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unrestrainedbalderdash · 2 years ago

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I have another Riddler & Reader fanfic! It will have multiple chapters, you can read it on AO3 or read it below the cut :)

Disclaimers:

I'm very inexperienced when it comes to writing, I'm just an oriented aroace who's fuelled by desperation, spite and Riddler brainrot

Allos can interact but please be mindful that it isn't for you

I'm English so there may be language differences if you're American

Rating: This chapter is teen but in future the fic will probably be mature for some violence and trauma

Warnings: Swearing, near-death experience, kidnapping kind of (it's a little complicated, but it's not as scary or anything)

Reader insert info: Vigilante, Batfam member, not good at riddles, a bit of an idiot

Word count: 2571

You hold the cape tighter around you as you glance over the case files. You glare at the jigsaw pieces, your hands shaking too much to put them together well. Alfred comes down the service elevator, his tray carrying two mugs. “Thank you!” you say, taking the hot chocolate, as Batman gives a little grunt of appreciation and starts sipping the coffee. Alfred gives a little shiver. “Sir, might I suggest we have a check in with our old friend Victor?” “Hmh. Batcomputer, which inmates are in Arkham?” Batman asks. You manage to put two of the pieces of the sprawling jigsaw together as the computer lists off people registered as currently in Arkham. You let out a sigh of frustration, hoping that soon the Riddler will be on that list. Batman scowls at the screen. “That’s odd. Energy readings in his cell are lower than usual. It’s night time, the inmates should be sleeping,” he says. “He’s escaped?” you say, taking a sip of the hot chocolate and letting the marshmallows flow onto your tongue. “Well, I do believe we know who our culprit is,” Alfred says. “Freeze willingly admitted himself into Arkham. He seemed regretful of everything and wanting the help. Why would he now escape?” Batman asks. You take a long sip of the hot chocolate and look at Batman – any excuse to take your eyes off of that damned puzzle with its garish colours. He looks at you. “I’ll investigate. Get some rest,” Batman says. You and Alfred start to go upstairs. You can hear the roar of the Batmobile below you, but as soon as you cross the threshold into Wayne Manor, you can’t hear it anymore.

That night, you dream of the Riddler. He’s laughing, and you run after him, but he’s always out of reach. You leap at him desperately, and shatter on the ground into tiny little jigsaw pieces. He starts putting them together, forming the word idiot – stupid – fool – it is constantly changing. When you wake up, you are shivering. You realise this is not from the dream, but is from the cold.

The next days are a blur. Crime is soaring, and you spend most of the time alone in the Batcave, with Alfred frequently coming down with warm drinks, snacks, and encouragement. Sometimes Batman comes back, hot on the trail of Mr Freeze. Occasionally, Robin comes in after going on patrol. You wish Oracle was available to help. She’s a genius. But there are serious threats with danger to life, while all the Riddler has been doing is draining bank accounts every day, something which can easily be reversed once he is stopped. With every bank account, the owner logs into the website only to find that instead of their balance, they see a riddle. You’re pondering the answers as you glare at the geometric shapes on the jigsaw.

Wait… they look like… a map…

On the largest segment you’ve assembled, you recognise it as your favourite park you used to go to. Before.

You think about the answers to the riddles. You have a hunch. And you’re going to act on it. That night, after Alfred sees the dark circles under your eyes and sends you to bed, you sneak back into the Batcave. This is your chance to prove yourself. This is your chance to finally meet an A-list Rogue. You’re walking out of the Batcave, running, tightly holding your cape around you. The air is chillier as you get deeper into the city. You hear the crunching of snow beneath your feet. Teeth chattering, you glance back, and see the footprints are gone, already filled in with more snow. You have to persist. You can’t tell if you’re on the grass yet. The snow is too deep and you can’t feel the texture of the ground. Now you can’t feel your feet. The crunch of the snow is slowing. You can barely see through all of the snow. Snowflakes are falling all around, and your cape is covered in white, as you can finally see something through the white of the blizzard. You will your arm to move, and it creeps forward, getting closer to the door, closer… closer… closer…

Stop.

Stripes of warmth streak across your face. You will yourself to make your brain fire signals that cause your eyelids to slowly, slowly creep open, painstakingly slow, too slow, it’s like there’s no energy left in your body. You see… him. His gloveless hands are stroking both sides of your face, filling it with warmth. You want to yell at him, insult him for tormenting you with that hellish jigsaw puzzle, but your mouth sluggishly opens then hangs there as no sound comes out. The Riddler’s face is so close to yours, his breath warm on your skin. Your eyes start twitching as he continues gently rubbing your cheeks. You want to move away from this villain who has you at his mercy, but you can’t even feel the rest of your body. It is evident that some colour has returned to your face, as he takes his hands away, and takes your gloves off, beginning to hold your hands. Warmth floods through them. You try to tell him to go away, but instead you make a pathetic little whimper. He strokes your hands. “Shh. You have the honour, the privilege of having your life saved by the Prince of Puzzles. I haven’t taken your mask off, it would be too easy to reveal the identity of an idiot like you when I can easily deduce your identity by myself,” he says, the warmth of his hands filling your hands, and the condescension of his words filling your mind with the urge to smack him. “Come on, how foolish, little Bat! We’re in a one digit temperature! You seriously expected you could waltz into my lair wearing nothing but that silly outfit?” He gives a condescending laugh. Your face heats up, a mixture of rage and embarrassment. “Good, that’ll thaw you out.” He smirks. You can’t take how insufferable he is, and you start to move your arm, willing your blood to try and flow through the arteries and make the muscles start moving, rising – he tightly grips your wrist, and uses his fingers to unclench your fist. You glare at him as you can’t stop your fingers from sinking into his. “Ah, ah, ah, vigilante! You wouldn’t be planning to hit me, would you?” he says, a cheeky smile on his incredibly punchable face. His purple mask is creasing at the eyes. “Jig… saw… fuck… you…” you say, the words finally coming out of your mouth. It doesn’t even feel like you’re talking. He gives a little chuckle. “Oh my, you’ve taken a long time, haven’t you? I would have assembled it all a week ago! Anyway, little Bat, I can’t have you trying to hit me, even if I am irresistible,” he says, a smug smile on his face. He gets up for a bit and goes to a drawer, as you try desperately to wiggle your fingers and get the blood rushing back to your arm. You need to hit this smug man. He strides back over to you, and catches your sluggish fist with ease, enveloping it with his warmth. He hooks a handcuff around your fist, and closes it, before cuffing the other hand. Your arms droop down as soon as he lets go of the bulky cuffs. “The little Bat isn’t strong enough for some measly handcuffs? My, my, they let anyone be a vigilante these days,” he says, with a little chuckle. You grimace, and his expression softens a little. He pats you on the head with his warm hand. In his other hand is a remote control. “There’s a reason why it’s so heavy. I wouldn’t put you through meaningless suffering, little Bat,” he says, pressing the button. Instantly, you feel warmth flowing into your wrists. You can feel your glare melt away as the warmth spreads through your arms. “There we are. That’ll warm you up!” he says, clapping his hands together and giving a little smile, “Isn’t it ingenious?” His mask widens. He’s giving puppy eyes. “What do you… want…” “For one of the Bat-Kids not to die on the doorstep of my secret hideout? How old even are you, anyway?” “Not… a kid!” “It doesn’t matter, you’re a mere child compared to me. What are you doing up so late on a school night?” “Man… child!”

He feigns an offended look. At least, you hope he’s feigning it. What if he isn’t? “S-sorry,” you say, the thoughts getting the better of you. He gives a little laugh. “It was a joke, child child,” he says, giving you another headpat. Now that you’ve given up on the idea of punching him in the face, you have to appreciate the warmth and softness of his hands. You can feel your body again as the warmth spreads. He gives a little smile and ruffles your hair. “You’re the most adorable person I’ve ever kidnapped.” You tense up, cold dread rushing through you, but it makes a lot of sense. Why would he just let you go? His eyes scan your expression. “Hey. I’m not as lowly as such cretins as the Joker. I won’t be hurting you. I don’t need to, I could easily defeat you in a battle of wits.” You pause. “Kid, you were unconscious an hour. Frozen. In that time, I invented these heated handcuffs especially for you with my genius wit, all the while trying to keep your body warm enough for you to not die. Would I go through all of that trouble just to kill you?” he says, a sincere look on his face.

“That bloody jigsaw was killing me,” you say. He lets out a laugh. “How long did it take for you to put it together and solve it?” “I didn’t put it all together. I had a section of around 30 pieces done, and realised it was a map. I was thinking about the riddles in the bank account hackings, and I had a hunch.” “A hunch?! You came out here in a blizzard on a hunch?!” he says, incredulous, “I don’t know if I should laugh or be concerned!” You look away, embarrassed. He puts his warm hand on your shoulder. “Well… it was the right hunch. Even though you were incredibly foolish. I haven’t heard of you, so I’m assuming you’re new. Don’t take risks like that until you’ve got some experience under your belt.” You glance down, and see that he has removed your utility belt. You glance around the room. The walls are made of the building’s original stone, but filled with electrical gizmos and lights, and covered in writing and little doodles in green. There are drawings of Batman in increasingly comical deathtraps.

“What… will you do to me?” you ask. “Well, I’ll be keeping you hostage. As soon as it’s warm enough to leave the building, I’ll be using you as bait to lure Batman into my clutches,” he says. “I’ll be keeping you alive and well while we bide our time.” You have a sinking feeling. You’re his hostage now. You didn’t even get chance to say goodbye. “My… they’re gonna be worried about me…” you say, voice cracking a little. You wince; it hurts your throat. “I w-went here without telling anyone…” He gives a little chuckle, then sees the look on your face. He instantly softens. “I’ll send Batman a riddle, okay? If he can wrap his head around it then he’ll know you’re alive and… as well as can be, considering you almost froze to death.” He gently pats your shoulder, giving a smile that seems to have gentleness behind it. The moment lasts for a few seconds, then he speaks again. “Kid, you look exhausted. I’ll get sleeping arrangements sorted.”

He walks off, and you wait, basking in the warmth of the handcuffs. You can feel the faint chill around you, and eventually, he returns. He’s changed outfit now, wearing a green flannel robe, with purple question marks inside each square in the pattern, and matching pyjama bottoms. You can see a matching buttoned top peeking through the robe. It feels weird, seeing him without the hat on, or the mask, instead wearing rectangular glasses. He’s holding more clothes in his arms, and takes you to a little bathroom, with no windows. He undoes your handcuffs, and gives you the clothes. “I’ll leave you a little privacy now. Don’t you dare escape,” he says, smirking at the end. He leaves you to do your business and get changed.

You leave the bathroom in the soft, warm flannel. He immediately grabs your wrist and handcuffs you again. He lets out a little chuckle at how baggy the pyjamas are on you, and ruffles your hair. You glare at him, but can’t deny that his hands are warm. You’re still wearing your mask, and you have to admit that you probably look very silly. He leads you to the bedroom, and takes you to a little mattress at the side of a large bed, with question mark carvings. He puts his hand on your head and pushes you down onto the mattress, a little smile on his face. “Did you want the proper bed?” he asks, a smug smile on his face, and the hints of a laugh coming through his voice. “Honestly, I’d sleep on the floor if it meant you’d have to sleep on the floor,” you reply, some of your irritation returning. He may be warm, but he is still insufferable, and you think you might dream about punching him in the face tonight. He lets out a little chuckle. “Too bad! Because it doesn’t! Tell you what, how about I ask you a riddle, and if you get it right, you can choose the sleeping arrangement. There are twenty people at a party who will only shake hands with someone bigger than them. How many handshakes occur?” he asks. You think for a while. “190?” He laughs like a man with Joker Gas. “190?! 190?! Ha! The answer is 0! Once again, I win!” You snarl at him. He giggles, and ruffles your hair again. “Calm down, angry dog! You should have known you wouldn’t win!” The Riddler walks over to the door, and starts placing lines of string everywhere. “I could just leave you to whatever escape attempt you’ve been concocting in that mind of yours, but I’m starting to doubt you have one. I’m not so heartless as to let you die in the cold. If you’re so intent on going out to die, you’ll have to sneak past these. I look forward to waking up in the middle of the night to the alarm.”

Eventually, the room is surrounded by string. He gives a smug smile, and turns his attention back to you. He wraps you in a fluffy blanket, and puts thick bedcovers on top of you, tucking you in. You feel so snug, and you have to admit it’s so toasty and warm. He gets onto his own bed, covering himself in several blankets. He looks down at you, a smile on his face, and turns off the light. Unable to escape, you decide to let sleep come, and drift off.

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nx08h63bitchyobservationnerd · 25 days ago

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rottmnt-au-alt-a · 9 months ago

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Alt A is now up on AO3!

And also an FYI- this is going to be a locked fic (only available to logged-in AO3 members). The reason for this is the AI trawling that's been happening. I write for my personal enjoyment, and I share what I write in case anyone else likes it too. But I don't agree with AI-... anything, basically, and so the fic is locked to try and avoid that.

I want my writing to stay on my tiny corner of the internet, Nowhere Else.

Anyway! Updates will be sporadic until I finish writing the last few chapters, but check it out if you're curious!

'An Alternate Apocalypse [Alt. A.]' by Bla_de_doop

P.S. I also have another ROTTMNT story with over 80,000 words already up called Hidden Souls!

#rottmnt alt. a. au #rottmnt au #rottmnt leo #fic update

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farm-witches-fic-recs · 3 years ago

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Hi witches! Can you recommend an array of fic only available to members of ao3? There are dozens of fics the coven has rec'd that I haven't read because I lost my login info from before I even joined this fandom! I was able to recover it finally! Please throw some beloved, exclusive fic my way!

Hi! We'll do better than that - here's a link to every locked down SC fic now that you can log back in and see what you like!

#ask a farm witch

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izhunny · 1 year ago

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Sacrifices Unasked For

Relationship: Loki/Tony Stark. Rating: E. Words: ~36k, 7 chapters, complete. Available only on AO3 for logged in members.

Summary:

Tony might be losing his mind. He finally caved in and agreed to take a vacation. From everything. For the entire summer.

A disused family property in the Adirondack Mountains in need of some tender loving care is just what the doctor ordered to escape things Tony can't explain since his decision to have the reactor removed. Will what's haunting Tony follow him on his Upstate New York sabbatical?

Of course it will, this is a ghost story after all.

~♡~

Dedication: @jaybarou for being awesome.

Chapter 1. A Change of Scenery

Chapter 2. Same Shit; Different Place

Chapter 3. Just the Days That End in Y

Chapter 4. A Leap of Faith

Chapter 5. The Strangest Devil's Advocate

Chapter 6. Damn the Consequences

Chapter 7. Sacrifices Unasked For

complete!

#Sacrifices Unasked For #my writing #frostiron #available to logged in ao3 members only #fic gifted to jaybarou for sheer awesomeness 😘#it is a ghost story 👻 but it's me so it's still pretty fluffy and ends happily #chapter links go directly to chapters at AO3 #complete

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fromthedeskofelizabeththird · 4 years ago

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Habanero

You're a good girl, well behaved.

Absolutely not the type to rail random guys in nightclubs.

Until you are.

Fandom: BNHA

Pairing: Aizawa x Reader, eventual polyamorous Erasermic x Reader

Rating: Explicit. Minors BE GONE

Trigger Warnings: None in this chapter.

AO3: Here | Want to support me? I have a Kofi

Chapter: 2/16 (all chapters)

“Oh...do you two know each other?”

Principal Nezu glanced from you to Shouta, eyes bright with curiosity. You didn't blame him. In his shoes you too would wonder why such a thing hadn’t cropped up during the application process. Why hadn’t you named him as a reference? Why hadn’t Shouta mentioned knowing someone with your skillset the moment the role became available?

“No, no,” you said, conscious of how defensive you sounded.

Nezu was now your boss and there was no appropriate way to explain the circumstances of your first meeting. You were the new guidance counsellor, hired for your good sense and professionalism; the perfect role model for teenagers in line to become the next generation of pro heroes.

Good guidance counsellors didn’t fuck strange men. They didn’t sit in nightclub toilets for twenty minutes, scrubbing away a seemingly never ending stream of cum. You had thought having a guy cumming inside you would be the least messy option. Oh, how wrong you were.

Nezu didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t press it any further. Instead he dismissed himself, leaving you and Shouta alone in the corridor in an awkward silence. He clearly hadn’t expected to see you again either.

“This way,” he said, leading you to his classroom, which had erupted into chaos in his short absence.

You wondered what sort of teacher he was. He must have been a respectable one if Nezu had asked you to observe him specifically.

The change in atmosphere as you entered the room was enough to answer your question. The classroom fell silent, all eyes on you.

“This is (Name). She’s the new guidance counsellor and the Principal wants her to observe us for a while. Don’t embarrass me,” he said, before turning to you. “Take a seat.”

He wasn’t even your teacher, but you hurried to obey, taking a seat at the back of the classroom and reaching into your purse for a notepad and pen.

You tried to concentrate and ignore the elephant in the room. Every time you tried to focus on Shouta’s words, though, your mind wandered to how he’d sounded groaning with pleasure.

You crossed and uncrossed your legs, trying to ignore the heat pooling between them. It was inappropriate for you to be thinking of such things at work, in a classroom no less.

Unfortunately, that only seemed to make it worse. You wondered how it would feel if he bent you across the desk; what it would be like to ride him on it.

You were only too grateful when class took a short recess and Professor Nezu returned to show you to your office.

“You look a little flushed, (Name),” he said, “are you feeling alright?”

“Oh, yes,” you said, “it’s just...new job, lots of information to process. I’m fine, really.”

You got the feeling Nezu knew you were lying, but he didn’t say so. Instead he left you to log into your computer and rearrange your desk, safe in the knowledge that someone would come in to check on you in an hour or so.

Reshuffling the office turned out to be a bad idea. The previous guidance counsellor had a collection of pamphlets behind her desk that covered all manner of issues, such as drug use and bereavement. Your gaze lingered on the one about unprotected sex.

Somehow, even the office was judgemental.

You reached for your cell phone and opened the group chat.

>> I’m in trouble

Sayaka was the first to reply.

>>Why? What happened?

>> The guy from Ego. He works here.

At that, everyone in the group started to type at once.

>> Omg is he your boss?

>> No, he’s a teacher here.

>> Kinky ;) does he have a cane

>> Of course not!

>> Shame.

You put your phone down on the desk, rubbing your temples as it continued to ping with each new message.

Your mother had always told you to be mindful of your actions and their consequences, but she’d never told you what to do when it was too late.

You thought you’d gotten away with it. You weren’t pregnant, you weren’t sick and you were never going to see him again.

You picked up your phone again and skimmed through the new messages before typing yourself.

>> What do I do?

Aptly enough, Rei was the first to respond.

>>Talk to him. You said he didn’t like games, remember?

She was right. You remembered the straightforward way he had asked what it was you wanted from him and how flustered it had made you feel. You got the impression he would want the same treatment under the present circumstances, no matter how awkward it was.

>> Alright. I’ll try and get him alone at some point.

>> Good luck!!!

You switched off your phone and sat back down at your desk, running your fingers through your hair.

It was the right thing to do and you knew it, but you got the feeling it was going to be easier said than done.

━

Five minutes after the final bell of the day, Present Mic walked into your office.

“(Name),” he called out, “con-grat-u-lations on surviving your first day!”

“Thank you, Professor,” you said. “I’m looking forward to working together.”

If Shouta worked here, then the guy you saw at Ego must have been the real Present Mic and not just someone with a passing resemblance. You wondered if he recognised you, though soon dismissed it. He was direct in a completely different way to Shouta, who didn’t waste a single word. Present Mic didn’t seem to have an off switch, but all of his words came straight from the heart. If he recognised you, he certainly would have said so.

As if sensing your thoughts, he thrust a hand into your face and waggled his finger.

“No, no, no! This will not do! Call me Hizashi. Hi-za-shiiii.”

“Okay,” you said with a small smile. “I’ll make sure to call you that from now on...Hizashi.”

“Cute! So cute,” he cried out, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “Now listen. The school day is over, and you know what that means?”

He didn’t give you a chance to reply, instead squeezing your shoulders.

“It’s time for the after party!”

“A-after party?”

“Yes, yes,” he said. “You’re the newest member of the faculty and the principal has asked us to be as welcoming as possible, so we’re going to take you for beers!”

“Beers?” You said, suddenly wondering if they were going to take you to Ego . You hoped not.

He led you out of the classroom, arm still wrapped around your shoulders.

“Yes, yes...no need to thank me,” he said, “it’s our duty as your colleagues. You are but a cute duckling stepping out onto our riverbed…soon to be a beautiful swan.”

You chose to ignore the implication that you were an ugly duckling.

“Hey, Eraser!” he called out across the corridor. “Eraser, this way!”

You wondered who he was talking to, only for your heart to skip a beat when you actually saw. Shouta was standing in the doorway of the staff room, a pile of folders under one arm. His gaze drifted from you to Hizashi and then, as if he already knew what was coming, turned the other way and let the staff room door close behind him.

“Hmmm, maybe he didn’t hear me,” said Hizashi and you had to fight to keep the smile from your face. This was exactly how things had played out at Ego .

Hizashi led you to the staff room, where the professors were packing up for the day.

“Everyone,” he called out, “grab your things, we’re going for drinks!”

“You really don’t have to make a fuss,” you said, feeling incredibly self conscious. “It’s very kind of you, but…”

“Nonsense,” said Midnight, strolling over. “We should get to know one another, we’re going to be working together, after all.”

“Eraserrrrr,” whined Hizashi, “you’ll come too, won’t you! It’s 2 for 1 on drinks!”

You hoped he’d say yes. There would be plenty of opportunities to get him alone at a bar.

“I’ll pass,” he said.

“Awww, come on,” said Hizashi. “It’ll be fun. They have those fruity drinks with the umbrellas that you like!”

Shouta shook his head and dumped the pile of papers he had been carrying onto his desk.

“I have papers to grade.”

Hizashi let go of you and scooped the files up from Shouta’s desk.

“These papers?”

“Give them back.”

“I will,” said Hizashi, an enormous smile across his face. “At the bar.”

Shouta’s face fell, as if they had had this conversation a dozen or more times before.

“Fine,” he said. “Let’s go.”

━

An hour and a half later, you were sitting at a table in an izakaya, cradling a lukewarm beer. You’d taken only a couple of sips since your arrival, partly because of how self conscious you were about being in the company of your new colleagues, but also because you wanted to keep your wits about you in the hopes of getting the opportunity to speak to Shouta alone.He had had even less to drink than you, spending the time glaring from the sealed bottle in front of him to the papers Hizashi had confiscated.

Questions had been rapid fire from the moment you sat down. What was your quirk, where did you go to college, were you local, had you relocated for your new job?

Midnight, Nemuri as she had told you to call her, asked the question you had dreaded the most.

“So,” she said, leaning over the table, “are you seeing anyone?”

“No.”

“A cutie like you? Single?”

She raised an eyebrow, clearly curious.

“I was seeing someone,” you said, thinking back to the dinner that had changed everything. “We were together for years, actually, but we broke up a little over six months ago.”

You didn’t miss the flicker of recognition in Shouta’s expression as he no doubt did the maths. You cringed, realising too late that you had indirectly admitted to him being your rebound. He picked up his drink and took a long sip, all while your coworkers murmured between themselves. Your gaze drifted to the edges of his jawline; the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed.

“Don’t tell me...did he cheat?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Did he travel overseas?”

“No, no…”

“Did he die in a horrific accident?”

Everyone turned to Sekijiro, who shrugged defensively.

“What? Someone had to ask.”

“He didn’t die,” you said, “he didn’t leave the country either… he just…wanted different things I did, that’s all.”

Not so long ago just the mention of your ex left you in floods of tears. Even now, after so long had passed, it brought tears to your eyes if you didn’t catch them fast enough.

You had found one of his sweaters in the back of your wardrobe only a matter of days before your interview at UA. You had no idea how long it had been there, or how you had managed to miss it during your clearout, but it still smelled of him and you buried your face in it before you could stop yourself.

“Men are dogs,” said Nemuri, raising her glass and clinking it against yours, “you’re better without him.”

“We’ll find you a new guy,” said Hizashi, “what’s your type?”

“I…”

You didn’t know and you didn’t want to admit it.

“I um…”

“I think I know a guy,” said Nemuri, “how do you feel about dog hair?”

Shouta sighed loudly at that.

“This is a waste of time,” he said, “I’m going home.”

He reached across the table for the papers Hizashi had taken, only to receive a slap across the knuckles.

You were grateful for the interruption, especially as it seemed to distract everyone else from your love life.

“A toast,” Sekijiro said, lifting his glass, “to our new guidance counsellor!”

Nemuri lifted her drink and you lifted yours, clinking drinks together.

In that moment, embarrassing one night stand aside, you felt less like an outsider and more like you belonged.

Maybe this wasn’t going to be as complicated as you thought.

“Cheers!”

━

You parted ways another hour later, Nemuri and Hizashi drifting away for karaoke and Sekijiro saying something about chicken wings.

“I’ll walk you home,” grumbled Shouta, “I have business that way anyway.”

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to put you out.”

“I told you. I’m going that way.”

“Okay, well, if you’re sure.”

You hadn’t had the chance to get him alone at the bar and knew this would be the only one you got that day. Perhaps that was his plan as well. You found it difficult to get a read on him.

You stood in awkward silence as you took the train, body close to his. You thought about making conversation a few times, though very few subjects came to mind. You didn’t know him well enough to make small talk that wasn’t immediately obvious.

“Well, this is me,” you said as you arrived at your front door and fiddled with your keys. “It’s not much but it’s home!”

Relax, you told yourself, we’re adults and more than capable of an adult conversation. If you show your professionalism then-

You dropped the keys.

Fuck

“Haha, sorry about that,” you said, scooping them up all but shoving the door open. “Butterfingers.”

Up until recently you had been proud of your apartment. Originally it had belonged to a great aunt, who let you rent it for a discounted rate. You had painted the walls yourself, built cupboards and shelves and painted those too. You’d crocheted your own throw blanket and stuffed every single cushion you owned.

Since your boyfriend left, though, all you could think about were the hopes and dreams you had lovingly worked into everything: the corner you had left empty to make room for a future moses basket; the wine rack you had bought for when you hosted dinner parties. It was surely a direct contrast to anything Shouta might have expected, and almost embarrassingly so.

“Uh, would you like some tea?”

“Mhmm.”

This was your chance and you were determined not to waste it, reaching for some snacks as the kettle came to a boil.

“Make yourself at home,” you said in an attempt to distract yourself from how badly your hands were shaking. You had no idea how to broach the topic with him. No matter how you phrased it in your head, it sounded awkward.

Shouta had taken a seat at your kitchen table and nodded his thanks as you carried over the tea tray.

“I wanted to talk to you about my students,” he said, reaching for the folders Hizashi had taken from him. “Just seeing them isn’t enough. They keep their problems to themselves.”

Only then did you realise that he hadn’t got papers to grade at all. These were student dossiers- gold dust for a guidance counsellor. Had he meant to discuss these with you all along?

“Sorry if it’s not a good time,” he said. “But I wanted to give you an overview of the students in my class and my points of concern.”

It was the last thing you might have expected from this conversation. In class he had seemed distant, almost hostile. Here he was, though, giving you a head start on how best to support them. It was not at all what you had expected from him, yet you weren’t sure why. You had left almost everything you knew about him in Ego’s bathroom.

“Of course,” you said, taking each file he offered.

He took the time to go through each one, going through every grade, every quirk, every weakness. You had never known a teacher with so much insight into their students, from Todoroki’s difficult home life to Midoriya’s self destructive need for success. You could see you had your work cut out for you.

“Thank you for all of this,” you said, turning a page as he nibbled a rice cracker.

“Don’t mention it.”

Even now, in the process of giving you a cheat sheet, he was straight to the point. It brought a smile to your face.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” you said, “it’s just...you’re a surprisingly nice person.”

He sighed at that and the pair of you fell into a heavy kind of silence.

“About what happened,” he said, “at Ego …”

“Y-yes?”

“I’m not gonna say anything about it at work.”

“Really?”

He raised an eyebrow and you realised just how excited you had sounded.

“What, did you think I was going to compare notes in the staff room or something?”

He genuinely did sound offended and you instantly felt awful. You’d admitted to him being a rebound, expressed surprise at him being kind and now this. You’d insulted him so many times today without meaning to.

“No, no,” you said. “Nothing like that. It’s just...well...I’ve never...done anything like that before. I don’t know what happens next.”

“Nothing,” he said. “That’s what happens next. Today is our reset.”

Reset.

You quite liked the sound of that. It was the best case scenario and more than you could possibly have asked for. You could shelve the events at Ego as something someone else had done.

It was perfect, so why did it leave you feeling empty?

Your heart was heavy as you showed him to the door and you leaned against it after you closed it behind him.

You had never dated, so why did it feel as if he’d broken up with you?

You told yourself you were happy for the reset, even as you ripped the door back open. He hadn’t gotten far, walking along the street with one hand in his pocket and folders under his other arm.

“Shouta,” you called out.

“Hmm?”

He stopped and turned to you, perhaps wondering if he’d left something behind.

“Tomorrow,” you said, “tomorrow is day one.”

He smirked.

You wanted your life to go back to normal and the rational part of you protested even as you took two steps back through your front door, dragging off his shirt. He hadn’t undressed much at all at Ego and for the first time you saw exactly how many scars cobwebbed his body. You wanted to run your fingers over them all, but he reached for your hands and lifted them above your head to pull off your shirt.

You dragged him closer, adding fuel to the flames. You’d never wanted anyone quite this much, running your lips over his jawline and throat.

You led him towards your bedroom, fiddling at your skirt zipper and kicking it to the floor. Fittingly enough, you were wearing the same bra as when you went to Ego, though that realisation lasted all of half a second as you ripped it off and threw it across the room.

You were wearing only your panties and a smile now, but it didn’t occur to you to be modest. Instead you crushed your lips against his and reached for his belt buckle, sighing at the feel of his chest against yours.

He lowered you onto the bed as if you were made of bone china before stepping out of the rest of his clothing. It was the first time you’d been exposed to a fully naked man in well over six months and you couldn’t stop yourself from staring.

He really did have scars everywhere, though your gaze drifted past that to the trail of hair beneath his belly button. He was already hard, and your mouth ran dry. If you hadn’t already had sex with him you would have been very daunted.

He reached down to grip his cock and you crawled up the bed, reaching into your bedside drawer and tossing him a condom. He tore the foil with his teeth and your insides turned to jelly; it was probably the most sinful thing you’d ever seen.

He put on the condom and got down onto his hands and knees, crawling towards you until you were able to stroke his face with an intimacy that didn’t cross your mind until much, much later. He grazed his lips over your cheek and you giggled as his stubble scraped your skin.

He lined his hips to yours and pushed in, so slowly that you thought you were going to die. You gasped, running your hands down his back and tracing every scar.

“Please,” you whispered, loud enough for only him to hear. “Please…”

At that he pushed himself in all of the way and you cried out as your bodies connected, digging your nails into his back and earning a moan from him in response.

He sat up and took hold of your bed frame, steadying his weight and giving you a dark smile before slamming his entire length into you.

“Oh...my g-“

You never got the chance to complete that particular train of thought, for he did it again and again until the bed rocked from the force of his body.

You knew you were being loud, but you didn’t care.

Tomorrow everything would be reset, as if you were perfect strangers. You finally understood why people got so desperate in movies about the apocalypse. This wasn’t remotely the end of the world, yet you dug your nails into his back in the hopes of never letting go.

You held onto him as the coil inside of you snapped and left you in free fall, frantically rubbing your clit in the hopes of loosening up even more. He lifted one of your legs over his shoulder and took you even deeper, though it still wasn’t deep enough. You wanted to lose track of where you ended and he began, though settled for the impact when his hips hit yours.

Just like the first time, he lost almost all of his rhythm as he grew close. You stroked your clit, chasing the shivers of pleasure running through you and making sure to catch his eye as he sucked in one breath and then another, losing himself in his own release as well as yours.

“Ahh, F…” he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut in a failed attempt at keeping his composure. He bit his bottom lip and gave a few more shallow thrusts, dragging out his orgasm for all it was worth.

He rested his forehead against yours the moment it was over, stealing several lazy kisses that you would have been only too happy to give away.

He pulled out of you and rolled over onto his back, gasping from the exertion even as he pulled off the condom and tied a knot in the middle before dropping it in the waste paper basket at the side of your bed.

“I’ll just...catch my breath…” he said, resting his head on the pillows. He closed his eyes, basking in the same happy afterglow that had so thoroughly overtaken you both.

You caught yourself reaching to stroke his hair, though stopped yourself just in time.

Before long, he was snoring softly and you glanced around your bedroom. It had been immaculate when you left that morning. Now, though, it was a mess of discarded clothes and heady with the smell of sex.

You glanced across at your bedside clock and took note of the time: 1:02 AM.

Well… you thought, glancing across at the man sleeping beside you. So much for Day One .

#aizawa x reader #eraserhead x reader #aizawa shouta #shouta aizawa #boku no hero academia #habanero

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paper-n-ashes · 3 years ago

Text

sparks and embers - chapter 7

Characters: Poe Dameron x Original Female Character, Kylo Ren x Original Female Character

Story Tags: Explicit (18+), Canon Compliant/Divergent (Set after TLJ), First Person POV, Love Triangle, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Porn with Plot, Hurt/Comfort, Kylo Ren hates Poe Dameron

Chapter 7 - The Transmission

Words: 5.6k

Chapter Tags/Warnings: Mentions of medical procedures, ANGST, description of severe anxiety/panic attack

Read on AO3 or Start from the beginning

Poe didn’t exit the study for a long while, finally hearing the creak of my office door as it opened for the first time in hours. Within that time I'd farewelled the last of my patients for the day and begun to prepare dinner in my quarters, feeling significantly more balanced as the evening wore on.

Mind over matter. That’s all I needed to remember.

It was BB-8 who rolled in to demand my attention first, knocking his body into my ankle as I stood chopping vegetables at the kitchen counter.

“Hello again,” I greeted, still marvelling at how sweet this droid’s disposition was. Placing my knife down, I turned to face Poe as he slinked into the space, taking a place at the dining table. He seemed tired, almost despondent, possibly even more solemn than he appeared when I saw his face last.

“How did the transmission go?” I asked, breaking the silence. From the energy drifting out of his shape, it was clear he hadn’t completely moved on from the sadness we’d shared during our last interaction.

“As well as it could have. They’re still safe, for now. Think I gave them all heart attacks when my transmission came through,” he responded, exhaling hard. “And you were right. There was a search initiated. But my last reported co-ordinates were over Hutt Space, so they never would have found me.” He looked puzzled then, and I mirrored his expression.

“What do you mean? That’s at least a day’s trip from here.”

“That’s exactly what I can’t seem to figure out.” He huffed then, exasperated. “I don’t remember getting any further than that. I hadn’t even nearly reached my destination.”

“Were you traveling Galactic North or South?” I screwed my face up immediately after asking the question, already assuming he wouldn’t give me an answer.

“Yeah, I can’t tell you that.” He looked down to his hands, wringing them restlessly. “I know I can trust you, but I just can’t risk it, for both your own sake and the Resistance. All I can say is that I wasn’t flying to anywhere near Raxus.”

I nodded, understanding. “Well, no matter which way you were headed, Hutt Space is way too far from here for a ship to be unpiloted.”

“Right. Something, or someone, must have changed my course while I was there. And whether it was the crash or some other reason, I’ve lost any memory from after I was flying over the region that might have explained the cause.”

A sparkle of thought flickered, looking down at BB-8 still stationed at my feet. Poe appeared to read my mind.

“I thought the same too,” he remarked. “But he has no data logs indicating any unauthorised navigation. I’m still concerned about how his internal circuits looked when I was repairing him - I don’t think that kind of damage was caused by the crash. If BB had something to do with this, if he’s been tampered with, I won’t be able to be sure until I can conduct some deep diagnostics back at the Resistance base.”

BB-8’s head fell in his own form of remorse, emitting a few low beeps I could only gauge as an apology. I leant down and patted him softly, feeling sorry for the droid. It felt a little unnatural for me to have any sort of emotion towards a machine. All the medical droids I’d worked alongside in the past had the personality of a decaying tree.

BB beeped back happily at me, appreciating my sympathy, when I realised abruptly what Poe had been implying. “Wait, do you think someone did this on purpose? Sabotaged your flight?”

He seemed hesitant to answer again, most likely debating internally how confidential this information was. But eventually he nodded. “It’s what Leia seems to think, and I’m tending to agree. It seems too orchestrated. But the more worrying concern is that only a select group of Resistance personnel knew about my mission, even less knew exactly where I was headed.”

Both the casual mention of Leia Organa, famed princess of an obliterated planet, daughter of one of the most powerful Sith to have lived, now Leader of the Resistance, and the notion Poe seemed to be hinting at, tilted me slightly off balance.

“You think a spy might have infiltrated the Resistance?”

“That’s the theory we’re running with for now. Whoever did this assumed a crash landing on an Outer Rim planet would have meant my certain death, and any evidence would have most likely never been found, especially with them looking in the completely wrong place,” Poe explained. He looked up from his hands, his eyes finally gentle again, the creases in his forehead relaxing. “They obviously never planned on me landing right on your doorstep.”

“The universe clearly wanted to keep you around for a little longer.”

“Lucky me,” he laughed gently. “Hopefully I don’t mess up whatever it has planned.”

“You’ll figure it out,” I said encouragingly, glad he had relaxed a little. But it was short lived.

His face became sombre again, gaze moving to his fingers once more. “Leia is keeping my reappearance quiet for now - her and our most trusted Resistance members, my friends, are the only ones who know.” I saw his jaw tighten, face tense, a controlled breath seeping past his lips. “They’ll be arriving sometime in the night to take me back to base.”

I knew it was coming. I was more prepared now, my resolve holding strong against the gloom I’d pulled into a locked box inside my mind, easily keeping it restrained.

“I bet you’re excited to see them,” I said kindly, hoping to pick up his mood.

Poe smiled softly to himself. “I’ve missed them,” he agreed, glancing up at me. “They’re pretty eager to meet you actually.”

I furrowed my brows, dubious. “Really? You told them about me?”

Poe looked at me incredulously, like that fact should have been obvious. “Of course. How else was I going to explain how I managed to survive that crash? Leia seemed particularly impressed. She's disappointed she can't give her thank you in person, being too valuable to send away from the base.”

My cheeks threatened to flush with crimson, wanting to shy away from the compliment. Relief was the more overwhelming emotion, glad I wouldn’t have to navigate my way through a conversation with Leia Organa, having no doubt I would make a fool of myself. “So, who is coming?” I wondered, interested in learning more about the people Poe considered his trusted friends.

“Well there’s Chewie-”

“As in Chewbacca the Wookie?” I interrupted. “The Chewie?”

Poe rolled his eyes playfully at my marvelling. “So I don’t need to tell you anymore about him then,” he continued, smirking. “There will be Finn, an ex-stormtrooper who defected to the Resistance, royally saved my ass when I was captured by the First Order. And then there’s Rey, who has been training as a Jedi, and technically pilots the Millennium Falcon now, although if you ask me, I’ve flown that rustbucket way more often…”

Poe kept talking, but my mind was barely able to focus on his words.

A Jedi. A Force user. Coming here.

This is bad.

I forced my face into a veil of interest about what Poe was chattering about as he remained oblivious to the panic that had erupted inside my chest. Eventually his words ran out, thankfully without ending on a cue for me to reply. It took all of my focus to keep my voice steady as I spoke. “I thought all the Jedi were gone?”

It was a question anyone would ask. Not too suspicious.

He appeared slightly confused at the point I’d decided to back track on, yet quickly seemed to realise I’d not had the same encounters with force users that he’d had. “We thought that too,” he remarked. Poe then relayed what was evidently an extremely condensed story of the re-emergence of Luke Skywalker, who had then begrudgingly taught Rey how to wield the Force.

It was an unbelievable tale, something any other being would be enthralled to hear. And honestly, I couldn’t believe Poe had made it so far as to have landed on my doorstep. But there was one thing my mind centred on amongst the rush of information.

She’d been trained by a Jedi Master.

I’d learned an essence of control over my power, whatever kind it was that I utilised, both before and after I’d run to Raxus. After realising the target it put above my head at a young age, I’d taught myself to restrain it, hide it away in the absolute pit of my consciousness, only summoning that which helped heal people in the most dire of circumstances.

When the wrong person caught me, when I’d let my power become unconstrained for only a few moments, I knew I had to deepen my command over it, in case I ever found myself in that situation again. And now, I was completely unsure if four more years’ worth of preparation was going to be enough to hide it from a trained Force user.

“Why is a Jedi coming to get you off this planet? Wouldn’t she have more important things to do?” I pointed out. Only when the words escaped my lips did I realise how rude it might have seemed to Poe.

Come on Alex. Simmer down.

He actually laughed, taking my perception with good humour. “You’re not wrong. But as I said, she pilots the Millennium Falcon now, which is the fastest ship we have available at the moment. And she insisted on coming herself. Said she owed me.” Poe appeared warmed by the sentiment, and I would have enjoyed his happier demeanour if not for my own internal fretting.

There was no avoiding it. Rey was already on her way here, and there wasn't an appropriate way I could prevent myself from meeting both her and the other crew members without arousing heavy suspicion. I was truly trapped, heart thumping along fast with anxiety, fearing I could be hours away from facing all I thought I had escaped from.

I made dinner for us both, Poe continuing to make idle conversation in our last hours together as we ignored the looming farewell.

Yet now I was more concerned with what I needed to confront before that moment. My mind was a mess of warring emotions behind the indifferent façade I held in Poe’s presence, wanting his departure to be both as quick as possible and dragged out as long as I could make it.

I knew he sensed some of the unrest behind my eyes, but he didn’t probe, probably hoping to maintain the easy-going nature of our last meal together, however fake it might have been.

It was long after we finished eating that I recalled the need to do one last assessment of Poe’s injuries, remembering something I’d promised to do before he left.

“Your cast!” I gasped, thinking out loud, startling Poe as he dried the last of our dishes. After turning around, smirking at himself for the way I’d made him jump, he rose the casted arm into his view.

“Oh yeah,” he realised, flexing the fingers. “I’d actually kind of forgot about it.”

“Well come on, one last assessment and you’re officially free of my care.”

I said the words with such pure intentions, yet it was starkly clear both of us were jarred by the reality hidden behind them - a cold, unbroken hush settling in the space. I noticed BB-8’s head movement from my periphery, once again calling into question our sudden stillness. He raced to my feet, squealing little beeps in an inflection I couldn’t understand. Poe’s expression swiftly turned aggravated at the droid, and didn’t immediately translate like I assumed he would.

“Is he okay?” I asked. “Did he say something important?”

Poe’s face forcefully relaxed in an attempt to seem unbothered by BB’s insistent beeps. “He’s just appreciative of how well you’ve treated me.”

I knew he was lying, but I could only assume it was better I didn’t discover what was really said.

Poe had perched himself back onto his hospital bed, and I could feel his gaze follow me as I placed the monitoring over his figure for the last time. The moment for conversation had obviously passed as we maintained a heavy silence during my final tests. He barely winced when I took blood, the results revealing all of his inflammatory markers had receded. The bruises had disappeared, the scars had begun to fade, even over his badly burned arm and torso.

I glanced to his face while taking some X-rays of his femur, pulling up the initial post-crash shots and scribbling down my final progress notes on the healing of the fracture. He seemed awed once again at the damage I’d managed to repair, and he turned thoughtful as he looked down at his perfectly functional leg. I could tell without words he was grateful, knowing we’d both experienced the outcome of those who might not have been so lucky as to keep their limb after such an injury.

I’d kept the casted arm until last, wishing to drag out these final moments, most likely the only thing he’d truly remember of our time together. A comforting thought simmered into my awareness, realising his deeper scars wouldn’t fade for years yet, somewhat of a memento etched onto his skin.

The X-rays were textbook. The fracture line had fused nicely, with almost no irregularity in the shape of the bone shaft. The cast had done its job, and now, there was no need for it to be connected to him anymore.

Just like me.

I pulled my thermal scissors from within my medical trolley, used specifically to melt through the hardened plastic I’d moulded closely to his forearm. It was over in seconds, slicing through the cast and peeling it from his limb, the skin underneath looking slightly clammy but otherwise acceptable. As soon as he was free from the plastic he begun to flex and twist his wrist, a small exhale of relief slipping out of his throat.

“Well that just about does it,” I stated flatly. “You’re all healed up.”

Poe looked away from his newly freed arm and locked his eyes with mine. “I know I’ve said this a million times, and it will never be enough, but thank you.”

I looked down from his gaze. “You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help you.”

He lifted his left hand to my chin, tilting my head back up to meet his stare again, holding it there while he spoke. “You’re really good at your job Alex, I hope you realise that. You saved my life. And I won’t be the last one you save, I’m sure of it."

His eyes were so penetrating, so impassioned, that it made me want to turn away. I didn’t like being praised like this. It made the flesh under my skin feel itchy. Somehow, through no power of my own will, I kept my stare locked to him, confined into place with his thumb softly resting on my skin.

He began to breathe slower, more cautiously. “If we…” he started, voice barely above a whisper. “If we never see each other again…” The words trailed off as he seemed to grapple with the future bearing down on us. My heart was pounding painfully in my chest, instigated merely by the sensation of his fingertips pressed to my skin.

Please. Please stop making this so hard.

“I won’t forget what you did for me… I won’t forget you.”

Without conscious thought I felt my hand begin to rise, instinct pulsing within to pull him into another fervent kiss. Before he noticed the movement, I wrenched it down, closing it into a fist. It was my own voice that echoed in my head, louder and louder.

I will not let this ruin me.

It felt cruel, the way I abruptly stepped away from his touch, but it needed to be. I glared back at him, hoping my words, particularly the meaning behind them, would suffocate the flames of yearning I kept seeing in his irises. “You’ve been a cooperative patient Poe, and I’m glad you survived. But I wouldn’t wish on seeing you in the future. It would only be because you’re in need of my medical care again.”

Poe’s head snapped back, stunned at my reply and the harsh recoil from his hand. Clearly, he'd predicted a different reaction. “You don’t know that,” he urged. “I could come ba-”

I flew my hand up, palm forward, immediately indicating him to cease talking. “Don’t. Just don’t.”

He ruminated on my request for a few eerily silent moments before his stare turned fiery, irritated. “Why are you fighting this?” he shot, rattling me. “We both know there’s something here, something more than you’re willing to admit.”

His maddened tone made it harder to keep my stoic demeanour. “I told you why.”

“Wouldn’t it be more painful to leave each other like this?” he retorted, the muscles in his arms tightening. “Not acknowledging what I know you feel? Pretending it’s not eating you alive, like it’s doing to me?”

A beat of silence passed before I turned and walked away.

I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t keep my restraint if he continued interrogating me this way, revealing emotions a strangled part of me hoped he had. I wasn’t strong enough for that. I needed distance.

“Alex!” he boomed, hearing him leap off the bed behind me. “Tell me you haven’t felt it! Tell me you don’t want to give in to it!”

“I barely know you!” I shouted, swirling to face him again. “You are- were my patient! And you’re about to leave! You shouldn’t come back here, and I shouldn’t go with you!”

“You know more about me than nearly all of the galaxy! And that’s within five days!” he growled, offended. Poe took a tentative step towards me, letting some of the anger recede before speaking again. “I would come back for you. I would come back, if I survived, if you wanted me to. If you admitted what you’re keeping hidden, the feelings that made you kiss me.”

“Please stop doing this,” I begged, a hopeless attempt to keep him at bay, my resilience starting to fizzle away. “You seemed to understand yesterday. That it would be too difficult if we crossed that line.”

He shook his head in frustration. “I've already crossed it Alex." His eyes turned pleading, an intensity within them I was sure I hadn't witnessed before. "I don't want to ignore it anymore, what I feel for you. I can't keep holding back."

I pulled my hands into fists, resisting every temptation to throw away resolve and allow myself to experience the warm glow of happiness his revelation brought. There was no denying the way in which my walls started to weaken, mercilessly barraged by the raw emotion he was exposing.

Don’t give in Alexys. His life, and yours, depend on it.

The voice toughened my determination, enough to keep my willpower solid against the craving to surge into his arms. “I guess I’m just stronger than you are,” I muttered, turning again to prevent catching any type of reaction in Poe’s face. Even one glimpse would make me crumble.

I stormed down the hallway, desperate for the isolation of my quarters, closing the entry and setting the lock. Falling back into the door, my teeth felt like they were going to shatter if I clenched my jaw any tighter.

My brain focused solely on the rhythm of my breathing, centring on the quickened rate, trying to force it into a more calmed pace. Soon I began to concentrate on expanding my lungs, inhaling until the space was full of air, letting it sit there as long as I could hold, before allowing it to whistle out of my nostrils.

That’s all I permitted myself to think of, the slow inhale and exhale, imagining the oxygen particles seeping into my bloodstream, travelling to every cell in my body, keeping me functioning amongst the turmoil thrashing through my soul.

Time passed. I wasn’t really keeping track on how quickly. Imprisoned in my own mind, pacing my quarters, continuing the attention on my breathing. It was the only thing that kept me stable, that pushed away the memories of Poe’s voice ringing in my thoughts.

Eventually my legs grew fatigued from the movement, and I placed myself on the sofa, dropping my head into my hands, grasping my fingers through my hair in frustration.

He couldn’t have just left it alone. He couldn’t have just ignored it, departed this planet and forgot all that happened here.

A memory slipped through the cracks, pushing its way out into the forefront of my awareness. One that refused to be smothered.

'I would come back for you.'

I shook my head within my clenched hands, trying to physically rid myself of it. I wanted to claw my fingers into my brain, pluck the memory from my inside my head and banish it forever, never to torture me again.

Breathe. Focus on your breathing Alexys.

The voice caused a realisation to strike, how hard it had become, my ribs stuck in place, intercostal muscles rigid, refusing to let my lungs inflate. It felt as if gravity had increased its pressure over my body, making me crumple underneath its increased weight. The load was too much, my head screaming for oxygen. I knew what was happening, I knew I was in the throes of a crushing panic, helpless to stop the cascade of anxiety from taking over.

Instinct was quick to surface, telling me exactly what to do. What I’d done only once before.

I withdrew my fingers from their entanglement within my hair, placing the tips on each side of my temple, and within my depths, I set it free. The energy swiftly begun to course through my blood, bringing with it an incredible radiance that lit up my veins. It crawled its way through every capillary, every vessel, as if it was replacing my own blood with its glow.

Soon, it weaved itself through my chest cavity, relaxing the muscles clamping down on my lungs, the relief of an easier breath making me feel lighter. It's journey didn’t cease, surging through my neck to my brain, twirling in between the individual neurons, clouding me with a feeling of peace, serenity, the rest of the world blocked off from my senses.

I wanted to stay in this place forever. Every fear, every sadness, every frustration, all of it melting away into nothing. I felt whole, a brilliant euphoria shimmering from every part of my being.

Let go. You cannott linger here for too long.

My fingernails were suddenly pierced into the pillows of the sofa, panting, grateful I had something to remind me not to surrender myself to the dangerous void any longer. The energy recoiled instantly, my own invisible hands pushing it within the confinement I'd kept it behind for much of my life. I took a moment to push it even deeper down my consciousness, praying it would be too far for Rey to sense when she arrived.

The panic was gone, my chest moving in even time, an aura of composure enduring even with the healing energy locked away. But it also left me exhausted, my brain feeling slightly fuzzy with fatigue. Although for this, I was glad. Even a short time in the peace of sleep would stop me from thinking about Poe.

I had just risen from my seat, about to walk to the comfort of my bed for however long time would allow, when there was a solid bang at my door. I tilted my head in confusion at the noise, knowing Poe would have simply knocked if he wanted entry. Although right now, that seemed extremely unlikely.

When I heard an artificial squealing piercing the air behind the wood, it was obvious what had made the sound.

BB-8 was still beeping urgently when I allowed him entry into my quarters, whizzing past my legs before I even had time to greet him. I noticed the sound of the ‘fresher running as he rolled quickly to the space before my sofa, his head movements darting from me to the pillow where I had just been seated. He wanted me to sit down, that was clear, but I couldn’t determine why.

I did what was requested, settling back down, BB-8 at my feet, his eye appearing to whir and focus in on my face. He was quiet for a moment, doing what I could only imagine was a droid’s version of thinking, before his head darted away. Suddenly a burst of blue light flickered into the air, floating the outline of an image on top of the metal table that sat in front of us.

He was showing me a hologram.

It was fuzzy at first, slowly becoming clearer, displaying a scene I hadn’t been privy to this afternoon. The simulated image of Poe was sitting at my office desk, his own hologram transmission only just visible in the blue beam.

It appeared BB was showing me a long way into their discussion, Poe’s face stressed as he listened to the multiple figures in the holo, their lips forming words that only came out muffled.

“I don’t think you should be showing me this BB-8,” I fretted quietly, acknowledging how private Poe had been with Resistance information.

BB-8 beeped insistently, sounding like he disagreed, and continued playing the holo. The voices became more defined, eventually loud enough for me to make them out.

“We’ll have another X-wing ready for you as soon as you make planet fall,” an older woman’s voice explained. I could only assume it was Leia’s, holding a gentle yet authoritative tone. "Do you think you’ll be ready to attempt the mission again as soon as you return?”

Poe didn’t immediately answer, and I could almost make out the pain in his holo image.

“What is it?” another woman, a lot younger sounding, questioned. Her voice was more on edge than Leia’s, speech displaying an accent I wasn’t familiar with. This was most likely Rey. “Are you still too injured?”

“I’m fine,” Poe reassured. “Better than fine really. Alex… uh, Dr. Jago had me walking within the first few days. And everything else has healed well enough.”

Yet another voice, this time a man's, piped in. "You broke your leg and she got you walking that quickly? There’s no way.”

Poe rolled his eyes, the small movement still obvious in the flickering image. “Finn, you nearly died and you can still doubt the effect of bacta? That stuff fixed your shattered spine for maker's sake.”

“Still took more than a few days though,” Finn mumbled.

“It’s irrelevant,” Leia interjected, seemingly annoyed for a moment, before softening. “Is something wrong Poe?”

His eyes looked down from the hologram in front of him, hesitant to answer. “Is there…” he started, breathing in as if to gain courage. “Is there anyone else who could make that flight?”

All three of the figures recoiled in disbelief at the question.

“You’re the best pilot we have,” Leia said definitively. “There’s no one else who could navigate that route except you.”

“What about Rey?” he retorted, looking to her figure insistently. “She’s got the Force to help her.”

Rey sighed, troubled. “I... already tried. I thought maybe your navigation system may have malfunctioned, preventing any tracking, but that you’d still made it to-” BB-8’s hologram suddenly became engulfed in static for a few moments, leaving me unable to hear the destination of Poe’s mission. Eventually the picture cleared into the same scene, only a few seconds later. "-but I couldn’t make it through. It was too dangerous to traverse, even with the Force to guide me.”

“Why are you even asking us to find someone else?” Finn challenged. “You were more than ready to do it yourself a week ago.”

Poe gritted his teeth, looking somewhat ashamed. “I know.”

There was silence in the holo, and for a moment I thought this was all BB-8 wanted to show me. But Leia’s voice struck up again. "Finn, Rey, could you let me talk to Poe privately?”

From their small faces I could still see them look quizzically at each other, Finn appearing more puzzled by the request. But they left under the General’s orders, slinking past the frame of the holo.

“Poe… Tell me. Tell me what’s changed,” Leia urged softly. “You and I both know you’re the only one who can do this. And if there’s something worrying you, or making you doubt yourself, you need to tell me.”

He looked despairingly at her, uncomfortable with the prospect of hiding anything from his General. “I don’t want to admit it.”

Leia breathed out heavily. She began to pace inside the holo, arms folded in thought, before turning back to speak to Poe again, her face gentle. “It’s the doctor, isn’t it?”

It took an excruciatingly long time before Poe responded, finally nodding his head.

I felt every muscle in my body tense at his reply, heart thrumming to a faster beat.

“I thought so,” Leia whispered. “I... wasn’t expecting this.”

“Neither was I, General. I’m sorry.” The expression he wore, filled with such unyielding turmoil, shot a pang of cold ice through me.

Leia looked kindly to him, her face melting into understanding. “Oh Poe, you don’t have to apologise. You aren’t the first, and you won’t be the last, to question everything for the sake of their emotions.”

“I want to do what we planned. I do. I’m ready,” he asserted, voice rising into confidence, only for his face to fall again. “But every time I think of leaving her…” His face became buried in his hands, frustrated, unable to finish his sentence.

“Does she feel the same way?”

“I don’t know,” Poe muffled under his palms. “I... think so. She’s holding back. Her loyalty to this clinic is annoyingly similar to mine with the Resistance.”

“So she wouldn’t consider coming with you, joining us? We desperately need doctors of her calibre.”

He pulled his face back up. “I asked. And she refused. She would never want to leave, fearing for the health of her patients without her here. Not to mention she’s staunchly against the war we’re fighting in.”

“She sounds like someone I would like to meet,” Leia smiled to herself. “So... That’s why you don’t want to return yet. Why you need someone else to complete the mission. You want more time with her.”

Poe nodded slowly. “I know we don’t have much time to get-” Another fuzz intercepted Poe’s speech, an additional piece of information too confidential for my ears. “-but I just… I just don’t want to go yet. If someone was able to go in my stead, then I wouldn’t be completely dooming us. I know it’s selfish… Irrational… But the thought of leaving her behind right now, on a mission I might not make it back from… It’s too much.”

“Oh,” Leia mouthed, her voice muted. “Do you… Do you think that you…”

She didn’t have to finish her question. Poe knew what she was implying.

“I… think I could. If I had more time, a chance to figure it out.”

His revelation made me stop breathing, a tear wriggling from the duct, crawling down my face.

Leia sighed loudly, her stress evident. “I wish I could Poe. I would want nothing more than to give you this, after all you’ve given for the Resistance. But you’re the only one who has a chance of completing this mission, and we are desperately running out of time and options.”

Poe clenched his eyes shut as she finished, his jaw tightening, lips fighting back a frown. He took a few moments held in this position before relaxing himself back into composure, his face serious and professional. “I understand,” he replied flatly. “I’ll get this mission accomplished General. See you back at the base.”

“I’m truly sorry Poe-” Leia began to apologise, only to be interrupted by his sharp tone.

“It’s fine. Tell the engineers to make sure the new X-wing is prepped before my return. I want to leave as soon as possible.”

Leia nodded, her expression remorseful.

Suddenly the blue, illuminated image was ripped from my view, the rest of my quarters coming back into focus around me.

My body was stuck, motionless in the now painful silence filling the air. Inside my mind there was chaos, memories of the hologram darting around randomly. I tried to capture at least one rational thought, to analyse the emotions bubbling up from within my chest.

He wanted to stay. For me. Everything he wanted to accomplish, for the Resistance, for his friends, for his parents, for the galaxy. He wanted to put it all on hold.

Just for me.

He’d been right. I was holding it back, the same thing he felt, and it was clawing at my insides, desperately wanting to be set free.

Purely out of my selfishness, my own excuses, the voice in my head threatening our lives. All of it keeping me from what I really wanted.

Him. I wanted him. To be close to him. Even if it was just for a little while.

You’re giving in? So easily?

Damn right I am.

Next Chapter

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yatorihell · 3 years ago

Text

In The Darkness Chapter 85 - The Battle of Hogwarts: Part One

Noragami x Harry Potter AU

Words: 5,052

Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts begins.

Also available on Yatorihell AO3

Hogsmeade was nearly unrecognisable when Yato, Hiyori and Yukine Apparated.

Dusk had already fallen, sending the village into deep darkness as the sun had already set behind the hills that encircled them. They huddled together in the middle of the road underneath the Invisibility Cloak, taking in their surroundings. The shop fronts were dark and few of the lanterns had been lit. The road curved around the Three Broomsticks, the only source of light and noise from the raucous punters inside.

Yato all felt an ache in his chest; the familiarity of being somewhere he considered home for so long, yet he was a fugitive from that happy life he knew – they all were.

A scream ripped through the air, akin to the Sorcerer’s own voice in the same agony of feeling his soul within the locket destroyed. Yato knew that pain and it terrified him when he knew what it was and that it was directly caused by their presence.

The door of the Three Broomsticks crashed open before Hiyori or Yukine could ask what had happened. A dozen cloaked figures surged forward and poured into the cobbled street with their wands aimed. Yato grabbed Yukine’s wrist as he too raised his wand, shaking his head. There were too many of them, and they didn’t know where they were.

One of the Deatheaters waved their wand and the scream stopped abruptly, though Yato couldn’t tell if it was still ringing in his head or in the mountains around them.

“Who goes there?!” the Deatheater bellowed. Yato tensed his grip on the cloak, and they held their breath.

After a moment’s, silence the Deatheater gestured at the others. “Spread out.”

Five of the Deatheaters surged forward up the cobbled path, their footsteps beating in a thundering rhythm. Yato, Hiyori and Yukine scuffled back as quickly as they could, thankful that the added darkness as they ducked into a narrow alley. The Deatheaters passed and they waited with bated breath, listening to the shouts around them.

“Let’s leave,” Hiyori whispered furiously. “Disapparate!”

A ball of light went whizzing over them, sending the shadowy patterns of the cloak dancing across their faces.

“They were ready for us,” Yato replied. “Whatever alarm we set off, it may have triggered a charm to stop us from Disapparating again, to trap us -.”

“Down there!” One of the Deatheaters called, a female voice that sneered at them from across the road. They knew that it was impossible for them to be spotted under the cloak, but their hearts skipped a beat. The woman and two other men passed by their hiding spot.

“We have to try!” Yukine urged Yato.

Yato gripped Hiyori’s and Yukine’s hands, but the air around them was thick and soupy. They couldn’t Disapparate.

Yukine swore under his breath, and they pressed in together closer as the Deatheaters passed their alley once again. They began groping their way through the darkness, retreating into the poor sanctuary the alley offered, praying that they would be able to get past the boundaries of the charm and out of the village unscathed.

Their quiet footsteps echoed uncomfortably loud, but Yato stopped short and pulled Yukine and Hiyori back with him into the shadows of the alley. Two Deatheaters passed in front of them, wands seeking them out in the dark.

“Whoever set off the Caterwauling Charm isn’t here anymore,” a Deatheater grumbled. “It was probably a cat -.”

“Cat or not, if that infernal child has made his way to Hogsmeade, then the Dark Lord will have our heads on the castles spikes for the owls,” the other Deatheater snapped back. Their voices receded into faint bickering as they turned the corner.

A sharp grinding noise erupted behind them, and the three spun beneath the cloak, wands clutched in their hands and hearts bursting. A thick wooden door had opened in an alcove to their left, and a dark cavern yawned at them.

“Get in!”

They didn’t need telling twice. Yato, Hiyori and Yukine ducked into the doorway and past the short figure cloaked in darkness. The door closed behind them quietly and the bolt grated back into place.

“Up the stairs, keep the cloak on, keep quiet,” the voice said.

Whilst they might have wanted to stop and see who their saviour was, the fact that some sort of alarm had sounded when they entered Hogsmeade, and that it triggered a search party of Deatheaters, made them think the questions could wait.

Yato’s eyes adjusted to the gloom. In the faint light from a stuttering candle on the bar, Yato could make out the shelves of glasses and barstools that had been upended onto the tables. They were in the Hogs Head Inn, a grubby and one of the less nicer pubs in Hogsmeade touted by old drunks.

The bar ran the length of the wall, and thick cobwebs in the rafters showed that the pub had been disused for some time. The bar gave way to a set of dark stairs and they clambered them quickly and as quietly as the creaking slats would allow.

Thoughts raced through their heads but they were too afraid to speak them. Was this a friend? A member of the Order?

They came out in a living room decorated in stuffed animal heads and a threadbare rug. A dying fireplace lay underneath a large portrait on the mantle of a girl who looked at them serenely.

Yato pulled the Invisibility Cloak over their heads, letting it pool of the ground. He stepped towards the window and risked a look outside from the safety of the musty curtains. The Deatheaters had given up on their hunt, striding off back towards the Three Broomsticks and muttering to themselves. They heard the door close behind them.

“Get away from the window.”

Their saviour had appeared in the room, cloaked in grey and hooded to hide their face. They crossed over to the fire and added a few more logs to the dwindling flames.

Silence enveloped them as Yato pulled the curtains tight at the order and stepped away. Hiyori had tucked the Invisibility Cloak into her bag, and Yukine cautiously stepped around one of the faded armchairs, keeping a wary eye on the hooded figure as they worked on restoring the fire.

Yato opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes caught on the mantlepiece. The girl in the portrait above turned away from them, retreating into the picturesque landscape, but his attention was fixed underneath on a gilded frame, its surface smashed and missing a large piece in the centre.

The woman rose and Yato’s eyes locked on his. They were green and wide… just like Ebisu’s.

Yato felt his jaw drop along with Hiyori’s and Yukine’s. The figure before them had the soft curves of a woman who looked far too young to be who they knew and the poise of a leader. Her hair was white and fell over her eyes, green gems that remained unchanged and glittered in the firelight.

The Minister of Magic, Amaterasu.

“You…” Yato trailed off. You are the Minster of Magic. You are meant to be dead. “You sent Ebisu to save us.”

Amaterasu nodded.

“But you’re dead,” Hiyori spoke Yato’s thoughts. “That night at the wedding, the night the Ministry fell, we were told you were dead.”

“That is what my advisors believed, but my death was staged,” Amaterasu said. Her voice was soft as she pushed her hood back. She crossed in front of the fire, golden flames casting their shadows over her hair in a sheen of starlight. If not for the orange warmth cast over her, she may have looked like a ghost.

“What do you mean, ‘staged’?” Yukine asked.

“I knew what my Minsters were planning. They supported Oshi in her reign as Headmistress of Hogwarts just as much as they do now. When it became apparent that she was colluding with him -,” Amaterasu said, being careful not to use the Taboo word on the Sorcerer’s name. “Then I knew that it would only be a matter of time before I was deposed.”

Amaterasu caught Yato’s gaze as it flickered from the mirror to her, but she continued, looking at each of them in turn. “When the coup took place, I fled.”

“To where?” Yukine pressed.

“To the Order of the Phoenix.”

They stood in silence, listening to the fireplace crackle and pop. There were so many questions: How many people knew that the Minister of Magic was alive? Who put her in this small house above a pub so close to Hogwarts and Deatheaters? But one question was already pressing out of Yato’s lips.

“How did you get that?” Yato pointed to the broken mirror on the mantle: the same one that Sakura used to talk to him.

Amaterasu looked to the mirror and stroked a finger along the silver frame.

“It was found in the Department of Mysteries the night that the prophecies were destroyed,” Amaterasu said softly. She turned to the three of them, a knowing look in her eye of what had happened there. “I believe it belonged to your sister?”

Yato nodded, throat tight. That’s why he couldn’t find it in Grimmauld Place; Sakura had the mirror with her the night she died. Did Sakura know that Yato was coming to save her? Had she been desperately trying to reach him before he fell into the Sorcerer’s trap? Either way, she paid with her life to stop him.

“I know that she was the one who brought the Order of the Phoenix back from the ashes,” Amaterasu plucked the mirror from the mantle and held it in her hands, fingers skimming the broken glass. “I was told that Tenjin’s legacy told died with him, but I knew it wouldn’t be so hard to kill.”

Amaterasu held out the mirror in her hands, and after a stuttering beat of his heart, Yato stepped forward and took it. He felt the familiar weight of it in his hands. The final piece of the puzzle.

“If you had the mirror, then how did Ebisu know when we were in trouble?” Yukine asked.

“The Order of the Phoenix is connected,” Amaterasu held her hands in front of her, as poised as if she were standing in the Ministry itself. “One message was all it took.”

Kofuku, Yato realised. She had got the message to Ebisu from Amaterasu when he asked for help. She had hidden the Minster of Magic right under the Sorcerer’s and Deatheater’s noses in Hogsmeade. Fiery, feisty Madame Kofuku.

“But why?” Yato shook his head slightly as he looked up from his fractured reflection. “Why would Kofuku put you here in plain sight? Deatheaters could find you at any moment.”

“Not with the right charms, and besides,” Amaterasu crossed over to the fireplace again. The girl in the painting was returning, a blob steadily growing larger with another shape bobbing along after her. “She knew that you would need a way home.”

Before the girl could stop in the frame of her painted prison, the portrait swung open on hidden hinges, revealing a tunnel that stretched into the darkness. A boy with dirty glasses and messy hair was crouched on one knee, eyes keen and smile lopsided as he caught sight of Yato, Hiyori and Yukine.

“Madame Kofuku has received your message,” Kazuma announced. “The final horcrux is within the castle. The time has come to end this, once and for all.”

The tunnel gave way to smooth steps that levelled off into an earthy passageway. The walls were fixed with dim lanterns that barely lit the path ahead as the portrait swung shut behind them, plunging them into darkness. Kazuma led the way, followed by Yato, Yukine and Hiyori.

“How did you find us?” Hiyori asked. “How do we know that no one else knows about this tunnel?

“Amaterasu,” Kazuma said simply. “She sent the girl in the painting to tell us you had arrived. Once we told Kofuku about the horcrux being in Hogwarts, she knew that you would come straight to Hogsmeade. It’s just pure luck that you happened to end up right at our door.”

“Did you know about this one?” Yukine asked Yato, referring to the winding passage ahead. His eyes were just about able to make out the blot of his outline as they turned a corner.

“I never knew about this one. It must have been here for years…” Yato shook his head. He thought he knew all of Hogwarts’ secrets, but here they were in one right now. His attention turned to Kazuma. “I thought there were only seven passages into Hogwarts?”

“All the passages were sealed at the beginning of the year in case you tried to get back into Hogwarts,” Kazuma said. “They set up curses and checkpoints at all the exits just in case. Either way, we still have a back door into the castle.”

The horcrux was definitely in Hogwarts if the sorcerer had taken such measures, Yato thought to himself. At least it was for now.

Kazuma turned his head slightly, light glinting off his glasses and a grin on his lips. “Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon? It’s all over the newspapers, everyone is talking about it.”

“We did, we got Helga Hufflepuff’s goblet,” Yukine said.

“And the dragon?”

“Set it free.”

Their shadows flickered up the wall as they passed another torch, their footsteps muffled and the tension palpable.

“What’s happened to Hogwarts?” Yato asked quietly. If Oshi’s rule under Amaterasu was anything to go by, it would be unimaginable to think of what she could do now with the Sorcerer I charge.

The smile slipped from Kazuma’s lips. He turned to face forward. “It’s… well, Madame Kofuku is the only one of us who knows what it's really like now. Defence Against the Dark Arts is just Dark Arts now. They make students use the Cruciatus Curse on students who have detention -.”

There was an audible gasp from Hiyori, the flames stuttering in their lamps as if they too were scandalised by the suggestion of forcing children to use and suffer Unforgiveable Curses.

Yukine pressed his lips together, fingers unconsciously going to the faint scar at his hand. “What else?”

“Muggle Studies – its compulsory now –, teaching students how Muggles are animals who stole witchcraft and forced us into hiding, and that ‘Our Lord’ is re-establishing the natural order.”

There was a moment's silence that passed between them, interrupted by the scuffling of their own feet. Hogwarts, their home, had been turned into hell.

The passage had narrowed and become steeped, a few sparse steps noting that they were rising up to the surface. They were walking straight into the dragon’s lair. What would await them?

The question was answered a few minutes later.

They approached a door similar to the one that shut behind them at the Hogs Head Inn. Kazuma burst through the door triumphantly. “He’s here!”

A jolt of panic shot through Yato, Yukine and Hiyori, quickly followed by a wave of guilt at realising that they thought that Kazuma had betrayed them again to Deatheaters. A wave of cheers went up from the room as Kazuma jumped down from the ledge, followed by Yato, Yukine and Hiyori.

A bookshelf had been dragged away from the wall, standing haphazardly in a crowd of people to hide the presence of the door they had just come through. He took in the faces around him – cheerful, hopeful faces – of students he didn’t recognise yet recognised him, the one who had come to defeat the Sorcerer.

Yato took in the blackened stone walls and the familiar chill of being underneath the Great Lake; they had ended up in a disused potions classroom in the dungeons. Yato remembered how Kofuku had told him that she was the cause for several of the classrooms being abandoned following experiments that failed spectacularly and gave her pink hair. Pink hair that he could see coming straight towards him.

Kofuku threw her arms around Yato, Yukine and Hiyori, though she was not able to reach around all the way.

“I don’t know what the hell you were thinking breaking into Gringotts,” Kofuku pulled away from them with tears in her eyes. “But I’m glad you’re ok.”

Yato felt an unwelcome lump rise in his throat. “You too, Miss.”

Kofuku turned and Yato finally noticed Daikoku, Bishamon and Kazuma now stood behind her, smiles on their faces. Daikoku wrapped the three of them in a bear hug, and to Yato’s surprise, Bishamon did the same.

“You’ve been recruiting,” Yukine observed, feeling awkward that so many eyes were fixed on them, the chatter and the whispers as they looked to them for instructions.

“We moved underground, but yes,” Kofuku admitted. “The only way to take the castle is from inside. We don’t have much choice, but the students are happy to fight for their home.”

Yato picked out a few familiar faces in the crowd as they moved through: Touma, the Ravenclaw girl who had rallied the Order to help them at the Ministry of Magic the night Sakura died. Ex-students in Yato’s own year that he had classes and battled in Quidditch. Hiyori’s friends, Aimi and Yama, hugged her tight and cried. So many faces, so many of them young and fearless.

Yato had a sudden realisation that, just like Father, he had his own child army. For good or evil, forced or volunteered, they were still children playing at war. But for them, this was a battle they had to fight. This was a battle they had to win.

The Battle of Hogwarts.

A black cloud hung over Hogwarts, the evening threatening a storm that would wash over the mountains and engulf the castle in summer darkness.

Oshi watched over the uniform lines of students marching through the courtyard into the Great Hall, their footsteps echoing in perfect synchronicity. She would’ve sighed in contentedness if not for the news she’d received. Her madness seemed to subside when things went her way, but now she could feel it rising like potion turned foul.

Her Lord would not be pleased if the rumours were true.

Oshi’s footsteps resounded in the Great Hall as she passed through the neat lines of students. The professors stood on the edges of the room, their eyes following her with a sadness she couldn’t understand. Two of her most trusted Deatheaters stood at the head of the room on either side of where her throne should have been. The furnishings of the room had been removed on this occasion, leaving it as bare as the vault above them.

The ceiling had not been decorated with lights or frivolity for her entire reign of Hogwarts, leaving the room bland and dingy as the storm clouds blocked the suns rays from illuminating the hall. She stopped at the bottom step in front of the largest window at the back of the hall, keeping her back to the students. She could feel their eyes on her as she collected herself before she slowly turned to face the room.

“Many of you will wonder why you have been summoned at this hour,” Oshi said clearly. Her voice carried across the room in a way that she loved, knowing that her children hung on her every word. Her eyes grazed the faces of those in the front rows, but none would meet her eye, their heads hung low.

Oshi folded her hands in front of her stomach, barely touching her pristine white robes. “It has come to my attention that, earlier this evening, Yaboku was sighted in Hogsmeade.”

The student’s heads rose instantly at this revelation, their eyes catching each other and smatterings of whispers erupted around the room. Oshi narrowed her eyes. They almost sounded happy to hear he was alive.

“Now,” Oshi cut through the talk with her crisp curtness, silencing them instantly. “Should anyone attempt to aide Yaboku, or conceal information of his whereabouts, they will be punished in a manner consistent of the severity of their crime.”

Oshi put one foot in front of the other, the click of her heels on the flagstones echoing around the chamber as she surveyed the students with cool grey eyes. As time passed, she thought of these students as her children, and she as their mother. She could give them grace. She could be fair. She could be merciful.

“If anyone had any knowledge of Yaboku’s movements this evening, I invite them to step forward…” Oshi let them hang on her words, slowly turning her head to try and make eye contact with any of the children who desperately avoided her look. “Now.”

Silence hung in the air. No one would raise their heads.

Someone broke rank, stepping in the cross path between the student's houses division. They threw back the hood of their black robe and there, right before her very eyes, stood Yaboku.

A ripple of exclamations and gasps filled the room, heads turning to catch a glimpse of what had happened. The Deatheaters behind Oshi came to attention, their wands drawn and aimed at him, awaiting the order.

Yato glared at Oshi, teeth bared into a snarl. “Despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, it seems you still have a bit of a security issue, Headmistress.”

The doors of the Great Hall burst open. Kofuku and Daikoku spearheaded the Order of the Phoenix as they fanned out to block the exit. Hiyori, Yukine, Kazuma and Bishamon stood side by side, wands drawn.

“How dare you stand where he once stood,” Yato spat, the emotion a clear weakness in his voice but he didn’t care. All that Tenjin had done for Hogwarts in one hundred years had unravelled in a few months.

The air bristled with electricity as the students veered away from the centre of the room, pressing in on each other with gasps and shrieks as Oshi drew her wand and bared her teeth, and the other Deatheaters followed suit. Yato’s wand twitched in his hand, but his view of the hateful witch was quickly obscured by a figure slightly shorter than him. Kofuku stood between him and Oshi her wand aimed square at her chest. The Order shifted behind them, Daikoku’s eyes glinting dangerously as he watched the scene unfold before him.

No one moved.

Kofuku took the first shot, a bolt of red light spitting from her wand. Oshi deflected it easily and volleyed a curse back, but the green light dissipated instantly against the protective shield Kofuku had thrown up. Another spell spat from Kofuku’s wand, this time green and deadly, and it missed its mark on a Deatheater behind Oshi, crumpling to the ground in a heap of black robes.

Yato gripped his wand, willing Kofuku to move out of the way so he could kill Oshi himself, but she only advanced forwards, throwing out spells faster than Yato could keep track of.

The Great Hall was filled with the sounds of spells shattering on the flagstones, the window arches and the occasional grunt as Oshi was forced back. The second Deatheater fell when Oshi deflected a spell to the side which hit him in her stead, and in that moment Yato saw the fear on her face when she realised this was a fight she could not win.

Oshi turned her back, morphing into a billowing shape resembling a Dementors cloak before bursting through the window behind her, shattering it into a thousand crystalline pieces as she fled into the sky.

“Coward!” Kofuku screamed to the darkening sky. A roar went up from the students, surging forward in celebration at the victory – Hogwarts was free.

Yato felt hands grab at him, students he had seen down in the dungeons only hours before and others he didn’t know but knew him – the Chosen One, Undesirable Number One, the one who would defeat the Sorcerer. Then Hiyori and Yukine were in front of him, and he caught sight of Daikoku taking Kofuku in his arms and the blur of Bishamon’s hair beside them.

Yato’s eyes focused on Professor Tsuyu approaching through the crowd, her face sallower than what he remembered when Professor Tenjin was alive, but there was still a spark in her eye when she faced him.

“I hope you have a reason for returning, Yato,” Oshi said softly, her features wretched in worry. “What do you need?”

“Time, as much as you can get us,” Yato urged.

“Oshi will be heading straight to the Sorcerer to tell him that you’re here.”

Yato nodded. “Kuguha possesses the Elder Wand. We need to destroy the final Horcruxes before the Sorcerer realises that its power is not his. If he realises and kills Kuguha before then, it’ll be over.”

“The rest of the Order is coming,” Kofuku said, coming up beside them with Daikoku, Kazuma and Bishamon in tow. She looked to Professor Tsuyu. “Do what you have to do. We’ll secure the castle.”

Yato nodded and Professor Tsuyu, Kofuku and Daikoku dispersed, running out of the Great Hall to prepare the defences for the Sorcerer’s inevitable arrival.

Yato shucked off the school robe turned to Kazuma and Bishamon. “Even with the defences, we need to make sure there’s no way into Hogwarts - destroy the wooden bridge, detonate it, even the tunnels. Make sure there’s no way in or out.”

“On it,” Bishamon grabbed Kazuma’s hand and they took off into the crowd. From the look on Kazuma’s face as he looked over his shoulder it seemed he didn’t even think to argue about what they were about to do.

Yato turned to Yukine next, gesturing to Hiyori’s bag which she dove into instantly. “The goblet needs to be destroyed. There’s only one way to destroy it without the Sword of Gryffindor – Basilisk venom.”

“Got it,” Yukine confirmed, grabbing the cup from Hiyori’s hands. “The Basilisk skeleton is still in the Chamber of Secrets.”

Yukine paused after a step before grabbing Yato and Hiyori around the necks in a tight, brief hug. “Don’t get yourself killed.”

“You too,” Yato said.

He and Hiyori watched and Yukine jogged away through the dispersing crowd, noticing how the students were organising themselves at the teacher’s orders, stripping to their shirtsleeves and brandishing their wands in the face of the Sorcerer’s arrival.

“Hiyori, I don’t have the first idea where the diadem is,” Yato confessed. “No one live has seen it, and it’s a big castle. I need you to try and find anything about it – break into Ravenclaw Tower, ask the paintings, get into the restricted section in the library.”

“Yato -,” Hiyori started.

But where to start? Hogwarts was under attack. Yukine was returning to the place of his nightmares. There was no escape from here. This day was always coming, but she always thought they would face it together.

Yato knew the words that were on her lips through the look in her eyes. He had experienced this feeling a thousand times as he debated his actions and their consequences on those around him, even more so in the last year.

Yato took Hiyori’s hand and stepped closer. Hiyori looked at him, startled, and her eyes involuntarily dropped. Yato touched his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. He let himself soak in the moment – one of his last on this night – before he strengthened his resolve.

"Don't worry about me," Yato opened his eyes, looking straight into hers. "I’ll see you soon.”

Kofuku stood in the central courtyard of the castle, her wand aimed to the night sky.

Beside her stood Daikoku, his hand tight in hers. The Order, their foreign friends from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons Okuninushi and Kinuha, and a sea of teachers and students who were powerful enough to cast such strong protection magic.

A stream of charms murmured from her lips, repetitive, resounding all around her in a chant, a prayer, for salvation.

“Protego Maxima, Fianto Duri, Repello Inimicum. Protego Maxima, Fianto Duri, Repello Inimicum.”

Filmy wisps escaped her wand, filtering up to the sky and joining the others that had begun to bleed and shimmer together in a protective barrier that encased Hogwarts beneath a shimmering bubble of incandescent light.

Professor Tsuyu stood before the entrance hall, the oaken door spread wide open. The foreboding darkness ahead on the viaduct, the most direct path to Hogwarts, told her that in the distance, invisible in the darkness, someone was watching. She turned her back and faced the grand, ancient castle and raised her hands, wand held delicately between her fingers.

“Piertotum Locomotor!”

A reverberating grating of stone rumble through the castle. The carvings that had stood silent and sentinel in the castle walls shifted and propelled themselves from their casings. The ground rumbled on each impact as the guards hit the floor and marched forward onto the viaduct, each holding an armoire of weapons: halberds, swords, morningstars, and axes.

Professor Tsuyu watched as the army came to life, and in the distance, so did the Sorcerer.

Hogwarts was protected in a pitiful attempt to stop the inevitable.

The Sorcerer looked down on the castle in disdain. A group of children had taken his stronghold from a witch who had failed him time and time again. He could feel her nervousness as she stood behind him alongside Kuguha, who’s disposition had changed once he saw the Sorcerer slaughter a room of loyal servants when Hufflepuff’s cup was stolen from Gringotts.

“My Lord…” Kuguha said. He had taken a step forward, a bold thing to do on a night such as this when the fate of the world hung in the balance. The Sorcerer looked over his shoulder, and the poison in his glare sent Kuguha slithering back into the ranks of his army without another word.

Kuguha’s only worth so far had been to murder Tenjin and retrieve the Elder Wand, but even now in his grip, he could feel its resistance to him. He was used to wanton disobedience from his children, but this power would not yield to him.

The time for watching and waiting was over. The Sorcerer looked to his beloved pet, his obedient child who would not betray him like Yaboku.

“Come, Nagini.”

#noragami #noragami aragoto #yato #yukine #hiyori #kazuma #bishamon #daikoku #kofuku #yatori #kazubisha #daifuku #hp au #harry potter au #in the darkness #my writing

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foxgloveprincess · 4 years ago

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What would recommend for a good unrequited love fic? Maybe the reader has fallen for Bucky but he doesn’t return the feelings (at least initially).

Well, nonnie, I definitely looked through my little rolodex to find you something. Let me just say that unrequited love usually falls into a lot of angst territory, which isn’t something I partake in too terribly much. But I found some fics to recommend which might fit the bill.

Let’s start with the two fics that immediately popped into my head when asked for unrequited love fics. Both are on AO3, but they are just so goddamn good. I had to include them (and I don’t know if the authors are on Tumblrs).

Unrequited by justsomebucky (this one is only available to members that are logged into AO3, but it is prime unrequited masterpiece and totally worth the read)

Speechless by justanothersong (Soulmate AU with some very nice angst)

Then there are the ones that I think fit the bill in some way that I have found on Tumblr.

Seeing Red by @mypoisonedvine - still ongoing and from Bucky’s point of view (he’s the one whose love is unrequited), such great writing and really sexy

Dynamite & Whiskey by @jtargaryen18 - finished and with Andy Barber (which I hope is okay, you mentioned Bucky but I wasn’t sure if that was the only character you’re interested in), this falls maybe more into mutual pining, but there are definitely moments that hit like unrequited love, definitely worth the read and an amazing story either way (I’ve read it multiple times)

She by @drabblewithfrannybarnes - short little one shot with Natasha, prime unrequited love content, just a little angsty (it hurts so good) and beautiful, almost like something wonderful is about to happen

Teddy Bear by @softlybarnes - one shot with Bucky, Soulmate AU with lots of angst, from Bucky’s perspective, though there’s some pining from both sides it feels sort of like unrequited love in a lot of ways, so well written and interesting soulmate connection

Say It by @stargazingfangirl18 - one shot with Ransom Drysdale, some unrequited love from a FWB situation, real cute, Ransom is written so well in character

Arrangements and Relationships by @tuiccim - one shot with Bucky and Steve (not Stucky), definitely some unrequited love, lots of angst, really mature story about love and the journey to falling in love

I hope this is a good list for you, nonnie. Like I said, I don’t read a lot of angst and often miss unrequited love stories unless I just so happen to stumble upon them (or if I get in a mood). I’m sorry if I didn’t find something for you (or if you’ve already read all of these). Hopefully you find the fics you’re looking for!

Happy readings!

💜

#✨rachel replies✨#happy reading #step into my library #i tried #but i’m not so versed in angsty tropes #hope this helps #i love nonnies #fanfiction #fanfic recs #fic recs

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iffeelscouldkill · 4 years ago

Text

Mission Log: REDACTED

A/N: Now that Yuletide reveals are revealed, I can go ahead and own this fic I wrote for the awesome Mousek for Yuletide! It’s quite long (14,999 words), so I’m not going to post the whole thing here, just enough to give people a flavour and lure them to AO3 for the rest.

This fic is written in an “audio narrative” format, in the same style as the From the Archives ficlets if you’ve read those. Slightly spoilery warning (skip over this to remain unspoiled but please read if you’re concerned about potential triggers): this fic features people’s memories being modified (though not completely irreversibly) without their consent.

Enjoy, friends!

Summary: Canon divergence AU from mid-episode 9. Instead of executing Plan B, the Rumor crew learns about a top-secret Regime project that is being carried out at ADVANCE Labs - and that the fate of the crew of the Iris is not what they thought it had been.Violet Liu goes in undercover, posing as a member of the lab team. But can she undo what the Regime has done to the crew and free them - without losing herself in the process?

Read on AO3!

---

“This is Agent McCabe. Two weeks have now passed since our last update. Based on the continued lack of audio input via this swarm of Strain H, we can assume that the crew of the Rumor have acted on the intel given to them by the insurgents, Thasia and Violet Liu, and successfully cured themselves of the VCN nanocloud infection.

“As a result, pending further developments in this case, the Strange Case of Starship Iris is now considered closed. Footage from the case remains available in the archives and can be accessed on request by submitting form B7-081 with a superior’s signature.

“My thanks to Major General Frederick, Agents Bauman and Cross, and the specialists at Procyon, as well as Junior Agent Goodman for their assistance in this case. Long live the Republic.”

SYSTEM: E.L.L.A.

USERNAME: EMILY CRADDOCK

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED 26 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, it’s me. I just wanted to check in and say that I’m fine, I’m safe and I passed the background checks without any problems. I kept thinking the whole time that someone from the intake process would recognise me, but – none of them seemed familiar, and I guess I wasn’t either. Just a very small cog in the vast machine of the Reg- the Republic. God, I’ve got to get used to saying that again.

“I’m all settled in in my apartment – it’s twice the size of my room on the Rumor, but I can’t help thinking how much I miss that space.” Quiet laughter. “And you all. I… guess I’ll talk to you soon. I’ll have more to update you with tomorrow, after I start work at the lab. And I’ll be able to let you know whether our intel was good.

“Until then… Violet Liu out.”

“This is uh, lab report 05, week two? Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“Over the past few days, our lab has continued work on synthesizing the NDMA proteins, and Specialists Chang and Yeboah report that they have made some positive advancements in this area. We have provisionally moved up the timeline for the first round of testing with this in mind, though Specialist Yeboah cautions that we need to monitor how the new proteins react with other molecules in the solution first, and then with the blood cell samples.

“A new member also joined our team today – specialist Huang. I wasn’t aware that we’d actually been hiring for our vacancy, but uh, she seems very qualified? A little over-qualified, even. In addition to her qualification from Brightwell she has extensive experience with this type of lab work, which makes us lucky to have her as part of the team. She’s joined Analyst Vázquez and Assistant Hudson in their work on the histone deacetylases.

“My specialism is in a completely different area, and I’m pretty sure our work histories have never overlapped, but – she seems familiar somehow. Except she said she was based on Mars up until six months ago, and I’ve been working on New Jupiter since… uh…

“Sorry – lost my train of thought for a minute there. I’ve been getting these persistent headaches… I think it’s all that poring over modelling data. Though I never get them while I’m working, so maybe they’re delayed-onset headaches? Heh. It could be the lab lighting; I might ask Supervisor Kaaka if we can swap out the bulbs for a lower wattage.

“Uh, anyway. This is Analyst Brannon signing off. Long live the Republic.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 27 JULY 2191.

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“Hey, it’s me. Oh my god… oh my god, I can barely process what’s been happening. I was going to send this message as soon as I got back to my apartment, and instead I’ve just been sitting and staring into space because it’s just so… surreal…

“They’re alive. They’re all just… alive and working in a lab at ADVANCE on New Jupiter.

“I mean, we haven’t ruled out the possibility of highly advanced duplicates, but why would the Repub- the Reg- the IGR go to all that trouble? The simplest explanation - even if it still sounds pretty far-fetched - is that they're the same crew.

“Brian, if you’re listening to this – Alvy's alive. I know I didn’t work with him that long but I’m sure, I’m so sure it's really him. But it’s like Thasia and Other Violet said – none of them remember who they were, or their real names. Everyone here calls him Analyst Brannon – Michael Brannon.

“We’re not working very closely together, but I found an excuse to go over to his workstation and introduce myself, and – it seemed like he recognised me. I’m gonna try and find ways to talk to him – the real Alvy Connors is still in there, Brian, I’m sure of it.

“Is there anything you want me to… ask him? Maybe a question that only he would know the answer to?

“Sorry, I don’t have much more time – the IGR has listening devices planted throughout every Republic-issued apartment; everywhere except the bathroom. Even they have to draw the line somewhere. I scanned it, and it’s clean, but if I remember right there are still sensors that will activate if you go above a certain noise, light or heat, threshold – y’know, in case anyone takes it upon themselves to… build a bomb in here or something. And I don’t want the bugs outside to pick up what I’m saying, which is why I’m whispering.

“But I can’t stay in here too long, or they’ll get suspicious, so – I’m fine, and so far I haven’t messed up or called the Republic the Regime or anything in earshot of anyone. And no-one has recognised me. Well, except for Alvy, maybe.

“I’m still trying to figure out what exactly they’re working on, here. If you’re going to go to the trouble of staffing a lab with the crew of an… of an exploded space ship, it must be important, right? Or maybe not. Maybe it’s just a test, to see how well they assimilate.

“I’ll let you know when I know more. Until then… stay safe. I will too. Violet Liu out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 27 JULY 2191.

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“Hi, Liu. It’s me.

“I’ll keep this to the point, since I know you probably don’t have much time to spend playing back these messages. We’re all fine here. Kind of in a holding pattern, since there’s not much to do until we hear more from you or from Thasia and the other Violet, but it’s not too bad.

“Jeeter’s really happy, by the way, since he listened to your message. I mean, I think he’s still – processing – because he thought Connors was dead, he even wrote to his parents, and now we find out he’s alive, but not… y’know. Not Connors any more.

“But he’ll be fine. Krejjh is helping, which means the two of them are being even more nauseating then they usually are, and that’s saying something.

“Anyway. Listen, I know you want to try and get through to Connors, but… just be careful, okay? None of us, including Jeeter, wants you to get hurt or – worse – on the off chance that we might be able to bring him back. We always knew it was gonna be a long shot.

“Tripathi said to tell you the same, by the way. Well, she said it in a more… Tripathi… way, but the idea was the same. Find out what you can, but don’t get caught. We can’t afford to lo- to mess this up.

“Okay, I should go. Arkady Patel out.”

“This is lab report 06, week three. Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“Since my last report, we have introduced the synthesized NDMA proteins to the solution and tested their interactions with samples representing different blood types. Six out of eight of the samples produced expected results, but two of the samples produced some unexpected interactions with the AB type blood cells, which warrants further testing and study.

“Specialist Huang, Analyst Vázquez and Assistant Hudson are progressing with their work on the histone deacetylases, which should be ready to introduce in the next phase of the solution, pending resolution of the AB blood cell issue.

“Okay, what else… Oh, Specialist Huang is integrating well with the team. She and I have had a couple of conversations, though our second one was unfortunately cut short when my headache started up again. Maybe I should bring it up with Dr. Starling…

“Damn it. Is that the time? I was supposed to go for my treatment a half hour ago – damn it, damn it.

“Uh… I should probably redact that from the final report. This is Analyst Brannon, signing off. Long live the Republic.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 30 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey guys, it’s me again. Violet. It feels kind of nice to use my own name for a change instead of being called ‘Specialist Huang’ all the time… I almost forgot to react to it once, though luckily Vázquez thought I was just focused on my work.

“Not a whole lot to report still – I’m still trying to figure out what it is the Regime is doing in these labs. It’s something to do with DNA methylation and synthesized NDMA proteins – well, I won’t bore you with the science, but why would the IGR be working on that? Could be they’re trying to develop a neural enhancer, but for what? I haven’t ruled out the possibility of there being some kind of link to the nanobots, but no-one here has mentioned nanites, and there are no nanotech specialists working in the lab.

“They keep us very siloed, too. I know what I’m working on, or at least what I have to do, but I don’t know why, and none of the people I work directly with seems to know what we’re developing here. Just something about a solution and blood cell samples. We might not even be the only lab working on this, which means I’ll have to find another way to get at the bigger picture.

“I spoke to Alvy a couple times – I was careful, Arkady, don’t worry. We didn’t manage to talk for long anyway – people don’t socialise much here. I’d kind of forgotten what it was like to work in this kind of environment, where no-one trusts anyone or lets their guard down, because people will backstab each other for the slightest thing. Maybe they had a professional disagreement, or don’t get along, or they wanted to get the credit for the other person’s work. It doesn’t take much of an insinuation to get someone transferred or – worse.

“Nothing’s happened, not yet, and it’s still nowhere near as bad as that student internship I did during the war. But it feels… tense, almost hair-trigger. I think I heard we’re having an inspection later on this week.

“Anyway, Alvy – I didn’t get to talk to him for very long, not just because of the environment, but because he had this headache come on the second time we talked. I’m not sure if it means anything – he said he gets them often. Brian, do you… remember him saying anything about that before?

“He seems a little different to the way I remember him on the Iris – a little more serious, less laid-back, though he’s still the friendliest person on the team. I didn’t… get to know him under the best circumstances, so I’m not sure if that’s due to the memory wipe or not.

“He also mentioned that he’s been seeing a doctor for these treatments – they all have. It could just be something to do with the away shuttle explosion, some kind of recovery program – there was an explosion, even if it didn’t really kill anyone, and Alvy’s got these – support struts in one of his legs, I think they’re carbon fibre. He walks with a slight limp sometimes.

“It could be nothing, but I feel like it might be worth digging into? Arkady, are you able to poke around in ADVANCE’s systems a bit, see if you can find anything that resembles medical reports?

“I’d better go. I brought my makeup bag in here as a cover for taking a bit longer – I don’t even know if the IGR has cameras in these apartments, but better to be safe than sorry – but there’s only so long you can take to put on the bare minimum I wear.

“Send me a message when you can. Violet Liu, out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 30 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, Liu. Good instincts on the medical treatment thing. I didn’t spot anything like that in my initial sweep of the system when I forged your interview and acceptance records, but I wasn’t on the lookout for it either.

“There’s a limit to what I can access without jacking directly into ADVANCE’s mainframe computer or piggybacking on their local network, but I’ll dig around as much as I can.” Jokingly: “ Worst comes to worst, we could always send Jeeter in with an earpiece and make him pose as a computer technician.

“Oh, also, Jeeter says he doesn’t remember Alvy ever mentioning any kind of migraines or head pain. Apparently he’d go on these all-night coding benders and then sleep for two hours and be completely fine the next morning. Maybe it caught up to him, but – well, I’m not gonna jump to any conclusions. I’ll see what I can find in the medical records.

“Also – be careful with the inspection, okay? Your ID will hold up, Campbell doesn’t skimp on the quality, and you look different enough from the physical description they have on file, but those Regime higher-ups will ask some weird shit to catch you out.

“You’ve got the comm if you need us for anything. Just… keep your head down.

“Arkady Patel, out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, Liu, listen. You were right. There’s something weird going on with these treatments.

“I managed to track down the medical records for the whole crew. Wasn’t easy, but I’ll save the tales of my security-defying exploits for another time. Anyway, I managed to hack into an account belonging to someone called Dr. Starling. They were brought onto ADVANCE’s payroll on June 1st – two days before the away shuttle exploded.

“There are files for all of them, and the scientific stuff doesn’t mean much to me, but from what I can tell, they’re monitoring them all for signs of what Starling calls ‘leakage’ – memories from their previous lives. Five of the other crew members have reported experiencing head pains, and it’s not a physical injury – Starling seems to think the pain is set off by them thinking back beyond a certain point, or being reminded of something from their past life. They upped the frequency of the ‘treatments’ to try and counter it, but so far it hasn’t worked.

“I think that’s what they’re for, the treatments – they’re keeping the crew’s memories suppressed. Which means, if they can be interfered with somehow…

“Bad news is, I can��t get into the scheduling system, not without access to the local network. But in Starling’s notes it says that Alvy was meant to come in for a treatment earlier today- well, yesterday technically, since it’s after 3am. But he didn’t show. So maybe you could get through to him.

“Obviously, don’t blow your cover, but if Alvy’s been getting these headaches a lot, it could mean he’s trying to remember? You said he got a headache when you guys talked – what were you talking about?”

A stifled yawn. “Shit, I’d better sleep, Sana wanted me to help encrypt some intel to send to Thasia and the other Violet Liu first thing in the morning. I’ll talk to you later. Arkady Patel out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED 31 JULY 2191.

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“Arkady, you’re a genius! Oh my god, I could kiss you.

“I’ve only skimmed the records you copied, but they make references to a solution that sounds a lot like the one we’re developing in the lab. What if that’s the answer? What if that’s what the IGR is having the crew develop, another version of the treatment – maybe one that’s more permanent…

“…Oh god, that’s so dark. They’re having the crew work on erasing their own memories. It’s so inhuman, so – exactly what the IGR would do.

“–I have to go, I’ve got work in half an hour, but – this really helps. And I’ll try to talk to Alvy today, see if he seems any different after his missed treatment. Violet Liu out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 31 JULY 2191.

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“You, uh—” The sound of awkward throat-clearing. “You are welcome. Yeah. Like I said, it’s uh, it’s what I do! So, no, uh thanks required. Though if you wanted to, I—

“Shit, I’ve gotta go, Sana needs me. Uh, Arkady Patel out.”

Read the rest here!

#fic #TSCOSI #The Strange Case of Starship Iris #Yuletide #Yuletide fic #mission fic #Violet Liu #Arkady Patel #Alvy Connors #RJ McCabe #Vikady #I really enjoyed writing the dorky Violet/Arkady interactions in this fic #I mean I really enjoyed writing all of this #but especially that aspect #also please ignore the sciencey jargon #though I've been told by someone who is more sciencey than I am that it is not bad jargon #it took me way too long to come up with 😂 I wanted it to be vaguely plausible #but it's not necessary to understand the fic

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hajimes-erect-ahoge · 4 years ago

Text

Death Should Not Have Taken Thee!- Chapter 1

Shuichi Saihara. 22. College graduate. Works at his uncle's detective agency. Known on MonoQuest as Blueberry97.

Kokichi Ouma. 23. Didn't go to college. Works at the local supermarket. Known on MonoQuest as Princesex69.

Both boys live in the same town but have never met, due to their different backgrounds. However, they play a popular MMORPG called MonoQuest together, and become guild partners for almost a year. When Blueberry97 asks to meet Princesex69 in real life, they find out more about each other than they had ever expected.

Also, Ouma's MonoQuest avatar is a girl. Confusion ensues.

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An MMO au based off of adiazrue's au on instagram! Please go check out their art it's amazing!

Check out my Tumblr @hajimes-erect-ahoge for updates and if you want to talk ideas! (please talk to me about this fic i have no idea where I'm going with this lol)

don't take the title too seriously no one's gonna die I just wanted to do a vocaloid reference

ao3

9:57 pm.

Ouma groaned as he looked at his watch, anxiously waiting until his shift ended. Just three more minutes and he would be free to do as he pleased, leaving the supermarket’s duties to the other workers.

Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed an older lady with short, dark hair settling her items onto the checkout belt. With the most insincere grin plastered on his face that he could muster, he began scanning and bagging her items while his mind drifted off.

A fantasy world filled with monsters and dungeons, available to anyone with a working computer! The world of MonoQuest awaits you!

The jingle of Ouma’s current obsession- a video game called MonoQuest- echoed in his head as he helped the woman check out.

MonoQuest was Ouma’s place to freely be himself, letting loose and having fun in a fantasy world. The lush gardens, the sparkling rivers and the spooky monster-ridden caves were all ever so enticing, but one aspect stood out above all the rest: his guild partner, Blueberry97. True to his name, his avatar was mostly blue in color, except for his light green eyes that stood out effortlessly.

Ouma’s own avatar, however, was mostly decorated with a lavender color, bordering on pink. With long hair tied up in two ponytails and a frilly dress, his avatar was undeniably female, despite him being, well, not a female. Not like it mattered anyway, as Ouma was perfectly content with his avatar being the way it was.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Ouma rang up the woman’s total for her purchase and helped her load the bags into her cart.

“Have a nice day!” the woman chirped, leading Ouma to respond with a short nod. Noticing that it was just past ten o’clock, he placed the closed sign over his aisle and made his way out from behind the counter. It didn’t take long for him to clock out of work and start his drive home.

----------

Ouma entered the apartment hurriedly, tossing his keys onto the counter. Kiibo was already asleep by now since he tended to go to bed early, and Iruma was still at work, meaning Ouma was basically alone in their shared apartment.

Sparing no hesitation, he made his way to his bedroom, closing and locking the door behind him. He sat down at his desk and started up his computer, his hand gliding over the mouse. Within minutes he had successfully opened up MonoQuest, typing in his username, Princesex69. Spawning in the plaza of the town, it didn’t take long for a message to appear on the side of his screen from his guild partner.

@Blueberry97

Hey! Wanna go on a quest together? I picked up a new side quest together and I wanted to try it out with you! :)

Ouma smiled at the message and began typing quickly.

@Princesex69

Only if you promise to be my knight in shining armor if things go bad! TT

@Blueberry97

Of course, princess! Meet me in the forest by the village and I’ll be there to protect you!

@Princesex69

Omw!

Moving as quickly as possible, Ouma dashed over to the forest outside of the village to meet his guild partner. He spotted him waiting right by the entrance, his familiar blue avatar standing in contrast to the green of the forest.

“Princess!” Blueberry97 jogged up to Princesex69, greeting her eagerly. “You made it!”

“Of course! Who do you think I am?” She grinned smugly at him, twirling one of her ponytails between her fingers.

He smiled warmly at her, “Shall we get going?”

She nodded and walked into the forest with him, the two of their avatars standing in close proximity to one another.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in here before…” the princess mused, looking up at the trees towering up above them.

“Me neither…” Blueberry97 responded, “I think they added this forest in the new update.”

Princesex69 hummed in agreement, continuing to walk with her guild partner.

Suddenly, an arm was thrust in front of her, preventing her from walking any further.

“Princess, watch out!” the young knight shouted in alarm, bringing the princess out of her daze.

She immediately looked forward, noticing a particularly angry group of forest goblins standing a few feet away from them.

“Stay back!” he shouted, preparing to fight them off.

The princess contemplated joining him in his endeavors- she wasn’t helpless, after all- but he had eliminated the goblins in the blink of an eye.

“Wow! How brave of you to protect me from danger! I guess you really <i>are</i> a knight after all!” she gushed.

The knight blushed, turning to face the princess. “I-I’m still in training, you know… I don’t really consider myself a full-fledged knight.”

The princess thought to herself for a moment before responding, “Hmm, whatever you say, I guess! But that was toooootally heroic of you to save me like that!” She tilted her head innocently, noticing the way that the knight’s blush deepened at her words.

“I, uh, I guess so…” he stammered.

“Now come on!” She pulled on his arm, leading him deeper into the forest. “We’ve still got a bunch more monsters to kill!”

He smiled and nodded, following the princess into the depths of the mysterious forest.

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“Whew! That was sooooo much work! I’m totally beat!” Princesex69 groaned, sitting on the ground next to the river. Blueberry97 followed suit, sitting cross-legged by the edge of the river.

“Me too…” he looked over at the princess, who was gazing into the distance over the river.

She looked beautiful like that, the knight thought. Spending time with her was truly exhilarating, and was completely different than spending time with the other guild members. They were partners, after all, but there’s more to it than just that. He felt like he was exceptionally close to the princess, and he wanted to know more and more about her. If only…

“What’s on your mind?” Blueberry97 jumped at the sudden question, clearly startled. “You’ve been staring at me for the past few moments. It’s getting kind of creepy…”

“Ah, sorry!” he apologized.

“Just kidding! I’m used to it by now! All part of being a beautiful princess in a magical fantasy world!” She smiled cheekily at him, causing him to chuckle.

“Actually, there is something on my mind.” he swallowed, hoping it would help in getting rid of the nervous pit in his stomach. He stood up slowly, grabbing the princess by the hand of helping her up as well.

“It’s been a year since we’ve become guild partners. I’ve had a lot of fun playing with you, but… I want more. I want to meet you in real life!” He clenched his fists, looking at her with determined eyes. “Please! I want to know the real you!”

The princess stood there in stunned silence, not exactly sure what to say. She hesitated to speak, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet in order to dissipate some of her nervous energy.

“I, uh…” she stammered.

“I’m sorry, princess, I…!” Blueberry97 apologized, “I shouldn’t have said that, I’m…”

“N-No, don’t apologize! It’s just…” she paused, still unsure of herself. “I have to go! I’ll talk to you tomorrow! Bye!”

And just like that, Princesex69 logged out of MonoQuest. Blueberry97 stood there, taken aback by her sudden disappearance. He sighed to himself, looking down at the ground.

“...See you tomorrow…”

----------

Ouma flopped down onto his bed, promptly screaming into his pillow. How could he do that? He just left his guild partner hanging, without even giving him a proper response to his offer. How could he be so stupid?”

He lifted himself up from the pillow, turning himself over so that he was laying down on his back. Staring at the ceiling in the pitch black darkness, he cursed himself for being such a coward.

Why did I have to log out so fast? Why didn’t I tell him that I wanted to meet him in real life too? It’s not like I don’t want to meet him, it’s just…

Ouma sighed, balling his hands into fists.

Everything is all my fault… I should’ve never made my stupid avatar a girl in the first place… that way I wouldn’t have to deal with this shit…

The truth was, Ouma did want to meet Blueberry97 in real life. Hell, he wanted it more than anything. But he was almost certain that he would want nothing to do with him after finding out that he wasn’t a beautiful young girl and instead a short and immature boy with a penchant for mischief.

He rolled over in bed, closing his eyes in an attempt to force himself to sleep. He could deal with this tomorrow, or whenever the next time he logged onto MonoQuest was…

Or not.

#my writing #death should not have taken thee #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #shuichi saihara #kokichi ouma #kokichi oma #oumasai #saiouma

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