#chapter 2 wouldn't print well anyway

[ann-chovi]

Do you think you would ever sell copies (digital or physical) of Redirect? Your art is just so beautiful and I am so invested in Mari's story <3 <3

As much as I'd like to do physical copies of Redirect sometime- that's flirting with danger knowing how lawsuit happy Nintendo can be. :'D And being able to read it digitally is already how it's freely distributed! Unless you mean in like- a PDF? I could put that together sometime if I could figure out a decent place to host download links? Still free of course.

[suguru-getos]

//fractures// geto suguru x f!reader // chapter 2

🔗-> part one

warnings: hurt-comfort, mentions of wounds, mentions of stitches, guilt, complex emotions from suguru, panic attacks, reader is in a dark headspace, fluff too!! 🙂‍↔️💅🏻

story summary: being a monkey is the norm except when you're captured by geto sama because he needs money from your parents. however, you may just have to suffer a little extra because of the forced thinking about the right and wrongs... you're putting him through. the affection you’re forcing him through…

chapter summary: suguru tends to you after the whole ordeal caused by him, still conflicted & somehow tortured with the way his heart pangs at your condition. 🩷

a/n: please comment down below if you want to be tagged in the taglist <3 thank you ‼️ it's so evident that i'm just writing this for my own silly liddul heart TT_TT

an hour, at maximum. an hour had passed from when geto left your bleeding, tattered body on the bed. the mark of 'MONKEY' with deep, gashing cuts and the way your blood oozed out of your injured, broken skin was haunting his very core. he did it majorly for himself, just to remind himself that you're one. you're nothing but a monkey and monkeys shouldn't have the freedom of life. monkeys are filthy- monkeys breed curses- monkeys are disgusting and vile- monkeys-

his own feet betrayed him quickly when he found himself running for your room. the cream colored satin bedsheet stained with blood. your foot prints stained with blood directing towards the bathroom. his can feel his heart sink at the sheer amount of blood loss. jaw clenching and a soft wave of anxiety which ripens with every passing moment hugging him. did you… die? no, no its just been an hour-

he rushes to the bathroom door, watching you lay limp, holding a piece of gauze in your bloodied hands. you must have passed out by trying to give yourself first aid. he falls to his knees, tears in his eyes seeping through at the sight of usual color in your lip faded to discoloration. you look so peaceful when you sleep. he finally notices the wound inflicted by him on you, it was looking lethal. a striking reminder that you were a monkey and he was, well, a monster.

he doesn't understand what's happening, he was pretty clear that he needs to irradicate the whole human race, he has to. only those with superior selves, who can withstand not creating a curse should be allowed to live. how will he achieve this milestone when his heart weeps at the sight of one pathetic little human half his size losing consciousness.

his bulky and sturdy arms wrap around your body, hugging you closer to him and taking you to his room. your room was a blood bath anyway, he needs to ask the servants to clean it up. gently placing your body atop the plush mattress of his room, he took out his first aid kit, good thing you had been passed out. your wounds are deep and require stitches. he can't bear any more of your screams now without breaking like glass. his mind has already decided to punish him with repeated rings and episodes of your cries and wails when suguru did this to you. he wishes they could stop - he wishes they never stop. he needs to be punished.

bringing your wrist close to him, he decides to stitch those gashes up, watching your face every few seconds. you were knocked out cold, not an expression on your pretty face. he feels like it’s a win, when you'll be awake, at least you wouldn't see the word 'MONKEY' engraved on you… then again, it will scar, and it will scar bad. "you're pathetic" he hums at your sleeping form. "fragile, useless, powerless, pathetic." he adds on, the sentence more a reminder to his own self rather than for you. you're not listening to this anyway. "I could snap your neck like a twig and you wouldn't be able to defend yourself. anyone I call my family could." he sighs, fuck - he's tearing up again. you almost look dead over just an anger tantrum of his. he really needs to be very careful. you're like a little bunny who could die at the slightest bit of carelessness.

a few hours pass with suguru holding your hand, observing the crests and troughs of your sleeping face, how your chest barely heaves but still reminds him that you're alive. he couldn't be more glad that you're alive. he hates that. he hates that it brings him joy that your heart is still beating. he hates that you are bringing him joy and copious amounts of guilt.

"geto sama!" nanako gleams from outside his bedroom door. he wipes his tears at the sound of his adopted daughter's voice. "yes? what is it?" he hums from inside. "the monkey isn't in her room!" she pouts from outside, and suguru gets up to open his door. the teenager watching you lie down on geto's bed with a face of confusion. why were you laying down on 'their' geto sama's room? you- a monkey- the look of disgust in her face is inevitable.

"relax, nanako." he hums, "we need to return her to her parents after 9 days." he responds with his usual close-eyed feline smile. "yeah, but why is she here?" she pouts, "she's too pretty for a monkey though-" a frown envelopes her face. "I agree." suguru looks at you momentarily, a moment of longing and guilt erupting from the depths of his heart before quickly snapping out of it. "I got angry at her, and punished her." he continues, while nanako could see with the way the gauze bandage on your forearm was inflicted with dark reds of blood, that you indeed, were punished. "what did she do?" she asks instinctively and suguru gnaws at his lower lip.

nothing. you did absolutely nothing.

"well, she is a monkey after all." nanako adds, shrugging. "her purpose is as our 'money collecting monkey', isn't it?" she asks him, and he faintly nods. "well, if she really made you angry, geto sama. I suggest you can kill her after getting the money!" she chirps as if it was the most normal thing to say. suguru, on the other hand, feel sickened to his stomach at the thought. "hmm. I need some time alone, nanako" he declares, watching the teen leave his room and locking his door.

he's quick to grace himself in the sanctuary of your presence though, hand back holding yours. "just nine more days of you here, monkey." he reminds both of you. "then your parents will come and get you and this wouldn't exist." he smiles, a sadness spreading across his face.

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

you don't wake up for one and a half days. the exhaustion on your body, the lack of nutrition and the loss of blood demands rest. AND, geto suguru is absolutely tweaking!

he sat next to you, watching you gently, leaning beside you against the headboard. you didn't wake up. he hasn't showered, hasn't gone out of his bed. his family thinks its weird, but they don't push him. suguru is a tantrum king after all, and a pissed off suguru chan is best avoided. the next morning, you're awake before noon. suguru hasn't budged, he has declined all his meetings, all his catch-ups, everything. why? he doesn't know that now, his mind doesn't give him the time to reason for any of it right now. the hollow pit of anxiety that was created was now a bottomless one. he wanted relief from it, he wanted to see you awake! shoko- maybe he needs to talk to shoko-

you shifted a little and his attention is immediately diverted to you, looking at you with the biggest sigh of relief possible. "ah-" a pained whimper escaped you, it hurts everywhere. your ribs hurt, you can barely breathe, tears sting your eyes as you groan, trying to get up. the lack of iron in your body making you dizzy. "good morning, it's afternoon now." suguru hums, just 7 days with you. why is he counting days like a mad man in prison?! before you could process anything, your eyes widened when you heard his voice, heart fluttering out of your very chest and breathless pants echoing in the room. you gripped your chest, it burns, your lungs burn from the lack of air your body can't get due to the whole panic of it all. what will he do? will he hurt you again? fuck- your head hurts, everything hurts- "plea- please" you gasp out, the veins in your forehead strained and popping as you began wailing again. shrieks and cries of pain and panic.

suguru doesn't know what to do about it, he needs to hug you close and tell you it's going to be okay. he wouldn't hurt you. he feels sorry- you don't have to break apart like this- does he even deserve to say that?

instinct… he is just acting on his instinct now.

"breathe with me, ssh~ listen, listen, little one. look at me, breathe with me. deep breath in- come on- follow me-" his voice is soft, but you're inconsolable. you have your very own instinct, the instinct to flee from him. the instinct to run away from him. you struggle against his hold and choke on sobs, leaning away. suguru is quick to pull you back to him, your head against his chest, soft head pats coming after. "ssh ssh ssh~ nothing's happening, no one's going to hurt you." he echoes it repeatedly. "that's it, that's it…" his own rapid heartbeats turning calmer and calmer as your shoulders slump back in exhaustion. you stop resisting after a few minutes, letting him hold you softly.

"just seven more days, and you'll be home." suguru hums to comfort you.

"I hope you die." you mumbled with equal hatred to his comfort. may as well be killed instead of spending seven whole days with him… "I hope everyone you ever knew dies, and they die in front of you." you spit out in your venom laced tone after calming down, trying to lean away from suguru's hug.

"and? who will kill them? you?" he is almost amused, but nothing you say with outweigh his guilt right now. "let’s get you cleaned up and get you to a doctor." he announces. he still has 7 ol' days with you after all.

[simplyclary]

You've Got Great Taste: Taylor Zakhar Perez's Fashionable Characters

This entry is the sort of sequel to the first TZP lookbook. This will focus on four of Taylor's characters, mainly Alex Claremont-Diaz from Red, White and Royal Blue, Marco Peña from The Kissing Booth 2 & 3 as well as Dustin from 1Up and Shane from Minx.

To be completely honest, Taylor has the ability to turn even the plainest combo of a t-shirt and jeans into a freaking masterpiece. Hence, most of the looks in this lookbook will be the more casual but still fashionable side (as compared to the first part where the fits are more on the dressy and preppy side).

The order of characters would be Alex, Marco, Dustin and Shane. Similar to the first lookbook entry, this will just be a compilation of photos plus a personal commentary.

The [cover] photo posted above is a photo of Alex Claremont-Diaz after he addressed the crowd at the Democratic National Convention in Brooklyn, New York and he is seen wearing a gray-blue suit combo, paired nicely with his signature black bracelet and watch. This is one of the many varieties of suit and tie outfits Taylor wears in the movie, especially when Alex is seen attending formal events.

I honestly have no idea what to comment about a suit and tie combo other than he looks good in it (Taylor looks good in any outfit, I'm not kidding!) and it makes him look like someone you should respect and listen to, which I do in every occasion anyway.

There will also be breakers in between each character that will serve as pauses so that it will not be just photos with paragraphs. Take it as chapters, if you will.

Get some drinks, grab some snacks and let's get re-acquainted with the fashion senses of the First Son of the US, the MVP, the gaming world's IT boy and the world's first firefighter model ;)

One of Alex's looks is already featured above so let's start with the First Son [of our hearts], shall we?

The First Son of the US Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz

Before I say anything else, I would like to admit that I can hear this photo loud and clear because like y'all, I have seen the movie more than 10 times.

Anyway, this is Alex in the coffee shop when he is called by Miguel for a quick chat. He is wearing a denim ensemble composed of a plain white shirt topped with a denim button down with folded sleeves paired with denim jeans and white sneakers. He finished the outfit with his usual accessories (black bracelet, watch and key necklace).

I want to say that this outfit combo is the definition of casual. It's a very chill outfit that one can find in most stores. Considering Alex is a law student, this look is also something a student can just put on for a regular day at school which is practical and I love that.

I would also like to add that this is my most favorite Alex look in the entire movie, like the simplicity of the outfit combined with his charm just makes a perfect combination for me. I'm still kind of mad though that Henry did not see Alex in this outfit because dang, Alex was oozing with hotness and handsomeness.

I'll be honest for a second, if I were invited to Alex's New Years' party and he shows up wearing this, I wouldn't be able to look away similar to the guests because how would I be able to when he looks this gorgeous?

To continue, this is a more dressy Alex look. This was his outfit for the New Years' Party. He was wearing a black button-down with a satin (I think?) navy green blazer with leafy print and black pants and shoes. This is also a memorable outfit because this was the outfit he was wearing when he and Henry shared their first kiss, which adds to the romantic factor.

Alex definitely pulled this look off and he was definitely the eye candy of his own party. I do not blame the guests for staring at him in this outfit because he looks so good. I also think that this outfit was the right balance of fit and loose, which is perfect for dancing the night away at a party, which I love.

On a more practical note, I think the material of his blazer is not suited for the chilly winter night because I observed in the scene when he went out to find Henry, he was raising his shoulders to his ears and his hands were in his pockets so his blazer might not have been super effective against the winter chill.

Other than that, this was definitely a good outfit to welcome in a year that was filled with first kisses, missed phone calls, a lot of romance, leaked emails and a win on both sides of the Atlantic.

Ahhh, this look was a super close second favorite of mine. This navy blue blazer with a black inner shirt and pants combo is the perfect smart casual look of Alex when he was strolling the streets of Paris with Henry. It's also one of those outfits that fits Taylor's figure so well and I love that.

I also love the fact that this is one of the first outfits that Taylor wore as Alex, considering that their Paris cafe scene was the first scene he and Nick shot as Alex and Henry.

Also, Alex not wearing a button-up shirt during this was a good idea because if you know the scene that comes after this casual stroll, you know that Henry had a hard time removing his shirt because of the "rigid" buttons so Alex had to step in and help him undo his shirt then. I just love the idea that Alex probably had an easier time removing his clothes than Henry but that's not the point I'm making here. Let's just proceed.

Awww, look at Alex all smiling and happy and looking all cute with his cowboy hat.

This look is something that I can see people wearing for a night out in a bar somewhere where you and your friends have drinks, do karaoke and have fun. A simple printed button-down shirt with denim jeans is such a chill combo and can be worn on any occasion. Alex pairing the outfit with a cowboy hat really gives off the full Texas vibe and that is so cute.

Add the fact that the print on Alex's shirt is lipstick marks, which I find cute and it honestly adds to the romantic aspect and kind of symbolizes Alex's romantic soul and love for Henry because this is the scene where he is the definition of the heart eyes emoji and has the realization that he is in love with Henry.

This is the perfect outfit for a night out with friends and lovers alike. Just hope you won't get your heart broken eventually.

This photo of Alex/Taylor is screaming "Let's take a photo doing peace signs before I get reprimanded by the president who is also my mom for causing an international scandal". That is just a hilarious concept to think about.

Anyway, Alex in a leather jacket with a black shirt paired with jeans? The temperature in the room just went a little up. Something about a leather jacket simply screams badass to me and there's nothing wrong with that.

I like to think that having the jacket on is practical because the Oval Office might be chilly so Alex might have really needed the jacket. It also gives off like a rebellious son vibe, which is Alex in a way so that's fitting.

This photo is just too cute so I might just leave you with that and move on to the next look.

Alex in a gray sweater and jeans combo is the winter look inspiration we all need.

This outfit combo is just the perfect winter outfit to keep him warm and cozy. Also his puppy-like face in this scene adds an extra level of cute. Like you just want to hug him while he tells you all about his Texas strategy memo.

This outfit is a perfect ensemble when you just want to stay in your house during the winter months and set up a warm fire, make a glass of hot chocolate with marshmallows, curl up with a book and enjoy your holiday. Unless you're like Alex who likes to work, even during the holidays (I don't blame you if you are like Alex, I actually admire that!).

Do admit that you can hear what Alex says in this scene loud and clear. Like be honest with yourselves.

This outfit is what Alex wears when he arrives at Kensington Palace during the weekend where he is supposed to do damage control with Henry. He is wearing a black tank top under a printed unbuttoned button down with jeans and his usual accessories. This look is definitely the opposite of Henry's look during this scene. Like Alex's look was casual while Henry's look was dressy.

Now, this is not what I would personally pick for a visit to a royal palace but hey, Alex was immediately sent there so I couldn't blame him for not having enough time to go over his clothing options so I guess this look would have to do.

Awww, look at Alex leaning against a wall looking at Henry talking to a kid [probably about Star Wars] in the children's hospital. Sparks were starting to fly.

This look was a very clean look. Like the pristine white button-down shirt with the blazer and slacks combo was just giving off immaculate vibes. It's not the formal suit and tie business look but it is a good alternative. Also, it makes Alex presentable enough and not intimidating for the children which is lovely.

You can never go wrong with a button-down and blazer combo for a visit to the children's hospital. Maybe spray a bit of your favorite perfume (Santal 33, in Alex's case) and you're good to go.

That's it for Alex's part of the lookbook, folks. I did not include all of his outfits because he has numerous looks in the movie and this would read like a novel if I were to include all of them. Just know that like Taylor, Alex is a fashionable character, no matter how casual or dressy his looks are.

Now, let's go back in time a bit and head to Los Angeles Country Day High School and visit our one and only MVP, Marco Valentin Peña.

The MVP Marco Valentin Peña

He's so cute in this photo, I can't help but swoon!!

Anyway, Marco is one of Taylor's characters who has the most casual looks. Understandably so, because he's a high school student so casual is the way to go.

This is one of the plainest outfits he had in The Kissing Booth 2 but he just wears it so nicely and it fits him so well. It's a simple combo of a burgundy t-shirt with jeans and black sneakers. Marco is also one to accessorize with jewelry so in almost every look, he has a couple of bracelets on, a chain necklace and a ring on his right pinky finger.

This casual look is one of my favorite looks of Marco in the movie, and it is perfect for a casual day out at the arcade where you can just play pool or dance away at the DDM machine with friends and schoolmates.

Oh, if only every guy in high school looks as good as Marco? He is truly a high school heartthrob.

Also, he makes a simple school uniform composed of a light blue button up shirt and a tie worn a little bit loose look good. Like what else can I say? Who can blame all the students swooning over him in class?

I would also like to add that a bomber jacket is a good addition to the uniform look because it gives the uniform a sense of stylishness which I like. It might also be chilly in the classroom which is a reason why he has a jacket on, which is good for practical reasons.

I no longer know what else to comment about this look other than the fact that he makes a student uniform look good so let's just proceed to the next MVP look

Moonshot...

This outfit, composed of a silver inner long-sleeved top with a black waistcoat-like vest and flowy black pants with sneakers is a good option for a dance tournament. It's simple but the silver of the inner top is like a glow in the dark-type material and therefore gives a slight shimmer effect.

Marco looked good in this outfit. He was definitely shining like a moon during a dark night. Add the fact that he is a good dancer and the way the lights bounce off the silver of his shirt gives it an extra glow.

This was also more of the simpler costumes compared to those of the other contestants in the tournament, so I love that idea because first off, it's a dance contest and not a fashion show so people will focus more on the moves rather than the looks. Hence, Marco and Elle's moonlight-like outfit combo was a good choice.

He [and Elle] won the competition, but it came at a price of a little heartbreak. I only wish Elle gave him a portion of the cash prize to compensate for the practice time he allotted [and the heartbreak] but I won't dive into that because that's a whole another topic.

Now, who wouldn't want to listen to a little serenade on the street, especially if the person singing is as handsome and talented as Marco? Add a little acoustic feel with the guitar? Uhmm, yes please! I would definitely not pass on that.

Anyway, his outfit here is composed of a printed open button-down shirt, a white tank top and jeans paired with his usual accessories. The look is giving very street performer vibes and I like it. It's very chill and casual and perfect for a little concert on the sidewalk.

I have nothing more to add to that other than the fact that now, I want to rewatch TKB 2 just to hear him sing, so I'll probably do that when I'm done with this. For now, let's move on to one more MVP look.

Look at those beautiful eyes and that soft expression. I would honestly pass out if he looks at me like this.

Anyway, moving on....

As I stated in the previous lookbook, something about Taylor in dark outfits gives me the butterflies. Like I love him in other colors, but something about him in dark colors just ups the whole fashion experience for me. In this look, he is wearing a black inner tank top underneath a black shirt with green accents and jeans paired with his signature accessories.

Another super casual everyday outfit one can wear for a night out with friends at the arcade where you play and dance to your heart's content. Or like Marco and Elle, doing dance rehearsals for an upcoming tournament. Again, casual and practical all in one.

I would like to add that after their rehearsal, he and Elle rides on the ferris wheel and then sits by the sand on the beach. At the beach scene, Marco puts on a jungle green jacket and I think that is a practical choice because it might be cold where they're at, considering they're by Santa Monica Pier. A little bit of a sea breeze could fill the air with a little chill, so it's always good to have a jacket on hand.

That is it for the looks of MVP himself. He has so many looks in both TKB 2 and 3 and most of them are the definition of casual and practical and I love that.

Now, let's play some e-sports at the fictional Barrett University from "1Up". Pick your team though, either the Barrett Betas or the Barrett 8-Bits..

Barrett University Betas Gamer Boy Dustin

Before I proceed to comment on a couple of Dustin's looks, I would just like to say that I dislike Taylor's character here because I do not agree with his POVs, but I can't deny Dustin's charm. Amid opposing POVs, I like to admit that his charm is something I'm not immune to. To put it simply, I dislike his sexist opinions in the movie, but I can't deny he's a charming douche, so there you go.

Why so serious, Dustin? Afraid to lose to a bunch of gals? LOL.

The Beta gaming jersey is the outfit he mostly wears in the movie. Like a golden-yellow Beta gaming uniform paired with joggers and rubber shoes is the perfect gaming outfit. The outfit plus the headphones is really giving gamer vibes, which is what Dustin is so there's nothing more to say about that.

Gaming is not my thing but from what I've watched, I think that a gaming jersey plus joggers is the go-to combo of every gamer out there so there you go. Maybe with the accuracy of the gaming outfit, the costume department definitely hit the spot.

This outfit is sponsored by Puma.....(I'm just kidding!)

Knowing that this part of the movie takes place in the winter, having Dustin in a navy blue jacket Puma jacket with green accents over a dark blue inner shirt was a good move. It's a simple look that is enough to protect you from the chill of winter.

The sword was just an added bonus and its one job was to simply further my wishes of having Taylor in an action movie or fantasy story with sword-fighting but I'm gonna leave you with that. I'm actually manifesting it to come true but no rush here.

That's it for our gamer boy Dustin. Not a lot of looks to comment on, mainly because he mostly wears his yellow gaming jersey so there's that aspect to it, but hey, you take what you get.

With that, let's go back to the 70s and meet up with a certain firefighter that goes by the name of Shane Brody.

The 70s Firefighter Shane Brody

For Shane, it'll only be a couple of looks again because I don't want explicit content on my blog, okay? I would also like to preface that at the time I'm writing this, I haven't seen Minx. I have my reasons of holding off on watching the series but I did find a couple of looks that I want to include in this so here you go.

Shane may be the hottest firefighter I have ever seen. He's supposed to put out fires but why does it seem like he's adding fuel to the flame?

Let's move on before I ramble something else...

What do I comment about a firefighter outfit from the 70s? Maybe at the time, it was practical and it seemed easy to layer protective gear over it. Again, Taylor with the dark colors, that's an automatic plus in my book.

He could model a standard firefighter outfit and people would buy them just because he's the model, I'm not even kidding.

I could not say anymore than that.

Before commenting on the overall outfit (at least what's visible to me from this picture), I would like to comment that his hairstyle in this series reminds me of Vision's hair in WandaVision episode 3. Oddly enough, that episode took place in the 70s so I guess having long hair for men was a thing in the 70s. I honestly have no idea.

Another similarity that I found between Shane's look here and most of Vision's look in the said episode of WandaVision is the long collar on the shirts. Again, I guess it was a thing in the 70s. So historically, I guess it's accurate.

I also love the mix of blues in Shane's shirt in the photo. Like the combo of a light blue collar and the darker blue shirt is a good contrast to my eyes. Very appealing, as it were. A mix of dark and light, which is always good to see.

No Further Comments..

That's it for the lookbook of Taylor Zakhar Perez's characters [so far]. I did not include all of his characters, as you can see. This is as long as a novella already and I did not want to lengthen it further as I do not want to bore you guys.

For sure, Taylor will play a lot more characters in the upcoming years. One thought that occurred to me as I was writing this TZP character lookbook was if Taylor himself has a say on the outfit choices of his characters, considering that fashion sustainability is very important to him. Guess I'll never know.

Writing this 2-part lookbook commentary is tiring but fun. It gave my inner fashion enthusiast a reason to come out and give opinions about the looks of one of my most favorite people in the world. I may have sounded redundant in some comments but hey, you take what you get from me.

Feel free to share with me your favorite looks from Taylor's characters or from Taylor himself if you wish to. To be honest, when it comes to the outfits of Taylor's characters and his outfits in general, I can't really say much because he makes everything look so good. That's just how he is and I can't do anything about it.

I'll end the lookbook here. Congratulations if you've read until the end since it's a lengthy one. All my love! 💙✌️

[fayrinferno]

The (printed) collection

From time to time I get a question like, "do you have this or that book?" So, a few weeks back, I finally took them all out of their hiding place and grabbed some photos. Wish I had used my camera instead of phone, I had to stand on a chair to get it all and yeah, the picture is not the sharpest.

Anyway, I have some other stuff, figures and such, although I admittedly DO focus more on books as an artist/writer/translator. These books are the ones I translate from so I wasn't going for mint conditions, although a few of them are. You can see some of them still packed in the store bags. I included the CDs cause... well, they were next to the books and they do have some printed material as well.

The Shiren Suiki book gets a separate photo cause after taking the photos at home I realized I had left it at work when I scanned it... practically crying as I did cause it was barely opened when I bought it and it's a beautiful book. My Anvils are also very fragile.

I may do a complete list one day but for now, here are the quick descriptions.

ARTBOOKS & FANBOOKS I have pretty much all of the major official books I think, missing maybe 1-2 pieces. The one that may look less familiar is Hiroshi Osaka's personal artbook. I also have four of the relevant Nobuteru Yuuki artbooks. The bottom right one with the orange title is the issue of Newtype Magazine with a feature about Esca.

SMALLER BOOKS (let's pretend that's a category) Here I got all the novels (they are out of their sleeves cause I was working on them), all the filmbooks, Secrets of Escaflowne, Escaflowne Bible, and the Energist Memories manga/doujin collection.

DOUJINSHI I was mostly going for stuff I haven't seen online so I only got a handful. Besides the Shiren Suiki book, there are three Minato Tajima doujins (one of them is racy heh but I'm not hiding that I have it). One of the other doujins may look unfamiliar; it's a compilation book that includes other series (the character on the cover is from DN Angel). People who talk to me on Discord probably recognize the Nanoka doujinshi cover.

CDs AND THE LIKE I don't have all the soundtracks for some reason, probably cause I thought the missing ones wouldn't be hard to get. The PSX game is the special edition with the tarot cards. The LDs that I literally bought just for the covers and inlays. I also have all the audio dramas, some CDs with extras... and a phone card that was for some reason packed in a CD case lol (kidding, it's precious that they would give it that kind of protection). Oh, and there are two movie posters which I guess don't fall under either category.

I have some other stuff that is kinda related to Esca "by association" such as by artist or things that "looked similar" but I didn't include them. Also the figures. I may update this post with those but this is the brunt of it. I will be posting some goodies from these soon!

Same goes for the ongoing translations that I've been doing updates on in this post. Life is too short to delay them for months and years because of perfectionism, or rather, being self conscious about one's imperfect language skills. I am thankful to everyone who has helped me so far, proofreading my translations (coverteyes, pikafwance, sevenstars, and radical-rad1986)... I'm not tagging you guys but know that I'm VERY grateful, also to the other people who are helping me with other projects). I always had fun working together with you but it's no longer sustainable and I likely bit off more than I can chew. So I will get myself out of the way. There are two books that are almost complete as of today so I will just probably go chapter by chapter. I hope to be done with this asap but also December is a busy month for me so I'm not sure how smoothly it will go. Let's hope it does.

[marvelmaniac2000]

The Riddler - (Edward x Reader) 💚 Ch.1

 Summary: Edward can’t help seeing you struggle with your day to day life, if only there was a way to make it more tolerable.  

Subject: Deep! meaningful fluff, eventually will turn into smuts in upcoming chapters, desperation, submissive kink, savior kink, Being pampered/babied kink, stalking, minor depression,  

MATURE 18+/ MISPELLING GRAMMAR APOLOGIES

Words: 1.4k 

Characters: Edward Nashton x Reader (college fem! reader) 

Ch. 2 3 4

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                                         ****   (Side notes) ****

Mannn I miss writing so much but coming up with something can be hard. Either way I think the riddler is such a guilty pleasure. He’s technically the perfect obsessive bf. 

  Will I ever catch a break? You listened to your alarm echo above your ear, reminding you of the vague world that you must come to terms with. Much of your back seemed a bit sore from the night before serving many customers at the cafe. You slowly rolled out of bed and turned your cheap fan off that cooled your room. Almost all of your hair stuck to your neck and face from the sticky temperature throughout the night. 

       You examine your face in the bathroom mirror before turning on the shower. Much of your problems and responsibilities come pouring into your mind to remind you of what needs to be done before you leave your mom’s house for the day. 

   Ugh. 

Being the age that you are didn’t make sense to why you still lived with your mother and was working multiple jobs to pay your bills. Between trying to find a career, working and life it seemed impossible to obtain. Who knew adulting was so hard... 

The steam from the hot shower hugged your skin. You grin in envy looking at your selection of body washes and shampoos you love buying. The body wash you choose for  the day smelled like pure coconut and vanilla bean cream. You enjoy the moment of complete serenity washing over you. 

    After then, you finish showering and getting ready for your shift. You handle the morning routine of tidying up the kitchen before heading out the door. If I lived in my own place I wouldn't have to worry about any of that crap unless I wanted to. Some days weren’t meant to have routine (That’s what Edward told me anyway) and since then your life became a little bit more tolerable. 

 You start making your way to your local cafe to start your shift for the day. You’ve worked here for quite some time and couldn’t believe how much time has passed by. The glass door is stained by small hand prints and plastered posters of today’s specials. You walk in with a deep breath ready to tackle the day ahead. 

 Edward was your favorite customer, he reminded you of the sweet nerdy boys that always gave the girls the love and respect they needed. Sometimes in the morning he liked walking past the cafe just to see you before he went to his own job. He knew your schedule by heart but he didn’t suspect you to be working for the seventh day straight. No human being should ever work so many hours. It would take such a toll on his lovely girl. So this time he made it his mission to come see you to fix whatever was going on in your life. 

   Edward quietly walked toward the counter and pushed the rim of his glasses up before meeting your gaze. “ Oh I see you working again huh?” you turned the oven on behind you and adjusted the tip jar on top of the counter. You gave out a huge sigh and turned to face your customer you loved dearly. “Yeah I might as well right? Time stops for no one” you looked at how adorable he was in front of you. From his baggy plaid jacket and big puppy brown eyes. 

The sunlight had not hit the sky just yet and only you and him were in this empty store. You felt so tired and exhausted but seeing him for some reason created this bond like no other. 

 “(Y/N) are you okay?” He gently leaned his arms against the counter. The bags under your eyes showed a different story but you weren’t going to tell him that. You didn’t want to be some pity party to a man you barely knew. You didn’t respond and instead gave him a free cookie and his usual coffee. Eddie furrowed his brows and watched you walk around the counter toward him. “I promise I’m okay Eddie but I need to ask you a favor” your voice  became a little low when it came to confrontation. 

  Edward hardly had conversations like this before with you but he knew how much he truly loved you. He already knew what your life was like and anticipated the very thing you yearned to have. Independence.  His mind raced thinking of you living together, watching your every move and being able to caress your body at night knowing you belong to him. But he couldn’t do that yet with you. You  were just a potential roommate but to him you meant much more. Edward’s face grew flush realizing the perverse things he couldn’t wait to do to you. But more than anything he can finally have you to himself. And no one else. 

   “I’m all ears” he composed himself ready to hear his love bun ask the very question. 

“Have you ever considered a roommate?” you dig your eyes searching for an answer.

“I never had one but if you need somewhere to stay I would be happy to live with you” Edward knew he was such a manipulator but he didn’t care. Whatever it takes to keep you near was the very thing he lived for. How can anyone deny those luscious eyes, and soft face you greeted him with everyday? Nothing will compare to how you made him feel. 

You beamed with excitement knowing this was your chance to finally gain some momentum into your adult life. 

“Are you being forreal? Are you sure? I don’t want to force it ya know?”  you began to ramble on until Edward cupped your soft cheeks into his hands. 

  “(Y/N) it’s okay, for now on I will be the one to take care of you” Edward felt something inside himself sparked a fury of determination knowing he would always be the one to protect you and be there for you. Your eyelashes flutter realizing how close your mouth was to his. 

Edward retracted his hands back realizing what he had done. “Sorry I didn’t mean to invade your privacy-”  “Noo please don’t apologize please” you desperately wanted him to touch you back more. You never experienced what it was like to have someone who actually liked you show such affection. You caressed his rosy red cheek and softly laid your lips onto his. Edward eagerly kissed you back wanting to taste every part of your mouth. 

You break the kiss and awkwardly look the other way. “Let me give you my phone number and then we can start from there right?” Edward took his phone out and handed it over to you.

You added your phone number with an emoji next to it. “I’ll text you and then we can start from there right?” Edward realized the time on his phone but didn’t want to part ways with you yet. 

 You stood there in awe with your hands tucked in your apron. “Yeah okay” you gently reassured him. How could someone be so innocent, and pure toward you. You wanted this feeling to last, but how could you? Something like this will never last forever you thought. “I’ll be back to come see you.. uh at what time do you get off?” Edward needed to know every detail, he wanted this move to be perfect. He wanted nothing to go wrong.  “Seven. I should be done” you gave him a smile and returned to your work. He tucked his hands in his sleeve, left the door and disappeared into the working crowd. 

A few moments later your foot crinkled on a piece of paper 

  “Wha..-” you squinted down and look at a note slipped wedged between  the doorway to the kitchen.

              BE CAREFUL. LOVE IS ALWAYS BLIND.  

  You quiver just a bit but not enough to startle you. No this isn’t real. You look up and immediately crumple up the piece of paper.  that batman some freak recently has been going around Gotham sticking his nose in people’s business. Well lucky enough for you, you could care less. You toss the paper in the garbage and continue on your day. 

please! leave any feedback/likes/comments <3 Thanks to anyone who supports us lil fanfic writers. we do it for yall!

to be continued soon!

[all-hallows-street]

Guess whose financial mistake arrived early...

I will give more in depth looks later (I have to work to afford such questionable purchases), but a quick individual review of what I got:

Neil Demon Plushy

Not a plush toys collector at all; my closest reference is the IKEA shark. He is heavier than he looks, very sturdy (?) if that makes sense. Doesn't seem like he will deform any time soon. The details are adorable and I don't see any glaring defects.

All Saints Street Hoodie

Surprisingly large for me. I was worried they only had one size made for the Chinese market. I'm 1.7m (5 foot 7) tall for reference and this is still a bit too big for me. Will likely get too small for anyone over 6 feet tall. The quality is good! Very soft. Velvet interior. I don't know much about shirt stamping, but since it's not in the fabric I'm guessing the stamp might start to crack after multiple washes.

All Saints Street Vol. 1-3 Collection

Now this is something I can talk about more. The sleeve was unfortunately damaged in shipping and the books have very minor damage in the spine and vol 2 has a minor case of dog ears. The quality of the paper is great! It is color paper, not glossy one you see in comic book issues, but it's thicker than the black and white you see in manga. Would still make sure to have a dehumidifier if your storing place is not dry. I've already experienced book wrapping and it's painful.

Each volume contains around 80 chapters with one extra chapter not on bilibili. They also contain a message from Lingzi and WSJ's editor, plus all character bios even for ones we never got one (Enrique, Eduardo ans Anthony). And if a Weibo post is correct some might have been updated from the ones online (Axel grew 1 cm in the book bio).

Of course later I'll look over everything to see if there are any significan changes to make a note of. Also it came with this lol.

I have the Alice in Wonderland art somewhere, I'll post it later as well.

All Saints Street Anniversary Playing Cards

The playing card decks from the 6th and the 7th anniversary. As you can see I haven't opened the 7th, but I got the 6th a while ago on AliExpress so I expect them to be similar.

This is something else I can review more in depth, coming from a family that loves playing poker. The quality of the prints is beautiful, however I keep them in the box all the time because the quality of the cards itself is not good!

The cards feel like store bought cardboard; good playing cards are made out of cardboard, but this deck doesn't have the same treatment. They are so fragile, even by just handling them to get the face cards I've already made slight damage to the edges. I wouldn't play any game with them, much less shuffle them. I don't even want to imagine how much they will bend. Also the Crystal card came with damage (the small white spot on the edge) from the store. Pain.

Anyways. I'll frame the face cards because they are so pretty and I want to keep them in the best condition... I don't know what I will do with the rest of the 36 cards. Maybe practice magic tricks? Lol. Before all this I've been working on how to scan all the face cards and post them, but it's been more difficult than expected. If you have ever tried to digitize prints you will know. Once I have them, I'll post them alongside high quality scans.

When it comes to my review of PandaBuy... On one hand it was an excellent service and experience. On the other... I don't even want to reveal how much the shipping was. I wouldn't recommend anyone else do it unless you are stupid with your money (like me), even then

I would advice to do your own research. PandaBuy and all agents to buy from China are definitely better when you buy in bulk. My package was 'only' 2kg. Many people buy over 10kg to make it worth it. I'm already committed so if new volumes come out I will buy them, and maybe also get counterfeit Gucci shoes or something since that's what most people use this agents for...

That's all for now. Feel free to reply or send any questions you have.

[throwsomecheeseonit]

20 Years of Clean- Chapter 16 (part 2)

HIs lips were the cure for all of my ailments. They traveled all over me like liens on a road map. HIs kisses covered every inch of my body and in that moment the realization hit me. Why did I wait so long for this to happen? Why did I punish myself thinking that he couldn't possibly want me when right now, he was proving the exact opposite. "I've wanted to taste you since I saw you at the reunion," breathily heavily between my legs. He did just that, gripping his arms around my legs and pulling me closer to his mouth. My body began to tremble, and my vision became blurry, my breathing erratic. My back arched with every movement of his expert tongue. It didn't take me long for my body to go rigid and my moans to fill the room. "Oh Godddd Brandon," my last whimper proclaimed as I convulsed in complete orgasmic pleasure. He looked up at me with my slick wetness glazed over lips. Before I could smile back, he had me flipped over, taking me from behind. "Fuck you're so wet." My body held in a purgatory of pleasure. Just trying to focus on what was happening. He pulled my hair and continued to thrust faster and faster. He let out a final, "fuck" and collapsed next to me on the bed. I rolled over on my back to be present in the moment with him. His chest was heaving up and down from his exertions. He leaned over and gave me the sweetest most satisfying kiss I've ever experienced in my life. "Why did we wait so long to do that," grinning at him. He just laughed and pulled me closer to him. "I have no idea, but it was worth the wait." He kissed me on the forehead, and I thought I could die and go to Heaven. "Want to do it again." Brandon let out a big breath of air. "Give me 5 minutes. I'm winded. You'd think I's be in shape but I ain't no young buck anymore." He slapped my ass. "You can't go doing things like that if you want to wait." I kissed his neck and made my way down to his cock, looking up at him when I reached my final destination. He placed his hands behind his head looking down at me. "You wanna wait. It's only been about 2 minutes," batting my eyelashes at him, 2 inches from his dick. "No. You go right ahead. My clocks about 5 minutes fast anyways." His sinister grin even furthered his confirmation. I put my head down and went to work.

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The next three days were pure, unbridled bliss. The only times we left the bed were to eat and shower—together. We explored every inch of each other, until there was nothing left to discover. By the time my last day in town arrived, we knew each other completely—emotionally and physically—in a way I had never experienced with anyone before.

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Brandon made dinner reservations for my last night. "I made this reservation 4 weeks ago. This place is exclusive AF," he chuckled. "Exclusive AF huh. Well I hope it's good with a description like that." "I've heard nothing but great things about it. Only the best for the best." He kissed my cheek as I was getting ready for the night excursions.

He looked so handsome in his all black look with a button down and dress pants. He topped off his look with a black sport coat. Monochrome from top to bottom. I opted for a maxi dress with flower printed fabric. It could be dressed up or down and not only did it look nice it had pockets and was comfortable as hell. I looked over at him and I felt sadness creep into me knowing at this time tomorrow we wouldn't be together. I'd be home, alone, probably laying in the same spot he did on my couch, crying myself to sleep.

[starredeclipse]

MonsterClan

[This is a old Warrior cat interactive story where the choices have been picked and we get to see how it effects the story. This story will contain character death, blood, drama, possible mentions of murder or just murder, and fighting throughout its chapters]

[If you want to go back to part 2]

10.) BeamWhistle looked at the rusty chains, maneuvering his paws around wherever they could fit in the space available. The rusty metal felt sharp on his paw pads as he started to pull, the Elment watched him tiredly, pulling him up took most of her strength.

BeamWhistle pulled and pulled the metal making noise of it straining under the pressure until it broke. "I got it!" He chirped victoriously dropping the chain, they clanked against the rock making a sharp noise.

BeamWhistle started working on the other chains, the others came off more easily but the one around her neck gave him more trouble. The tom ended up cutting his paw on the sharp metal when he finally got the one around her neck off. "There you're free!" he chirped but his paw stung as he got up leaving a bloody paw print behind "come on!" He chirped walking a bit away but she didn't follow "Oh right you must be tired" he said when he came back. "Come on, hop on my back, I'll carry you out" he offered but he didn't exactly make it a option as he helped her onto his back. She was heavy but she should have been heavier, she let out a sigh as he came out of the cave with her.

The warrior made the journey back to his camp where by now more warriors were awake, BeamWhistle had forgotten about helping his mother gather herbs completely as he brought the Elment to the freshkill pile and helped her get settled onto the ground "You're going to be really hungry but don't eat too much too fast or you'll throw it up." BeamWhistle told her as he started her off on something small to eat, a vole was a perfect starting point. The Elment started munching on the vole, she was starving but she understood his words and the stares from the other cats made her uncomfortable but the warrior reassured her they wouldn't try anything.

BeamWhistle sat down watching the Elment eat for a moment when he spotted JoltCough. He could go give her the present! He still had the pretty stones! But he should stay with the Elment, he found himself feeling conflicted.

[Option Chosen, Stay with the Elment] ⬇️

11.) BeamWhistle decided to stay with the Elment, he could give JoltCough her present later. Maybe she'll come over to say hi, he didn't know, she hasn't exactly been a fan of strangers ever since she lost her kits. He understands her reasons to for that but maybe JoltCough would make an exception for the Elment. It's not like Elments are something you see everyday after all.

"Uhm so-" BeamWhistle was about to say something but he got interrupted "you wa-nt to go to her yet you st-ay, why?" The Elment asked him suddenly, guess she caught him staring. "Because I want to stay with you too and I can always talk to her later but right now I want to make sure you're taken care of." BeamWhistle chirped which got a big pause from her.

"Ve-ry well" The Elment said in reply, she could see his heart was in the right place. Even if he was unsure of things at times, either way she appreciates him staying with her. "Would you like me to get you some water? we can go to the lake later if you feel up to it but you're probably tired huh?" He asked as he started looking her pelt over for wounds, being the med cats son and all you automatically check other cats for wounds at times. His mom wanted him to be a med cat originally but when he lacked interest in herbs she decided he be a better warrior anyways, That doesn't mean some med cat behavior didn't rub off on him.

At the end of his search he could see very old bruises of past wounds but no current ones. The old bruises were concerning given that she was chained originally. "Wat-er wou-ld be nice and yes I do need rest at lea-st for a little bit." She replied, she still spoke slowly, he wasn't sure if it was because of the lack of eating or if that's how Elments spoke, regardless he was just happy he could talk to her.

BeamWhistle went and grabbed her some water, she drank some of it "mind pour-ing the rest on my scal-es and tail?" She asked him, a strange request but he did it anyways. He just expected the water to drip onto the ground but it was like, once the water got poured on her it stayed on her pelt. He watched the water get absorbed into her scales, she purred with a look of relief. "Tha-nk you" she purred more happy now. "Yeah no problem, hey how come you're scales were so dry anyways? That cave was wet that you were in" he asked her.

"I was chain-ed where it was drie-st, sure gro-und got wet but it wa-sn't eno-ugh." She explained simply and he nodded in understanding. What happened next the warrior should have expected because when he turned his head he saw his mother walking up to him and she looked mad. Probably because BeamWhistle basically ditched her and didn't tell her where he went. "Where were you?!" SaberWing said in a angry manner.

BeamWhistles ears pinned back "I left to go uh explore…ended up saving a Elment instead…s-sorry I didn't come back…I um….forgot." he said expecting a scolding.

SaberWing looked at the Elment, then to her son, and then to her sons paw that was dripping blood still…honestly she followed his red paw prints back to camp. The med cats head was racing. While him rescuing someone made her proud, the fact he ditched her and she had to follow a blood trail back to camp had made her angry along with worried sick.

The med cat in her told her to attend to his wounds and the Elment, while the mother part of her told her to scold him for making her worry. Scolding him seems silly though doesn't it? Instead she got a idea so she didn't say anything, instead she fixed up her son's paw wound and attended to the Elment including moving her into the med den and into a nest. BeamWhistle followed her confused, he expected to get scolded or something but the fact she said nothing worried him even more.

BeamWhistle followed after them and sat there as the Elment curled up in the nest feeling comfortable for the first time in a while and fell asleep.

SaberWing turned to him and looked like she was going to say something "Son, while I'm proud of you for saving someone. You worried me half to death when you were gone and I had to follow a blood trail back" the med cat started out with "So instead of scolding you I would like you and another warrior to get me the rest of my herbs, I'll stay with the Elment as you do so. I need Rosemary and Coltsfoot along with cobweb. You know what they look like, now go." SaberWing meowed clearly still mad but BeamWhistle accepted the task without complaint. It was better than getting scolded after all.

BeamWhistle left the med den, okay he needed to bring someone. Who shall he bring to finish gathering herbs with?

[Option Chosen, Bring a Apprentice]⬇️

#12.) BeamWhistle decided to bring a apprentice with him. He went into the apprentice den and found TigerPaw was the only apprentice awake. "Hey have you eaten already?" The warrior asked her. "Yeah I have, why you ask?" The she cat chirped, her long curly tail was wrapped around her paws, her tail spikes pointed away from her.

"How would you like to help me gather some herbs and cobwebs?" BeamWhistle asked her, Phantompaw groaned in the background in annoyance to there talking. He wanted to sleep and there racket made it hard to do so.

TigerPaws eyes brightened excitedly, ZebraScream rarely let her leave camp! So of course she jumped at the opportunity "Yes! I-I mean sure." The apprentice chirped trying to be cool like she thought warriors were but she couldn't contain her excitement. She practically bounced out of the apprentice den before he did "Alrighty, let's get going then" he chirped having to catch up to the apprentice before he led her out of camp.

Once they were outside of camp though TigerPaw couldn't contain her curiosity about everything. "What's this plant called? A-and this one? Oh and what's this one?" The apprentice chirped eyeing a red mushroom.

"I uh that's a daisy, that's a BlackBerry bush and that's poisonous don't touch that" BeamWhistle muttered not minding the apprentices excited curiosity. TigerPaw jumped back from the mushroom, she knew what poisonous was but she thought only snakes could be poisonous….or was it venomous? She constantly got those two mixed up.

"Okay, uhm…what we looking for exactly?" TigerPaw asked him as she sniffed more flowers, she just loved plants! Parts of her wish that her mentor would teach her more about plants but ZebraScream seemed obsessed with teaching her how to fight. TigerPaw wasn't even good at fighting! No matter how hard she tried she never did that techniques correctly but that was alright! She was going to become a warrior and have a pretty marriage ceremony eventually with the tom she was assigned! It was going to be perfect!

TigerPaw looked up at BeamWhistle, she never saw him with a mate…she assumed everyone got assigned a mate eventually but he's never been assigned one. "Hey BeamWhistle, can I ask you a question?" TigerPaw asked him.

He smiled "Was that you're question" he asked and she paused "What? No" she muttered but realized he was just joking around "Yeah sure ask me anything" BeamWhistle chirped as he hunted for herbs and cobwebs.

What question should TigerPaw ask?

[Option chosen, Ask if he has a mate]⬇️

[monster-fricker]

Part 2: The Arrangement and Floor Flowers

Male Orc (He/Him pronouns) x Female Human Reader (She/Her pronouns) - SFW Chapter, but will eventually be NSFW

- I am in love with my own OC and you can tell. We meet our perspective "Sugar Daddy" and he is awkward and he is adorable. I think I'm funny. Anyway, here it is -

As you showered and tried on several outfits, the majority of which ended up in a crumpled pile on the floor, you decided fainting was more appropriate than rejoicing.

O- or whatever his real name was- said that the restaurant was "pretty casual." Pretty casual? You had no idea what that meant. Not sweatpants, sure. But were jeans appropriate? Do sugar babies wear jeans? You threw on a black skirt and an oversized sweater. Best of both worlds. You completed the look with a chunky necklace, some semblance of that "sex hair" style, and some orange-amber scented perfume, contained in a bottle with a cursive "Intimacy" printed on the side. That seemed fitting enough.

When you grabbed your keys off the table, your hands were shaking. This was completely out of your comfort zone and you were well aware of that fact. You hoped it wouldn't be obvious to him, that he would not smell the "never done this before and haven't had sex in three years" aroma on you. You guessed that's what the perfume was for.

You arrived at the restaurant 20 minutes early. He had told you the place didn't really require reservations, but he would be the one in a blue button-up with a bouquet of roses. You couldn't remember the last time you had gotten flowers. Perhaps on Valentine's Day a few years back. A pity present from your mom, but that was inconsequential. Your hands were still shaking and you tried desperately to steady them before entering. While you procrastinated, you mentally planned your escape plan, double-checked your purse for pepper spray and a pocket knife, and took a deep breath before going in.

Once inside, you were thankful you chose a skirt. Almost all the patrons were wearing business attire. Pretty casual. You shuddered to think what this guy's idea of casual casual was. Regardless, it was too late to turn back and you were fairly sure no one would let you borrow an expensive coat for dinner, though the idea did cross your mind. You made your way through, scanning the dining room for a blue shirt and flowers. Just as you resigned yourself to giving up, you spotted him, thankfully at a table set in the back.

You had a lot of visions of what O would look like and not one of them had included him being an orc. But there he was, hunched over a table much too small for his enormous frame, a massive figure of muscle and fat and radiant green skin. You could already see the way his thick arms bulged through that aforementioned button-up, threatening to burst through at the slightest movement. You were not prepared for him to be handsome.

Your mouth went dry as you approached the table. He was too distracted to notice you, reading from some papers with great focus. His glasses had slid down nearly to the tip of his nose. The bouquet of flowers were laid across his lap.

"Hi," you stammered, "Are you O?" Who else would it be? You wanted to curl up and die.

He shot his eyes up at you and fumbled from his chair, visibly startled. "Sorry, I wasn't anticipating for you to be early," he chuckled. He sounded nervous. "Or to show up at all."

You smiled "I tend to be early for most things," you said, matching his chuckle with your own. His jumpy behavior put you at ease. At least you weren't the only one feeling out of your element.

"Here, let me get your chair for you." He pulled it out, motioning for you to sit. You immediately did so, surprised when he pushed the seat in for you too.

"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting you to be such a gentlemen." You hid your fidgeting hands beneath the table. Sound aloof. Sound smooth. "Or an orc, for that matter," you blurted out. Incredibly smooth.

He gave you a weak smile. "Is that okay? I know... it's not a common preference for a lot of humans." He ran his hands through his long, dark hair, accidentally pulling strands from the ponytail, and set his glasses on the table.

"Oh no, on the contrary-" Don't mention your porn history. Don't mention your goddamn porn history. "-I am quite attracted to orcs."

The relief that washed over him was palpable and he let out a relaxed exhale, as if he had been holding his breath. "I knew there was a reason I picked you," he laughed. His voice was gravelly and deep. If you had not met him on a sugar baby website, you would have paid him for this date.

"Should I continue calling you O?" You didn't know how this worked. It could be a Batman kind of situation.

He grinned. "No, that was just a precaution. My name is Oluan. And you?"

You offered your name, but added with a wink, "Kitten might be cliché, but I don't mind that either." He gave you a smirk, something between suggestive and amused. Kitten seemed to suit him just fine.

Just then, your waiter arrived to take your drink order.

"Do you drink alcohol?" Oluan asked. "Wine?"

"As often and as much as possible," you quipped, "though I do prefer beer."

"You heard the lady, your finest beer on tap for the both of us."

The waiter scurried away, leaving the two of you staring at one another, waiting to see who would be the first to speak. It was Oluan.

"Shit, I forgot to give you the flowers." In his haste to get up and greet you, the bouquet and papers had fallen to the floor. He grimaced. "So I'm not very good at this." You snorted.

"Floor flowers are better than no flowers."

Oluan beamed. You couldn't believe his anxiety was somehow worse than yours. He grabbed the bouquet, dusting them off before handing them to you. "Let's pretend that never happened."

"Deal."

The waiter returned with the glasses, tall and filled to the brim, as well as a plate of buttered bread. Oluan told the man you would both need more time to order while you popped a piece into your mouth. He looked back at you, eyes widened for a moment, and snickered.

"You are not what I was imagining when I messaged you." He instantly winced at his own words and sputtered, "Not in a bad way!"

With the entire piece of bread in your mouth, some still hanging out, you swallowed what you could and replied, "Is it my impeccable manners? My charm?"

He tried to quiet his laughter. "You are much better than what I pictured, to be honest. I was worried I would get someone... less down-to-earth."

"That's one way to put it," you said, finishing the rest of your neglected bread. You both looked over the menus and ordered. You were more comfortable now, but you knew you would have to discuss this arrangement. You decided it was best to get it out of the way.

"So, you said you weren't really sure what you're looking for from all of this. From me."

Oluan ran his fingers through his hair again, a nervous behavior, you assumed. "Yeah. I know that's vague." He trailed off for awhile, taking a large swig of beer, then continuing. "I'm a writer, as I have said. I don't necessarily meet people often. No one of interest, I mean. Or no one who is interested in me." The honesty made him shift uncomfortably. "Anyway, my newest book is coming out and I have a lot of events to go to- parties and signings and all that. And I would rather not go alone."

You nodded. The reason was kind of wholesome. You liked kind of wholesome. You were kind of wholesome.

"What about sex?" you asked.

Had you known the waiter had just returned with your food, you probably would not have said it. Unfortunately, you had not known and you did say it. He served dinner and hastily retreated. You buried your face in your hands, face burning red.

Oluan howled, the booming sound turning the heads of several diners. "You traumatized that poor man," he huffed, barely able to catch his breath. "Now I have to tip him extra."

"I traumatized myself," you muttered, refusing to look up. Oluan howled again, but reached over the table and removed your hands from your face.

"You're too pretty to be hiding," he said. Now you were blushing for a different reason and his ears turned a dark shade of green. You suddenly felt very shy.

He changed the subject, clearing his throat. "As for sex. It is not a requirement and it is not something I will initiate. But I certainly wouldn't turn it down." His wink was betrayed by the blush spreading across his cheeks.

"I think we will see where it goes, if that's okay. But it's not off the table." You stared at the food in front of you like it was the most interesting food you had ever seen. It was spaghetti.

"That sounds good to me." He cleared his throat again. "My only real requirements for this thing is that, well, you go to those events I mentioned, as my plus one. And are comfortable with me calling you my girlfriend at said events. A kiss here and there. Maybe allow me to take you out on a date once and awhile?" He fiddled with his fork. "Obviously, I will pay you- for tonight as well- and I will buy anything you ask for, within reason. And clothing for the events too. I... well, that's what I'm looking for. If that is what you're looking for too, we have a deal. If not, no hard feelings and I have enjoyed a dinner with a beautiful woman."

You smiled at that very interesting plate of spaghetti. "As long as you don't mind that I am not the most lady-like date, I think that sounds perfect."

"Alright then."

"Alright then."

The rest of the meal went well and Oluan did tip the waiter extra. You negotiated pay- and by that, you mean he agreed to the first thing you suggested. When you departed, you exchanged phone numbers and the goodbye was sealed with a hug. Some part of you was disappointed that it wasn't a kiss.

You went to bed smiling that night, floor flowers placed neatly on your windowsill in the nicest vase you could find.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[ice-cream-writes-stuff]

¤~°Ghost Marriage: Lovely Bride To Be?! Part 2°~¤

Previously... 

"Your right. You will become my bride and then become a princess."

"Huh?"

(Y/N) could feel her skin turn cold after what Elias said. "Your joking right?" (Y/N) blurted out with fear creeping into her soul. Elias just kept smiling as he placed his cup down on the counter and goes closer to (Y/N). Taking the bear mug from her paleling hands. The Ghost Groom placed it next to the other mug. Elias almost translucent hands holds (Y/N)'s gently.

"No. We will be married twomrrow, my dear princess!" Elias said sweetly like honey. (Y/N) could feel herself grow faint as she falls into the Ghost grooms hold. Then the last thing she could see was her mugs before sleep consumed her body.

Present Time...

"*Yawn~*" Grim found himself awake as he stretches his body. He looks at where (Y/N) was supposed to be. But she wasn't there at all. "Weird.. Did (Y/N) awoke earlier than the Great Grim? She must be down stairs making tuna for breakfast!"

Grim cheers loudly, hopping out of the bed and starts heading down the stairs.

"Tuna~ Tuna~!" Grim sang as he reached the the hallway to the kitchen. He then heard a yell and stopped singing. "You, Trespasser! Stop right there!"

"Huh!?" Grim found himself being surrounded by three ghosts. "Oh it's just the usual ghosts. Or not.. They're wearing something different?" Grim asks himself with confusion.

"This mansion is the prince's and his brides reception hall. It's off limits four outsiders!" One of the odd ghosts yells. "Prince? Bride?? Reception hall??" Grim was growing even more confused than ever before. "I don't get it, but it's my dorm. The outsiders are you guys!" Grim says in retaliation.

"What a proud sentence. Before youngsters like you were born. We decided this place was going to belong to our country!" The leader stated pridefully.

"If you don't want to get out, then we'll drive you away by force! Get out before your beaten up by us!"

"Ffnga!!" Grim cries out in shock as the ghosts rush towards him. Not having a enough time to use his fire breath. Grim flees, rushing towards the exit of the Rambschakle dorm. Yet the ghosts kept chasing after him until he got outside the  gate.

"*Huff, huff!*" Grim pants out of breath. Grim looks behind him to see the ghost guards nowhere in sight. Yet the gate was locked shut to let anyone in the dorm. "Those ghosts took away me and (Y/N)'s dorm. What the hell is happening right now!" Grim growls out after regaining his breath.

Grim heads over to the main campus to talk with the principal about this ghost problem. Once he made it to his office and explained what happened. Mr. Crowley responds with. "Since no one was using the Ramshackle dorm. It became guest house last year before you two arrived."

The headmaster mutters under his breath. "It's that season of the year again.."

"Huh? What do you mean by "season"?" Grim asks confusingly. Mr. Crowley gave a calm smile. "The one who drove you l off is the family of Ghost Groom." The headmaster says simply. "A Ghost Groom? I don't know if that's something we should admire or be scared of..." Grim thought of the Ghost Groom

"Even if you say so. He's still a princes of a destroyed country from a long time ago. The princes always dreamed of getting married to his "dear princess". Sadly before he could fulfil his wish, his life ended right then and there. Even though he became a ghost. He still is looking for his ideal prince..."

"When that season of the year had come. They will search all over Twisted Wonderland to find the perfect bride." Mr. Crowley explained. "It seems like they had chosen Ramshackle dorm as a place to stay when they accomplish their mission. I'm glad they chose one of NRC building for such a occasion!" Mr. Crowley states with pride.

"It's not time for you to be proud! Just drive those troublesome ghosts away!" Grim says furiously. "It would be trouble if we drove them away... *Cough!* Don't you feel sorry for them? Just let them be."

"Why?!" Grim questions angrily. "Because the prince will be looking for a princess that doesn't even exist in our school."

" "A princess that doesn't even exist"? What do you mean by that?"

"Well...The Ghost Groom ideal princess is... Someone who is (Your Height). Someone with smooth looking skin. Someone with kind eyes. A charming smile, a sweet voice that holds determination. Someone with cuticles and soft (h/l) hair. And lips that you would want to kiss unconditionally.~  Those are the terms the ghost groom is looking for."

The headmaster started to laugh. "He is trying to find someone super beautiful and kind. Someone like that doesn't exist, he would have to search everywhere for his ideal princess. Especially at a all boys academy!" The headmaster said, trying to stifle his giggles.

"Wouldn't you agree (Y/N)?" The headmaster says as he waits for the female to answer. But not a single peep was heard. "Huh? Wasn't (Y/N) with you Grim??" Mr. Crowley said with a eyebrow raised in confusion. "No? She wasn't even in the Ramshackle dorm when the ghosts attacked..."

Before the two could ponder over the fact that where the female was. Ortho rushes into the principles office. "Young Shroud, what is the matter?" "Ghosts are taking over the school and kidnapped (Y/N)!!!!"

"Ehh?! Kidnapped?!!" The two idiots yell in sync. Ortho nods his head in agreement. "Yes! Look at this video! It’s last night’s video from the school’s cctv!" Crowley gaped in shocked. "Hey! Please don’t hack the school’s security system!"

Ortho shakes his head and whispers. "Shh, be quiet! I’ll play the video." The younger Shroud pulls out Idias tablet and types in something. Soon Ortho shows the video to the two. The video slowly starts to play.

"*Bzzt... Bzz..*"

The video showed Idia walking about the campus. A slight skip in his step as he walked. "I’ve ordered my favorite manga’s newest print... Along with the spacial mini colored papers. But why is it not delivered by the release date!?" Idia sighs, "it’s a disgrace as an otaku to not get it on the first date.There’s nobody around too, let’s hurry and go to the shop..."

"...ound you..." A unknown voice whispers.

Idia goes quiet, "Eh? Just now... Did I hear someone’s voice?" The unknown voice speaks again. "I finally... found you..." Soon two figures rush past Idia. Though mainly it was a male ghost carrying a, what seemed to be a unconscious (Y/N).

"MY PRINCESS!!!!!!!!" The male ghosts shouts into the air with glee. Not noticing poor Idia who was spooked. "GYAA———!!!!!" He screamed in fear as the ghost flys past him. Then the video ends.

"*Bzzt! Bzzzzzz———*"

The three people in the room went silent. "... this ghost is..." Grim tries to say, but his words turned quiet. Mr. Crowley "Yes... Such a thing... Has happened." Mr. Crowley takes a deep breath. "It seems like the ghost groom has finally found his ideal bride!"

Grim was stares at the Headmaster with fear. "The ideal bride is... (Y/N)!? She’s not at all a princess! She may be kind, nice and stuff. But that's just in her nature! (Y/N)'s always determined because we deal with problems that you or other students give us! And you call her tired grin a charming smile?" Grim states truthfully.

Mr. Crowley starts to mumble a bit. "Huh..?" "(Your Height), kind eyes, sweet voice, charming smile... or not. (h/l) hair.. I think it’s fits the ideal of the ghost prince." Mr. Crowley tells himself quietly.

Ortho (who had heard Mr. Crowley) also agreed with the Headmaster. "Yup. Based on my brothers taste and other students. (Y/N) is cool from every angle. Damn you ghost, what a precise eyes you have!"

"I can’t really agree..." Grim sighs out.

"Anyway, it seems like we have a trouble." Mr Crowley remarks as he placed a gloved finger under his chin. "If (Y/N)'s chosen to be the ghost’s bride, then that means..." "It’s a problem—-!! The three heard a student screamed loudly.

" "It sure is noisy outside!" Mr. Crowley tells himself as he, Ortho and Grim rush outside the office. Standing in the middle of the interior hallway. "What is this riot!" Mr. Crowley yells out.

Ace, who was in hall. Runs up to the three with Deuce beside him. "Headmaster... ah, and also Grim! There’s a problem!" "There are so many ghosts that we haven't seen before. They appeared out of nowhere!" Deuce adds on, "they are taking over the cafeteria and are saying something like. "This will be the ceremony hall of the wedding"! We resisted them, but no matter how much we take them down. The ghosts keep reviving!"

"STOP YOUR STEP!!"

At the end of the hall, Senior Vanrouge and Sebek were conversing with the ghosts knights. "They became angery just because of a mere joke I made about them. Such a bunch of narrow minded ghosts." Lilia jests with ignorance in his tone.

"Ugh, the guys from Diasomnia! Why did you bring these ghosts here?!" Ace yells out in fear. "You naive ghosts who dare to snarl at Lilia. I'll get tid of you guys!" Sebek said with very little amusement.

To be continued...

(Okay! Part 2 is out! I hope you guys liked this and part 1. Notes and reblogs are appreciated (with credit)! Also, if anyone wants to chat or ask questions, hit me up! I wanna here some chapter five theories too.)

[soiituko]

Mitsuba's Name isn't Sousuke

I hate tumblr. This is my third time having to retype all of this omg. Anyways, This was originally a highlight I made on instagram, but I've decided to post it on here.

MANGA SPOILERS

To start off, Mitsuba who lived and died as a human, and Mitsuba who is a supernatural are not the same person. They are separate beings and will be referred to as M1tsuba and Mit2uba respectively.

Now, M1tsuba's name is Mitsuba Sousuke. There is not doubt about that. His first name is Sousuke and his last name is Mitsuba. That is just that.

However, my take is that Mit2uba isn't "Mitsuba Sousuke" and instead, simply just "Mitsuba."

This is important because it separates their identities, while still relating them. Mit2uba is his own person, but he is still a part of M1tsuba.

Reasoning-wise: Unless M1tsuba had either told Tsukasa, or Tsukasa was able to find out through supernatural means, Mit2uba wouldn't have been aware of the name Sousuke until he figured out his mirror powers. In which by that time he would have been used to being just "Mitsuba", and taking on the name "Sousuke" would be inappropriate for a number of reasons. It would have been out of character as Mit2uba is jealous of M1tsuba, and seems to have a general distaste or guilt whenever he is seen as the other.

Even if Tsukasa had known about Mitsuba's first name, he never calls Mit2uba "Sousuke", so the reasoning still stands.

Evidence-wise: there is a lot. The reasoning is, well just reasoning, but the evidence is able to push this narrative a lot more forwards.

To start. Whenever Mit2uba introduces himself, He always does so as "Mitsuba" and never "Mitsuba Sousuke." There are many instances in which it would make more sense to refer to yourself as your full name, or even just your first name, however Mit2uba always just says "I'm Mitsuba." We even see other characters constantly introducing and referring to themselves with their first or full name, so it isn't just writing style.

exhibit one-

exhibit two-

exhibit three-

As you can see, he is constantly calling himself Mitsuba in his introductions, and inner dialogue.

The only time Mit2uba has ever been referred to as "Mitsuba Sousuke," or "Sousuke" in general was in picture perfect arc. This makes sense as in the picture perfect world, Mit2uba was trying to become M1tsuba by playing his role. In a picture perfect world, Mitsuba Sousuke would have never died.

Now onto the next evidences: Kanji.

Now I don't speak or read Japanese, however I have a surface level concept of how it works and google on my side. So take this section for what its worth, it may not be a 100% accurate, however I'm pretty sure the general information is correct.

Now as far as I'm aware, kanji is basically characters that have meaning to them based on how they're written.

Sousuke is spelled like: 惣助

and Mitsuba is spelled like: 三葉

There are alternate spellings, however this is the kanji.

In the name Sousuke as I've understood it, The first character is the one with the meaning, amd the second character is there for support.

In the following exhibit I have highlighted the characters used to construct the name Sousuke. And in the next, the kanji for Mitsuba is shown.

As you can see, Sousuke means "whole" or "all." This is in reference to Mitsuba's soul. M1tsuba is whole, until he has to pay the price for his "wish" and his soul is ripoed apart later making him "unwhole." This name would not fit with Mit2uba because Mit2uba isn't whole and instead only a part of M1tsuba.

Mitsuba just means "three" and "leaf." This is clearly in reference and foreshadowing to Mit2uba becoming school mystery number three. The name Sousuke fits more with M1tsuba and Mitsuba fits more with Mit2uba.

Now the next section is miscellaneous evidence of Mit2uba being referred to as "Mitsuba" ,or exclusively M1tsuba being referred to as "Mitsuba Sousuke."

These are not chronological.

And a side note should be: Hanako is generally referred to as "Hanako" over "Amane Yugi" and Tsukasa is sometimes referred to as "Tsukasa" over "Tsukasa Yugi." Whenever I say "everyone" I mean everyone excluding the Yugi twins, and characters without a last name.

exhibit 1-

The Hanako of the Opera Event occurred when M1tsuba had been long gone, and so we can assume that in this AU we are looking at Mit2uba.

Mitsuba's Art has his name under it, however it has the name "Mitsuba" and not "Sousuke." If you look at everyone else's art, their first name is written down, not their last. For example, Yashiro is Nene, and Minamoto is Kou and Teru. A weird exception to make, unless Mit2uba's name is just "Mitsuba", and not "Sousuke." Similar to how Amane is called "Hanako."

exhibit 2-

(mitsuba's name is second row first column)

The 77th chapter celebration character diagnosis!!

Mitsuba's name is recorded down has "Mitsuba" and not "Mitsuba Sousuke" even though, once again everyone else has been out down as "Last and First." We're clearly talking abt Mit2uba because of the image shown at the end.

exhibit 3-

The ghost hotel! This timeline also lines up to when Mit2uba existed and not M1tsuba.

As you can see the characters are referred to by first name, minus mitsuba.

exhibit 4-

In this image Tsukasa is talking abt a holiday in which you eat things with the character "う" in it. Therefore talking abt wanting to eat, Natsuhiko, Sousuke, and Kou.

During this time of post M1tsuba was already dead and Mit2uba was generally depicted in the arts.

However when talking about the "う" in Sousuke AidaIro choose to bring back M1tsuba for this art. Implying that drawing Mit2uba would have been wrong, as he isn't Sousuke, and doesn't have a "う" in his name.

exhibit 5-

This is art of M1tsuba based on the line on his scarf, and he is referred to as Mitsuba Sousuke.

However if that is not convincing enough, the text that accompanied this art included him talking about how his introduction wasn't available in sample chapters, and that if you wanted to meet him you'd have to buy the volume. This art was created in promotion for either the print or repreint of volumes 1-3, in which M1tsuba is introduced, but Mit2uba is not.

---

That is all for now :)

[4aloysius-porteu]

i really wish i hated you || tsukishima kei

masterlist | 1 | 2 | chapter 3

pairing: tsukishima kei x f! reader

sypnosis: It was an accident that (Y/N) met a certain tall, blonde male; a memory she isn't fond of remembering, but it is where it all started. And ever since, she magically makes her to his path. The image of the bespectacled man dwelled in her mind more than she thought. Tsukishima pushed away his softer emotions and denied their existence, or at least that's what he told himself. But then, he couldn't believe that this girl he labeled as a clumsy, unlucky creature who smashed his glasses is slowly bringing these strange emotions back to him. She might be irritating and dumb sometimes, but he couldn't get himself to completely hate her. Either that destiny was stupid, or he was blessed or cursed.

genre: fanfiction, fluff

wc: 2.6k

She has met the tall, blonde, and bespectacled male yet again.

"Oh, the midget stalker is here."

"You again?! Seriously, I think it's you who's following me!"

"Hah, what do I get from following an extremely short person like you?" He said, borrowing her words from yesterday.

(Y/N)'s eyebrows creased further in irritation. "Why do you keep mentioning my height?!"

"It was you who started it. Anyways, can you shut up? Do you know that you're in a library?"

She didn't retort back and simply sat on the chair with her arms crossed. It was a fine day then —BOOM— this giant decided to appear out of nowhere. She was trying to forget this person who's associated with some of her embarrassing moments but those just got smashed back to her mind. (Y/N) sighed and pulled a book at the bottom of the stack to start reading, but noticed that the blondie is still standing near the edge of the table, hesitating to sit down while glancing somewhere and back to her.

"What?" (Y/N) frowned.

"Why am I unnecessarily stuck with you on this table?" He sighed, pulling out the chair.

"Because all of the tables here are taken? If you're worried about your glasses being knocked off, don't worry, I won't do anything reckless anymore."

"That's a nice reassurance," He settled down and brought out his studying materials.

Both of them shared the table in the crowded library. Ignoring the people, between them was a silent atmosphere. No one was talking as they both minded their own studies; he was reading quietly and turning pages of a huge book while (Y/N) wrote key points from the printed work and highlighting her notes. Sometimes, the other would leave to return books to their shelves and came back with new stacks. This went on for a few hours until her pen ran out of ink. She scribbled at the back of her notebook in hopes that the ink just got stuck, to no avail. She sighed, resting her head on the notebook. But she really needed to take down notes for her upcoming entrance exam.

"Hey." (Y/N) reluctantly said.

The blonde male looked at her, confirming if he's being called, "What?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your business but... do you have a spare pen?"

He stared at her with a straight face and placed his chin on the top of his knuckles, implying his refusal to lend one.

(Y/N)'s mentally gritted her teeth. I'm just going to borrow a pen and he's making it hard for me?!

Swallowing her pride, she said, "Look, I need to finish my notes. I'll return it to you right away when I'm done. I promise. Please?"

He scoffed as brought out a pen, "An inkless pen is all it takes for you to become a less lively puppy? You better keep your promise."

A puppy?! "You didn't need to compare me to a puppy but, thanks."

She continued her work but her focus was a bit shaken. This happens whenever she's interrupted or took a break away from writing. Soon, her focus vanished and boredom took over. She tried to read a book to review ideas but her brain won't cooperate. She groaned, her head and arms fell to the table again. The blonde saw but chose to ignore her.

She closed her eyes for a second, however, her gaze fell to the blank paper in front of her face. Her hands are itching to do something other than reviewing and writing, so she put down the pen she borrowed and took a pencil out of her pocket. She placed a pile of books near her notebook so that the male won't notice what she's doing. There, she started to sketch the base of the figure.

She would observe the four-eyed guy who's busy reading some sort of article while taking notes. He has a calm expression on his face rather than an irritated scowl or a mocking grin he usually has. He wears a long blazer and probably a long-sleeved shirt inside. His blonde hair is short yet the edges are a bit curly and his upper eyelashes are prominently long. This was the first time she stared at the jerk's face who she kept bumping into random places that irked the hell out of her, but for some reason, she felt that she had seen this person before the accident in the park, albeit she doesn't know where. (Y/N) came to a conclusion; he was a little good-looking.

The girl looked back to her drawing and shook her head at her own ideas. I can't believe I actually thought that this guy is handsome. How can such a mean creature be blessed with such looks?! Ugh, don't mind, (Y/N). I'm only drawing him because he seems like a great canvas subject, it's not like I haven't done this to other people before...

She went on drawing and drew details to the sketch similar to the boy in front of her. To make the drawing more accurate, she stole small glances at him. She kept things low key because it'll be another embarrassing event if he found out what she's doing. She made the lines smoother in one swift move. The hair and clothes' folds are already well-drawn while she focuses on the detail of his eyes and glasses. She was about to shade when the male finally caught her.

"What is it?" He questioned, closing his book with a low voice and creased eyebrows.

(Y/N) froze on the spot. As much as she doesn't like it, she maintained eye contact with him, thinking of the best alibi that he couldn't argue with. Then, she remembered that she doesn't know his name.

"Uhm... nothing. I was just wondering if you have a name." While talking, her finger subtly moved to grab the nearest object it could get to cover her drawing.

"I have, but why would I mention it to you?" He cooly replied.

"It's alright. I'm not asking you to. Unless you want to be referred to as he/him or the tall, blonde glasses guy all the time?" (Y/N) countered.

He silently turned a page before answering, "Well, it's not like we'll meet every day."

"Oh," was her only reply. Looks like he will stay a nameless guy in her head for a long time. She was about to get back to her business when he spoke.

"Tsukishima Kei."

(Y/N) looked at him in surprise. "I'm not going to repeat it." He added.

She smiled, having clearly heard it right away. "Can you tell me how it is written?"

He looked at her to check for ill intentions but found nothing in her eyes. He hesitantly wrote the characters of his name on a piece of paper.

"I'm (L/N) (Y/N), nice to meet you again, Tsukishima-san." She'd like to initiate a handshake for peacemaking, but she knows how he'd only decline it. She wrote her name for him to see as well.

Tsukishima Kei. She repeated in her mind. What a nice name.

With a notebook covering the upper portion of the paper where she had drawn his portrait, she wrote his name at the bottom. She proceeded to the shading and background features. Backgrounds are one of the things she hates in art because it takes too long to draw one compared to the subject itself. Luckily it's only a sketch so she won't have to suffer. Although she doesn't know if Tsukishima had seen whatever she's doing so she's still cautious. She peered at him for the nth time so she could distract his peripheral vision. Maybe to test the social initiative skills she hasn't used for a long time too.

"Uhh, can I ask something?" She started.

"Hm?" He responded without taking his eyes off the page.

"What school are you from?"

"Amemaru Middle School."

(Y/N) hummed, thinking of another question, "Then, what school are you enrolling to? It must be an upper class one since you had to read those large books and all."

"Not really," Tsukishima closed the book, "I plan to go to Karasuno High School. They may not have a difficult entrance exam, but these readings are for decent grades and some stock knowledge."

"Decent grades, huh... you look like you could achieve more though. I'm pretty sure you'll ace it." She answered, "I was from Kitagawa Dai Ichi. I'm taking an exam in Shiratorizawa soon."

"You're going to that high-class academy? I see, I failed to notice that because you don't look like one. Have fun clashing with other elites there."

"Elites? What are you talking about, you still believe there's such a hierarchy?" (Y/N) chuckled.

"There is though. A gap between them and mere humans in terms of skills and power."

"In the end, they're still humans though. Be it numbers, hard work, or some unique strategy, those 'mere humans' you say will always struggle to step on equal levels with those on the highest rank."

Tsukishima only hummed and stared down at her, "Perhaps I was wrong on assuming you're an elite. You're clearly not."

"Are you underestimating me?" She challenged.

"No, I was just saying. Can I ask something though?"

"What?"

"Why are you suddenly talkative?"

She was caught off guard but tried not to stutter, "Me? Talkative? I'm always like this."

"Really?" He raised his brows, totally not buying it.

"Ugh, fine! I'm tired of studying!" She sighed, "I was scribbling some doodles on my notebook because I'm bored so I thought it wouldn't hurt to talk to Mr. Beanpole in front of me. Forgive me and my awkward social skills."

"Your social skills are not bad. I'm just thankful you aren't using the precious ink of my pen for drawing." He said, stacking the books he used.

She gasped, panicked inside, "You aren't looking at my drawing, are you?"

He got up to return the books,"Don't worry, it's none of my business."

She exhaled in relief, spared from another memory of embarrassment. Her eyes followed his walking figure and watched his movements. She looked at her drawing to compare and used her fingers to define lighting. When Tsukishima got back and placed new reviewers on the table, (Y/N) asked him once more.

"Do you ever get tired of studying?"

"Sometimes I take a break, but I can only do that if I have finished everything."

"What a diligent student you are."

"I hardly see any benefit in being dumb and slacking off all the time."

"Eh, I hardly see any benefit in studying Algebra and Calculus. I have a lot of questions. Do you use derivatives in counting money or salary? Do you use trigonometry in dividing pizzas or corn chips? Why do I need to find the limit of a function if numbers are infinite? Why do I need to get the formula of a certain point in each line or curve I draw on the graphing paper? What is the correct answer for?" (Y/N) complained.

Tsukishima looked at her blankly, doubting her chances of passing the Shiratorizawa's board exam. "I couldn't argue with that, I'd rather read a book composed of words than formulas, but you don't have a choice. Although, if you plan to be an engineer or something, that'll be a different perspective."

"No, thanks, I won't eat math books for breakfast. Other subjects are interesting enough to keep me awake in class, but numbers don't really entertain me."

"Then, what do you do?" He asked, writing on his notes.

"Not much. I just draw, paint, listen to music, and watch anime."

He let out an amused hum, "How about you? What do you do other than to study?" (Y/N) asked.

"I play volleyball, listen to music, and read narrative books."

"Volleyball? So that's what your height is for! I thought it's just for cleaning and reaching high places."

"That's rude."

"If I am, what do you call yourself? Besides, I don't want to make wrong assumptions."

"You just did."

"...right. I'm sorry."

The sense of familiarity took over (Y/N)'s brain, telling her that she definitely had met this Tsukishima guy before. Her face scrunched a little, trying to search her memories and connect the dots. Her eyes found his face again.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" His eyes narrowed, his annoyance towards the girl slowly rising.

"I HAD met you somewhere... before that accident, where did I see you?"

He was about to say something when (Y/N) stopped him, "Shh, I'm thinking."

He crossed his arms and frowned at her. Volleyball, Amemaru MS... She was about to say it but Tsukishima spoke first.

"Were you one of the audience who watched the middle school volleyball inter-high a year ago?"

"I was! Wait, you remember?"

"That was the only place where I could find someone from Kitagawa Dai Ichi." He confirmed.

"Correct. I was a part of the school paper where I was assigned in the sports category. I took a picture of you when my senior was interviewing you! You were the tallest middle blocker in the games! How could I forget that! So that's why whenever you irk me, it was familiar!"

"How am I annoying you? Aren't you the one who kept on talking right now?"

"I've figured out that there's no kind bone in you. And the way you keep on stuffing the spikes from the opposite team. It was never-ending that they didn't have a chance to score properly." She pouted.

"What do you expect from a middle blocker? It was my job to block spikes."

"You could've gone easy on them."

"The game would lose it's sense if that's the case."

"Fine. You're not wrong." Their conversation was cut short after she ceased talking. At least she found out where she first met Tsukishima. She finished the portrait sketch. Grinning, she believed that she captured his features accurately in her drawing. She'd like to hold it near him and compare to make sure though. Satisfied with her work, she went back on turning pages.

"So, you've finally decided to continue to study?" Tsukishima prodded.

She smiled, "I guess. Thank you for talking to me. That was a great stop."

Both of them worked quietly, but now, the irritation they felt towards each other lessened. After some time, a person in the speaker announced that the library will be closing before 6 pm. Tsukishima returned all the books he borrowed and packed his things.

"You're going home?"

"I don't want to come home late. You aren't finished with your notes yet?"

"Yeah, maybe I'll leave five minutes before six."

"Alright. I'll get going now." He swung his bag over his shoulder.

"Hey, wait! Your pen!" (Y/N) abruptly remembered seconds after.

"I don't need it anymore. It was useful, apart from its close on running out of ink."

"But it's yours and you told me to keep my promise!"

"Whatever. Keep it or throw it." He walked out and wore his headphones, having no intention to listen to anyone.

She sighed and checked the ink. More than half of it is gone, but she can use it again if she wishes. (Y/N) placed her fist to her cheek while writing.

Random Tsukishima Kei facts:

In the second prototype chapter (unserialized, one shot, the first idea of the author on how haikyuu will go) Tsukishima was a second-year, which was changed in the serialized version where he's a first-year. His initial height in the prototype chapter is 184cm, a little shorter than his official height (190.1cm). In an extra sketch, Furudate commented, "Tsukki and Tanaka being in the same year would spell chaos!

©4aloysius.porteu.2021. please do not repost, copy, or edit. plagiarism is punishable by law. 

[mimisempai]

Wait for me on the other side 2/8

Chapter Summary:

The mystery becomes clearer... or thicker... in any case a strange correspondence is born...

3888 words

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32948254/chapters/81944953

Alone, in the teacher's lounge, Loki poured himself a cup of coffee. His hands were shaking. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

He didn't hear the principal come in and jumped at the sound of her voice.

"I know about the accident in Vanaheim Square.  Carol and I had to get there because there were students from the school on the bus. Fortunately none of them were hurt. The paramedics who knew you were a teacher here, told us you put up a good fight for that man."

Loki sighed, "But it wasn't enough. I may know first aid perfectly, but it wasn't enough." He paused, his throat tight before continuing, "I have to get back to class."

He headed for the door.

"Loki?"

Loki stopped and turned around, Natasha put her hand on his shoulder and said gently, "Do me a favor. On your day off, get as far away from here as you can. Okay? Go somewhere you feel... somewhere that brings you peace."

Loki nodded his head before going on his way.

**********

Mobius left the house and headed for the pickup. Before entering, he slipped a letter into the box and raised the flag, then set off for his work.

**********

At the same time Loki decided to follow Natasha's advice and headed for New Asgard. He drove north of the small village.

The day was clear and bright, with a slight breeze.

He stopped at the small local grocery store where he knew the owners well, to buy his lunch.

He greeted them as they entered the store, "Hi Laura, hi Clint!"

"Hey Loki! Haven't seen you in a while. How are things in the Big Apple?"

Loki shrugged and replied, "Good. I'm getting my bearings little by little"

Clint asked, curious, "What are you doing here?"

"I just needed to get out of the city. Needed the fresh air, and I missed the peaceful life here."

"I hear you, I wouldn't want to come back to the city for anything in the world." replied Laura while bending down.

"What's the matter, honey?"

She stood up straight, a little girl in her arms.

"Hey Lila, how big you've gotten!" exclaimed Loki. "How old are you now?"

"Two." replied Laura. "Say hello to Loki, Lila, you like him don't you?"

"Hi Woki!" chirped the little girl and held out his arms. Loki took her in his arms and pressed a kiss on her forehead. She giggled.

They talked for a few more moments and then Loki headed for the house on the cliff.

Once there, checking first that no one was there, Loki got out of the car and walked through the forest just behind and then went for a long time to admire the lake below the cliff, the wind blowing his long black hair. As the sun began to set on the horizon, he thought it was time to go home, but didn't hurry either.

Just as he was about to get into the car, he noticed the flag raised from the mailbox. Acting on an impulse, he opened it. Inside, there was a single envelope. To his surprise, it was addressed to him.

Loki sat down in the car parked in front of the house, and began to read the letter.

I got your letter. Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?

Because, if so, I don't understand.

Loki frowned as he continued to read.

I am not the "next tenant".

There was no previous tenant.

The house has been uninhabited for over twenty years.

At first I thought maybe you had the wrong place.

But how did you know about the paw prints?

Lok was confused. He pondered for a moment, then reached into his bag to find a pen and paper.

**********

Mobius pulled up in his pickup truck, happy to have finally finished his workday. The flag on the mailbox was up. He opened the box. A letter inside, he recognized Loki's handwriting. He looked at it as he walked along the path to the house. It was from the same address Loki had given him to forward his letter, 105 MacDougal Street - Greenwich Village.

Once inside, Mobius was startled to feel something crawl between his legs. It was the alligator that had left the pawprints. Apparently it had chosen to live here and had figured out how to get in.

Perfect! Now he would have to find out what an alligator might need.

He opened Loki's letter and began to read.

**********

A few hours later, Mobius was waiting in front of the huge building exuding opulence and majesty, overhung by the two familiar letters, TK, Time Keepers.

He smiled as a short, dark-haired man, looking a little younger than him, stepped out.

Mobius shouted, "Casey!"

The younger man, seeing him, exclaimed, "Mobius! What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be busy in your little store."

Mobius replied with a smile, "I'll never be too busy to seek out an old friend and buy him a drink."

Casey answered softly, "I'm really touched."

Then Mobius added sheepishly, "I had to do something in town actually."

Casey laughed and retorted, "It's good to see you." before giving him a hug.

Over his shoulder Mobius saw a woman walk out.

Their eyes met and Mobius whispered, "Ravonna." The woman froze before continuing with a quick step. Mobius watched her go.

"Come on Casey, let's get out of here."

A little later, at a bar in Manhattan, Mobius and Casey are sitting at a table with burgers and beers.

Casey asked him, "So, how's life in your little store?"

Mobius smiled before answering, "Well, it was a challenge starting out on my own, sometimes it's frustrating depending on the clientele, but basically I..."

Casey finished his sentence, "Say no more, you're enjoying yourself."

Mobius nodded, "That's right, I'm also my own master and all in all it works out pretty well."

Casey toasted with his drink can, "I'm happy for you."

"Mind you, I bought a house.."

Casey's eyes widened, "So your business is actually doing really well."

Mobius chuckled, "I mortgaged up my underwear. But I don't regret it."

Casey took a sip of beer and asked him, "You never regretted leaving TK?"

Mobius shook his head, "Even though I know you like working there, this big conglomerate was not for me. When we wanted to create it, it was to give everyone access to quality watches at a fair price, but Ravonna got lost in the process. Does she ever ask about me?"

Casey shook his head, "She's too busy making money, and I don't think she likes me, I thought she was going to fire me today, because I didn't sell enough watches."

"Don't worry, you know her tantrums, she'll be like she used to be tomorrow."

They continued the evening, chatting happily.

Mobius offered to drop Casey off at his house before heading home.

"If you don't mind, I'd just like to mail a letter before I leave."

He parked his pickup around the street corner and walked, looking for an address.

He said aloud, "105 MacDougal Street - Greenwich Village."

Casey, who had followed him, asked, "What is it?"

Mobius looked around, puzzled, and replied, "I'm not sure."

"Who lives there?" inquired Casey, curious.

"I don't really know."

Mobius checked three times, but he was in the right place. Except there was only a recently dug foundation, no habitable building.

He took the piece of paper out of his pocket. The last letter from Loki. The return address was correct: 105 MacDougal Street - Greenwich Village

Mobius stared at the letter because he noticed something odd. It was dated March 31, 2021.

**********

Loki walked through the hallways of the school, examining the new letter from Mobius.

There must be a mistake, I tried to mail the letter in person, but there is no habitation at this address, it's just a foundation.

And the date is wrong too.

Loki, annoyed, scribbled a note and as soon as class was over, he went to put the letter in the box.

**********

In the house on the cliff, Mobius was reading the last letter received in his kitchen, leaning against the counter.

I received your last letter.

I don't know if you will get the answer, but I want to get to the bottom of it.

By the way, for some reason the mail is not getting through to me. I still have to drive here to get it.

Anyway, all this to say that I didn't make a mistake with the address.

I know where I live thanks!  Ok, it's ugly, but it's not a foundation either.

And I'm not stupid either, it's 2021.

Mobius laughed at what seemed to him to be a foolish joke and continued reading.

Just out of curiosity: what year do you think it is?

**********

On his couch with a glass of wine in hand, Loki studies Mobius' latest note.

It's 2019

SO PLEASE STOP BULLSHITTING ME.

Loki laughed, incredulous. Croki looked at him.

He patted his head while thinking, before getting up and walking over to his dresser and from a drawer he pulled out a shoebox full of pictures.

He began to rummage through the photos. He came across a photo he had forgotten about, him as a younger man with his then girlfriend, Sigyn. They were in each other's arms, laughing, in love.

He looked at it for a second, then put it away and continued searching.

He finally found the photo he was looking for. It showed Loki and others, outside at night, wearing T-shirts and jeans, with snow falling around them.

He turned it over. On the back is a date printed by the developer: APRIL 3, 2019.

**********

The wind was blowing hard when Mobius arrived home to find the flag on the mailbox raised. Inside was a new letter from Loki. He picked it up and ran across the road, because the sky was really starting to darken.

While preparing his meal, he read the letter.

Since you don't believe me, I'll give you a little warning.

There was a bad flu in the spring of 2019.

I remember it because it snowed suddenly in early April and for a long time.

After that, everyone got sick.

Mobius rolled his eyes and looked at the calendar, today was April 2.

He continued to read.

So, my mysterious pen pal, if you really are where... or when... you say you are...

I hope you are getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of herbal tea and eating fruit to store vitamins.

Warm milk with honey is also effective. And above all, cover yourself well.

Mobius chuckled, "Snow, right."

He crumpled up the letter and went to throw it away.

As he opened the trash can, he suddenly began to sneeze.

After a few seconds, the realization fell on him and he turned back to the bay window.

A magnificent sight was displayed before his eyes, although the beauty left him indifferent, so shocked was he by the implication of what he saw.

It was snowing heavily.

Stunned by both the cold that was coming on and what had just happened, he went to bed and slept like a log.

The next morning, he went to the snow-covered mailbox, and after struggling with the flap, he quickly slipped in a letter and closed the box, almost as if he was afraid it would bite him. He pulled up the red flag.

**********

Same day - 2021

Loki opened the box, took out the letter from Mobius and then lowered the flag.

He pulled out the letter, which had only one line.

CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?

Loki, with trembling hands, took a pen and answered, then put the letter in the box and raised the flag.

Same day, same place - 2019

Mobius stared at the snow-covered box whose flag had just been lowered and it began to scare him a little. Shaken by a sneeze he rolled into a ball and when he raised his head he saw that the flag was up again. He took a step backwards but after a few moments, curiosity being the strongest, he opened the mailbox with great hesitation and took out... his note. The same as the one he had just put there. Slightly disappointed, but also reassured, he sighed and relaxed.

But when he opened the note, he gasped.

CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?

YES.

**********

April 5, 2021

Loki returned home, a little dazed.

Sensing that something was wrong with his owner, Croki followed him into the living room.

Loki took him in his arms and placed him next to him on the sofa. Croki put his head on Loki's knee and Loki patted his head absentmindedly.

Then Loki took a paper and began to write.

April 5, 2019

Mobius was on his bed, surrounded by used handkerchiefs and still having trouble believing the letter from Loki that had just arrived in the box.

The alligator, that had really taken up residence in his house, was lying at the foot of his bed.

I don't know about you, but I don't even know the right questions to ask. Can you tell me something that might shed some light?

Mobius wandered around the house, thinking, trying to find a connection, when he arrived at the front door and saw the alligator's tracks in front of the door.

He grabbed a piece of paper from the phone and scribbled quickly.

I think we have the same pet.

Let's do a little test, so that we don't always have to wait for the other to answer, let's meet on April 7th at 10am in front of the mailbox.

He went to put the letter in the mailbox. He raised the flag and went home to crawl under his comforter, exhausted by his cold and the emotions.

April 6, 2021

Loki got up early to drive to the house on the cliff, hoping that his mysterious pen pal had answered him.

His heart pounding, he saw the flag raised and ran to the box, opened it and grasped the small piece of paper with trembling fingers.

He answered and put the note in the mailbox.

Is it a dwarf alligator?

See you tomorrow then ;-)

April 7, 2019/2021 - 10:00 am

This is how, two years apart, an extraordinary letter exchange began, punctuated by the movement of a small flag on a mailbox.

M: Hello and yes it is an alligator.

L: Does it rub against your legs as soon as you come in and follow you around until it gets fed.

M: Yes.

L: I named him Croki.

Mobius looked at Croki at his feet and said, "Nice to meet you, Croki."

The little alligator rubbed at his feet as if it understood.

L: Perhaps we could introduce ourselves properly.

I'm Loki, you know that, and I've just arrived as a literature teacher in an institute for extraordinary students.

M: My name is Mobius. I make and repair antique watches. I have a little store called Miss Minute. This is the mascot of my store.

Loki giggled when he read the name of the store and saw the little drawing next to it. A small watch straight out of a 1950s design. It was actually kind of cute.

He took on a serious look as he read the following words.

M: Okay. I'm still trying to figure that out. If two years from now you're living in a building at 105 MacDougal Street - Greenwich Village... that doesn't exist yet... where are you, uh, "now" in 2019?

L: I'm studying for my PhD in literature at the Brooklyn College of the Arts.

Loki stopped writing and looked around before continuing.

L: And now I'm corresponding in an extremely weird way with someone I've never met. Too, too , too weird!!!

M: What's it like in 2021?

L: It's great. Everyone is driving around in flying cars. We all wear metal colored suits and we all have super powers.

Mobius smiled at the joke before continuing to read.

L: Actually nothing has really changed. No. We're moving to 5G and Samsung and Apple are still competing as much as ever.

I'm going to have to leave, I have class this afternoon. I won't be able to make it for three days, my next day off.

But... one thing worries me. What if, by sending these letters, by communicating in this way, we are accidentally altering the course of time itself, thus changing human history forever?

Mobius reflected for a moment before answering.

M: You're right, let's not do that.

Mobius posted the letter and went into the house, Croki as usual rubbed at his feet and started following him around.

"Croki! That's enough!"

He took the alligator in his arms and placed it next to where it used to eat. "You wait here and stop following me."

For three days he repeated the same trick several times until Croki quietly waited actually near his bowl. He gave him a small piece of fresh fish to congratulate him, "Good boy.

Despite what they seemed to have decided, he then wrote a small note and went to put it in the mailbox, which he raised the flag. He just hoped that Loki would still come and check.

April 10, 2021

Loki read the letter again as he entered his apartment, having understood absolutely nothing.

Sorry, I did change one little thing.

Loki closed the door and while he expected to be almost knocked over by Croki who always came to slip between his legs, nothing.

He went to the kitchen and was surprised to see Croki waiting for him next to his eating place.

No need to thank me.

Loki laughed out loud in a way he hadn't in a long time.

**********

The next day, sitting in class waiting for the next students, he was still wondering how he could thank Mobius.

When suddenly appeared shyly on the doorstep, Kamala.

Which was strange, because the bubbly girl was anything but shy, and especially not with him.

Surprisingly, since she knew that he specialized in Norse mythology, she had become attached to him and it was not uncommon for her to linger at the end of a class to discuss with him some point of her reading on the subject.

Natasha and Loki's colleagues had told him that this was the first time since Kamala had arrived that someone had managed to channel her energy.

"Ahem Professor... Loki?" she wore her strange oversized red scarf as always.

"Loki will be enough as always, Kamala." replied Loki softly to her.

"Come in."

She walked over and put something on his desk.

"Um... I wanted to thank you, because you always take the time to answer me no matter when I come and no matter what my question is, so I made you this little something myself."

Loki, touched, unwrapped the small package, he took out a green scarf, obviously hand-knitted, whose workmanship looked a bit like the one the girl was wearing all the time.

He looked up and said in a soft voice tightened by emotion, "Thank you Kamala, that's very thoughtful of you."

"You're welcome! See you later." She left as always with her bouncy step.

Loki contemplated the scarf for long minutes, it had been a long time since anyone had had such a thoughtful gesture for him, and especially for something he had done.

"Congratulations professor."

He looked up at the owner of the voice that had pulled him out of his thoughts.

It was the gym teacher, Thor.

"What?"

"You are one of the chosen few who have the privilege of being among the people Kamala respects the most. She only gives this kind of personal gift to people she holds in high regard."

"Oh..."

Thor leaned against the doorframe.

"I came to invite you for tonight. We're having a movie night with colleagues, the ones you know, at the Bi-frost. Interested?"

A while ago, Loki would have refused, but tonight, perhaps because of Mobius or thanks to him, he decided to accept.

"I'll come, thanks for having thought of me. What movie?"

"You've got mail. After class we'll meet at the door and go together."

A few hours later, they were discussing the movie over beers and burgers. There was Heimdall, Thor, Bruce, Carol and even Natasha the principal.

Carol laughed at the main characters, "Honestly, it's really stupid this match,

falling in love over words, I'd go to her as soon as I knew who she was."

Loki squeezed Mobius' last letter into his pocket before speaking, "I find there is something pure about it. A correspondence, free from social barriers, appearances, free from the past...no need to worry about details. There's something exciting about it."

Loki didn't realize that they were all looking at him, surprised to see him showing so much passion.

Thor elbowed him, "Do you have someone in your life Lokes?"

"Hm?"

Natasha looked at him knowingly, "It's hard not to notice that you're writing or reading letters all the time."

Loki blushed slightly, "It's not that kind of relationship, although it's true I've never met him."

"Why?" asked Carol, curious.

"Let's just say it's... complicated."

Seeing that Loki didn't feel like talking about it, the others changed the subject and they continued to have a pleasant evening.

As he left for home later, Loki felt a pleasant warmth. For the first time in a long time, he no longer felt lonely.

He pulled Kamala's scarf tighter around his neck in the cool spring evening. Suddenly he knew how to do something for Mobius.

The next morning, he went to clothing stores in search of what he had in mind.

Three hours later, at the house on the cliff, he put a letter in the mailbox with a small package. He raised the little flag and headed back to town.

April 12, 2021

Mobius had just gotten up, and like every morning since the beginning of this strange correspondence, he went to check for mail and was pleasantly surprised to see the little flag up.

He returned a little later with a letter and a small package.

He opened the package and took out a black scarf adorned with small silver watches. He put it around his neck and sat down with a coffee in his armchair and started to read the letter.

Thank you for educating my little Croki. Here is a little gift to thank you.

Put this on and don't take it off for the rest of the month. It will be cold until the end of April.

Mobius tightened the scarf around his neck and smiled softly.

Mobius, I don't know if what we're doing will change the course of time, but what I am sure of is that it is affecting my life in a positive way, so I don't want to stop.

This connection I have with you has allowed me to reach out to others and for the first time since I left home, I don't feel lonely anymore.

I don't want to stop.

But if you want to, I will, all you have to to is to let me know about it.

In 3 days at 7am I'll come for your answer.

Yours, Loki.

_______

What will Mobius answer? Is he ready to continue this strange long-distance relationship... or rather long-term...? Answer in the chapter 3

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 (End)

As always, bear with me as it is not beta'd and english is not my native language I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless🥰

[kingdomheartsmarts]

Hello, hello, dear. I'd love to request a shy fem!reader who's in the org 13 but has a crush on Sora. Like hardcore reader exe. Has stopped working. So she refuses to fight him, ever, only dodges or legit runs away. She'll leave notes about what the o13 will do next and neat gifts because face to face flirting out the door, thinking he wouldn't even *consider* being with her. And it's cute and fluffy/ maybe a about bit angsty because ya main villain hopelessly in love with main hero 🙏

yeah okay this is becoming multi chapter. thank you for requesting! i’m having too much fun to leave it at a one shot. i hope you enjoy chapter 1~

(yeah i know real original title for a kingdom hearts fanfiction l e a v e m e a l o n e) 

first multi chapter fic! 

a-n: THIS DOES NOT FIT INTO CANON. DON’T EXPECT IT TO. IT’S JUST FOR F U N 

another a-n: this Axel is not the nice Axel in 358/2 Days. this is based off of Castle Oblivion/how he was before roxas. 

Whatever Lies Beyond This MorningSora/Reader~ Chapter 1 

“They went that way!” You heard the duck yell, running behind a tree while panting, trying to stay quiet while you dropped a small piece of paper, before opening a dark corridor and sprinting through it. 

“Hey-” 

You opened the other side of the corridor, ending up in Twilight Town, quietly walking, trying to calm down your racing heart and calm the blush which thickly covered your face; quietly walking along the nighttime streets while thinking about everything that just happened. You were being sent on a normal mission, Sora finding you, your emotions that shouldn’t be there taking over, and running away- the same cycle that always happened when faced with Sora. You knew you shouldn’t even feel, much less feel this way for the one you were fighting against, but here you were- a foreign, fluttering feeling in your gut every time you laid your eyes on him and a burning of the emotions you developed for him- all in vain; you knew it was. It would always be in vain if it was the one you were suppose to hate- 

“Hey! Did your mission really take that long?” a familiar voice called out to you, your gaze meeting his before you smiled: Axel. 

“Yeah, it was supposed to be a small one but…” You trailed off, trying to avoid what really happened. Axel was always suspicious of your developing feelings, knowing that something seemed to go wrong with a lot of your missions, while he didn’t know what. 

“But what?” 

“I ran into some trouble,” You defected the question, walking to be beside him. 

“What trouble? You’re a good fighter,” Axel finally said, causing you to pause. 

“I ran into Sora,” You finally said, frustration thick in your tone, despite it being a ploy to get Axel to drop it. 

“Well, you’re with me tomorrow, so if we run into him, we won’t be running away,” He said, an odd, low tone to his voice while he opened a corridor for you, “Come on, I wanna take a nap.” 

“You always want to nap,” You said, while a sinking feeling weighed on your stomach- we won’t be running away. 

=

You stepped out into the harsh sunshine, something that, despite frequent visits to Twilight Town, always seemed to stun you with the sharp contrast from the World That Never Was. 

“This should be quick; it’s the two of us anyway,” Axel teased, lightly punching your arm while the two of you continued on. 

“Hopefully. Keep an eye out though; this is where Sora was yesterday,” You said as an empty warning, hoping to buy yourself some time before you saw him again. 

“Great, then Xemnas will think we’re great when we eliminate him,” He said lowly, a cold statement that made your gut sink. 

“Or, we could keep this short,” You hastily suggested. 

“Why do you always seem to get so flustered when Sora comes up,” Axel asked you with a slight annoyance, turning to face you. 

“Nothing! Really!” You insisted while your face heated slightly with blush. Axel scanned your face before finally deciding on his response. 

“Could it be that you have a little crush?” He sneered. 

“No!”

“I don’t believe you,” 

“Honestly I-” 

“There’s some of the Organization!” You were interrupted by the same duck, and despite all your encounters, refused to learn his name. 

“Oh wow, would you look at that; it’s a little friend of Sora’s,” Axel sneered again, shoving your hood on you before they were able to see your face. 

“Hey! I’ve told you my name before!”

“Wow, you can tell how rememberable you are,” 

“And who are you?” Sora finally asked, Axel motioning for you to move behind him. 

“I’m Axel. Got it memorized?” 

“And who’s that?” 

“Why,” Axel sneered, “This is our newest member who has told us where you’ve been.” 

You raised your eyes enough to see Sora’s, the shadow of your hood covering your face despite you knowing he saw your glance, just enough for him to know that you were the one who told him- who told him what the organization would be doing. 

“Why you- You organization members are no good! ” The duck charged at Axel, just for him to kick it back to the other two. 

“Axel-” You tried to stop him, only for him to shove you back. 

“Now, we have to finish our mission. Without your interruption,” Axel said, leading you to another dark corridor, you rushing behind him before leaving one last glance to Sora, confusion heavy while he knelt beside the duck. 

“Stop trying to stop our job because of a crush,” Axel warned you before scoping out the area, noticing trails left by the heartless, “I’m going to go this way. Go that direction,” he instructed, walking to the prints to your right, pointing for you to go left, “Call me if there’s any trouble.” 

You nodded, starting your journey through the mossy forest, attempting to be silent with the exception of a few twigs. Your thoughts wandered, thinking about the way Sora finally made eye contact with you while you had no choice but to follow Axel; the confusion and the curiosity that filled a childish rage, all pointed at you. You raised your eyes, seeing no heartless but hearing the footsteps of something close to you. You froze, listening out for any heartless while you knew that Axel was far enough away to where you wouldn’t hear anything. 

“Hey! You’re the one with Axel!” You heard Sora’s voice call from behind you, but now you were trapped; on a mission with one of your higher ups who wouldn’t let you leave. 

You stayed in place, attempting to think through something while he stopped behind you. 

“Go away while you can,” You said in a soft voice, attempting to walk off. 

“You’re the one who keeps on leaving me little pieces of paper, aren’t you?” He asked, the fighting fire out of his voice while you turned to face him, despite your hood. 

“Keep your voice down,” 

“But are you?”

You paused, looking him over; he had retreated his keyblade, instead standing at full height a ways from you, giving you space while he was alone. 

“Yes,” 

“Why?”

“Because, I don’t want you to get hurt. Now leave,” You said, turning again and continuing down the path of the footprints. 

“Wait!” He said, you hearing him run behind you, grabbing your shoulder and tumbling with you to the ground. 

“Why are you helping me?” 

“WHy are you tackling me to the ground?” you retorted, blush heavy on your face while you tried to push him off of you. 

“Hey!-” Sora said, shoving you back gently, but your hood falling off nonetheless; his eyes resting on your face while you could of sworn you saw a soft pink blush grace his cheeks. 

“He-hey,” He repeated softly, his eyes looking over your face. 

“Get off of her,” Axel’s irritated voice broke your staring contest, Sora jumping off of you while Axel grabbed your arm, pulling you off the ground, “Are you okay?” 

You quickly nodded, Axel’s emerald eyes cutting into Sora. 

“Go back to the Castle. Tell saix what happened,” He said sharply, summoning his chahrams and a dark corridor for you to go through. You nodded again, rushing through to go back to the hall that lead everyone to their rooms. 

“But what did just happen?”

[r-romanoff]

Photon Blasts & Spider Webs

Chapter: 1 Part 2

Peter Parker x Male Reader

Master list

Chapter Summary: Cliches are seeming kinda frequent come your second day, and Bucky honestly can't say Sh*t

September, 23, 2019

"So, any new friends?" Wanda asked driving the two of you home. Yes actually. A girl Named Betty and some of her friends I think, I'm not really sure I don't know if they like me yet. Oh and this one weird kid Peter although he's more of an acquaintance though. I'm still getting to know him, kinda strange seeming." I then begin to explain my whole day and how it unfolded. "Look at that I'm so proud of you!" She smiles and laughs in a joking way. "Just don't blast any kids in the face this time." The burnett begins to chuckle even more, earning an embarrassed response. "Hey I was seven! I'm still mad Natasha told you. May she rest in peace." " "Amen. So wanna stuff our faces with food until we pass out" "Do I!!!"

September, 24, 2019

"Ok um... where to put you" the chem lab teacher mutters to himself. Then comes a somewhat loud voice. "There's an empty seat next to Peter." A random student sitting herself seemed like he didn't want anyone else sharing his space. She had wavy brown hair and a light mocha skin color, and she was wearing mostly black. "Good idea, wait. Where is Parker?" The teacher answered back, looking around the class room I quickly scan to see if the Peter I meet was to be seen. If it was that Peter was at all, "I'm here sorry I'm late Mrs. Watterson." Yup it was that same weird Peter from physics, and the hallway. "Good Y/N will be your partner from now on." The teacher concluded, as Peter began to walk to his desk I decided to fallow behind when it happened. I tripped.

Better yet someone had tripped me with their foot. As I fell I feel myself accidentally knock over some of the tubes and substances from desks nearby. Trying to cling on to my dignity, while accidentally bringing down Peter Parker with me. Both unwillingly but instinctively clenching on to his sweater Turning him around hoping not to fall we hit the ground, me landing on top of him, him laying there to cushion my fall. Unfortunately not doing the same to all I had knocked over glass beakers and cylinders crashing to the ground. Substances mixing in the air as I finally landed on him. Both of us cover in what ever it was that fell. Still in shock from what had seemed like the longest fall of my life all I'm able to mutter out while still grasping onto the boy was; "uh i-I." The situation getting a whole lot worse with my classmates beginning to open their mouths. "Aw My Shoes!" One kid yelled; "My Jacket..." an other complained seeming just as shocked as I was.

Speaking of shocked as the chattering increased the whole class began to lose control at what happened. No longer delaying the inevitable I look up at Peter, his face painted with shock, disbelief, and cluelessness but I couldn't really blame him either. And then it happened again; "Hey look Parker's got a boyfriend!" Shit it got worse. My face flushed pink in embarrassment, I immediately let go of Peter leaving visible marks on his sweater from where I was holding on, on his are and chest. Attempting to stand up I begin to stumble on my own two feet trying to avoid stepping on Peter sparing us any moment embarrassment, I storm out of the classroom my shirt dripping in what ever the mixed liquids were. All I could hear now were the faded noises of the chemistry lab and the teacher calling after me.

It wasn't until about thirty seconds later that I now realise someone is following me. I instantaneously come to a halt and begin to hold onto my elbows, hugging them when I realise who it is. "I'm sorry." I pout looking down at my feet feeling tears begin to leak, water beginning to glisten trying to hide behind the brim of my eye my nose beginning to sniffle. "I just came to make sure you were ok, um... are you cry-never mind. You probably don't want to clean up we really don't know what any of this is." He kindly walks over. "I'm in shock that's all I- um yeah that sounds nice, but I don't have any other clothes." I try to explain still sniffling. "I have spare clothes in the locker room. We could head over there if you'd like. By the way don't listen to anything Flash says he's kind of a dick to everybody." He mentions the name of the jerk who probably made the off hand comment. The for some reason really got to me. Resting his hand on my shoulder, slowly lifting my head I wipe the tears from my eyes. "Lead the way please." I faintly smile trying to look on the bright side that I didn't go crazy and photon blast anyone who was talking.

Following Peter at an extremely close distance to the locker rooms I feel six. I feel helpless, like before I discovered my powers that I barely use. I feel like the clingy 6 year old that would cling onto Tony's or Natasha's jeans when I was scared. The six year old that wouldn't leave Fury's or Maria Hill's side whenever we went out, or were at some secret base. The same little boy that loved having conversations with Maria Rambo about mom. Now that I've been 17 since April I still feel kind of the same, always asking Wanda for advice about things while watching Netflix with Sam and Bucky. "We're almost there" Peter says snapping me out of thought only to bring them to him, he seems really nice. Although I still can't shake this feeling that when we first met it was kind of forced in a bad not so good way.

He's definitely sugar coating something right, or am I just being paranoid. No he definitely seemed like he was looking for me, like he already knew who I was. "And we have officially made it." Peter snaps me out of my thoughts, holding the red door open for me. "Thanks, so um... you get into these situations often" I ask while he opens his locker not wanting our whole time to be spent in silence. "Well these situations specifically no, flash being a dick yes." He answers passing me a shirt with a printed photograph of the Avengers from a while back. "So which one is flash exactly?" I don't recall seeing who made the comment. Examining the black shirt more closely I see; Thor when he still had his old hammer, Wanda, Vision, Clint, Tony, Natasha, Rhodey, & Sam. Wow if I put this on I'll never hear the end of it when I get home. "He was the one that tripped you, that's Taylor Swift right?" What? Giving him a confused look he points to my now ruined shirt. Running my hand through my h/c messy hair, I look realizing the shirt I'm wearing had the initials T.s. with seagulls on it. And a faded blue and pink sky background that was now stained. "Oh yes 1989" I smile, only faintly however now seeing that my shirt is most likely not gonna clean out. "You're gonna put that on? Right?" I look back up only to find Peter half shirtless finding out he's refereeing to your shirt. Blushing intensely at his um... you know, I quickly turn around taking off my shirt and put the one he gave me on as quickly as possible.

Taking one last deep breath before turning back around to see him what I think is intensely staring. As my blushing intensifies I accidentally let words slip. "Were you looking?" "What! Um no, were you um, looking" he fumbled a bit "no." I mumble a bit feeling a bit insecure. Not that I wasn't fit I mean I had a little bit of muscle but I'm not fit-fit if that makes sense. "Um thanks a lot, I really appreciate it" I look at his shirt with an the school logo on it than looking back up at his face. Smiling he responds, "It's ok really we should do that again. No I mean not getting into that situation sorry! I mean hang out, I mean we didn't talk much but what I'm saying is I'd like to get to know you! If that isn't weird." He panics mildly earning a small giggle from me. "It's not funny." He frowns a bit; "No I'm sorry I'd like to hang out to, your cool. Exchange numbers?" I ask pulling out my cell phone. "Yes!" He does the same us giving and receiving each other's phone numbers. "We should probably head back to class to." He reminded me that the last thing I want is call home considering my current guardians.

As the rest of the day goes on I finally make it to lunch. Navigating the hallways again Betty finds me looking extremely concerned. "Y/N, thank goodness I found you are you ok. I heard what happened and the rumors being spread are awful." My heart immediately sank, rumors. Ok this is exactly like some shity coming of age high school movie now and I hate it. Rumors, what rumors? "I don't- what? Tell me what is going on" is all I'm able to say before pulling her into an empty hallway for an explanation. "People are going around saying that you're gay. I know it may not be a big deal and all but some people are taking it seriously, and I don't know what to tell people who ask about it." The blonde quickly whispers, my face becomes shocked and confused at the same time. "Well?" Betty almost asks waiting for a response. "It's half true, I'm bi. I think, I'm pretty sure." I whisper in a barely audible tone not wanting her to judge me as I rush into trusting a girl I've known for a day. "You know what, if you don't want anyone to know it'll probably blow over hopefully." She says smiling awkwardly "I'll help you get through this just don't worry we'll just hang out and ride out the storm ok. You still up for the mall tomorrow?" She grabs my hand trying to make sure I was calm. My facial expression having not changed since she told me the news. "Yeah I'm up I guess, let's just not comment on the rumors ok. I could care less currently I just wanna let things play out naturally, ok? It's just I don't want to be defined by my sexuality for now that's all. You're right anyway let's just relax and hang out after all it's currently not a big deal unless we make it one. And thanks a lot Betty." I lean in for a hug the blonde opening up her arms for an embrace. "No problem." She squeezed a bit tighter.

LATER THAT DAY

"Listen kid I understand I'm great and all, but you don't have to wear that shirt around if all you wanted was an autograph." Sam said with a cocky smirk as he sat down on the couch along with Bucky, and Wanda earning chuckles from you three. "Be careful Sam, if your head fills up with anymore air you might leave the atmosphere" Bucky begins to laugh with Wanda and I. "Or he could do us a favor and pop" I begin to laugh harder despite the fact that we were watching Bird Box. After a while of comebacks from Sam and Wanda we all eventually calm down. Watching Sandra Bullock and the kids making it down the rapids without Tom when all of a sudden. "Wait What!?!?" Wanda seems to have realized something as Bucky seemed to have pointed something out. Barns seems to be about to spit it out as well with a squinty smirk on his face; "Hey kid." I look at him and the others confused not knowing what to expect. "Who's shirt is that?" What, what does that oh... I can feel my ears heat up as Wanda and Sam's smirks grow. Bucky's eyes squint a bit more as his face looks like it's jokingly saying 'You little bastard.' Implying that he's thinking something dirty and at this point I really regret not showing and changing as soon as I got home because honestly I'm fucked.

Previous Chapter/

An: So I feel like my story is better a bit rushed if so please tell me. This also wasn't revised I forgot so feel free to correct any errors. Don't feel so good about it. May not be my best work.

Also the first paragraph of the chapter was ment to be the ending of the last chapter

Please give opinion I would love you here your thoughts on the second chapter also I think the reader in this is gonna be bi as in most stories the reader is usually full on gay regardless it doesn't matter because it is an x Peter Parker fic so yeah

Ps there may or may not be foreshadowing about something that's going to happening in the future of somebody's relationship

Tag List (ask to be put on)

@klanceiscannon14 @wiitchy-wooo @multifandom-slytherin @jonnyjay2413 @lazerman217 @stuffdealwithit @sorceressandy @sunshadetrees @filthydeatheaters

[virgofabreakdown]

Chapter One - Double Lives AU

Prologue | Next Chapter

One Year Later

Patton's POV

Blackberry Cafe 2:30 PM

"Virgil, where are the rest of the cookies from this batch?"

"What do you mean?" Virgil shouted from the bathroom. "That's all of the ones from that batch."

"What do you mean that's all the cookies from that batch?! The recipe makes over 30 cookies, but there's only 2!"

"I just sampled some of the cookie dough!"

"Some?"

"Most of the cookie dough..."

"For the love, Virgil. Why?" Ding! The bell at the front of the store rang across the store.

"Hello, welcome to Blackberry Cafe. Can I help you - oh, hi Roman!"

"Hey Pat, can I get the usual?"

Virgil came out of the back, "depends, are you gonna pay this time?"

"Probably not," he admits. I package up two cookies and three scones and hand them to him.

"Two chocolate chip cookies and three rosemary ham and cheese scones, on the house!"

"Patton, no," Virgil sighs. "I was trying to get him to pay for once. He can't just always get free food."

"That's just the perks of having an little brother who owns a cafe," Roman states with a wink.

"Plus, if I didn't give it to him, he probably wouldn't eat until dinner."

"Well maybe that would teach him to pack a lunch," Virgil reasoned. "Or better yet, actually pay."

"But he's hungry..." I pout at him for a minute before Roman cleared his throat.

"So, guys, me and Logan are going on a date tonight, if you guys are interested in joining us...?" Virgil looks at me. "It's up to you guys, of course, you don't have to, if you don't want to."

He trailed off, looking at the two of us. I shrugged, "I have work off tonight, so it shouldn't be a problem for me. What do you think Virg?"

"I don't think I have work. Sure, why not," Virgil looked at me with a smile. "We could use a date night anyway."

Roman gave us a big smile. "So, we've got a reservation for nine, so let's plan to meet up at my place around...eight, eight thirty?"

"Wait, you were planning on us coming?" Virgil sighed in frustration over the fact that his brother made the reservation without knowing if they could come. "Let's do eight, just to be on the safe side."

"Awesome," Roman said, walking towards the door. "See you later, then?"

"See you later!" I shout, waving to him.

"I can't believe he didn't ask us first! What if we couldn't have made it?"

"Then they would have a slightly bigger table," I say. Virgil looked very worked up. "It's fine."

"Yeah, but still."

"Now," I say, placing a hand on my hip. "Mind sharing why exactly you ate almost an entire batch of cookie dough?"

Time Skip

The Black-Berry Residence 7:30 PM

"Hey Virg? What do you think of this tie?" I shout across the apartment.

"I don't know, it would be a lot easier to tell if you weren't on the other side of the house." He sounded stressed.

I walk out of our bedroom into the living room and do a little twirl. "How do I look?"

Virgil seemed to be at a lack for words. "You look great," Virgil admitted. I wasn't wearing much, just some slacks and a loose blouse. I added a small blue bow to match my shirt. It was slightly fancier than my usual attire, but Virgil seemed to like it. We stared at each other for a moment. Nothing was said, but a comfortable silence filled the air. And then my phone rang. It pierced through the air with a certain, yet annoying ring.

I sighed, "one second." I picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, we need you to come in." I walked back into bedroom.

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"Look, I'm sorry, sir, but we need you to come in."

"No way, it's date night!" I protest. "I've got plans. Call someone else in."

"It is imperative that you come in to work," the man on the other end insisted.

"What could be so important that you need me too come in on my one day off," I demanded. "I mean, honestly, it's bad enough that -"

"Dracowitch. We have a lead on Dracowitch."

"Draco -" I shout, before lowering my voice. "Dracowitch? But how? He's been off the radar for months now."

"Which is why you need to come in. You are the best man we have."

I sighed, "fine. You better be paying overtime for this."

"Once the job is done, we will. But you must get here as soon as possible."

"I'll be there."

"Good. Farewell, and may you be fruitful."

"As to help the company grow," I say, finishing our company motto, before hanging up. Walking back into the living room, "so bad news," I look at Virgil, who had just hung up a from his own phone call. "Oh, who was that?"

"What, oh, I was just on the phone with Roman. So, what were you saying?"

"Oh, yeah. Unfortunately, I just got called into work. They need someone at the shelter for a few hours. Something about someone being delayed at the airport...? I don't know. All I know, is that I have to go to work because no one else answered the call." I felt bad lying to Virg, but I couldn't just tell him the truth. Honestly, I wanted to tell him the truth, I really did, but it was against the rules and could put him in danger. If something were to happen to him because of me, I couldn't live with the guilt.

"Oh, that sucks," he says. "Honestly, I want looking forward to sitting in a fancy restaurant and paying 50 bucks for spaghetti, anyway."

He was trying to make me feel better about the whole situation, bless his heart. This is why I love him, he was willing to do anything to make me happy and that, I lived for. Virgil restores my faith in humanity, no matter what happens, he finds a way to cheer me up.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I'll call Roman back and explain. You go to work."

"Okay. Thank you." I head back into the bedroom for the third time that night to get changed. I get changed and grab my bag. "I love you," I say giving him a quick kiss.

"Love you, too. Now, go take care of those dogs like no one had taken care of them before!"

I giggle. "Be back in a few hours!" I say before closing the door.

Virgil's POV

Patton closed the door. I look out the window, watching for his car to leave. A blue Prius passes by the window. Correction, Patton's blue Prius passes by the window. I watch as it rounds the corner. Poor Patton. I knew he was looking forward to this. We hardly get to go on dates anymore.

I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Someone was calling me. Again. The first time was Roman and now it was, I look at the caller ID, work. Of course, work always picks the worst times to call. I hesitate for a moment, before picking up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, you need come here, like right now," the person on the other line spoke quickly and sharply, while also sounding rather rushed.

"What? Why?"

"We got a lead on Dracowitch and they put Morality on it. You're his backup, so you need to get here."

"Are they sure it's Dracowitch?"

"Yep. And this is the only good lead we've had in weeks, if not months."

"Alright, I'll be there in about half an hour."

"I said now."

"That's the soonest I cam be there," I insist.

"You live approximately eight minutes away, therefore you will be here in ten minutes. This is more than enough time."

"Fine, I'll be there in a few."

"Be there in five. Farewell and help guide the path."

"To lead the company to greatness."

And with that, I grabbed the keys to my car, a dark blue Honda, and ran out the door. I hopped down the flight of stairs at the front door and popped the trunk. Taking out an extra shirt, I close the trunk and climb in the car.

I hate my job, I really do. If I had the choice to just stay home, I would, but the bakery doesn't bring in enough money. So, I work for the 'print shop' and Patton has been helping by working at the local animal shelter.

My real job most definitely pays well, but it's not something that I would openly tell people about. Even if it wouldn't result in me getting fired. I am...a hacker, in a way. The term that the company hired us under is 'Personal Guide'. Which was true, we do guide people, just not the disabled and elderly. Think more along the lines of hitmen and assassins.

Our job is simple. Aide our assigned partner through their missions by briefing them on the mission, hacking into the security of buildings, giving them directions, and letting them know if anyone was up ahead. Typical hacker things. Oh, and keeping track of their location, incase they need backup. Typically, your partner will need backup occasionally, four to five months is the company average. But I've never had to call backup. Maybe it's luck, but I'm almost certain it's not.

I believe it's my partner, rather than luck. He is literally the best assassin this company has. When they paired us up, everyone was curious as to why. Based on all the rumors flying around, this guy was a legend. No one truly understood why he had been paired with a newbie with no prior experience in anything related to computers or the company.

Until they saw us work together. We just clicked. I would have locked doors slide open as he approached them, as he responded with the witty pun that made me groan. In the middle of missions, we shared our stories about life outside of the company. We'd swap jokes and recipes, recommend restaurants for the other to try, we literally would just talk about anything. Morality, as he was called, was the only thing that made this horrible job worthwhile.

Our current target was an online personality by the name of Dracowitch. It seemed to be a German, or possibly Russian name, seeing as it was pronounced Draco-vitch. They've been untraceable, up until now.

I pull up to the print shop. Even though the store was a small local business, it seemed to be bustling with life. The lights were on and about half a dozen people were running around doing various things.

Taking a deep breath in, I walk inside and straight to the counter, where a man sat, attempting to hide the fact that he was watching cartoons with a book. I cleared my throat, before simply giving him a "hey."

"Ah, Mr. Black-Berry. I don't believe you have work tonight," the man said, pausing his show and closing his book.

"Got called in."

"I see, your husband must be mad."

"Doesn't know, he got called in too, so I left after he did."

"Be careful with that. Do it one too many times, you'll get accused of cheating. I did that once and she signed us up for therapy."

"Oh, how is the Mrs.?"

"She's fine. Been a bit better since therapy."

"That's good. Well, have a good night, Larry. Say hi to Dot for me!"

"Will do!" And with that he pressed a button under his desk. The door behind him slid open, revealing an elevator to the basement.

End of Chapter One.

@vaugleysassygrunt