#classes were half cancelled and the ones i had the teacher was missing so i had to lead an activity i didn’t have a clue about

[chaseprice]

today is TERRIBLE :(

[fullsunstrawberry]

Love Beyond Labels

synopsis: the misunderstood "rich girl," reveals her academic struggles to a loner with his own challenges. In an unexpected twist, they form a unique friendship—she gets study help, and he gains a true companion.

genre: slice of life, humor, fluff, angst, smut, freaky nerd

warnings**: bullying, swearing, self-hate, mentions of anxiety, jokes of social "suicide", dreamies are kinda mean in this..., no condom mentioned, praising, fingering, marking, lots of boobie touching cause haechan loves them okay, make-up sex, idk probably more lol

word count: 8.9k

a/n: first ever written fanfic....kinda nervous haha

School is easy, all you have to do is sit there and look pretty. Well, that's what all your classmates thought. They didn't know how difficult school was for you. You never got what was happening in class. Anytime you got an answer wrong, no one batted an eye because who expects the rich pretty girl to get an answer right? But little did they know you would cry in the janitor's room after each time. You just hated feeling so dumb.

"Ugh, I'm not ready for today's test," Jaemin huffed, plopping down beside you.

"Wait, there's a test?" you sighed, already predicting the outcome.

Mr. Moon whispered a half-hearted "good luck" as he handed you the test, before moving on and finishing handing out everyone else’s tests. He already knew how it was going to go.

You hated how even the teachers knew you were stupid.

After the test, you already knew you failed it. You were the last one to turn your test in, when Jaemin asked if you wanted to meet up with him, Jeno, Mark, and Chenle for lunch. You nodded telling him you had to stop at the office real quick.

Instead of walking towards the office, you sped walked to the janitor's closet, already feeling the tears threaten to escape. You knew you failed that test. Even though you acted like you didn’t know you had a test, you lied. You’ve been studying for it for a long time. Even canceling plans. But you would never admit it to anyone. You studied your ass off but still failed, that’s even more pathetic than forgetting about it.

You quickly took out the keys and opened the door quickly so no other student would see it. You thank the janitor for being so forgetful that you could easily steal one of his keys. He has a bunch of copies, one missing wouldn’t hurt. Right as you locked the door you sat in the corner, not even bothering to turn the lights on.

you were always an ugly crier, but it was okay cause you bought the most expensive waterproof makeup for these occasions. Only a quick bathroom stop is needed before meeting your friends for lunch.

As you were drying your tears you heard the door jiggle and then open. you quickly hid your face just in case it was someone you knew.

"Y/N?" a voice you didn't recognize spoke, interrupting your quiet moment in the janitor's closet.

Confused, you wiped your face and looked up at the mystery voice. You kind of recognized the thick black glasses boy in front of you. You knew he was in some of your classes but you couldn’t think of his name.

Fearing the worst you cleared your throat before asking “What do you want?”

“Uh, I don't want anything!" the boy replied, swiftly stepping into the room and closing the door. You noticed he had his lunch tray with him. "This might sound pathetic, but I like to eat my lunch here."

confused, you asked him “Why would you do that?”

“Well I don’t really have friends and I don’t want to get picked on” he explained sitting down next to you, not having much of a choice because there wasn’t that much room.

"Oh, I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll just go," you said, preparing to stand up. But before you could, he quickly called out your name, making you look down at him.

"You're not bothering me! You can stay and talk about what's going on. I know we don't talk, but I can listen to you." His hopeful eyes convinced you to sit back down. You quickly wiped away your tears before confiding in him.

“You can’t tell anyone this!“ You put your pinky finger up and put it near him. “promise?”

“I don’t have many people to tell” he let out a small laugh while putting his hands up defensively. “promise!” he took your pinky finger in his

“okay” you nodded “I failed my psychology test today”

you looked at his face and he looked confused “What?” you questioned

“Oh it's just, you always fail your tests. Everyone knows that”

As he said that you felt the tears start to come back. Of course, he wouldn’t get it. Why did you ever think he would get it?

“I didn’t mean it like that, I’m so sorry” he panicked “I shouldn’t have said that!”

you turn away, quickly wiping away your tears again. “no I get it, I’m the dumb girl”

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant. Hey, want to hear something embarrassing about me? I'm only here because of a scholarship. That's why no one wants to be friends with me!" he confessed.

you start to giggle “That’s not embarrassing!”

“It made you laugh! But here is something actually embarrassing, my teacher forgot my name today. Even though I've had her for the whole year.”

Your eyes widen, feeling bad that you forgot his name.

“ahh you don’t know my name either”

you smile “If you tell me your name, I’ll forgive you”

“haechan”

“That's a nice name, haechan” You smiled at the way it rolled off your tongue. 

“thank you, I have a proposition or a proposal”

“I know what proposition means” you teased

he giggled, “I’ll help you study”

your eyes lit up, “really? What can I do for you?”

he avoided your eyes and cleared his throat “Be my friend”

your eyes softened “That’s not hard, I was going to be your friend after this conversation anyways” You pushed his shoulder.

He finally met your eyes and smiled at you. “then you don’t have to do anything, friends help friends”

As the bell faintly rang, you pulled out your phone. "Here, give me your number so we can talk."

he paused for a second before taking your phone

standing up and thanking him before you quickly left to go touch up your makeup in the bathroom. Reminding yourself you would have to tell Jaemin you were sorry for ditching him and the guys.

You walked into your next class as the late bell rang. 

“there you are! Jaemin told me you ditched us” Mark laughed. 

“I didn't mean to ditch you guys, just got carried away.” 

“carried away, with what?” 

“I was working on my psychology essay, and I can't believe she makes us write one every week!” you huffed out, setting your bag down before sitting down. 

“Could have just said you were talking to guys instead of lying.” Mark laughed, too interested in whatever was on his phone to notice your face drop. What did your friends think of you? 

“What do you mean?” 

Mark glanced at you before laughing, “You always procrastinate, there is no way you even started it!” 

Instead of arguing you turned to face the front, pulling out your notebook. The essay is due in two days, of course, you started it. There would be no way for you to finish the four pages if you didn't. Turning towards Mark again you huffed out, “Well someone is helping me study.”

Shocked, Mark quickly faced towards you “What? What happened to y/n?” 

You scoffed, “Really? That surprising”

“I am, you never really cared for grades”

“Well I'm sick of failing every test” 

“So who's helping you out?” Mark leaned towards you “Could have just asked me”

“His name is Haechan”

Mark’s eyebrows furrowed “That one kid that eats in the bathroom?”

“He doesn't eat in the bathroom!” You defended 

“Just be careful, he’s a little weird” 

“What do you mean, you don’t even know him” You started to get upset.

“He doesn't really talk to anyone”  He could see how your face scrunched up and you were about to start an argument with him so he shrugged, not really caring “Why didn't you ask me, I'm one of the top students”

You didn't really want to explain what happened so you just blew his question off. Before he could press you for an answer, the teacher walked in. 

Haechannie🤓🐻: When do you want to start?

Y/N☺️: I have my psychology paper due soon. Could you read it over before I turn it in?

Haechannie🤓🐻: Yeah meet me at the public library after school 

Y/N☺️: Thanks!

Haechannie🤓🐻: No problem :)

Jaemin and Jeno are probably thinking you're going crazy when you tell them you didn't need a ride after school. But you didn't want them to drop you off at the library and question you the same way Mark did in class. So you just said you were meeting up with a girlfriend of yours who wanted to walk to the park. At the mention of a girl, they didn’t question anything. 

Now that's how you ended up looking around the library for Haechan. He wasn't on the first or second floor, so you started making your way up to the third floor. Questioning why he even would go all the way up there, no one liked the third floor. As you looked around you spotted Haechan sitting at a table in the corner. 

As he heard you coming, he looked up and smiled. “Took you long enough!”

“Who even uses the third floor of the library, all the books up here are just textbooks.” You huffed out, setting your bag down and taking out everything you needed. 

“That’s the whole point! It’s quiet up here” 

You can admit, that he has a point! Maybe you will actually start using the third floor more. As if you ever go to the public library without your friends dragging you there. Liking your room for studying a lot more because there are no judging eyes. 

“Okay, let’s get started! Let me see what you have already” Haechan smiled at you. 

You pulled out your notebook and quickly found the page you started to write on before handing it to Haechan. As you handed it to him, your fingers brushed, which made Haechan pull away quickly. 

You watched as his eyes read through everything you wrote. Anxiety started to fill you up. What if it was really bad and he thinks you're even more of an idiot than before? Ugh, he’s a nice guy, he wouldn't think like that. But you don’t really know him— Before your inner monologue continues Haechan put down your notebook. Shock showed in his eyes. 

“Wow, that was really good! The way you described Sensation and Perception was easy to understand. How do you usually fail with papers like this?”

Shocked that he actually liked your paper it took you a couple of seconds to register his question. “I usually get good grades on my papers and in-class work, but tests always seem to get to me.” 

“mmm, I understand,” Haechan hummed. “A lot of people have test anxiety, I have some tips I can give you if you want” 

Your eyes lit up as you nodded, eager to hear what he had to say. 

“It’s getting quite late, maybe we should start wrapping this up?” Haechan yawned. 

You quickly looked at the time, not believing him that it was so late. You gasped, shocked at how quickly time passed with Haechan. “Oh, I better get going, before my mom starts to ask questions.” 

“Yeah, I have to get going too. It was nice hanging out with you.” Haechan quickly gathered up all his things before moving to leave. 

“Wait!” 

Haechan paused looking at you confused. 

“What are you doing tomorrow after class?” 

“Nothing, until I have to go in for work” Haechan sighed “I don’t want to study again tomorrow”

A little taken aback by the change in his tone, you quickly cleared things up “That’s not what I was going to ask you! I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out, like at the mall or something”

you couldn't quite read the emotion on Haechan’s face. Was he shocked? Happy? Confused? Maybe a little bit of each. 

“Oh um yeah, we can hang out.” 

“Good, I’ll text you the details” You smiled before turning away and leaving him to stand there not knowing what was going on in his head. 

The final bell rang as you rushed out to find Haechan. Earlier promising that you both would take the bus to the mall together. 

Your eyes lit up seeing him standing at the bus stop, calling out a quick “Haechan” to get his attention. Which seemed to work as he found you in the crowd of other students. 

As you finally pushed through all the people to get to Haechan, your face dropped. He wasn't looking at you anymore. “What’s wrong?” 

“You don’t want to be caught hanging out with me, it will ruin your reputation.” He whispered 

Taken aback you laughed, which turned into a heavier laugher. Shocked and confused by your reaction, Haechan turned towards you, watching you laugh like you were crazy. “I’m not joking! Hanging out with me in public is literally social suicide”

You took a couple of deep breaths before answering him “Haechan, this isn't some teen drama! Who even cares about that” 

Haechan looked embarrassed by this and started to fiddle with his fingers. You saw the bus starting to pull up so you took hold of his hand. Stopping him from fiddling with them and making sure you didn't lose him to the crowd of people waiting for the bus. 

If you were paying more attention, you would have seen how bright his cheeks turned. Before quickly snapping out of it. 

As you got onto the bus, you noticed how full it was. Only noticed one seat in the back. quickly you pulled him towards the back and offered him the seat. 

Shaking his head, he told you to sit down. But you insisted that you were okay with standing. Looking around you noticed the other people starting to get annoyed, even hearing an older lady saying she hates teenage couples. 

Before he could protest, you pushed him down onto the seat and sat on his knee. “Are you happy now? It’s a win-win situation, we both get to sit now” You smiled. 

The whole ride there was silent. Maybe the stunt you pulled on the bus was a little too much for him to handle. 

But you didn't let that stop you from grabbing his hand when the bus finally arrived at the mall. Excitedly telling Haechan about all your favorite stores and sales that are going on right now. 

He didn't seem to care when you kept dragging him to different clothing and makeup stores. It wasn't until you noticed how uncomfortable he was did you realized how rude you were being. 

“Oh shit sorry, where do you want to go next?”

 Taken back by this Haechan quickly tried to brush it off “No it’s okay, where do you want to go next?” Not letting him dodge the question you push him for an answer. “No, come on, let's go somewhere you like next!”

“Uh I like Gamestop” 

“Then we are off to Gamestop, I know where it is because it’s next to my favorite shoe store!” 

Haechan’s eyes lit up when he saw the new Lord of the Fallen had been released. “Cool! I’ve been waiting for this to come out” But as quickly as he picked it up he put it down. 

“You're not going to get it?” You questioned

“Oh no, it’s too much money” He turned to look at other things, leaving you the opportunity to grab and pay for the game without him knowing. 

Finding him in the back, you asked if he was finished looking around. Which earned you a nod. As you stepped out of the store, you held up the bag. “What did you get?” Haechan asked, confused. 

“It’s for you” You giggled handing him the bag. 

He hesitated before looking in the bag and gasping “Y/n, this is $80!” 

“That’s nothing! I love buying my friends things that I know they will like” You smiled, hooking your arm with his. “Now I'm hungry, let's go eat.” 

The food court wasn't your first choice, but haechan insisted. Arguing that he knew you were going to try to pay for his food if you went to some fancy restaurant. Which he is right, you would have. But you settled for paying for his Taco Bell instead. 

“Let's go near the carousel I love the view and plus not a lot of people sit over there”

Haechan nodded, letting you show the way. 

Everything was going very smooth. You wanted to do this again and again. But as you were in your own world you heard voices call out “Hyuck”. Haechan's eyes widened and looked around. 

Two boys, one tall and one short, sat down near you guys. 

“Long time no see, we missed you!” The taller one said either not knowing or not caring about your presence. 

The shorter one cleared his throat before asking Haechan “So are you going to introduce us” 

Haechan laughed nervously before looking at you, pointing to the shorter one “This is Huang Renjun” and then pointing to the taller one who seem to now noticed you were there “And this is Park Jisung” 

Before Haechan could speak you smiled “I'm F/N L/N!” 

Haechan winced at your mentioning your last name. You looked at the other guys and their faces dropped. Confused, you asked “what's wrong?” 

Haechan quickly cleared his throat and explained “It’s nothing! We used to know someone with that last name and so they're just surprised.” 

The two boys looked confused before nodding “Sorry, just bad memories” Renjun forced a smile before getting up and announcing “Oh we’re gonna be late for our movie, let’s go Jisung” 

They left before you could even get in another word. Noticing your shock, Haechan shakes his head “Those are my friends from my childhood, we haven't talked in a while because we go to different schools now.” 

Not wanting to push you just hummed.

Something felt weird but you didn't want to bring it up. Today has been one of your favorites and you didn't want to sour the mood by letting Haechan know his friends acted a bit rude. 

So the whole time you didn't bring it up, instead going back to your cheery self. After a few more stores, you both decided that was enough for today and Haechan really needed to get home so he could get enough sleep before having to go to his part-time job. 

Soon days, weeks, and months flew by. Hanging out with Haechan really made things go by so quickly. You liked his company. So did your teachers, complimenting you on passing all your tests. One even accused you of cheating, but Haechan stepped in and confessed he had been helping you study.

Even your parents seemed to notice the change in your mood. Your mother loves getting her cheerful daughter back. The only people who seemed to hate the “new and improved y/n” were your best friends. It started with Jaemin accusing you of sleeping with Mr. Moon because he swore there’s no way you could have gotten scored higher on your test then him. Obviously, you were pissed that he could even suggest something like that.

So you ended up admitting to your not-so-secret tutoring sessions to your friends one day at lunch.

“So that's where you've been during lunch?” Chenle questioned. 

“Yes, we’ve been eating in the library together” 

“So you’ve been ditching us for that nerd this whole time!” Jeno’s voice raised, causing some of the other students in the cafeteria to look at your table. 

“Don’t call him a nerd!” 

“But he is one!” Jeno threw his hands up in the air. 

“Just because he gets good grades? Then why don’t you call Mark or Jaemin a nerd?”

“Y/N Come on, why are you defending him? He’s just some loser who eats in the bathroom when you're not at school” Chenle laughed, trying to get everyone to calm down. 

Taken back by how rude your best friends were, you looked around and made eye contact with Haechan. 

He was supposed to meet your friends today. He was really excited after you hyped all of them up. But as he was walking to your table, you could tell that he heard everything. 

You saw how his eyes were starting to water. 

“Maybe he is a nerd but he is way hotter than all of you! Bet he can actually get me to cum unlike any of you” You smirked knowing this would get on their nerves. Hitting it where it hurt, their egos. 

You heard Jaemin scuff, “Yeah right, we all know your type! You wouldn't even kiss him” 

Taking the challenge, you looked around and spotted Haechan again. But this time his face was red and his eyes were wide. You smirked, “wanna bet?” 

The tension in the cafeteria was thick after your bold statement, and all eyes seemed to be on the unfolding drama. Your best friends wore expressions of disbelief mixed with irritation. You made your way over to Haechan.

Haechan's eyes showed surprise, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. You could feel the weight of the challenge in the air as you took a hold of his sweater collar, the fabric warm beneath your fingers. The cafeteria buzzed with hushed whispers and curious glances, but your focus was solely on him.

Pulling him down gently, your lips hovered near Haechan's ear, and you breathed out a teasing question. "Can I?" The words were soft, carrying a hint of playfulness.

In response, Haechan nodded fervently, his eyes wide with anticipation. "Please," he whispered back, his voice barely audible.

With a mischievous smirk, you seized the moment, closing the distance between your lips and Haechan lips. Time seemed to slow as the cafeteria fell into a stunned silence, and then erupted into a mix of gasps, whispers, and scattered applause. The unexpected turn of events had caught everyone off guard, including your best friends, who now wore expressions ranging from shock to disbelief.

Breaking the kiss, you stepped back. You saw how Haechan went to lean back in again. Quickly placing a short kiss to his lips you whispered “everyone watching us” His eyes widened and looked around the cafeteria. Making you giggle and whisper a hushed “Cute”

After your little stunt in the cafeteria, everyone’s been asking you who that guy was and if you two are dating. You already knew poor Haechan was getting the same questions. 

Y/N😊❤️: People keep asking me if you’re a good kisser

Haechannie🤓🐻: Well am I?

Y/N😊❤️: Absolutely

Y/N😊❤️: What are you doing after school?

Haechannie🤓🐻: Working and then going home

Y/N😊❤️: When do you get off? Want to hang out with you

Haechannie🤓🐻: 9 pm, at the convenience store on the other side of town

Haechannie🤓🐻: we can hang out only if you promise to kiss me again

Y/N😊❤️: we’ll see ;)

The convenience store was a far walk from your house so you asked your friend Yuna to drive you. But that didn’t stop your parents from scolding you for going out so late. All you had to say was that you were staying over at Yuna’s house. Yuna is your mom's best friend's daughter. She had no problem with this because last summer you had to do the same thing for her. 

There was only a few people at the convenience store. You saw Haechan slumped over at the counter scrolling through his phone. “Aren’t you supposed to be working”

Haechan jumped up from his sitting position, ready to be scolded by his manager. But when his eyes landed on you he shook his head “Ah you scared me! I still have 10 minutes until closing” 

“I wanted to get here early, I heard there is a cute cashier boy here” you smirked

You can already see Haechan’s face start to become a light shade of red. 

“Stop flirting with me, I'm working!” 

Before you could say a comeback, an older guy put down his stuff on the register. 

“She’s just trying to get free stuff” The random guy scoffed

Taken aback you scoff, tilting your head “What do you mean by that?”

“You’re too pretty for him”

You looked at Haechan and saw his head lower. 

Looking back at the guy you laugh “Nerdy guys are the freakiest” you winked

Haechan’s eyes widened, not being able to make eye contact with anyone. 

“All girls are the same” The guy harshly stated before throwing ten dollars on the counter and leaving. 

“How do you know I’m freaky?” Haechan busted out laughing. 

“I don’t but guys hate when their masculinity is threatened” You shrug.

“So what do you want to do after I close” 

“I don’t know, I told my parents I was staying over with a friend tonight. So I’m all yours”

“All mine? I like the sound of that” Haechan smirked leaning in “I live alone”

You gasp “How do you live alone?” 

“It’s a small place, I don’t have a relationship with my parents anymore” Haechan grabbed the keys to close the shop. “It’s not too far from here, only a five-minute walk” 

Entering Haechan's apartment, the reality of his living space matched his earlier description. It kind of reminded you of a college dorm. Only a small living area with his bed and a tiny hallway that leads to his bathroom. 

As you took in the surroundings, Haechan couldn't help but laugh at your reaction. "I told you it was small," he remarked, his eyes glinting with amusement. "It's not the fanciest part of town, but it's affordable."

"It's nice!" you assured him, a genuine smile gracing your face.

Haechan, skeptical, teased, "You don't have to lie to me."

Your laughter filled the room. "I'm not lying! I was expecting much worse for a guy living alone." Your lighthearted comment elicited a chuckle from Haechan, getting rid of any lingering tension.

Looking around the compact space, you ask, "So, what do you want to do?"

"I was promised a kiss," Haechan said with a mischievous smirk.

Your laughter continued, but before you could respond, you felt his hand gently cup your face, pulling you into a kiss. This wasn't like the previous one in the cafeteria; it was more intense, and filled with passion.

As the kiss deepened, Haechan guided you backward until the back of your knees met his bed, causing you to gently fall onto it. Yet, he didn't break the kiss, instead, he adjusted his position to hover over you. Placing his knee between your legs, he elicited a soft moan from you. The sound only fueled Haechan's desire, and he broke the kiss momentarily, his gaze locking onto yours.

"You sound so beautiful," he murmured, his eyes fulled with desire. His fingers delicately traced the curve of your jawline, leaving a trail of electrifying sensations.

The air was charged with a blend of desire and anticipation as Haechan, deepening the kiss and found a comfortable position on top of you.

His hands, warm and assertive, traced subtle patterns along your sides, sending shivers down your spine. The small apartment seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of you entangled in the intoxicating rhythm of the kiss.

As the kiss continued to deepen, Haechan's movements became more deliberate. He pressed himself against you, and the warmth of his body radiated through the layers of clothing, intensifying the sensations.

The noisy world outside seemed to disappear, leaving only the echo of shared breaths and the subtle noise of hearts beating together.

Breaking away from the kiss, Haechan's eyes held an unspoken question, seeking affirmation in the depths of your gaze. Without uttering a word, you nodded, granting permission.

Haechan's lips traced a path from your mouth, leaving a trail of lingering kisses along your jawline and down your neck. Each touch sent shivers through your body, awakening a heightened awareness of the closeness between you.

As Haechan's fingers delicately traced patterns on your skin, he whispered “God I can’t get enough of you”. 

“I need you inside of me right now” You moaned as he started to take your shirt off.

Your words seemed to ignite something in Haechan, his eyes darkening with desire. He gently removed your shirt, his touch making your skin tingle.

You felt Haechan’s warm breath against your skin as he buried his face in your breasts. The sensation of his lips approaching your skin caused you to gasp, and the sound fueled his desire. As his lips made contact with your nipple, you felt a wave of pleasure run through you.

“God, Haechan”

His lips found yours once again. The pleasure of his lips on yours left you intoxicated.The feeling of the soft sheets against your bare skin and the warmth of Haechan’s body made you feel safe, yet vulnerable. Your heart skipped a beat as you felt his lips take your nipple in his mouth yet again, and the pleasure and excitement was overwhelming. The intensity of the sensations had left you without words, and you felt yourself wanting to scream with pleasure.

“G-God”

The moan that escaped from your lips seemed to ignite something in Haechan, and he moved his mouth to your other breast, leaving a trail of hot kisses. Each one caused you to gasp with pleasure and your hands explored the his back from under his shirt. The pleasure and excitement was too much, and you needed him inside you, but he kept teasing you in different ways.

When he finally moved to kiss you again, his hands gently moved down your body to rest on your waist. He seemed to be asking if it was okay to continue, and you nodded, silent. His hands moved to take off your pants, and you felt your heart start to race. 

His touch was gentle and soft, and his lips were warm against your skin, leaving behind a trail of goosebumps. You could feel the bulge in his pants pressing against you. The feeling of his skin against yours was intoxicating. As his hands kept tracing patterns across your skin. As his lips reached your thighs, you moaned with pleasure, begging for more

"Please..." you moaned, "I need you inside me."

Haechan looked up and gave you a mischievous grin, and his body tensed for a moment before he moved to undress himself. His movements left you breathless, and you stared at him as he removed his pants. The light of the room glinted off of his skin, and you felt your body start to quiver with anticipation.

His eyes seemed to penetrate you as he looked at you, as if he could see things you didn't want anyone to know about. There was a moment of silence as the two of you stared at each other, before he moved over you and hovered on top of you. The moment was perfect, the way his body molded to yours.

His lips found yours once again, and the kiss started off soft but eventually deepened. The intensity of the moment was something you had never experienced before, and your body felt on fire as his hands explored your skin. As his fingers traced patterns on your skin, you felt more and more aroused, and you moaned with pleasure as his fingers moved down across your sensitive skin to your underwear.

As you felt his fingers graze across your most sensitive parts, you gasped with pleasure, and Haechan smiled

“you’re hands please, i just need something inside of me” you begged.

Haechan smirked as he continued to tease you over your underwear. “then we have to get rid of these”

He slowly removed them before stuffing them into his nightstand.

You could feel your heart pounding in your chest as Haechan's fingers continued to tease you over your underwear. Your body throbbed with need, and you couldn't help but beg for more. The anticipation was driving you wild, and you craved the touch of his hands inside of you.

"Please, Haechan," you whimpered, your voice laced with desperation. "I need you inside me."

Haechan's smirk widened, his eyes darkening with desire. He knew exactly what he was doing to you, reveling in every moment of your vulnerability. Without a word, he slowly removed your underwear and discarded it into the nightstand.

The cool air caressed your exposed flesh, making you shudder in anticipation. Haechan positioned himself between your thighs, his gaze intense and hungry. You could feel the heat radiating off his body as he hovered over you, his breath mingling with yours.

His lips crashed onto yours once again, this time with an even fiercer hunger. The kiss was bruising, and passionate, as if he wanted to consume every ounce of your being. His hands roamed your body, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Every touch sent electric shocks through you, heightening your desire.

But Haechan was not one to rush. He knew the power of anticipation. His fingers danced along the curves of your thighs. You squirmed beneath his touch, unable to suppress the moans that escaped your lips.

"Patience," he murmured against your skin, his voice laced with a raw sensuality that made your heart race. "I want to savor every moment."

His words only fueled the fire within you, igniting a primal need that consumed your thoughts. You could no longer wait, your body aching and yearning for release. With desperate boldness, you reached for him and pulled him closer. Haechan's eyes gleamed with a mixture of surprise and desire as you guided his hand to where you needed him most.

Without hesitation, his fingers slipped between your slick folds, finding your throbbing core. His touch was electrifying, sending waves of ecstasy through your body. You arched your back, giving him better access as he explored every inch of you, driving you to the edge.

As his fingers moved in delicious circles, your moans filled the room, mingling with the sound of his breathless whispers in your ear. It was as if time had stopped, leaving only the two of you.

Haechan's lips found yours once again, muffling the cry that escaped from deep within you as he brushed against your most sensitive spot. Your body shook with pleasure.

Every stroke sent shockwaves coursing through your body, building the pleasure to an unbearable peak. Your hips instinctively rose to meet his ministrations, wanting to feel even closer to him. The room seemed to spin as you felt your orgasm start to wash over you.

Haechan's fingers quickened their pace, pushing you further. With a sudden burst of overwhelming pleasure, your climax finally crashed over you. Your body shuddered beneath Haechan's touch as waves of intense bliss radiated from your core. It was an explosion of ecstasy that left.

As you finally started to get all your senses back you quickly reached out to Haechan. "Let me make you feel good too"

Haechan's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he chuckled nervously, avoiding your gaze. "I-I get pleasure just from giving you pleasure," he stuttered.

The corners of your lips turned up in a sly smile as you teasingly asked, "Did you cum in your pants?"

In response, Haechan groaned and buried his face on your neck. "You just sounded so beautiful, I couldn't resist," he admitted shamefully.

You couldn't help but feel a mix of desire and amusement at his confession. Pulling away from him, you leaned into captured his lips with yours. "That's incredibly hot," you muttered against his mouth before breaking into a giggle.

"Alright," you said with a mischievous glint in your eye, "let's get cleaned up...and maybe we can find a way to get out of those pants too."

In the morning, you felt the warmth of hands around your body. With a content smile, you turned around to find Haechan already awake, looking at you. "Good morning, beautiful."

"How long have you been awake?" you inquired.

"Not too long, I didn't want to wake you up" he replied.

Leaning in to plant a morning kiss on Haechan's lips, you were halted midway. "I messed up," he confessed.

Shocked, you asked, "What do you mean?"

"I slept with my only friend," he admitted.

A chuckle escaped you. "Well, if you play your cards right, you might end up with a girlfriend instead."

He chuckled at your response, pulling you in for another kiss

As the soft morning light streamed through the curtains, the intimacy between you and Haechan deepened. The laughter from the lighthearted exchange lingered as he pressed his lips against yours.

Breaking the kiss, Haechan looked into your eyes with a mix of affection and sincerity. "I'm serious, though. I don't want this to change things between us."

You traced your fingers gently along his cheek, reassuringly. "Haechan, it doesn't change anything. We both have our pasts, and what matters is what we have now."

A grateful smile played on his lips as he held you close, appreciating the comfort of the moment. "You're amazing, you know that?"

The tenderness in his words made your heart flutter. "You're not too bad yourself," you teased, your fingers intertwining with his.

Your mother has noticed a change in your demeanor, catching glimpses of smiles and laughter while you were on your phone. Initially, you tried to dismiss it, claiming it was just conversations with friends, but the façade crumbled when your mother overheard you on a Facetime call, and she didn't recognize the voice. Peeking into your room she also didn’t notice the face on the screen.

Now, you found yourself anxiously anticipating how your parents would react to meeting Haechan for the first time. Your mother insisted on the introduction, pointing out that you had never appeared as happy with your previous partners. Which you had to give it to her, it was true. 

While you were confident your mother would adore Haechan, your concern was with your father. He was often distant, engrossed in his role as the owner of a major technology company. His strict views on your relationships were rooted in a desire to maintain a family business, yet he doubted your ability to contribute to it.

Hoping your father would be too occupied to attend dinner wasn't far-fetched, he frequently skipped family gatherings. However, your mother's pleas for him to take a rare evening off for his "precious" daughter won him over.

When you first brought it up with Haechan he was terrified. Always saying he was too busy to meet them.

But you finally caught him. He was complaining that he hasn't seen you in some time and that he misses you. So you asked if he was free later. Implying something sexual so he would change his plans if he needed to. When he took the bait and said he would be free all weekend, you told him to get ready to meet your parents. 

As the doorbell rang, you rushed to answer it before anyone else could. "You look so handsome," you cooed, admiring Haechan in a suit that, while not perfectly fitted, he still made it look good.

Haechan, in turn, was taken aback by your appearance. Clad in a baby pink puffy spring dress with pearl accessories, you radiated elegance. The elaborate outfit was your response to your father's decision to turn a family dinner into a business-oriented event.

Warned in advance, Haechan contemplated rescheduling, but your disappointment look and tears swayed him. 

"I can't do this," he admitted.

"Yes, you can. It's okay," you reassured him, leading him toward the dining room.

As the evening unfolded, Haechan appeared more nervous than usual. Sensing his discomfort, you offered solace by whispering in his ear, "We can go to my room after we finish dinner." This seemed to ease his tension, evident in the subtle relaxation of his shoulders.

Upon entering the dining room, you wore a big smile, catching your mother's approving gaze. "Ah, this must be Haechan! I've heard great things about you," she greeted warmly.

"I've heard a lot about you too, Ms. [Last Name]," Haechan replied.

The initial interactions went smoothly. Haechan answered a few questions from your mother, and the room dissolved into various conversations. However, your father remained engrossed in discussions with his employees, seemingly oblivious to Haechan's presence.

Sensing Haechan's ongoing nervousness, you discreetly held his hand under the table. "You're doing amazing, we can sneak out soon."

As if on cue, your father redirected his attention to Haechan, acknowledging his presence. "How rude of me! I haven't even spoken to my daughter's new boyfriend," he announced. "So, what is it your parents do for a living?"

Haechan hesitated before revealing, "Well, they don't do much anymore. I work at a convenience store to pay for my apartment."

Your father raised an eyebrow. "Already working for yourself, impressive. Do you do anything else in your free time?"

Releasing the breath of air you were holding in, you smile. This was a small victory, your father rarely asked the guys you brought over questions. Not even caring for your friends. Remembering the time Jeno once threw up in your bathroom from how your father kept ignoring him. 

"My father taught me how to code when I was younger," Haechan disclosed.

"That's impressive," your father acknowledged, swirling his wine before taking a sip. "What's your surname? You look familiar."

Haechan gulped before confessing, "Lee."

A collective widening of eyes among your father's employees followed, and your father smirked. "I knew you looked familiar, Lee Donghyuck."

Confusion furrowed your eyebrows. You expected Haechan to correct your father, but instead, he flinched and looked at you.

"I'm guessing you lied to my daughter?" your father quipped. "What was the name you came up with again? Haechan."

Tears welled up in your eyes, and to salvage any remaining dignity, you stood up and hurriedly left the room.

Your mother exchanged a glance with Haechan before whispering something to him. He excused himself from the table and followed you.

You slammed the door shut, intending to cry alone. However, Haechan entered the room moments later.

"Please let me explain first," Haechan begged, attempting to pull you in an embrace, but you resisted.

"What is there to explain? Have you been lying to me this whole time?"

"No, God, no! Yes, my name is Donghyuck.. Haechan is just a nickname," he clarified. "My dad worked at your father's company, coding for years until he was fired. They wanted someone younger."

He gently held your face in his hands, "At first, I hated you. But when I saw you tearing up and running to the  janitor's closet, it made my heart hurt, so I had to follow you."

"I told you my name was Haechan because that's what I go by in school. I wouldn't have gotten the scholarship if they knew who I was related to. Your father basically runs this town! I had to!"

"I swear I was going to tell you, but then I started developing feelings for you. I couldn't risk it! This is the best thing to ever happen to me, you're the best thing to ever happen to me!"

As you stood there, emotions swirling within you, you listened to Haechan's explanation. His vulnerability and genuine regret were evident in every word.

A mixture of anger, confusion, and empathy danced on the surface of your emotions. "Haechan, why didn't you trust me enough to tell me the truth?" you asked, your voice a blend of hurt and frustration.

his eyes pleading for understanding. "I wanted to, but the fear of losing you, or jeopardizing everything we had, it paralyzed me. I never meant to lie to you. I just didn't know how to tell you."

You took a deep breath, attempting to collect your thoughts. The truth was a bitter pill to swallow, but his honesty and the vulnerability in his eyes struck a chord. "You should have trusted me, Haechan. Relationships are built on trust, not on secrets and lies."

He nodded, remorse written across his features. "I know, and I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, and I understand if you can't forgive me."

The room fell silent for a moment, the weight of everything hanging in the air. You finally spoke, "I need time to process this. It's not just about the lie but the fact that you felt you had to hide something from me. Trust is something we'll need to work on."

Haechan nodded, his eyes reflecting a mix of regret and determination. "I'll do whatever it takes to make things right, even if it takes time.”

“I love you, and I'll always be honest with you from now on," he promised, enfolding you in a tight embrace.

Your body resisted at first, still in shock of everything that just happened, but you eventually gave in, wrapping your arms around him. The familiar scent of his cologne and the warmth of his embrace made you realize how much you loved him despite the lies. 

You looked him in his eyes, studying his face before slowly letting your body finally connect your lips to his. 

Haechan’s kiss was soft and gentle at first, but it quickly grew in intensity as the passion between the two of you grew. You felt his hands on your waist as he pulled you closer, deepening the kiss.

Despite the initial shock and hurt, you found yourself unable to resist Haechan’s touch, his lips, the way he made you feel. You knew trust would take time to build, but right now, you couldn't resist the heat between the two of you.

Haechan’s hands moved up to your hair, tangling in the strands as he deepened the kiss even further. “Donghyuck” You moaned softly, unable to control the pleasure that coursed through you.

“I love the way you moan my name” he growled

As the kiss came to an end, you were both left breathless, panting from the intensity of the moment. You looked up into Donghyuck’s eyes, seeing the love and desire there, and you couldn't help but smile. “I love you so much” he whispered

"I love you too,"

Your eyes met his and your lips curved into a smile. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked

"For loving me enough to tell me the truth," you responded.

“I will never hurt you again”

You stared silently, soaking in his presence, and a moment later, a small smile stretched across your lips. Donghyuck pulled you in for another heated kiss causing you to let out a small moan before pulling away slightly. 

“You promise?” voice still shaky from the kiss.

Donghyuck grinned, his hands moved to your waist. There was a brief moment of discomfort as he lifted you onto your bed, but your objection was quickly silenced once you regained your balance.

You couldn't help but giggle at the boyish grin on Donghyck’s face as he looked at you from between your legs.

“I promise” he spoke as his hands traced the edges of your panties underneath your dress, teasing you and leaving you desperate for more.

A mischievous grin spread across Donghyuck’s face as he slowly began to slide your panties down, revealing more and more of your skin. You bit your lip, enjoying the sensation as he removed the final bit of fabric.

Donghyuck’s hands quickly moved to hook your legs around his waist, and you felt his fingers move towards your wet core. He teased you for a few minutes before moving his fingers up your slit, one finger brushing against your clit.

You moaned softly, biting your lip as you tried to keep yourself from making too much noise. You couldn’t help yourself though, the sensation overwhelming you as he began to circle your clit.

The sensation was so intense you couldn’t help but squirm beneath Donghyuck, his lips leaving a trail of kisses up your clothed stomach. His fingers slowed and he looked up at you. “Shh…” he whispered, lowering his head to your chest, kissing your exposed skin as you tried to regain control of yourself.

For a few moments you could barely breathe, light kisses upon your skin driving you wild. You could feel his cock pressed against your leg, and could tell it was straining against his pants. 

“You are so gorgeous,” Donghyuck spoke softly as he moved up your body. His lips pressed against yours, his fingers teasing your clit as he moved his hand away.

Your lips were breathing heavily against his, your hips bucked as you felt him tease your clit again. You began to breathe hard, hot breaths gusting between your lips and his. "I love you” he repeated as his lips moved to your neck. He bit your neck, his lips sucking just hard enough to leave a mark.

You moaned softly as you moved your hands to his pants, fumbling with the button before pulling them and his underwear down so he could step out of them.

You felt his cock pressed against your skin, and you couldn’t help but reach out for it. You could feel his shaft pulsating against your hand as you stroked it.

Donghyuck let out a small grunt, his hips bucking into your hand as you teased the head of his cock. “goddamn” he moaned as you pulled him closer.

“I want you inside me. You could feel his shaft twitch in your hand as you said the words, your fingers tightening around the shaft as you moved to stand in front of him.

You pulled your dress over your head, tossing it to the floor as you reached behind your back to unclasp your bra. The garment fell to the ground, your breasts exposed to Donghyuck’s hungry gaze.

Donghyuck reached up, taking your breasts in his hands. He gently laid you back on the bed, his hands moving from your breasts to your hips. 

You waited with heavy breaths as he finished stripping down, your eyes eagerly scanning his chest and abdomen. Reaching for his cock again eager for him to be inside you. 

Donghyuck quickly shifted his hips, slowly sliding his cock inside you. You let out a soft moan as he slowly filled you up. He began thrusting slowly, his thrusts growing stronger and deeper.

He moaned loudly as he thrusts inside you, letting you slowly push against him. His thrusts were desperate.

As he felt his climax coming he reached down to grab your hand, intertwining his fingers with yours. The connection between you intensified, your bodies moving in perfect sync. It was a dance of pleasure and desire, each movement bringing you closer to that sweet release.

As his thrusts became more urgent, his hips snapped against yours with a hunger that matched your own. The room filled with your moans and the rhythmic sound of skin slapping together. Time seemed to blur as the world around you vanished.

Your nails dug into his back, leaving red trails as he drove deeper into you. Waves of pleasure crashed over you, dragging you deeper into the abyss of ecstasy.

Donghyuck's breath grew ragged against your ear as he moved faster, chasing his climax with fervor. His grip on your hand tightened, his body trembling with anticipation.

You arched your back as you felt yourself approach climax, your hands gripping the sheets as you sought more friction. Donghyuck’s pace quickened, his cock sliding in and out of you as you felt your orgasm approach.

Your body tensed as you came closer and closer. You cried out, moaning his name as he kissed you. “Donghyuck!”

Donghyuck’s thrusts grew more and more erratic. He began to let out a series of moans as he continued to thrust. He groaned loudly, your walls tightening around his cock as he continued to thrust. You could feel his cock twitch as he came, his cum filling you up.

Donghyuck’s cock slid out of you as the two of you came down from your orgasm. You curled up against him, his arms wrapping around you as you kissed him. 

“I love you too.” you whispered, kissing his lips softly. You rested your head against his chest, and for the first time in a long time, you fell asleep without any worries.

The morning sun peeked through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the room. Donghyuck stirred, his eyes slowly fluttering open. He blinked sleepily and focused on the beautiful sight in front of him--your peaceful face, bathed in gentle morning light.

As he realized your arm was still snugly wrapped around him, a soft smile tugged at the corners of his lips. The night before had been filled with whispers, laughter, and tender kisses shared between you both. And in this quiet moment, as the world outside continued to awaken, Donghyuck felt an overwhelming sense of contentment.

Leaning in closer, he pressed a lingering kiss to your forehead. His touch was feather-light, melting away any lingering traces of sleep from your mind. You stirred slightly, a drowsy smile playing on your lips as you looked up at him.

"Mmm, good morning," you murmured, your voice filled with warmth and affection.

"Good morning," Donghyuck replied, his voice low and husky.

His fingers gently traced the contours of your face, his touch so tender it sent shivers down your spine. As you peered into his eyes, you could see the love that radiated from within him. It was in those moments when the world was still and quiet, that you truly understood the depth of his affections. Donghyuck was not one to wear his heart on his sleeve, but in these stolen moments, he bared his soul to you.

taglist: @yesohhsehun @numberonekeehostan @rjreins @yutaswh0re @haechansbbg @fullsunahceah @sundamariis @sinsgaybutthatsokay @nae-vm @hcheach @snflwrhaerecs4u @jenodreamer @mystverse @lhcread @onlyoursol-ace @enchantingtreedrea @jaeimjaemin @justforme211 @jakejaehyun @nk-3554 @hyunniesvlog @bbyjayb @nodisdino @qwonii-111 @pwarkkjisung @wettestpoussy @bomi-ja

(srry if i forgot you or if it didnt tag you)

[emberfrostlovesloki]

Derailed [Hotch x Reader]

Photo Credits: Left and Right (@aestheticsoftheinternet) @pennyspearl

Prompt: Characters are sat together on a long train ride. A one shot in which the reader unexpectedly spends an hour on a train with Agent Aaron Hotchner. 

Category: Fluff 

Content Warning: Brief mention of murder / death

Word Count: 3.2K 

A/N: This is another @imagining-in-the-margins prompt for her September/October Challenge! Let me say that I have never been to Boston University, so if my writing is off on that, please forgive me. Trains were part of the prompt, and if you don’t know, we don’t have a lot of those in Texas. Also, Hotch might be a little out of character here, but it was fun to write him like this. Honestly, unless it’s a novel, I find it hard to get his deeper feelings right. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this. Please like it if you liked it, and feel free to send me a request for a Hotch fic if you want. 

P.S. y/n uses she/her pronouns 

List with all stories 

y/n = your name

l/n = your last name 

y/f/a = your favorite album

rm’s/n = roommate’s name 

f/c = favorite color

y/m = your major 

y/min = your minor 

s/p significant person (friend, parent, guardian, sibling, teacher, etc.) 

h/t = home town

m’s/d = major’s department

The passengers on the train started to chatter as this announcement came over the PA, “Good afternoon passengers on the green line. The conductor wants to inform you that there’s been a train derailment at the Boylston intersection. Thankfully no one has been seriously injured, but this might mean we are delayed for some time. I will continue to keep you updated as we have more information. In the beginning, there was a sense of camaraderie with people looking up the news and sharing photos of the train that had derailed.

However, as the minutes stretched to a half-hour people started getting angry. Businessmen checked their watches and phones every two minutes. Mothers with kids tried to keep their children calm, and a group of students sitting in the corner of the car were elated that they would be missing a freshman-level psychology class. The car was more crowded than usual, or at least more full than y/n had expected it to be on a Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 PM.

y/n had to admit that she didn’t normally ride the train at this time, so her assumptions could be totally off. Anyway, she was stuck standing in the isle of the car holding one of those hangers that helped shorter people like her stay steady as the train moved. At the beginning she didn’t mind waiting while she listened to _y/f/a, but now the fact that she was standing and her left foot was in an ankle brace. Her foot was actually starting to hurt her. She wished she had Advil in her backpack, but she knew she didn’t. The bottle of ibuprofen was sitting on the counter in the bathroom. y/n shifted more of her weight to her right leg. Another ten minutes passed and she was getting nervous that she was going to miss the whole guest lecture she had been looking forward to for over a month. 

y/n was pulled out of this train of thought when her phone rang. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw the name of her roommate rm’s/n on the screen. Normally she would cancel the call and just wait till she was outside, but half of the businessmen were on their phones talking to secretaries or business partners and she needed a distraction from her foot, so she answered the call. “Hey, what’s up, rm’s/n?” Her roommate replied, “Hey, y/n I totally overslept and the dry cleaner that has my suit is going to close before I can make it there. It’s only two blocks away from campus. Could you pick it up and put it in your office or something and bring it back when you come back? I really need it for my presentation tomorrow.”

y/n sighed, she should’ve seen something like this coming. She pinched the bridge of her nose and said, “Sorry, rm’s/n, I can’t. A train derailed down the line and I’m stuck here. It’s been forty minutes now and at this rate, I’m going to miss half of that lecture I’ve been going on about for weeks now.” Her roommate put on a syrupy voice saying, “Pleeeeese, y/n. I’ll owe you big time.” y/n was now getting annoyed and said, “No rm’s/n, I’m not picking up your suit for you. Take an Uber and get it tonight or wake up an hour earlier tomorrow and get it yourself. I’ve been looking forward to today for a long time and even if I only get to see the last ten minutes of this lecture, nothing is going to stop me from doing that.”

y/n’s roommate knew the battle was lost but asked anyway, “Who is this guy that you’re so excited to hear lecture for two hours anyway. I’ve certainly never heard of him.” y/n rolled her eyes, This was proof that rm’s/n never listened to her when she was talking in the apartment. In a slightly clipped tone, she replied, “His name is Agent Hotchner, and he’s the Unit Chief of the Behavior Analysis Unit out of Quantico. He’s giving a lecture on Criminal psychopathy and the split mind theory. He’s kind of a hero of mine. I’ve been telling you about this for weeks now rm’s/n.”

There was a hesitant chuckle on the other end of the line and rm’s/n  replied, “Sorry y/n, you know I’ve been busy these last few weeks with my research and this presentation coming up. Listen, when you get home I’ll have a pizza and a bottle of wine waiting. Maybe we can catch up a bit, and I hope the train thing gets fixed with enough time for you to make it to that lecture.” At hearing this, y/n let some of her frustrations go. Sure rm’s/n could be inconsiderate, but there wasn’t a point in fighting right now, so she said, “That sounds nice. See you in a few hours.” With that she hung up the phone and looked out of the still window, knowing that right now the lecture hall was filling with anticipatory students while she was stuck here on a train car. 

Aaron was sitting down on the train. When he heard the announcement he knew he was screwed in getting to the Boston University campus on time for his speaking engagement. He emailed the event coordinator in the psychology department who had arranged this speaking engagement, writing: “Jonathan. Sorry to tell you this, but I may be a few minutes to an hour late to the university. I was going to take the rental, but the tire sprung a leak and it was getting late already, so I thought I would just take the train. Clearly, that was a mistake because it’s been delayed due to a derailment. I’ll keep you updated. Whenever the train does make it to a station I’ll hop out and get a cab, which I should have done from the start. Sorry for any inconvenience this causes. Sincerely, SSA Aaron Hotchner F.B.I. Unit Chief Behavioral Analysis Unit, Quantico Virginia.”

With that, he sent the email and waited for a response. While he waited he pulled out his speaking notes and began reviewing them. He pulled out a pen making notes in the margins for his cadence and pauses. As confident as he was in the material he was covering, whenever he spoke to a large group of people who weren’t N.A.T. trainees, his nerves picked up. Therefore reviewing his presentation, he hoped would calm him. The minutes ticked by and Jonathan emailed him back saying that they would push back the lecture until he arrived and that he and the department understood that this wasn’t his fault.

A few minutes later the person standing in front of him took a phone call. He relegated the conversation to white noise as his attention turned back to the pages in his lap. However, when his name was mentioned his attention flicked back to the person standing in front of him. The person was turned away from him slightly so he couldn’t see their face. They had a f/c backpack on. She was wearing something formal and Aaron couldn’t help but notice that she was wearing an ankle brace and was highly favoring her other foot. After another minute the woman hung up and let out a sigh that was so quiet that he almost didn’t catch it. 

Aaron put his papers away in his notebook and stood tapping the woman on the shoulder. y/n turned to see who had tapped her shoulder and looked up for a moment. When her eyes met Aaron’s and recognized him they went wide for a second. After a moment of stunned silence, y/n said, “Mr. Hotchner?” Aaron smiled and said, “Present.” There was another moment of silence and he continued the conversation saying, “Sorry. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. I’m glad to hear that at least someone is excited for the talk that I’m supposed to be giving right now.”

After recovering from the shock of being in the same space as Agent Hotchner, y/n replied, “People have been talking about your lecture since the guest lecturers' names were announced at the beginning of the semester. I can’t believe you’re stuck in here too.” Aaron chuckled and said, “Yes, well I wasn’t anticipating such a long delay, or any delay.” Aaron extended his hand and said, “Sorry, I don’t know your name, and clearly you know who I am.”

y/n took his hand and shook it, saying, “y/n l/n, Sir.” Aaron nodded and replied, “It’s nice to meet you y/n, and please just call me Aaron.” He was about to say something but the train lurched forward momentarily and y/n grabbed for the railing, her face set in a grimace for a second as she placed her weight on her injured foot. The train stopped again after a few seconds and Aaron said, “y/n, would you like to take my seat? I noticed that maybe standing for long periods might not be a great idea for you.”

y/n flushed looking down at the ever-annoying boot on her foot. She tried to seem fine, not really wanting to seem weak in front of someone she had been inspired by for years. However, her leg was hurting her and Aaron had offered, so she begrudgingly switched places with the Hotch. Their arms brushed arms during the transfer. y/n felt a flutter run through her arm as their skin made contact. She sat down and set her backpack on the ground between her legs. She tried not to look at Aaron. The man was commanding, just standing in front of her. His tall height only added to the power she felt from her. Unlike her, who had been grabbing the extended handles for support, he easily rested his forearms on the metal bar running parallel along the train car. y/n was trying to find a place to look that wasn’t directly at Hotch. 

She looked back up at him when he called her name. “Sorry, what was that?” y/n internally berated herself for not noticing that he had addressed her. Hotch smiled with a humorous look in his eyes as if he knew he had this effect on people if he wanted to. Hotch repeated his question saying, “Do you go the the Boston U? What do you study.” y/n looked up to Hotch and replied, “Oh. Yes. I do.

I’m studying y/m with a minor in y/min because I can never make up my mind on what I want to do with my life. I’d like to think that I’m giving myself options, but really as a grad student, I’m just putting myself in debt.” y/n let out a nervous laugh at the absurdity of talking so casually to Aaron Hotchner. They shared a bit too casual banter as the train finally started moving again. The train stopped at Arlington station and the attendant stated over the PA, “Well folks, unless you want a long wait I’d recommend you get off here and find some alternative transportation to your final destination. Our sincerest apologies for the long delay. We hope you have a good rest of your evening.

There was a sigh of relief from those on the train when the doors opened. Aaron offered y/n a hand up. They made it up to the street and as Aaron flagged down a cab, y/n tried to think of a way to get the few blocks to campus. It was rush hour and she didn’t have the money for an Uber, or a cab. By this time Aaron had hailed a cab. He looked around to see if y/n was still around. He figured he might offer them a ride in the cab, after all the university would be paying for it.

He called y/n over saying, “Do you want to ride with me to campus. We’re both going to the same place, right?” y/n walked the short distance to him and asked, “You’re sure?” Hotch nodded and replied, “Of course.” He let her get in first and he told the cab where to drop them off. Hotch took a moment to email Jonathan to let him know that he was on his way pulled his notes back out and looked at them once more to steady his growing nerves. y/n checked her emails and answered a few from her students, as the cab zipped toward Boston University. Her attention was diverted to Aaron.

He was silently tapping his foot, causing his leg to minutely move up and down in his dark blue pants. After a few moments, Aaron felt her eyes on him and he stopped tapping his foot. He looked over to y/n but she turned her face just quickly enough for him to not catch her staring. This did not, however, stop him from observing the blush that bloomed from her cheeks. Thankfully the ride was short and they both got out. y/n led him to the main auditorium where he was speaking. It was the largest on campus.

When they approached the entrance, Aaron was met by Jonathan who quickly stepped forward and shook Aaron’s hand saying, “We’ve got a pretty big crowd still, so please forgive me if I seem to be rushing you. Let’’s get you inside and mic'd up. Jonathan kind of hustled Aaron toward a side door, but before he was swept out of sight, y/n said, “Thanks for the ride. Good luck.” Hotch nodded and said, as he was being led forward, “No problem. See you inside.” 

The inside of the auditorium was still almost filled to capacity. It was a stroke of luck that y/n found a seat in the T-zone with good visibility of the stage. Just as she sat down and began pulling out her notebook, the lights dimmed slightly as Jonathan stepped onto the and introduced Aaron. The lecture was detailed and held the attention of the audience the whole hour that Hotch spoke. He fielded a few questions after the talk and then said, “Due to the fact that I was an hour late to this lecture, my apologies for that by the way, I’m going to cut off the Q and A here. However, if you have questions or would like to speak to me, I’ll be at the front of the stage for a few minutes. Thank you everyone for coming.”

There was a loud round of applause as people in the audience got up and moved to the aisles and exits. y/n got into the line to speak to Aaron. It was about twenty minutes until she reached him. When he saw her, he flashed a smile and said, “Hey, y/n. So, how was it?” y/n laughed slightly and said, “It was incredible. It really was.” Hotch nodded and thought back to the two hours ago when they were on the train and she had first brought him up. He asked, “When we were on the train you said I was ‘a hero of yours.' Might I ask why? I’m rarely given that status if I’m being honest.”

y/n looked down to the wooden floor. She guessed that what she had said to her roommate might come up again and even though she had meant it, it was still a painful thing to think about. Now that she was standing in front of the man himself it felt trivial really. Aaron tilted his head and realized from y/n’s demeanor, that he might have touched on a sensitive topic. He shifted his weight slightly and said in a softer voice, “y/n, I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

y/n cleared her throat and looked back up to Aaron’s sympathetic gaze. She nodded but said, “It’s fine. I’ve, um, actually met you before. It was a long time ago when Gideon was the Unit Chief. My s/p was murdered in front of me and the team came out to my h/t. I was interviewed and everything, but you, you stopped and asked if I was okay. I’ve never forgotten that. In the hype of everything that was happening, I was just a teenager, but you saw me.” y/n’s eyes tried to blink back the tears that had formed in her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand.

Aaron bit the inside of his mouth as he looked over the young woman in front of him. He racked his brain for his past early cases, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t place her anywhere. He gently placed his hand on her arm and as she looked up at him, he said, “I’m so sorry. I don’t remember you. Thank you for telling me that.” y/n sniffled for a moment and replied, “I look a lot different from back then. I’m just glad that I got to tell you in person. You’ve helped a lot of people, not by just bringing criminals to justice, but by seeing people on the sidelines.” 

Aaron was touched by what y/n had said. Not that any of the others who had come before to tell him that he mattered, or that his work wasn’t important didn’t matter. But to have someone remember when he was green to the force. Before he was Unit Chief meant something to him. There was still a line behind y/n and he knew that Jonathan and some of the psychology and criminology professors were taking him out to dinner after this, but he didn’t want to let y/n go just yet.

His hand was still on her arm and he realized it had been there a bit too long. He removed it and said, “I have some things to attend to for an hour and a half or so, but would you like to get a drink later tonight. As long as it’s not distressing or painful for you, I’d like to remember you from that case.” y/n’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she stated, “That, that sounds lovely. I’d be happy to join you.” Aaron nodded and pulled out the generic business card he carried with him at all times. He flipped it over and wrote his cell number on the back. He handed the card to y/n and said, “Shoot me a text with your name and I’ll let you know when I” 'm free to meet. I look forward to it.” y/n flushed again. It seemed to be a theme of the evening as she said, “Okay. See you later.” 

y/n almost floated to her office in the _m’s/d_. In her office, she pulled out some grading she needed to do and sent her number to Hotch. A few minutes later he liked it to let her know that he he got her text. It seemed impossible that this was happening to her. In fact, the whole day seemed like a dream. However long it was before Aaron let her know that he was open to getting a drink, passed quickly and she thought that perhaps the man she had dreamed about for so many years wasn’t such a dream after all. Maybe he was just as great as she had imagined.

Text Break Banner by @cafekitsune

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[happysweetstuff]

ENTRY - 10/30/2024

(tw: sh,ed)

I finally used the gauze bandage I bought and took some from my mom's cabinet. I struggled to remove a makeshift bandage from my wound, using water to help. After cleaning the wounds with soap and water, I wrapped them with gauze and bandages. I wore my PE uniform instead of the proper one since I don’t have a spare. I hid the extra gauze, hoping my mom wouldn’t find it. When she called me for tea, I said I’d be late and explained why I was in my PE uniform.

7:40 a.m

I arrived at school confused by my busy classmates and checked my phone. I saw my advisor's message about wearing the proper uniform, but it was too late for me. I hadn’t checked my phone last night and missed a quiz reminder from my teacher, which panicked me. When the teacher came in and asked if we were ready, I thought, "Hell no!" She said the quiz would be easy, then returned with the test papers.

After taking the quiz, I'm pretty sure all of my answers were wrong, and to make sure, I went to check my notes, and yup, half or maybe even all of my answers were wrong, yay (⁠´⁠ε⁠｀⁠ ⁠) Oh, and there was also another teacher who went inside talking about something I don't remember because I didn't really listen. 

Second period started, and we had to change seats, which I dislike. Our teacher didn’t show up, so I checked my phone for any updates. She mentioned we should continue our performance task, writing a critique letter. Spoiler alert: I hadn’t started because I didn’t know how. I ended up watching TikTok instead. Then we had to change seats again for math in third period.

Our math professor came in and surprised us with a pre-test, which is basically a quiz that won’t affect our grades. I didn’t understand anything, it was all about business stuff that we hadn’t covered. I answered randomly, grateful for the multiple-choice options. We had to check our own papers, which seemed odd. I scored 11/25, which isn’t great, but at least it wasn't a zero. When the professor called out scores, I noticed he missed mine, so I told him. After he recorded my score, he left.

In fourth period, we had science, and since I was absent last week, our teacher gave us a recap on life. I took pictures to take notes later. My classmates were really annoying, asking childish and perverted questions. Just because the lesson was about life doesn’t mean it’s okay to be disrespectful to the teacher. Luckily, our teacher was laid-back and joked back, but if it were a stricter teacher, they’d be in big trouble. I just wish they’d keep those comments to themselves and talk about that stuff with friends, not in class.

Class ended, and while packing my bag, some classmates invited me to get requirements from our old school. I agreed, but we learned only one person needed to go, so I headed home instead. I ate while watching "Noli Me Tangere" on Netflix. I remembered my science teacher claimed that if someone doesn’t eat for over three days, they'll die, but I’ve fasted for four days before. To prove her wrong, I’m considering a longer fast to lose weight and might document it. I’ll keep you updated! ♡⁠(⁠>⁠ ⁠ਊ⁠ ⁠<⁠)⁠♡

I told my mom we’d wear Filipiniana outfits for a school event tomorrow, and she started getting ready. While I was watching a movie, she asked how many bracelets I made, and I initially thought she meant my scars, which surprised me when she touched my bracelets (⁠─⁠.⁠─⁠|⁠|⁠）After she went to get my outfit, I checked my phone and saw the event was canceled and moved to next week. My mom came back looking upset. The rented dress was cute, but I felt big in it after eating ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ I mentioned the cancellation, and she just said, "Okay."

My mom asked me to bake using the extra bananas we had before they rotted, so I rolled them up with Nutella in sliced bread and put them in the oven since we don’t have a microwave. I prefer the oven because it’s easier to clean. While waiting, I thought about buying tarot cards, though I don’t know much about them. I also checked out cosplays for Otakufest on January 18, 2025, which I’m excited for \⁠(⁠ϋ⁠)⁠/⁠♩ even if it’s still a while away. Once the banana Nutella rolls were done, my mom and I enjoyed them together.

At night, I went upstairs to write down my notes when my mom came in to say that only two baby hamsters were left, we started with six. Confused, I went downstairs and confirmed my mom's words. I suspected the mother hamster had eaten the other four (⁠・⁠o⁠・⁠) Using a plastic spoon, I checked to make sure they weren’t just hiding. I researched what to do and learned I should separate the mother, so I moved her to a different container. I also remembered I had taken some bandages from my mom's cabinet earlier. Thankfully, I finished my notes too.

[circledotdestroy]

Retrospective - Chapter 3: Square One

Pairing: Shouta Aizawa x F! Pro-Hero! Reader (slow burn)

Main Summary: After 12 years, you, Pro-Hero Strife, has to return to Japan. Your objective: discreetly track down and capture Akari Kaneko, a.k.a. Pro-Hero Aegis— your old classmate who attacked you during her visit in America. In the aftermath of All Might losing his power, however, using UA resources has its complications. The most unexpected complication being Aizawa, someone you never expected to see again. Why does your past have to come back to haunt you now? Masterlist First Chapter Last Chapter Word Count: 6,133

A/N: I'm back before a whole month passed! To celebrate, here's the chapter I spent those weeks revising. If you have any notes on how I did regarding the second portion in particular, I would appreciate it because it changed about 5 times. Anyway, it's A LOT of words so get comfy! I hope you enjoy the fic, and have a wonderful day.

All conflict is announced with lightning. Half your life was lightning rattling inside a box. Spine. Skull. Ribs. Fingers. The electricity, the HEAT craved consumption. All the things you were: fire, lighting, heat, raw energy– they were the visible manifestation of reactivity. 

Pointed gazes of your classmates charged you with the focus of a wall outlet. But you weren’t training right now. Homeroom finished seconds ago. You didn’t do anything–this time. No pre-battle taunts. No staring back. No staring at all, really. Akari missed out on today’s episode of “Strife’s Astute Observational Skills” because you had to pay attention to your homeroom teacher. 

Today was the day. You couldn’t misunderstand or forget a single word he said.

This moment was your career, your life. It was the CRUCIAL event of debuting your early hero career; and the whole world was going to see. 

So why was everyone staring at you? They should be concerned about their own strategy. Akari turned her chair to talk to you before the next class, but stopped to look at the students around the two of you. No one dared to whisper in the intense silence. You wondered if Akari felt the heat radiating through the room like you did. 

The tension got boring. When nothing happened right away, you picked up your bookbag to prepare for the next class. You flipped through the folders until you were interrupted by Akari tapping your desk rapidly for your attention.  Humming in acknowledgement, you grabbed the next folder and sat up. Aizawa was by your desk. You glanced at Akari, who gave you her look that said “I don’t know what’s going on”, then back at Aizawa. He looked down on you with unrivaled intensity. 

Aizawa, the boy with the rare ability to cancel other’s quirks with sight alone–what did he want from you? “I’m going to beat you in the Sports Festival,” he challenged you. It’s strange he felt the need to do that; whether coincidence or by design, he’s usually your opponent during training.

 Quirk-wise, he won the lottery. He was the most annoying person you’ve trained with in class. Not just because the teachers rarely let you go against anyone else. His quirk disregarded the prepwork you did before training to improve your quirk! Maybe YOUR physical training put you ahead of the game, but being paired with Aizawa all the time– and you mean ALL. THE. TIME–does nothing for you. It stalled your progress. It wasn’t fair. Everyone else gets to practice with their quirk, they get to have teachers give them pointers to improve their technique. But guess what? Most of these idiots can't punch correctly!

It’s clear the frustration wasn’t one-sided either. Aizawa never talked about it to you, or anyone in class, but before every challenge your spine sparked, after everything was done, his restless upset lingered. His combat was unpolished. Aizawa can take your strength away, but there’s only so much he can do against someone with years of formal training. 

UA doesn’t include non-quirk-based combat in the curriculum. Observing All Might’s fights told you that much. He relied on his strength and speed instead of any classic fighting style. You should’ve guessed UA didn’t cover brawling, but hey, no one’s perfect. 

Despite what other students have said, Aizawa wasn’t hopeless. In fights, he made plans in a snap and constantly tried new strategies to win. Going against him could be more interesting, if it wasn’t a frequent occurrence. Growing up in the hero industry, you had an eye for finding possibilities. Aizawa was a gem. In a world where anything is possible, he could dictate a fight’s terms. An advantage any agency would, and should, invest in. They’d be idiots if they didn’t.

Now though, he was here. Standing in front of you–with his little death glare. Challenging you to the event the whole grade is competing in by default. There was something about having the quietest boy in class show this much—what was it? His words were direct. He forced everyone’s attention on him and you, so contradictory to his usual self.

“Okay,” you shrugged. It wasn’t like you two weren’t competing for the top spot anyway.

“I’m serious.” 

You nodded, unsure why he was upset. You accepted his challenge, did he not hear you? You repeated yourself, “okay.”

Aizawa stayed at your desk. His bottom lip pushed out. Was he pouting? “Are you listening to me?” 

You shrugged lightly once more and turned your seat his way. “I said "okay ". Did you want something else from me?” An extra surge fizzled through your nerves. Aizawa’s eye twitched. He’s never done that before, you don’t think you’ve had ANYONE do that before. The closest thing was one of your dad’s coworkers–who’d twitch her lip when someone didn’t put the gym equipment away. 

“It’s unbelievable how you think you’re better than everyone. You’ve done nothing to earn it.” 

‘Done nothing?’

You pushed yourself up from your chair. ‘Done NOTHING.’

The hell does he mean “done nothing”?

You’ve gone above and beyond your whole damn life, but you’ve “done nothing”. In a room full of idiots who have NO fighting technique outside their quirk, YOU’RE the one who’d done nothing? 

You scoffed. “I have earned it.” The lightning bolt rattled inside the box looking for how it could run free. Closing the remaining distance, you became aware of how short Aizawa was compared to all the other boys in class. He didn’t move. You leaned closer and squinted at Aizawa’s face. Short and had a baby face to match. It’s like he came straight out of middle school. 

Normally standing this close caused most people to become uncomfortable. They’d look away or step back, but Aizawa didn’t break his gaze. He hasn’t once during this whole time. Didn’t he think you were a threat? The lightning bolt knocked against the box again. Why not nudge it open for a little while? Just enough for the boy in front of you. 

“Aizawa, last year I was accepted in a hero course in America. This year I was accepted into UA. Both times other students only thought about how ‘cool’ their quirk was, but people who only rely on quirks are lazy and become useless in the field. If you don’t learn other things, you’re an idiot.”  After years of training, and practice, and studying. After years of fighting to improve. There was no way in hell idiots should get a gold star because of their quirk. THAT would be doing “nothing”. He of all people should know better.

Staring inky droplets, you waited for his response. In seconds, his eyes widened and started to dart around the room. His breathing became shallow, increasing in speed. This part didn’t happen this quickly, then again, targets usually aren’t face-to-face with you. There was all this room between the desks for him to move away, but he didn’t. Aizawa was petrified.

Something gnawed in your stomach. Telling you it was a mistake, to let it go. Reminding you to not get caught. You shut the lid once more. You’ve scared him enough. Standing upright, you gave him a better chance to speak up. Something to back the big talk from earlier. 

Nothing.

You backed off from him, disappointment and restlessness swirled inside you. “I accepted your challenge. Practice your combat and don’t make us look bad, okay?” 

Aizawa responded in silence. Whatever he had when he first walked up to you was absent. He sulked to his seat, scowling when both your eyes met. You sat in your chair first, watching as he did the same.

The audience grumbled disappointed the show was over. They broke off into their own chatter about the Sports Festival. You looked ahead, rolling your eyes flippantly at Akari. She chuckled as she dug through her book bag in front of you for one of her notebooks. Any conversation had to wait. The next teacher should show up soon.

“Good morning, everyone,” a tired voice announced at the door. You turned from the back of the room, then trailed up, and up, and up the body of a frightfully thin man, slouching with a broken arm. Despite your own physical state, if you didn’t watch where you were walking you could send him flying into a table. He was a neon sign reminding you to stand tall and keep your shoulders back. In the heavy armor you wore, it’ll make you look stronger than you feel. Just like in those old All Might specials you watched when you were younger, “stand tall, keep your chin high, and show confidence.” The man, easily over seven-foot, paused in place, acknowledging you. Your hand rose from your side to wave–but, this was supposed to be a professional meeting. Wouldn’t a head bow be the polite thing to do?

Before you could do so, he spoke. “Hello, are you here for the meeting too?” 

“Yes.”

Mic stepped ahead. “All Might,” your eyes shifted back to the tall man. Crap, that’s All Might? Why is All Might here? “This is my old friend, Miss America, the Queen of Terror, and your Number 1 Fan in middle school–” your head snapped back toward your friend as he rushed that last statement and finished introducing you. “Strife, this is All Might, you know him already.”

All Might continued to smile, extending his unbroken hand for you to shake. You did, not having the heart to say Mic was exaggerating about your fan status. Yeah, you liked All Might, most people do. However, being his “number 1 fan in middle school” meant studying his fights when they came on your radar. Watching interviews to practice your Japanese. Not buying merchandise and knowing every detail about him. The only merch you’ve had for him was maybe two t-shirts gifted to you by one of your instructors growing up. In spite of still liking All Might as an adult, you’ve since come to the conclusion you’d never actually want to meet him in-person. 

“What part of America are you from,” All Might asked in english.

You took your hand back, not expecting him to continue with his own conversation. “I moved around a lot, so almost everywhere?” Switching back to english-mode was easier than stumbling through casual Japanese. All Might must’ve sensed it somehow and decided to save himself the headache.  

“Even in California?”

“Mostly for work, but I know Los Angeles loves you.” If you pulled up the news feed in America, there’d be several articles about LA’s celebration of All Might’s last fight. You couldn’t imagine being in his place– forced into retirement. Reminding him about the love he has back in the States would be a nice gesture, you thought.

“That’s good to know,” he responded. The man standing before you didn’t look like the hero you remembered, but his voice held sincerity. You understand why people were at ease around him.

Y’know, Strife went to school here because of you. She was in the same class as Aizawa and I,” Mic said, also in english 

“Really,” All Might was taken aback. Whether it was because he forgot popular heroes tend to inspire people to go to certain schools or because of Mic’s general behavior, you weren’t too sure. Mic did say you should work here. It’s like he wanted to introduce you to as much staff as possible, including the hero who inspired you to go to a different country, so you’ll be convinced to stay here. ”How’d you like it?”

Memories snapped together in your brain. A blinding window in the principal’s office. Piles of rubble you dug through. A pro chasing you in the woods— Hizashi started to fidget and laugh beside you nervously. Not the best things to remember about your school. You gave the white walls of the room a once over. Black fabric held your attention. ‘Training was fun.’ Eating on the roof was great—when you got over how tall the school building was. Getting your hero license was still one of the best days of your life. Just when you started thinking of the good times, a man–wearing a uniform similar to your old one, came into the room. He did a double-take, his eyes hardened into a glare, his underbite became more pronounced. Eyes burned into your back. When you glanced behind you, Aizawa already looked away. “I learned a lot,” you said making eye contact with All Might.

This guy with the underbite didn’t say a word as he walked behind All Might. He watched you as he lumbered to his chair at the center table of the ‘U’ formation—between Snipe and Aizawa. Aizawa glanced up from the folders to the other man. The man with the underbite nodded to him. Were they colleagues for a long time? Were they friends? 

Shaking the thought, you refreshed your smile toward All Might. It wasn’t a difficult thing to do considering who he is. “It was definitely… an experience,” you chuckled.  

“I’m sure we can talk about specifics during another time,” Mic jumped in. He’d have more stories to share than you would, and he’d relish the opportunity. It was for the best. What you remembered from high school was limited. Since graduation, a lot happened. There was always something. It didn’t help that your memories were typically sinkholes. It was usually up to your conversations with Hizashi and Nemuri to fill in the blanks when it came to your teenage years and some of your early twenties. 

“I’m sure it’ll be fun,” said All Might. He wished you luck in the meeting before he went to his seat at Midnight’s table. With the arrival of underbite guy, the entire roster showed up. The principal walked to the front of the room as Mic shook your shoulder for luck and went to his own seat by Aizawa. Aizawa stacked the folders and pushed them to the edge of his table, closer to the man with the underbite.

Underbite man continued sizing you up.  Aizawa stared you down as well. You widened your stance, daring either of them to speak, but nothing came. The men shifted their attention to their boss.

Pain and hunger paused as the meeting rapidly approached.

 What would Aizawa have in those folders, you wondered. He was reading those in the hallway and he went into the meeting room after the principal. Did Nezu know what was inside? Was it something Aizawa had against you? If you went over there, you could swipe one and see what he has; but it’s too late.

Nezu’s in front of the room. “I want to thank you all for taking the time, early this morning, to have this meeting—” No plan that involved getting close to Aizawa would work now. If you planned ahead, you could’ve done something in the hallway. Aizawa’s attention left Nezu and went to you. Frantically, you darted your eyes to the back corner of the other side of the room. Yes, because that doesn’t look suspicious at all.  “–current events and the changes in the school’s security, I want the decision to be made by you, my most trusted staff.” Aizawa totally noticed you staring at his folder! “I know the six of you will make a fair decision.” 

Like hell this was going to be fair, you thought. Aizawa has a folder with—

‘With what, exactly,’ you questioned. ‘What evidence could Aizawa physically have against you?’ 

Your breathing slowed and the walls of the room collapsed away into void. Hizashi and Nemuri are here. You met All Might and it was ok, in spite of any reservations you had. You were being ridiculous. 

Right?

Any dirt Aizawa had on you would show dirt on his own hands. If he wanted you gone, he’d have to rely on present examples or poke through your arguments. So far he had access to neither. Apart from that, you’ve been to countless meetings.

 “Strife,” Principal Nezu said. 

The walls reformed around you as you acknowledged him. Heat pooled behind your neck as you looked at the people that will decide your luck on the investigation.  “You have the floor.” The principal walked to his seat, by the edge of Nemuri’s table, where a notepad was set. Mic gave you a small thumbs up with the hand that rested by the edge of his table. You nodded, doing a discreet thumbs up of your own with your left hand to your thigh. 

 You grinned politely, making sure to thank the principal for the introduction. Showing you have good manners could sway the faculty by showing you weren’t a horrible dungeon troll. “And thank you all for your time, as well. As said before, I’m Pro-Hero Strife. I’m in Japan for a mission. I understand UA had some challenges in these past months and now is a critical time. With this in mind, I want to do my mission quietly. If you would do the favor of allowing me to do research here, I'd appreciate it greatly.” You made sure to look at everyone in the room, even at the two scowling men.

Aizawa had his arms crossed, unconvinced of the introduction you pulled out of your ass. Because, of course, he’d remember you are a horrible dungeon troll. You’re ready for him to speak out, but his partner took initiative.

“It’d be easier to make a decision if we got more details for your mission.” Underbite guy’s demanding tone almost made you break character. No objections came as to how the guy spoke to you. Of course, he couldn’t be the silent, suspicious type. Someone here had to be the ‘brash’ one, just like your ex-boss from the old agency. 

You continued to smile like you were taught. “That’s fair,” the arrangement looked riskier on their end. They couldn’t accept the agreement blindly. Sharing a few details could win their trust. “I’m looking for someone. A Pro-Hero by the name “Aegis”, her legal name is Kaneko Akari.”

“KANEKO?” You flinched at Mic’s outburst. Eyes bounced to him as the sunglasses hung from his face and his jaw hit the floor. You forgot about how over the top his reactions were in-person. “This meeting’s about HER?” 

Question marks filled the room. Aizawa continued his cold stare. The other guy held skepticism in his features. Particularly in the way he furrowed his brow as shown by the curves on his mask. Now that you really looked at it, an orange mask was such an odd choice for his uniform! His outfit is red, black and white, making the orange way too much. Maybe if he wore a visor instead it would add more variety in the texture and have a practical use—

Poor design choices aside– not preparing Mic ahead of time deducted points from your favor— you had to focus! You didn’t know if the staff knew Mic set this meeting in motion for you. But his reaction says you told him something and didn’t bother with full details. It makes both of you look bad. There’s no spinning this observation without pinning the blame on Mic. You’ll just have to take the hit and see if you can make up for it somewhere else.

“That name sounds familiar, " Midnight commented with slightly furrowed brows. Those words made you ready to jump. If Mic’s shock wasn’t a reflection of what you didn’t tell him, you can correct this misstep. Like if there was information, the type the media hasn’t released yet. “Wasn’t she in your class?” 

Disappointment washed over you. If she wasn’t told anything confidential, then there was no news. You shouldn’t be surprised Midnight didn’t know much about Aegis. In school, Nemuri met Akari once, off the top of your head. They didn’t interact after. After all, Akari was shy, Nemuri was… not.  

“Yeah, she was.” Mic answered as you swallowed your disappointment.  “Aegis has been ranking higher on the popularity polls for the past few years. Unexpected, considering her whole brand revolves around her fights. She doesn’t do much press events or interviews. Other than that, she’s a complete hermit!” Mic swung his arms out, nearly decking Aizawa, and leaned into his chair, making it drift backward. Aizawa scowled at him. “What do you need with that weirdo anyway,” he asked, pulling himself back to the table. 

Unlike when you spoke to him in the hallway, you took a moment to think about what to say exactly. Irritation was weaved throughout his response. Whether he was upset with you, or if he was annoyed at the mention of Akari was unclear. But you knew when this was over, no matter the result, he’d tell you everything.

You staggered for words, but only found broken porcelain and glass. A sickening crack. High pitched shattering then soft thumps of the pieces hitting the ground like rain. The blood oozed from Akari’s mouth as she left you with a cryptic message. One you weren’t sure you translated right when you were actively bleeding onto the carpet. “Kaneko got into trouble while she was in the States. The current charges include: multiple counts of vandalism, aggravated assault, breaking and entering, and arson. I have to find her and bring her back.” You’d never admit this outloud, but you were surprised you remembered how to say all those crimes as well as you did. Meanwhile, the teachers picture-posed like mannequins. Principal Nezu held his pen against the paper for a moment, then scribbled ferociously. 

“Those are serious accusations,” Snipe said. “Are you sure she did all this?”

“Yes.” You strolled over to your briefcase, bracing to pick it up “normally”. Your jaw clenched until your face was in the faculty’s view again. You stood with it by Mic offering a quick “excuse me”. He responded by gesturing ‘go ahead’. Setting the briefcase onto the table, you pulled one of the five disks out, along with a tiny remote, before shutting and shoving it under the table.

 “There are pictures of Aegis entering and leaving the location.” Going back to the center of the room you held the button on the disk. When it blinked blue, you dropped it while pressing the remote’s top button for the hologram to appear. When you pressed the next button, four images of Akari post-fight walking away from the hotel room, labeled and dated, alongside an image of her in uniform taken from a news article. The faculty reacted accordingly. The only exasperation you processed was “it’s really Kaneko” from the table behind you. In the top right picture, Akari held her overnight bag close to her body like she would a shield. Right arm going across to help her carry the weight from the camera’s point of view. 

You pressed the button again to transition to the next set of images. The hotel room. Two beds, one with a busted frame. A shattered window. Glass. Porcelain. Splinters. Splashed all over the floor like water. Then the splatters of dried blood in more places than you remembered.

“This is where the assault took place,” All Might asked in awe of the destruction. 

You confirmed, glass shattering in the back of your mind.

“It’s hard to believe a hero would go to another country to swap sides,” commented Snipe.

“Aegis isn’t being charged as a villain,” you corrected. “There’s no evidence she used her quirk, these are criminal charges.”

“These claims can cost a Pro their career without proper evidence.” Underbite responded. You didn’t like the way he said it. It wasn’t an exasperated comment, made in the shock of a Pro Hero throwing their like away overseas. The way it sounds, and the way he was looking at you as he said it, it sounded like an accusation. 

He didn’t believe you.

“With her rise in popularity, there’ll be an uproar regardless if the charges are made public. Especially now with the current condition of hero society,” All Might’s words drifted off. His hand met his chin. Pondering about the power vacuum his retirement is leaving behind, no doubt. If not, then he’s thinking of the scrutiny UA has been facing due to the villain attacks. Based on what Akari had brought up with that so-called “Hero Killer”, there’s been discourse on the idea of a “true hero” these past couple months. Combining all three concepts together painted an ugly picture explaining why you go to Japan’s Hero Commision. Who knows what they’d do with the current facts of this case if they find out.

“Popularity be damned! A criminal’s a criminal, a crime's a crime,” Mic bursted out. “That’s clearly Aegis, let’s just let Strife investigate here already!”

“It’s not that simple, Mic,” Midnight countered. “Even if there is evidence Aegis committed those crimes, that’s not the topic of the meeting. We need to think of the students before we let any hero investigate on school grounds. Think about it, there’s a reason why we don’t bring our investigations here as teachers.”

“Confidentiality is a big one. At least with the hero-side of our profession,” Snipe added. “On the teacher-side—even if there isn’t a rule against it, having a student see our cases runs the risk of them telling others, making them panic. Strife being here solely for an investigation does the same thing.” He had a point, you wouldn’t be confined to the school’s basement if they let you research here. The investigation required you to come in and out of the building to follow leads. With hundreds of students in the same area, they’re bound to notice you around. “Tensions are high with the students as it is.” 

But you could be careful–

“They’ll know she doesn’t belong here in seconds,” the soon-to-be world's third most grating voice reached your ears. 

Your eyes whipped to Midnight’s side of the room and looked at the wall behind her and Nezu. ‘Deep breaths,’ you told yourself. If you made eye contact with Underbite now, end badly. For you. ‘Deep. Breaths.’ The Principal didn’t look up from his notes, Midnight had her head cocked toward the center table with narrowed eyes. 

“C’mon, Vlad, give her credit! Strife graduated here, she’s a Pro, and she can keep a mission on the DL,” Mic argued coolly. 

“Of course, you would say that. You were in her corner before you knew why she was here. This is a critical time, do we really need anyone bringing more problems around this school?”

‘Breathe in. Breathe out.’

“Alright, let’s calm down,” All Might spoke up. His calm voice relaxed you enough to stop your inner commands. “Who’s to say it’ll cause problems? We don’t know what her investigation looks like yet.” All Might ended his statement looking at you.

You bowed your head ready to grab his gift, this opportunity he gave you, and run. “Outside myself, she had no contact with anyone in the States. On the first day of her disappearance, no one in the agency could find her. One of my coworkers found the postcard she left behind implied she was heading here. She doesn’t have contact with anyone in the States, but me. Japan is different. I need to learn about the people Aegis talks to regularly. Mic said she didn’t do interviews often, meaning I must look deeper. I know UA has records of Alumni, I think those records will be the most helpful.”

“Right.” You roll your eyes, ‘what now,’ you thought. So far, he was a mix between your old boss, the Medic, and your blank-eyed homeroom teacher with the way he’s testing your patience. We’re just going to hand over confidential files because you say so?”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Vlad,”  Mic asked, getting equally annoyed as you. Even Aizawa’s side-eyeing him for being as subtle as a freight train.

“I mean ‘I don’t trust this woman’,” Vlad responded. He gestured toward your direction. “For all we know, this is an old crime scene!”

“What are you talking about,” Mic asked.

Vlad pointed at you. “This woman has no business being around our students!”

“Excuse me,” you said without thinking. 

“Don’t act innocent. I know you have a history of manipulating people,” Vlad argued. He was the one starting problems! You wanted to argue back, but the principal was watching. Holding your tongue you glance around the room. You paused looking at the folders on Aizawa’s table. Aizawa watched you while Vlad accused you. Despite his insistence of knowing why you were here, he hasn’t said a thing since the meeting started. It was Vlad. They nodded to each other when they saw each other– Vlad knew what was inside those folders.

What the hell did Aizawa have on you?

An aggravated sigh left Aizawa. He rolled his chair back toward the wall as Mic and Vlad argued. It was the type of sigh you would let out when a new grad didn’t know a proper fighting stance—one that didn’t get them punched in the face. You clenched your left hand, ready to fight back against anything Aizawa had to say. He looked at the two men. “You need to calm down.” He turned to an irritated Vlad, who was as shocked as you were right now. “This is about the camp incident?” 

Vlad cocked his head at Aizawa— like he was asking the same thing you were. What does the villain attack have to do with this? 

“Our teachers resolved that years ago.” You took a step back. He wasn’t talking about the villain attack. But what did he mean by ‘our teachers’, Vlad wasn’t a student here. “Everyone panicked because a pro hero had unchecked anger issues and shouldn’t have been left alone with the students. The teachers at the time said everyone overreacted because of the heat,” Aizawa explained; he used the same rehearsed story. “It was fifteen years ago, we all moved on.” 

But why?

Vlad squinted at him in disbelief. “And what about the fights?” Red alarm lights went off. No one outside the school was supposed to know about those. Vlad was a student here!

“Fights?” Aizawa’s brows furrowed. He turned to Midnight, who looked down tracing her nail along the table’s surface. Then at Mic, who took to inspecting your briefcase underneath the table for quality.  

“We resolved those as well,” Principal Nezu declared. Tension left your shoulders thinking about the office window. How the setting sun shone through your eyelids as you stared below the desk, picking at a loose string that used to hold a gold button in place. The only memory you have of that day was when he said: ‘This is the last chance I’m giving you, you must make better decisions.’ “Vlad, if you have a relevant point, say it before we move on.”

 Vlad took a deep breath of his own. “I’m sorry for getting worked up, Nezu,” he sat down. You rolled your eyes, noting how he didn’t apologize for his behavior toward you. “I wanted to point this out as a pattern of behavior. Aizawa said the Pro Hero who watched over us had no reason being around students. I’m saying the same thing about Strife.”

“You’re entitled to your opinion, but Strife’s conduct during this meeting has been stellar. She had more patience than even I thought possible.” Nezu’s words made your head spin. You wanted to accept the compliment, but what did he expect you to act like? Did he think you'd punch Vlad in the neck? C’mon, you were a crappy teenager, but you wouldn’t have done that!

Vlad’s face scrunched up. He wanted to argue, but was holding back. Acting hostile toward you, whether it was his intent or not, worked in your favor. If he didn’t want you to stick around, he couldn’t rely on the past. To everyone else, anything you did prior to graduation was a long-rusted hatchet.

Nezu asked if anyone had any other concerns before getting on with the meeting. The teachers looked amongst themselves, a few shaking their heads.

“I do.” Aizawa’s eyes pierced through you expectantly as he leaned closer to the table. The last thing you said to him during your little reunion. You were supposed to tell him why you’re here, and he’s not satisfied. There’s no walking away this time.

He did you a favor, it’s your turn to pay up.

“How did you get this case?”

 “Kaneko visited me at my agency out of nowhere. I was working on a mission with a team when she arrived. She saw the agency was behind, crime has been getting worse these past few months, and she offered her help. The boss approved and she was added on to the mission. When we were done, we went to a hotel and this happened,” you gestured at the holographic images of the disaster zone. “I don’t know why she did this, but I know this wasn’t planned.”

“How,” asked Aizawa, still not pleased.

“She committed her crimes before she got paid. Boss told her she’d get the check the day after the mission finished because the money needed to be decided.” She hit you in the back of your head while you were looking for the commission paper. The mission was difficult. No smart or sane person would do it for free. “I have to find her– if Kaneko committed these crimes on her own, she has to pay.” 

“You have a personal stake in this,” All Might realized.  

You sighed looking at your boots. You knew this would come up. “If I said I didn’t, it’d be a lie. Kaneko showed up, I invited her in, and now I have to fix the problem. Without the history, in my agency I’m the only hero qualified to come here and bring her back. The Boss said my background made me the best option.”

“In the hallway, you said that your investigation should take less than two weeks,” Midnight said, lacing her fingers together on the desk. “During that time, the only students that must be in the school are in the first year hero course.”

“We already said, she can’t go in and out of campus without suspicion. How do you think that’s going to work with the first years after a villain attack,” Vlad asked. Midnight fumed in response, making him back off. 

Before you could respond, Aizawa spoke up. “What he means to say is our classes are training to get their hero licenses soon. They need to focus. If you’re around with no explanation, you’ll be a distraction.”

The cogs turned in their place as you realized who you were speaking to right now. Your smile came back. “That’s right, Mic told me about that!” If all you needed was an explanation… the deal wrote itself. If Aizawa wanted you gone before, you had to give him something to reconsider. “I could help with the exam.”

“Is that so,” asked the Principal.

“I’ve judged sixteen American licensing exams and I’ve mentored younger heroes at my agency. Mic said I was qualified to work here.” Mic agreed enthusiastically, Midnight doubled-down on the notion saying she could verify the information. Most importantly, what you said captured Aizawa’s attention.

“And you have time to do this during your investigation?” Nezu asked. 

“I’ll make time.” Nezu seemed pleased with the answer and he started writing something in his notepad. That’s when you remembered what he said earlier. The principal wasn’t making the final decision. You sauntered closer to the homeroom teachers. “Eraser, we were in the same class. You know I do great work. I’m sure you’re doing fine on your own, but if you let me do my research here, your students will excel in the exams. I’ll make sure of it.”

Aizawa considered your offer. Regardless of whatever you two had, you two will never be friends like you used to. Both of you destroyed that bridge and the foundation withered to dust. It didn’t matter if you two hated each other now or not. You could be professional. You could play nice. Sentiment would never work on him. Eraser Head needed a logical choice.

“Fine with me,” Eraser huffed. 

The grin on your face got bigger. 

Behind you the Principal asks for Vlad’s opinion. “If Aizawa wants Strife as an advisor that’s on him, but I'll stand by what I said earlier. If I’m not around, I don’t want her around my students.” You knew that was coming, but he didn’t matter. Soon after he spoke, the teachers put your investigation’s approval to a vote. When the result was clear Nezu spoke up. “Well then, it looks like Strife’s first day as Provisional License Advisor starts today.”

Taglist:

@lonelyghosts-stuff

[kuichihimei]

“Valentine's Day

We decided we would do the whole damn thing

But I played to an empty gym in Iowa State

I guess I owe you that too...”

0:41───•─────── 04:46

             ↻      ◁ II ▷     ↺

Looking back, freshman year was one hell of a ride, considering the frequent monster attacks and killer robots that terrorize Norrisville High.

Sophomore year is no different.

Killer robots still attack the school like, every other week, compared to every other day, and while yes, Randy DID get rid of the Sorcerer for good, there's still the Sorceress running about wreaking havoc around Norrisville.

The Sorcereress, better known for her human disguise as Amanda Levay, still manages to blend in with the crowd, despite almost every student in Norrisville High knowing who she truly is and what she's done.

We don't know much about her just yet, but based on the monsters Randy had to fight these past few weeks, she primarily targets female victims.

There's also been a spike in the amount of stanked kids during the weeks leading to February 14, and when Feb 14 rolled around, multiple people were getting stanked left and right, which lasted all morning long.

The teachers had to cancel our morning classes and made us evacuate the school so the Ninja could fight the monsters properly and we wouldn't get hurt.

Then, during the afternoon, when it all quieted down, Randy was nowhere to be found.

I tried asking Howard, and he said something along the lines of how the Ninja found the Sorcereress' lair, it was underneath the school in the old abandoned gym, and that he might not be able to make it in time for Valentine's Day since he had to destroy the Sorcereress for good while she was still close by, and that he'll make it up to me next year, along with a bunch of apologies that were conveniently recorded inside a tape recorder so Howard didn't have to recite it all.

After receiving the news, I thanked Howard and walked myself to Mr. Bannister's class, hoping that I could bury my disappointment in schoolwork.

It didn't help that the seatwork he made us do was write an essay about someone/something we love and why we love them so much.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching couples in our school being all lovey-dovey with each other. Heck, you could even say I got jealous of Mrs. Driscoll, atleast she had her husband's skeleton to accompany her on Valentine's Day.

By the time the last bell rang and school was over I was all alone... I couldn't even have a Galentine's with Heidi or Debbie! Heidi had a date and Debbie was busy hosting a couple's event for Valentine's Day for the NHGTTWDPC online edition.

It's safe to say I was quite disappointed... And I felt really pathetic too, since I had a boyfriend, but was celebrating Feb 14 all alone...

I felt like I was on the verge of getting stanked myself, maybe then I could spend time with Randy... Sighing, I sat down on the very same I spot that I sat on during New Year's Eve.

Of all the days the Ninja could've had a fully-booked schedule, it just had to be on Valentines Day... Not to mention this was also supposed to be our very FIRST Valentine's Day together as a couple...

Don't get me wrong, I find it a HUGE honor that I am dating the Ninja, and an even bigger honor that he trusts me enough to reveal his secret identity to me. I just feel a little dejected whenever he misses out on a major event that we should be experiencing together during the course of our budding relationship.

The time was 4:53 in the afternoon, everyone (atleast those who had a date), already left the school about half an hour ago. If Randy didn't show up within the next 15 minutes, I was going home.

5 Minutes Pass... No signs of Randy...

‘I'm sure he'll show up soon...’

10 Minutes Pass... Still no signs of Randy.

‘Maybe I should wait a little longer, he's probably wrapping up the fight right now.’

25 MINUTES PASS! AND THERE IS NOT A SINGLE SIGN OF RANDALL HONKING CUNNINGHAM OR THE NINJA ANYWHERE!!!

THE SUN IS ABOUT TO FRIGGIN' SET AND HE'S NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! THAT'S IT I AM GOING HOME! Standing up, I marched towards the nearest bus stop.

Fortunately for me, there was already a bus nearby so I immediately got a ride home.

When I got to my house, I locked myself in my room, bawled my eyes out and went to bed, even though it was only 6:03 in the afternoon. I just wanted Valentine's Day to end at this point, I'm just done with everything today.

Meanwhile somewhere else in Norrisville:

“What do you mean you're all out⁈” An exasperated Randy yells.

“Sorry kid, but I can't help you. All of my flowers have been sold out this morning, it's Valentine's Day after all...”

“It's fine sir, thanks anyways...” The younger boy turns, walking away, feeling defeated.

All of the sudden a young girl who looks about six approaches him.

“Did you find anything?”

“Nothing... Chocolates, flowers, not even a honkin' stuffed animal, it's all sold out...”

“Well, we can still steal some Tulips from the park if you're that desperate...”

“Aira, I won't steal Tulips from the park, and neither of our parents taught us to steal— Who taught you that?”

“Well, you want to make it up to Ate 'Reese right? And she also likes Tulips right?”

“But still— Oh who am I kidding, let's go.”

“Ha—”

“But stealing is still wrong, don't get used to it. You can't always steal the things that you want, ok?”

“Ok Kuya!”

Fast forward almost 5 hours later, the time was 10:13 at night and the ninja could be seen outside the Fowler household watching from a tree.

Everyone in the neighborhood was fast asleep, which meant Randy couldn't call Theresa from her front yard, since he might wake up the whole household if he did so, he couldn't call her from the backyard either since... That's where they kept their chicken coops...

He was pinned between two bad options:

Wait it out 'til tomorrow so he could give her the flowers, but miss Valentine's Day and face a disappointed Theresa, or try entering her room through the window as the Ninja, so he could give her the flowers and she could be happy and have a gift for Valentine's Day, but face the consequences of being seen as a creep since y'know, he's breaking into her room through the honkin' window!

‘Was this what the Nomicon meant about choosing between the greater good and the lesser evil?’

After some careful consideration, he chooses the latter of the two options, which was to break in. He didn't want to disappoint Theresa more than he already did today, this was his chance to try and make it up to her.

This was one of those go big or go home moments. One slip-up, and it might be over  for the both of them.

The plan was simple: try to enter the window that was facing the tree in her backyard, fiddle with the lock, place the flowers on her nightstand and leave, simple right?

‘What could possibly go wrong?’

Everything. Everything went wrong from the get-go. The moment he lost his footing on the ledge of her window and fell into one of her family's chicken coops, was the moment he knew, he was done for.

Theresa was woken up by a loud thud, she immediately went to open her window to see what was going on. She was quite shocked to see her boyfriend all suited-up and highkey panicking at all the chickens that were waking up and surrounding him.

“Randy! What the juice are you doing here⁈” Theresa whisper-yelled from the second floor.

“H-hey Theresa! Nothing, just passing by!” Randy replies, trying to play it cool, even though he was about to pass out from all the chickens that were surrounding him.

“It looks like you can't move, did you hurt yourself?”

“No, I didn't!”

“Wait— Are you afraid of the chickens?”

“Wh-what?”

“I said, are you afraid of the chickens? Because Aira told me you had a fear of them when I babysat her last week.”

“Well that little—”

“Hang in there, I'll come and get you!”

Theresa went downstairs and came into the backyard, she threw some corn kernels to divert the chickens away from her boyfriend, who was shaking like a pair of maracas.

“Thanks for saving me 'Reese, I owe you big time, again...”

“Why are you here Randall?” Theresa asked, helping him up.

“I uh— I wanted to—”

“Actually, save it for later, come inside, you must be exhausted. Don't worry, Howard told me everything.”

“Uh, won't your parents/brothers mind?”

“Well you can stay in my room, we just have to be sneaky about iiiiiiiiii—” Theresa's mind went blank for a second.‘Oh shoot— Guy, guy in my room. I AM LITERALY INVITING A GUY INTO MY ROOM!’

‘Girl, room, sneak— A GIRL WANTS TO SNEAK ME INTO HER ROOM?! IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING I—’

Cue internal screaming from the both of them.

After that predicament was quickly settled, Theresa led a now de-suited Randy upstairs to her room and gave him a bowl of instant noodles and a spork.

“Look, I know it ain't much, but I have a feeling you've most likely never ate anything since this morning. I didn't even see you during lunch.”

“Thanks for the noodles 'Reese, I really appreciate it.” Randy said, before slurping the noodles.

“Why did you come here this late? It's like, 10:54 at night!”

“Wait, hold on—” Swallowing the noodles, before answering. “I wanted to give you this.” As Randy presents a small bouquet of pink and yellow Tulips, handing it to Theresa.

“I know, it's not much either, you won't believe how we got that bouquet.” Taking another gulp of broth. “Aira suggested we should steal it at first and I was like— bla blah bla blah...” Randy continues to blabber on and on, while Theresa spaces out after receiving the gift.

‘He didn't forget about you. He even got you the same flowers he used to de-stank you back in freshman year, how sweet...’

“Theresa? You okay?”

“Yeah... I'm great. Thanks for the gift Randy...”

“Well I'm glad you like it 'Reese! Happy Valentine's Day!” Randy said with a smile on his face.

“Happy Valentine's Day too, Randy...” Theresa smiles back.

“Where's your kitchen by the way? So I can wash the bowl and spork in the sink.”

“No need for any of that, you can just leave it here!”

“Really? Here? It's kinda rude if I leave the bowl lying around. Are you sure? It's just one bowl, I can wash it.”

“It's ok, you can leave it here, and like you've said it's just one bowl...”

“Okay then... Well, I've gotta go now! It's getting late and we have school tomorrow.” Randy said, placing the bowl on the nightstand and heading towards the window.

“Wait— Before you go, did you manage catch the Sorceress?”

He comes to a halt. “No, I didn't catch her. She wasn't even in the old abandoned gym... I got baited...”

“Oh...”

“Yeah, I'm sorry Theresa, I missed Valentine's Day and didn't even catch the Sorceress...”

“It's ok Randy, I understand, but you didn't miss Valentine's Day! Atleast you still tried to make it, most guys just give up at this point!”

“But still, I feel really stupid for not choosing to spend time with you today. I'm really sorry for that, I'll make it up to you next year, I promise.” He was startled when Theresa hugged him all of the sudden.

“Like I said, it's OK. I understand.”

“I'm still very new to this whole boyfriend thing... I'm sorry if I'm doing anything wrong...” Hugging her back.

“It's ok, you're doing your best and that's enough... I'm pretty new to this girlfriend ordeal as well.”

They were hugging for like, 2 minutes until Theresa lets go.

“It's really late, you should get going.”

“Oh yeah, What time is it by the way?”

“11:23 p.m.”

“Yup, I am definitely gonna sleep through first period tomorrow, I've gotta go!”

“Ok Randy, take care!”

“See ya at school tomorrow 'Reese! Goodnight, I love you!” Bidding his girlfriend goodbye while jumping out of the window mid-transformation.

“I love you too Randy, Goodnight!”

What a nice evening... If only Randy knew the Sorceress was under his nose the whole time...

❈ Sidenote: Ate and Kuya are used by younger children to refer to someone who's older than them in the Philippines. ‘Ate’ is the term for older sister, while ‘Kuya’ is the term for older brother.

◁Prev || Next▷

Masterlist

[ash5monster01]

(@he-is-half-my-soul I hope you don’t mind but this post inspired a little something in me because I live for tropes where each of the poets come to terms with Neil’s death)

Trapped in Time

Warnings: mentions of suicide, depression, grief, light swearing, all around sad, and I’m sorry.

Summary: after Neils death and Graduation the Dead Poets make sure to keep in touch, not wanting to risk losing another. They help each other through the grief and remind each other that the powerful play still goes on. When they discover Todd still struggles they band together to do the same for him.

Masterlist

Each of the Dead Poets found themselves in different places after graduation and college. Despite the distance they never lost touch and in the end it was a good thing. They had a shared life experience, one surrounded by turmoil and trauma. Not many people in the world went through what they did. They saw the light at the end of tunnel but before they could get to it they lost a friend, their teacher, and some of them a school. So when the torture of the future they tried so desperately to avoid came crushing down on them they had each other. The only issue being the distance keeping them from seeing things right away.

Luckily for Todd, Charlie had ended up in the city just like him. Todd kept his quiet persona but was less outspoken which worked in favor with Charlie’s still boisterous personality. Todd became an English professor at NYU and Charlie found himself on Wall Street, a shark in the business, his father no longer deeming him incompetent considering he was now more successful than him. Either way the two ended up having each other, only a 30 minute cab ride from the other’s apartment. They met weekly for dinner or lunch and it was always nice to have a familiar face.

Charlie had been uptown for work. Meeting with investors and attending fancy lunches and dinner shows. Basically kissing ass and praying they’d shake on the deal. He was also bitterly annoyed when he had to cancel lunch with Todd and make plans for dinner. This bothered him because Todd didn’t have any classes today and without Charlie he would never leave the house. Todd still needed to learn how to live a little and Charlie figured it was fate he ended up near him stead of any of the other poets. So Charlie with a permanent scowl walked beside his business partner in the Broadway district, annoyed he sat through an entire play just for the investors to say they were considering a different direction. So here he was stuck uptown, annoyed about work, and disappointed he missed lunch with his best friend for something as stupid as that.

“We didn’t need them anyways Charles, we have other investors” Benjamin, his business partner pried as he tried to keep up with him.

“I know, I’m just annoyed they wasted my time. I enjoy theater but that was torture” Charlie grunted, realizing twenty minutes into the show the investors were freaks and knew nothing about real entertainment.

“Yeah I could’ve gone my entire life without seeing that” he agreed, knowing full well he didn’t understand a damn thing that happened the entire time he watched the play.

“Idiots, all of them” suddenly Charlie stopped, Benjamin practically running in to him from trying to keep up the entire time.

“Woah, why we stopping?” Benjamin caught his balance and moved back from Charlie where he almost knocked him face first to the cement.

“Todd?” Benjamin looked up to see Charlie catching the attention of a blonde gentleman stepping out of the theater.

“Charlie, what’re you doing on Broadway?” Todd meekly asked, the brunette boy approaching him. Charlie assessed the situation, surprised to see Todd out, that was until he looked up at the sign above the theater. A Midsummer Nights Dream.

“I should be asking you the same thing” he said, trying to read any emotions coming from the boy. Todd went to speak but was caught of abruptly.

“Mr. Anderson, you forgot your coat” a theater worker rushed from the doors, holding out his jacket. Todd happily accepted it. “Maybe you wouldn’t forget it if you stayed till the end of the show for once”

“Thank you Margaret” Todd acknowledged her, wincing slightly that he was caught red handed by Charlie.

“Margaret” Charlie stopped the woman from walking away and she turned with a smile. “How long have you been putting on this show?”

“About a month and a half now. Mr. Anderson here enjoys it so much he comes once a week, sometimes twice if we’re lucky” Todd’s shoulders fell and Charlie nodded and thanked her as she disappeared back into the theater.

“Do you want to explain?” Charlie pressed, Todd struggling to make eye contact with him.

“You know I don’t” Charlie sighed, pressing a hand to his face. Benjamin stood confused but patiently waited nonetheless.

“Do you know how bad this looks? Todd why would you do this to yourself?” Charlie wanted to cry. He never ever wanted to relive that night again. To this day it was still the worst 24 hours of his life and here Todd was trying to relive it.

“I don’t know Charlie?! I just do” Benjamin was surprised to hear someone refer to the man as Charlie and not Charles. Sighing Charlie turned to his business partner.

“Head back to the office, let Clarice know to clear my schedule the rest of the day. I have to deal with this” Benjamin nodded, feeling he already peeked to far into Charlie’s personal life than he ever wanted too. With zero hesitation he rushed off, ready to finish his workday.

“I need you to explain this to me Todd, or else I can’t help you” Charlie pleaded and Todd sighed as he looked down to the coat in his arms.

“Can we at least sit down?” he asked and Charlie nodded, starting back on his pace as he bustled down the city sidewalks to a diner that was sure to appear. He grimaced at the Worlds Best Coffee sign in the window that every diner in this God forsaken city seemed to have.

“You want to explain it now?” Charlie asked as he went to take a sip of the worlds best coffee. Todd kept his gaze on the table, not wanting to meet his eyes.

“It started when you had to cancel lunch since something got messed up at work. I didn’t want to sit home so I went for a walk. That’s when I saw the sign. At first I wanted to run away but then I realized I hadn’t seen the play since that night. I practically knew it word for word since Neil made me run lines with him every chance we got. It felt like I watched it yesterday even though I hadn’t seen it in years” Charlie felt his heart tighten. They had all been at the play but Todd was the one who practiced with him. Todd played every part alongside Neil’s Puck.

“So you went inside?” Charlie egged on, needing to know the dark thoughts in the boys head. They all struggled with the shadow of grief, it’s overbearing weight crushing their shoulders over the smallest things. For Charlie it was soccer. Him and Neil had played together since children and after he died he never played or watched again.

“I figured it would be a good thing. Give myself a new memory but then the end came. It was Pucks big speech and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. That was Neil’s moment, I remember cheering so loud my lungs hurt, then I remembered it was pretty much the last thing I ever heard him say. So I ran out, too afraid to relive it” Todd said and this made Charlie more confused.

“If it was too hard why did you go back?” he asked, leaning forward on the table wanting to know where this was going.

“I wanted to find the strength to finish it. I never could though. After a while it became less about finishing it and more about getting lost in the play. Feeling like that 17 year old kid again who just saw his best friend follow his dreams. It felt like when Neil was still alive” this answer hit Charlie like a ton of bricks. This was torture and he had gone too long without realizing Todd was trapped in an endless cycle of torment.

“Todd-” Charlie held his face in his hands, not knowing what to say. He wasn’t prepared for this, this was worse then having nightmares about that night or crying when it all became too much.

“I know, I know I need to stop. It’s hard though, when I’m home with nothing to do I started remembering and getting upset and when I sit in that play for at least an hour it’s as if nothing ever happened” Todd told him and Charlie nodded, understanding wanting to feel like the people they were before tragedy struck.

“You can’t go back Todd, if you ever find yourself needing to go you call me. I’ll cancel whatever I’m doing, say it’s a family emergency because you’re the only family I have Todd and I can’t let this consume you” Todd nodded, feeling guilty for having kept this secret for so long.

“Okay, I promise” with a content nod Charlie accepted this answer, not needing to have anymore depressing conversation.

After they ate their meals and Charlie made sure Todd got home he found himself unable to stop thinking about what Todd had been doing. Tugging his tie from his neck and getting ready for bed he kept going over it, again and again, wanting to understand how he could put himself through that. Yet the longer he thought about it he realized how little closure they all got. The days after Neil’s death were filled with so many things. In a matter of a few days they went through losing a friend from suicide, a funeral, their teacher getting fired, and for Charlie, getting kicked out of school. Everyone was so focused on finding who to blame, including the Poets, that none of them ever came to terms with the fact that Neil was really gone. So with this in mind he came up with an idea.

Putting the plan together wasn’t hard. Using his connections he found a way. So even though Todd thought this was just a normal dinner for the two of them he actually had no idea what was to come. So Charlie knocked on his door, signature smirk proud on his face as he waited for Todd to open it.

“Hey Charlie-” Todd froze as he saw not only Charlie but Knox, Chris, Meeks, and Pitts standing behind him. “What’s this?”

“We’re all going to dinner, and a show” Charlie reached forward and Todd saw the familiar ticket in his hand. When Charlie had reached out to the boys and told them about what was happening they all agreed immediately to help Todd through this. After all every single one of them needed it too.

“I thought it was a bad idea” Todd said, already growing nervous at the thought.

“I did. I still do. Then I realized the reason you felt that way about the play was because you never got closure. None of us did. So we’re gonna stay to the end, and hopefully when we all get through it we will feel a bit better” Charlie said before stepping to the side and gesturing to follow them out. Todd nodded, still nervous as they left his apartment and made their way out to the loud streets.

It was like deja vu sitting in those seats all together again. Every single one of them remembered the night like yesterday. Charlie nearly jumped as the orchestra started in the pitch black of the theater. Knox squeezed Chris’ hand like his life depended on it. Todd tried to settle his nerves as they waited for it to start. When the actor who played Puck appeared it was as if the whole group couldn’t breathe. He had the same look in his eyes that Neil did all those years ago and Charlie felt himself begin to cry. Pitts and Meeks looked at him with sympathy as they all faced this nightmare together. Suddenly Todd’s hand appeared on Charlie’s back and gave it a comforting rub.

When the end of the play approached Charlie felt the air surrounding him thin. There it was, the feeling Todd had described. This was the last moment they saw their friend with a smile on his face. When he came out for that final bow and looked so fucking proud. Their friend who deserved the world and everything it had to offer because if anyone of them deserved to be in this world so did he. So Charlie sucked in a breath and kept his eyes on Todd who looked like he wanted to flee his seat. All six of them grabbed hands and prepared for it to end and the curtain to drop.

“If we have unearned luck. Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call; So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends” chills filled their bones as the last line was spoken and the curtain dropped. As Charlie turned to Todd he saw the boy absolutely broken, sobs raked his body. The boys all wrapped themselves around him in a hug. Bystanders clearly confused by their emotional behavior but this was a beautiful moment for the group. They faced their demons and they did it together.

“See Mr. Anderson, the end is beautiful” Margaret said as the exited the theater and he smiled at her.

“It really is, thank you Margaret” Todd told her and she waved as the group followed him out the doors.

“That was intense” Knox sighed, his arm wrapped tightly around his wife.

“I never realized how heavy that moment was until now” Meeks muttered pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“Neil would’ve loved this, going to Broadway and seeing the shows. Hell even being in them” Charlie said and the group nodded as they reminisced their friend.

“He’s with us now, I know it” Pitts smiled and Todd looked up at the sky, barely any stars visible, a violet haze around the earth.

“He changed my life, I wish he would’ve stuck around to see how it turned out” Todd muttered and Charlie tugged him in a hug, thankful he could help his friend.

“He was my best friend, my first friend. The only guy who put up with me until I met you dorks” Charlie said as he pulled away.

“His heart was too big, he would’ve given each of us the world if he could” Knox told them and Chris smiled, never having met their beloved friend. But she remembered him in that play, it was the best local theater she had ever seen and despite not knowing him she knew he would’ve changed the world.

“To Neil, and us. Remember the powerful play goes on and we may contribute a verse”

[lovedrunkheadcanons]

Chapter Contents 

(Arranged Marriage Pic) Read on AO3

Rated M

The way his sensei greeted them reminded Megumi of a whining dog, excitedly peeing all over the floor.

“Megumi-kun!! You’re back. I missed you.”

The boy glowered. Satoru greatly misjudged his young ward’s tolerance if he thought these overly saccharine endearments would magically cancel out his annoyingness. Quite the contrary. Megumi had been reluctant to come but was harangued by his older sister that they go. “Don’t you want to see Hannah-san?” she had said, crossing her arms in a huff. “No fair. How come you’ve gotten to meet her and I haven’t? I’m the eldest.”

She had a point.

Being half-siblings never bothered Megumi. Why should sharing a different mother and father bother anyone? That’s dumb. It’s not like it was their fault. You don’t get to choose your parents, and you most definitely don’t get to choose whether one of them dies, and the other abandons you like two pieces of roadside trash, never to return. Gone were the days when Megumi would look up at the sky and curse his dad for leaving them in their hour of need. But now he thought ‘good riddance.’ The man was trash, not them, and he had been too young to remember him that well anyway.

Tsumiki tried being the good, nurturing older sister. She was supportive of him and loved her younger brother dearly, but Megumi was reluctant to open up to anyone. Even to his own flesh and blood.

Their apartment wasn’t upper-class by any stretch. Gojo-sensei talked of upgrading them to a sweeter gig, but these offers were swiftly declined. Both Fushiguro children opted for comfort rather than luxury. Who needed a four-bedroom penthouse suite with an unbeatable view, when a two bedroom apartment in a safe, affluent neighborhood more than sufficed? And more importantly, they didn’t want to become dependent on Gojo’s money. In their eyes he wasn’t family, nor a close friend. He was doing them a favor they couldn’t repay. And then some.

“Aw, come on, Megumi-kun. Don’t be such a sour puss. Aren’t you glad to see me?”

Megumi glowered some more. “I told you not to call me that.”

“But why, Megumi-kun? Would you rather I switch back to Megumi-chan? I thought we outgrew that phase?”

The eleven year old seemed to bristle. “I'd rather you not call me anything at all.”

“Megumiiiii. That’s no way to treat your kind and loving sensei. Be nice.”

“Weirdo, leave me alone. You're just acting like this because the others are here.”

“Hey, I’m no weirdo. Take that back.” Satoru picked up the eleven year old, kicking and screaming, and headlocked him in a noogie, digging his fist into the poor boy’s skull. “Take it back. Take it back. Take it — ”

“Stop!” Megumi yelled.

“Okay, I’ll stop, but only if you repeat after me: ‘Satoru-sensei is the bestest, not weirdest person in the whole wide world.’”

The boy's growl was almost feral. “Never.”

Hannah turned to the other Fushiguro sibling for an explanation. “Are they always like this? Diametrically opposed, I mean?”

“Yep,” the girl said with a nod. “Afraid so.”

“Seems odd how they’re teacher and student.”

“Very odd. I’ve never understood it myself.”

Hannah giggled. “They’re like honey and vinegar.”

“Or a sun beam colliding with a rain cloud,” the girl added with a small bow. “I’m Tsumiki by the way, Megumi’s older sister.”

Hannah cordially bowed back. “Yes, I’m so glad to finally meet you. Megumi speaks of you all the time.”

“Does he? How funny.” Tsumiki nervously tucked a strand of her loose brown hair behind her ear. “I know you’re the one he’s enlisted as his English tutor. I can’t tell you how much it’s helped. If there’s a fee for your services, we’ll be more than happy to  — ”

“Services? Oh, no, no.” Hannah frantically waved her hand, a light blush appearing on her face. “I’ve enjoyed doing it. He’s such a fast learner. Please, keep your money.”

The seeds to a very special friendship had been sown. Hannah wondered what it would be like to have a sister. Tsumiki would be the closest thing to it, their ages twelve and twenty, a separation of eight years. Not very long. The two talked as if they’d known each other their whole lives. Like her brother, Tsumiki was surprisingly mature for her age. (What twelve year old uses words like ‘services’ in a sentence?) They nattered on about school exams, about the looming summer break, and favorite hobbies. Hannah swore she could’ve kissed the girl la bise on both cheeks when she mentioned the potted plants she collected. Orchids. Orchidaceae: 26,000 plus species with more than 100,000 cultivars thriving on this one miracle planet since around the Cretaceous period. They could be found on every continent (except Antarctica).The same diverse, saprophytic plant that produces vanilla and was once believed to scare off evil spirits. Not counting how the orchid got its name (‘orchis’ is Greek for testicles), they made for lovely home flowers, and orchid collectors were a passionate bunch no matter their age. Some even spent their entire life savings to acquire a rare and endangered species. It was reported that one of England’s last remaining lady’s slipper orchids (Cypripedium calceolus) had to be put under armed security to guard against potential thieves. And like those pesky orchid thieves, Hannah knew ‘rare’ when she saw it. Tsumiki was one of those said rarities. A precious person. Such treasures were meant to be seized upon and never let go. “Do you like flowers too, Hannah-san?” Why yes. Yes, she did. Thank you very much for asking. Perhaps she would get Tsumiki’s opinion on daylilies for her English garden before she went home. She’d be sure to love it.

“Is this what being ignored feels like?”

Hannah and Tsumiki paused their conversation and glanced over at Satoru. He had relinquished a grumbling Megumi from his headlock, who was busy massaging his sore noggin. Those noogies really hurt.  

He didn’t receive an answer though because Makoto stepped outside holding a tray.

“Could I interest anyone in some lemonade?”

The children ran up to the beloved housekeeper. “Ah, Ms. Tsumiki. Master Megumi,” she delighted as they all shuffled inside to escape the summer heat and drink their lemonade.

Both Fushiguro siblings noted Hannah and Satoru reaching out for the other's hand upon entering the house, their fingers woven together. Then there were the infatuated smiles on their faces as they made eye contact, a sweet gesture that spoke droves. Were they even aware of how they looked to the rest of the world?

“Cute,” Tsumiki whispered. “Things seem to be going well for them.”

Megumi blinked dubiously at the couple while sipping his lemonade. In all the years they’d known him, the boy had never seen his sensei look so happy. Hannah was laughing at a joke he had said. She looked happy too. Where did this bubbly feeling in the pit of his stomach come from? The eleven year old let out a pessimistic snort.

“Whatever. I still say it’s weird.”

Brother and sister stayed at the Gojo’s for lunch and then piled into Mr. Ijichi’s Lexus which would take them home. They would see each other again in a few days.

July was an active month for Japan. During this time, visitors from all over the country were migrating to Kyoto to partake in the month-long Gion Festival. It was the fourteenth day. The float processions would soon begin. Satoru asked if Hannah wanted to go on a weekend, but with so much work to be done, she thought it was better to hold off.

Running an estate was no walk in the park.

The majority of its rooms were kept regularly clean and free of dust, but hadn’t been occupied in quite awhile. Walking through them was like walking through a history book, regal vestiges of the decadent Meiji era and the long-reigning Tokugawa shogunate that preceded it. Nothing had been purchased within living memory; Pearl-inlaid cabinets. Woodblock paintings (ukiyo-e) by Jakuchū, Hōitsu, and Yoshitoshi. Folding screens airbrushed with gold leaf. Sparsely laden throughout the rooms were dozens of priceless Satsuma vases ornamented in glistening enamels and gilt. Hannah had two favorites; One in the drawing room showing a sparrow perched on a ginkgo branch, curiously watching a spider anchor itself down a gossamer laced web. And another situated in the parlor where she and Satoru ate their meals, illustrating a pair of flirtatious monkeys swinging loftily from vines of hanging wisteria. Each had her smiling. But there would be further additions made to these rooms that would have her smiling even more.

Afterall, this was her house now.

Goodness. What a strange thing to think about; Her, owning a house. A mansion at that.

While traditionally men were charged with earning money and providing for the family, it was women who ran the household, managing finances, hiring staff, raising children. This would be her day-to-day life, and as her first real indulgence as Gojo matriarch, Hannah requested that every room - from the kitchen to the onsen - contain a flower arrangement, ikebana or likewise. Oh, it was grand fun trimming roses and irises and honing her arrangement skills with Makoto, who also found the activity gratifying. Designing flowers was a welcome reprieve from cooking and cleaning.

Though the work wasn’t all play. Satoru and Hannah were busy as bees the entire summer.

Satoru was saddled with missions and meetings and report write-ups. Administrational bullshit. If it weren’t for his wife and housekeeper he’d stage a protest. Orchestrate a labor union or something of that nature: “We demand paid holiday! Sorcerers’ rights are human rights!” The idea sounded better by the minute. The fatigue was starting to show. The Six Eyes user carried Bufferin everywhere he went. He feared he’d contract an ibuprofen addiction before long. The migraines were bearable with reverse curse technique, but only just so. Hannah was less lenient than Makoto when it came to how many pills he was allowed to take at home. “You should take no more than three capsules, Satoru, and at twelve hour intervals. It’ll wreck your bowels if you take any more.” His bowels, eh? Sounds serious, though he didn’t see much of an issue. If his intestines imploded, he could simply heal them with the help of reverse curse technique. But he knew she only made a fuss because she cared. Cared for his health. Cared for him. One of the few people in this life who did. Every day he’d discover a new reason why his wife was brilliant.

One of Satoru’s special pet projects was his charity; a program that provided financial aid to children who had either lost a parent or had become orphaned due to curse attacks. It was funded by both the government - that is to say the Japanese taxpayer - and the sorcerer families (70% government / 30% sorcerer families). Two years it had taken Satoru to finally get the ball rolling and convince the higher-ups that the project was worthwhile, though it took a considerable amount of time and effort. There were 112 children residing in some form of foster care and 134 living in single parent households. The sums weren’t huge, just enough to pay for utilities or groceries, maybe a rental payment on an apartment. Whatever the family or child needed to make life a little easier. Hannah had proposed a new idea.

“What if we sent the children care packages for their birthdays?”

Satoru blinked. “Care packages?”

“Fun little parcels filled with either their favorite sweets or maybe a new toy they’ve been wanting but can’t afford.”

“And how would we do that?”

Hannah smashed her lips together; her ‘thinking face’ as he came to call it. “Yes, I’ve thought of that too. There are 246 children in the system, correct?”

Satoru nodded.

“And we know their date of birth and current home addresses?”

Again, Satoru nodded.

“Then why don’t we mail a survey for the children to fill out, or maybe the parents? We can review how many replies we get and operate from there.”

Satoru nodded a third time, but was wondering something. “Alright, you’ve got me on board, but that’s 246 days out of the year, Hannah. This would be no small undertaking.”

Her eyes shone with determination. “Nothing is too big an undertaking when it comes to protecting childhood.”

Well, he couldn’t argue with that one. Hear, hear! Also was it wrong that he found her kinda sexy when she brainstormed? Anywho, they would type up a mini questionnaire and send it out the following week.

Speaking of questionnaires, answering correspondence became its own undertaking. Hannah and Makoto had gotten through the congratulatory letters and well wishers from her wedding. Though there was still no sign of tea invitations from either the Kamos or the Zen’ins. Hannah tried not to be too put out about it. However, when she found a mulberry-papered envelope sealed with a large golden chrysanthemum in the center she just about fainted. A golden chrysanthemum; The Imperial seal.

“Please tell me we won’t be entertaining the Emperor,” she begged Makoto, dread ringing in her voice.

“Not to worry, ma’am,” the housekeeper assuaged. “One of the duties of the Imperial family is to uphold the secrecy of the jujutsu world. These letters are simply out of common courtesy. However, you and the young master might be invited to official state functions, but rest assured. The Emperor has never stayed a night in this house.”

“Oh, thank God.” Hannah exhaled a deep sigh of relief. She turned the envelope over. “Will I be expected to write back, you think?”

“A short ‘thank you’ never hurts. It’s usually Her Majesty, the Empress, who manages these affairs. Her personal insignia is the Beach Rose. I will show you how to write to her.”

On top of writing to royalty, there were also financial matters for Hannah to contend with; Outstanding balances that needed to be paid. Budgeting for food and home renovations before winter. Satoru and Hannah had decided that ¾ of the shoji panels facing the outside would be replaced with glass instead of washi paper. The alterations would be expensive now, but in the long run would cut down on added costs, as glass did not have to be regularly replaced every few years. Satoru had trusted Hannah to oversee the project. Then there was going over dinner plans with Makoto. The housekeeper was looking to incorporate more European dishes to the menu card. For Thursday nights it would be a mixture between French and English like so:

Might be a bit of a stretch, but she hoped the food would meet Satoru’s approval.

For the most part, Hannah let Makoto make most of the decisions on that front. She wasn’t picky and encouraged the housekeeper to make leftovers so she wouldn’t have to cook every night.

And at last when Hannah wasn’t buried neck-deep in letters, or balancing checkbooks, or catching up on her tea ceremony lessons (which were coming along splendidly) Hannah was given time out of the busy week to step outside and garden.

She had quickly befriended the Gojo family’s fifty-two year old gardener, Mr. Aoyama, who was nonetheless charmed by his new lady’s horticultural knowledge, especially for being one so young. The garden estates he had worked on in the past, with their great ladies and multi-millionaires, had never been this enthusiastic. He even watched her strap on a pair of gardening gloves and Wellingtons, pick up a trusty shovel, and join in on the mulching herself. A woman after my own heart, he thought. About time these privileged ladies, with their sniveling noses and outdated prejudices, come down from their ivory towers and learn what proper work is and get their hands dirty.

During the course of her twenty years, Hannah had developed a placid sense of unquestioning acceptance. She had been handed a raw deal in life, but what good was it to stomp your feet and endlessly complain about how unfair the world was? Better to get on with it and move on. That’s why gardening brought her so much joy. It was her oyster, an artistic exercise to enjoy and partake in while it lasted, making her forget her indemnities. Whenever she had enough free time on her hands, it would be spent budgeting and designing the groundwork for her English garden Satoru had promised; her ‘Eden’ as she’d later come to call it, spanning less than two hectares, her own tiny piece of heaven.

She already had the blueprint laid out. On a mood board in her bedroom were pictures of flower varieties and garden ideas she had snipped from magazine and newspaper clippings next to watercolor palettes, ranging from the deepest indigo to lightest pale yellow. This presentation gave Hannah a visual aid for deciding on color and texture combinations. So far, she’d listed her main frontrunners in a journal, referencing it like some kind of magic crystal ball, foretelling the future.

The early months of spring would bloom ranunculus, Japanese anemones, and star-petaled narcissi, and numerous shrubs of calming lilac. For early summer it would be English roses, snapdragons, daylilies of every color, red and orange oriental poppies, bigleaf blue hydrangea and blushing pink peonies, exploding with sweet, fragrant perfume. Come late summer and early autumn, there’d be burgundy hued dahlias shaped like honeycombed pom-poms, together with zinnias, golden chrysanthemums, ‘Midnight Magic’ crepe myrtle, and Antwerp hollyhock, their heavily flowered columnar spiraling up towards the sun, all shades of ostentatious reds, pinks, purples, and yellows. And then when the first frost of winter finally arrived there would be an assortment of rosemary, snowdrops, and holly; Hardier breeds, making their last hurrah before spring. This continual carousel of blooms would stem from a ‘layering technique’ where once the perennial ran its course for the season, a new one would spring and take its place like a growing-living-dying song.

Trial and error were bound to erupt. Multiple factors had to be taken into careful consideration for this dream garden to become reality. Preparations had to be made, specifically as it pertained to soil. Fortunately for Hannah, Japan’s soil was naturally compacted with rich nutrients and organic minerals from millennia of volcanic activity, creating the ideal ratio of silt, ash, and clay needed to grow plants. However, much of the species Hannah wanted to cultivate weren’t native to Japan. Ericaceous plants, like hydrangeas and rhododendrons, were natural born ‘acid lovers’ and could thrive in denser pH environments, however, if the soil contained too much alkaline substances - like lime, for instance - then calcifuges plants, such as camellias and azaleas, could be unintentionally poisoned. Acidic levels had to be maintained at just the right levels depending on what was being planted (which could be checked with the aid of an inexpensive pH kit). So to mitigate the increase of dead growth, Hannah decided she would make the soil from scratch.

Home-made compost followed a relatively simple recipe; a 50-50 mixture of nitrogen and carbon based ingredients left exposed to oxygen and water, later breaking down into humus. Basic science. What was used in making the mixture was left entirely to the gardener’s discretion; dead leaves, woody stems, eggshells, food scraps, seaweed, fresh animal manure, etc. If making compost in the summertime, the added heat would help the nitrogen rich ingredients decompose quicker and encourage good bacteria to germinate, as microorganisms were necessary to produce healthy soil. This provided cheaper, more beneficial compost instead of buying it in big stretchy plastic bags. The only downside was time. It would take months for the soil to be ready, and even then Hannah would have to wait. Unlike Edith’s roses she planted during her first week at Jujutsu High, where she dug into the ground and arduously churned the soil with a tiller and spade, Hannah was going to apply a ‘no-dig’ method. This meant she would prep the flower beds by first marking the perimeters with stakes and twine and then flattening dampened cardboard over the site; One layer of compost would be packed under the cardboard and another layer would be stacked on top. Since these were brand new flower beds, the cardboard would prevent sunlight from filtering through, thus killing any weeds or invasive plants beneath without robbing the soil of nutrients. Given time, the cardboard between the two compost layers would biodegrade, making food for benevolent garden dwellers buried deep inside the earth (worms loved decomposed cardboard). But composting was only half the battle.

With the plants selected, and the beds and compost prepped, there was also the climate to account for.

The Gojo estate was hidden away in the bucolic Takao mountains, meaning the garden terrace would be seated at higher elevation, leaving it exposed to more sunlight and harsher weather conditions. Windbreakers would need to be put in place to protect from damaging storm gusts and winter temperatures would plunge well below zero. She would have to study-up on the area’s annual rain and snowfall as well, and whether more landscaping would be involved. Not all the flowers would make it through the year, and it would take multiple seasons to get the garden she wanted, but if she played her cards right, Hannah would be able plant bulbs and sow her first seeds by mid-autumn at the earliest.

Satoru was impressed by Hannah’s vast gardening expertise, as anyone would be. Over the years he would grow accustomed to entering the house and seeing profusions of flowers in every shape, color, and scent decorate the halls and window arches, breathing life and color into the space; his wife’s personal touch. Whenever she worked, he would always be milling around the vicinity, snooping over her shoulder, curious about what she was doing, asking questions like “What is ‘comfrey tea?’ Do you drink it?” (The answer was no. You do not drink it) Though on occasions, sometimes his questions delved more into the transcendent.

“Do you really believe the entire world was created in six days?”

Hannah peered up from taking notes in her garden journal. He was towering directly above her, hands placed in his pockets. Like always.

“I suppose,” she said with a shrug. “If you took the Book of Genesis at face value, sure. Why not.”

Satoru looked even more perplexed. “I thought Christians took everything in their Bible literally?”

Hannah smiled, a certain glimmer in her moss brown eyes that looked like a challenge. “Not always. For instance you could argue there is not one creation story told in the Bible, but three. The first chapter of Genesis is separate from the story of Adam and Eve. Then there’s also the story of Noah and his ark, before God issued a great flood over the earth, setting it anew. Rather than being taken as history, the purpose of these stories is to emphasize God’s dominion over creation, and that Man, His greatest creation, somehow fell victim to original sin in the process.” She stood up from her seat. “Anywho, now you have me curious. Do Buddhists ever ponder the origins of the universe?”

Satoru shook his head.

“To be honest, no,” he replied flatly. “There is the tale of the Izanagi and Izanami creating the islands of Japan with brine, dripping from a jeweled spear, which could symbolize the world. But from a purely Buddhist perspective, the universe has no beginning or end, so philosophizing how it came into being is seen as a fruitless exercise that leads to nowhere.”

This didn’t stop Hannah from trying.

“But didn’t the Buddha say that everything comes to an end at some point?” she said. “And if everything comes to an end, then it must have had a beginning, no?” (3)

Over the years, they would have many discussions like this, volleying questions back and forth, pondering the deeper meanings of life. But like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, neither husband nor wife would concede to the other’s beliefs. Satoru had trouble grasping Christianity’s radical take on monotheism: How one deity could simultaneously be a divine Creator, a Human (who was also ‘hypostatically’ divine), and a strange Spirit that bore no distinctive shape whatsoever but was often depicted in the form of a dove, and somehow not be called polytheistic. Additionally this Trinitarian Deity was revered as being all-loving, omnipresent, and omniscient, and yet if that were the case, Satoru couldn’t conceive how this supposed ‘all-loving’ God could allow evil things to befall innocent human beings, especially at the hands of His ‘most holy’ church. Then there were the outlandish beliefs surrounding the Eucharist, which he found a little creepy: Wine and unleavened bread that ‘transubstantiate’ into the actual blood and flesh of Christ while retaining the ‘accidents’ of real bread and wine, which you then ate? Huh? What the heck was that all about? He wasn’t a philosopher, but wouldn’t that make Christians cannibals? Plus, this Jesus character sounded very similar to the Buddha at given times, but he wasn’t going to read too much into it.

Hannah, in the meanwhile, struggled equally with Shinto and Buddhism, and how both religions could co-exist without delegitimizing the other. Were the gods more paramount to the highly secular Japanese, or did the Buddha and his Dharma take first precedence? To her knowledge Shinto was an altogether pantheistic faith where rocks, trees, and even mountains could be worshiped as kami (deities). The many myths and legends surrounding these kami, however, Hannah saw no differently than those of Zeus or Ra; fictional tales used to convey didactic truths. Buddhism offered more spiritual substance, yes, though she failed to understand karma’s intrinsic nature and why it held so much sway over one’s life, or more importantly, where it came from; a moot point given Buddhism’s beliefs of causality rather than creation. It didn’t matter who or where it originated from, or why ‘the true way of things’ functioned the way it did; how good deeds produced happiness and bad deeds produced suffering. What was enlightenment anyway? Why did it matter so much whether you obtained it or not, and could all the world’s sufferings really be eliminated by practicing ‘mindfulness’ and following the Five Precepts, and then awaiting rebirth in the ‘Pure Land?’ So many reeling questions…

‘We are not meant to resolve all contradictions,’ wrote the meek Thomas Merton, and so Hannah and Satoru would agree to disagree. These beliefs, however confusing, however paradoxical, weren’t worth fighting over, not to the detriment of a marriage. They had come too far to risk falling out. Challenge and learn, yes. Disrespect and insult, no. Let bygones be bygones and put it to rest.

On a less philosophical note, Hannah’s training was showing signs of tremendous progress. Satoru had moved on from teaching her how to punch and kick and was now in the middle of teaching her defensive maneuvers, like how to escape from being pinned to the ground.

“This is ridiculous,” Hannah panted, struggling desperately to free herself. “How can I possibly get out like this?”

“Because I’m telling you,” was all Satoru said, increasing his weight, barely holding up a sweat as he subdued her, casually switching to a gruff, sagely English. “If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are, a different game you should play.”

She wasn’t laughing at his Yoda impression, having only watched Stars Wars last week. They resigned to training indoors for the evening and had cleared the reception hall, creating a dojo-like atmosphere. Crouched on his hands and knees, Satoru had her pinned in the ‘Mount Position,’ seizing her wrists and restraining them to the floor, while his legs straddled her waist, immobilizing her. She was boxed in. Hannah tried pushing him off with her upper body, but Satoru’s grip was tight. With all the power stored in his shoulder and arms, her hands barely lifted off the floor. Gravity was on his side. He wasn’t letting go. And like all good esoterics, Satoru wasn’t going to just tell her how to break free - No, no - that would be too practical. Instead he would keep silent and force his wife to figure it out on her own.

Hannah kicked and writhed and shimmied. She once attempted to bite him, but his Infinity made it so her teeth never sought flesh (not that she was biting very hard). As was usual with training, he wore a thin black cotton tee and matching black sweatpants, which were probably overpriced. She could see every ripple and flex of his toned biceps and pectoral muscles underneath the cotton as he worked to restrain her. The position was rather demoralizing; a man overpowering a woman with the use of his body. The intimacy of their position felt unfamiliar too - dare she say, sensual - but Hannah ignored the proximity of their bodies and focused on getting out from underneath him. Twenty minutes in, her efforts were met with no success and after some more prolonged struggling, she gave up.

“I can’t,” she said out of breath. “You’re too strong.”

Her husband held back a smile, her inadvertent praise sounding like music to his ears. “Excuses, excuses,” he chided, not looking the least bit tired. “C’mon, Hannah, use that clever little brain of yours. If I have your hands pinned like this,” he took her seized wrists and (lightly) pressed them back to the floor, “and you can’t use your legs,” he clamped his own legs around her waist, “what else could you do?”

“Nothing. I’m stuck.”

“No, you’re not. There is a way out. You just have to be creative. Think outside the box.”

‘Creative.’ Well, that was one way of looking at it.

Hannah’s eyes searched his person for an opening, any indication he had left an opportunity for her to escape. His body was still on top of her like a human cage, squeezing her wrists, pressing them to the floor. She attempted to push him off again. “Nope, you’ve tried that enough times already,” he said, transferring more of his weight on top of her. “Promise ya, it’s not gonna work.” He was right, of course. Trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result was foolish. Alright, Hannah. Think outside the box. Be creative.

Satoru’s Infinity could repel and attract various things at once. For instance, if he were walking down the street holding a bag of groceries in the middle of a torrential downpour, he could keep the grocery bag in his hand while repelling off the rain. The bag was allowed in his orbit, the raindrops were not. She had seen him do this more than once, an invisible shield carapaced around him, stepping back inside the house, dry as a feather. This also explained why his clothes - or any piece of him for that matter - didn’t get stripped away whenever he used his curse technique. However, other than shielding himself from getting bitten, Hannah realized he wasn’t using Infinity that much during their training session. And his arms, which were supporting most of his weight in keeping her restrained, were slanted at an (she eyeballed it) eighty degree angle from his shoulder to his hands. Meaning if she got his shoulders slanted at an angle over his wrists, past ninety degrees, he would be forced to let go or risk face-planting on the floor like the back end of a teeter-totter. But how would she accomplish this? His hold on her was firm.

Hannah looked down at his hips straddling her waist. His knees were planted to the ground, but his hind legs were hooked around her calves. There was nothing other than his hands, keeping him balanced. She thought back to the teeter-totter analogy. This was her way out.

Ureka!

With speed she didn’t know she was capable of Hannah rammed her torso up as far as it would go, bridging her hips, and violently swooped her hands downwards like a snow angel. She barely caught the excited glint in Satoru’s blue eyes at her discovering the loophole. Like she predicted, he fell face forward from the momentum, having no choice but to release her hands to prevent eating the floor, however, Hannah got ahead of herself. See, what she was supposed to do in this instance was hug his torso like a tree, grab his shoulder, lock the arm, and roll. And so having forgotten those four additional steps, she instead tried scrambling out from under him. Big mistake. Without locking his arm, there was nothing blocking it from the rebound. Satoru miscalculated her move…

And elbowed her straight in the nose like a sledgehammer.

CR-ACK!!

It was a heart rendering sound. Satoru could feel and hear the fracturing of bone as though it were porcelain china.

The smirk on his face vanished completely.

“Oh shit, I didn’t think you’d — Fuck, Hannah, are you alright?”

Stupid of him to ask really. Even the densest simpleton could see her nose was broken. Hannah tasted iron on her tongue. The world was an explosion of stars. Every pinch of her eyes stung. She had taken a direct hit. The cartilage was bent out of line and swelling heavily, bruised purple and red, blood oozing out both nostrils. He didn’t have to use his Six Eyes to know it was horrible. So much for creativity.

“Quick, use this.” Satoru raised his arms and without a moment’s hesitation peeled off his shirt. Cradling the base of her neck, he then tilted her head down, and shoved the wadded shirt to her nose. “Put pressure on it.”

Hannah held the sweaty shirt. Her swollen nasal passages might’ve been clogged with blood, but she still managed to catch remnants of incense and Italian-roast coffee saturated in the cotton; two scents that shouldn’t go together and yet did. The dampened shirt didn’t smell bad as one would imagine, mixed with his sweat and body odor, but rather soothingly pleasant and masculine. So him. Like honeysuckle to an insect, she found it near impossible to resist, closing her eyes and slowly inhaling as much incense and coffee as she could, wanting more. The pressure and pain seemed to gradually subside until she felt something like fingers tilt her chin at the floor again, readjusting the shirt in her hands that was surely covered in blood.

“Gotta keep your head down, Hannah. No looking up.”

Whether it had been deliberate or not, he had given her a clear, perfect view. Hannah had never seen him shirtless before. The strange tingling sensation gripped her body like a vise, and the blood rushing from her nostrils felt as though it were pumping back up her nose to her cranium. He was handsome in a near-painful way. Her eyes traced the breadth of his broad shoulders, to his veiny toned biceps and smooth sculpted chest. Years of training and strict discipline edged in every contour of his musculature, from his trapezoids down to his six-pack, unblemished skin coated in a thin sheen of sweat, no obvious signs of excess body fat to be had. Adonis. Masculine. Ravishing.

How long did it take him to achieve such a physique, she wondered. Perhaps he always had it. Some people have all the luck in that department; height, strength, brains, and dashing good looks.

Her silent appraisal did not go unnoticed.

“Like what you see?”

Hannah's attention snapped from his laughing turquoise blue eyes boring into her. She could feel his chuckle rumble through his chest. It did things to her stomach, turning it into knots.

“It’s alright. You're not the first. I’ll let you off the hook this time.”

“M’not?”

“No.”

“Oh.” There was a lull. “Um…May I ask how many?”

He arched a brow. “How many what?”

Hannah blushed and turned herself away. Trying to extract this bit of information was a thorny subject, the forbidden fruit she was not allowed to eat from. Yet once the inner voice had reached its verdict, there was little point evading the question. “Firsts before me.”

Frowning, his eyes were like blocks of ice. Not angry per say, just guarded.

“Does it matter?”

The quietness returned. She could hear the sound of a bee trapped somewhere against one of the newly installed windows, that familiar buzzing thump on glass. Yes. Yes, it did matter. It mattered to her a great deal not knowing how many lovers had come before her. Satoru rarely divulged anything about his past and judging by his frosty reaction, that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

He removed the shirt to inspect her nose. His touch was surprisingly gentle as he concentrated, white brows pinched together, biting his lower lip. She suppressed a shiver, feeling his rough calluses graze her cheek.

“Looks like you're not a human spigot anymore,” he said. “Good. Reverse Curse Technique should clear this up in a jiffy.”

Hannah’s eyes widened. “You can do that?”

Her husband’s hubris returned. Slipping her a wink, Satoru gingerly cupped the back of her head. “Hold still,” he hushed, and lifted his spare hand above her face, thinking back to what he learned in his school days: How energy can neither be created, nor destroyed, only converted from one form to the other. First law of thermodynamics. Neat stuff. He felt the negative cursed energy pulse at his fingertips, conducting a positive charge. Felt it mend the contused cartilage and broken bone, decrease the swelling, reattach popped blood vessels, but for some reason he also felt…resistance. Like the moment your quad-core processor suddenly runs at half its initial speed, or how water molecules slow down light. A non life-threatening injury, Hannah’s nose should’ve healed the second the positive energy came into contact with her skin, except it didn’t. It bided its time, stalling. Three minutes in and he still hadn’t fixed her nose.

What the hell?

Satoru stopped for a second, increasing his energerial output. He’d never encountered this problem before. It was like the more he emitted, the more he was met with resistance. Like it wasn’t passing through.

Confused, he glanced over at his wife. She seemed oblivious of the delay, showing no signs of further discomfort, staring up at the ceiling. He went back to the task at hand.

It took him a while longer than usual, but with enough persistence the nose returned as it was. He decided to cheat, just once, and use the Six Eyes ‘x-ray’ vision to assess his handiwork. The purple and red bruising hadn’t completely gone away, although the nasal bone and septum were fully repaired.

“Are we good?”

Believing Shoko would approve of his technique skills, he nodded. “We’re good.”

“Do you want to continue where we left off? I can keep going.”

“Nah,” he said dismissively, taking his bloody shirt from her before standing up. He extended his hand out, hoisting his little wife off the floor. “That’s enough blood loss for one evening. Let’s get some food in you before you pass out.”

She eyed the red splotches on the floor. “What about the tatami? I ruined those too.”

“Leave ‘em be. If they can’t be salvaged, we’ll order new ones.”

The amber sun started to set above the garden lakes. The two placed the table and furniture back where it belonged and headed for the hall. Makoto had dinner ready for them.

The food was delicious as always, three Michelin stars, though Satoru seemed to pester Hannah incessantly about her nose every five minutes. She assured him all was fine and the pain had settled. Upon finishing their meal, the two helped Makoto clean the dishes and put the leftovers in the fridge, and after the last piece of Meissen was hand washed and dried, they thanked the housekeeper for her valiant efforts and let her retire for the evening. Being a Friday night, the couple had nowhere to be tomorrow, so the two chose to stay up a while longer and watch a movie together over ice-cream; plain old Vanilla for Hannah and Triple Chocolate Fudge for Satoru. Satoru had been insisting all week they watch Avatar. They cozied up on the couch with their frozen dairy treats and mentally teleported to the planet of Pandora. The plot was so-so, but the world building was unlike any other. “It looks almost real,” Hannah kept repeating. Satoru agreed. For a five year old movie, the CGI held up nicely.

Three hours later, the film credits rolled. The Six Eyes user stretched his arms out with a yawn. Hannah herself stifled a yawn, signaling it was time for bed.

They continued commenting about the movie as their bedrooms were right around the corner.

“Did you say it made two billion U.S dollars at the box-office?”  

Satoru raised a finger. “Two point nine billion.”

Hannah tried doing the money conversion in her head and pulled a sour face. “That’s too much money.”

Satoru chuckled as they faced each other in the hallway right outside their respective rooms.

This was when things got good.

Like two infatuated teenagers standing by their lockers, the couple waited before parting. Satoru had his hands tied behind his back while Hannah was staring bashfully at the floor. They both knew what came next. Since that night facing the smiling Amida statue, husband and wife had been partaking in a new pre-bedtime ritual. Kissing; Nothing quite like the passion (and romance) they shared at Tokyo Tower overlooking the city skyline; A chaste kiss on the cheek. A light peck on the lips. But that was about to change because Satoru was anything if not persistent.

“Can we try…something else?”

Hannah tilted her head in that innocent manner of hers. Satoru had to bite his lower lip to keep from grinning like an idiot, she was so adorable. “Something else?”

“Yeah, something more,” he searched for the word, “substantial.”

His wife's brow narrowed. “I thought we were taking things slow?”

“We are, but this’ll be different.”

“Different? Different how?”

“Just follow my lead.”

“Satoru, I — ”

“Shh.” He held a finger to her lips and spoke tenderly. “I promise you’ll enjoy it.”

Hannah took an apprehensive breath, felt one of his palms frame her cheek, the other hook around her waist, and then came the moment of truth. Satoru’s mouth gently sought hers, but it wasn’t short lived like the others. Far from it. The way he opened her with his tongue was as though her lips were made of smooth butter and he was parsing through them with a hot knife.

Oh, it was a kiss. It really was. Hannah had no experience to fall back on, but she knew Satoru was a good kisser. He had to be. Their previous kisses had been sweet and chaste. This kiss was long and meandering, his satin-like tongue slowly stirring the inside of her mouth like an old-fashioned butter churner. ‘Follow my lead,’ she remembered him saying. Closing her eyes, Hannah began copying his movements. To be honest, she wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing - at least - she thought she wasn’t sure. The wife had been too intoxicated to remember a certain infamous night out, where she might’ve stumbled home drunk at two in the morning and quite possibly flashed him her breasts, before enveloping Satoru in a searing, French kiss. But again, her memory was a blur. It was no use to her now sober, fully aware of how tentative and uncoordinated she was...

Dear God, he tasted wonderful.

Every so often they’d come back up for air, dip their heads, and meet in yet another kiss, just as deep and languid as the last. How long they stood in that hallway, their tongues moving to an unspecified rhythm, taking their sweet time exploring one another, these new uncharted waters, she didn’t know. Satoru was doing most of the work, his left hand wandering up and down her back, while the right got tangled in her hair. The moment seemed to stretch on forever and it became quite hot between them. Hannah thought the flames engulfing her entire body would consume her, a blend of embarrassment, heat, and pleasure. The whimper that came out of her throat was automatic.

Satoru broke away.

“Sorry,” he panted, face slightly flushed from exertion. “Should’ve tapped out sooner.” He cleared his throat, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “So, whaddya think? Fantastic? Amazing? Phenomenal?”

“Good,” Hannah answered, also out of breath. She could think of nothing more to say. “It was good.”

His laugh was disbelieving. 

“Actually though?”

She pursed her lips and looked guilty at the floor. Her blush hadn’t gone away. “I guess some more practice couldn’t hurt.”

Satoru grinned at the invitation.

“Practice, hmm?” There was a knowing glint in his eyes he couldn’t hide. “Maybe we’ll add it to your training schedule.”

He watched his wife shyly peer up at him. A smile crept at the edges of her kissed lips. Lips kissed by him. Her eyes were so hazel, so warm, empty of everything that wasn’t just the two of them. “I wouldn’t be against that.”

The Six Eyes wielder could’ve danced a jig up and down the hallway, playing every bit the love-struck imbecile he knew himself to be.

It was the tiny victories in life.

Chapter Contents

[187days]

Day Seventy

"Mom, come pick me up, it's triple points day at Starbucks!" -a student on her cell phone in the one random spot where there's service

Did I wish, for a moment, that someone would pick me up early and buy me coffee? Maybe, heh.

But today was a good day.

I spent most of it reading Global Studies essays. First, during my prep time, I read through all the rough drafts students had submitted, and left feedback and editing suggestions Then, during class, I read drafts again if students wanted me to. They're really working hard, even students who find essay-writing challenging, and I think I've been able to help everyone who's really struggled by working with them individually. Mostly, I just needed to explain a particular concept a second time, or listen while they talked through an idea so they could figure out how to best express it.

In one section, one of the boys randomly said, "Hey, Miss M, guess what?" in the middle of the block, while everyone was working.

I responded, "What?"

He shouted, "Chicken butt!!!!!!"

Momentary regression to elementary school? No idea why that happened! It was pretty funny, though. And I have said many times that the ways of ninth grade boys are mysterious and not meant to be fully understood.

APGOV was fairly quiet because students were preparing discussion questions about "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and "The Ballot or the Bullet." We did talk a bit first, though, about local politics (dramatic school board meeting last night) and about President Zelensky's visit to DC. Tomorrow, we'll have what I call the "Martin and Malcolm" discussion, and students will ask each other their questions. I'm very much looking forward to that!

There was a faculty meeting after school that ran a bit long. Usually, we use the second half of faculty meetings to do work related to advisory; all the teachers who advise the same grade get together to design grade-specific lessons or projects. Today, since we didn't have much time, the other department heads and I told our colleagues we'd just pick up with our work during PLC time on Thursday. Being able to cancel meetings is a nifty department head perk!

[winderlylandchime]

15 QUESTIONS, 15 (or whatever) TAGS

tagged by @lostcol ily bb

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYBODY?

Nope. Family lore is that my mom and dad went through a baby name book and my mom circled all the names she liked in red and my dad circled all the names he liked in blue and mine was the only one with two circles. My first middle name is the name my mom wanted to give her sister when my aunt was born. And my second middle name is my mom’s maiden name.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

When my spouse and I were on vacation abroad and our flight home had been cancelled and we got scammed trying to get another flight and had to cancel our credit card and still find a way home. I very rarely cry (except when watching stupid things on tv) but I sobbed I was so stressed out. And on my period. Which y’know made traveling home super fun.

3. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

Childless by choice (I love being an auntie to my nieces and friends’ kids though!) (I hate that I worry people will assume I hate kids because I’m a woman who didn’t want them!)

4. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?

No, never. 😉

5. WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED?

I played basketball for one memorable season in elementary school. I ran cross country for one memorable season in high school because it exempted me from gym class (joke was entirely on me when I realized being on the track team meant actually exercising more than going to gym class. And I used to be a (very very slow) runner (a whole slew of half marathons, 5 and 10ks, and exactly 1 marathon). My body doesn’t work like that anyone. But I miss it.

6. WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT SOMEONE?

Their smile. What they’re wearing.

7. EYE COLOUR?

Blue like my mama.

8. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

I don’t do scary. I definitely prefer happy endings…but a good story is a good story.

9. ANY SPECIAL TALENTS?

I have a freakishly good memory for personal details. Like I will pretend to have never heard something about someone before to avoid freaking them out. It does come in handy at work though!

10. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

New York, New York baby!

11. WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?

Reading, writing, watching drag (on tv or live), going to concerts

12. DO YOU HAVE PETS?

2 dogs, 2 cats

13. HOW TALL ARE YOU?

5’9” yes I can grab that for you

14. FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?

In HS: AP US History and Latin (because my teachers for each were incredible - shout out to Ms Favretti and Dr Polsky!)

In college: Fairy Tales, Abnormal Psych, Mythic Imagination, and that seminar where I got to read Timothy Leary’s research

In grad school: Psychopathology I & II and Social Bases for Behavior

15. DREAM JOB?

I do not dream of labor. But if I must work for a living, I literally have it. When I went to grad school my hope was to be part of a group private practice and voila! I am clinical director of an awesome practice with incredibly talented folks. And my hours permit me to also do some consulting work with CMSC which is also a dream.

no pressure tagging: @flowerswehadgrowntogether @bartbarthelme @sheisraging @headbandsandflats @provenance

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

I was pulling my hair back and went into the living room to ask my mom a question regarding whether or not to bring cash and get lunch bia vemding machine after my uni class, or pack my lunch instead. After I gave up on the fight to pull my hair back (elastic hair ties snapped, was the third that morning), I turned in the TV.

The first plane had hit, and as I was watching, the second one did. I couldn't move. My dad was supposed to be on a plane that morning. My mom tried calling him, but all she got was a busy signal. Over and over again. After half an hour, we left to get me to my class, a 90 minute drive across town. We had the radio on for a minute, but everything was news. She couldn't focus on driving until she turned it off. Silence for thr next 90 minutes.

My class was an hour long, so she hung out in the parking lot. I walked in, and it was panic everywhere. The teacher started berating us because none of us were actively participating. Finally, she gave up, and asked wtf was wrong with us. Turns out she had no TV, radio, or internet at home. So we told her to turn the TV in the classroom on. Class was cancelled. About 20 minutes later, all classes were cancelled.

The older brother of one of my classmates worked in one of the twin towers. His brother missed the train to get across town to work and would've been late for work. Another had a sister who lived in an apartment just a block from the tower. Turns out, her sister had moved out two days prior and had relocated just outside NYC.

We managed to get a hold of my dad four days later. He arrived home a week later.

Yeah, I remember.

I am curious, bc I just ran across one of those, 'everyone remembers where they were when 9/11 happened!' things so-

This isn't meant to be a commentary on the event, just whether or not you remember where you were/what you were doing when the news hit.

As an example, I was home sick, doing dishes, when mom yelled for me to get in the living room RIGHT NOW.

[fullsunstrawberry]

PREVIEW

Love Beyond Labels

synopsis: the misunderstood "rich girl," reveals her academic struggles to a loner with his own challenges. In an unexpected twist, they form a unique friendship—she gets study help, and he gains a true companion.

genre: slice of life, humor, fluff, angst, smut

warnings**: swearing, bullying, joke of “social suicide”, smut (more to be added)

word count: estimated 10k (preview 1k)

release date: December 10th

a/n: thank you guys so much for 2k followers AHHHH so i decided to post my first ever written fanfic…this took forever to write btw lol

taglist open! (18+)

School is easy, all you have to do is sit there and look pretty. Well, that's what all your classmates thought. They didn't know how difficult school was for you. You never got what was happening in class. Anytime you got an answer wrong, no one batted an eye because who expects the rich pretty girl to get an answer right? But little did they know you would cry in the janitor's room after each time. You just hated feeling so dumb.

"Ugh, I'm not ready for today's test," Jaemin huffed, plopping down beside you.

"Wait, there's a test?" you sighed, already predicting the outcome.

Mr. Moon whispered a half-hearted "good luck" as he handed you the test, before moving on and finishing handing out everyone else’s tests. He already knew how it was going to go. You hated how even the teachers knew you were stupid.

After the test, you already knew you failed it. You were the last one to turn your test in, when Jaemin asked if you wanted to meet up with him, Jeno, Mark, and Chenle for lunch. You nodded telling him you had to stop at the office real quick.

Instead of walking towards the office, you sped walked to the janitor's closet, already feeling the tears threaten to escape. You knew you failed that test. Even though you acted like you didn’t know you had a test, you lied. You’ve been studying for it for a long time. Even canceling plans. But you would never admit it to anyone. You studied your ass off but still failed, that’s even more pathetic than forgetting about it.

You quickly took out the keys and opened the door quickly so no other student would see it. You thank the janitor for being so forgetful that you could easily steal one of his keys. He has a bunch of copies, one missing wouldn’t hurt. Right as you locked the door you sat in the corner, not even bothering to turn the lights on.

you were always an ugly crier, but it was okay cause you bought the most expensive waterproof makeup for these occasions. Only a quick bathroom stop is needed before meeting your friends for lunch.

As you were drying your tears you heard the door jiggle and then open. you quickly hid your face just in case it was someone you knew.

"Y/N?" a voice you didn't recognize spoke, interrupting your quiet moment in the janitor's closet.

Confused, you wiped your face and looked up at the mystery voice. You kind of recognized the thick black glasses boy in front of you. You knew he was in some of your classes but you couldn’t think of his name.

Fearing the worst you cleared your throat before asking “What do you want?”

“Uh, I don't want anything!" the boy replied, swiftly stepping into the room and closing the door. You noticed he had his lunch tray with him. "This might sound pathetic, but I like to eat my lunch here."

confused, you asked him “Why would you do that?”

“Well I don’t really have friends and I don't want to get picked on” he explained sitting down next to you, not having much of a choice because there wasn’t that much room.

"Oh, I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll just go," you said, preparing to stand up. But before you could, he quickly called out your name, making you look down at him.

"You're not bothering me! You can stay and talk about what's going on. I know we don't talk, but I can listen to you." His hopeful eyes convinced you to sit back down. You quickly wiped away your tears before confiding in him.

“You can’t tell anyone this!“ You put your pinky finger up and put it near him. “promise?

“I don’t have many people to tell” he let out a small laugh while putting his hands up defensively. “promise!” he took your pinky finger in his

“okay” you nodded “I failed my psychology test today”

you looked at his face and he looked confused “What?” you questioned

“Oh it's just, you always fail your tests. Everyone knows that”

As he said that you felt the tears start to come back. Of course, he wouldn’t get it. Why did you ever think he would get it?

“I didn’t mean it like that, I’m so sorry” he panicked “I shouldn’t have said that!”

you turn away, quickly wiping away your tears again. “no I get it, I’m the dumb girl”

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant. Hey, want to hear something embarrassing about me? I'm only here because of a scholarship. That's why no one wants to be friends with me!" he confessed.

you start to giggle “That’s not embarrassing!”

“It made you laugh! But here is something actually embarrassing, my teacher forgot my name today. Even though I've had her for the whole year.”

Your eyes widen, feeling bad that you forgot his name.

“ahh you don’t know my name either”

you smile “If you tell me your name, I’ll forgive you”

“haechan”

“That's a nice name, haechan” You smiled at the way it rolled off your tongue.

“thank you, I have a proposition or a proposal”

“I know what proposition means” you teased

he giggled, “I’ll help you study”

your eyes lit up, “really? What can I do for you?”

he avoided your eyes and cleared his throat “Be my friend”

your eyes softened “That’s not hard, I was going to be your friend after this conversation anyways” You pushed his shoulder.

He finally met your eyes and smiled at you. “then you don’t have to do anything, friends help friends”

As the bell faintly rang, you pulled out your phone. "Here, give me your number so we can talk."

he paused for a second before taking your phone

standing up and thanking him before you quickly left to go touch up your makeup in the bathroom. Reminding yourself you would have to tell Jaemin you were sorry for ditching him and the guys.

[dancergurl3000]

Continued essay.

I find myself waxing poetic about that time and realizing that I never want to go back there either. It was a terrible time! I always tell everyone that I know (and I guess myself as well), that I BARELY graduated from Oneonta state. But it’s true. I did barely graduate. My biggest complaint that semester was the new rule for the psychology on campus. Oneonta students that fall were only allowed three visitations to the counselor on campus. So to me, it was no wonder and no big surprise at all to me when one student felt the need to blast his own negativity on social media instead of just thinking his own thoughts and heading into the guidance counselor’s office with them. Why feel the need to ruin everyone’s final moments of college will never be understood by a person such as myself. But it did feel familiar to me in my schooling career to have such a dramatic end to my schooling. My senior year of high school felt like a moment of time of utter dread in the fall semester when we seniors were being blamed for the previous spring semester’s school prank! Oh yes, we juniors woke up to our last day of junior year of high school to it being canceled and closed with a bunch of idiot seniors deciding to vandalize the buses with a tire iron. I was gifted a cell phone that Christmas so my best friend at the time Rachel Tallman had waited for a public school bus for three and a half hours and called me to rage at ME about it. She had no idea that Colonie Central High School had shut down. Fast forward twenty years and I was unsurprised at that Oneonta sophomore’s public Facebook post. My graduating class of June 2009 CCHS high school graduates would have nodded and smiled and taken it on the chin and just told my professors: “get used to the drama that will follow you around through your working career until you retire because we CCHS students know what it feels like to be blamed for something that has nothing to do whatsoever with your character.” All I can really remember of that time in 2015 was being mostly glad my college career was over. I walked and walked into my future. In the ten years since I’ve been out of school permanently my life is so much more peaceful. It’s full of friendship, good music, family, and most lovingly of all, great pets to keep me company. If you ask me about school, I honestly don’t miss it. Public schooling is in total crisis and free fall right now and it’s not the student’s faults. It’s the administrators fault, who put sports over academics. It’s the incoming administration Presidentially speaking’s fault who think that “arming teachers with guns” is better than paying them a living wage. My favorite professor from Oneonta state was on fucking food stamps, and is the funniest man I know in upstate New York, yet it should not be a thing at all for teachers to have to be on food stamps because they can’t pay their bills. And they don’t teach history like they used to anymore, public school teachers are completely glossing over subjects like World War One, and Jim Crow Laws in the South and the Midwest and stories such as “Lovecraft Country” which celebrate “black love”, and in which I cheer that on and celebrate and clap because “black love” is beautiful to me, but I also can not ignore the simple fact that the black girls of my high school also had a terrible time, as terrible of a time as I did. I’m angry I had to learn about things as an adult when I should have been taught them in history class. I’m angry at Disney for sugar coating mass murder, like anyone really believed for a second that the Romanov family had a chance at escaping death? At how my favorite Disney story, “Aladdin” was completely made up by a kidnapped Indian woman who looked at her captor and told him that story so that he would not kill her in her tent every night? And what about the criminal teacher who taught music class, band class who stole all of one teacher’s guitar equipment? These things need to be fixed, not done away with. I don’t miss school because the drama surrounded me wherever I went.

[tsunderrated]

you have mentioned being in japan and i wanted to share. ive wanted to go for a long time, since i was like 12 i think? my high school had japanese as a language class and obviously i jumped in there and for my junior year our teacher said he was gonna organize the annual trip to japan as long as enough people signed up. so i did and we actually managed to get enough people signed up! after raising half the funds and getting the rest given to me by my grandma everything was all ready. this was 2011 and the fukushima earthquake cancelled the trip.

i got a partial refund, but had to give some of the money back. afterwards, we couldn't get enough people to sign up in 2012, and i was openly invited to join in 2013 while my bf was still in school, but that didn't happen either.

ive been so devastated because i wanted to go but now i struggle to pay rent, let alone save up for an international trip. so now i have to live vicariously through any of your occasional posts of when you were there, and i get sadder whenever you talk about missing it

waaaaah i missed this for a bit but that's so sweet :( i hope one day you'll find a way there, when you don't have to struggle to survive

[xdolls-crownx]

venting hours (again… This one got long)

So I’m half Chinese and half white. I’m not proud of either sometimes. I resent both for different reasons.

When I was younger, people made fun of Chinese people a lot going “Ching Chong” and stretching their eyelids to be as thin as possible. I was 7. Fresh into first grade and I tried to fit in because I was the new kid. The elementary I had gone to had a kindergarten that most kids had gone to before first grade. I didn’t go to that kindergarten. Instead, I went to a private school for three years. I miss that place. I loved it there. But private schools get expensive quick and so I changed to my district’s public school. I hated it there. I was new and couldn’t make friends. I ended up being a popular girls servant and she’s turned the trajectory of my life into a living hell.

For 4 long, stupid years, I would learn to hate my heritage.

Third grade was the worst but I’ll get back to that later. My father’s parents were Chinese, specifically from Taiwan and Hong Kong, but he didn’t grow up learning mandarin or their traditions. Instead, he got the typical Asian parent treatment. They lived closer so when my parents couldn’t take during the day me or I needed to stay because they were gonna be gone, they were there and willing. I was with them a lot when I was younger, especially during summer. They tried to teach me mandarin but I had already known English for my entire life so I never understood what they were say and I never caught on. This was where it began. I was embarrassed when we would go somewhere and their Asian accents and mannerisms would show. I didn’t want to be like them, I wanted to be like all the other white kids I saw around me, but, at the same time, I used being half Chinese to my advantage. I had something special about me… but it didn’t matter. I was already too far gone.

Third grade was horrible. Right when I thought I had escaped being in the clutches of some popular girls servant, it happened again. This never really went away until 4th grade but I didn’t have good friends. Her name was Olivia and she was the devil incarnate. Mind you I was 9-10 years old when this all happened. She would order me back and forth across the field to the playground all recess to basically be a pigeon bird telling the girl she didn’t like what she thought. She punched me a few times and it hurt. She pretended I was a ghost and didn’t exist and punched me. I never left her because I had no one else. She was my only friend. There were two other girls along side me but I can’t remember their names. I had started to befriend most of my teachers because if I had no one else, I still had them. There was a YMCA daycare at my school for before and at the end of the day. I went to both. I befriended a counselor named Carson. He was my favorite person. Me and a few other kids would sit with him and just talk. I would alway try to play with the boys but they never liked me playing with them so I always ended back up by Carson’s side helping and just looking at this stupid picture of a cat in cup he had on his phone. This inability to befriend people my own age led me further into the madness and self loathing that started with a simple elementary class.

I got to middle school and pushed away my culture even more. That was until they announced a sister school in China that they would send a few kids too each year and vice versa. I was so excited because maybe for once, I wouldn’t push my heritage down. But it got cancelled and the cycle continued. When I finally got to 7th grade, I slowly started to gain an appreciation for a culture I had dismissed in exchange for fitting in. But now I felt guilty. I knew no mandarin and knew only the most basic of traditions. I pushed away the help my grandparents had given me because I felt embarrassed. This would fester into my freshman year.

The summer before my Freshman year, my school offered a program that basically let you gain extra credits for classes and an option I had was mandarin. I was ecstatic. A free way to learn a language I had wanted to learn after years of pushing it away. But I never ended up finishing the course which lead to me feeling even more guilty.

I had told my grandparents I was taking mandarin over the summer and they were so excited and so was I. So the guilt I felt when I ended up not fishing the course and learning nothing as they would speak to me in mandarin hurt.

Christmas of my freshman year came around and we had a lunch with them at our house. We started talking and I jokingly (not jokingly) said I wish I could visit China. The food was ready so I grabbed plates to go get food when my grandpa pulled me next to him and said “I wish we would have started to teach you Chinese when you were younger.”

The sadness in his voice is something I’ll never forget.

This is where I resent my heritage from time to time.

I resent my white heritage because it took me over. I was consumed into a carbon copy of everything I was surrounded by and I hate that I pushed my other life away in favor of it. And I don’t blame my parents but I wish they would have tired a little harder to show me my other side.

I resent my Chinese heritage because I feel guilty that I never tired until it was too late. My mental state is a mess and I need to be officially diagnosed but that scares me. My heads too loud for me to retain anything so I feel bad.

I’m stuck between worlds that I put myself in and I can’t get out. I see Chinese celebrities who lived similar to me and know mandarin, who know their traditions and I wish I was them. I sometimes wish I was never white so I could know a language that I may never get to learn. I sometimes wish I was never Chinese so I wouldn’t feel like I failed my family.

[tyrannosaurus-trainwreck]

"The internet" didn't exist in a modern-recognizable form yet. My unsuspecting 7th-grade English teacher had us do a creative writing exercise and then trade with a random classmate for critique. I should mention that he hadn't told us about that part ahead of time, and also that it should be obvious from just that that he was not equipped to handle what was about to happen.

I wrote a fanfic of Andre Norton's Beastmaster series, because my parents let me watch the baffling 1982 movie adaptation at way too young an age and I lost my tiny tweenager mind when I discovered that a) they were also books and b) the local library system had them. The novels followed the adventures of a demobbed special forces soldier named Hosteen Storm on a human-colonized alien planet.

The boy I traded with had written a fanfic of The X-Men, haphazardly available on the magazine rack at the local grocery stores and as a Saturday morning cartoon. Unsurprisingly, it prominently featured the mutant Ororo Munroe, aka Storm.

I was vaguely aware of the X-Men as a thing. My surprise critique partner was not even slightly aware of the 1959 science fiction novel or its 1962 sequel.

We gave each other the most useless writing feedback in the history of useless writing feedback.

I can't remember exactly what I wrote for him, but I'm sure 99% of my points would have been answered by having watched more than one and a half episodes of the show, because his story otherwise seemed very straightforward--superheroes did superhero things with their superhero powers, and Sentinels, which I vaguely recalled being the evil mutant-hating robots that were just allowed to fucking run around unattended, tried to kill them. It probably would have been a banger if I hadn't been so in the dark on the source material that I somehow arrived at the conclusion that Danger Room was a heretofore unguessed-at and cartoonishly overpowered X-Man that the whole team ganged up on for obscure superhero reasons.

What he wrote for me was short, sweet, and to the point: He corrected all my hes for Storm to shes and then informed me that Storm did not talk to animals, she controlled the weather, and that she lived at the X-Mansion, not in the desert, and that there were no aliens in the X-Men*.

When we read each other's feedback, we accepted it with all the grace of 7th graders being given an unexpected critique on a mandatory assignment from a classmate we didn't know well or particularly like who was also possibly the biggest dumbass on the face of the planet for not knowing that Storm was a weather-controlling girl/not realizing that this story was about a completely different goddamn character.

Him: The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee, the team first appearing in The X-Men #1 (September 1963).[1] Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to low sales, following its 1975 revival and subsequent direction under writer Chris Claremont--

Me:

The teacher: By Talos, this can't be happening!

There were blood-feuds being born in other corners of the room as feral children ripped into each other over beloved original work, but that I think he at least understood. There wasn't a serious teacher shortage at the time, so I assume the guy teaching our English class had sat through at least one undergraduate creative writing class with critique sessions. People being mean, missing the point entirely, or taking fair critique way too personally were things he'd presumably witnessed at some point.

I don't think he'd ever seen two people get into a passionate and mutually-incomprehensible argument about genetically-altered lifeforms, psionic bonds, and weather-control powers. He definitely had no idea how to moderate that argument, and I suspect all he heard was us making nerd-child noises at each other at a steadily rising pitch and volume, like tree-frogs competing for territory after a hard rain.

Anyway, nobody in the room knew what "fanfic" was, but that didn't stop us from inflicting it on each other in person, for a grade.

*I like to think his love of the series was long-lasting and deep enough for him to feel a pang of remorse at how wrong he'd been on this point when he hit the storyline where not only were there aliens in the X-Men, but Professor X fucked one of them.

Poll Tuesday

I feel like I’m exposing myself a little bit with this bc my introduction to fic is soo random I think, but whatever your answer please tell me the story! I wanna know haha