#but I've been fucking swamped at work and have barely had the energy to do anything creative

[hanjoj]

Would you have him as a PT? 👀

[fumiko-matsubara]

Writing Exercise 2 // AssClass x Tower of God AU - Reunion

Writing Exercise // AC x Tog AU - Catching up

Summary: In their 10 years of climbing the Tower together nonstop, Team END should have known by now that anything could happen so suddenly.

However, a reunion with an old teammate was certainly not what most of them have in mind.

Word count: 2.3k words

• ▪ • ▪ •

Nakamura was exhausted.

Well actually, all of them are. But yeah, she's exhausted.

Team END had recently just cleared the final floor test that allowed them to arrive at the 30th Floor, which was basically a more brutal take of the Capture the Flag game, that lasted them over 8 hours to finish.

Injuries barely treated, bodies aching, sleep lacking, and stomachs starting to rumble, the last thing they'd want to happen was to encounter another trouble the moment they had been transported to the next floor.

"Oi Nakamura, are you sure we should be heading this way..?" Okajima barely squeaked out, frozen at his own spot as he fearfully stared at the sight before them.

"That's what it says on my lighthouse!" She hissed quietly, glaring at the glowing blue cube floating beside her.

Chiba should have been more specific about where his goddamn house is located in this floor.

He had told her before that he has his own residence here at the 30th Floor, somewhere beyond this swamp-like forest thingy, which he had given Team END the permission to reside in for the next 20 Floors until they become C-Rank Regulars.

Yet he never said anything about dealing with dangerous creatures along the way.

Nakamura had discreetly messaged him through her Pocket minutes ago, which he had replied to not long after.

"Wait, I just got off from work. I'll be right there." - Ryuunosuke

It had been 15 minutes since then.

Nakamura is surely going to give him a good slap the moment she sees the Spear Bearer. Well, if she can still recognize him, that is, since the dude had that annoying black cloak nearly hiding his entire body when she first bumped into him at a marketplace at the 21st Floor three years ago.

So here they all are, standing frozen before a sort of gigantic forest creature (who looks hungry, by the way), too exhausted and injured to put up a fight, let alone save themselves.

A Green Mulso, Kurahashi had informed them, is a shinheuh that resembles a gigantic Water Buffalo meant to guard certain areas in a swamp forest from outsiders. There are two types of Mulso, a green one and a brown one. The brown ones are much smaller and friendlier apparently.

Kurahashi then oh-so helpfully told the team that Green Mulsos are wild, incredibly sturdy, and cannot be tamed at all, even by the most talented Anima.

So in short, unless they still got enough stamina to spare, they're doomed.

I swear to god, Ryuunosuke. If I die here right now in the most pathetic way I will fucking haunt you for eternity-

A flash of bright blue from a distance had cut off Nakamura's thoughts, her eyes widening as she watched the water-like shinsu pierce through the wild beast before them at a frightening speed, killing it instantly.

A chorus of surprised yelps were let out at the sight, some where even full-out screams.

Everyone then instinctively moved away when the now dead green mulso had fallen to the ground, it's large size causing it to shake for a moment.

"Oh my god what was that..." Maehara breathed out, his hand clutching over his chest.

Some of them tentatively stared at the dead giant creature before them, some where eve cautiously approaching it to see the wound, while others chose to avoid looking at it.

Nakamura just stayed at her spot, the gears in her brain already working to find answers. A blast of water-like shinsu was what killed the creature, which could have been done by a Wave Controller from just the shinsu's form itself alone. Yet the blast itself looked too thin compared to what Nakamura usually saw what Wave Controllers do.

Not to mention it looked like it had come from a very long distance, which is a range that not even Rankers could reach, as once clarified by Koro-sensei when they were still at the 2nd Floor. A range like that is something only Spear Bearers could do.

Nakamura then frowned at the thought.

But are there even any Spear Bearers who use water-like shinsu to shoot? She knows about Lightning and Ice users who make their own spears, there have been plenty of Regulars and Rankers who were known for that after all, but a Water user Spear Bearer is unheard of.

This would be the first time she sees one if she was correct.

"Woah I got here just in time, thank goodness..." A familiar voice spoke out at a fair distance.

Nakamura's eyes then roamed around the tall trees surrounding them, assuming the guy was somewhere perched up at one of them, based from where she could hear his voice coming from. "Well, you sure took your sweet time to get here," she huffed.

A wave of murmurs and whispers gradually built up and Nakamura could make out some of them wondering how she seemed to know the voice that was talking just now.

"The town was especially busy today and I can't just jump between rooftops, you know that..." He sighed out. "On another note, I didn't think you guys would actually go to this part of the forest. This place is inhabited by Green Mulsos after all, you know how wild those things are."

"And yet it only took you a single shot to kill one," Nakamura raised an eyebrow, her eyes darting everywhere, still trying to look for him.

"I live around here. You just get used to them."

A flash of light and suddenly an overwhelming pair of bright maroon eyes were right in front of her, along with a wide smile gracing the face those eyes belonged to.

Nakamura hesitantly took a step back, giving the tall figure that had appeared before her a once over. Sharp maroon eyes, tall nose, plump lips, strong eyebrows, and long dark hair pulled up in a high ponytail with fringes widely parted at the middle ー a pretty one yet there's a tinge of manliness to it with that long brown coat over a white polo and black pants combo.

How handsome.

Nakamura then narrowed her gaze. Something about this person is ridiculously familiar to her but she couldn't recall anyone with this appearance or at least close to having it.

Hey wait a minute. Nakamura frowned even further. If that was Chiba who I was talking to just now and this person showed up then-

The person's smile dropped then raised an eyebrow at her instead. "What's with that look?"

A scream ripped itself from Nakamura's throat.

• ▪ • ▪ •

"Wow you changed a lot!"

"You think I'd still look the same after 10 years?" Chiba incredulously asked.

30 seconds of dodging mild embarrassment and composure regaining, Nakamura then revealed to the rest of the team that the person who had appeared before them was Chiba, their former teammate who had been seperated from them 22 Floors below.

After that sudden reunion, but not without a strong slap on the shoulder by Nakamura, Chiba soon led the whole team towards the place he is residing in, which was beyond the forest. The route they are currently taking was much farther away from where they were at previously and less closed off.

There were less trees around them and the pathway is much clearer and if they look even further ahead, they can see a wide clearing at a distance.

The walk was fairly quiet, as the whole team was too exhausted from the previous Floor Test to even make enough noise. Some even start to doze off and are just being carried by lighthouses instead of walking, and some of the Light Bearers in the team had just went inside their respective lighthouses.

Kurahashi in particular was fast asleep on Cattus' back, a cat-like cactus creature she had befriended back then, currently in its giant form as it cutely marched beside Chiba and Nakamura, who were walking ahead of everyone.

"Water spears are definitely the last thing I thought you'd use," Nakamura remarked. Unlike the majority of them, she still has enough energy to engage in a conversation. "I was kinda expecting you to wield a sniper rifle or something."

Chiba let out mellowed chuckles. "I actually do own one. But I only use it for specific types of Floor tests," he professed.

"Oh really?" Nakamura blinked at him im wonder. "Where'd you get it?"

"Ah I won it at the Workshop Battle I participated in 4 years ago."

Nakamura nearly faltered at the name almost bitterly but then quickly recovered. "I see," she forced a cheeky grin. "Probably gave them hell, huh?"

"That was Miki," Chiba rolled his eyes though his smile never left his place. "Anyways, water spears. I've always known how to make them but I've only started to utilize them even more around the time I came to the 12th Floor."

Nakamura hummed in response. "So like... 8 or 9 years ago..?"

"Nine years ago," he confirmed. "Enough time for me to solidify its reliability in battle and learn more ways to utilize it."

"I believe this is the first time I've heard of a Spear Bearer who uses Water shinsu to make their own spears," a golden-litted lighthouse suddenly flew in front of the two. "I apologize for abruptly joining in but I am personally intrigued by this discussion, if you don't mind, Chiba-kun."

"Oh Asano-kun," Chiba's smile widened. "You'd be surprised to know that I'm actually not the only one who does this."

"Is that so?"

"But you're still right," Chiba slightly moved away from Nakamura and faced the two of them, bringing his right arm out.

A small bang of water-like shinsu started forming on his palm then suddenly sprouted into a very long shaft that is twice the height of Chiba himself less than a second after. Its blade forming into a drill-shaped head with small flows of water spiralling around the shaft almost prettily.

With a proud smile, Chiba momentarily spun the newly formed spear around. "I'm the only Spear Bearer in the family who had managed to make it sturdy enough to be a main weapon of choice."

He doesn't need to elaborate for both Nakamura and Asano to know what he meant by 'family'.

Ryuunosuke is from the Great Family of Chiba, whose Head was one of the Great Warriors who had first climbed towards the top of the Tower along with the King himself. Anyone tied with the Chiba bloodline is automatically a Water User by default, unless they chose not to use the water-manifested shinsu, as the heritage is that strong.

Chiba himself is not a direct descendant of the Head, making him one of the less important members as the Family Tree is ridiculously huge that a random Regular could actually meet at least 2 Chiba members in each Floor.

But from what he implied just now, his unique standing as a Spear Bearer might just make him stand out in the vast sea mostly full of Wave Controllers.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't intentionally trying to get my name out there in order to be respected in the family as my own person and not be seen as 'just another Chiba'," he admitted with a determined look. "After all, I was born thousands of years after my greatest grandmother had become one of the Great Family Leaders in the Tower."

He then grinned almost challengingly. "But hearing what both of you said just now is just making me want to work even harder."

Nakamura smirked anticipatingly, trying to bury down the nervousness that had shot throughout her body. That frightening display just earlier and yet he's saying such things like this right now... damn he's grown out of our league...

A seemingly amused chuckle had suddenly come out out the golden lighthouse floating beside them. "It's almost admirable to see how very self-assured you are despite the strong clutches of your influencial family name. I can respect that."

Equally amused, Chiba had vanished the water sphere and turned to the giant glowing golden cube. "Well I suppose my conviction is new for someone who is the only descendant of the Great Lord Asano," he remarked.

"But enough about me, I want to hear your story." He gestured a hand towards him (or the cube) and grinned further. "How did the only child of the strongest Light Bearer in the Tower end up travelling with an old team of mine after that initial claim he had of taking no absolute interest in them?"

Nakamura, who had just been attentively listening to them the whole time, suddenly let out an evil cackle. "Oh man do I have the perfect story to share..."

"No! Her so-called 'perfect story' is nothing but exaggerated lies! Do not listen to her!"

"What exaggerated lies?" Nakamura laughed out loud, her grin even wider. "I literally got a lot of proof saved inside my lighthouse!"

She then gasped dramatically. "Maybe I should just send them to him!"

"Don't you dare!" Asano warned.

Chiba just owlishly blinked at the incredulous sight of Nakamura and a floating golden cube bickering. He was sure it wasn't that long ago when Nakamura had told him about Asano and Sakakibara temporarily joining Team END for a while. Yet the display before him made it seem like their newly formed alliance wasn't that recent at all.

Yeah, there's a lot of catching up for me to do alright...

[bagels-and-seagulls]

asdlkjfn after reading your 'show me your dick' fic i've been thinking a stupid amount about all of ur au's in that sitation like "look we haven't actually had sex in three weeks and i'm loosing my mind about it" and it's kind of hilarious. weridly i feel like hotjock david would be the worst at dealing with that purely bc sports = horny

david is thirsty on main for his confused boyfriend at all times. i have some thots

bad boy matteo + hot jock david 

“Oh, fuck off,” David said, going for teasing, but landing somewhere a little bit meaner than he intended. 

Leonie leaned back and raised an eyebrow. She lifted her drink up slowly, eyeing him like she was disappointed and a little bit unimpressed, and David wanted to simmer and apologize at the same time he wanted to bare his teeth. “Someone’s a little feisty tonight,” she says, glowering. “Need to get laid? Something to take the edge off?” She asks and takes a drink still watching him. Sara laughs behind her into her hand. 

“That’s none of your business,” David responds. 

“So you do?” Leonie asks and smirks. “You and lover-boy not doing too well?” 

David looks over her shoulder to where Matteo is laughing with a couple of his friends in the other corner and tries not to stare too long at the way he throws his head back at one point. Or the way his legs look in those jeans. 

“We’re doing fine. Great, even,” he says. “We’re just a little bit busy right now.” He shrugs, hoping to change the subject and not think about the fact that him and his insanely hot boyfriend who he loves very much haven’t had sex in at least three weeks if he was counting right. Which he was. 

It just got out of hand, he thinks to himself. He spent one weekend going up to visit his godmother and then when he got back, Matteo had a cold and wouldn’t let David anywhere in his sneezing radius for at least eight days, which was torture for David who just wanted to coo and baby his sick and whiny boyfriend for a little while. And then there was David’s project he had to finish, which completely swamped him for a week. And then Matteo was going out of town to visit his aunt with his mom and when he got back, there was some sort of crisis with some guy named Abdi that took like three days to deal with. Something to do with some girl. David honestly didn’t pay attention. He thinks he blacked out through the explanation in a frustration induced dream when Matteo said he had to postpone their date to the next weekend, and all he could think about was how this Abdi guy better invite them to his fucking wedding to this girl if it meant he wasn’t going to see his boyfriend for another four days. And then there was his big match tonight against their city rivals. 

And tonight, David thought they would finally get a second alone together, but Matteo had looked at him with big eyes and asked why he didn’t want to celebrate the match win with his team. David was more than happy to leave the guys in his dust as he he dragged Matteo back to his place for some quality time, but David tries not to discourage him when he’s feeling social for social’s sake. So here they were, with David having to physically remove himself from Matteo’s company in hopes to not jump his bones at any given moment and snapping at his friends because he had too much pent up energy that apparently the football field couldn’t get rid of. 

Leonie was looking at him like he had all said that out loud. And David honestly wouldn’t put it past himself at this point to do just that. He’s been thinking about Matteo shirtless for like seventeen straight hours at this point and going a little cross eyed because of it. 

“Well,” Leonie drawls out slowly. “I can’t get you laid, but I can get you drunk. So shots?” And David agrees because he’s past desperate at this point. 

Within thirty minutes, he’s totally and completely plastered. 

“Oh, look who it is!” Sara yells, and giggles, and then hiccups into her wrist. She bounces up and throws herself onto Matteo, who catches her with a shocked expression. 

“Uh, hey. Sara. You good?” He asks, and Sara laughs brightly again and nods. He goes to let her go, but she trips over her own feet. So he holds firmly onto her elbow to make sure she stays upright. 

“I’ll take her,” Leonie said, who was faring much better than the rest of them, which was entirely unfair if you asked David. She took just as many shots as them and is, like, a foot shorter than him. So really the room should be spinning just as much for her as him, but she was still standing with a pose and sophistication that perplexed David constantly. “You can take him,” she says, and pushes David off of her shoulder, and he collides into Matteo’s side, which he would have been a little put out about. But it was Matteo! His sweet and darling Matteo who was looking at him with his big and dreamy eyes, and oh gosh, he was pretty. So, so pretty. How did he get someone as pretty as Matteo to want to hang out with him constantly? He really didn’t know besides the fact that the universe was really looking out for him. David could just kiss him-

“David,” Matteo says and shakes him a little. “Ready to go home?” 

“What?” David asks, not really catching the question, too busy staring at the shape of Matteo’s mouth when he says his name. Because he’s really got such a pretty mouth, and it would be so much prettier if he would just kiss David like he really, really, really wanted him to do right now. But, wait. Matteo was saying something to him. Focus, David. Focus. “Home? Yes.”

“Okay,” Matteo says and says something to the girls. David waves over his shoulder when Matteo pulls him along because he doesn’t want to be rude at the same time he’s trying to memorize the notch in Matteo’s nose because it was just so cute. David really just couldn’t deal with how adorable Matteo’s nose was right now. 

“You feeling okay there?” Matteo asks with a little bit of a chuckle as David sways into him when they get out onto the street. 

“Okay? I’m feeling great! I feel so good, baby. So good,” David responds and leans into Matteo’s side a little bit more as they’re walking. Probably a little bit more than he needed to, but he was trying to suck some of the heat out of Matteo’s skin at the same time he was trying to soak in the attention. “Are you feeling good? I hope you’re feeling good. I hope you’re always feeling good. Do you know you make me feel good? No- not good, great! I feel great with you. Do you know that?” 

“I didn’t realize you talked this much when you’re drunk,” Matteo says instead of answering his question, which wasn’t very nice. David pouts. He wants to make sure that Matteo knows that he feels good with him. Doesn’t Matteo know that? 

“You’re so pretty,” David says instead. Because that should work. 

“What?” Matteo sputters out. He looks at him out of the corner of his eye but then turns to check the street they were about to cross before tugging on David’s wrist to follow behind him. David trips a little over his feet but catches himself before it got too embarrassing. 

“You’re pretty. Like, so, so pretty, Teo. The prettiest person I know,” David says and nods because it was true. “And hot. God, you’re so hot. So hot,” he repeats. 

“Uh, thanks?” Matteo says, though it sounds like a question. “You’re hot, too.” 

“Yeah, I know,” David says smirking and laughs a little. “But you’re like- Wow, so hot. I think about it all the time. I haven’t seen you shirtless in like a month. I think about that all the time. You shirtless, I mean. Because you’re just so pretty. And hot. And I would just look at you all day if you let me. Will you take your shirt off?” David asks, super duper politely with his best puppy dog eyes because he’s so painstakingly desperate to see his super attractive boyfriend’s belly. It’s soft and sweet, and he’s soft and sweet for it. And it’s getting a little hard to concentrate on what his feet are doing when he’s thinking about Matteo without his clothes on. “Please,” he adds a second later. Because he was polite. Super duper polite. 

“We’re in public,” Matteo hisses and pulls him along. 

“So? I’ll take my shirt off if it makes you feel better. Just-” He goes to pull at the hem of his shirt, and Matteo grabs his arms. 

“We’re in public,” Matteo repeats like that means anything. “You can take your shirt off at home.” 

“Will you take yours off?”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” Matteo says and shakes his head. 

“Awww,” David coos and pokes Matteo’s cheek where it was starting to turn red a little bit. And David feels proud at himself for making that happen. “You’re blushing. You’re so cute. God, you’re so cute, Matteo. And hot. Have I told you you’re hot?” 

“You mentioned it.” 

“Because you are. Goddamn,” David says, mostly to himself. He thinks. 

“Come on,” Matteo says and pulls him through a door. “We’re almost back.” 

And David has to stop thinking about Matteo in his boxers for a second because they’re going upstairs now. And he has to concentrate very hard on not tripping and falling down the stairs. Because that wouldn’t be a good look. And David’s already got Matteo blushing so his chances of seeing Matteo shirtless by the end of the night have gone up like 300%, but if he falls down the stairs, it will probably be down like 1000% because that’s not very sexy, he thinks. 

They get through the door, and David asks, “Will you take your shirt off now?” 

“Shhh,” Matteo says back. 

“Shhh,” David repeats because that wasn’t a very nice answer to his question at all. 

Matteo pulls him to his room and pushes him to sit on the bed. And oh wow, they’re on a bed now! This is good progress, he thinks. He’s seeing his chances go up more by each second. 

“Can we have sex?” He asks all of a sudden because he thinks it’s good to have clear intentions from the get go, and he wants to make sure that everyone is on the same page here. But Matteo looks at him from where he’s leaning down to tug at David’s shoes like David just grew a third eye, so David thinks he might have asked that in a different language or something. Because he thought it was a pretty easy to understand question otherwise. 

“What? No,” Matteo says and shakes his head. He looks down at David’s shoes to start untying them, and his hair looks so soft and so pretty that David wants to run his fingers through it. So he does, and it is soft! And fluffy! And wow, having a boyfriend is amazing! And his boyfriend has soft and fluffy hair! And is so pretty!

“Please, We haven’t had sex in like a month, baby,” he says. Loudly. 

Matteo looks around the room like someone might come in. “Quiet down. Jesus, people are sleeping,” he whispers and tugs at one of David’s shoes. “We’re not having sex. You’re drunk.” 

“Pshh, I am not,” David argues, and Matteo goes to take off his other shoe. 

“You are. You keep telling me I’m pretty,” he says and pushes David back onto the bed. 

David falls easily. “I’ll have you know,” he slurs out a little because oh wow, he didn’t realize how tired he was until right now. “I always think you’re pretty. I just don’t tell you because you’ll get mad at me, but I would! Tell you, I mean. That you’re pretty. Because you are.” 

“That’s nice,” Matteo says. “I’m not having sex with you, though. You’re drunk.” 

“What about in the morning?” David barters, even though his eyes are closing, and he’s a little sad right now because he doesn’t want to fall asleep without seeing his terribly gorgeous boyfriend shirtless. 

“If you still want to have sex in the morning and don’t want to die from the hangover you’re going to have, I’ll consider it.” 

David counts it as a win.