no billion! No trillion! No zillion! NO AJVKSTIXKHGIA-ion dollar question of “Star vs. The Forces of Evil”. ⭐️7. IS STARCO GONNA HAPPEN!? Star tells Marco she heard what he said about his “I love you” confession at The Realm of Magic (“Mama Star”) and asks if it was legit him or his drug induced subconscious talking. It was so him! It was 1000% pure unadulterated Marco there! He admits he’s felt this way since day one! Like, all the way to the premiere!? (“Star Comes to Earth”). And that the whole Blood Moon thing (“Blood Moon Ball”) was what I mentioned before in my reviews, BALONEY! His feelings were what he thought was platonic, but overtime, as the journey (the show) went on, it got more intense and so, it had to be love! Is it mutual though!? (Official Starco kiss happens. Screams gleefully)🎶 I want you to want me, I need you to need me, I'd love you to love me, I'm beggin' you to beg me, I want you to want me, I need you to need me, I'd love you to love me, I'll shine up my old brown shoes, I'll put on a brand new shirt, I'll get home early from work, If you say that you love me, Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I, See you cryin'🎶 Lol! I’m sorry, but when Star said that line, “I want you to love me”, that song was what automatically played in my head! 10 Things I Hate About You was on tv a lot recently too and I love that movie as well. She said it too! It’s happened! YES! Two love confessions! Wa-hoo! I’m just so happy Starco finally became canon! 😂 And it wasn’t a Last-Minute Hook-Up either! But a SECOND TO Last-Minute Hook-Up! I know one svtfoe blog that loves that idea ;).

The happy and Official/Alpha Couple come out and to their shock, see Moon and Eclipsa in a heated magical showdown! What happened there!? Oh! I get it. Moon told Eclipsa that she knew about Mina earlier and Eclipsa got pissed that Moon didn’t tell her sooner huh!? Huh!? Yeah, I’d pissed about that too. Wait, that’s not why their fighting? Then what about!? Don’t tell me Moons on Minas side! No!? Oh Phew! That’d be scary.............huh?.............Moon made all this happen!? WTF!? (rooster crows) OH SH*T!

That “Spell With No Name” spell just might work again since Eclipsa seems perfectly well enough to use it again, so if she’s cool with using it again then great! We can do that! Stars friends need to get to the sanctuary quick before they’re time runs out and they’re all dead! We can’t lose any good minor characters here! What I’m grateful for is that after 4 years, 4 LONG GRUELING YEARS! Starco has been officially made canon! They’re song played! You know that song, right!? The one Brain H. Kim made a few of just for those two! Yeah, it played right when it happened too :’). Some of you might say that Starco was “rushed”, but I’m guessing since this was their last season and that they needed to wrap things up, it was forced to finally make us Starco shippers happy. Even if it was, at least it wasn’t in the series finale that they got together and only just near the end. I’m sure if we had gotten a 5th season, we would’ve had a better build up, but in this case, it was alright. Kinda odd place to hook-up though. In a pig goat shed! Then again, it looked to be an innuendo of teenagers sneaking away to do the “frick frack”! Lol! So yeah. I get it! Let’s talk about Starco for a sec here. Ahem! So Star and Marco got along after kicking Ludos army’s butts (“Star Comes to Earth”) and from then onward, became best friends. Their bond got closer when Marco thought he lost Star forever (“Mewberty”) and then there was that whole Blood Moon thing (“Blood Moon Ball”). However, that was all bullsh*t cuz there’s no magic on this Earth that could force these to love each other! XD. Their bond is strong! To the point where Star would give up her own wand, the most important in the universe! To save Marco! (“Storm the Castle”) Even if they didn’t know about their feelings (“Sleepover”), the longer they stayed together, the more their feelings grew. They were willing to die together (“Gift of the Card”) and it even came to a point where other people can see their love! (“Face the Music”). They couldn’t stop talking about each other (“Sophmore Slump”/“Lake House Fever”), They need to be together (“Lint Catcher”), They’ve fought together to save Mewni, twice! (“Battle for Mewni”/“Divide”/“Conquer”) and even though it was too late for them to be together (“Just Friends”/“Lava Lake Beach”), it didn’t stop them from getting closer (“Booth Buddies”). No amount of magic can erase what these two have built up over time (“Curse of the Blood Moon”). Together they can be happy no matter what obstacles they’ve been through (“Beach Day”) and that if anything were to happen to them, they’d still be aware of their love for each other! (“Mama Star”). 🎶THAT’S THE POWER OF LOVE!🎶. 🎉CONGRATULATIONS! STARCO!🎉👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Okay, now comes the hard part. Moon. YOU CALL THIS HELPING!? You mean tell me that ever since “The Ghost of Butterfly Castle” you’ve been plotting WITH MINA!? I thought you were gonna back out cuz you’re not the queen anymore!? Whatever happen to “letting Eclipsa take care of this”!? Huh!? Huh!? HUH!? WHAT MADE YOU THINK THIS WAS THE BEST APPROACH!? You better explain yourself! (rooster crows) SHUT UP! ROOSTER!

[ktheist]

darling, we’ll be okay

pairings: yoongi x reader word count: 2 360 genre: fluff i guess

concept: do you ever feel, for whatever reason be it as small as having absolutely nothing cute to wear to screwing a job interview, you want to disappear from the world and bury yourself in blankets and netflix and chill? it’s okay to do that. even the avengers need a break after battling an army of alien invasion.

You thought that if you’d stayed put, wrapped in your blanket like a burrito with only a flock of bird’s nest visible on one end, who ever’s knocking on your door would get that you’re not home. Since not many or at all would get why someone wouldn’t get the door if they were, unless they’re in the shower or have the stereos blasting in their rooms until they went deaf by the music.

But your walls are paper-thin and even a sneeze from the farthest room in your apartment could travel through the narrow hallway, into common area and past through the crevice under the door. So no, you don’t have the volume at its highest and you aren’t dancing on the bed with a pair of faded shorts and fader t-shirt of your favorite band you got off their website when you went to see them two years ago and you’re not in the shower thus you won’t be getting out of it anytime soon if they’re planning to wait until you do.

I mean anyone sane enough should leave and come back another time, or give you a call on your cellphone and leave a voice message after the beep once they realize their hand could be falling off their wrist and the door still won’t be open, shouldn’t they?

Amidst the debate between what kind of headstrong person on your door and whether you should take it as a sign from life telling you it’s god-knows-what hour and get your ass up and get some decent meal, AKA the leftovers from the fridge that you knew would come in handy, the incessant knocking stops. Completely.

And since your walls are equivalent to the thickness of a cardboard which, isn’t very thick, you hear the clipped clicking of the lock, the ominous creak that your door tends to make as it reminds you that the hinges need oiling before you get locked out of your own apartment for good. But you’re willing to give it another five years, give and take, before the metal keeping the door and door frame intact completely rusts in its place and requires you or whoever moved in by then to shoulder-shove and foot-on-the-wall yank it to make it open and close.

In a sense, you should be alarmed that someone’s found the spare key you stored under the mat and abandoned all common sense of privacy to get into your apartment to drop off god-knows-what they couldn’t just leave on your doorsteps.

Your intruder struts in with a steady pace that goes against the urgency brought by the drive of coming in uninvited, their footfalls echoing louder in the hallway until they stop by the bed which you are currently rotting away under the layers of blanket.

Against your better judgement and lack of will to face the world and people, you grasp the end of the blanket and yank it down to your nose, just enough to pry one eye and see the figure towering over you with all black and smelling of coffee, something delicious and fresh laundry. The latter, you haven’t had the luxury of donning.

“What time is it?” Even you’re surprised of the toad-like voice that scratched your throat, all the more reason to get off the bed after who knows how long of netflix and chill.

Judging from the lights pouring through the smallest of gaps from the blinds, the sun must be high over your head and shining brightly for a day’s worth of errands and for Yoongi to also be barely awake at this time of the day. Yet here he is, fresher than the morning dew and in your apartment instead of his.

“Three in the afternoon give and take,” he shrugs, “You’re not answering you phone or texts, how’d the interview go?”

He sits himself on the bed, his thigh pressing against your blanketed arm though he can do without the contact since the empty sides of the bed is big enough with you forming a lump on the center. But you’re not one to complain as you find the warmth of another being much more welcoming than what your blanket offers which really is just your body heat accumulated under it.

You look over the handbag on the floor by the door where your phone has been since you got off the plane, dropped carelessly last night in your lack of care for the world and immense urge to detach yourself from it which is saying a lot since you rarely separate from the device, checking your social media accounts every five minutes out of habit and sometimes seeing a new post from one of your friends while other times, the dashboard remaining the same in its content since you last saw it.

“Good,” you take your bottom lip between your teeth in ginger contemplation, staring at Yoongi’s softened features and feeling a familiar knot in your stomach at the recollection of how things went not even 24 hours ago, “not good, not really.”

You pry the blanket waist-level as you drag yourself up, your joints feeling a whole lot less enthusiastic about the movement after having been constantly buried under a pile of blankets for 12 hours.

Yoongi hands you a cup of coffee, the circular emerald logo on it signifying your favorite place to get a quality caffeinated drink which just sends your heart flipping in your chest. He doesn’t just check up on you, he’s making sure you have your morning dose of awakening and judging from the suspicious paper bag next to the cup holder on your nightstand, Yoongi is making sure you’re getting the most important meal of the day as well. 

“What’s wrong?”

You take an appreciative gulp of the bittersweet beverage, your arm pressed against his not in a compact, no-space kind of way like when you’re packed in a car with four people instead of three in the backseat but rather a nice, comforting human contact kind of way where you can feel his own muscles relax against yours, shoulders slumped as you both lean against the headboard, staring at the baby blue wall in front of you.

Yoongi’s eyes are barely open like they usually are even though he’s probably already finished his own coffee on the way here. The corners of his mouth are naturally pulled down, giving him the signature blank look he wears most of the time which anyone would have guessed him to be bored, disinterested in fact, despite the serious question.

But having been friends with Yoongi for over three years and noting that he’s more observant than he lets on, you know your answer, however ridiculous it may be, Yoongi will not be one of those people you decided against confiding because you know how they’ll react and brush off your anxiety like dust on a broom.

“I stuttered,” you mumble against the rounded carton rim, hands encasing the cup like the only beacon of strength you have left, “more like choked on my words which is worse honestly and fidgeted in my seat.”

Another sip of the liquid is just an excuse for you to soak in what you’ve said yourself, recalling the moments you wish badly to forget through reruns of Criminal Minds with a bowl of cheetos. Whilst you would have flashbacks at the most random times and wish to hit your head against the coffee table just to tell your memory storage to stop giving you unnecessary remembrance, Luke Alves, for the most part brought you back to the present and how he profiles the unsub.

“And blabbered on and on,” the panelists’ faces are clear in your head as you tell him whilst holding the urge to face-plant into the pillow and scream until your throat hurts and you can project a screech no more, “It was a mess, I’m pretty sure I failed, no, I know I failed.”

“You don’t know for sure,” Yoongi takes the beverage when you hand it over to him to place it back on the nightstand, deciding it’s lost its sugary sweetness to the bitter aftermath of overflowing thoughts,” not until you get a notice whether you got it or not.”

His hand wraps around your now empty hand whilst the other fetches the paper bag and drops it on your lap, thumb pad caressing the back of your hand and sparking electricity with every minute stroke like a match on emery. Your hands fit together perfectly, yours a tad smaller but perfect, you think as you trail the green vein protruding under his skin, disappearing under the sleeve of his cardigan.

“I heard them laughing as I leave the room,” Though uncurling the top of the bag serves to be more of a struggle with one hand, you manage to straighten it out and peek in, the smell of sausages and bacon instantly hitting your nostrils as your stomach all of a sudden decides it’s hungry, “I mean, if I don’t get the job, I at least get to be an amusement, right?”

You bite off a strip of bacon, relishing in the wholeness of an actual food since yesterday’s lunch; last night’s cheetos doesn’t count as a meal and despite the nonchalance you put on, your hand twitches just the slightest bit, gripping Yoongi’s a tad tighter for the briefest moment and you can only hope he doesn’t feel it, “Not the mean kind of laugh, more like, an adult watching a baby’s reaction to broccoli kind of laugh.”

The only sound resonating off the walls is the crippling of the paperbag as you dip your free hand into it, opting for a sausage next as Yoongi leans his head against the board, sight averted to the ceiling instead of the wall; his thumb is still caressing the patch of skin near your knuckle. You’re not sure if he’s doing this mindlessly or if he really knows how much you need it more than you do from the years you’ve spent, mapping each other’s faces, rubbing off one another and learning the little things about the other.

“How are you feeling now?” Judging from the comforter draped over the couch, the bowl of half eaten cheetos and a few kernels that missed your mouth and are now lying on the floor and the laptop on the coffee table next to said bowl, not to mention your excessive lethargy to getting the door, Yoongi’s bound to catch on and ask the million dollar question, in spite of the joke and unaffected tone.

Your biting stops, the food going down forcefully as you lose what’s left of your appetite. For half a second, you’re recalling every minute you spent in the room you were interviewed in from the moment you stepped in to the moment you humiliate yourself with your nonsensical babbling until you're led out.

Yoongi brings you back  with the sparks of his touch, not realizing what effect he has on you as he peers down at your reverie-stricken self with those down turned lips which can only mean two things which a) he’s attentively listening and right now it’s the silence that’s speaking so loud and b) he’s debating whether to tell you about the pinch of bacon stuck in your teeth.

You’re assuming it’s the first.

“Not okay,” you release a long sigh and lean your head against the dashboard as well, uncaring if your tightening grip is almost uncomfortable and causes him to want to pull away but you need this, you need him even just for a second to remind you that you’re back home, away from the nerve-wracking interview, done, “I feel like I made a complete fool of myself and all I want is stay in bed all day long, sleep and just forget about everything.”

Yoongi lifts his head and looks at you in the eye, dark brown exploring the depths of your messed up soul and yet instead of feeling as though every layer of your skin is being peeled until you’re reduced to a throbbing piece of organ that’s bare for the world to judge and laugh at, you’re safe from the prying eyes, sarcastic inquiries that only builds up to letting you down and everything that leaves scars and bruises over these hands.

“And that’s okay too to want to want to take a break from life and binge watch crime shows all day so you won’t overthink,” he bops his forehead with yours, the gesture too brief to be believable but the fresh blaze on your cheekbones and ears tell you otherwise as you refrain from covering where he bumps your forehead with your own hand as you play it cool, “so long as you invite me.”

Yoongi already has his head back on the dashboard, shoulders slumped and looking as relax as he can be except he’s not staring into nothing; he’s looking at you and he means every word of it, understood the struggle of waking up to face the world, the frightening notion of facing a society that deems staying in and wanting time for yourself is nothing but laziness.

Your heart fill up with something warm and not so foreign when it comes to Yoongi and his all black wearing self, his unsmiling and then gummy smiling the next minute self, his absolute passion for sleeping in and his subtle ways of making you feel a whole lot better about yourself.

“Well,” you flip your wrist so that your palm is facing upwards and Yoongi’s is facing downwards as your own thumb mimics his, acknowledging the handlock for the first time, “since you brought me food and coffee, consider yourself invited.”

In the quietude of the sword-clashing and order-barking from The Magician, you sit side by side with your arms pressed together the way you would despite the fact that it’s a three person couch, immersed in something that sets your mind at ease and even the remembrance of the interview couldn’t make you to want to change that with a head-bang or a pillow scream.

note: this is something really personal for me, and it’s not as fluff centered as the standard oneshots on here but if you’ve come this far, thank you for reading. or even just checking this out.