#but hopefully there's enough for Sonia to respond to

[quickdeaths]

Masaru Yaguchi sat up, wearily, wiping blood from his face and then drying his hands on his clothes. On shaky legs, he pushed himself up, only to nearly be knocked from his feet once more as he felt arms clamp around his waist. "Masaru-nii!" Bleary vision wasn't enough to keep him from recognizing the dark-haired girl with glasses and the familiar address. Lightly forcing her hands away, given how sore he was, Masaru took the moment to study her face.

"You're... Anzu?" She nodded empathically. "Anzu," she agreed, making a circle with her hands. "Not △△ anymore," she added, using her fingers to form an X. "Okay," Masaru mumbled with a gentle nod, before looking past her to Juzo Sakakura half-dragging away his little sibling. "And that's..." "Shinobu-chan." "Right. Shinobu." It was unfamiliar on his lips, but not unpleasant. He sighed, looking to Sonia running after the two of them, and then over to the crowd, where he could pick out Haruna standing watching.

"I really fucked up coming here today, didn't I," he murmured with a soft sigh, not really expecting from an Anzu any kind of response. "I've got to go try and take care of this before I accidentally do any more damage." Anzu looked at him like she was worried. Still such a sweet kid. "Are you sure? You look like you're about to fall over, Masaru-nii..." "It's fine," he said, forcing a smile and a wave of his hand. "The older sibling has to take some responsibility. Ah, and speaking of, tell your sister..."

Tell her what, exactly? Hi? Sorry? He didn't even know where to start, and besides, running away was how he dealt with most things. "Nevermind." He shook his head. Anzu frowned. eyes flicking back towards the crowd before looking at him again. "I mean, I think Haru-nee really wants to talk to you." With another sigh and another shake of his head, Masaru pushed his hair out of his face in some vain attempt at keeping blood from matting it. "I don't think it's a good idea, and I've got to go deal with that," he said, gesturing towards Shinobu and Sakakura. "But, it was good to see you, Anzu-chan. Thanks for still being Shinobu's friend."

Nearly stumbling as he took a few steps forward, he stopped first at Sonia's side. He wouldn't easily catch up to Sakakura anyway, so he'd just have to hope that his former junior would stop when he asked. "Nevermind-san." Masaru knew he didn't look very presentable, with blood smeared on his face and his jacket, but there wasn't much he could do about it. "Thanks for the tour, and the conversation. Sorry that it turned out like this." From how she'd cried out, and called after Sakakura at first, she must have been close to his sibling, too. Maybe really close, but, that wasn't really his place to pry, was it?

"Don't let this tarnish your opinion of Shinobu too much, though, alright?" He offered a weak smile. "Living in that house takes a heavy toll." Especially if Shinobu had ended up here. They hadn't trained in archery at all, so their father must have crushed Shinobu under pressure to try and make a diamond capable of attending Hope's Peak Academy. "I guess we just dealt with it in different ways." Not that he could blame them. Who knew what would have happened if he'd stayed? "Anyway, it was nice to meet you, and I appreciate you showing me around. I think I'll probably leave after I get this straightened out, as much as I can, so I guess your job here is done."

Even knowing he wouldn't catch up without Sakakura stopping, Masaru started after him, calling out with a hand raised. "Sakakura-kun! Hold on a moment!" Sakakura grunted as he slowed, then stopped, then slowly turned around. "Yaguchi-san." Masaru weakly laughed. "I guess you're too old to still be calling me 'senpai.' Sorry, but, can I have a minute with my sibling?" Sakakura didn't give him any obvious answer, but neither did he move away, so Masaru decided to take that in the affirmative.

Shinobu was barely standing themselves, blood practically gushing from a nasty forehead wound from where Sakakura's knuckles had split the skin. The right side of their face was clean, though, and Masaru could see the scar sliced across their cheek. No prizes for guessing where that came from, he thought to himself. "Shinobu," he started. "I can see that you're angry, and I'm sorry about whatever's happened to you since I left. You don't have to forgive me right now, but..." He reached out, putting his hand on their shoulder. "You should know that whatever is happening in that house, you don't deserve it."

They looked at him, then angled down their face and bit his wrist. Like a wolf tearing flesh from a kill, they jerked back, ripping open his arm, and then spitting the blood that coated their lips and teeth back in his face. "Die." "Dammit," Sakakura grumbled, pivoting and driving his fist into Shinobu's stomach, causing them to spit blood and saliva into the air before going fully limp over his arm. "You really didn't have to do that," Masaru mumbled with a wince. "It's not a big deal, Sakakura-kun."

Sakakura didn't seem to have any need to explain himself, and Masaru supposed that wasn't a point he could contest. "I'm not pressing any charges, and if it makes it easier, you can say whatever you want about how it got started to make it look like my problem, not Shinobu's." Masaru sighed as he looked at his wrist, dropping blood from where Shinobu had sunk their teeth in. He could do that much for them, couldn't he? "And get them looked at by a nurse? You always hit so hard, Sakakura-kun."

Shinobu's school bag was on the ground, dropped from where they'd first seen Masaru, and Sakakura lifted it up, Shinobu unconscious thrown over his shoulder in a loose fireman's carry. A notebook tumbled out of the front, skidding across the ground, though Sakakura didn't look like he cared about retrieving it. "If you don't want to get wrapped up in this and make it a big deal, Yaguchi-san, you should get out of here." Masaru nodded. "Fair enough. Consider me gone, then." And with one final wave towards Sonia, he began to leave.

It was then that the pain she'd felt began to fade. Sonia had half-mumbled a 'thank you' to those who had helped her up, but her focus was elsewhere. Not of the bruises she'd likely develop or the crowd's commotion. But of the fact that Shinobu had insisted the situation, the fight, was a family affair.

Sonia looked over the man she'd been escorting around campus: through the blood and swelling in his features, she noticed a similar jawline, similarly shaped eyes, a beauty mark in the exact same place on their faces. Shinobu's hair was a deep shade of red, clearly dyed, while his was left as a more naturally-occurring shade, and yet they were undeniably related. His reflexes were sharp like hers, but his gaze was softer, kinder, less intimidating. He lacked the pressure, Sonia realized, that Shinobu was under, and in return he smiled, entirely unconcerned with the obsession of talents that Hope's Peak had. Maybe he had been an Archer at one point, but from his distinct absence from Shinobu's home the time she was permitted to visit, she had a feeling he was an archer for the Yaguchi family no more.

It was then that Anzu had pushed through, Sonia so deep in her thoughts that she barely noticed her make her way through the crowd. But her efforts to dissuade Shinobu were equally in vain. She felt frozen in place: if even Anzu had no effect on stopping her, what chance did anyone else have? Shinobu was in a fit of rage that seemingly no one understood, including her brother, and yet she refused to stop. She wouldn't, likely until he stopped breathing. That second year student had gone to get help, hadn't he? She couldn't imagine what the school's Board of Governors would think of this-

But all thoughts of verbal punishments, suspensions and expulsions and the like, were silenced as a larger, burlier figure than Anzu's made his way forward. And unlike her, the crowd parted easily for him: Sakakura-sensei was intimidating even just standing still, but with anger and disappointment over his face? Even some of the alumni shivered, and they might have very well been his classmates. But niceties and barked orders were ignored in favor of Sakakura's fist being firmly planted in Shinobu's cheek. Harder than her brother may have retaliated in defense. Perhaps even harder than Shinobu herself had thrown at him.

But hard enough to bring Shinobu Yaguchi down, a shriek ripping out of Sonia's throat before she even realized she was screaming. "SHINOBU!" She cried out, causing several turned heads to look at her, assuming Sonia Nevermind was just another one of Cold Prince Shinobu-kun's many fangirls. Not that Sonia paid any heed to the stares: her hands were clapped over her mouth in shock. At Shinobu's defeat, at the fact she'd just screamed her given name, terribly rude and informal, loud enough for the entire courtyard to hear.

"Wait, hold on, what are you doing!?" She demanded. She probably should have seen to the elder Yaguchi, as she'd been responsible for showing him around campus. But for the meantime, she passed him, bleeding and bruised and likely bewildered about what had just happened, to reach out for Juzo Sakaura's free arm. His other hand was occupied in dragging Shinobu to her feet, presumably to haul her off somewhere the visiting alumni would not have to interact with her. Considering she'd beaten one of their own to a near pulp, it would only tarnish the school's image further to keep her around. "Where are you taking her, Sakakura-sensei?"

"It's none of your business, Princess!" He shouted back, forgoing the respect of utilizing her last name as teachers were supposed to. Frustration barely held back, he seemed to be in no mood to deal both with an angered Shinobu Yaguchi and a girl with way too much power and authority showing a large amount of concern for her. A call from Sonia Nevermind's parents was enough to make every school staffer's life hell, and if Masaru Yaguchi decided to press charges against his own sister, well...the Board of Governors would make things difficult for Kyosuke Munakata.

And Jin Kirigiri, but that was beside the point.

[baecvlt]

This Night Has Opened My Eyes

Kazuichi Soda X Reader

• smut !

• fem reader

• requested by my irl lmao (they also wanted some hcs so)

“That asshole.. always getting in the way of Miss Sonia and I”

You smacked Kazuichi’s arm, scolding him,“You need to be nicer to him. He hasn’t done anything wrong”. We were in the Hotel Restaurant and it was obvious that Gundham and Sonia had gotten closer since the last trial. Kazuichi didn’t like that one bit. He sighed, taking another bite of food,“Look at him, though!”. He points at Gundham, who is allowing Sonia to pet his hamsters. “Only likes him because he’s a magical cult freak”. You shook you head, trying to explain.

“You think maybe it’s because, I don’t know, he isn’t weirdly obsessed with her?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What I said”

Kazuichi growled, his expression toning down when Gundham approached you both. “You and Kazuichi seem to be two peas in a pod. Tell me, are you both partaking in an intimate relationship?”. Kazuichi was about to get defensive, you just knew it. “What’s it to you?,” he said, fist clenched. Taking a step back, Gundham explains,“I have no such interest in such topics. Rather, Sonia was curious”. Kazuichi’s eyes lit up,“Sonia’s asking about me?”. Gundham cringed and scoffed.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself over pure gossip. Pathetic”

“Watch it, Houdini. I’ll fuck you up”

“Bring it then, you penniless, mediocre mechanic. I’m awfully frightened”

“MEDIOCRE?! I’M A FUCKING ULTIMATE”

He launches himself toward Gundham, knocking him to the floor. Gundham gets a few small, yet hard punches in before Kazuichi lands the nastiest sounding backhand on his left cheek, making heads turn. As gasps can be heard around the room, Sonia runs to Gundham’s side as Kazuichi couldn’t handle himself afterward. “You! How could you?!,” Sonia scolded him. For the first time in forever, Kazuichi wasn’t having it. “How could I?! Fuck you!”. Kazuichi got up, leaving a hurt Gundham and an appalled Sonia on the ground. Gundham turned to you.

“Control your lab rat or I will”

You felt shitty, seeing Kazuichi go off that way. It wasn’t good at all, but by the looks of his response to Sonia, it seems to me like she won’t have to worry about him for a while now. He looked that mad. You thought to check on him, even if you were severely disappointed in him. You had no clue where to look for him and made a mental note of possible places where he might be: his room, Rocketpunch Market, and Electric Ave.

And so began the quest to look for him.

Checking in his room was too simple. When he didn’t respond, it didn’t surprise you that he wasn’t there. You knew he wouldn’t be. I headed off to the Rocketpunch Market. Even if he wasn’t there, you wanted to use the opportunity to buy him a bottle of Ramune. When you got there, there were voices present. That’s when you made them out to be the voices of Nagito, Fuyuhiko, Hiyoko, and Ibuki. “So we’re just not gonna discuss what happened back there?,” Nagito intrigued. Everyone sighed in relief. “Finally, you ask something smart,” Hiyoko said,“Yes, we should definitely talk about it! Kazuichi was totally out of line!”. You got closer to hear, without them seeing you. “Are you kidding me?,” Fuyuhiko spat,“I heard the whole thing. Gundham was being a dick. Had I been the one he disrespected, I would’ve killed that bastard!”. “Well, what did Gundham say?”.

“He called him ‘mediocre’, ‘penniless’, and ‘pathetic’. Kazuichi hadn’t once insulted him. If anything, Gundham approached him!”

“I don’t know,” Ibuki said,“That’s still no reason to be violent! Violence isn’t the answer, only heavy metal!”. “Ibuki, what?”. Ibuki shrugged. Nagito thought for a minute,“Did you even hear why the argument began?”. “Well, Gundham pressed him about his relationship with Y/N,” he said,“but Sonia had asked. He made a comment, hopeful Sonia was slightly interested in him. That’s when Gundham called him pathetic”. “Well, it is pathetic,” Hiyoko said,“But harsh”. The conversation then shifted to something completely different. “Why was he so defensive in the first place,” Hiyoko asked, adding,“he could’ve said ‘no’”. Nagito laughed, shaking his head. “Woah! A laugh like that implies, you believe there’s something going on there!”.

“Ibuki, always knows what to say. Always knows what I’m thinking”

“They belong together,” Fuyuhiko muttered,“Its obvious she likes him”. “Is it obvious or did Sonia tell you?,” Nagito asked,“Everyone, in 3..2..1”... and in union:

“Sonia told me”

Hiyoko laughed. “Yeah, but do you see how they look at each other when Kazuichi isn’t thinking about Sonia?,” she asked,“It’s funny, really”. You decided to come out and without saying a word, grabbed the drink and left. No one said a word as you walked by them. Pussies, all of them. Lastly, you took the long walk to the third island’s Electric Avenue.

Sure enough, there he was, putting together a computer (or a different device with a very small monitor of some sort; it looked handheld). You didn’t want to alarm him, for he might still be tense. You lightly tapped his shoulder. “Hey, Kazu”. He wiped his eyes rather fast, removing what appeared to be glasses. You knew he did this so he wouldn’t be seen crying. “Hi”. His voice was quiet and tired. You handed him his Ramune, making him smile. “What are you doing?”.

“Tinkering”

“Can I watch you?”

“You don’t wanna talk about anything?”

“Not unless you want to”

“Alright,” he said, continuing to modify the device,“Let’s talk”. “What are you doing to that computer-thingy”. He snickered. “‘Computer-thingy’...you’re cute”. Blushing, you were left dumbfounded. “Don’t say that!,” you scolded,“So what is it?”. “I’m making a radio,” he said,“The computer monitor part displays any words that have been picked up by the radio signals. I’ll also make it possible to communicate with them”. You were actually impressed by it.

“That’s so fucking cool”

“Thanks”

There was a bit of silence, then he sighed. “Look, Y/N,” he began,“I’m really sorry about what happened earlier. I don’t know what got into me”. You shook your head. “You shouldn’t be apologizing to me,” you explained,“You need to apologize to Gundham.. and Sonia”. He nodded and mouthed an ‘okay’. He agreed that as soon as he saw him and Sonia, he would apologize. Now that Sonia was in the conversation, he got onto that topic. “Sonia and I can’t be,” he said,“I’ve always known this”. You raised a brow and asked why he pursued her for so long.

“She’s a princess. She’s perfect and kind. She never full on said she isn’t interested in me, so I figured she’d go out with me out of pity”

“But wouldn’t that be a loveless relationship?”

“Not everyone deserves to be loved. I don’t. What I fear more than not being loved is being alone”

“You’d rather know someone is there than to be loved by them?”

“Yeah, it’s fucked,” he admitted,“but that’s over now”. While you were screaming internally, you still felt terrible about what he said. If only he knew how you felt. The question is if he feels the same. “By the way,” he began,“I made you something”. There was a small box next to him wrapped in old newspapers and a ribbon bow. “You and Hajime have been my only friends- well, comrades, on this island. So, I made you both these communication devices!”. You opened the box and a small walkie-talkie device was placed. He further explained.

“They work anywhere on the island. Hopefully, when and if we make it out of here, it works everywhere else. So, y’know, we don’t lose touch”

“I won’t let that happen”

He smiled, warmly. He didn’t say anything else. You were both in a trance, looking into each other’s eyes. “Hey!”. Ibuki suddenly came running towards the two of you. You both snapped out of it, seeing what she needed. She fell in front of you, dusting herself off. “No time to waste!,” she said,“Sonia planned a party at the the Titty Typhoon, what a name for a club, don’t ya think? Anyway, its mandatory, so we’ll see you there at six. Ibuki, out!”. Before you could say anything, she ran off. “Well,” he began,“At least now I could apologize to Gun-dumb”. You sighed as he laughed at his nickname.

Parting ways, you headed back to ensure you could shower and ready yourself a little. As you did, you were grateful for the small moment with Kazuichi. Him not wanting to lose touch? Getting over Sonia. It all made you feel so good and now you were head over heels. Finally, you were ready. You opened the door and there he was waiting for you. “Hi, Y/N,” he began,“I was thinking we should show up together, y’know? Avoid awkwardness from earlier”. You smiled and nodded. “Great, come on!”. He grabbed your hand, dragging you along with him.

You got there a minute or two late. When you stepped inside, the music blasted as loud as possible. You noticed the stares from Nagito and Fuyuhiko. “You should find Sonia, then we can deal with Gundham”. He agreed, checking out the room. Finally, he spotted Sonia near the stage. Cautiously, we approached her. “Hello, Miss Sonia,” he said. She turned around, her rather happy expression turning into something bitter. “What do you want?”.

“I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier”

“It’s not me who you should be apologizing-”

“I also wanted to apologize for my behavior towards you that’s occurred from the time we’ve arrived. It was really inappropriate, so I’m sorry”

Sonia was no longer bitter, even if she had the right to be. She smiled, nodding,“Well, I guess when you’re being so nice about it.. yes, I forgive you. However, I really think you should apologize to Gundham”. Kazuichi agreed and explained to her that he was trying to find him. “Well,” Sonia began,“He hasn’t gotten here, but he will have gotten back any minute now!”. As if on cue, the doors burst open.

There he was, as tense as ever.

“Tanaka! I’ve been waiting for you,” Kazuichi said. Once in front of him, Gundham was appalled. “You again? I thought I’ve made clear that I was through with you!,” he scowled, shoving Kazuichi into the stage. “Gundham, let him finish,” Sonia pleaded. “Now you’re on his side? What’s wrong with all of you being so pathetic this day?”. Kazuichi got up, trying to explain.

“Just let me finish–”

“I have no reason to further discuss anything with a lowly, degenerate, and pathetic subhuman such as yourself”

“Wait-”

“God, Y/N, I thought you were smarter, but now you’ve fallen for him? You are equally as pathetic!”

“Y/N has a crush on me?”

“God, yes, she does! She is in love with you, you fool!”

“She... loves me?”

Heads were turning and the eyes belonging to them all faced you. There were gasps at first (like this morning), but now there were whispers and small chatter. “Ugh! What’s with you?!,” Sonia yelled,“Kazuichi was only trying tl apologize to you!”. Gundham was the embodiment of the phrase “a face of regret”. “Y/N,” Kazuichi began,“Is this true?”. Your breathing was starting to get worse and worse as you just stood there with an answer, but no courage to confess. You had no other choice, but tear up and say “Kazuichi, no, I-”. You were at loss of words. Then, you ran all the way back to your room.

Once there, you slammed your door shut and locked. You paced around a little, attempting to calm down. When you couldn’t do that, you simply collapsed onto your bed and screamed into the nearest pillow. Your throat hurt and despite having screamed into a pillow, it was still loud enough to hear the scream bounce around the room. You cried into it, for about 5 minutes, moped for 45, then cried again for another 10.

Bing-bong, Bing-bong!

It was time for bed, now realizing that if you didn’t die in your sleep, you’d have to face tomorrow. That was something you didn’t want to do. You began to get ready for bed. Suddenly, there was loud and demanding knocking on your door. You prayed, hoping it was someone here to put you out of your misery upon opening the door, so you opened it without hesitation. To your dismay, it wasn’t the next blackened.

It was Kazuichi.

Your face was all red again and before you could say anything, he spoke. “We need to talk”. You tried shutting the door, but before you could, he forced his way inside. He locked the door behind him. “What?!,” I yelled,“Why are you still here? I don’t want to see you! I can’t-”. He grabbed your face and pressed his lips against yours. “You aren’t one for words are you?,” he asked and after seeing you blush, added,“Guess I’m gonna have to show you”. He lay you down and began kissing you; you didn’t hesitate against him and wanted this to happen for so long. His lips felt amazing on yours. He began to kiss your neck, stopping at your chest. He lifted your shirt up and pulled down your bra, sucking roughly on your tits. He then made his way down. All that was left was-

“Kazuichi, what are you..?”

He unbuttoned your shorts and pulled them down tossing them aside. Looking up at you, he moved your panties to the side and began to work his mouth on your pussy. You whined at the feeling, shifting a little. He held you down, his tongue focused on your sweet spots. “You like that?”. You hummed, nodding frantically. His arms were locked around your thighs to hold you down. You took off his beanie and pulled his hair. He sucked your clit, whining from his hair being pulled. You knew he enjoyed it as he began to be sloppy. He moved away and wiped his mouth before kissing you again. “Sit on my fucking face,” he growled. You saw the fire in his eyes as he said so. “Are you sure?,” you asked him.

“Yes”

You straddled his face and he didn’t wait. He went at it, desperately this time. You moaned as your legs shook. You didn’t just want to sit there and feel stimulation. Noticing the bulge growing in his suit, you grabbed his zipper and pulled it all the way down. You pulled down his boxers and his hard member sprung out. You stroked him gently and spat on his cock. You heard his muffled voice grunt, finally deciding to blow him. “Oh, fuck,” he moaned, his nails digging into your thighs. He thrust upward as you enjoyed him even more. This wasn’t your first time, but it was the first time it felt so good. You stopped riding his face and lay down. He took off his entire suit and boxers, positioning himself between your legs. You’d given a blowjob before, but never actually had sex. You wanted it so bad. He pulled out a condom, slipping it on. As he did, you wondered where he managed to get one. He teased you with his cock in hand, pushing only his tip in, making you whine.

“Oh, you’re so wet”

He shoved in, stretching you out. “Fuck me,” you cried,“Please.. fuck me so hard”. He thrust into you hard, just as you had asked. It hurt for a minute. You shook, attempting to overcome the pain. Kazuichi gasped, feeling your pussy spasm around him. “H-Hey, are you okay?,” he asked. You nodded, your eyes watering; the sensation was overwhelming and in a really good way. His cock grew harder inside you, twitching. His thrusts were rhythmic at first. You can tell he was holding back, he didn’t want to hurt you. He wasn’t hitting your spot like before, so you wanted to help. “Baby, i-it’s not- fuck!”.

“I know, I know. Let me just-”

His hips went from a direct thrust motion, to motion as if his hips were scooping upward. You arched your back as he hit deeper and deeper. “Oh, you like that, don’t you?”. You moaned a little louder, covering your mouth as you were embarrassed and afraid someone would hear what went on in your room. He fucked you harder and asked,“Why don’t you scream for me baby?”.

“Someone’ll hear us-”

“Rooms are soundproof, be as loud as wanna be”

With that, you begged him to fuck you harder. He lifted your legs over his shoulders. His trusts were so sloppy, so messy it hit all areas of your walls, tightening around him. Your eyes rolled back, near frothing at the mouth. “H-ah! I needed this!,” you cried. You put your legs to his sides, grabbing him by the throat and shoving your tongue into his mouth. He moaned when you did, your grip on his throat tightening. The asphyxiation only further excited his cock.

You felt the butterflies in your stomach grow, you knew you were close. “Hh-oh, God, I’m gonna cum,” he groaned. Your kisses grew more aggressive as you wrapped your legs around him, pushing his pelvis deeper into you. “Harder, please,” you whined. He nodded, pounding you mercilessly. Once again, you choked him, dominating him with your kisses. Your pussy tightened around him. You bit him, feeling his dick twitch again. He was shaking and gasped, shooting his load into his condom. He collapsed on top of you, pulling out of your dripping pussy. “Oh my god...,” You sighed wrapping your arms around his neck, playing with his pink locks. His head lay on your chest and his arms were wrapped around your waist all tight.

“I’m sleepy”

You smiled and kissed him. “Thennnn... sleep?”. He shook his head. “We just had really good sex imagine if I go to sleep after that?”. You snickered, making a deal with him. “Fine,” you said,“I’ll forgive it if you hop into the shower with me”. He got up so fast.

“Say no more, princess. Let’s go”

Afterward, you gave him a place in bed, snuggling up with him the throughout the night.

Third person POV

The next morning, Hajime walked out of his dorm. He thought to check up on Kazuichi, seeing how abrupt he left the party last night. He knocked on his door, waiting. Oddly enough, there was no response. Hajime looked around, noticing someone in the distance. There he was, Kazuichi, walking out of a girl’s cabin? Now, the cabin belonging to none other than Y/N! He saw them laughing by her door, Kazuichi smacking her ass as she walked in front of him. Hajime backed up fast, hoping he wouldn’t be seen. He then noticed that they were not headed to the Hotel Restaurant. Now, it was starting to get strange and he had to tell the others. Once they weren’t in sight, he ran to the stairs then all the way up.

“Someone’s late”

Hiyoko stared at him. Hajime, out of breath, shook his head. “Don’t be too hard on him,” Nagito said sympathetically,“It looks like he had something to say”. “Well, I was gonna say something first,” Hiyoko was defensive as she cleared her throat,“I think rather than worry about the next blackened, we should worry about who’s fucking is gonna keep us up at night because I could barely sleep”. “Fucking? You mean, like, I don’t know... sex??,” Hajime asked. The girl’s nodded. “See, last night,” Sonia began,“None of us could get any sleep due to such erotic noises that went on till early in the morning. “Ah, yes,” Nagito said so casually,“Then I do know what you’re referring to”. Hajime decided to bring up what he’d seen.

“Kazuichi walked out of Y/N’s cabin this morning”

Everyone was paying attention now. “Oh my god???,” Hiyoko yelled. “There could be an explanation to that, y’know?,” Mikan whispered. “There’s only one explanation when you see him groping her and he doesn’t get punched”. Suddenly, two people stepped in. “So sorry we’re late,” Kazuichi said,“Y/N needed help..with...a busted pipe!”. “Aren’t you the Ultimate Mechanic? I never heard plumber,” Hiyoko scoffed.

“I do it all. Tinkering with stuff here and there”

“Right”

Kazuichi sat down, Y/N sitting at a completely different table. “So,” Nagito began,“That was quite the eventful night, right, Soda?”. Everyone looked around, having thought they had a world-less mutual agreement that it would be avoided as much as possible. “You mean with Gundham? I already tried apologizing, but-”.

“No, this isn’t about Gundham. This is about last night, last night”

“Nagito, what the fuck are you talking about?”

Nagito laughed, his hand motioning that he gives up and thats he’s over it. Gundham bit his lip, wanting to say something, eventually it came out. “Soda,” he whispered. “Yeah?”.

“You know for a room to be completely sound proof, not a single door or window should be open, right?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Go outside and let me know if Y/N’s window was closed last night”

It finally struck him. His face instantly became flustered. “Oh,” he mumbled,“You guys heard all that?”. Everyone nodded. “Don’t be embarrassed,” Nagito attempted comfort,“If its in any consolation, it sounded like it was good. Hell, even I’m a little jealous”. Y/N still had no idea. That was the case until Sonia had talked to her. “So, Y/N,” she sat down by her,“Are you and Kazuichi together?”.

“Why would you think that?”

“Well, last night we all heard, um, something”

“Huh?”

“Well, it’s not that serious, but I do have a question”

“Yeah?”

“The rooms are soundproof, right? Well, are you sure you didn’t leave a door or a window open or something?”

Y/N choked on her own air. “H-How much did you hear?”. Sonia smiled nervously, laughing in a tone that was just as anxious. “Um, everything?”. Y/N put her hands over her face and screamed. Kazuichi approached her and kissed the back of her neck. “So, you fucked and that’s it?,” Hiyoko asked,“Like, nothing comes next?”. Before Y/N could answer, Kazuichi butt in. “T-That’s not true! I’ll take good care of Y/N and I’m gonna love her forever!”. He rushed his lips to Y/N’s, making her gasp. The tension and temperature grew within the room, as Kazuichi promised he wouldn’t let a thing hurt her.

[ninjakasuga]

Sonally Celebration Week! Year Three, Day Six: Rescue

Sonally Celebration Week, Year Three, Day Six: Rescue

Day six, and admittedly the toughest piece to write since well, action scenes require more finesse than a domestic/slice of life story. The journey continues, and since my main focus mostly centers on Sonic and Sally’s post Robotnik/Eggman war peace time lives, I like to flex different events when the prompts give way to good inspiration. When one has to do with rescuing, well, let’s just say, if you’re dumb enough to harm someone’s children, woe comes to you in waves.

Day Six: Rescue.

It was supposed to have been a nice, pleasant day. Go to Spagonia with your big bro and his wife, enjoy flying in a fancy transport ship. While Sonic and Sally do the diplomatic thing, Sonia and Manic would watch J.C. and Kathy as they got to enjoy the city. See the sights, enjoy some ice cream and crepes from the city vendors, and just have a good old time! However, it wasn’t to last, the day was ruined when the sound of their ‘secret tail’ security guards crying out after being, well truthfully Sonia didn’t get to hear what exactly happened to their bodyguards (she hoped they were alive). All she heard was some muffled noise; some people screaming, and suddenly a van rolled up, and people in masks and jumpsuits grabbed and knocked them all out.

After coming too, she woke up to a bag over her head, only to have it torn off, and bright lights flashing in her face. A camera was aimed at them as some jerkoff using a voice-modulating helmet to obscure his identity was making some long list of demands and basically laid out they were collateral if those demands were not met. She tried to make everything out, but she was still groggy from waking up from whatever they used to knock her out. Manic was no better when she asked him if he gleaned anything she missed, sadly he was as groggy as she had been. She knew better than to ask the kids, clearly the six-year-olds were ‘terrified’ and wanted nothing more than to go home and jump into their parents arms.

Hell, the sixteen year old herself wanted to hug her parents just as badly. After that song and dance with the camera, all four were dragged to this cell of sorts, and left there with a guard detail. Whatever they wanted, they seemed to be serious, or at least wanted to come off that way. Her keen eye noticed some of their guards seemed unsettled. Like they were not keen they had kidnapped children. Maybe she, or Manic could use that? A little of the ol’ duo-charm to-.

“Auntie Sonia?” The small, childish voice snapped the older hedgehog out of her thoughts. Instantly her head snapped to the small child resting in her lap.

Forcing a calm smile, Sonia gently petted Kathleen’s soft auburn hair, which had blue tips at the end. Many thought it was dyed, but it was merely something that seemed to happen to both children, who inherited their Mother’s auburn tresses. Yet at the tips, bits of blue would form over time. No doubt the stubbornness of her big brother’s genes at work. Just hand to mingle with Sally’s.

“What’s up kiddo?” She asked her niece as she continued to stroke her head, and did her best to seem calm and collected. She and Manic were the adults here, they needed to be strong for these precious babies.

Green eyes look up, then over to the cell door, then back to Sonia’s own. “I wanna go home.” A simple request, but what child wouldn’t want to go home with this kind of situation abound? “Why do these guys wanna be mean to Mommy and Daddy?”

Another voice spoke up, the disdain high and snark on full. “Cuz they’re- and I quote.” Manic Hedgehog interjected, keeping his voice calm, and then upping the volume as he aimed his words at their guard. “A BUNCHA COWARDS WHO RESORT TO KIDNAPPING KIDS!!” He shouted with full malice at their captors, which made both children recoil, and his sister wince.

“Manic!” Hissed Sonia as she reached out and yanked at his ear. “Stop it! You’re just making it harder for J.C. and Kathy!” She growled at her brother, her eyes going to the door to their cell and sure enough their masked guard had turned to regard them. Thankfully he just turned away and went back to guarding.

“Well these bozos need to know what kind of d*ckless, wussies they are!” Retorted Manic, the green-dyed-furred hedgehog with a growl in his voice. Usually Manic was chill, and easy-going with a touch of mischief. He was running red right now, his niece, nephew and sister being put in danger can do that to someone. “Plus they’re f*cking idiots!”

“Manic, language!” Sonia chastised further as she covered his mouth with a hand. “Not that I disagree with you, but is antagonizing our captors the wisest idea?!”

Removing her hand from his mouth, Manic let out a dismissive snort. Yet his gaze softened some as he saw the kids were looking antsy again. “Maybe not, but seriously what kind of idiots kidnaps the Prince and Princess of a Kingdom? I mean, you want a war? Plus think of their parents, heroes of the war against the Big Robo and Big Eggy! I mean that’s a recipe for doom more than my Taco Tuesday Blowout Cookout.” The food wasn’t the issue, so much as the aftermath, but worth it in Manic’s eyes.

A small rumbling was heard and J.C. blushed as eyes rested on him. “...I’m hungry, and Uncle Manic makes great tacos.” He managed a smile, despite clearly still being scared.”

“Heheh, once we get out I’ll make us all some.” Manic promised as he lovingly scratched the back of his nephew’s ears. He did the same for Kathleen, not wanting her to feel left out. “Also, sorry about the yelling and language, I’m just pis-er-pointedly angry at the bad guys.”

“We’re ‘not’ the bad guys.” Their guard finally spoke, snorting loudly. The way he seemed to clutch his weapon and his covered tail (they seemed intent to make it hard to guess their species) twitch and move, hinted at his anger at such an accusation.

Despite having just chastised Manic for antagonizing their captors; Sonia found herself unable to not engage them. “Not from where we’re standing. Uncouth as my brother put it, he called it right. Nobody who kidnaps children are the good guys.”

“We’re not going to harm you, we’re just sending a message.” His steadfast tone, carried a firmness of whatever convictions he carried about their unknown ‘cause’.

“What sort of message? We’re kidnapping your kids, so we invite you to come kick our butts? Seriously, what else do you expect?” Sonia inquired, keeping her tone polite, hoping perhaps this guard might spill some kernel of information they could use. Then a thought occurred to her. “What happened to the bodyguards watching us? I heard them cry out, did you capture them too or did you kill them?”

“We shot them, but we didn’t shoot to kill.” The guard callously responded. “They should live.”

“Do you know that for a fact? Even a crippling gunshot can lead to death if they bleed out before they get help or the injury causes the right amount of trauma. I heard multiple muffled sounds… If they got shot multiple times that increases the chances they didn’t make it.” The magenta-dyed hedgehog stated with cold, medical fact. “They also had families, so nice job dipwad, you possibly widowed and orphaned two families.” It was petty, but seeing his body language shift and just slightly shake before firming back up gave Sonia a sense of satisfaction. “You could have used stun-blasters.”

The guard hissed back his reply, but she could tell he was trying to justify his words to himself. “You can’t silence stun-blasters.”

Rolling his eyes, Manic decided to chime in. “So you bozos prioritized not making noise, over making your little power grab as bloodless as possible.”

“If they die, our leaders will make it right, all of this has a purpose! It’s to make things better-!”

It wasn’t Sonia or Manic that cut the man off, but J.C.’s small but clearly angry voice. “So making Mr. Hunigan and Mrs. Fletcher dead is alright when you say so?” The boy’s fists clenched tightly. “They were nice people, and we know their kids, they’re our friends… you took their Dad n’ Mom from them you-you, j-jerk!”

“Gee, even the six year old can see it clear as day.” Sonia icily sneered at their captor, scooting closer she slid both her arms around her family and kept them close.

“Mommy, sh-she and Daddy are gonna find us.” Kathleen managed to speak up, wiping her eyes, like her brother managed the most fearsome glare she could. “They’ll find us and kick your butts! They’re heroes, they always save the day!”

Turning, the guard’s helmet, visor and cloth covering their mouth obscured whatever Mobian species they were. “Your parents are part of the problem! If not for the Acorn Kingdom’s meddling along with the other outsider nations, we wouldn’t need to do this!”

“Only meanies justify their actions by blaming others!” Humphed the young princess as she turned her head away, as if to utterly disregard her captor. Oh Sonia and Manic’s heart swelled.

“I gotta agree with Kathy here, sounds like blame-gaming here-.” Manic mused, only to be cut off by their clearly irate captor.

“If they hadn’t meddled with the trade tariffs making exporting goods harder, not to mention their invasive meddling with our affiliate cities-!”

A lightbulb went off in Sonia’s head. “Wait, wait, time out!” She put her hands together in the referee gesture to hopefully get a word in. “You guys are blaming them for the trade issues and the Acorn Kingdom’s presence in your sister cities? Um, dude, hoo boy, you are probably being played by whoever your leaders are.”

“Bite your tongue-!” “Okay you know what, screw that, and kids I’m sorry but-.” After giving her niece and nephew an apologetic look, she quickly sent her captor a fiery glare. “First off, F*CK you! Second, the Kingdom sent delegations to those cities BY REQUEST! The mayors asked for aid in looking into some oddities with exports from Spagonia going in and out because they realized something was hinky with the weird laws and micro-managing coming out of Spagonia’s Trade & Commerce Ministry. Any of your Minister’s calling the investigations meddling or preludes to occupation are trying to play the dodge game moron! Second of all, the tariff problem? I shouldn’t say this, but I love talking shop with my sis-in-law, and boy a lot of the issues stem from how they were set up, like someone ‘wanted’ the tariffs to cause issues and sow discord. It’s a big political set-up but my big-brained Sis likes big-brained chess and she’s onto some corruption from within Spagonia’s Trade & Commerce Ministry.”

She watched as the guard looked uneasy, and his compatriot to the far way seemed to be listening in as well and had lowered his weapon some. “That, that can’t be possible.”

Footsteps could be heard as another similarly dressed guard walked into view of the first one. “Ignore them comrade, they’re trying to unnerve you.” “What if it’s true our leaders are lying to us? Given who some of them are-.” “Shut your mouth before you give anything away!” The other, more burly guard hissed as he raised a gloved hand, poised to smack his comrade if he didn’t do as he said. With his associate cowed, he turned to the cell and pointed his weapon. “Shut your mouths or I might just have to shut it for you.”

Manic moved in front of his sister, nephew and niece, arms out. “Touch them buddy, and you and I are gonna tussle!”

“Uncle Manny don’t!” “D-don’t get hurt!” “Manny…” Sonia held the children close, but tried to soothe her brother. “Don’t, they’re clearly too deluded to listen.”

“You will see it is you who is delusional!” The burly captor spoke, with a zeal of a true-believer. “Once it’s clear your Queen and your treacherous nation are outed as the villains they are, things will become bet-.”

Suddenly the entire room rumbled, and the sound of muffled shouts, and fighting could be heard in the other room. All their captors turned toward the metal door just out of view of Sonia, Manic and the children. Suddenly the door flies off its hinges, slamming into the far guard who cried out in pain and terror as they are taken out. A familiar ‘rev up’ sound is heard and then a blue blur slams into the burly captor sending him flying. As the sounds of fists fly, another far off captor raises their weapon, only for the sound of jets to get clouder and a familiar southern drawl is heard shouting. “TAKE A NAP YA’ CREEP!” A blaster bolt is heard firing off screen. Soon a blue energy blast hits the captor, causing them to drop their weapon as the stun-bolt freezes their whole body. As another guard attempts to fight, the flying Rabbot zooms him and body-tackles the would-be-attacker, a loud, thick ‘crunch’ of metal hitting flesh is heard. Clearly a one-hit-KO.

The original guard readies their weapon, trying to pick a target, clearly panicking. “Ho-hold or I’ll shoot!”

*KER-SLICE!!*

Their weapon is cleaved in two, falling from their hands, and in the next half-second, the tip of the weapon responsible is held at their throat. This man finds himself looking into the very, angry blue eyes of the Queen of the Acorn Kingdom herself, Sally Acorn. Wielding an ornate sword with the crest of her family on the hilt, and ornate lines etched into the blade. For a second the guard swore the weapon’s blade glowed for a moment, but whatever the case, it was clear the Sword of Acorns (reforged and imbued with Sally’s residue Super energy) was capable of cutting quite nicely.

Her voice was ever commanding, calm and serene, yet deadly and potent. She was clearly angry, but using said anger as a laser-focused weapon instead of being consumed by it. For now.

“You will let my babies and my younger siblings out of that cell. Now, no questions. If you so much as dare do anything but I ask, you will regret it. Do not force me to spill blood before my children, because you WILL live to regret it.” She vowed.

“N’ she ain’t the only one you need ta’ worry about.” Uttered Bunnie Rabbot, as she got up from pummeling her foe into unconsciousness. She flexed both of her cybernetic arms which transformed into blaster mode on the right, and nasty energy axe on the left. “You further threaten my God-Children or Manny and Sonia’s well-being. I might just forget I’m a Southern Lady.” While plain and frank, there was a menace in her eyes mirroring Sally’s, and the hum of her weapons furthered showed she was not playing games.

A small ‘boom’ and a flash of blue from across the room, and the guard found Sonic the Hedgehog on the other side of him, arms crossed, and foot tapping rapidly. “Door, open, my kids and siblings safely in arms, now!’ He didn’t bother making threats, he didn’t need to.

The guard simply let out a pathetic sound, wet himself and passed out onto the floor.

Without a word, Sonic dug at their belt, found the key and quickly as he could unlocked the cell door, and threw it open. All anger, and intimidation left his face (as well as Sally and Bunnie who put away their weapons) as the look of a worried parent and brother overcame all else. “Are you four okay?! Did they hurt you any-?!” “DADDY, MOMMY!!” Instantly Kathleen, and J.C. dashed into the arms of their Father, with their Mother soon joining in the hug, checking them over.

“Oh my babies!” Sally clutched her family tightly, kissing the children all over their faces and tops of their heads, as she checked them for injuries. “It’s okay now, Daddy and Mommy are here, oh God I’m so sorry this happened, that we weren’t there to stop you from being taken.” She babbled, as the kept-in-check emotions burst from the dam she erected to focus on the rescue.

“We’re sorry, we’re sorry…” Sonic murmured, his heart still racing even with all his joy held firmly in his arms. Lifting his gaze, tear-stained he looked to his siblings worriedly. “How’re you two holding up? They didn’t hurt any of you did they?”

“Nah, they just… dragged us around at most.” Manic shrugged, but was clearly relieved this whole thing was over. As he stood he found his legs shaking, and leaned against his equally leg-shakey sister. “All that said, glad you guys found us so soon.” Moving closer, Bunnie shifted her arms, what was metal now, began to flash with energy and seemingly disassemble back to flesh and blood. The wonders of bio-nanite tech. Once her arms were organic again she pulled the two hedgehog siblings into a hug. “Sorry we didn’t get here sooner sugah, but we had to basically strong-arm some of the Spagonia government to give us the okay to act. Though once Sally n’ Sonic scared these bozos' supposed leaders into talkin’ they squealed like- well sumthin I can’t say within earshot of kiddos.”

Sonia let herself chuckle, relief and a sense of security flooding her being as she leaned into the hug. “So, lemme guess, the Trade Minister and his flunkies were the culprits?”

“Yeah, I mean we were gonna confront em’ with the evidence Nicole uncovered, but you all bein’ taken kinda forced our hands.” Bunnie further explained as she scratched the back of their ears soothingly. “U-Uncle Manny and Auntie Sonia, looked after us, we’re okay…” J.C. managed to speak once his throat wasn’t sore from crying (this time from happiness).

“Hmm-hmm, they’re the best as always!” Kathleen agreed, sniffling and wiping her eyes as she remained cocooned by her parents and brother.

Smiling, Sonic reached over and managed to give each of his younger siblings an affectionate arm-punch. “Somehow I knew they’d have it under control.” Well more hoped, but he didn’t want to devalue his sibling’s efforts. No if anything he wanted them to ride the pride of keeping themselves and the kids safe.

“Lucky for us, as Sonia called it, these guys were morons. Dangerous ones, but morons.” The green-furred hedgehog blew out a breath, and then he recalled something. “Um, ah, how’re Agent Fletcher and Hunigan?”

“Alive.” Sally replied, still nuzzling her children, still unwilling to let them go. Her own heartbeat was finally starting to calm down and the adrenaline high was crashing. “They were hurt badly, but both are tenacious and they got help just in time. They might have to retire from active duty early but we’ll be sure they’ll be looked after, their families too.”

“Oh thank goodness!” The two teens, and the younger children exclaimed, as joy at the news eased their hearts from the dread they felt prior.

Footsteps could be heard approaching, but the boot clomps’ were familiar. So no one tensed or got ready for another fight. Especially once Captain of the Royal Guard, Antoine D’Coolette emerged, wiping his sword blade clean with a cloth before sheathing it into its scabbard. “My Queen, ze fools have been disarmed, and rounded up. As you requested, we managed to take them all alive, if injured.” After a beat, he contemplated making a joke about some being ‘literally’ disarmed, but with the children there, he decided against it. “How are ze young ones?” He asked, decorum giving way to concerned God-Father, and as a fellow parent.

“Thankfully unhurt Sugah-Twan.” His wife replied, flashing a smile his way. “Where’s Tangle n’ Whisper?”

“Helping out Tails to ensure we didn’t miss anyone and secure the location.” Informed Antoine as he walked over, making sure all were fine, if to soothe his own fretful nature. They also will wish to zee’ that our rescuee’s are le’fine.”

Sniffing away the last of her tears, Kathleen looked up at her Mother. “Uncle Tails came too? I thought he was testing his new plane in the South Seas?”

“Once he heard the news, he jetted over as fast as he could and offered to help.” replied Sonic with a wide smirk of pride and relief for his ‘not-so-little’ bro. “Family sticks together, and well you guys are as much family as his own. Which by the way, I’m sure Tails will wanna set up a face-chat so Mina can see you’re all fine.”

“She is very fond of her biggest fans.” Chuckled Sally, who internally still found it ‘very’ weird, that Tails and Mina Mongoose hooked up. Their age gap wasn’t too bad, and clearly whatever happened to bring about their dating didn’t occur until Tais was eighteen/nineteen-ish. Then again he clearly had a thing for older women, at least his choices after Fiona Fox were an improved taste. As long as Mina was good to Tails, that was all she cared about, and they did seem like a good couple. Still weird but that was on her.

“Can we leave now?” J.C. asked softly looking up at both his parents hopefully.

“You got it son, we’ll juice n’ jam out of here and get you guys some food and tucked in for the night.”

“Can we have a sleepover in the hotel suite? Like all of us with blankets on the floor and pillows nests?” Asked Kathleen with big, hopefully eyes. A look her brother mirrored and nodded to her suggestion.

“Yeah, can we have a sleepover?!” Manic echoed, doing his best impersonation of the look.

“I don’t see why not, if everyone else is on board.” “Wouldn’t be hard for us all to fit in, big ol’ space, and like you could ask us to stay away after today.” Bunnie voiced her opinion with a warm smile at the children. Giving them assurance she was on board.

“Like the saying goes, the more the merrier.” Antoine stated to voice his blessing. “Plus I’m sure Bunnie and my own angels would love the idea as they too were worried about you four. As was your Nanny Miss Cream.” The coyote gently ruffled the hair of the two youngsters, his mind drifting to his children two years their senior. Yes, if they had been through this, he’d gladly acquiesce any whimsy they wanted within reason, and a sleepover to help soothe their nerves? A piece of cake.

Kathleen’s face fell as childish concern flooded her mind. “Oh no, that’s right, we were supposed to meet Jacque, Belle and Miss Cream after lunch…” “Hey they know we didn’t stand 'em’ up by choice.” Manic interjected as he flashed a smile and reached over to ruffle his niece’s cheek tufts.

“Let’s blow this pop stand, I want a hot bath, lots of bubbles and all the cheese cake…” Sonia muttered, feeling her own adrenaline rush and the weight of the whole ordeal finally sapping her energy.

“I hear that, let’s go home everyone.

[honeyandhondewberries]

Fake dating au w Leon plsss

alrighty confession time even though i write fanfics almost for a living now i’ve never actually read a fake dating au hurk so hopefully this fits the bill of what you want?? mayhaps a fresh set of eyes into the dating au world will be refreshing to you, dear anon. OR maybe it’s just like all the rest?? you decide 😎

~~

Should We Kiss? (LeonxReader)

“Should we hold hands?” you whisper to Leon. 

He nods quickly, brushes his fingers against yours, between yours, hesitates for a second, then laces them together. Your fingers are barely hooked together, loose enough so your palms bump as you walk. You try to discreetly clear your throat, as if to expel these strange feelings inside you, as you walk hand-in-hand with your best mate through downtown Wyndon.

This isn’t a normal occurance for you, not in the slightest, you holding hands with Leon. You had never in your life thought about it until he came to you a few days ago with the strangest request. He had barged into your apartment as he usually does (despite your insistence that he knocks like a normal person), but his frazzled expression left no room for scolding.

“I need your help,” Leon had spluttered as he raced to you on your couch. He didn’t even close the door, but he was talking too quickly for you to even get a word in about it. “You know that magazine in Sinnoh, the one that’s raunchy but is super popular with that editor in chief who’s also that photographer and also that column writer and also that designer?”

“Uh,” you had grunted. “Maybe?”

“You know the one who does all of those risque photoshoots with Pokemon and gym leaders in Sinnoh but recently they’ve been expanding to other regions to try and get suggestive photos of all the leaders and people in the league and stuff?”

“I… I guess?”

“Well she keeps contacting my agent and won’t take no for an answer but I don’t want to do any suggestive photos for her rubbish magazine because I’ve got a good reputation of being family friendly and I don’t want Hop or my mum to see me in pictures like that but she somehow got my number and keeps calling and leaving weird voicemails and I think she actually wants me beyond like just for photoshoots and stuff but I don’t want to talk to her and I don’t know how to get her to stop.”

You blinked a few times. You opened your mouth, closed it, opened it again, and when it seemed Leon had finished his explanation, you motioned for him to sit on the couch. He sat beside you, but his wide eyes were still searching yours, as if by staring hard enough, the strange and uncomfortable Sinnoh editor-in-chief designer lady would stop propositioning him.

“What can I do?” you asked, since that’s all you could think of to ask at the time.

And that is what led you to where you are now: holding hands with Leon in downtown Wyndon. You’re not sure why something is pulling in your stomach as he bumps shoulders with you - you’ve bumped shoulders before. You’ve walked closely before. You’ve never held hands before, though, and it seems your body doesn’t know how to respond.

He had mentioned that Sinnoh designer would leave him alone if he were dating someone, you asked who he’d even want to date, he said he didn’t know, so you, being the good friend you are, had offered your services. Leon had perked right back up - no one would suspect a thing! You’re together all the time anyway, and if Leon were romantically involved with someone, perhaps that lady would back off.

It was working, so far, and it only took one post on his social media with him kissing your cheek for her risque voicemails to stop.

It also meant, however, that a blast of texts, calls, and comments from his family, friends, and Rose himself started pouring in.

You and Leon had explained yourselves well enough to everyone, and it mostly took a few sentences of clarification. It seemed everyone was already aware of the Sinnoh designer, and after getting your insurance that it was all just pretend and you’d ‘break up’ soon anyway, everyone went happily on their way. There were a few bumps in the road (particularly when you both told Sonia and Raihan), since they both glanced at each other, raised an eyebrow, then for some reason Leon couldn’t stop stuttering. 

“Maybe we could get lunch,” Leon offers, and you nod vigorously. “At a public place, so everyone sees.”

“Good idea,” you say, and you begin scanning the shopfronts. Leon is already pulling you along somewhere, and before you know it, you’re stepping into your favorite restaurant. How did he know that? Perhaps just because you’re best mates.

You pick a booth that’s public enough, yet private enough, and Leon doesn’t bother looking at the menu. He mentions you should share your meal since that’s a thing that couples do, and you agree. He mentions he should feed you a bite, and after a bit of blushing on your end, you let him. It makes you squirm, how he stares into your eyes, how he rests his cheek on his fist when he holds the fork out to you. He’s definitely a good actor - anyone passing by would probably say he’s even in love with you.

That’d be silly though, since this is all just a favor, just pretend.

He tries to pay, you insist you pay, and you bicker while the waitress awkwardly waits for you both to decide. Leon insists that since it was his idea for a date, he gets to pay. You pout for a moment and let him, just like a partner would. While he chats with the waitress, you wonder why your heart flutters at the word ‘date,’ and why you can’t get that image of Leon’s eyes out of your brain.

After being out in public enough, you and Leon head back to your apartment. He’s holding your hand again, though instead of loosely tangled fingers, your hand is secure in his, and he even rubs his thumb over yours.

You wonder why you like that motion so much.

When you make it to your apartment you flop onto your couch. Leon is chatting with you again, just as you normally would as friends since you’re not in public, but you can’t get an itch out of your mind. If that designer comes back, she might want more ‘proof’... You bite your lip anxiously.

“What’s up?” Leon asks. Why are you now so much more aware of the color of his eyes? “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” you mutter. “It’s… it’s nothing, it’s stupid.”

“C’mon,” he teases. “We’re dating now, you can tell your boyfriend anything. Well, I mean you could tell me anything before too, but even more so now.”

You wring your hands together. It’s a stupid request, much too embarrassing, too. Leon pokes and he prods, until you swat his hand away.

“Okay,” you huff. “I was just…. Thinking…. We should practice… you know…”

Leon raises an eyebrow.

“...kissing.”

Leon raises both eyebrows.

“J-just so it looks natural if we have to in public!” you splutter. “I don’t think people would buy it if you were the type of guy to only kiss in private, s-so I was just… thinking…”

Leon is still staring.

“We don’t have to!” you blurt again. His silent shock is making your heart thump - augh, you knew you shouldn’t have said anything. Nonetheless, you try to save yourself from the hole you’re digging. “I just thought if that designer lady comes back she wouldn’t believe we were dating until we kissed in public at some point! But we can’t make it look like an awkward first kiss!”

Leon is frozen in place, staring at you, and you bite your lip when he finally breathes a response.

“Yeah,” he whispers. He seems a little dazed, for some reason. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“Okay,” you say. “Okay, yeah… so… um.”

“Right, right,” Leon says as he shakes his head into focus. He adjusts how he’s sitting on the couch, you stand, then straddle his hips. You settle yourself into his lap, and Leon’s eyebrows raise again. You quickly jerk back.

“I-I, sorry!” you stutter. “You just, you moved so I… I um…”

“No, no this is fine!” Leon blurts in return. When you motion to slide off his lap he quickly grabs your hips to pull you back. “This is fine, it’s more realistic.”

“Yeah,” you say. His hands are resting on your hips, though it seems he’s not sure where to put them. He trails to your thighs, just for his fingers to twitch, and he curves around your hips again. “Yeah that’s true.”

“So, um,” Leon whispers. His brow is furrowed as he scans your face, and he’s still trying to figure out where to put his hands.

“Right,” you say. “Let’s… yeah, okay.”

Your conversation isn’t much of a conversation anymore, but rather awkward and embarrassed half-statements as you both adjust to you being on his lap. He’s finally settled his hands, and you lean in and inch. He leans in an inch, you lean in an inch, until you’re both a nose bump away. The tension in the air forces an awkward smile out of you, and the sight of your smile draws out a breathy laugh from Leon too.

“Okay,” you whisper. “So…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Leon breathes. “I’ll just…”

“Right,” you whisper, again unimpressed by this lack-of-conversation.

Leon’s eyes flick to yours, then down to your lips, and he leans in another inch. He gently presses his lips against yours, soft and sweet, and pulls back. It was a simple kiss, something small, closed-mouth and devoid of any heat, and yet it makes you giggle again. You can’t hide your awkward laugh, so you thunk your head onto Leon’s shoulder.

“What?” Leon asks, but now he’s laughing too because of how you can’t hide your embarrassment. “Was it bad?”

“No!” you say into his shirt. “It was weird! Kissing you is weird!”

“Weird how?” Leon retorts. “I’m a good kisser!”

“I don’t know,” you laugh again, and your groan is muffled by his shirt. “It was just weird.”

“Do you not want to practice again then?”

“Well no,” you mumble. “We still should because I can’t giggle like mad if we have to kiss in public.”

“Get it together,” Leon says, though his laugh is rumbling through you. He pulls your head off his shoulder and squishes your cheeks. “We can do this.”

“Yemphswecan,” you say with a serious nod, and Leon snorts. He pushes you off his lap and you slump to the couch like you were a bundle of laundry, and Leon crawls over to you. He’s laughing just as much as you are, and now his hair is draping over you as he threatens to squish your cheeks again. “Okay okay, I’m done, come kiss me.”

You’re not sure why your request shifts something in the air, but Leon’s giddy grin shifts into something softer, thoughtful almost, but definitely still bashful. Your eyes zigzag over his face, at how the corners of his mouth twitch, as if he’s still deciding on what this position means to him. 

He cups your face this time, leans in again, and still pauses. There’s less giggling, none at all, actually, as your eyes stay trained on his lips.

You’re not sure why he so gently brushes his thumb over your cheek, or why it blooms something deep in your stomach.

He kisses you again, a little longer this time, enough for you both to figure out how to move your lips in tandem. Soft sounds waft when he kisses you again, then again after that, as he adjusts himself on top of you. He’s pressing his chest against yours, and his weight is strangely soothing, though you can’t focus on it much when Leon opens his mouth just a sliver, just enough of an invitation for you to do the same.

Your single, chaste, closed-mouth kiss is shifting, growing longer and warmer as each second passes. Leon is curling closer, shifting his other hand to your waist, curving it under your back. You adjust slowly, arch your back to give his hand room between you and the couch cushion beneath you, and Leon almost melts against you. 

You’re not sure how long you’ve been practicing, but it’s gotten to the point where it’s hard to breathe. Leon is strangely in-sync with you, and you break off at the same time.

“A little longer?” he breathes, and you nod.

His next kiss is harder, tinged with heat, and you try to match it. His tongue slides across your bottom lip, and a squeak of shock slips out of your throat. Your cheeks are heating up, as is the rest of your body, when Leon starts kissing you harder, faster, and a little more desperately. You practice and you practice and you practice, long enough to where you’re both breathing hard, long enough to know exactly how to kiss Leon in a way that makes a moan slip.

He moves to your cheek, to your jaw, to your throat, kissing and sucking in a way that makes your heart pound. It isn’t until you let out a sigh, furrow your brow, and whisper his name, that he pauses.

“Leon,” you breathe.

He freezes, and after a second, he lifts his head to meet your gaze. His cheeks are flushed, his pupils dilated, then his expression melts into something bashful. He quickly crawls off of you and you both sit up, trying to discreetly catch your breath, but neither of you do a good job of hiding how dazed you are.

“Sorry,” Leon says as he breathes out a laugh. “I… uh… might’ve gotten carried away there at the end.”

“Yeah, yeah that’s okay. But did we… did we just…” you whisper. “...snog?”

“I think so,” Leon replies.

“We probably could again,” you whisper. “Just to be sure we’re good at it.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Leon whispers in return. “Just in case that Sinnoh lady gets suspicious.”

“Definitely.”

The Sinnoh designer never called back, but you and Leon figured you could ‘pretend’ date just a bit longer, just in case. You pretended to kiss each other in public, and you definitely pretended to kiss each other in private. You picked a few different spots to practice - your couch, his couch, on the floor, on your kitchen table, in his bed - you both certainly got much better at it, too. No one would ever suspect a thing.

[sakuraprompts]

Her laughter was beautiful. Like soft, sweet music he never thought somebody like himself would have the pleasure of hearing with the sort of life he lived.

And oh God, her smile.

The last thing Mondo expected was to be showered in such compliments by somebody like her. Sure, he'd had flings before. Girlfriends, even. But they were all some type of rugged like he was. Not that this was a bad thing, he just.. didn't know how to respond to such feminine charm as this. She looked so delicate, but there was a powerful fire in her eyes. He felt clumsy and awkward just being in her presence.

"M-Me?" He asked, genuinely astounded that somebody like Sonia could possibly be interested in someone as mediocre as him. If she wanted to know, he wasn't about to deny her though. He noticed his face felt warm and that.. he must have been blushing. Oh, God. Oh no.

He waved the bartender over again to refill Sonia's glass, sliding over some cash. Hopefully she would be distracted enough with her drink to not notice his pink cheeks.

"Eh, there's not a whole lot to tell. Nothin' you'd be interested in, I bet." He sighed, downing the remainder of his own drink and placing his empty glass back on the countertop. "But, if you really wanna know.. I'm the leader of a pretty well known biker gang around here. Used to belong to my bro, but I took over when he.." He paused for a beat as if to think for a moment before continuing. "When he retired."

Yeah, hopefully that explanation would do.

"I guess my biggest passion is just takin' care of my boys, y'know?" He laughed, a little nervously. "And motorcycles, of course."

The sudden touch from her foot almost made him jump, but when he looked in her eyes he felt a wave of calmness wash over him that made him melt.

Shit, he was in love.

"Yeah, that was kinda obvious." Mondo chuckled, taking a drink from the glass the bartender had just set in front of him. He nearly choked on it when she slipped out of the jacket and revealed just how overdressed she was for this seedy little hole in the wall. Thankfully he didn't.

"Not all of em', no." He couldn't help but laugh softly again at her inexperience. She was so clearly highly intelligent and very well educated but lacking in street smarts it seemed. "You just happened to stumble upon one. If you want, I can get you some directions to a place that's less.." he gestured around vaguely at the dim bar full of shady characters, some of which were finally going back to minding their own business. Still, too many of them were staring at Sonia for his liking. He would definitely have to walk her out of here to be sure she wasn't followed by some freak.

"So, uh.. if you don't mind me askin', whats your story?" He was genuinely curious about this woman. "You some mafia bosses daughter or somethin'?"

Maybe it was cliche, but it wasn't every day a beauty like her walked into a place like this.

[forbidding-souda]

sorry if this is a bit much but can i please request a female reader having a secret crush on souda & putting love letters into his locker? and then souda finds out its her and confesses? tysm!

Kazuichi Souda with fem! Reader that has a secret crush on him

Ya’ll are so creative this is so cute yes yes yes this is gonna get a lil cliche just bc it’s me and i’m outta pocket rn it’s 23:00 deal with me for now

I was gonna americanize it but I really wanted to go with my comfort of calling him Souda instead of Kazuichi - so on that note - does Hope’s Peak Academy have getabako’s????? Does anyone know??? Bc istg those kids wear their outside shoes in that academy.... maybe only the reserve course wears the indoor slippers LMAO.

Also btw am i the only one who liek??? Am I tripping or does my tumblr not notify me when my asks are answered? Bc when I checked the accounts of the people, my ask was posted, but I didn’t get a notification ya’ll am I tripping or.

-Mod Souda

Once again, you spend most of your class time with color pencils, coloring the edges of the paper you wrote on that morning. You shade in hearts, lollipops, and cute things of the sorts.

The writing, in perfect pen, just compliments him on the kind things about him. His beautiful smile, his joyful laugh... oh, just everything you love about him!

Even thinking about him makes your chest all fuzzy, plus a little twing of anxiety.

You have started putting love letters on his shoes in the getabako, which is a fine venting system to get your feelings out directly but anonymously, but when will you get tired of it? 

Putting your love letters in such a dirty area is disgusting on your behalf, too, but it’s better than risking it to try and put them on his desk.

It’s not going to satisfy your need for communication for much longer.

He’s also obsessed with Sonia, which isn’t a plus on your behalf. Just thinking about it gives you a headache. 

Souda, make it make sense!

You sigh through your nose once the bell rings. Pack up the color pencils and wait for him to put on his shoes and leave. That’s easy. 

Just like every other day.

He talks with Tanaka when he walks, passing your classroom. You distinguish his voice immediately.

It’s interesting, actually. The two of you have almost never talked. Well, maybe a bit.

You’re a nice friend of one of his classmates, so when you often get free time after school, you can sneak your way into the bunch.

Every conversation with him is ingrained into your memory. You couldn’t stop being amazed by him! His hair, his smile, his eyes. You complimented it all!

Now, you follow their voices down the hall, waving bye to your peers while slipping the note in your book bag.

Thoughts start to slip into your mind. What if he is going to start waiting by his getabako? Has he planted one of his friends to try and spy you out?

Maybe places them there isn’t safe anymore.

Or you’re just being overly suspicious. Jeez, this is all too overwhelming!

After putting on your shoes, you look over. His locker is void of people after all. 

Again, you put the note on his slippers before walking away.

How embarrassing.

The next morning, you wake up early to get ready for school. 

And then, you take time to start writing your love letter of the day.

Your mind seems to be occupied recently with Souda Kazuichi. Is that really healthy? 

Maybe you should start focusing on other things.

You should paint your nails. Yes, that’ll help!

What color does Souda like? He does like pink, doesn’t he? Pink will do then.

Sitting, with music playing softly in your house, you paint your nails a vibrant shade of pink while the sun begins to open up in the morning sky.

Being slow isn’t exactly your whole deal. So you were cautious enough to paint your nails after getting all ready. And with wet nails, you pack your halfway written letter and head out the door.

You blow on your nails the entire time there, whining once you notice the smudges on some of your fingers. Embarrassing! You should have spent more time to wait for them to dry. 

It doesn’t matter all that much anyways. Not like anyone will notice your nails.

Souda is putting on his shoes by the time you get there. Around the same time, how romantic.

You smile a bit.

“Hey, Y/N!” He greets. You take a short time to scan his person for the note. It’s tucked into his pocket, you can vaguely see. At least he has it.

“Good morning, Souda!” You wave to him.

He pauses for a moment. It draws you back a few steps. Is it not morning? Is that not his name? What did you say wrong?

“Did you paint your nails pink?” He asks, eyes wide with amusement.

That’s a relief. But also not. He wasn’t supposed to notice.

“Oh, yes I did, but I smudged them though so I’m not too happy about how they turned out.” Stepping close to him, you display your nails out.

“You did them this morning?”

Every part of you is nervous. What should you say? What can you even respond with? Will he think it’s weird?

“I had the time.” You just say before turning to but on your slippers. He smiles from behind your back.

In class, as usual, you spend your time decorating the card. And since you didn’t finish it in the morning, you even wrote some of the words in different colors! It looks cute, and it’s definitely a way to waste your time. Nothing really goes on in Hope’s Peak Academy. Who knew.

But eventually, after the school day, you put the letter on his shoes. Hopefully he isn’t cheating by waiting.

That always plagues your mind. But he wouldn’t do that.

The walk home is peaceful. The sky is cloudy again, and if you look up, it’s cellphone wires and a blueish grey hue. Not gloomy as always.

Maybe you’re just happy.

Happiness. It’s such a positive thing. A boy - that doesn’t even belong to you - is making you happy? It seems like such a timeless, fleeting thing.

Hopefully it can be permanent.

The morning comes again, where you eat breakfast and prepare for your day at the academy.

You stare at yourself a little longer in the mirror today. Would Souda like you? 

Your hands run down your shirt. Of course he would! You shouldn’t be so silly.

Packing up the daily note, you make your way to school again.

The sun peers down at you. That’s sweet. Brightening up your day.

It makes you laugh a little.

When you get to school, you don’t see him. He’s probably already in class.

You slip on your shoes before calmly walking towards your class.

Oh?

Souda stands, his arms crossed, looking anxious. 

You almost turn around.

Bye.

But he notices you quickly, his eyes lightening a bit. The deep fear in your gut doesn’t go away, only worsening as he steps closer to you. You’re frozen in place. Your feet have melted to the ground.

“H-Hey-”

“It’s you, isn’t it?” He almost looks excited.

“What?” Unbelievable.

“The notes... it’s you, right?”

Your cheeks start to heat. “Just tell me if you planted someone to wait for me to put them down. Is that how you figure it out? Jeez, I assumed you weren’t going to cheat like that!”

Every possible emotion swirls through his eyes for a second before settling on a soft smugness. He pulls out a letter from your pocket, and twisting it to show the back. “You smeared that pink nail polish on it.”

Honestly, you had assumed that had happened. It wasn’t a big deal until he noticed your nails that morning.

He continues, “But yes! I love the notes you give me, I was looking forward to them every day! I really think you’re cute, S/O... so do you want to go on a date with me... sometime maybe?” 

His confidence drizzles the more he went on.

Your heart levitates. It is like your entire body is surrounded by hearts.

“Oh, of course! That would be lovely!”

The two of you stand there, bewildered by each other. It’s quiet for a second.

“I - uhm... see you after school, then?” He suggests.

“That would be lovely, Souda.”

A blush forms on his face. “You can call me Kazuichi.”

[moonstars-marie]

I Found [2] - where goes the little fox?

Summary: Nadia journeys to the North in the Fjerdan Border with the Darkling’s personal guards while Kaz wonders about her whereabouts. (Many POV switches)

Warnings: Violence, blood, language

Word Count: 2399

Masterlist

I Found Series Masterlist

previous chapter / next chapter

a/n: no one asked for a part 2 but i’m still going to do it yayy!! and i don’t own the grishaverse except for nadia and her plot in the story.

important: this is owned by @moonstars-marie (which is technically me) and pls don’t copy my story, it’s considered plagarism and it’s disrespectful. someone pls notify me if the story is copied.

IN THE LITTLE PALACE, the Darkling had read the letter Nina had sent regarding a female Lightning Summoner in Novokribirsk and he had immediately sent Fedyor, Ivan and a healer to retrieve the girl by going around the Fold. He had told his Heartrenders to be careful around the Fjerdan border as that was where the Drüskelle resided. He would have to go and retrieve her himself to make sure there were no Grisha hunters to hurt her. He was pleased to know that the legend of a Lightning Summoner had come true and he finally had another solution for Ravka. He was planning to meet up with the party halfway in the North where a carriage was waiting for the Summoner to make sure nothing went wrong with the few oprichniki he had here with him.

He had been waiting for the Lightning Summoner, the legendary warrior, and now all he needed was a Sun Summoner to get rid of the Fold and end wars. Of course, he had to test her first and make sure she was the Lightning Summoner, but there was no way he could go and test her to Novokribirsk without his enemies on the other side wanting a war with him. He had to trust Nina enough that the girl she mentioned was the Lightning Summoner she thought and believed to be.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧☆☼☽ϟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

From the other side of the Fold, Nadia laid on the bed Nina had tucked her in. The young girl stirred a little before opening her eyes to see light coming out of the balcony windows. Her eyes wandered around the room and saw her katana at the foot of the bed, a light breeze going in the room from the open balcony door.

“Morning.” A voice beside her suddenly spoke up and Nadia was about to jump and grab her katana until she felt a searing burning pain from her thigh. She grunted in pain and clutched the leg. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to uh scare you.”

The girl felt her heart beating a little slower. Heartrender. She looked over to see a woman with light brown curls on top of her head, pulled by pins to stay in place and light blue eyes looking back at her with a soft smirk on her lips.

She tensed up and asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m Nina. And you should say you’re welcome for saving you.” The unknown female, who introduced herself as Nina, sassed to her.

“I had it.” Nadia grunted as her hands went back to her leg. Nina hummed sarcastically and stared at her leg which was under the blanket she had placed on the Shu girl.

“You should heal in a few days. The cut on your leg wasn’t bad, wasn’t deep or anything. A healer should be here to heal that, they should be here in a few.”

“How long have I been out?” Nadia asked.

“A few days, give it or take.” Nina replied back. She seemed to be organizing her clothes in her luggage.

“Thank you. For saving me.” Nadia said to the female softly, her gratitude showing. The Heartrender merely smiled and she took the young girl by her arm, helping her up and towards the table in the room that had bread and a few fruits for her. The young girl reached hesitantly towards the strawberries on the bowl and sniffed it carefully. It looked fine to her, but she was still cautious. Despite the nice gesture of patching her wound up and helping her and saving her, the girl didn’t know Nina well enough to trust her. She had to go back to Kaz, Jesper, and Inej. She needed to bring the jewellery she stole back to buy Inej off. Her bag.

“Do you know where my bag is?” Nadia asked her saviour.

“Over there and I didn’t look.” Nina gave her a knowing glance which Nadia blinked in surprise. The Shu girl reached over and rummaged through it to see the watches, rings and valuables she had stolen still there. Her letters to Kaz, Jesper and Inej were still there.

“Do you remember what happened?” Nina asked.

“I saw a bright light like lightning and it killed him.” She frowned as she saw the flashing images of the light she saw.

“Good.” Nina smiled, she remembered. “That was you.”

Nadia looked up at her in surprise, the frown on her pale face still there. “What?”

“I’m sure someone will explain everything to you.” Nina patted the girl’s shoulder. There was a knock on the door of the room. The Grisha female walked towards it and there was whispering that Nadia couldn’t hear as she was still processing.

“Your ride is here.” Nina smiled before helping the girl get up from her chair and they walked down towards the outside to see a group of disguised soldiers with horses. “You’ll be safe with them, I promise.”

She looked towards the Heartrender in confusion. She simply smiled at the girl in reassurance to keep her there.

“Can I at least get my katana?” Nadia asked Nina, she knew she couldn’t leave without her weapons. Nina sighed and looked towards Fedyor who nodded.

“I’ll get it—”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not completely useless.” Nadia sighed and limped towards the inn and walked upstairs, not paying attention to the burning pain on her leg. She had to power through the pain. Looking around the room she was just in, she grabbed Kaz’s letter and started writing to him on the back with the pencil she had with her.

Kaz

By the time you get this letter, I’ll be gone. But I’m fine and I’m safe. Tell Jesper and Inej that too. I promise, I’ll come back. The Crows are my family. You guys mean something to me, you bought me from the White Rose and I don’t think I could ever repay you for that. But someday I will when I get back to you, Jesper, and Inej. The jewels are still here in my bag if you haven’t seen it. One word: Grisha.

Nadia

She rolled the letter back into a scroll and caught sight of the golden crow head of her dagger and she felt joy to see one of her precious weapons and grabbed it. She grabbed her silver sequin blue scarf and wrapped it around her neck. She took the thigh holster of her dagger and wrapped it around on one of the leather straps of her saya. She took her katana and put it back in its sheath and she wore it on her back, the dagger was on her left shoulder and completely hidden by the blue scarf she wore. She took off one of her fox rings and slid it on the letter that was rolled for Kaz to read. If Kaz saw one of her rings, he’ll know about her and her whereabouts and stuffed it back in her bag where hopefully her boss will find it.

She could still fight, but she knew she was outnumbered out there and she was still injured. With a Heartrender and soldiers out in the front, she couldn’t fight them off despite her skill with a dagger and her katana.

Limping down towards where the Grisha were. They were still there waiting for her. She was helped on the back of the horse where she sat uncomfortably, especially the pain on her leg getting worse. Saints, she did not want to be another Kaz Brekker with her leg.

“My name is Fedyor and that’s Ivan.” The man with brown hair smiled at her and she was still tense. His accent was thick and his smile was soft.

Another guy on horseback was frowning with a stoic face. He didn’t seem happy at all. Or was never happy. A girl on another horseback on the other side of her and Fedyor smiled at her, the unknown girl’s toothy grin was white and bright.

“That’s Sonia.” Fedyor pointed to her. She approached Nadia and the Ravkan girl seemed to tense up again. The half Suli girl smiled softly in reassurance before she looked around and waved her hands in intricate and delicate movements. She felt the cut on her leg start to stitch together, the pain now gone and her realization kicked in. They were Grisha. She was definitely not getting out of this now that she was on a horse with them.

“Hold tight.” Fedyor smiled before taking off towards the North.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧☆☼☽ϟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Back in Ketterdam, Kaz looked over at the map on his wall. His blue eyes trailing towards Novokribirsk where he knew the little fox was. He hadn’t heard from her and she usually sent letters to Inej and Jesper and occasionally to him to update him on her missions, but no letters came from the Vixen of the Barrel.

He was getting worried and it was something Kaz Brekker did not like because he wasn’t usually like that at all. And that itself was worrying. He would have to ask Jesper at some point about Nadia to see if he received letters. He had already asked Inej from one of his meetings with her about anything in Ketterdam. She responded that she hadn’t gotten anything since a few days ago. Her letters had stopped altogether and he knew she always sent letters to inform him and the Crows about anything she found. It was usually everyday, not once a week.

Now it was all gone, not a word from the Vixen. Quiet, but it didn’t mean it was peaceful. More of a warning for Kaz, an alert.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧☆☼☽ϟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

From Nadia’s journey to the North, Fedyor smiled at the girl while Ivan looked outside of the carriage they were in, looking at the Oprichniki that his General had sent with them. Both wore their signature red keftas with black embroidery, marking them as Heartrenders. When Nadia looked outside from the window of the carriage, she saw the Healer that mended her cut together wearing a red kefta with silver embroidery. “You don’t know about the legend regarding the Sun Summoner?”

“I know, but last I checked I’m not a Sun Summoner.” Nadia frowned, shifting uncomfortably from her seat. Her scarf was still secure around her neck and still hiding the dagger.

“You aren’t, but you’re something more special.” Fedyor told the girl, leaning in. “They call you the warrior. The protector.”

It had been two days since she left Nina and Novokribirsk. Two days of her complaining as to where she was going. She couldn’t send a letter to any of the Crows and she was stuck with two Heartrenders surrounded by guards, travelling around the North. It was night now and she was still stuck in the damn carriage they had gotten in a day ago after reaching the Fjerdan border.

“Stop. Incoming. Enemies.” Someone yelled outside. Her two companions with her in the carriage became alerted and Ivan got out.

Fedyor turned to the girl, “Stay here please.” He smiled and took off, closing the door behind him.

“Hell like I will.” The girl muttered and went out with her katana and dagger still close to her body. She found a group of men around her waiting for her to get closer and attack her. An ambush.

She pulled out her katana and twirled it around gracefully. One of the hunters advanced towards her and she immediately swung her katana and sliced his arm, blood now adorning her silver weapon. She kicked him and he was down on the snow. Another advanced towards the side, but she sidestepped and kicked the back of his leg causing him to fall. She caught sight of one of the hunters having a whip-like trap and began to whip it towards her, the silver wolf with red ruby eyes at the end of each rope and she swung her sharp blade up, slicing the rope in the middle. She grabbed one of the broken ropes and ran towards another man. Using the rope as a cuff, she twisted it around his hands and pulled him down, tying it around his wrists to render him useless.

She ran to another and swung her katana to block his axe. She quickly grabbed her dagger and punctured it in his thigh and kicked him to the ground. Grabbing the dagger again and throwing it to another. The fight was quick and her jumping from one enemy to another with her leg healed from a few days ago. The stark white snow around her was adorning a dark red from the blood that was spilling from her enemies. She moved swiftly and gracefully with her sword, the weapon becoming a part of her, moving like one.

But she was caught off guard when a rope had seized her from swinging again and wrapped around her figure causing her to be defenseless. She saw the same silver wolf pendant. She knew the other Heartrenders she met and the Healer were out there with the guards fighting others. She tried to reach for her dagger that was on her left side of her chest. She felt a whip catch her ankle and she was slammed down on the snow with leg being dragged towards them. She grunted and tried to plant herself down, but she knew it was useless with her weighing lighter.

Suddenly darkness took over the area and she felt the atmosphere change. She looked up to see a dark figure with shadows behind them, dressed in black. She saw shadows gathering together and a blade was created and was sent towards the Drüskelle. She turned to lay on her back and looked down to where she was supposed to drag to see the Grisha hunter already dead on the snowy floor.

She looked up when she saw a shadow of a man. The General of the Second Army.

“Are you alright?” The Darkling asked the girl who was still on the snowy ground.

Nadia panted and looked up at the General with wide eyes. The General, who had the power to summon shadows, was here. He was here to retrieve her.

[idnek83]

Aid - Chapter 3/13

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham

Tags: Alternate Universe - Island Mode, No Game Spoilers, Masturbation,  Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Semi-Public Sex, Grinding, Wet Dreams, Anal Fingering,  Friends With Benefits,  Getting Together, Internalized Homophobia, Anal Sex

Summary: Everyone is hot and half naked because of their beach vacation. Soda is horny and tries to do something about it. Gundham tries to help and does. It all gets a little out of hand.

Chapter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Read on Ao3

This Chapter: Soda never claimed to be smart, sometimes he makes mistakes and hurts people without even knowing. Soda realizes he might not have his priorities in order.

_____________________

Soda definitely had a lot of thinking to do, but he wasn’t gonna do any of it till really he had to.

With Jum-P safely back in his lair, it seemed like it was probably a good time to wrap up this field trip into hamster land.

“Wanna go hang out somewhere else, man? I mean, if I disturb the Devas for too long I’ll probably get cursed or something, right?” Soda smiled at Gundham across the room.

“You need not fear the wrath of my Devas, my companion, so long as you do not betray me, they will not harm you.” Gundham was smiling too. “A change of location may be amiable, however.”

“Sweet.” Soda turned and opened the door, he didn’t really know where they should go, but he figured they were bound to run into some of their classmates doing something interesting soon enough. No real point in making plans if your weird friends are just gonna ruin them anyway right?

Soda and Gundham hadn’t even made it past the cabins when they spotted several of their classmates chatting animatedly.

Akane waved them over “Yo, you guy wanna come to the beach? The one by the diner? We’re gonna find out who’s the best swimmer. Teruteru even said he’d be sure to give the winner some thick, juicy meat.”

“I’ll be sure to give it to you till you can’t take it anymore.” Teruteru laughed in a way he probably thought was charming.

Soda cringed at the obvious metaphor. He wasn’t really an amazing swimmer and racing kinda sounded like a hassle anyways…

Then Sonia, beautiful, perfect Sonia, stepped up, arm on her bicep “I will show you all my power! I will be the winner of the meat and you will all be made to admit defeat!”

Soda fucking loved swimming and racing sounded like a god damn amazing idea.

“Y-yeah! Of course we’ll come! I’ll show you I’m no pushover Miss Sonia!”

“I look forward to competing with you, Gundham!” Sonia said, ignoring Soda and flipping her long, gorgeous hair over her shoulder before walking away, followed by the others.

“Damnit, whys she always gotta ignore me like that.” Soda kind of wanted to cry, but he’d just have to prove to Sonia that he was serious in the race. And really, even if he didn’t, at least he’d get to see Sonia in a swimsuit. Hell yeah.

“Come on Gundham! Let’s grab our trunks and head to the beach!” Soda turned to Gundham with visible enthusiasm. Gundham didn’t seem to feel nearly as excited.

“Ah, I… will have to leave this battle to you, my companion. As the Supreme Overlord of Ice, I have made a nemesis of the many sea gods. Were I to enter their domain, it would surely result in catastrophe for all involved.” Gundham was looking away, he must not really like the ocean.

“Huh? So you’re not coming?” Gundham didn’t respond “Ok, man, whatever. I’ll catch you later then.” Soda turned and ran to his cabin.

Sure, he felt a little bad about leaving Gundham alone, but it wasn’t like he was excluding him or something. He had been invited, he was just choosing not to go, so it’s his fault if he ends up feeling left out, right? Anyways, this meant Gundham wouldn’t be there to distract Sonia from him, so Soda’d definitely get her attention now!

He changed into his swim trunks and ran back outside, not wanting to get left behind. He vaguely noted that Gundham had already left, maybe he went back to check on his hamsters again? Whatever, Sonia here he comes!

It had been a while since he had really thought about her properly, the whole… thing with Gundham had been taking up most of the space in his brain recently. But now he was focused again, picturing what the beautiful princess would look like in her swimsuit. Would she wear a bikini? His mouth was watering at the thought of all that beautiful, smooth skin being on display. Her delicate arms and long, slender legs, her supple chest and wide hips… that pale stomach and those rippling abs, so well defined through pale, pale skin, and that deep V created by hip bones, leading down to that thick, hard-

Fuck. That wasn’t Sonia anymore. Shit.

Soda shook his head and wished that Gundham would kindly get the fuck out of his Sonia fantasy with his stupid sexy body, and handsome face, and big, warm hands, and those sad eyes as Soda had walked away-

Nope. Not the time for this. He wasn’t going feel bad about Gundham choosing not to hang out with the rest of them, and he was going to think about how sexy Sonia was, god damnit! Sonia! You hear that you stupid traitor of a brain? Sonia!

Sonia in a little, skimpy bikini that barely covered her beautiful body and soft curves. Curves so unlike those on Gundham’s muscular body, curves that would be smooth and supple against his palms, rather than taught and firm. The contrast would probably drive him crazy; soft yielding flesh in front of him and a hard, muscular body behind him-

Ok, hot, but still not what he was going for.

Whatever, he could see the beach just ahead, so it was probably time to get his head out of the clouds anyways.

As he approached the beach, he saw Sonia look up at him with a smile, and he felt so happy that he hardly even cared when it changed to a look of confusion and disappointment a moment later.

“Where is Gundham? I thought he would be with you?”

“Oh, he s-said something about not liking the sea gods? Don’t worry Miss Sonia, I’ll make sure this race is so fun you don’t even notice he’s gone!” Gundham couldn’t actually cock block him when he wasn’t even here right?

Sonia still looked disappointed. Soda heard a loud click.

“That’s too bad, I was hoping to get some good shots of everyone.” Mahiru lowered her camera and approached them. “Well hopefully he’ll come by later, I was mostly hoping to get a some shots in front of the sunset anyways.”

It didn’t occur to Soda until that very moment that Mahiru would be taking pictures of the event. Pictures where everyone would be half naked, and possibly soaking wet… Mahiru was quickly becoming one of Soda’s favourite people.

Speaking of being half naked…

“Where are your guys’ swimsuits? I thought we were gonna race in the ocean?” Looking around, all of the girls were still in their regular clothes.

“Disappointed, pervert?” Hiyoko laughed.

“N-no! I was just, uh. Akane said we we’re gonna swim, so-” Soda did his best not to sound like the disappointed pervert he definitely was.

“We weren’t sure how long everyone would take, so we decided we'd get changed in the beach house.” Chiaki had appeared from somewhere. “But if Gundham isn’t coming, then I guess this is everyone. We should probably get changed then.”

The girls headed towards the beach house, and Soda’s eyes widened. They were gonna be changing so close by, in a house with a big ass window. His face reddened and he looked to Hajime, standing just a bit further down the beach. Surely his soul friend would understand what an amazing opportunity this was.

“Hajime-“

“No.” Hajime sounded firm, but he was blushing. He was definitely thinking the same thing Soda was.

“C’mon man. This is like, a once in a lifetime opportunity. All of the girls are getting changed! Right there! Right on the other side of that huge window. We gotta peek! It’s like, out duty as men!” Soda could see Hajime’s resolve slowly crumbling. “Just a quick peek dude, no one has to know.”

“I guess if it’s just quickly…” Hell yeah, hell yeah, HELL YEAH!

“Yo, what are you two whispering about? Gonna cheat in the race?” Soda and Hajime jumped as Akane approached. She was practically bursting out of her little blue and white bikini, and Soda was having a really hard time not starring.

“N-nothin, don’t worry about it.” Soda laughed nervously “I uh, thought all the girls were inside… how’d you get changed so fast?”

“Huh? I just wore by suit under my clothes. Why? Were you hopping to get a peek or somethin’?”

“N-no!” Soda shouted, in a totally calm and not at all suspicious way.

“Ha, I don’t mind givin’ you a peek, but it’s gonna cost ya.” Soda couldn’t tell if she was teasing him or actually serious. Hajime just shook his head and walked away.

“H-hey! Hajime! Wait up.” Soda had no idea how to handle Akane, he definitely didn’t want to get stuck alone with her, sexy swimsuit or not. Well, maybe he wouldn’t mind being like, alone alone with her, but maybe not right this second.

A few minutes later the girls emerged, some in bikinis, but most, including Sonia, in school issued one-piece swimsuits. Soda would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little disappointed, but at least she wasn’t wearing a full scuba suit or something weird like that. Still plenty of beautiful, perfect skin on display.

He should probably compliment her, right? Girls loved being told they looked good in swimsuits, right?

“Miss Sonia, you-“

“Let us get started with the competition!” Sonia either didn’t hear him or didn’t care, cutting him off before he could finish and heading towards the water. Hajime gave Soda a sympathetic pat on the back before following her.

Sonia and Akane scouted out good start and end points for the race, and Mahiru volunteered to be the judge, ready to take pictures in case of a photo finish. Soda knew he couldn’t actually win the race, but he was gonna do his best in hopes of impressing Sonia and finally getting her to acknowledge him.

Soda was right not to think he could win, the second Mahiru said go, Akane was swimming off at dizzying speeds, no doubt spurred on by Teruteru’s promise of food for the winner. Still, Soda did his best and ended up finishing just behind Hajime. He wasn’t sure what place he finished in, but he felt like he made pretty good time, so probably at least like top 5 right?

He was 7th. Sonia had placed 3rd, after Akane and Peko, which meant she had finished before him and probably hadn’t even spared the time to see how hard he was trying. He tried to congratulate her on doing so well, but just got blown off again.

He felt pretty shitty. He wondered what Gundham was up to.

He spared a glance to the shore to see if the breeder had changed his mind and shown up at the beach while he had been focused on the race. No sign of him. Soda felt even shittier.

He was suddenly splashed in the face with water.

“Hey cheer up Soda, I think you did pretty well honestly.” Hajime, dear, sweet Hajime.

“You’re only saying that cus I nearly beat you. If I sucked it’d mean you sucked too.” He splashed Hajime back, already feeling a little better.

“Just take the compliment.” Hajime laughed and splashed more water at Soda. It was on, if Hajime wanted a splash fight, Soda was gonna give it to him.

The splash fight devolved into an all-out splash war as the others joined in, laughing and threatening to kill each other in the same breaths. Maybe Sonia still wasn’t paying attention to Soda, but he was at least having fun now.

The splash war died down and devolved into a handstand contest, which became a breath holding contest, which became several rounds of chicken. Soda lost track of time and didn’t even notice that the sun was setting and he was starving until Akane stopped what she was doing, sniffed, and made a beeline towards the shore shouting something about food.

Teruteru must have snuck off at some point, because when Soda looked back at the beach, he saw him standing behind a grill, piling delicious looking food onto a table that must have been folded up somewhere in the beach house storage room.

Soda felt a bit embarrassed thinking about the storage room, but he was too hungry to worry about it and headed for shore along with the rest of his classmates. Whatever Teruteru was cooking smelled amazing, and Soda was drooling by the time he made it to where the table was set up outside the beach house.

Teruteru seemed to be setting up the table buffet style, with plates stacked at one end and various dishes lined up along it. It didn’t seem like he was done cooking yet, but Akane was already digging in. Soda grabbed a plate a filled it with a bit of everything, there weren’t any chairs set up, but Soda figured he could just find somewhere for him and Gundham-

His stomach dropped. Gundham wasn’t here and Soda had ditched him to hang out around a girl who probably wouldn’t even care if he dropped dead in front of her. God he was a shitty friend, or companion, or… whatever he was to Gundham.

Well fuck that, time to stop being shitty. Soda piled some more food onto his plate and moved to leave the beach.

“Soda? Where are you going?” Hajime called after him.

“Oh uh, I just thought I’d go find Gundham. Bring him something to eat, y’know?”

“You are going to find Gundham?” Sonia looked at him for what was probably only the second time that day. “Allow me to accompany you then.”

Usually, Soda would be ecstatic at the opportunity to spend time alone with Sonia, even if it was just for the short walk to their cabins, but he wasn’t really feeling it right now. Maybe it was because he felt guilty about ditching Gundham and didn’t want an audience for his apology, or maybe he was just hurt by the fact that Sonia had ignored him all day and was obviously just using him to get to Gundham now. Either way, he knew he didn’t want her to come.

“Nah, I’m good. You just stay here Sonia.” Soda wasn’t sure if he was imagining the shocked looks on his friends faces as he turned around to leave again. Were they really so shocked that he showed a little backbone?

Yeah, of course they were. Soda knew he was a huge pushover, especially when it came to Sonia.

“Hold up.” Jesus what now. “Can’t having you letting my food get cold while you find tall, dark, and handsome. Give me that.” With a completely unnecessary flourish, Teruteru grabbed the plate Soda was holding and transferred the food into a shallow bowl with a lid. “There, make sure to tell Gundham he’s welcome to come see me if that doesn’t satisfy him.” Teruteru laughed and winked while combing back his stupid hair.

Soda took the food and left before anyone else could stop him.

What the fuck had he just done. Soda just kept on making mistakes.

Why did he turn down Sonia like that? She probably hated him for being so rude now. Well, maybe being hated by her was actually a little better than just being nothing. At least now she might spare a thought for him every now and then, even if it was just about how much she hated him, being on her mind was still sort of a win, right?

God he was pathetic.

Fuck it, Sonia had probably already forgotten he existed again. She was probably thinking about Gundham now. Well jokes on her, she could think of him all she wanted but Soda was the one who had sucked his dick, so there.

Sonia hadn’t sucked Gundham’s dick before, right? Right? Had she? Why the fuck did that thought make him so mad? Was he actually jealous? And which one of them was he jealous of? Fuck.

Soda breathed deeply and debated just taking all the food back to his cabin and pigging out until he felt less shitty. He was basically already there anyways.

He spared a glance to the end of the row of cabins and noticed Gundham’s lights were off. Was he sleeping? The sun had just barely set, but Gundham had been up all-night taking care of Jum-P so…

Soda sighed and went to take a look. At least if Gundham was asleep he would have an excuse to eat all the food by himself. He was just checking to give himself a good alibi, he really didn't care if Gundham was sleeping, and he definitely wasn't hoping he was awake so they could... talk.

He peeked in the window as he walked up, but he couldn’t really see anything. He should probably knock right? Maybe Gundham just liked sitting in the dark sometimes? Soda could easily imagine Gundham sitting alone in a dark room and calling it a ritual or something.

He knocked on the door lightly. “Uh, Gundham? I brought food?”

No response.

“And I’m um, I’m sorry for ditching you earlier, that was... pretty lame of me.”

Nothing.

“Gundham?” He knocked again, louder. Still no response.

Was he just a really deep sleeper? Or was he not in his room? Or was he actually just super pissed at Soda for ditching him, and now he was ignoring him just like Sonia? The thought kind of made him want to cry.

Fuck it, he wasn’t gonna just let Gundham ignore him.

“C’mon man! I said I’m sorry already! Let me make it up to you! You can eat my share of Teru’s food if ya want! Or,” Soda blushed “I-I could y’know, ‘aid’ you again if you want…”

“Aid him? Now what could you possibly be helping the ultimate breeder with I wonder.” Soda jumped at the sound of Nagito’s voice.

“Dude! Where the fuck did you come from?” Soda prayed he wouldn’t push him on what he had meant by aiding Gundham.

“Hmm? I just walked the same way you did. I thought Hajime looked a little cold and thought the least a worthless piece of trash like me could do is get him a sweater.” He smiled that creepy smile of his. “Oh, and lucky you, I happened to see Gundham on my way here. He was headed towards that little beach by the airport.”

“What? Why was he going there.”

“Ah, I didn’t ask. I’m sorry, I really am useless, aren’t I?”

“W-whatever dude.” Soda really hated talking to Nagito on his own, something was just off about him. He gave him a half wave and walked back the way he had come at a totally normal, not at all fast pace.

It was time to apologize for real, he really didn’t want to lose… whatever it was he had with Gundham.

Whatever it was that was making his heart feel so damn heavy.

Next Chapter

[idiotwhotalkstoomuch]

“One of the darker ideas I came up with” I say again again as I get more and more inspiration for more and more despair

So this concept involves me giving Shuichi that good despair cause when you love a character you either fill them with wholesome hope or horrible despair. Inspired by the first case of DRV3 and the fifth case of another game I can’t name cause spoilers to whoever wishes to learn

Back on my bullshit tagging @lonely-lgbt-writer because at this point it’s tradition

Naehinahara headcannons

* The protags were in the Big Killing game with sort of a twist I won’t say yet cause I wanna see if can shock anyone

* It was desperation hour after the deaths of Sakura, Nekomaru, Gundham, Miu and Gonta. Only 20 students remained and Nagito and Kokichi were being crazier than usual

* Groups of students were investigating or keeping morale to never forget the people of the fourth cases

* Shuichi was working with Kyoko Kirigiri to hopefully combine the minds of two Ultimate Detectives and find out who the mastermind is

* There was a lead! Time to tell the others- WHAT THE F U C K!?!

* A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED

* Makoto was stabbed in the chest and was laying on the ground with loads of evidence leading to a certain someone.....

* Hajime Hinata

* Shuichi tried to find Hajime for a while and when he fails he concludes he just needs to get evidence to prove Hajime’s innocence cause there was N O way he killed Makoto

* They only found Hajime later on (about 5 minutes before class trial) near the incinerator with gloves on

* It’s pretty damning in the eyes of the group except Shuichi and Kyoko who are calling suss on this evidence

* Hajime is scaringly quiet about Makoto’s death along with everyone accusing him hardly speaking at all only having said “Shuichi”, “Makoto” and “Prove it”

* Most of the group refuses to believe Shuichi’s claims on grounds of “bias” (which is way too damn fair) with exceptions like Sonia and Himiko who have no real argument on it

* Later on when Hajime seems like he’s finally about to say something Monokuma ends the trial declaring time over and saying there should’ve been MORE than enough evidence to prove the blackened already

* Shuichi loudly protests but Monokuma is having none of it and declares voting time

* Out of spite, Shuichi voted Nagito who mocked Hajime about the murder but his one clearly wasn’t enough to stop the overwhelming votes for Hajime

* Hajime is still blank faced and empty even after being declared the blackened and after everyone tries to provoke something out of him, Kaito straight up moves over to punch Hajime and when he does

* *COUGH*

* Blood suddenly pours out of Hajime’s mouth as he clutched his stomach where he was punched and unable to stop the blood flow

* *CUE A LOT OF FREAKING OUT*

* Shuichi quickly runs over to Hajime’s side to try and help him and Hajime moves to Shuichi and says

* “S-Shuichi.... I-I nee....d to..... tell you..... s-something*

* As Hajime covers his mouth from all the blood, Shuichi looks at him very attentively as Hajime says

* “M-Makoto he.... found..... the.... m-mastermind”

* Those words caught the attention of everyone in the courtroom as Hajime wrapped his arms around Shuichi trying to speak up as he laid his head against him

* “T-the m-mastermind ....................”

* His eyes go dead as blood simply trickles off him now and his arms loosen from around Shuichi as his body goes cold

* Shuichi quietly calls out for him first and his calls grow increasingly frantic as he desperately tries to get a response from Hajime

* [Shuichi’s silent whispers had suddenly become frantic shouts and begging for Hajime to respond as it became clearer and clearer to the group that Hajime Hinata, a reserve course student of Hope’s peak academy had passed on from what appeared to be poison]

* Puhuhuhuhu..........

* Shuichi glares At Monokuma while furiously crying as he gripped onto Hajime’s body with Kaito not even being able to come up with something to console him

* “Awwww poooooooooor Hajime.... he knew too much and couldn’t cut free from any regrets before his inevitable death! How despairing....”

* Monokuma asks Shuichi to hand over Hajime’s body so he can execute it and as he refuses to let go, Monokuma threatens to either let him execute the body or kill everyone in the room

* Reluctantly, Shuichi gives Monokuma the body as Hajime’s corpse was executed

* Shuichi leaves the courtroom after the execution without a word and Kaito and Maki run after him

* Of course thanks to some encouraging pep talks and support he snaps out his furious despair and begins mourning as he grips onto his shoulder where Hajime spent his last moments before dying

* Later on, Kyoko accuses Hajime of being the mastermind causing very violent reactions because Hajime had already been disrespected enough with his bloody CORPSE being executed

* That’s when the Izuru Kamukura bomb comes in and she claims that Hajime was an AI version of the mastermind that was used as a mere pawn to take the mastermind’s spot as a student which would explain why he murdered Makoto and the strange poison that ended his life

* When Izuru appears he applauds Kyoko on her intelligence and as Shuichi stares at him shocked and revealed the whole Hajime situation

* He had become a self aware AI after Nagito crap talked him and Makoto’s investigation results and this was when Izuru decided he was useless to him

* The reason why the murder was so poorly planned was the fact that Hajime was trying to defy his programming and after murdering Makoto decided to do his best to get caught out of guilt

* He was ill because Izuru found fighting him a waste of time and decided to murder him since he was still registered as “human” in the simulation he would have blood and Hajime was gonna be something purely to horrify the group at that point

* Shuichi is in shock at the circumstances behind Makoto and Hajime’s death and had despaired but of course they manage to squirm their way to a lol hope ending (anything involving Makoto has a lol hope ending)

Yeah I hate my brain too

[thoughtfullyyoungduck]

Lost letters

Summary: Richie and Eddie reunite when Mike calls them back to defeat an old enemy. As soon as Richie sees Eddie, his old feelings hit him like a train. 

warnings: some curse words, Richie is a bit negative towards himself at some point (not too long) 

The first thing Richie thought off, when Mike called, wasn’t Eddie, despite how much Richie would tell himself that was, or anyone else from the losers club for that matter.

No, the first thing Richie remembered was the feeling of hatred towards Derry. He couldn’t remember why, the memories still hadn’t come back to him, still whipped away thanks to the curse that IT had put over them, but the feeling he recognized straight away.

When he had finally made it too the restaurant, recognizing Beverly and Ben, his mind had provided him with the memory of an angel, Eddie Kaspbrak.

He watched, or stared more like, as Beverly and Ben reunited, but all he could feel was complete and utter heartbreak. He remembered the neurotic hypochondriac very clearly now, and Richie couldn’t imagine not knowing he excited. He almost felt excited to walk into the restaurant, to see what had come of his former best friend, the boy who he had his very first crush on.

The feeling was quickly replaced though, with a feeling of helplessness, and a feeling of disgust. Not towards Eddie, Richie could never feel anything but good towards Eds, but to himself.

The memories of days sitting in the hammock, close enough to Eddie to be able to count all the freckles on his face, often already halfway before he realized what he was doing, and look away with glancing eyes to see if anyone had noticed. Luckily, nobody ever, to the best of his ability to recall, ever did.  

He would spend almost every night with Eddie in his bedroom, climbing to his window, even when Richie almost fell down, just so he could talk to him, to sleep in his proximity.

He’d lie to Sonia about having to work with Eddie on homework, before dragging him out to the arcade, or the barrens with some new comic books, that they would completely read in an hour. Then they would complain about having to wait so long for the next one.

When the losers would have movie nights, he’d make sure he could sit by Eddie every time, spending the entire movie pouting if he didn’t.

His heart stops completely when he thinks about the kissing bridge, and how scared he had been that Bowers or anyone was watching him. Waiting until he was finished so they could beat his ass for being a ‘fag’ after. He recalls something else about the carvings too though. He also felt a sense of security.

He was always so scared that he was misinterpreting his feeling. Like he wasn’t really in love with Eddie, and was just mistaken because he had never been in love. It was on his mind constantly, and it made him sick. He had asked his mother about it once, and she had responded to the best of her ability’s. Richie had asked her how she knew that his father was the ‘one’.

Though Richie’s parents weren’t perfect, and neither was their relationship, it was clear to 15 year old Richie that his parents loved each other very much. His mother had smiled, in a way that only she could, a smile that held a secret, not necessarily bad, just something that was hidden.

‘I knew because I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Because when I was scared or upset, the only person I wanted next to me was Went.’ She stared forward a little vacantly, as if she was lost in memories from older times.

‘I was certain that I wanted to marry Went and have a wonderful child with him,’ she gently nudged Richie, ‘because I couldn’t imagine having to live without him.’

It was then that Richie knew. He knew that he loved Eddie, and he also knew, that he would do everything in his power to keep it a secret from everyone. His mom still had her significant smile on her face. She leaned down and dropped her voice to a quiet murmur.

‘Just because your dad fell in love with a woman, doesn’t mean you have to.’ Then, without waiting for a reply, she ruffled his hair and walked out of their kitchen. Richie had gaped at her, too stunned for once in his life to respond to what she had said.

The carving on the bridge, gave him a security. That he feeling were real, and valid. Regardless of the fact that nobody knew of them, he had them, and he would most likely continue to have them.

Younger Richie was dumb, considering he did forget about his feelings, carved in the bridge or not. But standing in Derry, waiting to make himself known, it was like all his memories that were Eddie related came rushing back in. Richie wanted to throw up again.

He wondered if Eddie was already in the jade oriental, recollecting him. Richie banned that thought from his mind immediately. He was not going that path right now. He wouldn’t let himself internalize the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him. God he needed a fucking drink.

‘Wow,’ he started saying as he saw Ben and Beverly hug. He didn’t want to wait any longer. ‘You guys look great, what the fuck happened to me?’ Beverly and Ben turned to face him, all smiles and adoring looks. Richie smiled too, feeling happy at seeing his friends again, even if barely two days ago he hadn’t remembered them.

He reached forward to hug Ben, glancing up and down his body. He had gotten smoking, but he seemed to have kept his kindness all the same. ‘Richie’, he said, as if it wasn’t obvious already. He pulled his hands out of his pocket, gripping Ben’s shirt in his hands before pulling back. Then Ben step aside so Richie could hug Beverly.

Beverly, who he felt returning the hug attentively, and Richie released some of the strength he was hugging her with without second though. Beverly relaxed and Richie was transported into the past, them standing behind the school courtyard to smoke, out of sight from everyone expect each other.

Richie feels a stab of longing, even though he hasn’t thought of his childhood for so long. He thinks back to the feeling of utter dread when he got the call, wondering why it was that he wasn’t exciting to come back. He knows that the answer is right there, on the tip of his tongue, but he can’t quite put his finger on it. He’s starting to suspect it’s just going to hit him in the face.

He follows behind Bev and Ben as they walk into the restaurant, like a petulant child who has misbehaved and has to follow his parents to get punished. He feels scared, even though Eddie has no idea what his feeling are, and it wasn’t like he can read his thoughts, but he just is.  

When they reach the table, where three others are present, all with their back turned, Bev and Ben wait. It may be that they’re having their own nostalgic moments, but Richie doesn’t really care. Now that he can see Eddie standing in front of him, he just has to get a glimpse of Eddie’s face.

He glances beside him and sees a bong, and he wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t reach for it and slammed it harshly, alerting their presence. Mike, Eddie and Bill turn around as fast as they can, the silence and tranquil moment broken by the loud sound. Richie doesn’t give them a chance to say anything, and just vocalizes the first thought he has.

‘This meeting of the losers club has officially began.’  

He meets Eddie’s eyes. Richie drops his eyes as soon as they do, but not before taking all of Eddie in.

He looks older, which is logical, but Richie can’t help but feel wondered by it. He has stress lines and a few wrinkles here and there, and Richie wants nothing more but to make him smile so they go away. He has a few grey hairs here and there, and he still looks so small. Richie can’t help but think that he’s a giant compared to him.

‘Look at these guys.’

Eddie smiles, his dimples appearing, and Richie swears his heart stops for a few moments. His voice is rougher, his pipsqueak sound has turned mature. Richie wants to hear Eddie talking all day.

Deflect. His mind supplies, so that’s what Richie does. Hopefully, he’s learned something from the acting classes his manager forced him to take. He points to Ben, who’s not looking at him. Making a motion of a slimming body, because holy hell. If Richie wasn’t so hopelessly in love with Eddie, he would tap Ben faster than anyone could blink. ‘Ben’, he mounts, just as the man himself turns around. Richie smiles at him, acting like his nose bleeds. That seems to be a pattern with him.

After that, things are alright. They sit at their table, at first a little unsure of how to act around each other, but after only a few minutes, it’s like they’ve always done this. Like they do this every day.

They order Chinese food, and Richie forgets all about the bad feeling he had, about Derry, but also about Eddie. It’s familiar to act flirtatious around Eddie without Eddie seeing the double meaning. That reliefs Richie, for he has known to speak the truth but then cover it up by making a joke out of it.

Richie orders a shot, drinking it blowjob style. He used to do that all the time in college, it was a trick he had up his sleeve to seduce the guys he was interested in. It didn’t work all the time, more like ever, but Richie still does it again.

He doesn’t know if it’s to impress Eddie, or just because it causes him to get drunk faster.

When he spits the glass back out, his filter falls out too. ‘So wait Eddie you got married?’ he asks. As soon as the word come out of his mouth, he wants to slap himself over the head. He’s such an idiot. Why the fuck would he asks that?

Luckily, it riles Eddie up, and he doesn’t notice the way Richie’s eyes sadden despite himself when he glances at the ring.

‘Yo why is it so fucking funny dickwad?’ He bites, and Richie can’t help himself.

‘What to like a woman?’ He coats his words with an air of arrogance. Trying to conceal how he really feels. Why he truly wants to know. Logically he knows it’s not going to do him any good. Eddie is not going to be gay, he probably despises homosexuals. If he would know that Richie was one, they would have never been best friends before.

Beverly glances his way, and it looks like she’s trying to decipher something.

‘Fuck you bro’, Eddie replies, but he looks amused as he says it. He doesn’t mean it. Silently, Richie lets out a sigh of relief.

Richie laughs, a real one for a change. ‘Fuck you’, he yells back, resisting the urge to stick out his tongue like a child.

‘Okay what about you trashmouth’, Bill asks. Out of the blue Richie remembers where he got his nickname for his comedy shows.

‘Did you get married?’

Richie thinks to himself that no, he isn’t married. He would have loved to be married to Eddie though.

‘there’s no way’, Beverly laughs, hearty and honest. Richie senses a gateway to an old joke. ‘No, I got married’, he says with full confidence. Looking around the table to make sure that everyone’s listening. Eddie seems very interested, but Richie writes that off as his own imagination.

‘Rich, I don't believe you’, Beverly exclaims, reaching for another piece of food.

‘When?’, Eddie asks. If Richie didn’t know any better, he’d say Eddie was jalousy. He knows that’s not the case though.

‘Haven't you heard of that?’, he asks instead, looking Eddie straight in his eyes.

‘No,’ Eddie claimed, no breaking eye contact for one second.

‘You do not know?’

‘No.’

‘Your mother and I are very happy now.’ He sees the exact moment that Eddie comprehends his words, his face turning into a scowl. Richie shakes with laughter.

‘Fuck you’, Eddie says once calmly, and then again, angrier, as if the joke is still registering.

‘She is so sweet. Sometimes she’ll put her arm around me and whisper; and then Richie does his best Chewbacca impression. Doing the voices, it’s like there’s another wall between him and the outside world, another layer they would have to get through to get to know them. He doesn’t let them.

‘We all get it: my mom is a great big fat person. Hilarious, hysterical.’ Eddie looks like he’s actually contemplating killing Richie, and all he can do is laugh. He missed this, even if he didn’t known it was this specific thing he was missing, he still felt like part of himself wasn’t there. It turns out that part is Eddie shaped, but Richie’s not sure if he wants to delve deeper into that.

‘Is Richie making another your mom joke, Eddie?’ A new voice speaks up from behind the table, and when Richie turns around, he comes face to face with Stanley Uris. He hadn’t even thought of him when he was laughing with the others, but now that he’s here, Richie can’t imagine forgetting that they were missing their seventh member.

Stan’s lips are pulled in a grimace, and his face look ashen pale. He’s terrified, even though Richie has no idea why. The nagging feeling that he was still forgetting something nagged at the back of his mind, but Richie got up to hug Stan, and the feeling went away.

Stan stiffened when Richie’s armed circled around him, but then he seemed to shrug and he hugged back.

‘Stanley the manley’, Richie joked. Stan didn’t look amused, but he ultimately decided to just let it go. When Richie turned around to sit back down on his seat, he noticed that Eddie was staring at him. Richie smiled at him, trying to get a reaction out of him, but Eddie didn’t shift his gaze, and only did eventually, when Stan came up to greet him.

As soon as Eddie’s eyes were off Richie, he shivered. He wanted to ask Eddie if everything was alright, but he didn’t want to be alone with Eddie. He also didn’t want to attract any more attention to Eddie, just in case something was really wrong and he wanted to keep it hidden from everyone.

Stan chooses the only open seat there’s left, which means he’s placed in between Richie and Eddie. Richie is both equally annoyed and grateful.

‘So Stan, are you married?’ Eddie asks once things have quiet down. Richie looks down and sure enough, there’s a ring present on his finger. Stan smiles, toying with it a few times while nodding his head.

‘Yeah. Her name is Patricia, or rather Patty, and she’s amazing. I’m lucky to have her.’

The look on his face is one of pure adoration, and Richie is really happy for him, Stan deserves it.

‘I mean it’s weird right,’ Ben says, turning the conversation over. ‘Things are starting to come back faster and faster now that I’m here.’

Richie understands what he means, he feels the same way. It’s weird being in a room full of people who were once your whole world, and Richie hadn’t recalled them for years, only to now come back and know everything again.

‘When Mike called I threw up,’ he says, feeling everyone’s eyes on him. ‘Is that weird? I got nervous and sick so I threw up. I feel fine now, I’m very relieved that I’m here with you guys.’

Everybody is still looking at him, and Richie feels nauseous again. He wonders if he said to much, again. He wants to drop from his chair and hide out anywhere, he wishes everyone would stop looking at him.

‘Why is everyone looking at me like that?’ he asks instead.

‘I crashed my car when Mike called’, Eddie mumbles, his eyes looking at the table.

‘Seriously?’ Bill asks, seconds before Richie does the same. He looks Eddie over, looking for any wounds, but he seems physically fine.

When Richie’s eyes peer at Mike, he seems awfully guilty.

‘Man I hear ya. I mean my heart started pounding right out of my chest’, Ben agrees.

‘I though it was only me.’ Bev replies, staring vacantly in front of her.

‘It was like pure f-f-f-.’ Bill looks mortified, not being able to spit out the word. It’s clear as day to Richie in an instant that he had a stutter, all the way through the third year of high school. He might have head one later too, but Richie didn’t know him beyond that year.

‘Fear’, Mike interrupts, ‘It is fear. What you all feel.’

‘Why do we all feel like that Mike?’ Richie has never seen Mike as nervous as he is now. It’s jarring.

Next to him, Stan hasn’t said a word. Worriedly Richie glances at him, but Stan adamantly doesn’t meet his eyes.

‘You remember something we don’t, don’t you Mike?’ Bill inquires, picking up that Mike is trying to dodge the subject.

‘Something happens to you when you leave this town. The further you go, the hazier it all gets. But me, I’ve never left. I remember all of it.’

Richie frown, and the feeling he first got when Mike called is coming back. He feels bad, his mind reaming at him that he shouldn’t have come back here.

He’s happy Eddie is here though, and the others, so he doesn’t know why. He does the opposite of pushing the feeling away, leaning into it now, because he knows the answer is right there. It’s like looking through water, his memory is muddled but he needs to know what he’s missing, it feels important that he knows.

It doesn’t click until Bev breathes out; ‘Pennywise’

Richie chokes on his own spit. How could he forget. The clown. The fucking clown that had murdered children, and had nearly murdered him and his friends. The terror of the summer of ’89 comes rushing in, and he understands now why he didn’t want to come back at all.

‘ow the fucking clown.’ Eddie seems to have come to the same conclusion. Richie’s breathing start to deepen, he’s panicking, but trying still to cover it up.

‘There’s an echo here in Derry, It bounces back every 27 years.’

Eddie bounces back in his chair, trying to put as much distance between him and Mike. ‘What?’  He’s looking for his inhaler somewhere in his pocket.

‘Hold on listen. We thought we stopped it back then, We thought it was done.’

‘Mike’, Richie wines, a little embarrassing. He doesn’t want to hear what he has to say. He wants him to stop talking.

‘A few days ago, Adrian Melon was slaughtered. Another girl went missing, there have been others and there will be others.’

Everyone is starting to talk over each other now, terrified beyond their comprehension, and Richie just sits there trying to make sense of everything.

‘Let him explain, Let him explain’, Ben tries to sooth. If Richie wasn’t thinking about every possible way he could get out of the restaurant, he might have been charmed by the way Ben always sticks up for others, even years later.

‘That echo? We might have changed IT, just like IT changed us, but we didn’t stop IT. IT just bounced back. We made an ought, that’s why I called you here. That’s why I brought you back. So we could kill it. For real this time.’

Bev breathes in shaky, and it’s then that Richie realizes that Stan still hasn’t said anything for the whole time Mike had been speaking. When he does turn, he decides to not address him, it’s clear that Stan is just as, if not more scared.

Richie knows his place in the group. It’s the same as it has always been. He’s supposed to make a joke, to distract from the horrific thing waiting for them.

‘well that shit got dark fast, thanks Mike.’ He reaches to take a fortune cookie laying on the table, trying to distract everyone, including himself.

The others follow his lead, Eddie first, followed by Bill and the rest of them. When Richie cracks his cookie open, he freezes again. What the fuck.

‘Mine just says die. So I guess I’ll see you fuckers in hell’, he jokes. On the outside he appears funny, but on the inside he’s screaming. He can’t believe this restaurant.

‘Mine says the same thing’, Ben says, showing everyone the paper.

The others also agree, and Richie is just about to ask what kind of sick joke Mike is playing, when the fortune cookies that were still on the table, were starting to crack open, out of nowhere.

He jumps up, after seeing the others do the same, running to the other side of the room by himself.

Despite the fact that his life is most likely at stake, he can’t help but keep his focus on Eddie to make sure he’s okay. He’s not obviously, and Richie wants nothing more than to get him out of this town, back to the safety of any other city.

‘oh shit, oh shit’, Eddie’s mumbling, terrified eyes fleeing around the room.

One of the cookies crack open completely, the wing of a baby bird popping out.

‘What the fuck is that’? Richie complains, trying to get a better look.

He takes a step forward, but jumps back when Eddie yells at him.

‘Would you step back you absolute moron?’ Eddie screeches, reaching his arm out like a mother to her child when the car has to stop suddenly, but he’s too far away to reach Richie, so he drops his arm quick.

He gets a warm feeling at the fact that Eddie is worried about him, but is pushed back into the present when the thing come crawling out, but it has a fucking baby face instead of a head. It’s crying like an actual baby.

When the thing flies to the edge of the table, The other fortune cookies start cracking too.

The one closest to Richie opens to reveal an eye sliming it’s way across the table to Richie.

‘Hey, hey that fortune cookie is looking at me’, he yells, stumbling backwards even more. ‘Shit’

‘I don’t wanna be here’, he hears Eddie say, and his heart clenches. He sees a bat flying towards Eddie and Ben, who promptly hold their arms up to protect themselves. ‘Holy shit,’ Eddie screams.

Their table is getting rearranged, glances and plates falling left and right. When the bat flies in to attack Ben and Eddie, Richie finds his voice again.

‘Hey, Eddie’, he yells useless. He can’t help him from so far away. He wants too though.

Stan is falling to his knees in the far left corner, rocking back and forth like a scared child.

A black goo spreads from the bowl of cookies, like acid burning through everything. The stupid Chinese music is still playing, as if nothing is happening, as if they aren’t fearing for their life.

It surprising that no one has come to check up on them, with all the commotion happening.

Mike comes to a realization, grabbing a chair and banging the table. ‘It’s not real, it’s not real’, he keep repeating, though Richie can’t imagine banging a chair on acid is doing much to help.

Richie crawls up the cabinet, feeling a little fear for Mike’s sanity. When he looks to his left, the waiter has appeared, her eyes are wide as she look around the room.

‘Is everything alright?’ she asks, annoyance and anger lacing her voice.

The black goo is gone, the eye aiming for Richie and the bat have vanished into thin air aswell. Richie can breath easy again.

‘Yeah, can we have the check please.’ He tries to smile to put their waiter at ease. All she does is huff and turn around, no doubt charging them for all the damage.

They hardly wait for the check before bolting, not being able to get out of there fast enough.

He and Eddie shuffle over to Stan, helping him up. Stan looks at them when he’s standing up, tear streaks on his cheeks. ‘Ow fuck.’ He uttered. And yeah, he’s right, oh fuck.

On the way to the exit, it seems that IT’s not done fucking with them yet. When the group passes a kid, looking no older than 10 years old, he addresses Richie.

‘Hey Richie,’ he stops dead in his tracks, the fun is just beginning right?’

Richie has no idea what that means, but as he is just about to ask, while simultaneously lose his mind, Stan grips his arm.

‘No’, he says simply, before marching out with Richie still clenched tightly. Luckily, the kid doesn’t follow them.

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

Richie drives out of the parking spot last. It’s a well thought off choice, because after only 5 minutes of driving very slowly so the others couldn’t see him, he stopped the car and pukes all over the side of the road.

It’s disgusting, and he wishes that could brush his teeth, but he resigns himself to deal with it once he gets back to his hotelroom. He doesn’t want to be alone in fucking Derry. When he gets back into his car, he can see the rustling of some leaves, but he doesn’t stop to take a better look. He slams the door, his tires screeching as he drives away.

When he gets to the in, everyone’s waiting for him. He didn’t take long, but all of their lips are set in a worried line.

He steps out of his car, and Eddie stomps over to him. ‘What the fuck asshole? Are you trying to get killed?’

Richie doesn’t get why the waited, everyone was planning on going home anyway.

‘Sorry’, he just shrugs, and then he steps beside Eddie to go up to his room. The hallway  is silent, right until he steps into it. Then they start a ruckus, Mike still desperate to get them to stay. Richie has already made up his mind though. It doesn’t matter if anyone else stays, he’s going home.

He’s already feels like he aged 10 years in barely 5 hours, and he’s keen to forget everything that’s going on here again. He doesn’t want to spend every day looking into things, wondering if Eddie could ever possibly like  him back. He doesn’t want to remember that the only guy he’s ever wanted in life, would be repulsed if he knew what Richie was thinking.

He flat out refuses to go back into the sewers where he almost died. Tough luck for the kids that were living in Derry, but he even if he stayed, he wouldn’t be able to be of much help anyway. He was and is a loser, and his friends might have something else going on for them, Richie does not.

He annoys the shit out of people, has no friends, expect maybe Steve but he doesn’t count. Richie has a shitty life but honestly that’s fine by him. At least he doesn’t have to worry about dying that way.

 ‘Guys, please’, he hears Mike beg, but he ignores it in favor of running up the stairs to the second floor. The Derry inn is so old it doesn’t have an elevator. When he gets up to his floor, he gets stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He stops abruptly, the touch burning his skin. He already knows that it’s Eddie who stopped him, but that doesn’t mean the sight of Eddie standing so close to him takes his breath away.

For a solid second, they don’t say anything. They just stare at each other, waiting for the other to say something. Then Stan bumps them with his shoulder, sending Eddie tumbling in Richie’s chest.

‘Move it losers,’ he teases as he passes them. Richie glares at him while he steadies Eddie. Because of the fall, the two stand even closer together than before. It takes Richie’s breath away.

‘Do you want to come up to my room for a second? Help me pack?’, Eddie asks with a soft voice. Richie knows it isn’t smart, he should probably go to his own room and get everything ready, but it’s Eddie, and Richie could never say no to Eddie.

He smirks, a carefully thought off façade appearing, hiding his real feeling just like he’s always done.

‘Sure thing Eds, go and lead the way my good fellow.’

Eddie’s face remains stoic, but Richie notices that his upper lip is trembling, like he’s fighting against a smile or laugh. ‘Fuck I forgot you did those stupid fucking voices.’

Richie laughs, and Eddie joins him only seconds later. It makes Richie’s heart drop into his stomach. He’s an idiot, why did he say yes to spend time alone with Eddie?

Eddie’s room is almost identical to Eddie’s, except for the fact that Richie’s own room is basically empty, he hadn’t bothered to unpack, while Eddie’s cabinets were full clothing. Richie snorted.

‘Damn Eddie Spaghetti, When did you have time to do all this?’

Eddie throws him a glare. ‘Some of us want order and structure in the room Richard.’

Richie plows down on the bed that’s perfectly made, not a crease to be found. Until he sits down though, he thinks about moving around a bit, just to piss Eddie off some more, but he figures he better not do that when he sees Eddie’s face turn red. He laughs again.  

His angry look is undermined by the fondness that is so clearly just bellow the surface. Despite the fact that they shit on each other any change they can, they love each other. Even if for Eddie that feeling of love is strictly platonic.

‘I’m just going to get my toiletry bag’, Eddie explains, before rushing into the bathroom. He closes the door behind him until there’s only a sliver of opening through which they can talk to the other. It doesn’t make sense that Eddie would close the door, but Richie is just happy that he can take a breather.

The room itself is just as ugly as all the others, the wallpaper is falling off, the bed creaks with Richie’s weight, and the air is filled with a stench that smells like death.

Richie is reminded of his grandmother’s house, only in that house there had also been the smell of fresh baked cookies, so Richie would rate that house better.

He listens as Eddie shuffled behind the door for a while, opening dressers and throwing them in what Richie assumes is a bag. He tries to be patient, but he can’t sit still on his best days, and now that he knows there’s a killer clown behind him, he’s even more jittery. When Eddie still hasn’t opened the door after two minutes, Richie decides to speak up.

‘What’s taking so long? Are you jacking off in there?’

The sounds still for about a second, then the clinks of different objects being thrown together doubles.

‘Fuck you asshole. You know I’m not doing that. Myra just hates it when I leave doors open.’

Richie snorts, covering up the fact that he just got hit on the head with the facts once more.

‘Wow, I guess your love life must be really boring then hey, what about the sex?’ he taunts, not sure why he’s putting himself through it.

Eddie doesn’t dignify his comment with a response, so Richie busies himself with twirling the fabric of the bed round and round. His leg begins to jump up and down, and his palms begin to sweat uneasy. He wants to leave, right now.

He promised Eddie that he’d wait though, and he also doesn’t want to risque anything happening to him just because Richie was too much of a coward to stay for five minutes longer.

He jumps up though, pacing around the room. Eddie still hasn’t reappeared from there. He’s just about to groan of annoyance, when he sees something like out of Eddie’s dresser. The drawer hasn’t been fully closed, and a piece of string hangs out on the side.

Richie doesn’t want to pry, really, but he has the urge to see what it’s attached too. He looks back to the bathroom, that’s still firmly shut, and then decides to ignore his commonsense. He’s pretty sure Eddie won’t mind, although, yeah Eddie would without a single doubt mind.

He tries to open the drawer as quiet as he can, which isn’t easy, considering all the furniture is so old it all squeaks. He manages it fairly easy, and grasps the old string without seeing what else is in Eddie’s drawer.

As soon as he dangles the thing in front of his face, he understands why he wanted to see what it was so bad. It was a stupid old thing, just a shell that Richie had found somewhere in Derry, with a hole pinched in, making it a necklace. Richie wore it everyday for a whole year, but recalls now why he gave it away. It was when Eddie was getting ready to leave with his mother, moving out of Derry. Both of them had stood beside Eddie’s old home, crying because they realised what was about to happen. Beside Richie, and of course Mike, Eddie was the last to leave. They already had the knowledge that whoever left town forgot about the others, having seen five examples. Eddie wanted to stay, and Richie had wanted nothing more, but he also knew that Sonia wouldn’t allow it, so he kept silent.

He gave Eddie the necklace, saying that it was okay if he forgot Richie, as long as he remembered that he was brave, and not the sick, scared little boy his mother made him out to be. He gave him the thing in the hopes that he would at the very least know that.

He can’t believe Eddie still has the thing, and he wonders if it was because he knew what it meant, or just a coincidence.

Just as he was mulling it over, Eddie stepped out of the bathroom, stepping towards the wardrobe on the other side of the room.

‘Hey, do you want to go grab a bite or something before we leave and forget completely? I’m starving.’

When Eddie turns around, his eyes became the size of saucer, a couple of emotions running over his face.

Richie can’t help the cocky little smirk on his lips, keeping the necklace away from Eddie’s reach. ‘Can’t believe you kept this, Eds.’

When Eddie reluctantly looks Richie in the eyes and sees the smirk, his face turns into a scowl. ‘Go suck a dick Richie.’

Just like Richie predicated, Eddie tries to take the thing away from him, but Richie lets him. A little shocked by the words that left Eddie’s mouth. Logically, he knows that it means nothing, and it’s just an insult, but he has kept his sexuality in the closet for so long, it has started its own clothing brand.

Eddie grimaces as he tucks away the token in his pocket, looking guilty when he notices that Richie had paled significantly.

‘Sorry’, he apologizes lowly. Richie shrugs the comment off.

‘No worries Eddie Spaghetti,’ he says, even though his heart is racing erratically and all he can think about is don’t ask, don’t ask, please don’t ask.

‘You kept that old thing’, Richie tries to change the subject.

Eddie’s one hand still rest on the pocket of his jacket, where he had stuffed the thing in, his other hand start to shake.

‘Well yeah’, he grumbled, ‘it was the only thing I had left of you.’ His hard eyes look at Richie, like he’s trying to make something clear

‘You didn’t even reply to my letter, and then I forgot, but that ugly old thing always felt important to me.’ Richie’s eyebrows furrow. He has no idea what Eddie is talking about.

‘What letter Eds’, Richie asked bewildered. Eddie looked like he was about to jumps out of his skin. ‘You know what I’m talking about, don’t play dumb. If you didn’t feel the same way you could have at least answered.’

Richie has never in his life been so confused. ‘Eddie,’ he said slowly, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. Seriously.’ For once in his entire life he was being completely honest and truthful, and he hoped to god Eddie would believe him.

‘You know the letter. The letter in which I was so fucking embarrassing.’ Eddie seems to have started on a rant, his signature hand movement coming up and acting like he’s chopping up vegetables.

‘I thought maybe, because I’m an idiot, that you had feelings for me too. When you gave me the one necklace you wore all the time, which by the way was absolutely disgusting, I couldn’t help but hope that maybe you had a crush on me too.’ He blushes bright red as he speaks the words.

Richie’s brain stutters.

‘But whatever, fine you didn’t, but I specifically asked you to still be my friend if you didn’t feel the same way, and you just gave me a giant fuck you didn’t you.’

Eddie breathes heavy and fast, grasping for air as he calms down. He’s waiting for Richie to say something, but Richie is too busy swooning on his feet to notice it. The silence that follows is long, awkward and suffocating. Eddie doing his best to appear calm and not embarrassed, while Richie is trying to get his brain rebooted.

‘Shit, Rich I’m sorry.’ Eddie continues out of desperation.  ‘I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable again. Shit I’m an idiot. I just hate that you didn’t keep in touch. Why didn’t you? We were best friends.’

Richie’s scared. He’s never been so scared before. The idea of having to admit that he was gay was frightening, but Eddie had just admitted to having a crush on him, and if Eddie had been brave, so could he.

‘you had a crush on me too?’, Richie inquires, though his brain still seems miles away.

Eddie raises an eyebrow. ‘Yeah, we went over that like 2 seconds ago, keep up with the program. Dumbass.’ he adds like an afterthought. ‘Wait, what do you mean too?’

‘Eds,’ Richie takes a step towards Eddie, ‘why didn’t you tell me?’ Richie wants to place his sweaty hands on Eddie’s shoulder, to ground himself, but also because it’s been too long since he’s touched him.

It’s Eddie’s time to look bewildered, but he does take a step towards Richie too. ‘I did. I wrote you that stupid letter. I knew I shouldn’t have send it, but I did anyway. I figured why not you know? It wasn’t like I would spend everyday with you and constantly feel awkward, because we lived in different cities.’

Richie gingerly places his hands on Eddie’s shoulders, worried that might push this too far. He was running on autopilot, his brain fried by the fact that Eddie had liked him back. The boy who he cried about at night, would have wiped his tears away. Luckily, Eddie just reaches up, his hands circling Richie’s upperarms tightly. Richie glances down, Eddie’s hand was so much smaller that his.

‘I never got any letter. Trust me, if I would have known, I would have been in whatever city your mother dragged you off too in less than an hour.’

Richie’s glasses are falling of his nose, but before Richie can push it back up, Eddie has already done it for him. Richie’s knees buckle at the casual domestic action.

‘I don’t get it. I gave that letter to my mom to send in the mail. I glued it shut so the letter didn’t have a change to fall out of the envelope.’

Richie lets out a hearty laugh. ‘Really Eduardo? It may fall out of the fucking envelope?’

Eddie rolled his eyes teasingly, his eyes sparkling with barely suppressed joy. ‘Shut up.’

When Richie began to think about it, a lightbulb switched on in his brain. ‘Eddie, did you say your mom was supposed to mail the letter.’

Eddie nodded his head, not seeing where Richie was going with this. ‘So’, he shrugged.

‘Is there maybe a change she took the letter, and just didn’t send it?’

Eddie started to shake his head adamantly, but the longer he thought thing through, the more he comprehended that Richie may have been right. His mother did hate Richie, she always had, and she had been so weird in the weeks after, up until he forget about the losers and Derry.

‘Shit, fuck.’ He spat, ripping away from Richie’s arms to throw something. He settled on a pillow, because Eddie didn’t want to pay more than he had to in this shithole of Derry. Richie watched him do it with amusement in his eyes.

The pillow hit the wall, failing flat on the floor. It didn’t do anything to diffuse the anger that was rising inside of Eddie. He sank down on the bed, where Richie had previously sat. After a beat, Richie joined him.

‘I can’t believe I was so stupid, I knew she would do something like that. I should have just given you the letter in person, but I was a coward, and all I could think about was that no one could find out that I was gay. When I left it didn’t matter, just for the fact that even if someone else would read the letter, at least than they were unable to judge me.’

Richie bumped Eddie’s shoulder with his softly. ‘You’re not a coward.’ When Eddie gave him an unimpressed look, Richie explained.

‘At least you said something, I was too much of a coward to do anything. I just quietly suffered everyday. When you left I wanted to stay in touch, but I didn’t know your address, and I figured you didn’t want me to either. I had no idea that leaving Derry would mean that we would lose are memory.’

‘I waited by the mailbox for weeks, hoping to see a letter of you in it. And she just knew, that I wouldn’t get an answer. I should have connected the dots, she introduced me to Myra that week and forced me to go on a date with her. She looked so smug when I forgot.’

‘She must have been jalouse you were stealing me away from her.’

‘please with your looks?’ Eddie’s joking, he could never be mean to Richie.

‘It worked on you, against all odds,’ Richie counters, and both of them grin. It’s been a while since Richie has felt so carelessly happy. He didn’t come out an say that he was gay, but now someone knew, besides his mother of course, and that person was accepting. More so, he retaliated those same feelings, Richie just wishes he had known sooner.

‘yeah, it did.’ Eddie isn’t laughing anymore, opting to glance between Richie’s eyes to his lips. Richie’s heartbeat picks up again. He wants to kiss Eddie, but he doesn’t have any proof Eddie still likes him, or wants him to.

Eddie surges forward, connecting their lips from an awkward angle. Their first kiss wasn’t like they claimed in movies, where their was fireworks and a big revelation. Their first kiss was honestly bad, but it didn’t matter to Richie, solely for the fact that he was kissing Eddie Kaspbrak, and that would make up for everything. Kissing Eddie was like coming home.

In the span of the next three seconds, Richie comes to two soul crushing conclusions. The first one is that he hasn’t brushed his teeth, after throwing up, which he knew Eddie was going to throw a fit over. Richie already felt his good mood change. The other thing he registered, was that Eddie had a wife.

It was the cold band of the ring on his finger of the hand that was cupping his cheek, he hadn’t even comprehended that Eddie had his hands over him, that made him register it.

He pulles back with a gasp, Eddie tries to follow his lips for a second, before noticing that Richie was about to speak.

‘Your wife’, Richie breathes out, regret filling every pore on his body. He wishes he was more selfish. Eddie brings his other hand up to cup the other side of Richie’s face, waiting till their eyes meet again.

‘I ca- I don’t’, Eddie huffs, not getting across what he’s trying to stay. He takes a breath and tries again. ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen Richie, but I know that I don’t wanna lose this, whatever it is. I don’t want lose my memory again, and forget about the losers. I can’t go back to my wife knowing you’re out here in the world somewhere.’

Eddie’s gaze is soft, a small smile playing on his lips. ‘I’ll divorce her, we’ll figure it out, but Rich I can’t loose this again.’

Richie is, again like many times before this evening, speechless. His eyes prickle, and he has to swallow past a brock in his throat. His hand swipes away part of Eddie’s hair, the feeling of it so soft and smooth Richie doesn’t want to take his hand away. He can’t believe the turn his day has taken.

‘I don’t want to lose you either, but you know what that means right?’ Richie wants to make sure that it is what Eddie wants, for in order to remember each other, they would have to defeat Pennywise, for a second time.

‘I’m not stupid jackass. I’m scared, but as long as we have each other it’ll be alright’, Eddie replies, though Richie can feel his hands beginning to tremble.

‘So, can I kiss you again. I haven’t had such a good kiss since the last time me and your mom went out.’

Eddie smacks him across the head lightly, regretting the fact that he just had to fall in love with Richie fucking Tozier. When he looks at Richie and his goofy smile, and beautiful eyes, Eddie thinks he might not regret it as much after all.

When he goes to lean in however, Richie pulls away again. ‘Oh I forgot, I need to go brush my teeth. I kind off threw up on the way here.’

Richie watches Eddie shudder in disgust, ‘go get your toothbrush now.’ He commands. Richie stands up and salutes. ‘Aye Aye captain Edward.’  

[erinelizabethh]

Caught Your Eye | Leon x Reader (4/?)

Summary: Your little sister is the newest, most promised challenger to beat the region’s Champion. Leon is said Champion. You just have a Pikachu.

A series of drabbles following yours and Leon’s friends-to-lovers slow burn… years in the making.

1 2 3

Chapter Four: Put to the Test

Chapter Summary: In more ways than one.

Your head lulled back over your chair, if only for a second, if only this world could grant you that second of repose. When your eyes closed for the last time in about five, four, three hours, you hadn’t the clue. Attempts were made to reach down past your sleeves, take a slab of skin between your fingers, except they all ended in futility. In yellow chalk, knowledge was spread to a class of aspiring scholars, all sitting at the edge of their seats with hands so engrossed in tracing the words of a blurb under a picture many students like you tended to skim past. A mistake, one that should be rectified if biochemistry was ever to be in your future, was easily done so by the fluttering of your eyes down depths unknown. A Pokémon was uttered, Blissey—Pokémon this, Pokémon that—and if your best friend wasn’t such a freak for all creatures known to man, you would have tuned the rest of the lecture out.

His arm was slung around your shoulders as you did just that, brushing off the memoirs of his journey past Postwick, unfortunate enough that he was so good to you and you could never live up to his kindness. His gaze would travel to the pile of text in your hands, his next set of words an offer for his muscles to be of use, and... no response. Been chuckin’ Poké Balls left and right, he thought was the reason for his strength, except his line of thought was thrown to the side for a future never promised to you. Leon, with a shake of his head, traded the contact with you for an act of chivalry: absolving you from school for if only a moment. Only then do you respond, mimicking his behavior with a grin to add, and you welcome the lack of weight in your hands by asking him to repeat himself. You should have known there was no hesitation when it came to you, and he recounted the story of how he managed to catch a Yamper that reminded him much of the Pokémon's of your shared friend Sonia, unable to conceal the fact that the creature would prove to be better at directions than the boy who caught her.

“Boring ya’ girl again, eh?” A boy matching Leon’s energy wrapped his arms around his shoulders, canines so evident that you couldn’t help but share the sentiment. Raihan and Leon’s back and forths mirrored that of the latter with his brother, always at odds with the other despite not yet having reason to. With a huff, the promised Champion’s eyes rolled to the back of his head upon finding the hand of his supposed rival fussing with your hair, arms lifting back up the books he nearly lost grip of in fright. “Princess got an exam comin’ up, am I right?” Princess did have an exam approaching, then one next week, another the following day, all of these hours of suffering hopefully contributing to the big one that would determine whether blowing off study dates with Leon were worth it in the end. Wasn’t as if you could turn back and find interest in another subject now, for it was too late for you; you hadn’t thought of giving much attention to anything else if it didn’t grant you an A in the curriculum.

Those study dates with your best friend were few hours a week you once anticipated, hours at a time passing so fast you dreaded the dragging on of the rest of the week. Your sister, like you, appeared to never get enough of him; now ten, Lydia vied for his attention because he was the better role model for her. Leon would have no choice but to indulge her, egg on her dreams to become a Pokémon trainer, jumping from the bed and the pile of pastel flash cards before him to join your sister and his brother on their playdate. He would promise you of his return, no matter how mindboggling the words were on those scraps of paper, his Charmander his replacement for the ten minutes his trainer would spend begging his brother to let him study with you. He was quite the Pokémon, your disappointment simmering down within the flame of his tail, attempting to mimic the actions of your friend by reaching down and smacking you across the face with every flash card you picked up and guessed correctly the definition for. Not quite the positive reinforcement you were searching for, but he was useful in your time looking through your notes nonetheless.

However, your workload was far too much, and far too ahead of Leon’s for him to catch up to you, and his antics became too evident of a distraction for you in your now daily doses of answering practice questions and browsing the internet for more information. Surely, it wasn’t as if the boy would mind; Lydia and Hop were lucky enough to have interests that didn’t waste his time, hobbies he himself were interested in. Lydia was free all the time, so you would coax him towards the budding children peeking from behind fences while basking in the solitude of accepting that you were an outsider. That meant pulling yourself from the loop, sticking it out with instructors that would warn you of the road ahead, suffering all alone because Leon could never understand. Although drifting apart from him wasn’t what you wanted, it was an issue meant to be dealt with, quickly, for he was someone undoubtedly worth putting aside time for.

Time you could not afford to waste.

“You got this, y’know. You can afford a break or two.” Unfortunately, Lydia thought otherwise, and Leon took advantage of kids too engrossed in a Gym battle filmed a week ago to find you upstairs doing nothing but what he expected you to be doing. Your hands preoccupied with the keys of your laptop, screen bright with sentences highlighted for reasons unknown, Leon’s were shuffling through the deck of cards that complemented the cream hue of your comforter. The silence shared between you was uncomfortable, too evident to be ignored, the only acknowledgement that he was in your vicinity a parting glance at his figure. You claimed that your appetite was lost when your mother cooked dinner, poking at your brain for bits of information that may come despite the loss of energy. All of that for a test that, in the grand scheme of things, would not matter.

So he left, but not before taking that chance that a peck on your forehead might have been true love’s kiss, not before relaying the message that you’re the smartest I’ve ever known, if anyone’s gonna get that score it’s you, departing from your restless soul in fear that you no longer made room for him.

All for a world that might not make room for you.

[mymanskabu]

Hop One-Shot:

Adore You

@hardcorehail requested: ❝I’ve only just recently come across your blog and I really like what you’ve written so far. If you’re still doing requests could I request Hop being super over-protective over the the reader because of all the dangers that come with being champion?❞

× I HAVEN'T WRITTEN ANYTHING FOR HOP ! HE WAS PRETTY WELL DEVELOPED IN THE GAME BUT I DON'T KNOW IF I GOT HIM RIGHT IN THIS !

× sweet and floof hair boy

× I hope you enjoy!

× This is the Aidan that just finished writing it: now I'm not sure it's what you wanted but this is how it came out 😅

———————————————

Ever since you became Champion you've had multiple responsibilities thrown at you. It was overwhelming and the only reason you haven't quite cracked is because Leon dealt with the recent events with former Chairman Rose, also Hop was being very supportive. You had hesitated to speak to Hop after catching Zamazenta (I played Shield) and winning with it against him. It felt bad in a way, throughout your adventures with him he was always talking about how he wanted to defeat his brother.

It was when you were making your way back home that he spoke to you. Hop was out in the front yard of his house when he saw you coming back. He saw the sigh you let out at the sight of people with microphones and cameras waiting nearby. When this first happened you didn't care that much, you answered their questions for a bit then went inside. It seems they thought they could come everyday to ask every question in their small notebooks. You'd always been one to hesitate a little when it came to saying no to others or being an outspoken person. Therefore, you would tell them nicely to stop coming by your home, but the next day proves they don't listen and you weren't sure what to do.

They ran up to you once they saw you causing you to tense. All of them kept asking questions as if you could hear and answer them all at once. There was a lump in your throat and your chest tightened, you started to feel uncomfortable surrounded by them all. Hop was already making his way over to tell them off but when he saw you get pushed it irritated him and he ran over to you. You didn't fall or anything, it made you feel much worse though and you bit your bottom lip, trying to keep a tough facade.

"Oi! Step away from (Name)!" He stood in front of you defensively. His brows pulled into a frown as he addressed all the reporters, "Don't you see s/he's tired! (Name) handles many things each day, much more than you lot can say! Clear off!"

Only a few them were actually intimidated by him and did as told. Remaining ones were those who lacked much respect for anything. They tried to ask Hop a question but he cut them off before they could even finish.

"What part of 'Clear Off' did you not understand? (Name)'s not taking any questions and neither am I, please leave." Annoyed, they turned away with their noses in the air as if they deserved to be treated better. Hop noticed and scoffed, "Bunch of hypocrites," He mumbles to himself before turning around and acknowledging you. "All right, mate?"

"Thank you, Hop. I owe you one." You offered a small strained smile. You didn't want to worry him or anyone for that matter.

"You don't have to act like that with me." He grins in an attempt to comfort you. "I've known you long enough to see how frustrated and tired you are."

"Hop..." You couldn't find any words that would express how much you appreciated him. You shuffled forward until your forehead was pressed against his shoulder and you wrapped your arms around him. He was right about how you felt these days. You felt accomplished as well, at times kids came up to you telling you about how you inspired them to keep trying or to pursue their dreams and that makes everything worth it, but the image to upkeep almost constantly is draining.

You felt his arms around your shoulders shortly after you had hugged him. You took the opportunity to take a breath, close your eyes for a minute, and relax. Hop saw what you were doing and waited for the right moment to talk to you. Hop was caught off-guard when you went up to him seeking physical comfort, his face had heated up instantly. He got over the initial shock rather quickly to give you what you appeared to need, he knew the face of an exhausted person when he saw one. Especially from the times his brother actually got the time to rest up at home when he was Champion.

"Let's get you home, (Name). Then you can rest up for a hopefully better day," He said gently. He kept an arm around you as he took you home, mostly because he struggled to get you to let go of him. You held one of his hands so that it would stay around you and you were grateful he went along with it.

He heard you say something, but it sounded more like a whisper so he asked you if you could say it again.

"Could you stay with me tommorrow? I don't want to be alone," You repeated. You stood in front him once he got you to your door and his adorable toothy grin pulled across his face.

"Whatever you need, mate! I'll be right there with you tomorrow!" This made you give him a more genuine smile then you nodded.

"Thank you."

Hop kept to his word, of course. He never left your side and after following you around all day he made it his duty to be your bodyguard whenever he could. Reporters couldn't be anymore irritating, people for some reason thought you always had to battle them whenever they asked, and on very rare occasions someone would express their dislike about the change in Champion directly to you.

You didn't hate it when Hop told off annoying reporters, or when he battled people who challenged you at random times if they were being persistent, and when he made sure those who disliked you kept their opinions to themselves.

"Hop, you have to let me answer some questions at times. If this keeps up, my management is going to lecture me to death on public image," You told him apologetically. "I truly appreciate you wanting to care for me, but I can't grow as a Champion if you don't let me handle myself sometimes."

"What if they corner you like last time?" He argues. "I don't want anyone to hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable."

"Then..." You paused for a second, "you'll swoop in and save me won't you? If it gets bad I'll pull on your sleeve or something. Just give me a chance to learn how to speak for myself, can you do that for me?"

He would have agreed on any occasion because he doesn't want you to feel coddled by him, you would just have to give him a minute or two to think. You happened to use your words wisely, when you said "for me" he didn't even think twice about it and responded with of course.

Hop only jumped in to protect you if you told him you needed it or if he felt you were putting up a strong act. He doesn't like it when you do that, even though your image is built upon that facade you showcase to the public. That's why he makes an effort to give you a moment where you can take a breath and be vulnerable for a change.

At this point, Hop was Co-Champion considering how much time he tries to spend with you. He was still doing his best for his new goal of becoming a Pokemon Professor and helping both the Mons and the people, mostly the Mons. You put in an effort on your part to give him more time at the lab so you stayed in there with him often along with Sonia. She left you two alone sometimes, leaving with an odd smirk on her face.

Hop enjoyed your company a lot and having you near him meant he could almost always be there for you when you needed him. He noticed that you were also attempting to understand to the best of you abilities what he does in the lab and you even help out.

You two became practically attached at the hip, even more so than you were before. Hop liked being protective over you whenever you allowed him to do so. He thinks he might like you in general. He thought it was just what best mates do but it was different, it did not feel the same as when you two started off your adventure as rivals and friends.

Hop wants to protect you with anything he can offer. You have your own skill as a Trainer, you're clearly smart, and wherever he can support that he will. That being said, he wants to grow as a Professor and when the time feels right, he wants to ask you to be his.

[pixelburied]

Icarus (Sonia x f!MC)

Summary: A rewrite of Chapter 5 when Sonia and MC (Kayla) were stranded on an island.

Rating: General, some swearing

A/N: I have a different MC for my Rye fics to avoid confusion. Mostly for me lol. In my head, Lee and Kayla are v different people. Hmu if you wanna know more.

When she was young, her mentor always warned her - “In this business, you gotta know when to quit, kid. Get too close to the sun and-"

Kayla Dizon wasn’t afraid to get too close. She wasn’t scared of a few burns – a necessary price to pay for her ambition.

Besides, she had spent years mastering the game and she always knew exactly when to quit.

“Kayla, if you play too fast and loose with our marks, you’re going to get hurt.” Rye may act cool but he’d always been an anxious kid, worrying about her at every turn.

But he had no reason to worry. Every mark, every target - perfect hit. She knew how to use what she had to her advantage, learned every trick to making trades under the table, over the table – sometimes, on the table.

She’d throw in the key to her hotel room like another bargaining chip.

But never the key to her heart.

“What happens if you fall in love?”

“You’re not going soft on me like Rye, are you, Eris?”

Eris shrugged and took a swig of her drink.

“Don’t worry, Huang. I always know when to quit.”

Get too close to the sun and you fall to your death.

---

Death.

Kayla was sure this was it. As the water closed in on her, she felt herself drift off until all she could see was darkness.

“So you’re awake.”

Kayla bolted upright, coughing up saltwater. She looked over to Sonia, sitting by a fire, the flames casting a soft glow on her face.

Beautiful woman. Unfortunate employment.

“You really wanted to get me alone huh?” Kayla smirked as she caught Sonia’s lips twitch into the tiniest hint of a smile.

God, she has pretty lips.

“This really isn’t the time for jokes, Kayla.”

“How can I resist when I’ve got a captive audience?” She stumbled towards the fire, warming herself next to Sonia. “As the only other living soul on this island, I’m pretty sure you’re stuck with me.”

Another smile. This one a little wider than the last.

Kayla felt something stir inside her before she shook her head and turned her attention back to the fire.

“Speaking of which, how did I survive that storm? I know I went overboard, and then… nothing.”

Silence except for the soft crackling of the fire. Tendrils of smoke floated softly towards the night sky.

“Sonia?”

“Fine! You wanna know what happened? You went over the side like an idiot, and I… I couldn’t just let you drown.”

Sonia met her eyes, burning bright with anger, fear… and something else Kayla couldn’t quite place.

She almost reached out to put a hand on her shoulder but thought better and gave her a nod instead.

“Thank you.”

Sonia looked away and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, giving Kayla a clear look at her hand.

For such a glamorous woman, her hand told a different story. Even a few feet apart, Kayla could tell it was calloused and tired – covered in a few cuts and bruises. She knew it was the hand of a woman who had to fight for everything she had, a woman much like her.

“What?” Sonia caught her staring and Kayla silently reprimanded herself for letting down her guard.

She shrugged and gestured towards the fire. “SOS signal?”

“Yeah. My people will be looking for us, but they won’t know which island we’re on.” Thanks to you, Sonia didn’t need to add but Kayla knew she was thinking it.

Hopefully, throwing Ansel’s radio off the boat bought her enough time to escape. But she couldn’t do that in this godforsaken island. And she definitely couldn’t leave Sonia here alone, not after she’d saved her life.

They decided to scour the place for resources, but after trudging through the thicket covering the small island and walking around in circles, they found themselves back where they started.

“Great! Just great!” Sonia groaned in frustration before something on the beach caught her eye.

“Is that our…”

“It’s our speedboat!”

In her excitement, Sonia threw her hands around her enemy before she realized what she’d done and pulled back, her cheeks burning red.

She’s even prettier when she’s blushing, Kayla thought to herself.

“This doesn’t mean we’re…”

“Of course.”

“We’re only working together to get off this-“

“Definitely.”

Too bad.

They fixed the boat in silence, Sonia’s hands occasionally brushing against hers as they passed tools back and forth. Perhaps it was merely shadows from the moonlight or her mind playing tricks - an aftermath of almost dying - but Kayla swore she saw Sonia watching her with a smile for a moment.

When they had finished, they slowly rowed their boat towards the mainland.

The ocean was calm and still. The starry night reflected against the water made it look like they were sailing across the universe.

“I can’t say this is how I expected my night to go. Beautiful sky, beautiful girl-“

“Don’t get used to it.” Sonia glared at her but Kayla could tell she was fighting back a smile.

“When we get back to the mainland, I’m taking you straight to Ansel.”

Kayla rolled her eyes. “Do you always have to ruin the moment?”

“Look on the bright side – at least I no longer have a gun to your head.”

“Pretty low standard for being nice.”

Sonia huffed at an amused Kayla.

This is fun.

“I know you’ll just tell me to shut up, but I’m curious – why do you hate thieves so much?”

A dark shadow passed over Sonia’s features and for a second, Kayla was sure she’d overstepped.

“You don’t have to share anything you’re not comfortable-“ If Rye could hear her sounding like a goddamn therapist, he’d-

“My sister, she-“ Haltingly, Sonia told her about her sister and the thief who took everything from her. She kept her eyes out to sea and Kayla watched as her grip on the oars tightened with every word.

“Sonia, I’m sorry.“

“Don’t feed me your fake sympathies.”

“They’re not fake.” Kayla pulled herself up and stared straight into Sonia’s eyes. “Thieves can have honor, too.”

Sonia’s eyes softened for a beat before she put on a scowl again. “A thief is a thief, Dizon”

They rowed the rest of the way in silence, admiring the twinkling of the lights in the sky. At one point, Sonia splashed her oar against the water, covering Kayla in cold droplets. She responded in kind, starting a playful war between them.

Sonia had just started to visibly relax when the mainland shore came to sight.

“Finally! It’s a miracle we didn’t kill each other.” Kayla laughed and jumped off the boat as soon as they hit shallow water.

“True. We should be commended for our self-restraint.” Sonia pushed herself off the side but stumbled on the way down and Kayla caught her in her arms.

“You okay?” She steadied Sonia as she tried to find her footing.

“Yeah, I-“ A breath away, Kayla could see golden flecks in Sonia’s brown eyes, pulling her in.

Kayla, if you get too close to the sun-

A beam of light startled them apart. Her crew busted out of the van, poised for a fight. Sonia immediately stepped back and bristled.

“Oh, you’re good. Getting my defenses down so you can ambush me.” Sonia shot her a deadly glare.

“No, Sonia, I-“

“Kayla, are you okay? Did she hurt you?” Eris’ worried shouts carried across the beach as she and the rest of their crew moved in on their location.

“Everyone, back off!” Kayla took a step in front of Sonia. “She saved my life.”

“By taking you at gun point?”

She gave them a quick explanation before instructing a hasty retreat back to the van.

Kayla gave Sonia one last glance before climbing in. She was standing still on the beach, staring back at her with what looked like sympathy.

Enemy or not, Kayla was sure of one thing – even after a heinous night, Sonia was still a sight to behold, seeming to glow in an otherwise dark shore.

“You coming in, Kayla?”

You gotta know when to quit, kid. Icarus died and for what? One glorious day near the sun.

“Yeah.”

Kayla knew the myth all too well, always thought Icarus to be an idiot.

But after tonight, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

[forbidding-souda]

Hello there! If I got it right, you're doing a prompt request? So, if yes, can I have some Kazu x reader and Hiro x reader with prompts 18+40? I just,,, feel like it'll be very neat. Thank you for your blog and works!! And for amount of a best boi Kazu on your blog!!! and sry if i misunderstood your reblog of prompts eheh......

18: “I’d do anything for you” with Kazuichi Souda 40: “I’m too afraid to fall in love” with Hagakure Yasuhiro

You got it right! I’ve actually never seen someone call him Kazu before, it’s so cute oml I love it. Your mind is so large for picking 18 with Kazu btw. I love this and I love you!! Team Kazu!!!

If you’re reading this - I also didn’t spell check this one so hopefully I didn’t make any pronoun or grammar mistakes. :D

-Mod Souda

Kazuichi Souda

Thunk, thunk. You drag your suitcase up the stairs, both of your shoulders occupied by colorful backpacks.

You lived far away from Hope’s Peak, of course, so you decided to move closer.

This means carrying all the stuff you brought.

Which was everything.

Your arms ached, as you are not the most hardworking person out there, and you definitely would rather pay a butler to do it.

“Woah, hey there!” A cheery voice calls out. When you turn to look, you don’t recognize him. Is he calling to someone else?

“Do you need help carrying all that?” So he is talking to you. His beady, pink iris’s meet yours, and for a second, your heart skips a beat.

But you play it off.

“I most certainly do!” You respond, letting his pale hands take the suitcase away from you. He’s even kind enough to slip one of your backpacks over his shoulders.

You can see his collarbones through his jumper, and how his face is angled and sharp.

Strong hands too.

And he helped you to your room, spending his time casually flirting.

Which you don’t pick up at all.

Then you say you are going to Hopes Peak and he !!!

“I’m going there too!”

Oh thank god at least you will recognize someone in the halls.

Ever since then, now that he knows where you live, he has taken it upon himself to walk you to school.

He likes doing kind things for you, things like opening the door and whatnot.

It makes him happy to see you smile.

And one day you’ll be feeling down, a solid 5/10, with your headphones on and your gaze to the floor.

He contemplates what to do, his brain is filled with ideas. If he buys you something, will it make it obvious that he likes you? He doesn’t exactly think he’s being subtle about it, but you were responding normally to his advances.

He spends so much time thinking about it that he doesn’t realize you both are already in the classroom.

You sit down, your cheek rested on your palm and your breathes slow and heavy.

Kazuichi can’t seem to take his eyes off of you. He watches you steadily, observing the way you move, trying to figure out what’s wrong.

Sonia even asks him what’s wrong, wondering if he’s gone ill or something, and he will casually brush off her worries and reassure her.

He pauses though, and then asks her what cheers her up when she’s down.

She puts a finger to her cheek, her soft smile still occupying her face as she thinks of an answer. “Maybe just spending time with all my friends!

“D-Does it work with anyone?” He whispers, in case you are listening in on the conversation. Sonia lets out a laugh and clasps her hands together, “I think everyone likes hanging out with their friends.”

He makes a note of all the things he would make you do after class ends. What about a picnic? Or going on a walk through the city?

Mentally he slaps himself. Those are all romantic things! What do friends do?

By the time class ends, he has definitely planned everything.

Is what he thinks.

But you leave first, making him panic!

Are you... mad at him for something? The thought hasn’t even crossed his mind.

Oh no, did he say something to make you upset without realizing it? He was always afraid of that.

When he walks outside he sees you by the door, waiting for him.

He freaked out over nothing! Wow, you can’t believe he overthought it.

“Ahaha, I thought you left me!”

You give him a small smile, “Eh, I thought about it.” With a tiny laugh, you turn and head down the hall.

“W-Wait, S/O!”

You turn, looking at him with bright eyes. It makes his heart melt.

“I just... how about we go for a walk today! Like, the two of us?”

Great job trying to be platonic, Kazuichi!

Of course you agree, because you would rather hang out with him than do basically anything. Extra time with him is worth it!

Once you two reach the trees, he cheerfully turns to face you. “Shall I carry your bag for you?”

Thoughtlessly, your hand goes to grip it tighter. “No, you don’t need to do that for me, I’m okay!”

“Oh please,” he teases, “I’d do anything for you!”

Your cheeks heat up, but you reluctantly pass over your bag anyways. His gaze falls onto your face, but you’re too embarrassed to look back at him.

His bumps his shoulder with yours. “You know that I am being honest, right?"

“I like you a lot, Kazuichi.”

Hm?

His brain lags and he stops walking.

“Yo-You like me? Like romantically or platonically, you know I can’t tell!”

You just smile at him, “I know I’ve been mopey all day but it’s just because I’ve been planning on telling you! Sorry if I scared you, Kaz!”

His eyes nearly forms into hearts.

He sighs in relief, “thank god because all day I’ve been worrying about how to cheer you up!”

“How about a kiss?”

Is this even real?

Is he dreaming?

He answers you, but not verbally.

Hagakure Yasuhiro

He watches you, keeping his eye on you as you doodle on the counter you work behind.

He has been stalking the aisles for at least an hour now, picking up worthless things.

Mostly snacks.

Quite the money savers.

He visits that corner store often, and will automatically leave if you aren’t sitting their behind the counter.

Though, you seem to always be.

You glance up, again, and look at him.

!!!!

He hides behind the shelves again.

“Hey,” you call out.

Oh no, he’s busted!

His heart is beating out of his chest. He can’t believe you noticed him.

But of course you noticed the man stalking around in your shop for nearly an hour.

“I’m not mad, I’m just curious.” Your voice coos out.

When he peeks over to you he sees your face, resting in the palm of your hand, and your mischievous looking eyes.

“Yeah, I’m just bad at shopping, you know?” He tries to excuse himself. While he talks, he talks steps closer to you, until you both only have a counter between you.

You watch him shift the weight between his feet, uncomfortably. You hide your laugh. “What’s your name?”

“Ehh... Yasuhiro.”

“Okay, what do you do, Yasuhiro? I see you in here a lot. Are you a construction worker? Clergyman?”

“I’m a clairvoyant.”

He seems almost embarrassed to say it.

The way you talk, the way you express yourself, is just so relaxed.

You’re intimidating to him.

Little does he know is that, internally you are a flustered mess.

You prop yourself up, eyes widen in pleasant surprise. “A clairvoyant? For real?”

Your excitement makes him feel a lot better, giving him the confidence he always lacks.

“Of course! Maybe next time I should bring my crystal ball in, eh?”

A crystal ball? He’s so cool! What if he gave you a reading?

Your cheeks heat up when you think about what your future looks like.

Would it be good? Hopefully.

He puts a hand on his chest, resting it directly onto his heart.

“Maybe I should give you a reading. The first one will be free but you’ll have to pay for the rest of them!”

You give him a small laugh. “I doubt I would need more than one, let’s see how good you are.”

As he walks home, he can’t stop thinking how excited he is. Tomorrow he’ll show you his talent! Even if it has a 30% of amazing you!

The next day he arrives, crystal ball in hand, only to find you missing behind the counter.

You tricked him, didn’t you? He should have seen it coming from the evil gaze you gave him.

He steps outside and gets distracted by someone calling his name...

And there he sees you, standing in front of the sun with a book bag around your shoulder.

“Aw, you didn’t think I’d leave, did you?”

His heart flutters, bursting alive out of his chest.

The warm colors of the sky; orange and yellow hues; highlight your figure as you walk past him. “Come on now, let’s go.”

You blow his mind! 

He doesn’t even know where you are leading him, he just follows behind you with his crystal ball tucked safely in his palms.

Eventually, he realizes, you are taking him to a nearby playground with a patch of grass and large, shady trees.

And in your book bag is a thin blanket for you both to sit on.

He sits with his legs crossed and you sit on your knees.

Excitement trickles through your bones but you try not to hide it.

You’re bad at hiding it, though, because you have a goofy smile on your face.

“Put your hands over it so it can absorb your energy.” He instructs. 

Following his orders, you begin to focus your energy into your palms, wondering if the power is even real or not.

You’d like to believe, but you’ve never seen it for yourself.

And when you feel complete, he closes his eyes, humming to himself before glancing into the ball.

Impatient, you are, and you almost jump him for the answers.

But he takes his time trying to interpret what the colors he is seeing mean.

“Ehm... so if I’m getting this straight... there are new awakenings coming to you that are very positive, indicating a new love... and or friendship... and or... I don’t know, something like that.”

His eyes glanced all over your face to see your reaction.

He is basically on a date with someone cute...

Date?

Is this a date?! He didn’t even realize! And he didn’t even wear his formal clothes!

“Oh, that’s interesting... love?” You ask, covering your mouth with your hand. “I don’t think I like that very much.”

His eyebrows furrow. “You don’t like love?”

An unease swoops in, overlaying the once bright coversation.

“I guess I don’t... I mean, I love my friends! It’s just... romance.”

He chuckles, trying to pry himself out of the situation he was forced into.

“Romance isn’t that bad! I mean, it can be cute sometimes.”

His words linger in your brain.

“Cute...”

He sits in silence, watching your eyebrows twitch and your lips part while you think.

Eventually, you just laugh into your fingers and eye him.

“I’m too afraid to fall in love.”

He responds quickly, nervous about saying things that are accidentally flirty. “Well, hopefully it’s easier this time around.”

You nod to him, smiling. “I’ll keep that in mind, Yasuhiro.”

His name flows easily from your lips, making him melt.

He sits up, fast, coming to his senses. “Right, the next reading--”

“Isn’t free, I remember that.” You wave him off.

He expected you to stand him, to thank him for the reading and be on your way.

But you stayed, looking at him with awe in your eyes.

Until your face heats and you rustle around in your bag. “I...I brought snacks, for us.”

When he doesn’t respond, you look up with soft eyes.

“For our date... okay?”

[goaltracker]

April tracking: 4/9/19

Alright first week down let’s see where we’re at! Also, I love you!

- 

Academic Growth

Objective: Finish work quickly, efficiently, and impressively. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Complete all homework, mandatory and recommended readings, and projects during the weekdays to have open weekends available.

Progress: I have not done this not once. The quality hasn’t been affected, I don’t think. But the stress levels of doing things at the last minute is through the roof! I’ll do better. 

Objective: Engage in class by speaking to teacher or at class at least once every class. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Answer teacher or student questions directly to add value to discussion. This month, we’re making an impression, but in a cool way.

Progress: I think I’ve been doing this to the point where it’s too much? I’m not sure. I’ll speak once a class but I don’t want to add unnecessary comments. 

-

Personal Growth

Objective: Care for my cat. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Buy him a flea collar. In addition, give him 15 minutes of TLC.

Progress: I won’t buy him a flea collar yet because I think I still have one dosage of Frontline left. I’m just going to use that. 

Objective: Learn a vegetarian recipe.

Measurement: I will learn to make chiles rellenos this month. For lent and for me hell yeah!

Progress: I haven’t even started but now that I’ve gotten paid I definitely want to give it a shot.

Objective: Care for my car. (Continued from last month)

Measurement:  Continue cleaning out trash daily. Add air to tires when needed. Get a car wash.

Progress: I just did my budget and I don’t have enough to get a car wash. I haven’t really been checking my car thoroughly and I haven’t put in air since the light came on. I’ll try to do that today. 

Objective: Read daily. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Start “My Beloved World” by Sonia Sotomayor. Read 1-2 chapters each time and finish this book by the end of the month.

Progress: I’ve started. I’m not reading daily but I think I can still finish the book by the end of this month. 

Objective: I will write weekly. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Write a scene for The Unlikeables every week by Sunday.

Progress: I have started at least two different fan fiction scenes, and no Unlikeables. I’ll try to do better this week for sure. 

Objective: Connect with family and friends more. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Continue to either call, text, or DM a family or friend. Call abuelita, Cande, Raul, and Jr this month. Visit Jasiah this month.

Progress: I’ve talked to Cynthia but it was brief. I’ve talked to Mayra but also brief and with Mimi. Hopefully I get to see Jasiah and Jack by the end of this month. No Cande, abuelita, Jr. or Raul yet, maybe something will present itself. 

Objective: Make more friends from and put effort into making meaningful connections.

Measurement: …Put more romantic boundaries with Tania… I don’t know if she likes me so I have to assume she doesn’t so I don’t end up creating illusions for myself. On the flip side, I’m going to ask out Alex again. See if she’s down to hang. I’m going to hang out with Brandon. See if he actually cares about me lol. I’m going to ask Homayun to see me more. Honor what we both want.

Progress: Yesterday Brandon hit me up to hang. I told him I could but we probably shouldn’t because he seemed busy. And the days he could meet, he usually expected something from me that I’m not interested in. He didn’t respond, so that’s that.  Homayun hit me up on Saturday and asked if I was free that night. I told him that I was with my roommates and I was good that night. He said goodnight and hasn’t hit me up since. So that’s that.  I went on a date with a guy named Robert on Sunday. We had great conversations I thought, but then he kissed me and got out the door at the end. I don’t know, it rubbed me the wrong way about how everyone wants and expects something, and he just took it without even wondering if I was into it. He messaged me Monday to make plans again but I rescheduled. I don’t think I want to see him anymore.  Alex and Reine, I don’t think they’re into me either. They only text if I do so first, there’s no excitement from their end.  Tania has been trying to hit on Mimi and I’ve asked her to not. I think she might be doing it to get a reaction but I don’t like it. She called Mimi one of her bitches and I know it was a joke but I don’t like it. I love Mimi. I don’t think I like Tania anymore.  People are not interested in me right now and that’s okay. I still like me, and we’ll keep going forward. 

-

Professional Growth

Objective: I will be at least 2 minutes early to every shift. (Continued from last month) (Continued from last month.)

Measurement: Continue leaving my location with plenty of time to get to my next destination without speeding and taking traffic into consideration. I will make sure to leave enough time for my lunch and breaks.

Progress: Nope. I’ve been late to BM, MM, and TR. I need to do better.

Objective: I will be showered and professionally dressed every day.

Measurement: Because depression is in full swing, I will write in my planner days to shower every other day.

Progress: Haven’t showered every other day but every two days, yeah. I’ll work on it I don’t want to be gross. 

-

Physical Growth

Objective: I will eat three meals every day. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Eat breakfast between 7-9am, lunch between 12-3pm, and dinner by 6-8pm. Healthy snacks after 10pm.

Progress: Have not done this. I haven’t been waking up on time, I don’t know how eating got so hard. I’ll work on my sleep schedule so I have time to eat breakfast.

Objective: I will exercise daily. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Start walks at least 3 times a week for 1 hour. Look into what gym I can join with budget.

Progress: Have NOT done this. I haven’t walked with Tania and I’m not really doing anything on my own. 

Objective: Start a gym membership.

Measurement: Budget $130 for 24 Hour Fitness if possible.

Progress: Let’s see if we can do this starting today!

-

Spiritual and Mental Growth

Objective: Attend church weekly. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Attend either 5:30pm Spanish session or 6pm Youth Group. See which one I would like to devote to. Or attend Pentecostal church nearby.

Progress: I haven’t been doing this. I’ll check right now what the Pentecostal church schedule is. 

Objective: Read the bible daily. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Read the bible every morning before starting the day.

Progress: I’ve been trying this! I’m ahead actually. Woohoo, go me. 

Objective: Find a new meditation class.

Measurement: Research other options.

Progress: I haven’t done this. I can look for something right now. 

Objective: See therapist monthly. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: Make an appointment for at least once this month with Anji.

Progress: I’m going to see her this weekend, I believe. 

Objective: I will keep a clean and organized place of living. (Continued from last month)

Measurement: I will schedule chores for at least 2 community space and 1 personal space area per week.

Progress: I started working on my clothes and will finish today, hopefully. I finally dug up all of the extra stuff from the accident from under the clothes pile. I don’t know what to do with it. Should I hold on to it in case Raina asks for it or just donate it? I just want it away. 

Objective: I will acknowledge my feelings and vulnerabilities.

Measurement: I will write in my journal once every two weeks.

Progress: I’ve been writing every time I feel shitty. It’s been helpful. Thank you Me for looking out for depressed Me, I know wallowing can just get me stuck. 

-

Financial Growth

Objective: Budget (Continued from last month)

Measurement: With first check, I will budget out car, car insurance, Heartland loan, CASA, cat, gas, and food. Then, Anji and savings. Then Jasiah, gym, and credit card. Then car wash and seafood spot. With the second check, I’ll pay rent and utilities, Navient loan, gas, food, phone, and savings.

Progress: I think I got most things accounted for. I didn’t budget out Jasiah since we might not go for another couple weeks. I also didn’t include car wash because Mimi said she might do that. If not, still not that much discrepancies.  

-

Alright. I’m not doing too bad. Chores and time management is still an issue, but otherwise we keep treading onwards. 

[albionscastle]

Rainy Night

I am on a weird kind of roll right now. I blame it on the photoshoot posted the other day...you all know the one. Lowden in a jumper I mean......it’s like porn.

Anyway this is just a oneshot, a girl with a crush gets caught in the rain, queue knight in woolly jumper. 

FIC MASTERLIST

RAINY NIGHT

There were tears in your eyes as you gathered your things, waiting until you were sure that everyone else had left before you chanced opening the door. You didn’t want them to know that you had overheard them talking, not that it would matter in the slightest. In fact they would probably get even more pleasure from knowing that you had heard what was being said about you.

The lights were out down the hall and even your own people weren’t here this late. You could meander out, take your time and say your silent goodbyes. It was a shame, you thought sadly, you’d actually liked this job, even if it was only a temporary gig. Cutting it short a few weeks would hurt your bank account, but it would save your pride. Maybe.

You considered leaving your resignation on the counter, but no, your boss deserved more than that from you. You would show your face once more, tomorrow and hopefully have come up with a better excuse for quitting than ‘mean girls’ for leaving her in the lurch.

A noise startled you into jumping, spinning around with a yelp. The man standing in the doorway was the absolute last person on earth you wanted to see.

“Shit, sorry luv, didnae mean tae scare ye.”

Your heart was hammering in your chest as you levelled him with the blandest scare you could muster.

“I thought everyone had gone home for the night.” you managed to splutter.

“A few o us stayed back tae go over some lines.”

A few of us no doubt meaning his two co-stars, Tweedlebitch and Tweedlebitchier, the gossips who apparently lived just to make others miserable.

“Anyways,” Jack stepped further into the kitchen, his head tilted, frowning as he looked at you. “I came tae see if I could steal a piece o cake from the fridge. I didnae realize ye were still here.”

You’d had a feeling that he was the one who’d been doing just that, pretty much every day. Any other time it would have amused you to no end, catching him out like this.

“It’s on the third shelf.” you murmured instead, turning away and pretending to rifle through a folder. “Are ye ok lass?” his voice seemed closer and you took a deep breath to hold back your tears.

“I’m fine, long day.” you ground out, refusing turn around.

No way was anyone going to see you cry, least of all him.

His hand came to rest on your shoulder, just as it had a dozen times before. This time you shrugged him off roughly, still refusing to turn around, tears pricking at your eyes.

“Ya can talk tae me if ye need lass.”

You couldn’t help but hear the hurt in his voice which made you feel even worse. What was  happening to you wasn’t his fault, he’d done nothing but be friendly.

“I’m just really tired,” and this was the last time you would ever see him, “I’ll be fine, I promise.” Not a chance, but he didn’t need to know that.

You held your breath until you were sure that he was gone, waiting even a few minutes after that to pull your shit together. Not a chance you were going to tell him what had upset you, he would know tomorrow anyway, rumors had a way of spreading fast. At least you wouldn’t be around to see his reaction when he realised the truth to it.

Your car was parked almost half a mile away and the walk in the chilly autumn air gave you time to think about what you’d heard. Jack’s co-stars also happened to be two of the most stunning women in the world. Playing sisters, they were both young, tall, blonde and perfect. They were also two of the rudest people you’d ever had the misfortune to deal with, and you’d been in customer service for years. From day one they’d fixated on you, the most inexperienced of the catering team, but it had mostly been stupid shit. The usual demands and complaints of the entitled. If you were honest,  you’d enjoyed the looks on their faces every time that you’d been able to say no to them.

Jack, on the other hand had been a delight, charming everyone with his warmth and humor. The man had made the catering area his second home and there wasn’t a day that he was on set that he couldn’t be found there, usually begging for cake. He’d just been friendly, and since you did the baking, it was usually you that he was trying to charm.

It wasn’t his fault that you’d developed a huge crush, who wouldn’t? Even your boss, a robust matron, happily married with grandkids, sighed dreamily whenever Jack was around. You’d done a pretty damn good job of hiding your feelings, or so you’d thought until tonight. You shivered in the cool air, wrapping your arms around yourself as you trudged through the gravel, remembering what you overheard. You’d been cleaning up after a service, alone in the room when you’d heard them tittering, not realising you were still there.

‘Poor Jack,” Sonia, the eldest of the two, “I don’t know how he puts up with it, every day.”

The other one had murmured in agreement and your ‘spidey senses’ started tingling.

“I mean it’s just pathetic the way she moons over him when it’s so obvious to everyone, no shame whatsoever.”

“She’s totally clueless, and Jack tries so hard to be nice, it must be exhausting.”

You had frozen, white hot dread washing over you as they continued.

“Why she thinks he would even look at her is beyond me, not with the size of her ass.” Sonia giggled.

Your face had burned.

“Everyone is starting to notice, the silly cow is only going to be a laughing stock if she keeps this up. I mean, she makes those cakes every day just like she’s his mother.”

“She’s too ugly to even be a mother, who’d want to sleep with that?”

They’d dissolved into laughter as they left the room and you’d finished out the rest of the day in some kind of numb shock. You refused to leave the kitchen again, putting yourself on the much loathed dish duty until everyone left you alone.

You were so humiliated.

That it was apparently so obvious you had a thing for Jack was sickening, especially when you’d worked so hard to act normal around him. It was awful knowing that everyone knew, even worse, to feel like he’d just been taking pity on you this whole time.

In fact that was probably the worst part, if you were honest. You would never be able to face him again if all he felt was pity for the poor little fat girl with a hopeless crush, and you didn’t want him to be embarrassed. Jack had been so kind to you and the least that you could do was not put him in this position. It was better for him too if you just disappeared. Your heart would get over it soon enough. You hoped.

By the time you reached your car you were freezing and dying for the hoodie that you’d foolishly left on the front seat along with…..

“Son of a bitch!”

Your car keys at on top of your sweater, glinting mockingly at you through the locked door. Rummaging through your purse you looked for your phone, even though calling the lock out service at 8:30pm on a Sunday would take hours and cost a week’s pay if you were lucky. The memory of stuffing it in the front pocket of your sweater came at the exact moment you realised it wasn’t in your bag.

“Seriously!?” you yelled at the Universe. “What the fuck else could go wrong?!”

The Universe responded with a cold, fat raindrop hitting you in the nose, swiftly accompanied by several million of his closest friends. Within seconds you were soaked through, shivering and glad the rain was hiding the tears that ran down your cheeks. If you started walking now you might be able to hail a cab in town, in about an hour. Until then you were on your own, cold, wet and crying your way into a hysterical pity party.

At least your purse was waterproof.

So caught up were you in your misery that you missed the headlights coming toward you until the last minute, groaning when you recognized the vehicle.

Of course it was Jack, who else would just happen along at your worst moment? The Universe was officially a bitch.

“Y/N?” the passenger side window rolled down while Jack leaned over looking dry, warm and concerned.

“I’m fine Jack. I’m waiting for the lockout service.” you tried to smile, as if all was well, knowing you looked like a drowned rat.

Jack’s eyes narrowed.

“Bullocks Y/N, get in the car. I’m no leavin ye like this.”

“Really Jack, I’m fine.” you jumped at a loud clap of thunder, and then you saw the look on his face.

He wasn’t buying it, you could see his jaw twitching.

“Get in the car Y/N, before I throw ye over me shoulder an force ye in.”

His voice said it all, he was livid. You blinked once, trying to decide if he meant it. The look in his eyes said it all and you sighed before stepping over to the door and pulling it open.

“It’s too wet Jack, I’ll just ruin your seats.”

He stared at you, then undid his belt, hand on his door to open it. With a squeak you jumped inside, squishing into the seat and hanging your head.

“The fuck were ye thinkin stayin oot in the rain in this cold, are ye daft?”

He fiddled with the heat while he ranted at you, turning it on full blast and aiming all the vents at you. You couldn’t even answer, your teeth were chattering so much.

“Ye’re turnin blue woman!”

From the corner of your eye you saw him shrug out of his woollen jumper and holding it out to you.

“Put it on before ye freeze tae death.”

You looked at the jumper like it was offensive, it was bad enough that you were dripping all over his car. This was. No.

“I’ll be fine till I get home.” you managed through clenched teeth, hoping he wouldn’t notice you shaking.

He simply sat, brows raised until you sighed and took it from him. Aware you were acting like a spoiled child you started to pull it on.

“Is no goin tae do ye any good if ye donnae take off tha wet shirt first ye numpty.”

No way. There was not a chance in hell you were going to take off your shirt in front of him. Even if he did have a very valid point, damn him. Jack, naturally noticed your hesitation. “I’ll close me eyes an turn away if tha helps.” he shrugged, doing just that. “Is no like there’s anythin left tae hide anyway.” he muttered.

You looked down at yourself and groaned loudly, realising your white shirt was completely translucent. Jack chuckled under his breath as you quickly peeled it off, your soaked bra doing almost nothing to cover you in the cold. The heat of embarrassment flooded through you and you pulled on his jumper, wishing you could literally be anywhere than with him right now. Tears filled your eyes again as the warmth from his body and the smell of him eveloped you. He was by far the nicest man you’d ever met and, as usual, you’d managed to make an arse of yourself around him. You knew what you were, and what people thought of you, especially men. That Jack now had a taste of how unattractive you were underneath your clothing was just humiliating. You could only hope that he didn’t think any of this had been a lame attempt to lure him in.

“Where’s home luv?” Jack finally spoke up, looking at you as you slowly stopped shivering.

“Just take me to the nearest hotel.”

“House keys too huh?”

“Yup, when I decide to fuck up I like to make sure that it’s a complete disaster.”

Jack laughed, pulling the car onto the road.

“Ah’ve seen worse, fuck in school I did worse. Donnae sweat it yeah.”

“Easy for you to say.” you muttered under your breath.

“Seriously lass, we’ve all had shite happen, ye canna let it derail ye.”

Too late, you thought bitterly, watching the landscape through the rain. If it had just been the keys it would have been a completely different kettle of fish.

“There’s a Holiday Inn up there.” you responded instead, seeing the lights up ahead.

“Aye, I see it.” Jack murmured, completely missing the exit. “I’m no leavin ye at a strange place wi no phone and no clothes.”

“It’s a motel Jack, not a crackhouse.”

“Doesna matter, I’m no goin tae leave ye stranded like tha. Ye can stay at my place and we’ll call the lockout in the morning.”

The tone of his broked no opposition and inside you panicked, even though you simply nodded tightly. You were swiftly learning that there was no arguing with this man. Instead you spent the rest of the drive in silence, squishing uncomfortably in your wet jeans and feeling more guilty with every passing minute.

“Shite! I didna even think tae ask if ye needed tae call anyone tae let them know ye won’t be home.”

“Like who?” you laughed.

“I dunno, yer man mebe.” Jack shrugged, turning to look at you as you burst out laughing.

“Yeah ok Jack, funny. Do you think if I had a boyfriend I would have asked you to drive me to a motel?”

“Well, no, but still I didna wan tae step on any toes.”

“Fat chance of that.” you muttered, looking out the window again.

There hadn’t been a boyfriend in….well ever if you were honest. Of course there had been a couple of...you didn’t even know what to call them, but you’d learned early on that they weren’t boyfriends, no matter how much you’d hoped otherwise. You had come to terms with it long ago.

Of course Jack didn’t know that, but since you’d apparently been so obviously fawning all over him it should have been quite apparent.

“Why do ye say it like tha?” Jack sighed, pulling into a small parking garage.

“Huh?”

“Nevermind. Home sweet home!”

You followed Jack to the lift, cringing at the squeaky, wet noises you made as you walked and the mess you were inevitably leaving in your wake. Jack stopped in front of his door, opening it to step inside and turn on a light. One look at the immaculate and shiny hardwood floor had you hesitating. “Come on in lass, I promise ye is no a trap, unless ye wan tae be my prisoner. In which case the cuffs are in the bedside drawer.” he said with a wink that stopped you in your tracks.

You knew it was a joke, deep down, but a part of you still jumped in excitement at the subtle flirt. Just as it always did when Jack flirted, which was pretty much any time he opened his mouth. On a better day you would have countered him with a preference for scarves, but not now. Not knowing that he would probably think you were really flirting with him. Your bantering had taken on a whole new meaning now.

Offering him a weak smile instead, you stepped into his flat, closing the door behind you and standing there in your puddle. You watched as Jack walked around, gathering some things from the dryer and moving them to the bathroom.

“Go take a shower luv, there’s dry clothes fer ye and I’ll throw yer wet ones in the wash.”

The thought of hot steam and warm clothes was too strong to offer him any resistance and you soon found yourself standing under the hot water trying to figure out exactly how you’d managed to end up here. The events of the day seemed so far away, almost as if they didn’t happen. It  was only when you had dried yourself and reached for something to wear that it all hit home for you again. Even fresh from the wash, Jack’s clothes smelled like him and despite your extra pounds, they somehow still hung on you. The flannel pants were too long and you had to roll the waistband until they barely perched on your hips. Same deal with the jumper he’d given you. He’d also given you a t-shirt and you probably would have been warm enough with it alone but that did not fit well enough across your chest for comfort. No way were you going out there in that with no bra on.

Eventually you gathered the courage to exit the bathroom, wet clothes balled up in your hands.

“And she lives!” Jack was grinning at you like a loon from the kitchen. “Let me take those fer ye.”

Before you could refuse, he’d lifted your clothes from your hands, shaking them into the washing machine. Your cheeks felt hot when you saw your underthings in his long fingers, and not just because you’d been wearing what you called your ‘utility’ bra. Any underthings able to keep your ‘assets’ in check seemed to lack any kind of feminine embellishment.

Boring and uninspired and not even close to being sexy. Just like you.

It seemed that Jack’s flat was much like him, attractive but unassuming, warm, inviting and comfortable. Despite yourself it was easy to relax into the soft couch and eat heartily when he brought you a sandwich. Jack hunted for something to watch, settling on some dancing reality show, while you gradually felt more comfortable. It seemed he wasn’t aware of the rumors and since you were still determined to walk away, you decided to enjoy this while you could.

“Why’d ye let those two cows upset ye so much?” he spoke suddenly, causing you to choke on your food in shock.

His hand thumped your back a few times while you coughed and sputtered trying to catch your breath again.

“What are you talking about?” you managed between coughs, aware that his hand was now rubbing your back gently.

“Don try tae act like ye donna know, Y/N. Ye weren’t the only one in the room.”

Oh. Holy. Fuck.

“Who else heard?” you whispered, trying to physically curl up into yourself, anything to escape.

“Jus me, no one else. I didnae hear all of it, but I heard enough. They knew ye were there.”

“Of course they did.” you muttered. “I’m not stupid.”

“Aye, but ye are a bit daft luv. Ye canna let them get tae ye like that.”

“Easy for you to say Jack.” Suddenly you were angry at them, at yourself and at him, how could he just brush it all off like that?

“Did it ever occur tae ye tha they only said any of it tae upset ye? They’re just jealous.”

You scoffed, knowing it was all true.

“What reason would they have to be jealous of my fat arse? Get into the real world Jack.”

“Why do ye talk about yourself like tha?”

“Like what? I have a fat arse, it’s not like anyone can miss it.”

“I’ve spent enough time looking at yer arse tae know it’s perfect just the way it is.” That stopped you. Staring at him wordlessly you saw him shrug matter of factly.

“Tansy is jealous because she’s built like a piece o wood, and Sonia? Suffice tae say she’s a right bitch when she doesna get what she wants.”

“What?” you swallowed hard, still stunned by his bald statement about your rear end. “What didn’t she get?”

“Me, lass.”

“Why would, what, I’m confused.”

Jack laughed, his hand moving to tousle your hair before standing.

“Let me get us a drink an I’ll tell ye the whole sordid tale.”

He came back to the couch with a couple of beers, waiting until he’d taken a few gulps before he spoke.

“Now then, where were we?”

“Sordid tale.”

“Righ, ok so ye remember the first day on set yeah? All the introductions an the like?”

“Vaguely, the catering staff weren’t really a big part of that.”

“But I met ye tha day, remember? I kept buggin ye fer another piece o cake.”

“I seem to remember being following around by a child whining about thirds.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed at your small smirk.

“Yer cruel lass, tha day too. Ye told me I needed tae watch my figure.”

“Eh, I vaguely remember something of the sort.” you shrugged, enjoying his small chuckle against the bottle at his lips.

“Anyway, I took my poor, bruised ego off tae my trailer tae get settled an it turned oot I wasna alone.”

Your eyes widened.

“Sonia had managed tae get in an was jus sittin there in heels, ye ken?”

Oh you kenned, the thought of it made you cringe.

“What did you do?” Did you even really want to know.

“I told her tae get dressed and leave, tha I wasnae interested. Believe me when I say she didna take it well.”

You just stared at him blankly.

“Well first she tried tae change my mind, an well,” his cheeks reddened, “when she couldna get a…..rise, she left me alone.”

Awkward.

“But I don’t understand what her striking out with you has to do with me.”

Jack looked at you, confusion evident on his face.

“Wow, ye really don’t do ye?”

“Perhaps someone should explain it to me?” you ground out.

“First, tell me summan. Is there any truth tae what they said?”

“Which part?” you squeaked, gulping down your beer, hoping to avoid the question.

“The part where ye haf a thing fer me.”

Please, you thought, please just let the ground open up and swallow me up. Right now. Please.

You sputtered rather than answering, eyes darting around the room, looking anywhere but at him. For a second you actually thought about denying it, but really, what was the point? He already knew, everyone already knew and it wasn’t going to make things any better if you denied it.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath you met his gaze, shoulders slumping in defeat.

“I’m sorry.” you whispered. “I thought I was doing a better job of hiding it. I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable.”

And if you could just be struck by lightning right now and put out of your misery that would be great, you thought as Jack remained silent.

“You don’t have to worry about it. I won’t be back on set. I’m resigning. It was never my intention to cause this much drama.”

“Are ye oot of yer mind woman! Why would ye do tha? Can ye no think fer one second why Sonia would focus on ye like this?”

You were so startled by the harshness of his tone that you didn’t know what to say.

“It’s ye she’s jealous of.”

The laugh you emitted was sharp even to your ears, but you couldn’t help yourself.

“She’s got absolutely no reason to be jealous of me, Jack.”

Jack sighed, putting down his beer before wiping his hands on his jeans.

“She’s go every reason tae be jealous o ye Y/N. Ye’re smart, talented, kind, funny, lovely and, well hot.”

Your head spun toward him, not believing your own ears. Jack turned, inching closer on the couch, his hand reaching out to brush damp hair away from your face.

“But the number one reason why she singled ye out Y/N is because it’s you I want, no her.”

Your heart beat erratically in your throat, eyes wide in disbelief as Jack’s fingers traced along your jaw. You shivered as he touched you, your fingers twisting in the wool of your jumper. This had to be some kind of mad hallucination, probably brought on by hypothermia. Ten to one you were laying in a rainy ditch somewhere this whole time.

Jack’s eyes caught yours, bright blue and intense as he tilted his head toward you. Keeping his eyes on yours his lips brushed against the corner of your mouth, the rough bristles of his beard scraping against your tender skin. He smiled against you, your eyes finally fluttering shut as his mouth pressed firmly against yours. His hands cupped your cheeks, tongue taking advantage of your gasp to snake across your teeth and into your mouth. An arrow shot of heat travelled down your spine, stabbing into your lower belly. You shuddered, hearing him chuckle as he broke away.

“If tha doesna make ye understand then nothin will.”

You opened your eyes to the sight of him in front of you, his cheeks flushed pink, lips slightly swollen and damp, his eyes both soft and wanted. He was right, you were convinced, even if you didn’t understand why. You felt a surge of confidence, a lightness unlike any you’d felt before and your lips spread into a smile. Your usual good humor had returned.

“I’m not sure I’m there yet, I’m super hard to convince.”

“Is tha so lass?” Jack’s gaze turned positively wicked. “Lets see what I can do about that shall we?”

You yelped as he moved lightning, dragging your body to straddle his lap. He looked up you now, fingers threading through your hair before sliding down your back to your waist.

“Remember when I said tha Sonia couldna get a raise?”

“Mmmm hmmm.” you murmured, your fingertips exploring his face.

His palms slid down over your rear and for a moment you felt self conscious, until he caught your eye and you saw the heat there. With a grin he pressed you closer until, with a gasp you were pressed up against him completely, the hard length of him between your thighs.

“As ye can tell I donae haf tha problem wi ye. In fact, half the time it’s all I can do tae hide this.”

He swiveled his hips against you, his lips and tongue smothering your moan as his hardness rubbed against your aching center. The kiss grew rough as you rocked against him, fingers tugging at his hair, his hands guiding you into a rhythm that had you panting into one another’s mouths. Jack’s hand slid up under your jumper, breaking the kiss long enough to yank it off over your head before returning to bite at your mouth and jaw. The pressure between your legs was almost unbearable, the layers of clothing failing to provide the friction you needed.

Desperate for breath you broke away, chest heaving as you dragged air into your lungs.

“Fuck love, ye are incredible.” Jack growled, staring at where the thin cotton of his shirt strained over your breasts. Another body part that you were particularly sensitive about and Jack noticed. He liked his lips, mouth open as he continued to stare, raising a hand to palm your breast, his thumb stroking your nipple to life. You sucked in a breath, your hips grinding against him as he ran both hands over you, scraping and pinching, every touch a dart of want into your belly.

“Jack!” you hissed, his teeth scraping you through the fabric.

“Ye haf no idea how much I’ve wanted ye, luv.” he muttered. “I know ye didna know it, but every time I saw ye I had tae try so hard tae hide it. I dreamed of touching ye here…” His hand cupped your breast gently.”....every where Y/N, I’ve dreamed o touchin ye everywhere.”

A brief and unwelcome thought flashed into your mind, was he just the same as the rest of them? Only interested in one thing from you? Jack must have seen it in your eyes because he stopped everything, his knuckles stroking your cheek.

“I’m mad fer ye darlin, and it’s no jus fer this. I need ye tae know tha, I didna intend fer this tae happen. I was actually working up the courage tae ask ye out tonight, till those two bitches fucked that up. Nothin is going tae happen tonight…” Jack smiled ruefully. “..well nothin more than this. I wan tae at least go tae dinner a few times before we jump intae bed. I’m pretty sure that neither one o us  are lookin fer a one-time or casual thing.”

“Right.”

“Obviously, when the time is right….” his eyes swept hotly over you. “You and me are goin tae be dynamite.”

“You seem pretty sure of yourself.” you arched a brow at his smug grin.

Which quickly turned into a look of panic.

“I mean….if ye wan tae go out wi me tha is….”he stammered for a moment.

“I meant about us being dynamite you goob.” “Ohhhhhhh.” he looked abashed for a second before his eyes glinted wickedly again. “I can give ye a preview if ye wan.”

You leaned down, your nose brushing against his.

“I wan.” you whispered, mimicking his accent. “Then we can talk about dinner.”

He sucked in his breath with a hiss as your teeth bit at his neck.

“Ye’re goin tae be the death o me aren’t ye lass?”

“I’m going to try very hard.”

“Speakin o hard.” his mouth was hot against your ear as he grabbed your hand from his hair, guiding until your palm rested against his length.

“I would say that qualifies.” you agreed, tentatively squeezing him through his jeans, just enough for him to throw his head back and moan.

His hips bucked under your hand, thighs shaking beneath yours. Every slide of your hand gave rise to a new noise ripped from his throat. The sight of him below you, his teeth biting his lip, fingers gripping your hips as he jerked and sighed was almost enough to finish you off. You wanted his mouth again, brushing your lips over his until he pressed back. His head surged forward, one hand cupping the back of your head as he almost devoured you. His other hand slid over the front of you, his fingers dipping just under the rolled waistband of your pants.

Jack’s mouth left yours long enough to mutter, “Jus a preview, right?”

He waited for your nod before kissing you again, his hand moving to cup between your thighs, his fingers rubbing gently along the center of you. Your cry was swallowed by his tongue, his hips grinding against your hand. You could feel him throbbing through his jeans, the knowledge that it was your touch getting him off pushing you almost to the edge. His fingers moved against you, your hips rolling against them until they were exactly where you needed them.

Your whole body shuddered as your movements feel into matching rhythms, his fingers, your hand, your hips all moving perfectly. So close, you were so close and you couldn’t breathe, your head falling to rest on his shoulder. His ragged breath was hot in your ear, his free hand tangling in the hair at the back of your head, yanking your head back so he could run his tongue up the front of your neck. “Now imagine mah mouth instead of mah hand, or both,” he gritted his teeth as your nails scraped over him through his jeans in response. “I’m good wi both.”

His toungue flicked out against your mouth as his fingers dipped and stroked the center of you. I was almost enough, and yet you still wanted so much more. You whimpered, hips rolling against his hand, feeling him twitch under your fingers.

“Look at me.” he said roughly, tugging your hair until you met his eyes. “I wan tae see yer face when I make ye come.”

Your body jerked, the heat in your belly boiling as you felt the telltale ripple inside you.

“Yes, jus like tha darling. I’ll be right behind ye.”

You were so ready, but you didn’t want it to end, you had never felt this good, no one had ever worked your body this skillfully. Certainly no one had ever made you orgasm without even touching your skin, this was, just…….

You wailed at the moment his thumb pushed in as far in as your clothing allowed, just that tiny penetration was enough to make you fly apart. Your thighs clenched around his hand as your body writhed and shuddered on his lap, whimpering as his fingers keeping rubbing, drawing it out longer than you’d ever experienced before.

“Christ love, tha was gorgeous.” he grunted as you started to breathe again. Your hand still had him in a vice grip, his length jerking and swelling under your fingers. As he had done you watched his face as his head fell back, gasping for air as you slid your other hand down, cupping and scraping his balls, matching the rhythm of your hands.

“Fuck! God, that’s good, I’m so close….” his neck and face were red, sweat on his brow as his whole body strained against you. His hips started jerking uncontrollably and he let out a yell as he came, his back arching and his hands gripping the couch.

You watched as he shuddered back to Earth, his limp arms reaching up to wrap around you, pulling you against him as he breathed into your hair. Long minutes passed as you burrowed into one another’s necks, your heart finally beating at a normal rate, his breath now calm. Pulling back you ran your eyes over his face, still pink and sweaty, his hair sticking up all over the place. He looked…

“Well tha was satisfying. In fact tha was fucking incredible Y/N.” Satisfied was the word you’d been looking for. It was perfect, you could only imagine how satisfied you would feel when he was finally inside you.  

You could barely form a coherent thought, let alone articulate one, which led to a self assured gleam in his eye. He knew exactly how good he had made you feel and he certainly wasn’t ashamed of it. Or of you.

He proved it all night when every time he woke his mouth would brush against your neck as you snuggled against him. It felt amazing and unreal to wake up to his alarm, his arms tight around you until you both absolutely had to get up. For the first time you didn’t feel self conscious changing in front of him, in fact you enjoyed the frustrated grunt he gave when he watched you pull off your shirt leaving your chest bare to his hot gaze.

“Do me a favor today?” he came up to you as you tucked your t-shirt into your pants, all clean and dry now.

“What’s that?”

“Wear this over your shirt.” he handed you a button down shirt, specifically one that was uniquely and obviously his. Everyone would know it was his and the thought made your cheeks feel hot. “It will make me very happy tae see ye in mah shirt all day, and it will show everyone I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

Had he put it any other way you would have refused. Instead you pulled it on, tying it at your waist, knowing the buttons wouldn’t meet in the middle.

“Better?” you spun in front of him with a giggle.

“Perfect.”

He held your hand in the car all the way to work, constantly reassuring you that it was fine, that you were precious to him and that he would personally destroy anyone who hurt you. It didn’t take much thought to realise who he meant, you knew they would probably think you had stolen his shirt like a creepy stalker. That thought worried you.

Sure as shit, the two of them were right there as Jack pulled into the lot, tapping away on their phones as they waited for him, he’d told you that they did it every day. You gained satisfaction from the look on their faces as you stood up to close the car door, Jack coming around to take your hand. “Hey luv, I know it’s childish but….what do ye say we put them in their place?”

You nodded your agreement, barely managing a smile before his body pressed yours up against the car door, his hand holding the back of your neck. His lips were on yours, surprisingly gentle and your arms wrapped around his waist. He took your breath away, softly, sweetly and thoroughly, taking his time and kissing you slowly. It was the kiss of a lover, of a man who believed you were something precious to behold.

“That wasn’t just fer show, jus so ye know.” he smiled, brushing your nose with his. “The show is jus a perk.”

“I know what you’re doing Jack, if you think kissing me like that is going to get you an extra piece of cake today well….”

He cut you off with another kiss, short but just as sweet, leaving you feeling all wonky.

“You’re absolutely right.” you finished, enjoying his cheeky grin.

“Course I am, now let’s get tae it.”

“Get to what exactly?”

He slung his arm over your shoulder, neither of you even remembered that anyone else was there as you walked inside.

“The rest of our lives darlin.”