#based off the idea they met playing basketball on a roof

[beebopurr]

First impressions are important

[jacobsnsfw]

thighs, sapnap

MINORS DONT U HAVE PAW PATROL TO WATCH? FUCK OUTTA HERE.

PAIRING cc!sapnap x afab!gn!thick thighed!reader

WARNINGS somnophillia, praising, vaginal penetration, slight degradation ( the word 'slut' a few times ), thigh fucking.

SONG REC pillowtalk, zayn

WORD COUNT 859

NOTES pls don't read if you're uncomfortable  with the topics above<3 he has a tongue piercing in this because i said so

wattpad ao3

     THE TWO OF YOU laid cuddled up against each other, you were in a peaceful dreamland while sapnap's hips rocked slightly in between your legs, silently trying to get himself off without waking you. it was around five forty-five in the morning, you had a scheduled stream at nine and you'd be getting up soon, but his hand just wasn't cutting it for some reason tonight. his mind wandered to the time you told him to in your own words "fuck me in my sleep", but he decided your plump thighs would be enough.

you stirred slightly and his hips came to a stop watching your face contort as you mumbled about something in your dream most likely. when your body stilled again and the babbling that escaped your parted lips ending, he continued thrusting his clothed erection against your bare thighs, sleeping in panties might not have been your first choice, but god was sap happy you chose them.

your thighs were pillow-like sapnap always found himself admiring them, when you walked they would jiggle. he didn't know why, but they just were so hot to him, he daydreamed about being in between them all the time. he knew if he told you how he felt you'd slap his chest with that smile that never failed to make his cheeks turn pink in a matter of seconds, the smile that was present whenever you would mention something lewd, you'd shoot at him, or when you called him 'daddy' jokingly and he looked at you shocked it was always there.

his head fell back and an unintentionally loud moan spilled from his lips that made him clamp a hand over his mouth in not only embarrassment but, in fear he'd woken you up. your eyes blinked a few times adjusting to the tiny bit of light that peeked through the blinds when your hips moved and your legs stretched out sapnap flitched. "you okay?", it was a simple question, sapnap had no clue how to answer, he hummed and pulled himself further from your touch, that made you frown in confusion, your bottom lip poking out in a pout as you shimmied your body closer to him.

something was pressed against your leg, you both knew exactly what it was too. "why's your dick out at.." you glanced at the small black alarm clock on your nightstand that displayed it was five fifty-seven am, "almost six am?" you weren't trying to make him uncomfortable, that was never the goal but what the actual fuck, was he really beating his meat right next to you, you've had sex (the best you ever had was with him) before many times, but the bathroom wasn't far at all or he could've just asked you would have gladly sucked him off.

he stuttered trying to think of an explanation, but his mouth was just spewing out words, "slow down" you spoke your hand coming up to cup his cheek with a knowing smile. sapnap sat up from how he was laying, leaning against the headboard, and pulled you into his lap, "you just looked so pretty before bed and i didn't want to wake you up, baby", his words were soft-spoken, his calloused hands came to your thighs palming the flesh.

your lips met his in a kiss, that you intended to be short and sweet but when you went to pull away his hand met the back of your head pulling you back into him.  his tongue danced around your bottom lip, asking for permission to shove the muscle in your throat. you obliged allowing him to explore your mouth, your teeth clanked together almost like he's in a rush. the cold metal of his tongue piercing brushed against the roof of your mouth.

sapnap smirked at the dazed look on your face, "you look so fucked out and i've barely touched you, baby" he pouted kissing your forehead. his hands sat on your hips and your thighs pushed together trying to gain any amount of friction you could, his shoulder muffled the disappointed whine that escaped your throat. your hand wrapped around the base of his cock, desperately trying to get him to fuck you, to ruin you until you were a babbling mess, you had no idea where this sudden burst of horniness came from, but sapnap was liking it, a hell of a lot.

the red lacy panties you had fallen asleep in were disregarded by sapnap, with a simple lift of your hips, they were on the bedroom floor soon to be joined by yours and sapnap's still worn garments. your lips met again in a kiss that was more heated than the last one. his head lolled back slightly when your fingers danced over the tip of his cock, and an almost inaudible 'fuck' passed his swollen lips. 

the thing is, he didn't want to come in your palm, definitely not, he wanted to fuck his cum deep into you so deep that you were able to feel it for hours or maybe so much as days, his hand came to stop your quickening actions with your hands, to lay you down onto the bed underneath him, and positioned himself between your thighs, his cock brushed into them smearing pre-cum onto the soft skin, making a shiver run up your spine and goosebumps arose onto your body.

he ran his fingers down your soaking slit, fishing for a reaction of any sort from you, when his fingers play and pinched your puffy clit, you practically keened and threw your head back into the pillows, "oh- sap-! please fuck me~" you ask and you shall receive i guess. in a quick motion, his cock was being pressed into your clit as he teased your wet cunt.

he stopped his movements, clearing his throat, and calling out to the alexa on your bedside table, "alexa," he paused thinking of an artist "shuffle songs by chase atlantic". the robot replied saying something about how she was shuffling the songs on his apple music. one of yours and his favorite songs played through the speakers at around level seven, 'slow down' to be exact.

his cock continued teasing you when the song lyrics started, running his hands along your thighs again, and squeezing them. his tip tapped against your pussy, pushing himself into you ever so slowly, your legs quivered from the stimulation of his skilled fingers and his dick pressed into you. your pelvises were both pressed together in no time, he had worked you through the stretch, despite having sex on numerous occasions, it still slightly hurt when he was fully settled inside.

when you glanced down at your lower stomach you could see how deep his cock was inside, he spoke up with immense amounts of pride in his tone, "can you feel me right here, baby? hm?" sapnap pushed his hand against your belly, watching your face contort in pain, pleasure, and how you were quick to try and push his hands away from the area. "my little cock slut, yeah." it wasn't a question, it was in fact a statement and true one at that.

"open", you did exactly that, and he pressed his thumb against your tongue, that you swirled around his finger treating it like how you'd treat his cock. his thrusts were slow and so fucking deep, you had barely been awake a few minutes ago, but here you are getting slowly railed to chase atlantic at six o' clock in the morning in your lover's best friend's house

you felt like you were floating on the euphoria of his hips meeting yours not too fast and not too slow. every little thing he had already done in the last few minutes or so, continued to play in your head like some broken cassette tape that was stuck on a loop, the thoughts of him playing with your pussy, him trying to fuck himself against your thighs, that and his continuous slow, antagonizing thrusts had you moaning embarrassingly loud and arching your back off the bed.

sapnap grabbed your hips and lifted them, a whole new chapter of feeling bursting throughout your entire body, just a few more thrusts into that exact spot deep within your velvety wall would have you spurting onto his cock in absolutely no time. "right there?" he asked, you couldn't get the words to leave your mouth, so instead you nodded squeezing his cock so tight that you could feel the veins and ridges on it.

he kept on brushing his cock against that spot waiting for- "cumming-! i'm coming " yep, those words, sapnap felt his release inching closer and closer, you could feel his cock twitch deep inside your walls, as he came inside, he barely moved for a few moments just groaning into your neck about how much of a good slut you were for him.

a pat on his shoulder made him sit up, and you attempted to walk to the bathroom, but as soon as you stood up your legs felt like they were going to collapse right under you. sapnap just laughed, kissed the side of your neck, pulled on a pair of boxers and old basketball shorts, and walked out the room to get you some water and a washcloth. you laid back down onto your side of the bed staring at the ceiling and thinking about you were going to cancel your stream today, maybe they'll believe the whole "i have laryngitis" thing.

[xmint-conditionx]

tongue tied | myg

pairing: yoongi x reader, f2l

w/c: 3.5k

summary: you've been best friends with yoongi for almost a decade, and you're hopelessly in love with him. he's the most important person in your life, and you don't want to mess that up, so you can never be anything more... right?

written as a response to a request from the old blog -- the requestor was @yoongi--enthusiast; thanks again for your request, i loved doing it!!! "I had an idea... something based off of the song “tongue tied” with yoongi. I feel like it would be super soft with soft smut... I just think it would be nice to read so can you please wright it 🥺👉👈"

tags/cw: 18+ please, smut, outdoor sex, overall a little angsty but super cute too

a/n: i did not know that there was a song called tongue tied by marshmello before i wrote this so... i hope the person who requested this didn’t mean that song because I wrote this drabble over the grouplove song lmaooo but anyway, here goes! thanks luv, enjoy! also reposted from the old blog!!

Yoongi’s laugh is so beautiful. It’s rare, so when you see it, you soak up everything you can about it. The way his eyes crinkle up into crescent moons, the way his lips curl back putting his gummy smile on bright display. You can swear you see his eyes sparkle.

You are in love with him. You are in love with your best friend.

He makes loving him such an easy thing to do; bringing you into his inner world, showing you the sweet and warm center he conceals from everyone else. The way he looks at you, the way he says your name, the way he pouts when he wants a back scratch, all of those little things that make him who he is only deepen your infatuation with him.

You’re with him again this Friday night, making the drive to Bom’s house. It’s been a long week for the both of you; he’s been wrapped up in producing a track and you’ve been nose deep in college textbooks. His track is completed, and your exams are over. It’s safe to say that you both could use a good break.

It’s the end of the spring semester and the weather is going to be gorgeous tonight. The racing summer breeze coming through the open car windows is exhilarating. The sun is setting, and the warm evening light on Yoongi’s dewy skin makes him appear absolutely radiant as he navigates the highway.

You’re just listening to fun little summer jams as you speed off toward the city’s suburbs. Ones with funky little basslines that are easy to groove and sing along to. Ones that make you shout and laugh into the rushing wind. Ones that make you drink in the moment you’re having with Yoongi; ones that make you soak up all of his joy.

And when he steals a sly look your way, one hand still on the top of the steering wheel, you can swear your heart stops.

You’ve loved him as long as you can remember really knowing him. Since you were both 12, bonding over games of tag and basketball and the spilling of secrets to each other. You’d sit beneath the big tree in his backyard and share the snacks you’d bought at the corner store. He’d always let you have the last chocolate.

The only secret you’ve ever kept from Yoongi is the matter of your infatuation, and you are pretty resolute in keeping it that way.

He is the single most important person in your life. He had been there with you through it all; when your parents split up at 13, when your dad got you your first car at 15, when your long time boyfriend cheated on you at 16, when your dream college denied you at 17, when you got a full ride scholarship to a smaller university outside of the city right after that, when you were drugged at a house party at 20, when you were diagnosed with depression at 21, and when you were accepted into your masters program at 22.

You needed him, and because of that, you could never tell him.

You pull into the gates that surround Bom’s neighborhood. Her parents are pretty wealthy, so they live on a golf course. As you pull up into the driveway, you see some other students milling about, catching Frisbee. There’s Eunha, Ireum, Ji-Ah, and Miyeun that you recognize from some of your classes, but there are a few more that you’ve never met.

After a few rounds of drinks and a few lost games of flip cup, you all head outside to the back patio with all of your schoolwork from the year. Bom turns on the bluetooth speaker and sets it on the railing. You take in the night air and gaze up at the sky, wishing there was a shooting star to wish upon.

“Alright, everyone,” Bom begins, “essays and lab reports first, then tests, then miscellaneous homework.” Yoongi helps you dig through your stack to fish out the cursed papers. You all toss the stapled packages into the fire pit, one by one, each hitting with a soft thud. Once everyone has thrown their woes into the pit, Bom tops it with actual firewood and unceremoniously sets the whole lot of it on fire. You gaze into the center of the flame, watching your entire year catch fire. All the hours you spent doing that research project, all the disappointment when your group members wouldn’t follow through. Gone, like it never existed.

Yoongi’s holding your hand in his, and he’s busy drawing little circles with his thumb on your palm. Your head rests soundly on his shoulder, and you sigh into him, comfortable in where you are. The whole group piles in more papers, as you lament about the shitty professors and the shitty group projects and the shitty caf’ food and the shitty grades. Yoongi turns into you and nuzzles gently on your forehead. You feel his soft lips graze your temple, breath warm on your skin, tingles rising through your body, and you’re right where you want to be. Under the moon’s gaze with the person you love.

Before long, the breeze sends a chill through you that even the fire won’t remedy. Yoongi feels your shiver and unceremoniously removes his hoodie and puts it on over you, pulling up the hood and kissing your forehead. You always love when you wear his jackets; they surround you in his warmth, his smell. A smile plays across your lips until you notice Yoongi’s goosebumps.

“Hey,” you pout, “I don't wanna wear this if you’re gonna be cold.”

“I don’t wanna wear it if you’re gonna be cold,” he snaps back, smiling.

“Here,” you say, standing up from your deck chair. You take the step to get you to Yoongi’s chair, and sit in his lap. “This way we can both be warm, yeah?”

It takes him a second, but he wraps his arms firmly around you again, mumbling a “yeah, that’s fine” when you glance at him over your shoulder.

Your attention is called back to the group with Bom asks if you’re going to the Summer Romance Festival by the river next weekend. She’s been pushing you to get yourself out there more. The last time you were in a real relationship was high school, after all.

“I’d love to go; I hear they have the most beautiful fireworks display,” you start, “but I don’t think I will this year.”

“Well,” Bom says, “Why not?!”

“Because I don’t have a date, Bom!” you say, covering your face in the sweater paws you’ve made from Yoongi’s hoodie. “I don’t think I could find one in enough time.”

“Ya, just get Yoongi to go with you! You already do everything together anyway,” Eunha quips.

You notice that the steady rise and fall of Yoongi’s chest has stopped.

“Hey, you know we’re just friends, right Yoongi?” you look to him for backup.

The man nods, looking down and to the left.

“Okay,” Ireum speaks up, “In that case, do you want to go with me?”

“Wait, what?” you say.

“Do you want to go to the Summer Romance Festival with me? As a date?”

Yoongi tenses beneath you.

“Oh, I don’t know…” you breathe, “Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent. We can even get dinner before we go. Not too much, though. I’ll want to get us a treat from one of the dessert stalls.” Ireum says with a soft smile.

“Yeah,” you say, smiling back at him, “Okay. We’ll go together.”

Yoongi stirs beneath you. “Hey, can you get off of me?”

“What, why?” you pout.

“I said get off.”

“Yoongi, wh--”

He doesn’t wait for you to finish before he abruptly stands up, forcing you to catch yourself. When you look back at him, he’s walking toward the French doors that lead back into the house.

“Ya! What was that about?”

He keeps walking. You storm after him and slam the door, trapping you both inside.

“Yoongi, I’m talking to you! What’s your fucking problem?”

He whirs around.

“Oh, I have a problem?”

“Well, it sure seems like it.” you spit back, hands on your hips.

“Why don’t you go talk about it with your date, huh?” he says, gesturing out the window to Ireum. “Don’t you have some details to work out? He gonna pick you up? You gonna let him hold your hand? On your nice little extra special romantic date? I guess I’ll just fuck right off and leave you two alone, yeah? That’s what you want, cause we’re just friends and all.”

“Yoongi, we… are friends! You’re my best friend!”

“Did you ever for a second think that I could want more?”

“What?!”

“I fucking love you, Y/N! Isn’t it obvious?! I’ve loved you since the 7th grade. You remember when we played spin the bottle at Ha-joon’s house? Do you remember when you kissed me?”

“Yoongi…”

“No, let me finish. Do you remember the frat party we crashed junior year? Remember when we got up onto the roof and made out until we fell asleep? And then you weren't there when I woke up so I walked back to my dorm and then we just pretended it never happened? What the fuck was that, Y/N?!”

You reach for his arm, but he backs up, flinching away from you.

“I am so in love with you it hurts!”

“Yoongi.”

“But I guess if that guy can make you happy, then whatever,” he sighs.

“Yoongi.”

“Go on your little date and have fun and I’ll just go write some more goddamn songs about you--”

“Yoongi!”

He stills, pain flashing through his eyes.

“Yoongi,” you say quietly, easing toward him, “I had no idea. I left the roof to go inside and get you some water. When I came back, you were gone. You had been drinking a lot that night… and I felt really bad because… I thought I had taken advantage of you… Ever since I first kissed you at Ha-joon’s house, I wanted to do it again. And again. And, you looked so good that night and up on the roof when you were laughing about the quarterback I just… I couldn't hold myself back anymore. I thought surely you didn’t want to actually be kissing me.”

“Why the fuck would I have kissed you back, then?”

“You were drunk, and I--” you’re cut off when he grabs your wrist.“I have wanted to kiss you every time I’ve seen you since you first kissed me,” he says, glancing down at your lips. ”I want to kiss you right now.”

You take no time in closing the distance between the two of you, your lips crashing desperately. You’ve tasted his kiss before, but this time feels different. His hands are winding through your hair, pulling you deeper into his kiss. You moan against his mouth, and he responds with his tongue teasing your lips, asking for entry. You grant it, and he explores. One of his hands holds your jaw, the other still intertwined with your hair. His tongue runs along your bottom lip before he sucks it in, drawing out a small whimper from you. Taking his hand from your jaw, he runs it down your neck and décolleté and then down over your stomach and latches it on your hip, sinking his fingers into your skin. He gives your hair a small tug, just enough to break the kiss and expose your neck. He breaks off and trails kisses up your jawline and then onto your neck, speaking in between kisses.

“You have… no idea how… much I’ve… wanted to tell… you everything,” he breathes onto your neck, and you feel a heat pooling in your panties.

“Please, Yoongi…” you say as you begin to run one hand under his shirt. He stops kissing and looks up at you with the softest expression.

“What is it?” he asks as he grabs both of your hands in his, bringing one of them up to his mouth to sprinkle kisses along your fingers.

“You…” you begin and sigh, “you have no idea how much I want you.”

He stills.

“Are you sure? We don’t have to, I’m sorry, I just…” he trails off, eyes getting lost in the way his jacket is draped on your figure.

Him eyeing you up doesn’t make it any better.

“I’ve wanted you for so long,” you say, eyes pleading up at him. “I’m tired of waiting.”

After a beat, he sighs.

“Neither of us are waiting another minute,” he says, landing a quick peck on your lips and going across the room to the couch, grabbing the throw blanket that rests on the arm.

“Come on, I have an idea,” he says, grabbing your arm and leading you out of the front door, across the street, through someone’s back yard until you reach the top of a hill on the side of a fairway. You watch as he scans the area, holding the blanket tight. His gaze lingers on two hills near the green of whatever hole this is, where there are a few more trees and hills to block you from the sightline of those second story windows. He looks at you, eyes asking the question. You smile and nod, and that’s all he needs.

He tugs your hand and you both go running down the fairway, laughing along the way. Once you reach your spot, he quickly puts down the blanket and lays on it. You’re still standing at his feet, hands fiddling with the ends of the jacket sleeves.

He smiles up at you and holds his arms up in your direction and says, “come here, beautiful,” while doing little grabby hands.

You slowly walk up to where he’s laying and sit on top of his hips, feeling how hard he already is. His hand rests on your hip underneath the fabric of his jacket, the other holding the side of your face.

“Let me see you,” he says with a tinge of whine in his voice, and that gives you an idea.

You reach under the still zipped jacket and fiddle around. Yoongi looks up at you befuddled, the corners of his lips turning down slightly as he tries to figure out what’s going on. When your hands emerge, one is holding your strapless bra and the other is holding the halter top you had been wearing. You can’t believe you managed to unzip the back by yourself.

You throw the garments to the side, and watch as understanding hits his face. His eyes glaze over and he licks his lips, clearly shaken up by your little trick.

He carefully dips his fingers below the waistband of your shorts and eases them down. You put your weight on him and give him a few kisses as he continues to move them down your legs. Once they too have been tossed to the side, you sit back up, lips red and swollen from the kiss.

He gently reaches up to the zipper of the jacket and begins to slowly pull it down, letting the cool night air in. You feel your nipples harden at the exposure to both the night air and Yoongi’s hungry eyes. He swallows and licks his lips as he runs his eyes over every new inch of you that is revealed. Memorizing your form, your perked nipples, the way your chest rises with each anxious breath.

He reaches back up to the collar and eases one shoulder of fabric off. You move to take the rest off despite the cold, but he stills your hand with his.

“Keep it on, please. I love seeing you wear my clothes,” Yoongi says, intertwining his fingers with yours.

You bring his hand up to your lips, pressing them against his knuckles as you slowly grind your still covered core on his length. He groans in frustration, his pants getting tighter. You let go of his hand and run your fingers up beneath his white cotton v-neck, his ab muscles flinching under your touch. You help him remove his shirt, taking in the way his pale skin shines under the moonlight.

Seeing you look at him makes his cock twitch in his pants, and you think it’s time to provide him some relief.

You scoot back and start to undo his belt, getting low and staring up at him through your lashes. His breath hitches when you make eye contact with him, and then it starts to pick up as you undo the button and zipper. You shimmy down the denim, but leave his black boxer-briefs where they are.

You come back up to the waistband after releasing his jeans, and you take the elastic in between your teeth. You tug them down with your teeth while your hands pull them on the sides. His erection springs free, and he sucks in a fast breath when his cock meets the cool air. You take the opportunity to let your warm breath ghost over his throbbing cock, coaxing a deep groan from Yoongi. He puts his hand to your cheek, and you look up to meet his gaze.

“I don’t think I can last if you put me in your mouth, baby girl. We can do head next time,” Yoongi says, and your heart soars at the pet name. You ease back up so that you’re straddling him once more, and reflexively start to grind on him again.

“Please let me take care of you. Look how wet you are,” he says, running his fingers over your clothed slit, dipping one finger in to collect a bit of slick. He tastes his finger and says. “Yeah, we’re definitely going to need to do head next time.”

You blush at the thought of him buried between your thighs, vulgarly slurping up everything you have to give him. You clench just thinking about it, and Yoongi notices. He pulls your panties to the side, takes the head of his cock and presses it to your clit, teasing your entrance. His precum mixes with your wetness, and you can’t resist him any more. You’ve resisted him for years, and you’re done.

You slowly ease yourself down on his cock, only making it halfway down before you have to wait for you to adjust. You both look at each other; Yoongi’s jaw is set and his eyebrows are furrowed together. Your mouth drops open as you raise and lower yourself again, feeling the delicious stretch that accompanies it. You bottom out and begin setting a slow and gentle pace.

Your body is rolling steadily, moonlight creating beautiful shadows on your body as you take him in over and over. As many times as you’ve dreamed of this, you still didn’t fathom it being this good or it feeling this right.

Yoongi is everything you had imagined he would be and then some. The way he is looking up at you, the way his soft little moans escape every time you bottom out, the way his eyebrows furrow together at the sight of your dripping heat enveloping him. Perfection.

He takes his hands and trails them up the curve of your waist, stopping just below your breasts. He runs his thumbs over your nipples, making you shudder and arch your back, pushing your chest into his hands. He palms them, kneading little circles around your areolas.

You lean forward, putting your weight on him again, and he meets you eagerly with another kiss. He wraps his arms around your back, keeping himself under the jacket, and you pick up the rhythm. Yoongi scratches his nails all the way down your back. Once he gets to your ass, he cups it, squeezing gently. You place your forehead against his, and your eyes meet.

“Y/N,” he whispers, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, “you look so beautiful on top of me like this. Please let me see this sight for the rest of my life.” You whimper at the praise, and pick up the pace.

“Please,” he continues, small grunts mixing in with his words, “Don’t wake up tomorrow and pretend like this never happened. Please... don’t break my heart,” he pleads.

“Not a chance, Yoon. I can never let you go. You’re everything to me. You’ve always been.”

“Baby, I am so close. Can I--”

“Come with me, Yoongi. Let’s do it together,” you say. Yoongi’s hands are on your hips and he’s thrusting up into you with an unrelenting pace. At this angle, you can feel his head graze against your cervix with each thrust, sending white spots in your vision.

You both reach your end at the same time, breaths mingling as you come down from your highs. You lay your head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat gradually slow. He presses a soft, lingering kiss to the top of your head and sighs into your hair.

“So…” he begins, “do you wanna go to the festival with me?” Yoongi asks.

“Are you gonna pick me up? Let me hold your hand? Have a nice little special romantic date?” you fire back, trying your best to sound like him. You sit up on your arm, letting your hair hang over to one side, and watch the light dance in his eyes as he laughs.

“Yeah,” he laughs, “I might even get us a little snack from one of the desert vendors.”

[hankwritten]

Quodlibet

Demoman/Soldier, 2k

Request for ImSorry, College

“How do you even know this guy anyway?” Jeremy asked, leaning over Jane’s back in such a intrusive distillation of his character that this particular instant could have come from any singular moment throughout the semester, right down to the mortal threat to Jane’s class project.

“Watch it, Buster! You are dangerously close to causing the greatest second dolphin extinction event since the invention of the six-pack!”

Trying to dislodge his suitemate, Jane threw his shoulder, pushing Jeremy and his grasping arms backwards and away from the fragile, pseudo-aquatic diorama.

Jeremy slid down Jane’s spine. “Fine, jeez, I wasn’t going to squish your bath toys.” He went boneless just long enough to reach the floor, then promptly popped to his feet and began looking at the aquarium from the other side. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I don't know what you mean by ‘this guy’,” Jane grumbled. “This is clearly a diorama. Not a guy.”

“The guy, man,” Scout nagged, and Jane could already feel the migraine coming on. Jeremy was actually the human embodiment of head pains, to the point where sometimes Jane wondered if he had escaped from a lab that had been trying to bio-engineer the most aggravating person in existence. “This guy that’s making you go wackadoo and put like ten times more effort into a freaking GED project than anyone ever should.”

“This has nothing to do with him.” Jane put an aggressive amount of glue on his last dolphin.

“Right, sure,” Jeremy snickered. “But as soon as I said ‘guy you have a weird rivalry with’ you immediately jumped to him.” When Jane grit his teeth, Jeremy laughed again. “So what is it with you two? You didn’t get the urge to start tearing each other’s intellectual dicks off just because of some Economics of Marine Biology class, right?”

“Applied Oceanography,” Jane corrected, pointedly not looking up.

“C’mon pally, you know what I meant-”

“Hrrn nn brrdaa”

The voice of their third and final suitemate spoke up from a nearby beanbag chair, where its owner was trying to ignite a textbook with a lighter.

Jeremy looked to them, then to Jane. “Really? He plays for the Brawlers too?”

“Yes,” Jane snarled. “Mystery solved. The new power guard is in my oceanography class, and now you will shut your trap, shortstop, so that I can proceed to kick his ass in diorama making and prove that I am the superior guard.”

“That ain’t exactly a perfect chain of events, but you do you pally.” Jeremy pulled to the far end of the couch, drawing his legs into a fold. “Ain’t like, you supposed to develop deep-seated rivalries with players from other schools? Not your own?”

“If you met him, you would understand.” Jane placed some cherry bombs at the bottom of the glass tank. “Plus, he-...” Swallowing his fury, he said, “he got me moved to small guard.”

“To- what?”

“Hurmm umma,” their third put in helpfully.

Jeremy absorbed this for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Oh, oh man. There’s literally a position called small guard? That’s- that’s fucking hilarious you gotta admit.”

“I have to admit no such thing!” Jane rounded on him, diverting his attention from his precious project for the first time in over three hours. “I used to be power guard! Then some one-eyed, Scottish, lay-about, freshman comes in and thinks he can take my spot? This is betrayal of the highest order! A perversion of our constitution!”

“Mrra hudda.”

“I do not care if small guard is ‘technically a step up’,” Jane huffed. “Power guard is further to the front. That makes it better.”

“Basketball’s for chumps anyway,” Jeremy said, apparently having derived all the entertainment he’d wanted from the conversation, laying until he could reach his arms behind his head and dropping his legs in Jane’s lap. “You should try out for a real sport. But hey! Hope your little fish tank fills your inadequacy or whatever.”

“Oh it will.” Jane lowered his face to the glass, breath fogging and obscuring the magnum opus within. “It will.”

#

“And here you will see what happens when America finally colonizes the ocean!” Jane said to the drooling, glassy eyes of an 8am class.

They were significantly less slumberous when he threw a final cherry bomb into his demonstration, causing a chain reaction as dozens of ‘fireworks’ went off under the ocean, celebrating America’s eventual conquest. To really send the message home, he pulled the ripcord in the back, dropping a miniature stars and stripes behind the tank.

“Oorah!” he concluded.

“...Thank you Mister Doe,” the professor said. “Your time allotted for presenting is up.”

He turned and gave her a big thumbs up.

While some staff at Teufort U insisted you call them by their first names, this professor was not one of them, and it was rumored that the TA who had once dared to call her ‘Helen’ in front of her students was never seen again. However, no one could be that much of a hardass all the time; Jane was confident his project had just blown her out of the water (pun intended.)

She eyed his thumbs up with her perpetually sour face. “...That means return to your seat, Mister Doe.”

Jane picked up his aquarium and strolled jauntily back to his desk.

His good mood dissipated as soon as Tavish was announced as the next presenter. The usurper pulled his aquarium in on a cart, a sheet draped over to allow for a dramatic reveal. Dammit. Jane should have thought about dramatic reveals.

Tavish grinned at his audience, whisking away the blanket with a flourish.

“Behold!” he declared. “You’ve heard of desalination to deal with the oncoming global water shortages, but my proposal is this: a complete and total refinement. Salt water? Pah! Whiskey oceans are where it’s at.”

The tanked sloshed, full of something clearly scrumpy or scrumpy adjacent. Within the alcohol floated an awfully realistic looking octopus, expertly crafted and swishing with the tank’s movements. An eyepatch covered its left side.

“With the addition of boozed-based life forms of course, for an entirely new ecosystem.”

Jane curled his lip. Damn. He was good.

“...Mister DeGroot,” the professor said, “might I remind you that this is an alcohol free campus, regardless of any student’s legal status to drink? And, even without that, you are not currently twenty-one years of age?”

“Drinking age is sixteen in Scotland, Ma’am.”

“Sit, DeGroot.”

Tavish sat. He shot Jane a smug grin. Jane scowled.

“That concludes our presentations for today.” If the professor’s voice got any more disappointed, she could have been a ringer for a Badlands Brawlers fan. “As you know, the diorama that scores the highest marks will receive extra credit toward our upcoming final exam. I use the remainder of the class time to grade, and announce the winner shortly. Please return on the bell if you wish to receive those extra credits.”

The ‘bell’, unlike those rinky dinky little red bowl things they had in high school, was actually a proper bell tower, situated over the science building and able to be heard anywhere on campus. This was where Jane retreated to wait out his nerves, pacing around the semi-enclosed area and mulling over his chances. Fine, Tavish’s had been good. He was used to Tavish being good, the bastard, but Jane’s was better, and this time he was going to mop the floor with him.

“I am going to mop the floor with you!” he declared to the heavens.

“Not with that sad display you won’t.”

Jane jumped. A quiet moment of solitude foiled, besieged by his mortal enemy who’d somehow snuck up on him in order to lean cockily against the door to the stairs.

“My display was anything but sad.” Jane shook his fist. “It was joyous! Victorious! Other words that mean not sad!” When Tavish continued to smirk at him, he added, “plus, your idea is bad anyway.”

“Aye?” Tavish challenged. “How so?”

Dammit. Jane hadn’t thought this far. Replacing the oceans with whiskey really did seem foolproof...except…

“If there is no more water, then you can’t make other type of booze either!” he declared triumphantly.

Tavish jaw clenched. Ha! Good. Let him get angry for once.

He walked over and got right in Jane’s face. “Well what about you? How are you going to light off the fireworks underwater?”

“Oil, salt, and various temperature and pressure difference!” Jane didn’t like the other man in his space, and gave him a shove. They were always doing that to each other during practice, blocking and shoulder-checking harder than necessary, doing things that would certainly be penalties in an actual game.

“Who cares?” Tavish shoved him back. “No one’s going to see them anyway.”

Jane grabbed him by the front of the shirt and shouted, “the dolphins will! You would know that if YOU HAD BEEN PAYING ATTENTION.”

One, dangling, aggravating second stretched on, catching friction as they pressed noses and breathed heavy with the effort. Then they reacted simultaneously, lunging forward and attacking each other in mouth to mouth combat.

Jane growled furiously, trying to gain the upper hand, but Tavish was just as motivated not to let him get it. The pair of them sucked at each other’s faces, mastication muscles competing for this year’s WWE championship belt, crashing against the nearest half-wall surrounding the roof. A more wary observer might have worried about them careening over the edge, but Tavish and Jane had more pressing things on their minds. (And ‘more pressing’ was exactly how they were going to resolve it.) Just a whole mismatched ball of absolute frustration as they worked out several months of pent-up attraction.

Their combined rage might have carried them to hell and back, had the bell not struck 9am at that exact moment.

They both screamed, trying desperately to cover their ears as they hundred and fifty year old bell GONGED above them, rattling teeth inside skulls and causing tears to spring to their eyes.

“God! Why don’t they have a warning sign up? Bloody hell!” Tavish moaned, having found his way to the floor and using his beanie to futilely cover his head.

“What???” Jane, who already didn’t have a good ear at the best of times, worried briefly that he’d finally gone deaf.

“What?” Tavish asked. “I can’t hear a thing you’re saying.”

“What?”

This went on for several minutes, the two men lying on the floor of the bell tower.

When they finally staggered down to class, it was in a terribly haggard state, and new bruises around their mouths.

“Hello professor,” Tavish, the least winded of them, declared. “It’s alright, you can tell us which one was the winner now. We’ve worked out our differences, and determined to let the best man win.”

“The best man will be me, but yeah what he said!” Jane put in.

“If you’re going for flashy, maybe, but on sheer sustainability-”

“No one’s going to eat alcohol-based sushi, cyclops-”

“Enough,” the professor cut in. “Neither of you won the extra credit points.”

“What?” Tavish gaped. “But ours were the best out of anyone’s! How could we possibly lose?”

“The assignment,” she said in a clipped voice that spoke of years of dealing with the exact idiots that Teufort tended to attract, “was to create a physical display of algae chemical reactions at different levels of light and pressure as found in the oceanic zones. Not only did you not win, you have failed this project. Now, since I have a lecture in Hale Hall in fifteen minutes, I suggest you both move out of my way, otherwise you will not have the chance to recuperate those points on the final exam. Goodbye gentleman.”

She stripped the last of the grading notes off her desk, shoved them into a manila folder, and disappeared out the door.

Tavish and Jane watched her go. The minutes ticked by on the wall mounted analog clock, which probably could have told them the time just as well as the giant bell that had nearly deafened them.

“Hey,” Tavish said, elbowing Jane in the side. “I got to take Basic Intergluteal Numismatics next semester.”

“...Yeah? And?”

“Bet I can solve systematic inflation before you can.”

“Oh, you’re on son.”

[paigewritestrash-blog]

Just One Yesterday - Aomine Daiki x OC

I wrote this when I was bored and thought of something really fucking angsty. Towards the very end I’m going to add a twist, making Midorima a witch sort of like the ones in AHS Coven. You’ll see why when you read.

Warnings: angst. lots of it.

My whole school life I spent my time in the shadows. I had a few friends, but none that I spent a lot of time with after school. I joined the women's baseball team this year at Touou after playing volleyball in middle school in hopes that I would make some friends while I play a different sport. After my older sister passed away a couple years ago, I didn't have much interest in making friends or being noticed by others. I have yet to spend a lot of time with my team mates, because I was sort of a ghost to them. That is until my boyfriend at the time had cheated on me. I broke up with him in the cafeteria when I found out through my acquaintance Momoi that he had been seen going to the movies with another girl. I dumped my food and my drink on his head, and proceeded to get suspended for two days. Was it worth it? Yes, and it was worth getting grounded by my parents too. Not only am I known now as the girl that dumped food on her ex, but as rumors circulate, they tend to get twisted. I'm also known as the girl who's boyfriend cheated on her with a woman twice my age. It's both disgusting and completely untrue. I used to wish I wasn't invisible to everyone at school. But now that I'm not, I regret ever wishing I was noticed. I want to go back to being a ghost. The judging eyes burn into me as I walk the halls and make me uncomfortable. "Kaori!" A boy calls out as I walk to lunch. I roll my eyes and keep walking. He runs to catch up with me, slightly breathing heavy as he looks down at me. I've seen him in a few of my classes. His hair is short and black, his eyes a bright blue. I can't recall his name because I don't pay much attention to people at school. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner with me this Friday." He smiles. I watch him from the corner of my eye, his arm reaching around me. I swiftly duck away from his grasp, smacking his arm away. "No. And keep your arm to yourself. Next time I'll break it." I threaten with an ice cold tone. He seems taken aback. I leave him standing in shock as I walk towards the doors. I'm desperate to get away from here, at least for a second. The only place I can think of is the roof. I pull my phone and headphones from my bag, plugging them in and putting my music on shuffle. I climb the ladder to the roof, sliding my bag off of my shoulder and shoving my phone into my pocket. I sing along to the song I'm listening to, rejoicing the fact that I'm alone, and no one can hear or see me. Though I don't understand the words to the song I'm singing, because it's English, I sing it anyways. I pronounce the words the best I can. In the midst of my enjoyment, I find myself dancing to the upbeat electronic tune. It's not until I open my eyes at the end of the song that I see someone standing at the edge of the roof, watching me with an annoyed look. My face immediately turns red as the boy scans me up and down. I take out my headphones as he starts to speak. "Are you done? I came here to nap." He mumbles in annoyance. I raise a brow. How could this boy be so harsh to me without meeting me? "Maybe. If you can check your attitude." I cross my arms across my chest, sending him a cold stare to match the one he gives me. He groans, stretching his arms out over his head. The boy yawns. "I don't feel like arguing with some girl. If your singing and, whatever you were doing, matters that much, I'll find somewhere else to sleep." "Hey!" I cry out, unfolding my arms. I stomp my foot and clench my fists.  "I'll have you know that my dancing is great! And you're not the only one that wants to get away from school." I point a finger at him, narrowing my brows. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors about me." He takes a look at me once more, then shakes his head. "I don't care about school drama, or people at school." He sounds dull. I watch him look over to my bag where my bento has fallen out, probably after I tossed it to the ground. "I might forgive you for invading my space if you let me see what you brought for lunch." I roll my eyes. I never eat my lunch as it is. I hand the bento to him. "Help yourself." I think I see a hint of a smile on his face as he tears it open. He doesn't look over the food for long before digging in and sitting down, crossing his legs pretzel style. "You can continue whatever you were doing." He says through a mouthful of food. I scoff. "I'm so glad I have your permission, um...." I trail off, realizing I don't even know his name. I recognize him from the basketball team, however. I see him around Momoi a lot. "What's your name?" "Aomine." He mumbles, not taking his eyes from the food. Aomine Daiki.... He's been friends with Momoi since I can remember. People used to think they were a couple for a while. I smile. "I'm Kaori. And for the future, I'm going to come here again. So if you want to avoid me, you might want to reschedule." "Reschedule?" He cries out. Bits of food fly out of his mouth and I scrunch my nose in disgust. Boys. "I've been coming here since the first day! I'm not moving my nap times, either." I roll my eyes and flop down on the roof, crossing my legs. "Then you're stuck with me." I grin. "If I keep giving you my lunch, will you compromise and share this spot with me?" He doesn't hesitate. "Sure. Whoever cooked this, they should continue for the future." He looks to me, motioning his pointer finger to the bento, that's already almost gone. I smile wide, feeling warm inside at the compliment. "I cooked it, actually. So thank you." I beam with pride. I've never been recognized for my cooking. My parents work a lot, and they leave for business trips a lot. So I'm often left to cook for myself. "You're an impressive cook." He mutters. He sets the empty box beside him, wiping his face with his sleeve and proceeding to lean back on his palms. "I've seen you around before... Are you on a sports team?" He furrows his brows together, scanning my face. "I'm the ace of the baseball team." I beam, suddenly feeling proud of myself. "I used to play basketball a lot in my free time, so you may have seen me around parks and such." He thinks for a moment. "Could be. So you like basketball?" "Of course!" I grin. "I love running around the court, and scoring a point is so exhilarating! I love everything about sports." I have a lot of energy, though I don't let that off with my personality. I don't get hyped up unless I'm talking about something I enjoy. "Although, I'm a lot better at baseball than basketball. I'd beat anyone in a pitching contest, and I could score a home run with any fast pitch." I say with confidence. I have amazing hand-eye coordination, and I can tell how fast the ball is coming at me with ease. I'm a force to be reckoned with on the field. "I'd love to see you live up to those words, Kaori." He smirks. "When's the next game?" I raise a brow at him. "Next Monday... Are you sure? I don't see you as enjoying any other sport besides basketball." "I don't, for the most part." He runs his fingers through his hair, heaving a sigh. "But I don't like people with mouths that are bigger than they are." I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, signalling I need to head back inside for class. I smile to Aomine. "Trust me, I would never say something I can't live up to. You'll see next week, Dai-chan!" He's immediately taken back, his face turning to an outraged expression. "Don't give me a nickname, we just met!" He cries out. I wink. "I'll see you tomorrow. If you want my lunch, that is." I grab my bag, slinging it over my shoulder. I wave a goodbye to Aomine, climbing down the ladder. I'm not sure why I'm so excited for him to watch me play. My parents never come to my games, so the idea of having someone there specifically to watch me makes me overwhelmed with happiness. ***** The following days I returned to the roof at that time, as did Aomine. His first question upon arrival for the first two days afterwards were strictly food-based. He would continuously praise my food, and we would talk about whatever came to mind. We both laid back on the roof, staring at the bright blue sky. "You said there were rumors going around about you, right?" Aomine breaks the silence. "Yeah..." I trail off. "Why? What did you hear?" If he heard some of the things that have been circulating, I doubt he would be here. I heard from one of my team mates I supposedly got an STD from my ex... I was disgusted. In order to contract one of those you have to do something with the other person, right? "Nothing. I was just wondering what this school could have possibly conjured up about you." He says simply, not taking his eyes from the sky. I roll over onto my side, propping up on my elbow and resting my head in my palm. "Well, it started when I dumped food on my cheating ex in the cafeteria after Momoi told me he was seen going to the movies with another girl." I smile, remembering the shocked look on his face as I called him a liar and gave him a face full of piping hot food. "I remember seeing that." Aomine laughs at the thought as well. "I didn't think that was you, though." He turns his head to look at me now. "It was." I grin. "But, after that rumor got out that the girl he cheated on me with was twice my age, which wasn't true." "Gross." He scrunches his face in disgust. "Unless she had big tits, then I'd get it." I roll my eyes at his comment. "It gets more disgusting. People are saying that I got an STD from him now." "Ew!" He sits up quickly and looks at me with a gaping mouth. "You don't... Do you?" "Dai-chan!" I punch him in the arm, which hurts my hand as much as I hurt him. "Of course I don't! I didn't even sleep with him." Daiki rubs where I hit with a frown. "Okay, sheesh... But you know, you shouldn't care much about what people say. It's high school, everyone will forget in a couple weeks." I heave a sigh. "I hope so. I've gotten so many guys trying to talk to me because of this." Daiki's head snaps toward me. "What do you tell them?" He asks. He watches me closely, and I give him a confused look. "I tell them to piss off... I don't want some random guy who I've never talked to taking me on a date." I grumble. "It's weird." "Yeah... Really weird." Daiki scratches the back of his neck, lying back down on the roof. "Those guys just care because of the rumors they hear." I nod. That's why I didn't pay them any mind. My phone buzzes, reminding us we need to get going. Daiki and I groan with irritation in unison. He sits up, and we both reach for my phone. Our hands brush in the midst of it, and I feel my face grow hot as he quickly snatches his hand back. I shut off the alarm and shove my phone back into my pocket. "Back to the chamber of torture." I grumble. I hear a small laugh from Daiki and I feel a sense of accomplishment. He doesn't seem to smile or laugh often, so when I'm the cause of that, I can't help but feel happy. "Hey, uh, Kaori?" Daiki stops me before we go separate ways to class. "The basketball team is entering the Interhigh prelims... I wanted to invite you to a game on Friday-" "I'd love to!" I cut him off, thrilled that he'd ask me. I stand on my tip toes to attempt to ruffle his hair, just barely reaching. I mess up his hair slightly. "I'm honored you asked, Dai-chan! I'll definitely be there." He huffs, fixing his hair reluctantly. "I'll look forward to it." I can see a small smile forming at the corners of his mouth, which only grows wider when we make eye contact. "I should get to class, but I'll see you tomorrow, Daiki!" I give him a warm smile, and he nods at me. "Have a good day, Kaori." He waves goodbye, and as I walk away I can't help but smile to myself. Daiki is the first person I feel like I've developed a friendship with. He's the last person I thought I would befriend, because when I see him around he always looks so bored and disinterested. Even with Momoi, he doesn't seem to want to be there. But with me, it's different. He actually asks me questions and seems interested in our conversations, though I'm not sure why. I appreciate every moment we've spent together. I've enjoyed myself more with him than anyone else. I overflow with excitement knowing that I'll see him tomorrow, and that we're attending one another's sports events. For once in my high school baseball career, I'm going to practice. I want to amaze Daiki. ***** Watching basketball usually bores me, but watching Daiki play was invigorating. He has undeniable talent, and then some. Touou absolutely crushed the opposing team, as I expected within the first quarter. The difference in strength was far too great, and Touou will advance in the prelims. I leave my seat and find Daiki walking the halls. "Congratulations!" I call out to him. His attention averts to me quickly, and I can see the corners of his mouth twitching into a grin. I run up to him, flinging my arms around him. He's sweaty and warm, but I don't mind. He's taken back at first, but he hugs me back. "You guys dominated out there! And your plays were flawless!" I overflow with excitement, letting go to look up at him. His expression seems kind of bored, as usual. "I know. I've been undefeated since middle school." I frown. "So none of the games you've played have been challenging?" I raise a brow. He starts to walk toward the exit, and I walk next to him. "No one can match my strength. That game you just watched? I didn't even give my all. I don't think I'll ever find someone that can make me put effort into a game." He sounds disappointed when he says this. I know he loves basketball, because if he didn't he would have quit long ago. I sort of feel for him, because that's why I quit playing volleyball and didn't join it this year. I got too good, and I didn't love the sport anymore. So I started practicing baseball over the summer. I pick up things easily and perfect them quickly. I became the ace of the team very fast, and I fell in love with playing the sport. The thrill of running to the bases and sliding to home before getting struck out, it's invigorating. I frown, looking up at him. "Someone will come around and test your strength, Daiki. You just have to be patient." I smile, trying to be optimistic for him. "It could be this year, for all you know!" He sighs. "I don't know. Maybe." I change the subject quickly, seeing as he's not very interested in it. "We should go get milkshakes to celebrate your win!" I exclaim. "I'll buy." His face lightens up a bit and he nods. "I'm in." ***** When we got our food at Maji Burger before I could get money from my bag, Daiki ended up paying for our drinks, and his food. We talked for so long that we had lost track of the time, and the workers warned us that they would be closing soon. That night he walked me home, and I could feel the mood between the two of us changing. He didn't seem bored when I would ramble about certain topics. He would listen to me intently, and sometimes ask questions. That weekend I got invited by Momoi go shopping with the two of them. She claimed he'd be more willing to go if he knew I was coming. I reluctantly went, sort of excited to go shopping with Momoi and Daiki. This must mean I've made two new friends. While shopping Momoi and I walked around the mall, excitedly going through stores and picking out clothes for one another. Daiki trudged behind us, complaining most of the time and asking when we would get to the food court. However the excitement from the weekend came to an end Monday, when I realized that my game was today. I've never gotten nervous before a game, but knowing that Daiki will be watching is making me strive to do the best I can and give it my all. When I actually show up to the game early, my teammates are in shock. "What're you doing here so early, Kaori?" I shrug, grabbing my bat from my bag. "I figured I'd actually go all out in this game." I twirl the bat in my hand, heading towards the field. A basket of baseballs already sits from practice earlier that day. I swing the bat a few times before actually grabbing a ball and tossing it into the air. I hit it dead on, and the ball soars across the field. I repeat the process and each time I don't miss the ball. I'm filled with confidence, just in time for the seats to fill up and for the opposing team to arrive. I end the game with four home runs, and I even sent a ball completely out of the stadium as well. I struck out all but one person I pitched to. My opponents sent curve balls, high balls, and even fast ones at me. None can get past my close eye. I definitely put my all into the game. Daiki finds me after the game as the crowd flows out of the stadium. "Kaori! You were so cool out there!" He exclaims. I've never seen him this excited, so I'm taken back. I laugh nervously. "You really think so?" I scratch the back of my neck, looking at my feet. "Yes! You hit a home run each time you were up to bat, and no matter what they threw at you, you saw through it!" He makes elaborate motions with his hands. "That curve ball, you were like swish! with the bat, and woosh! with that pitch! It was like I blinked and the ball was already in the umpire's mitt!" I can't help but laugh at how excited he's gotten over me playing. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself then." I can feel my cheeks turning red, flattered at the fact that I amazed him. Daiki is a very aloof and laid back person, for him to be excited over something I did? I can't believe it. "Um, my parents are away on a business trip, if you want to come back to my place for something to eat..." I trail off, not sure where I was going with the sentence. He raises a brow. "Sure." The corners of his mouth twitch into a smile as I throw my bag over my shoulder, and we both walk towards the direction of my house. After I made food for the both of us, I show Daiki the place I go to relax. My roof. I grab a blanket and lay it across the roof. The two of us lay down beside one another, taking a deep exhale as we stare up at the sky. "If you could have any power, Daiki, what would you pick?" I ask, not looking away from the stars in the sky. He thinks for a moment. "Time control. I could get hours of sleep, and resume time as if nothing happened." He says it so simply, as if he's thought this through completely. "You could pause time, zoom past someone on the court, and bam! You win the game easily." He hesitates. "I wouldn't need a power for winning though. I already have that ability." He scoffs. I laugh, pondering the possibilities of powers I could have. "I would want to have the power to teleport. If I'm late for school? No worries! I can just teleport there. And you wouldn't have to worry about plane tickets!" I exclaim. A small snicker comes from Daiki. "Do you think you could teleport to space, though?" "Oh, you bet!" I sit up, excitement flowing through me at the thought of going to space. "I'd teleport to a spaceship on the moon! Astronauts would be in for such a treat." I grin. The thought of leaving the atmosphere gives me a thrill. I want to explore the world and then some. Knowing there's stuff outside this Earth that we can't touch or see, it's fascinating. I can feel Daiki's eyes on me as I stare up at the twinkling stars, but I don't mind. "It's so beautiful out here, don't you think?" I turn back to look at him, and he wears a content smile. "It's breathtaking." He smiles at me, and my heart begins to race. I can't ignore how he makes me feel. The way he makes my stomach do flips and the way I get lost in our conversations... It gets stronger everyday. I turn my attention back to the sky, laying back down on the blanket. "Kaori, do your parents travel often?" He asks. "Yeah." I sigh. "That's how I became such a good cook. I've had to cook for myself for a while." "They'd leave you by yourself even as a child?" Daiki seems exasperated at this. I giggle slightly, turning on my side to look at him. He's already watching me, his hands folded behind his head. "No, of course not. My older sister used to be here to stay with me..." I trail off, not wanting to drag the mood down. He furrows his brows together. "Where is she now?" I swallow hard, looking away and back up at the stars. I'm not sure if I should tell him or not... I haven't really opened up to anyone about my sister's death. I hardly talked to my parents about it, let alone someone I met a week ago. Daiki senses something's wrong, because he clears his throat. "If it's a hard topic, you don't have to answer me, Kaori." I heave a sigh. I want to tell him, though. "She died a couple years ago. I was fourteen at the time." "Oh... Um, I'm... Sorry you had to go through that." His tone is solemn. I shake my head. "It's fine. I'm okay." I laugh nervously. In the midst of my thinking, I must have gripped the blanket for some sort of release or comfort. My knuckles are white and the blanket is crumpled. I hear Daiki sigh, and I can feel him scoot closer to me. I feel a sudden warmth on my hand, his hand slipping in mine. He intertwines our fingers without a word, and I don't dare to say anything either. I just squeeze his hand. I assume this is his way of comforting me. Words don't seem to be Daiki's forte. "Thank you." I whisper. I'm not exactly sure what I'm thanking him for. For being the first real friend I've had, or for giving me some sort of comfort... I'm not sure. All I know is that I'm grateful. He squeezes my hand tight. I can feel the warmth radiating from him, warming me in the cold night air. Exhaustion from my game is setting in, and with the warmth of Daiki next to me and the comfort of my own home, I can't fight my eyes as they force themselves closed. ***** As Winter draws closer and closer, Daiki and I do the same. The three of us, including Momoi, have become really good friends. I feel like I belong somewhere finally. Baseball season is over, just in time for the basketball team to start practicing for the Winter Cup. Daiki skips practice to spend time on the roof with me. He doesn't seem to care for practice, because he claims he doesn't need it. I don't think he does either, seeing his true strength during the Interhigh. He claims even then, he didn't give it his all. This weekend, I invited Daiki to my house. The air between the two of us is different lately. I obviously have feelings for him, and I think he's felt the same for a while too. Neither of us have yet to make the first move or come out to the other, so if he doesn't do so tonight, I'll take it upon myself. I sing along and dance to a song I play while I finish cooking food for the both of us, using my spoon as a microphone. I whirl around mid-song to see Daiki watching me with a content smile spread on his face. "Daiki!" I jump, throwing the spoon I held into the air. It lands on the ground with a loud crash, and Daiki muffles a laugh. "You can't sneak up on me like that." I frown. "What if I were in my underwear or something?" Daiki smirks. "That'd be a sight worth seeing." My face heats up as I pick up the spoon I had dropped, tossing it into the sink. I make a plate for him, and one for myself too. "Since you picked the movies last weekend, I picked the movies this weekend." I smile, excited to see his reaction to the movies I chose. He follows me to the living room. The play screen sits, showing the name of the movie: High School Musical. "A musical?" He groans, sitting down on his usual place on the couch. I sit down beside him, grabbing the remote. "Yes, a musical. No complaining, either! I didn't complain when you chose a movie from the '50s with Marilyn Monroe in it." I point out. He heaves a sigh, knowing that I'm right. I press play and the two of us silently enjoy our food as the movie starts. After we both finish eating, I take our dishes to the kitchen and shut off all of the lights. I grab a blanket from the back of the couch. When I offer some to Daiki, he shakes his head. "I'm warm enough." He waves a dismissing hand at me, not taking his eyes from the screen. He seems to be enjoying the movie, which makes me warm inside. I snuggle into my spot on the couch, enveloping myself in my blanket. It's dark and Daiki isn't paying attention to what I'm doing... Now's my chance. I lay my head on his shoulder, his body radiating warmth to my cheek. He tenses for a moment, and I can feel him look down at me. Daiki's arm wraps around my shoulder though, making me more comfortable. While the movie plays, I end up singing every song. Needless to say, I love these movies. Daiki doesn't seem to mind that I sing, seeing as I do it all the time anyway. The feeling of being so close to him makes my heart race. I don't want this moment to be interrupted. I could fall asleep being held so close to him. I wrap my arm around his torso, hugging him closer. My face burns, and I silently thank that I turned off the lights so he can't see my bright red face. Daiki seems to relax in my touch, exhaling deeply and putting his feet on the coffee table. By the end of the movie I could feel myself drifting to sleep, but the ending credits woke me from my daze. I pull away from Daiki, the both of us stretching in unison. He yawns, which causes me to yawn as well. "Did you like it?" I ask with a hopeful look. He gives me a small smile. "I did. Are there more?" "Two more! We can watch them, if you want? The other two are a lot better," I explain excitedly. Daiki watches me intently. "The last one is the best by far. It captures the struggle of not knowing what you want to do in life, and Troy and Gabriela experience more relationship issues." I wiggle my brows at the last part. Daiki snorts. "I'd love to watch them with you." He says calmly. He holds eye contact with me, his eyes flitting to my lips and back to me. I wait for him to make a move. He takes me by surprise when he grabs my face, pulling me to his. The kiss is hesitant at first, but I quickly kiss him back. This is what I've wanted since we became friends. Our lips move in sync, both of us breathing heavy. I'm caught between wanting to keep going and stopping before this goes too far. I guess Daiki thought the same, because he pulls away. His hands have dropped to my shoulders. This time he smiles wide, his eyes twinkling even through the light of the TV. I can't help but smile and laugh nervously at what just happened. My face is probably bright red. "Sorry if I uh... Took you by surprise..." He drops his hands to his sides. I shake my head. "It's okay. I've wanted you to do that for a long time, actually..." I look down at my lap. "Me too, Kaori." He wipes his palms on his pants and clears his throat. "Movie number two!" I exclaim, breaking the tension. "Shall we?" I ask him with a giddy grin, and he simply nods. "Bring it on."

Shortly after that night Daiki and I decided to start dating. Momoi was the one to call it first, as she always said we would when the three of us were together. It's the first couple of days at school as we're open with the fact we're together, holding hands in the hallway, brief kisses, the usual. It's been about a month since I broke up with my ex in the cafeteria, and a month of ignoring his constant texts and phone calls. Once I started getting close with Daiki, it seems he realized that I really was done with him. But it seems that he doesn't take the hint, because when I open my locker that day, it's filled with roses. "Daiki! Did you do this?" I exclaim, looking at him with an excited grin. Though he doesn't look happy. In fact, he seems furious, as he's let go of my hand to clench his fists. "It wasn't me." He says through gritted teeth. I tilt my head at him in confusion. It takes a moment for it to click when I see my favorite types of chocolate sitting in my locker buried under the roses. I pick up the chocolates, and on it reads a note: Meet me after school at our old spot if you feel the same. I start to match Daiki's fury. "Does he not understand that I'm with you now?" I throw the chocolates onto the ground, my shouting causing everyone to look towards me. I hop up and down on the chocolates. "I. Don't. Want. You!" I scream out with every jump. I can hear a small snicker coming from Daiki. He's been good at keeping his calm over this whole thing. I've had him respond to multiple texts from my ex, but he doesn't seem to care. He wants me back. I heave a sigh and pick up all of the roses and the chocolates. There were at least thirty. I throw them into the garbage. "This guy is pissing me off, Kaori. We have to do something..." His fists are clenched tightly, his knuckles turning pale. "If he keeps doing this shit I'll kill him." I think for a moment. Our usual spot is by the river downtown. We used to sit on the fence and talk for hours. "I'll meet him at our usual spot like he said, and I'll make sure he gets it through his head." I reassure Daiki, grabbing his balled up fist. He exhales deeply, intertwining his fingers with mine. "I hope so. Because you're my girlfriend. He lost his chance." He seems more calm now that I've reassured him, but I can tell how jealous this is making him. This is infuriating to me too, however. Before Daiki and I started getting serious about our feelings toward the other, I didn't mind the texts from my ex. I would block his number, block him on social media, and so forth. But he continued to find a way to harass me. This will come to an end tonight after school. I'm sure of it. ***** When I arrive at our old spot, Shou sits on the wooden fence already. His eyes meet mine and my stomach drops. His smile makes me want to shove him off of the fence and into the water. I stand beside him, crossing my arms across my chest. He opens his mouth to speak, but I stop him. "This is the last time I'll tell you this, Shou. So are you listening?" I look him the eye, my tone firm and stern. I'm making my point clear, and if it doesn't get through to him, I fear Daiki may step in. Shou nods. "I don't want to be with you. You broke my heart and you ruined the one chance you ever had. If you ever make a romantic advance towards me again, I won't let it fly." I glare at him now, recalling the thirty roses he put in my locker. "If you love me so much, you should've shown it when we were together instead of giving love that was supposed to be for me, to some other girl. I didn't deserve that, Shou. I loved you with all I had." "I'm so sorry, it was a mistake-" "A mistake that can't be taken back. So don't you ever get an idea that I may want you back. Because I don't. Am I clear?" "Kaori... Just listen to me, I love you! I always have," his face contorts with sadness, his eyes welling with tears. "I regret what I did... It eats me up everyday." I roll my eyes. "You won't convince me." I decide to sit beside him on the fence, and put a hand on his shoulder. "I do forgive you for what you did. I met someone because of that." I smile at him, and he looks up to me with a small smile. "You forgive me?" He sounds hopeful. I nod. Before I can blink I feel his lips on mine. I shove him back so hard that he wobbles on the fence. "Shou, what the hell?" I scream. "You said you forgave me." He frowns. "And that I met someone else! Do you not understand that I have a boyfriend? A boyfriend that's so much better than you ever were, might I add." I'm fuming now, jabbing his chest with my fingernail. "He makes me feel loved and he makes me happy! Two things you could never do, and oh, don't even get me started on how great he is-" Something hits my cheek, causing it to sting. I bite my tongue in the process, my head tilted to the side and my jaw gaping. My mouth fills with the metallic taste of blood. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I don't know what I was thinking..." Shou stands up on the wooden slats of the fence, but I stop him. "You crossed a line." I'm even more furious than before. He had no reason to hit me. I may have provoked him, but I couldn't see another way to get it through his thick skull. I lift my leg and kick him in the stomach. Hard. He cries out in pain, clutching his stomach. He stumbles on the fence and I watch him splash into the water. I fight the urge to laugh at him as he curses, pulling himself out of the muddy, shallow waters. "Don't look at me, don't speak to me, and don't you ever touch me again. My boyfriend isn't the only person you have to be afraid of." I climb off of the fence. His face has dropped as he stands in the water. I think he gets it. When I get back to my house, Daiki waits for me outside. He leans up against the side of my home, sleeping soundly. He truly can sleep anywhere. I touch his shoulder, leaning over to whisper in his ear. "Daiki!" I shout. He sits up quickly, his head smacking mine in the process. I'm knocked backwards onto my butt, clutching my forehead. "Babe I'm so sorry! I just reacted!" He rushes to my side, but I just let out a laugh. I heave a sigh of relief. After the encounter with my ex, it feels good to be with someone I'm comfortable with. His concerned expression just grows deeper when he sees the redness of my cheek. "What the hell happened?" His voice is low and threatening. I smile, remembering how well I defended myself. "He tried to kiss me, and in response I got mad, as I do." I shrug. "He slapped me, and I kicked him in the stomach. He fell into the water, and I warned him that you're not the only person he should be afraid of." Daiki doesn't seem to be any less angry though. "He hit you?" I can almost see the steam rolling off of him, his teeth gritted in anger. He stands quickly and starts to walk. Shit. I run after him, grabbing his arm. He just shakes me off and continues to stomp down the street. I stop him the only way I know how. I jump on his back, covering his eyes with my hands. "Damn it, Kaori, get off of me!" Daiki roars. "I'm gonna kill this kid!" He pries my hands off of his eyes and continues to walk. I karate chop the top of Daiki's head. "You're not going to do anything, Aomine Daiki! I took care of it." I put my fist on top of his hand and push down, twisting it. "Stop walking you navy blue bastard!" "Ow!" He cries. He slides me off of his back, turning to look at me with a frown. "Are you sure you took care of it?" I laugh. "Daiki, you should've heard how hard I kicked him. I think I heard him throwing up as I walked away." That brings a small smile to his face. "And plus, he fell into muddy water. He was filthy, Daiki! He had to walk home like that." I laugh mid-sentence just looking back at the look on his face. I grab Daiki's hands, kissing his knuckles. "I'm strong, babe. I can defend myself, although I appreciate you wanting to stand up for me." His frown turns into a pout as he sighs deeply. "Okay, Kaori. I trust you." He pulls me into his embrace, hugging me tightly. He doesn't say he cares about me, but by the small things he does, I know how he feels. I love the posts he makes about me on social media, the stuffed animals he wins in crane machines for me, and when he watches my favorite things without complaining. I pull away from him only a little to look up at him, his arms slinking around my waist. "Can I tell you something?" "Hm.. Is it something good?" He asks. "It's just that... I'm in love with you. Nothing special." I wink, giving him a toothy grin. I watch his mouth twist into a smile as his grip on my waist tightens, pulling me closer. "Me too, Kaori." I furrow my brows together. I want him to actually say it. I push him a little. "You're in love with yourself too? I knew that already." I play dumb, tilting my head to the side. Daiki grumbles. "I'm... in love with you, too." He says quietly. I smile so wide my cheeks hurt. I stand on my tip toes to kiss him deeply. He kisses back instantly, a small hum coming from his throat when we break apart, his eyes still shut. Though it's still early in the relationship, I have a feeling this is a start of something good. We balance one another out really well. I feel like I've finally found peace and happiness in my life, something I longed for since my relationship with Shou started to decline. I have a feeling this will last. The happiness I feel when I'm with him is something I can't put into words. ***** After losing to Seirin, Daiki became a lot more focused on basketball. Now that he knows there are still people out there that he can battle at full strength, I think it's driven him to work harder. And that he has. We've finished our second year of high school, and Daiki has joined a street basketball team this summer with the Miracles, Kagami, and Kuroko. They plan to beat a team named Jabberwock, from America. They came to Japan and threatened our street teams with their undeniable strength and harsh play. We walk down the street to the gym they use for practice. Daiki and I stopped for ice cream on the way, the two of us trying to finish our cones before we arrive. I contently ride on Daiki's back, my legs locked around his torso tightly. I hold myself up by his shoulders. I watch my ice cream start to drip in the beating UV rays of summer. Before I can open my mouth to warn my boyfriend, a scoop of ice cream slides onto his head. He quickly shakes his head, and I immediately slide off of his back so he can freak out more freely. I hide a laugh as the scoop falls off of his head and splashes to the ground. He touches his head, then turns to me with an exasperated expression. "Kaori!' He screams, dragging out the vowels in my name has he throws his arms into the air. He throws his ice cream cone onto the ground in his outrage. "I'm going to be so sticky because of you! How could you miss it falling onto my head?" He shouts. I have to chew on my lip to fight the laughter that builds up. "I-I'm sorry.... Babe it just happened..." My snickering comes out when I speak, and Daiki looks at me with a frown. "My hair is all sticky now!" He cries. "I can't believe this. And now I don't have ice cream!" He scoffs. I sigh. "You can have mine. And," I pull a bottle of water from my bag. "Rinse your hair with this." A small smile forms on his face as he takes the water. "Aw, Kaori... I love you." He kisses the top of my head, cracking open the bottle of water. ***** After I began my third year of high school, my parents decided that I was old enough to take care of myself, as I had done it for all of these years as it is. They claimed they bought a place in the next town over, and they left the apartment to me. I love living alone, and Daiki basically lives here now. His parents don't seem to mind that he stays here, they just want him to come home after school to eat dinner with them. Part of me hates eating alone, but I understand that Daiki is close to his parents, since he's an only child. When Daiki comes home I'm finishing up cleaning the apartment. I sing along to the music that plays and dance around the living room in my underwear and his old Touou basketball jersey from our first year of high school. Daiki exhales loudly as he takes off his shoes and coat. He even slips off his jeans, kicking them off in the doorway. I laugh, "Long day?" I ask. "Something like that." He mutters. Daiki looks to me, his exhausted expression seeming a little livelier as his arms wrap around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "Are you okay?" I ask, hugging him back tightly, relishing in his warmth and the comforting smell of his cologne. "I am now." He pulls away to look down at me, kissing my nose. "Well," I rest my head on his chest again, squeezing my arms around him. "If you want to talk about it I'll be here to listen to you." He shakes his head. "My parents don't agree with some of the decisions I've made." His hand rubs my back soothingly. "But I don't care." I pull away to look at him, obviously confused. "What decisions? Do your parents not like me?" He gives a small scoff. "Not that... I just-" Daiki shakes his head. "You'll find out soon, okay?" My brows knit together in confusion and I pull away from him completely. "Is it a surprise for me?" He's very good at keeping secrets. Daiki just shrugs, trudging across the room to grab his jeans he had kicked off. He disappears into our room, leaving me to ponder what he could possibly be planning. For our second year anniversary, Daiki takes me to my favorite restaurant. It's extremely expensive so we only got to go once with money my parents had given me, but this time, he insists he's going pay. Daiki showed up to the restaurant with a very large bouquet of flowers and my favorite candy too. I bought him a very nice and expensive watch, because he seems to always arrive late to functions. But tonight, he was right on time with a wide smile on his face. "Happy anniversary, babe." He kisses my lips gently before taking a seat across from me. "I can't wait to give you your gift, so I'm going to give it to you now." He grins, though his aura has turned anxious. Daiki pulls a box from his pocket. "I'm not proposing or anything." He laughs nervously, scratching the back of his neck as he hands the box to me. "But I am promising that I will, someday." I open the box to see a beautiful stone that's turquoise, my birthstone. It's surrounded by two other white diamonds, the band silver. "I uh, had to guess the ring size... So we can take it to get fitted-" I slide it on, and it fits perfectly. I look at it under the lights with a bright smile. "I love it, Daiki!" I smile, leaning across the table to kiss him multiple times. "This is beautiful, and I promise that we'll get married someday." I reach under my chair and give him my present, put in a small bright blue bag with tissue paper. "Aw, Kaori, you didn't have to..." He tries to hide his excitement as he rips into the bag, tossing the paper onto the floor like a child. He opens the larger box to reveal a gold watch. His jaw drops. "How much did you spend on this, babe?" I shake my head. "Probably as much as you spent on this ring." The two of us had gotten jobs in our second year for a sense of independence. I work at a small retail shop, and Daiki works in a sports store, shockingly. Daiki puts on the watch and beams at it under the lighting of the restaurant. "I love it! Now I won't be late to everything." He grins at me from across the table. I hope when I'm older I can look back on this moment. I want to be able to remember the way I felt when Daiki and I first kissed. The butterflies I still get when he smiles at me, the way my heart races when he kisses me. I want to remember it all. And most of all, I want to remember him. ***** After high school, Daiki got recruited by the NBA team the Cleveland Caviliers. I'm moving with him to America for training camp in a month. He's attending the same school as Kagami, who got recruited his second year of high school. I'll be going to a college in America with a scholarship with softball (what they call women's baseball). I'm still undefeated and continue to get better at the sport. Until we can move, however, I'm working as much as I can to have money to transfer to US dollars. It's towards closing time, and the store is getting slow with customers. I walk around, refolding clothes that have gotten messed up, and putting things back where they belong. The bell on the door rings, and I whirl around expecting a customer. A man with a gun walks in, aiming the gun at me as he locks the door. "Don't try anything and I won't shoot." His voice is low and threatening. I nod slowly, watching as he walks through the store. He slips up and takes an eye off of me, and I run to the cash register. I pull a bat out from underneath the counter that I keep there in case of a time like this. I grab it just in time for him to turn to me. The gunshot is louder than I expected. It makes my ears ring and I'm crying out in agony before I can process what had happened. My hands hold my chest that gushes with blood, my lungs constricting and struggling to fill with air again and again. I slink to the ground as the man steps over me, punching the register open and shoving money into a bag. "You won't... Get away." I say through my struggle to breathe. My phone lays on the counter, and so does the landline. The man sees my eyes, and he shoves my phone into his pocket and rips the cord off of the landline phone. Now what? I start to think of Daiki as I realize I might die here. What will he do? I won't be there to see him succeed. "I won't leave you to die, sweetheart. Just suffer a little bit." I don't want to die. I want to see Daiki one last time. I want to hear his voice. I want to see his smile. I want to hear him laugh at my jokes. I want to tell him I love him. The man's sinister laugh however is the last thing I hear before my eyes force themselves shut. *Aomine's POV* I had been sleeping soundly when I get a call from a random number. It's late, and I notice that Kaori isn't home yet, either. My heart immediately begins to race as I put the two pieces together. I sit up and answer the phone. "Aomine, come to the hospital." It's her father. "Wh-Why?" I ask, standing up. I turn on the bedside lamp as I put on pants, holding the phone to my ear with my shoulder. "Is Kaori okay?" "We don't know. Just come." He says. And with that he hangs up. Her dad never cared for me much, but he sounds distressed. He's not one to show much emotion. I slip on a shirt as well, cramming my phone into my pocket and grabbing my car keys. I make the drive quickly, and I was lead to a waiting room for surgery. Her parents explain that her store was robbed, and in an attempt to defend herself, the man shot her. It could be hours before her surgery is completed, therefore hours before I know if she'll live or not. I twirl the watch on my wrist that she had gotten me a year ago for our anniversary. I can't bare to never see her again... I must have fallen asleep in the waiting room, because a door clicking shut wakes me. Kaori's parents are looking to a man who appears to be the surgeon. "The bullet just barely missed your daughter's heart... We were able to get it out but she's not doing well." He explains solemnly. It feels like someone punched me in the stomach. I can't breathe. "So... She's going to die?" I croak. The doctor looks to me with a sigh. "We can do all we can to prolong her life and make her comfortable... But the bullet damaged her lungs. It's making it difficult for her to breathe properly." It feels like I got shot too. I feel nauseous, like I'm going to puke. It feels like someone is squeezing all of the air on my insides and twisting my heart strings in a knot. I try to imagine life without Kaori in it completely. I don't like what I see. I stand up, leaving the room despite the questions from her parents. I throw up into the nearest trash can, finally able to at least breathe. She can't die. She has so much going for her... I want to see her be the greatest softball player in America. I want to see her in a wedding dress, walking down the aisle to marry me. But most of all, I want to see her. A life without her is a dark one with lack of light and happiness. She's been my positive energy for three years, my motivation. She's pushed me to achieve so many things. Without her I would have quit basketball... Quit school. I do the only thing I know. I call an old friend as I walk towards the exit. "Midorima?" I ask. "Nanodayo." He grumbles in a grumpy tone. I probably woke him up, but I don't care. This is urgent. "You still have um... Powers right?" I ask, not sure what I should and shouldn't say in the middle of this hospital. "Yes. What's it to you?" He asks. "Listen... This is an emergency. Can you bring back humans from the dead?" The line goes silent for a moment. "I can't play fate, Aomine." "Shit. What if uh, what if I sacrifice something? Like my life, or-" "I will not let you give up your life for someone else's, Aho!" He shouts over the line. He hesitates for a moment as I walk into the parking lot and towards my car. "Who are we talking about, exactly? It's not Kaori is it?" I sigh, feeling a gaping hole in my chest that aches every time I breathe. "We are." He doesn't speak for a long time, but I hear pages being flipped as if he were looking through a book. "Is she dead?" "No, but she's struggling... The doctor doesn't know if she'll make it." I feel a lump forming in my throat as my voice starts to shake. I can't bare the thought of her being gone. "I can't play the path fate has intended... But I can get around it in a way, if you're up for it." Midorima explains. "She'll live, and she'll be healthy, but... She won't remember anything that has to do with you." I feel a large twinge of pain in my chest. I won't be able to kiss her, or hug her... I won't even be able to hear her laugh. But she'll live. She'll be happy, nonetheless. "She'll remember that she's going to go to America to play softball, right?" "Yes. She will remember her life in school, too. But anything to do with you, it will be a gray area that her mind will never be able to recall." He clears his throat. "She won't know who you are, and you won't be able to interact with her once she's alive, or fate will take over." I want her to live. That's the only thing I want more than anything... She deserves to live, even if she has to live without me, she won't experience the pain of ever losing me. "I'll do it." I say before I change my mind. "I'll meet you at the hospital tomorrow afternoon. Make sure no one else is in the room, of course." Midorima says. "You're sure about this, Aomine?" "I don't want her to die." "Okay. Get some sleep." Midorima doesn't give me a chance to respond, he just hangs up. That's the most caring he's ever been towards me. All of my friends are aware how much I love Kaori. I sit in my car, scrolling through pictures on my phone. I think of all the memories that Kaori will never be able to look back on. She won't know what happened on our first date. She won't know that she promised herself to me, and I her. I don't try to stop the tears that fall. I stop when I see a picture of Kaori that I took when she wasn't watching, as I do always. She's singing, of course. She clutches her chest as she belts out a note, her heart and body into the song. I can't help but smile. I want her to be happy. She can't be happy if she's not alive.  Though this decision will bring me pain that I don't think I'll ever move on from, I think it's worth it.. If Kaori can live a happy life, I hope I can find the ability to be happy too. ***** I meet Midorima at the hospital that afternoon after asking her parents if I could have some alone time with her when I visit. When I enter her hospital room, Midorima stays outside. "I'll give you a few minutes to say what you need." He closes the door behind me, and I'm left alone. I stare at Kaori as she lays in the hospital bed. She's attached to so many cords and monitors I can't help but want to rip them all out of her and carry her home. There's a tube down her throat to help her breathe. I see they left her ring on her finger, though I can spot splotches of blood on it still. I lose it then and there, standing over what was supposed to be my future wife. I choke on a sob, lacing her fingers with mine. Squeeze my hand. Her hands are cold, as usual. "You won't remember me when you wake up, Kaori..." I trail off, trying to speak through my tears and shaking voice. "But you're the only woman I'll ever love." I squeeze her hand tightly, putting it to my lips. "All I've ever wanted is for your happiness... I never thought I'd have to go to such a length for that though." I kiss her cold, frail hand and reach my other hand to brush her hair back from her face. My fingers trail her jawline, some of my tears dripping onto the blanket that covers her body. "You've made my life so bright since the day we met... I hope someone will do the same for you later on in your life, Kaori." I slide the promise ring off of her finger, twirling it in my hand. "I'll never forget you." My voice has become a shaky whisper, and it seems the tears keep coming. "I promise." I kiss her forehead, sniffling as I put her ring in my pocket. I sigh, trying to compose myself. I wipe my eyes and open the door. Midorima puts a hand on my shoulder. "You're still sure about this?" I roll my eyes. "Yes. Let's do this." He nods. "When this works, she'll probably sit up straight and start gagging on the tube. So we'll need to book it out of here before she sees us, okay?" He asks, making sure I understand. I nod. "We'll tell the doctors we were visiting when all of a sudden she woke. Easy enough?" "Yeah." I grow more nervous now that he's actually going through with it. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he stands over Kaori. His hands hover flat over her body, his eyes shut as he breathes steadily. Kaori's body starts to lurch upwards on the bed. I take a step back, not sure if I want to keep watching. But I can't look away. Her hips raise up off of the bed, then back down. It's as if someone tied a string to her and lifted her up. She lies still now, and Midorima gets inches from her face. He whispers a few words before standing back. Kaori sits up straight in the bed, and Midorima grabs my arm as monitors begin to beep incessantly. Doctors are already running down the halls towards her room when we exit. "What happened?" A nurse asks as doctors flood the room. "I-I don't know, she just.. Woke up." I say, trying to hide how nervous I am. I peer around the corner enough to hear her voice. "Where am I?" She asks. I want to run in there. I want to hug her and tell her exactly where she is and what happened... I want to feel her embrace. Something hits the back of my head. Midorima threw a cup from one of the medicine carts at me. "Let's go." He mouths. I follow him reluctantly. Where do I go from here? ***** Adjusting to life without Kaori is one of the hardest things I've done. I had to unfollow her on everything, delete every picture of her on social media, and inform her parents that when she woke up, she didn't know who I was. I couldn't tell them what really happened, so I made up a lie that they seemed to believe. As for my career, I play for the Cleveland Caviliers. I still go to watch Kaori play in college, although she doesn't recall me, I watch every single game. She's still so amazing at softball. I put her ring on a chain and it hangs on my mirror in my bedroom. I have not taken off the watch she bought me since the day she gave it to me, only to shower and sleep. Sometimes I contemplate if I made the right choice. Would she have lived if I hadn't? I'm sure she wouldn't have. I still can't help but grieve. I would give up every tomorrow I have to be able to relive one memory with her. I want to relive the first moment we kissed. I want to relive the moment I realized I was in love with her as she danced in her kitchen cooking dinner for the two of us and as she sang along to her favorite movies, High School Musical. I didn't care for the movies at all, but seeing that smile on her face was enough to make me want to watch them with her until the day I died. I wonder if she still loves watching them. I wonder if she still loves to sing and dance, and if she still scrunches her nose in disgust when she smells onions, or when she tastes something she doesn't like. I would give up anything to relive a moment with her. Not only did I lose someone I was going to marry, but I lost part of me. I'm not sure if I can be the same if I have to live with every single memory of Kaori, while she lives her life never knowing I existed. She doesn't know that I love when she wears blue, because it brings out her eyes. She doesn't know that I love how she says my name in the morning, when she's still waking up. And more than anything, she doesn't know that my heart will always belong to her.

[kuwaiti-kid]

This White Man’s Journey to Understanding Racism in America

These are incredibly challenging times right now, aren’t they? For months now, we’ve been dealing with COVID-19 and the isolation that comes with it. As if that weren’t enough, we’ve had three racially motivated killings during the same time.

Ahmaud Arbery was gunned down by a father and son, one of whom is a retired police officer.

Breanna Taylor was shot in her apartment (8 or more times) while in bed. They said they were searching for a suspect who allegedly was already in custody (according to a lawsuit filed). 

And the final, most egregious of them all was the murder of George Floyd. A Minneapolis police officer held his knee on this man’s neck for over 8 minutes, suffocating and killing him senselessly while other officers stood by and watched. The look on his face and the lack of emotion in what he was doing was stunning.

I’m Angry 

As I’ve watched the outrage on the news and, more importantly, on social media, I’ve been surprised, amazed, and, if I’m honest, pretty angry about what I’ve seen. 

During the most recent killing of innocent black men and women, I’ve seen many people, especially white people, like me, asking what they can do. That’s good. We should be asking that question. We should have been asking that question and doing something about it for years. 

Conversely, I’ve seen far too many people expressing uninformed, often harsh opinions on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. They express outrage over what’s happening. They shame people who don’t feel that outrage. That self-righteousness grates on me. 

Over the past few years, that’s the pattern I’ve observed. Another police officer kills an innocent black man or woman. Media goes into a feeding frenzy over it. Everyone suddenly expresses outrage that this is happening and goes out of their way to show their anger. 

A Pattern Repeats Itself

Here’s the question – Where have they been over the last several decades? Do they think this is something new? If so, that’s sad. It’s been going on for hundreds of years. 

Here’s another question. Will the outrage be different this time? Will it turn into action after the news dies down? Because so far, that hasn’t been true. As one involved in this battle, it’s pretty hard to see this pattern repeating itself yet again. 

I’m hoping that hearing the story of how I went from an indifferent, disconnected, and a biased white person to the man I am today will offer some answers as to what you (we) as a majority community can do to affect change. I’m no saint. Nor do I have all the answers. If we’re honest with ourselves, all of us have racism in our hearts at some level. 

For those asking the question of what they can do, I will share my ideas in this post. My comments are based solely on personal experience. Take it or leave it. It’s up to you. And I will not try to shame you for what you are or aren’t doing right now. 

With that wordy intro, let’s get started.

A Sheltered Childhood

Who am I? I’m a white male Baby Boomer. I grew up in Zionsville, IN, an all-white community just outside of Indianapolis. The only time I saw black people were on the news, usually those arrested for committing a crime of some sort. The other times were on the basketball court when my HS team played a Marion County school that had black players. There were no schools in Boone County, where Zionsville was, or most any other school on our regular basketball schedule. 

I heard and was a part of tasteless jokes about blacks. The N-word was common among friends. I never had a black friend. Nor had I ever had a meaningful conversation with anyone of color. I suspect many of you who are reading this grew up in similar circumstances, whether you are black, brown, Asian, white, or any other ethnicity, likely hung out and grew up with people of the same or similar ethnicity and background. 

We don’t have a choice where we grow up. That choice comes when we’re on our own.

Relationships Matter

It seems that many of us form opinions about other people groups based on information we get from other people, be it friends, the mainstream media, or social media. 

That brings up a question I asked myself many years ago.

If, as a white person, I don’t have relationships with African Americans, how can I form such strong opinions and stereotypes about them? Where did I get the information that shapes those stereotypes and views? If it’s from the media, how do you think it gets portrayed? Do you ever see the media show blacks in a good light? Rarely.

In most cases, they show blacks at their worst. They emphasize gangs, guns, and violence. The portrayal is of a group of people who are criminals to be feared. 

That was my view for the longest time too. I had no relationships with anyone of another race, let alone another culture. There were no blacks in my neighborhood, my town, my school, or anywhere around me. Even in college, nothing changed. I hung out with people who looked like me. I was oblivious to the concerns I heard on the news from blacks about being mistreated. It didn’t affect me, so I didn’t pay attention to it. 

The Awakening

When my wife, Cathy, and I moved to Indianapolis from where we were living in Bloomington, IN, we started attending Second Presbyterian Church (Second). My brother and his wife attended there. We were looking for a church, so we gave it a try. That was in 1984. Second Pres. was one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the city. That didn’t include us but did include many of the area’s business and civic leaders.

The former Mayor of Indianapolis, William Hudnut, was the pastor at Second before becoming Mayor. The CEO of Ely Lilly, some of the city’s top lawyers, doctors, and business leaders, were members and in leadership at Second. 

The Event that Changed Us

A Senseless Killing

Somewhere around 1987, racial tensions in the city were escalating (sound familiar?). During that time, Michael Taylor, a seventeen-year-old boy, was arrested. I don’t remember the reason for the arrest. He was handcuffed and sitting in the back of a police car. Somehow, he ended up shot and killed while handcuffed in the back seat of the police cruiser.

Protests began immediately. Leaders of black churches raised their voices. After the police investigated the killing, they determined that Michael Taylor had somehow committed suicide with the police officer’s gun while handcuffed, hands behind his back, in the back seat of the police car. I’m not joking. That’s what they drummed up at the time.

Tensions went through the roof. The Mayor of Indianapolis at the time, Stephen Goldsmith, called together white and black pastors of the largest and most influential churches in the city asking for help. It was there that our pastor, William Enright, met the pastor of Light of the World Christian Church, T. Garrot Benjamin. After the meeting, Tom Benjamin invited Bill Enright to do something together as churches.

In typical grand thinking, pastor Benjamin suggested the two churches shut down their doors on Easter Sunday and do a joint worship service in one of their churches. He was ready to roll. Since Bill’s church is Presbyterian, run by elders, and required to do things “decently and in order,” Bill told Tom he liked the idea, but it would take some time to work through the system.

The Planning Begins

I don’t recall exactly how long it took, but it was at least a year before anything got scheduled. A group of people from each church got together to talk about and plan an event. It was during this time that I met Andy Hunt.

Andy was the business manager for Light of the World Church. He and his wife Sandra and their three children moved to Indy from Atlanta for Andy to take that position. More on that shortly. 

Our group met regularly and finally came up with a plan. We would hold a joint worship service, not on Easter, but a regular Sunday at Clowes Hall on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis. We scheduled the event and continued meeting to plan the details.

The Celebration of Hope

The name for the event was The Celebration of Hope. We felt it captured what we were trying to portray. The hope that blacks and whites could come together in unity to worship, pray, and fellowship together. And that’s precisely what we did.

It was a beautiful experience. Our two choirs, with entirely different styles, sang together. Ushers from each church led people to seats. Elders from both churches served communion. We took an offering that day. It was divided equally between the two churches.

James Forbes, who at the time pastored Riverside Church in NY City, gave the message. 

The auditorium was packed. Most of us in attendance had never experienced a worship service like it.

Relationships Begin

I mentioned that I met Andy Hunt during the planning meetings. He and I hit it off almost immediately. We decided it would be good to get our wives together for a meal. So we did. Cathy and Sandra hit it off as well. 

As we talked about the event, we realized something was missing. It was great to get together in large groups for a single event. But what we needed was to build personal relationships with each other. 

To accomplish that, we decided to start a dinner group with couples from each church. At its peak, we had six or seven couples who were part of it. We met for dinner monthly. A different couple hosted each month. We continued meeting for a couple of years. It was a fantastic experience for all of us.

We learned that, despite our different backgrounds and experiences, we had far more in common than differences. We all loved our kids. Many had struggled with jobs, finances, relationships, etc. There was one difference. For the first time, the whites in the group heard about what it’s like to be black in a predominantly white world.

It was eye-opening and shocking to most of us. We had no idea what blacks, especially black males, had to deal with daily. Remember, we all came together after the Michael Taylor shooting. For blacks, this was a regular part of their lives. Fear of that happening to them was real. For whites, we thought it was an isolated incident. How wrong we were. 

A Moment of Truth

Andy and I continued to meet for lunch, and the four of us for dinner fairly regularly. But there was something that was bothering me about his and my relationship. I would talk to him about pressing issues in my life. He listened, but I always felt he kept a distance. As time went on, I continued to feel like he was holding me at arm’s length.

Finally, I’d had enough. Keep in mind; this was before email, texting, and the things we take for granted today. So, I sent Andy a letter. In the letter, I told him I was tired of trying to get close to him and to get pushed away continually. I said I wasn’t looking for any more shallow, surface relationships. I already had plenty of those. But if he wanted to start opening up to me and share his life, I was all in. I told him I didn’t know what his problem was, but that I didn’t cause it.

As soon as Andy got the letter, I got a phone call from him. He was on the verge of tears and asked if we could have lunch. We went to Hoolihan’s a couple of days later, where he finally opened his heart and told me his story. 

Crying Over Nachos

Andy and Sandy were in the process of moving to Atlanta. That’s where Sandra’s family lives. They just had their first child, Drew. Sandy and Drew went back to Atlanta while Andy stayed behind in California to finalize things with his job. 

Sandra’s mother loved Drew. It was her first grandchild. When she and Drew were together, grandma had Drew in her arms. One Saturday afternoon, they decided to visit a new mall that opened up in Cobb County. So Sandra, Drew, grandma, and grandpa got in the car and headed to the mall. 

As they pulled on to the ramp to the mall exit, a car full of young white men pulled beside them. They rolled down the windows and yelled the following: “What are you n***ers doing up here in Cobb County. You got your own n***er malls where you come from. You need to get your asses back to your n***er malls and get out of Cobb County.” 

Grandpa decided he needed to defend the honor of his family. So he was going after the boys. In the back seat, grandma said to Sandra, “take Drew.” Remember, that was something that just didn’t happen. Drew and his grandma were inseparable. She passed Drew to Sandra, had a massive heart attack and died in the back seat of the car.

As Andy told this story, I was balling like a baby. He could barely get the story out himself. What came next changed the nature of our relationship forever. He told me that after that happened to Sandra’s grandmother, he’s hated white people ever since. He said words that resonate with me to this day. I use them often. He said I let an incident become an indictment. The incident killed Drew’s grandmother. He indicted all white people as a result—powerful and poignant words. 

Changed Hearts and a Changed Relationship

That lunch happened almost thirty years ago. Other than my wife, Andy, is my closest friend in the world. He is truly a brother from another mother. The four of us have walked through life together ever since. We have vacationed together almost every year for the last twenty years. 

One of the life missions for Andy and me is to do what we can to foster racial reconciliation. We have been a part of starting three Great Banquet ministries. The Great Banquet is a three day spiritual renewal weekend. Other versions you may have heard of ar Walk to Emmaus, the Catholic Cursillo, and the Tres Dias. 

In 1995, I attended my first Great Banquet. Ironically, it was in Zionsville, IN. That’s the small white town where I grew up. I invited Andy to go there several times. He always had an excuse for why he couldn’t attend. Once we started a community at Second, he and one of our other mutual friends from Light of the World church finally participated.

The Truth Comes Out

I later learned the reason they wouldn’t go to Zionsville. It was because of its reputation as a racist, all-white town. Once it moved to Second, they were all in! 

That community now has probably around 3,000 or more members. Andy and Bill, our other friend, invited dozens of people from Light of the World church to the Banquet weekends. What started as an all-white group, now boasts a diversity that probably consists of 40% or more people of color. They’ve gone on to do more things together as churches. May personal friendships across racial lines now exist.

When Cathy and I moved to Northern Virginia in 1998, we started another Great Banquet out here. Our first weekend was in October 2001, right after the 911 terrorist attacks. One of our primary goals was to build a racially, diverse community. God has blessed that goal. Once again, with intentionality, the local community is close to 2,000 strong and of a similar level of diversity. Because it’s in NOVA, that diversity expands beyond blacks to include many Latinos and Asian Americans.

It Starts with Relationships

By now, many of you might be wondering what’s the point of all of this. That’s a legitimate question.

Here’s the point. If whites and blacks don’t start building relationships with one another on a personal level, I don’t see how meaningful change takes place. 

When our opinions come, not out of our personal experience, but from media or others, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to have empathy and understanding of the pain of our black and brown brothers and sisters. 

Until the Celebration of Hope and my friendship with Andy, I certainly didn’t. The result of that friendship has changed my life. It’s changed Cathy and Sandra’s lives as well. It’s made it easier for me to develop relationships with other people of color. It gives me a perspective of events I see that I would never have without these relationships. There is absolutely no way I’d have the empathy I do without hearing Andy’s and others’ stories. It puts faces with the struggles. I hear real-life, often chilling accounts of what they deal with daily.

Where to Start

At times like these, many people want to know what they can do; where to start. Here’s my suggestion. If you’re white, you know someone, either at work, at your kids’ schools, sports, or somewhere who is black or brown. Pick up the phone today and call them. Don’t worry about what to say. Keep it simple. Ask how they’re doing with everything going on right now. Ask them if you can have a cup of coffee (socially distant, of course) to chat. 

You don’t have to have any profound conversation planned in your head. Just say you’d like to get to know them better. Let them know you stand with them in their pain. Ask them how you can support them. Be willing to hear their passion, rage, tears, or whatever comes up. Understand that for them, the George Floyd murder was the tipping point. It’s the accumulation of decades of discrimination, of life devalued and being thought of as lesser than. 

A pastor friend of mine said it best. Just engage in the ministry of presence. Be with them in their pain. 

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

African Americans are tired. They are tired of being pulled over for DWB (driving while black), tired of having conversations with their sons about how to behave if you’re pulled over by police, tired of wondering whether their sons will come home that night.

They are tired of being followed in stores, tired of having to explain why they’re walking in your neighborhood, which also happens to be theirs. A friend gets a visit by the local police almost every time a new owner moves into his neighborhood on his street. It usually goes something like this. He’s out working in the yard, or even walking down his driveway. The new neighbor calls the cops to report a man who appears to be doing something untoward. They know Dave well. Many have been to his house before. But because they were called, they have to respond. So they come, have a brief conversation, and report to the new neighbor they live there.

They are tired of gentrification, being pushed out of their homes and neighborhoods in the name of economic development. 

They are tired of being turned down for loans, even though they have the same income, credit scores, and qualifications. If you don’t know this history, research redlining, a policy that kept blacks from buying houses, one of the most significant sources of wealth for white Americans. 

They are tired of being overlooked for promotions for jobs in which they are equally or even more qualified than their white counterparts. I have not only read about all of this, but I’ve heard personal stories from people I know.

Getting Defensive

Don’t get defensive if that’s what you hear. Even though it may not feel real or right to you, it is real to them. Think about it. As a white father, have you ever had to have that conversation with your son? I know I haven’t. It’s not something that ever crossed my mind. But every African American father I’ve met has had that conversation with their sons. 

Please understand. I don’t offer these things as some sort of expert on the topic. I’m not. In the years I’ve spent with Andy, Sandra, and many other African Americans, these are some of the things I’ve come to know. They come from conversations with many people with whom I’ve developed relationships over the years.

Two Types of Responses

I’ve seen two types of responses from whites during this and other times of police killings of blacks. The first, and most damaging, is the opinionated, self-righteous person who spouts off about blacks being their own worst enemies; that if they’d just comply with police, they wouldn’t get killed. Or one of the favorites, something like, “I don’t know why they’re bitching all the time. They have the same opportunities the rest of us do.” These words have to be coming from people who have never had a meaningful conversation or relationships with a black or brown person. Because if they did, there is no way those words would cross their lips.

The other response and one I appreciate is, “what can I do?” I hope the suggestions above provide some ideas. Sometimes, we make things more complicated than they are. We want to make a big difference. Start with one person. See where that goes. You’d be surprised at what you will learn. But it won’t happen overnight. Andy’s and my story is a perfect example of that. The person you’re sitting across from has lots of years of mistrust for white people built into their lives. It’s not personal. Be patient, and keep showing up.

Final Thoughts

The most important thing I’ve learned and been the most grieved about is that this is a way of life for black and brown people every day. We are all stirred by the senseless and inhuman murder of George Floyd. Remember Michael Taylor, the death that birthed the Celebration of Hope and my friendship with Andy and his family. That was 1987. Redlining started in the Roosevelt administration. Woodrow Wilson screened the Birth of a Nation in the White House. If you don’t know what that is, look it up.

Racism is in the very fabric of America. Is it better? Yes? Is it over? Not by a long shot. It won’t end until whites get involved and demand changes. What you’re witnessing now in cities across the country is a release of hundreds of years of frustration and anger at a system that refuses to change. It’s a shame that people are destroying businesses and looting stores. That’s criminal and, for many, reinforces the stereotypes many whites have of blacks. 

But let’s not be too quick to judge. Put yourselves in their shoes. Peaceful protests have not brought about meaningful changes. When another police murder happens, the pent up frustration reaches a peak. When there are three in a row like now, it can and did reach a breaking point. 

They want and deserve change; to be treated with respect; to feel like their lives mean something in a free society. I’m asking my white brothers and sisters to join me in saying, we hear you. We value and stand with you.  We will walk with you in pushing for changes that make a difference. 

If we do that, things can and will change. If we don’t, I’m afraid what we’re seeing now will be the way of life for the foreseeable future.

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