#considering how much homework i did yesterday my only plans today are to finish the henry edit work on the trapper edit and
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hawkeyeslaughter · 7 months ago
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if you have any favorite henry blake scenes please tell me in the replies and if you know the episode put it down !! <3 :]
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castexpectopatronum · 3 years ago
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Liquid Amber - Part II [Remus Lupin x Reader Imagine]
Summary: You had been crushing on Remus Lupin for an eternity when you finally decided to ask him out. However, things do not go as planned and you remain wondering just what exactly is going on with this boy.
word count: 1.6k
trigger warnings: none
notes: apparently this got deleted, so i’m reuploading it
Masterlist
“... and I really don’t know if I should have continued with Divination because on the one hand, sure it’s a fascinating subject but on the other hand, Professor Hartshorn is so incredibly ridiculous, you should’ve heard her yesterday- (Y/N), are you listening to me?”
At once, you snapped out of the daze you had been in and looked at your friend who was eying you with a bemused expression.
“Still thinking about him,  are you?”
Sighing deeply, you hunched forwards and rubbed your eyes, utterly exasperated – from both, your work and mind. “Sorry, I just... I can’t get him out of my head, no matter what I do.” She smiled. “No worries, (y/n). We’ve all been through that phase. Probably everbody has that one crush they will never forget. It’s normal.”
“Normal or not, it bloody sucks,” you grumbled, leaning back in the armchair. The two of you were currently sitting in your common room, occuping an entire table with your school work. Quills, parchment and half-empty ink bottles littered the entire surface and the books you didn’t necessarily need had already been banished onto the floor where they were stacked into a dangerously lose pile. But as long as they didn’t fall into the fireplace, it didn’t bother either of you.
A huge yawn escaped your mouth and in a rather half-hearted attempt to be productive, you threw a glance at the essay you were currently working on. Once again, it was for your potions class. Like the time you had gathered all of your courage to ask out Remus Lupin but had been turned down and had felt absolutely humiliated for the remainder of the week. Even now, you still had problems looking him in the eye but as Remus was apparenly determined never to speak with you again, it did not cause you a lot of trouble.
Picking up your quill again only to twirl it in between your fingers, you wondered wether Remus was purposely avoiding you. You wouldn’t be surprised if that were he case; he had looked quite constipated when you had asked him if he wanted to go out with you.
Your stomach tightened unpleasently. If you had known of Remus’ profound aversion to go out on a date with you, you wouldn’t have approached him in the first place. You hadn’t planned for him to get into that kind of rotten situation. Maybe you should go and apologise to him. Was that something you had to do?
It had started to rain; heavy drops were whipping against the window and together with the occasional scratching of your friend’s quill made you fall into a hypnotised        state while you stared into the depths of the crackling fire.
”You’re not going to finish that this evening, are you?”
You simply shook your head, not bothering to raise your eyes.
Your friend sighed deeply and rolled up her parchment. “Shall we head to bed, then? I’m finished, anyways.” She groaned loudly as she stretched in her armchair, finally educing a small smile from you.
“Yeah, good idea. Let’s go to sleep.”
One day, you would be able to look back at this and laugh about it. Your first heartbreak was a good story to tell your grandchildren. And that, my dear, is how the first bloke I ever fell in love with rejected me, which is great, though, because if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have married your grandfather and you would never have been born.
Sadly, however, you were far from getting grey hair and wrinkles and telling bed time stories to your children’s children, so you had to endure sitting in class behind Remus and starring at his stupid brown hair which looked so wonderfully soft that you felt the strong urge to run your fingers through it every time your gaze fell upon it.
And thus, you came to the terribly depressing conclusion that you hated your life. But – of course – you found yourself, once again, unable to despise the person that made your life such a horrible mess. Which made it an even more horrible, messier mess.
The ringing bell, which marked the end of the school day, interrupted your flow of thoughts and you quickly gathered your things together, glad for the opportunity to escape.
While walking back to your common room – you avoided the library as much as you could – you again considered approaching Remus to talk things out. You were still unsure wether or not you owed him an apology, and anyway, you didn’t want things to be awkward between the two of you.
Not that you had had many opportunities to become aware of said awkwardness – Remus was definitely avoiding you.
A sigh escaped you, one in a line of many others since that faithful day in the library, and you tried to focus on all the homework and revision you had to do for today. Going over all of your plans in your head, you turned around the corner-
-and collided straight with another person, causing all of the books in both of your hands to fall and spread onto the ground.
The clash’s force made you stumble several steps backwards, thankfully though you managed to keep your balance, arms waving around.
“Shit, sorry, mate, are you okay?” Once you’ve managed to get a stable footing, you lifted your gaze from the stone floor and looked directly into the face of Remus Lupin.
All colour drained from your cheeks.
“Oh. Hi, Remus. Didn’t see ya there.” You laughed forcefully.
Remus looked at you with a startled expression that quickly turned into one of clear uncomfort.
“Hello, (y/n),” he muttered quietly.
In a desperate attempt to chase away the heavy silence lying between the both of you, you hurriedly gathered up the school books that were scattered around on the stone floor.  The two of you stood there in awkward silence, clutching your books to your chests. He was expertedly avoiding your eyes while you were desperately trying to find the right words to say.
Surprisingly though, it was Remus who first raised his voice,
“Listen, (y/n), I need to go, so...”
“Remus-”
“I forgot something in the library-” He tried to quickly walk past you but you seized his arm to hold him back. The look he gave you, however, was one of slight surprise and discomfort.
“I’m sorry,” you said, unable to hide the sorrow in your eyes. “Listen, I never...” You interrupted yourself, an uneasy feeling spreading throughout your stomach. “When I asked you out, I never intended on making you feel uncomfortable. I just ... I just wanted to know if I stood a chance. You really don’t have to feel guilty for anything – and I’m sorry for having put you in this situation.” You licked your lips nervously and let go of his sleeve. “That’s it. I just wanted to apologise. Sorry for bothering you.”
Remus did not say anything in your defense. Nor did he say anything to blame you. He did, in fact, not say anything at all. He simply stared at you, his brown eyes almost burning a hole into your skull. As you looked into his piercing eyes, finding yourself unable to turn you gaze away from them, your heart forgot how to beat.
“Remus?” It was no more than a breath, barely even a whisper, but it was enough to snap him out of his daze. He blinked a few times, then took a hasty step back and cleared his throat. You took a shaky breath – you hadn’t even realised you were holding it.
“I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you,” he said hoarsely, looking at the stone floor instead of meeting your eyes. “Believe me, that wasn’t my intention.”
Your face softened. “I know you didn’t want to hurt me, Remus,” you whispered. “I’m not mad at you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He lifted his head slightly but then changed his mind and continued to stare at the ground. “Me turning you down... That had nothing to do with you.”
You took a step back and furrowed your eyebrows. “What do you mean? Of course it had something to do with me.”
Remus pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head. “No, (y/n), it didn’t. Please believe me.”
You opened your mouth to speak but no words came out of it. Remus sighed.
“(Y/N), I would have rejected any girl that had been in your place.”
Frowning, you attempted to speak – then you understood. “Oh! Merlin, I am so sorry – I didn’t know you fancy boys. Nobody told me.”
Abruptly, Remus lifted his head and gave you a startled look. “Wha- No, (y/n), I’m not gay.”
“Remus, that really isn’t something you have to be ashamed of, no matter what anybody says-”
“I am not gay!”
You paused. “Alright... Then what is the problem?”
Remus attempted to say something but then changed his mind and pressed his lips together. He looked like he regretted ever bumping into you.
As you examined his face and the tense expression upon it, you sighed in defeat. “You know what, forget it. I’m sorry, that’s none of my business. I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry for what happened back in the library.” A forced smile appeared on your face as you turned to leave. You felt Remus’ burning eyes on you until you had reached the end of the corridor, leaving you more confused than ever before.
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midnightmoonkiss · 5 years ago
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The Lure Of Nightfall [2]
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Izuku Midoriya X Fem! Reader
Summary: After accidentally flying in on your best friend jerkin his meat to the thought of you, things get out of hand, and you’re thrown into a weekly routine.
WARNINGS!: Voyeurism, Masturbation
Category: Smut, Smut, Pure Smut.
Word Count: 8.7k+
A/N: You all wanted this! >.< I hope I delivered~
Just To Clarify:
This is a continuation!
panties are a bitch.
Part One
Tag List:  @zylith-imagines-and-fics @birds-have-teeth @my-bnha-things.
The morning after carried on just as any Sunday would have.
Izuku woke up refreshed and ready to start his daily work out.
The strange bird encounter completely slipped his mind as he ran laps, pushing his legs to run faster and faster with each completed circle.
He was always one to push his limits, always one to ignore the burning in his calves and thighs as his legs became a blur of motion beneath him.
All he could think about was how many laps he had run, and how many more he had to go.
You could only ever push yourself so far. He learned that lesson the hard way not too long ago when he didnt stop running until his legs gave out and a student had to come and get him.
His legs were practically dead weight for the following few hours.
Sighing at the memory, he went on, arm coming up to wipe the sweat from his brow.
It was 9:00AM when he finally finished his workout routine, a little later than he was used to. But who could blame him? He did go to bed later than his schedule recommended, after all.
But..
That wasn’t..
His fault..
He frantically shook his head, scarred palms slapping his redding cheeks as what got him so riled up in the first place flickered through his mind.
 He did not need to have such thoughts at this moment.
Heading back to his dorm, he grabbed his shampoo and body wash, as well as a fresh change of clothes before skipping down the steps. He felt gross and sticky with sweat, and he couldn’t wait to feel the rush of water against his skin.
Oh!No one’s here! 
He thought happily as he practically skipped into the bathroom, putting his clothes in the locker beside the shower stall he chose.
He hopped into the shower, not bothering to turn the heat on as cold showers always seemed to snap him out of any dirty thoughts. Plus, not only did they help make someone more alert after an intense workout, the cool water always left a heated body feeling much better.
Once done, he quickly dried off and changed, making his way to the sinks to brush and fully dry his thick, damp hair.
Such fluffy hair regrettably required a stay-in conditioner, or else it would look simply dreadful - frizzy hair galore. No one, especially him, wants that. Though it took away that masculine scent of body wash guys apparently are supposed to thrive in, it did make him smell pretty sweet. It all fit together perfectly in a way. Sugar n’ spice made everything nice, right?
As he was spraying the stay-in conditioner, running a wooden comb through the damp, curly green locks, he let his mind wander.
He forgot something, didn’t he?
It felt like he did.
He chewed his pouty bottom lip, eyes narrowing as he let his arms run on autopilot so his thoughts could drift.
He wasn’t usually so forgetful, so what on Earth was he forgetting?
Something the other day, surely.
He didn’t have anything planned today.
Just relax and enjoy life for a second. They didn’t get breaks often, and last Sunday he was at the mall all day with you and his friend group.
You..
What about you?
He felt like you were the key to his confusion and forgetfulness, but why?
He hadn’t had an interaction with you yesterday that would require his immediate attention, so-
Wait.
His movements stopped as he stared wide-eyed at his reflection in the mirror.
Most birds sleep at night, that was common knowledge.
So why the hell was there one on his balcony so late last night.
He dropped his comb, wood clanging loudly onto the floor, the noise echoing around his suddenly deaf ears.
Birds don’t nuzzle fingers.
Birds fly away when a human approaches.
That wasn’t any ordinary bird.
That wasn’t a bird at all, was it?
No.
There was only one person who could turn into a bird..
And that person was..
You.
Oh god.. Oh god, no!
Izuku collapses to his knees, arms wrapping securely around his head as he blushes and whines like a mad man.
You saw him! You had to have seen him!
He was! 
He was naked-!
You didn’t… you didn’t see and hear him in the act, right!?
He shakily inhaled, shameful tears blurring his vision.
You heard him moan out your name, didnt you!
You must hate him now! Think he’s disgusting..
What type of person masturbates to their best friend!
But he couldn’t help it!
He’s been in love with you for so long..
He knew his dreams would never come to fruition, that you would never like him as much as he liked you, so he took to his mind to live out a life he’s always wanted.
One his body so desperately craves.
It was so humiliating!
How could he face you..?
Fat tears streamed down his face, heart breaking at the thought of you never speaking to him again. His mind fled to a dark place, completely ignoring the fact that the bird had been so gentle with him and seemingly uncaring.
So, imagine his surprise when you happily greeted him at one of the tables as he walked out of the bathroom for water.
Upon seeing his tear stained face, worry quickly consumed you, face contorting as you jumped up and rushed over to him.
“Hey, are you okay? What’s wrong, ‘Zuku? You were crying?”
You bombarded him with questions, hands coming up to delicately cradle his burning face between them.
His head felt fuzzy as he stared into your (E/C) eyes glimmering with concern.
A whimper built up in the back of his throat, fearful that you’d still leave him.
But why were you acting like last night never happened? That you didnt watch him defile your name?
Well, to be honest, you currently clung onto the hope that he never realized it was you. He wasn’t acting angry or upset like you’d expect him to if he did find out, so it was obvious you were in the clear. 
Except, you weren’t. And he did know.
He just didn’t know why, why you were there or why you watched him. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel as creeped out about as he probably should have, it was like there was a small bell of honor ringing in his chest.
All in all, he figured you wanted to hang out, that’s why you were there in the first place.
But he wanted to know why you watched him - why you didn’t leave the moment you no-doubt saw him pleasuring himself.
God, he felt stupid.
He should have paid more attention to the time he chose, you always came to his dorm around that time during the weekend!
He wanted to facepalm, hide his ashamed face beneath his palms.
But for now, he’d soak in the feeling of your soft hands holding his face, thumbs brushing away stray tears.
You were trying to hide it. Hide the fact that you saw him. He’d indulge you, pretend he didn’t know anything
“Y-Yeah! I’m alright..!”
He smiled.
And so the show began.
He never stopped hanging out with you, and the shame soon melted away into desire as the days trudged on.
He didnt know why, but the thought of you watching him do something so intimate.. It thrilled him to his very core, sent tingles down his spine and left him breathless for a moment or two.
It actually gave him quite a few boners in class, much to his embarrassment. Lord, did his mind wander too much. He was just a hormonal teenage boy, after all.
Funnily enough, he could feel that the majority of the time you spent around each other, your stare was directed towards him. It was as if he was your center of attention throughout most classes these days, the apple of your mesmerizing eyes, and it felt amazing.
Like.. like he was the only thing you cared about. Only thing you needed.
He loved that feeling.
He wanted more.
He wanted you to, in a way, need him as much as he needed you.
He wanted it to happen again, wanted to know what it would feel like if he was actually aware of it occurring rather than only finding out about it the next day when his senses came back.
So, he decided he’d try touching himself every Saturday at the same time, since that is when you last showed up, leaving his window and curtains open just so you could, theoretically, get a good view.
He knew how wrong it was, wanting his best friend to watch him do something so sinful at nightfall whilst holding innocent conversations during the daylight.
He was too horny for his own good. Could you blame him?
The first attempt was unsuccessful, and he never did feel your piercing gaze on his trembling body as he worked himself to completion.
It was disappointing, but he had hope, and an unexpected outlet for his sexual frustrations.
Meanwhile, you were going crazy.
It felt like you were holding onto a dirty little secret, one Izuku had absolutely no idea about.
Everyday you had to force yourself to not let the image of him writhing sinfully around on his sheets float to the surface of your overactive mind.
You definitely did not need any soaked panties, especially considering you’d have to walk around all day like that.
It was truly a blessing in disguise.
Was it strange to say that in a way you got off on talking innocently to Izuku now?
Staring into his beautiful green eyes, talking about the math homework you forgot to do, all you could think about was how those eyes were glazed over with lust, pupils blown ridiculously wide as he came all over himself.
Such a messy boy.
Gah!
You aggressively shook your head in class, hands rubbing aggressively at your closed eyes to try and erase the image..
“(Y-Y/N)? Are y-you okay?” Izuku stuttered nervously, hands outstretched, ready to place them on your shoulders if you needed to be steadied.
You were simply talking, but suddenly you had such a violent reaction when he asked what answer you got for question three on the homework!
Had you not done it? Maybe you had had quite the trouble with it and didn’t want to remember the minutes wasted on chewing on your mechanical pencil as tears of frustration streamed down your face? He’d seen it occur before, It was a very weird and.. sad.. sight.
“Ah!” You yelped, ripping your hands from your face as you suddenly remembered where you were - you couldn’t just pull that sort of stunt in class, it’d make people think you were weirder than you already clearly are!
But that was just the start of it all.
You so desperately wanted to see him in that state again, wanted to hear your name slip from his spit-slicked raw lips in a wanton moan.
The fact that he was your best friend slowly started to fade from your mind, replaced by lustful desires. What’s shame? Never heard of that.
Who could hear anything over your moans anyway?
Night fell into a routine of your hands stuffed down your panties, fingers covered in your own slick rubbing roughly at your puffy clit as two of your fingers thrust in and out of yourself.
You constantly wondered just what that pretty boy imagined in that oh-so-obviously dirty mind of his as he pumped his cock.
Was he imagining you riding him, face smothered by your tits, mouth latched onto one of your perky buds, sucking the red flesh into his mouth as you bounced up and down on his long, painfully hard and throbbing cock?
Your breath caught in your throat at the image, fingers speeding up.
Or perhaps was he imagining pounding into your tight little pussy, your legs wrapped around his slim hips, fingers clawing red marks into his back so that he could show them off whilst changing into his gym clothes the next day in the locker room?
You squealed as you suddenly clenched down on your two digits, the coil wound tight in your stomach from all the dirty images whizzing past your head snapping unexpectedly, cumming all over your fingers. 
You laid there panting, eyes staring deliriously up at the star-covered ceiling.
You had to see him in the act again, no question about it.
It was unfortunate how you passed out from exhaustion Saturday before the time Izuku would ultimately begin going mad in his bed.
It was hard not to beat yourself up over it, especially since you now had to suffer through another week of not seeing his pretty face drenched in sweat, mouth wide open and tongue flopping out.
Grr!
More suffering for the both of you.
It was still so very funny how despite all of these lewd thoughts the both of you possessed for one another, you still got along just as well as before.
It was as if nothing had happened at all.
Honestly, it was a great relief to the both of you.
Originally, you had thought that since you saw him in that new light, you’d be unable to have a decent conversation with him, and he thought that you’d be too disgusted with him to ever even think about speaking to him.
Of course, that was bullshit.
He knew you purposely stayed there to watch him. 
That was part of the reason he wanted it to happen again.
He was clinging onto the hope that you liked him back, and that’s why it seemed as if you ignored the whole thing.
No, wait. He didnt want it to happen again… he needed it to happen again. Not just to satisfy him, but to just see if it wasn’t a mistake. A clarification. Something he could cling to in his mind. Something that told him there was an even bigger chance that you might miraculously like some gross nerd like him back.
He was still insecure, even after all the body changes he has gone through.
The scars didnt help much, either.
He could look at his body and feel proud of how much stronger he was, but those rough scars that would permanently taint his skin always left him feeling a bit shy.
He openly showed them, of course, not afraid considering they were marks of his growth and a reminder that he was able to save someone, but they didnt exactly feel nice.
His skin was once silky smooth all over, but now it wasnt, and it would never be the same again.
You knew him without the scars for the longest, but that also meant you knew the whimpy Deku, and not the Hero Deku he was becoming.
So many thoughts were constantly racing around in his mind, it was hard to keep track of them at times.
He blocked out the thoughts with a heavy heart, going back to his previous activity.
And of course, for you, well, you’d be lying if you said you didn’t visit him in your bird form during the night on weekdays, curious to see if, by chance, he was up - which he often wasn’t, and if he was sinning.
To no avail, of course.
It was hard to place if you were missing it by some misfortune, or if he just wasn’t doing it. So Saturday was your best guess. You saw him do it that day, so you figured from the beginning you’d see him to it again on all Saturdays. That’s what you hoped, anyway.
The next Saturday, though, you were proven correct.
The scene was similar to the one from last time, you, perched on the railing, sliding glass door open, curtains pushed to the side, and Izuku moaning like a slut on his bed covers.
Your feathers ruffled up in excitement, it looked as if he just came from the shower, towel discarded on the floor.
Things were going to be much different this time, unknown to you, of course.
Because this time, Izuku knew you were there.
He knew you were watching him.
And he knew it was on purpose because earlier that evening you stopped by to play video games before ‘retiring’ for the night.
Naughty girl, did you expect him to believe that when he’s been able to see through your lies ever since childhood?
He could feel your piercing gaze, and it thrilled him, making his cock slathered in lube he recently purchased twitch against his toned stomach.
Currently, he was rubbing up and down his twitching thighs, trying to calm himself down since, in his excitement at hearing you drop by, he almost came. 
You eagerly watched as he did so, black eyes following his beautiful hand movements.
His thighs were so, so glorious.
Was it a bad thing to want to be trapped between them whilst you sucked his pretty dick?
To have them suffocate you was a dream. You’d give just about anything for them to squeeze your head as he came closer and closer to unraveling.
His legs were always nice, but ever since he began using them to smash incredibly large and sturdy objects, your fixation with them grew.
Hell, who were you kidding? You loved every aspect of that boy.
You wanted to lather his perfect body in searing kisses, whispering praises under every breath you took.
Your toes curled, clinging onto the raining as you leaned forward eagerly, watching as his hands traced down his inner thighs, just to drag across the underside of his dick.
He gasped once his fingers ran over his slit, head shoving itself into his pillow.
He wanted to put on a good show for you, gauge your reaction from the corner of his half-lidded eyes.
Surely you’d be too transfixed by his lower half to notice dark green eyes gazing over at you.
And he was right.
Because you couldn’t tear your attention away from his crotch, his hips lifting off the bed as he slowly thrusted into the tunnel he made with his hand.
It was as if he was teasing himself by going slow, his whines for more being a clear give away, that and the twitch of his hips as he sought a faster pace but held himself back.
“A-ahh~ (Y/N).. S-so good.. To me..”
How could he not imagine his hands as your own?
Yours were so small, too.. Could they even fully wrap around his thick length? He was all too eager to find out, but that’d have to be for a later date. Hopefully.
As time flew by, his impatience grew.
He wanted to put a good show on for you, truly, he did! But he couldn’t help himself, he wanted to cum oh-so badly.
To have that knot that was already building up in his system before you flew in to finally burst.
Sobs tore from his throat as he finally gave in, aching cock slamming into his fist with a wet squelch as his hand squeezed and twisted down on his length.
He didn’t last long, soon releasing his seed all over himself once again with a shrill cry, body arching up beautifully off the bed.
Whilst regaining his breath, he shakily looked over at you, joy sparking in his system to see you leaning forward as if you were enraptured by him.
It felt so good.
This occured more often than either of you would like to admit, but yet, there was no complaints.
Like before, life carried on normally in the light of day, but Saturday night? Showtime.
It was always something new, much to your enjoyment. 
One night, which just so happened to be one where a new moon hung high in the inky black sky freckled with stars, you had the pleasure of witnessing him fuck a pillow. 
So sweet. A true jackpot. 
Since the tranquil, silvery beams of moonlight were absent on this particular evening, an Allmight night light of sorts illuminated the room in a yellow glow. It was brighter than the times before, ultimately giving you a better look at just what he was doing. 
That wasn’t all, though.
Before, with the pale light of the moon, he was always submerged in a sinful atmosphere.
But now, you see, he looked so very soft in this light. It showered his perfectly toned, freckled and sweaty body in such a warm glow. It radiated innocence, despite his downright dirty acts of self-care.
His face was pressed to the side of the mattress, drool dripping past his parted lips as he gasped and moaned, cheeks burning red, eyes closed and brows arched upward as he chased that sweet, sweet release he so anticipated. His hips rutted into the soft pillow like a bunny in heat. Scarred hands had a death grip on it, forcing it down on his cock to provide an addicting combination of pressure and pleasure. Though you couldn’t quite see his flushed dick in action, his adorable face and moans made up for it. 
Was it too bold of you to say he was imagining the pillow was you? 
The way your name rolled off his tongue certainly would lead to that blissful assumption.
Another night you had gotten there early.
It was a particularly breezy night, the wind making his curtains dance and hair sway slightly. It was still hard to believe he liked having his sliding-glass door open. Did he like the fresh air when he was left gasping from his ministrations? Or did he thrive on the possibility that someone could hear him cry out? 
How alluring that thought was.
But, how foolish of you to assume you were being sneaky.
To your luck, getting there early meant you got to see him set up the act, anticipate just what he was about to do. Predictions flooded your mind as you watched him with a tilted head as he poured lube onto his shaky fingers.
Whatever he was about to do, he seemed nervous. A first time thing, perhaps? Or was he shaking with desire?
You’d later come to realize you never wanted to be in front of this man more than that night.
Because, to your utmost delight, that was the night you witnessed him finger himself for no-doubt the first time.
He was cautious and tense, you could easily tell from so far away. You couldn’t see what he was doing exactly, but it wasn’t too hard to put pieces of a puzzle together. 
In the beginning, he was trying to ease himself into it, one hand languidly stroking his erection, trying to calm his erratic heartbeat, whilst the other seemed to tease at his opening.
He bit his bottom lip the moment he decided it was time to quit shitting around, thighs splaying wide open once again for better access - and to you, a better view. His eyes slipped closed as he tried to focus on what he was doing, momentarily stopping the strokes on his cock so his attention would be on the feeling of a single digit slipping in and out of his virgin hole. He stayed tensed for a while, obviously trying to adjust. It wasnt until a few minutes later that he started to get really into it, slipping in another finger as his hips started to rock to the slow beat set.
His weeping dick was given attention again not long after that, hips wiggling and high-pitched cries of ecstasy tears from his throat at the two hands working in unison.
You couldn’t help but hop from one foot to the other that night as you eagerly drank in the sight.
“A-ahh! O-h oh god! (Y-Y/N)! F-faster- oh! Ple-ase f-fahh! Uhn! Ha-ah- ah- ah!”
Were you fucking him in this fantasy? A strap on, maybe? You wouldnt oppose doing so, he’s so cute begging like this. Begging for a plastic cock to pound into his tight ass with each whine, whimper, and moan.
He finished quite quickly, fingers probably finally finding that sweet spot deep inside of him. His eyes shot open, going cross as he practically screamed into the night.
And most recently, you witnessed him cum so hard he passed out for a few moments.
And you knew exactly why.
Because earlier that day, your boredom once again got the best of you, and you couldnt help but notice Izuku was lost in his thoughts during a break period. So, being the cheeky shit you were, you waltzed on over to him, leaning down to whisper in his ear “Hey.” 
It was funny how he had to slap a hand over his mouth, obviously hiding a whine. You knew your voice had an effect on him, especially when it was lowered an octave. Pair that with your hot breath fanning over his overly sensitive ear? The man was pudding. 
“(Y-Y/N)! I-I told you to stop doing that..!” He blushed, eyes squeezing shut to avoid your smirking face.
But that wasn’t all, no. You sat in his lap after that. He almost died, face a cherry red as his hands were held up, not sure where to put them.
It was honestly a rare occasion, for Iida was out with Momo for class president and vice president duties. You had to take advantage of that.
“What? I don’t want to stand this whole time!” Came your pouty response, and he most definitely couldn’t refuse those puppy-dog eyes you used on him.
To his horror, you wiggled in your fleshy seat, trying to get ‘comfortable’ whilst pretending you had no idea what you were doing to him. You knew damn well what it was you were doing, you were grinding your ass on his crotch - just for an agonizing moment.
It was hard to get him to form a sentence that wasn’t broken with stutters the whole time you sat atop his lap. He was so cute, all blushy like that. A little strawberry.
The second Iida and Momo came back from their duties, you jumped off his lap, startling him once again. To your ‘misfortune,’ you dropped the pencil which was tucked into your shirt pocket. So, you promptly bent down to get it, giving the perverted Izuku behind you a glorious view of your round ass covered by a pair of lacy white panties.
It was a wonder how he didn’t pass out as you expected him to, honestly.
You never heard him cry out your name as much as you did that very night.
Who knew such a shy and bashful boy could be so.. Lewd?
It was a major turn on, you could only imagine what it would be like to be there with him.
Oh, how glorious that would be.
To stare into his eyes blown wide with lust and glazed over with desire, knowing full well you were the true reason behind it - and not just his hands.
You wanted to..
You wanted to do so many things to and with him.
But you couldn’t.
Because at the end of the day, you were still only best friends.
He may call your name in the dead of night, he may beg for you in his dreams, but that doesn’t make you more than what you were when the sun rises yet again over the grassy hill coated in morning dew.
Just friends.
Friends until actions occur that change the definition of the word.
‘Friends’ brought a bitter taste to your tongue when it came to describing Izuku. You wanted to be more than just…. ‘Friends.’
But that was selfish of you.
You couldnt always get what you wanted, even if both parties want the exact same thing.
You could never live with yourself if you forced yourself onto him when he wasn’t ready to accept it. You knew very well how easily overwhelmed he could get. You worried that if.. your Saturday night activities got around to him, that he’d never want anything to do with you again. You were playing a dangerous game.
It was a hard concept to grasp, really.
But little did you know, he would be perfectly okay with it. More than okay, actually.
In fact, he craved it so, so much. With each Saturday that came, with every show he put on for you, he so desperately wished you’d revert back to your human form and come join him on his messy bed. He wanted to feel your soft skin brush against his overheated body. He wanted that intimacy.
He knew you wanted it too, he’s seen you almost fly right on into his room with particular moments.
He loved being watched by you, gaining validation every week by your intense, infatuated gaze, but he didn’t know how much more he could take. It was driving him absolutely insane. He noticed himself becoming more brash and reckless during training, his frustration taking over his senses and causing absolute mayhem. 
In the beginning, speaking to you outside of these downright shameful acts was exhilarating, but now it was simply infuriating. How could you act like nothing was happening? How could you stay so innocent whilst he was out here losing his marbles?
The rubber band holding his sanity together was stretched too thin, he had no doubt that it would snap any day now and his carnal desires will be let loose.
Such a risky thing he had willingly got himself into.
But that band snapped much sooner than he predicted, and there was no going back after that.
It’s been nearly two months since this whole act started.
It’s gotten progressively hotter outside, it was almost as if the sun itself had something personal against anyone and everyone who walked in it’s brilliant light.
The training has gotten harder thanks to the sweltering heat. Primetime to exercise until you feel like throwing up, yeah?
They were supposed to progress on their workouts throughout the year, but damn did this heat wave come at an unconventional time. Poor Tokoyami almost had a heat stroke.
The intensity of the workouts was making everyone antsy. The weekdays were hell on Earth, so the weekends became an even bigger godsend to the poor hero students working to achieve their dreams.
That being said, what better way to distress than too..?
This week was particularly stressful, and after the hell Izuku and his fellow classmates were put through, he craved that certain destresser he’s been hooked on for far too long.
It was unfortunate that he cracked a bit earlier than his scheduled 11 PM rub out, making it only to 10:41 PM before his dirty thoughts overtook his being and made his dick twitch to life in his shorts. He wanted to wait, but he became increasingly uncomfortable, hips shimmying, trying to find a comfortable position to wait around in.
After promptly giving up, he leaned back on his bed, tugging his shorts off and letting his eyes slip shut as he palmed himself through his boxers.
Things always felt better for the green-eyed boy if he took it slow, working himself up to the point of desperation.
And that’s what he did.
He knew you wouldnt be there for a while, he knew his heart wouldnt be pumping like it always did when you showed up, so he fell back onto Plan B, fully emerging himself in a fantasy.
He hadn’t done that since you first showed up. A trip on memory lane.
But now he had a chance.
Though he had to admit, he’d much prefer it if you were there..
In his mind, he wasn’t in some silly dorm.
He was a pro-hero living in a large apartment with pristine windows that reflected the night lights of the mesmerizing city below like lanterns in the sky. The interior lights were off, the room cast in a soft orange glow by a gentle flame flickering in the sandstone fireplace situated in front of the satin burgundy couch he sat upon. Soft moans filled the atmosphere, paired with the lewd sound of skin slapping against skin echoing throughout the complex.
You were in his lap, arms wrapped tightly around his neck as you hung on for dear life. Your nails gave him an addicting sting as they dug into freckled skin, his name escaping your parted lips like a prayer, moans much louder than his own accompanying the pleas. He was in heaven, surely, for how else could there be such a beautiful angel in his lap?
You were glowing, cheeks blazing a deep maroon color, the light of the fire behind you encasing you in a soft, golden gleam.
A heavy breath blew out Izuku’s nose, closed eyes scrunching as he finally decided to rip his boxers off. His rough hand immediately wrapped itself around his cock, hissing in pleasure and thanking the heavens just this once for being such a heavy pre producer - he was far too enraptured by this fantasy to even think about trying to get his trusty bottle of lube.
Avoiding the flushed head, his hand squeezed and twisted it’s way up and down his slicked up shaft, hiding the wet noises with his pathetic whines.
He dived back into his mind.
You were kissing him fervently, tongues dancing in hot caverns as your noises of pure pleasure molded together. Though you were on top, you were far from having control. Izuku’s hands squeezed your hips in a death grip, bouncing you on his throbbing member, green sparks illuminating his body as to ensure a delicious yet inhuman pace. 
He could feel you. He swore he could, even from on this bed, he could feel you. You were so warm, and so, so very tight. 
He couldn’t handle it.
No.
No.
He needed more.
He whined desperately on his bed, back arching as he chased his fantasy but soon lost it as the familiar fluttering of small wings blocked out all other sounds.
He gasped, trying to catch the breath that seemed to constantly slip past him. He was too worked up.
He was too needy. He was aching, body shaking with anticipation and eagerness.
He craved you like a man craved water after stumbling through a burning hot desert all day.
You were so close to him, he could reach out and swear he could feel your feathers beneath his fingertips.
He was past the point of no return, his fantasy just couldn’t do it for him.
He needed you, god he needed you so so bad it hurt.
Sobs tore from his throat, hands stuttering as his eyes finally flew open, 
“(Y-Y/N)! Please!” He cried out with a strangled moan, vision wavering from the pain of not having you with him despite being right there.
Swallowing all of his pride, he looked towards your perched form, tears slipping from his sparkling viridescent eyes glazed over with lust.
His chest was heaving, thighs quivering and body trembling as he called out to you with a salacious plea, “I can’t..! I can’t do this anymore, please! Please, I-I need you!”
He was begging, begging for you whilst simultaneously thrusting into his hand.
Such an erotic display.
At the moment, you couldn’t even care about the fact he clearly knew it was you there. In fact, it didn’t even come to mind as a jolt of electricity coursed through your body, returning you to your human form as you eagerly jumped off the railing to him, all too willing to join his lascivious activities.
He moaned with delight the second your knee hit his bed, dipping his body towards you. His filthy hand shot off his dick, joining the other with gripping at your baggy sleepwear, pulling you towards his burning body. 
You fell onto him, not given a chance to collect your thoughts before a hand buried itself in your messy hair, yanking your hair so that he could easily smash his lips against your own.
The kiss was nothing like how you pictured your first with him to be. Instead of sweet and gentle, it was downright dirty and sloppy, but you couldn’t care less at the moment. You were both clearly inexperienced, but that didn’t matter. You just wanted to feel him, same as he wanted to feel you.
Your hands, shaking with the sudden extreme boost of adrenaline, cupped his chubby cheeks as your lips met again, and again, and again, drool mingling with his own as you tried to get the hang of this.
Eventually, your lips stayed connected, tongues fighting for dominance.
You couldn’t even tell, due to the heat of the moment overtaking your senses, but the entire time you made out, Izuku’s curious hands dragged ever-so-slowly down the sides of your body, feeling those curves that drove him absolutely insane. Just as it seemed as if you’d win the short battle, his large hands came over your plump ass, squeezing the soft flesh and causing you to gasp. With your mind distracted, he quickly smooshed his lips against your own once again, tongue defeating your own and giving him complete access to your mouth.
He explored it, the tip of the wet muscle seemingly grazing over and massaging in just all the right places, drawing a little moan from you that shot straight down to his neglected cock. It twitched against his stomach, and suddenly he wasn’t interested in just making out anymore. He needed more, and he’d fucking get it.
He’s waited so long for this moment, dreamt of it so often it became normal for him to wake up covered in sweat and with a raging erection straining against his shorts.
His grip on your ass moved to your hips, dragging them down onto his member and grinding you down against him.
You both moaned, hips involuntarily jerking against one another, starting up a grinding fest.
Moans melted together as you both continued to kiss before a particularly rough thrust sent your head flinging back and a mewl spewing from you.
“A-ah.. Izuku..!” You shivered, eyes closing as you gripped at his hair. He stared up at you, eyes full of love but darkened by immense desire as you shamelessly moaned above him. His hips ground his rock-hard erection against your soaked panties, brushing roughly against your clothed clit. Your body seemed to jolt with every brush against it, your senses completely overloaded as you were driven mad with lust.
You shrieked with surprise as you were suddenly flipped over, body slamming onto the mattress as Izuku crawled over on top of you.
He continues to grind himself against you, hands moving your legs up so they could wrap around his hips. Whilst kissing at the side of your neck, his nose brushed along the skin, searching for that special spot.
Amidst your onslaught of noises, you made a sound clearly indicating he had found what he had been searching for. His hot tongue licked at the sensitive skin before he bit down on it.
You cried out in a mixture of pain and pleasure, jumping in his arms as an intense shiver rolled down your back, hands coming up to clutch at his broad shoulders smothered in freckles and burning with a blush.
You felt so, so tingly, so good, so.. So everything. 
Perhaps that’s simply because of how worked up you currently were, every single touch lit your body aflame again and again. Besides, how could you keep quiet when he was rubbing against you in just the right place?
He sucked harshly at the tender flesh before kissing it lovingly as if to apologize for the brutal treatment, licking the pain away and continuing to nibble along the area, leaving a bruise that was sure to remain in the morning. 
In fact, he decided, he was going to leave many. Just..not today.
He couldn’t deny, though, it did feel pretty good that his mark was on your soft skin where all could potentially see.
But for now, you had too many layers on for his current liking.
Izuku drew back, stopping the grind sesh - much to your apparent dismay, tugging at the hem of your shirt, silently asking for permission, and you willingly lifted your arms.
Had you not been so consumed with sheer desire, you would have covered your bare chest. Instead, you nodded your head, giving the man panting as if he had just run a mile permission to kiss his way down to the soft mounds he previously couldn’t help but bashfully stare at.
His lips lavished them both in kisses, praises unknowingly slipping out between his teeth until he finally decided to take one bud into his mouth. 
He was sloppy, messy, and all-around inexperienced, but you couldn’t deny the fact that it still felt good.
He spent surely less than a minute giving attention to each perky nipple, but it was made up for by a sweet kiss. You eagerly returned it, body arching as if trying to bring him closer.
It was so strange how he took control so easily, he had been begging only a few minutes ago.
Not that you minded, of course.
After all, who doesnt like being pampered by their long time crush?
“May I?” He whispered breathlessly, trembling fingers hooked around your panties, ready to pull them off.
You nodded immediately, oh-so desperate to have him actually touch you. You needed to feel him. All this grinding did was leave you with a throbbing clit, pussy so wet your juices were close to flowing down your ass, and the want for more.
He smashed his lips back against your own, practically ripping the fabric off of you and flinging it to only god knows where in this dark room.
His lips didn’t leave yours as his hands traveled down your sides again, squeezing your ass just to hear you gasp. 
You couldn’t tell if he was teasing you, or hit with a sudden wave of embarrassment as his fingers seemed to stutter on your thighs.
“It’s okay.. It’s okay..” You cooed against his lips, eyes opening to stare into his.
He gulped, swallowing his insecurities as he ran an index finger along your sit.
You bit your lip, eyes slipping closed once more and hips twitching forward at the foreign touch against heated flesh.
Izuku took this as a sign to go further, so he did.
Staring at your face, he pushed the finger past your lower lips, ignoring the intense throbbing of his dick as he felt how wet you were. The digit trailed down, searching for your clenching hole. When he found it, he couldnt help but teasingly trace around it, adoring the scrunch of your flushed face and the whine that followed suit.
“Please, Izuku..” You whimpered, and how could he say no to that?
He slowly pushed his finger in, nearly cumming on the spot from just how tight and warm you were. He openly moaned, watching as he sunk the finger all the way down to his knuckle.
Clouded eyes flickered back up to your face, noting how you didn’t seem to be in pain.
Licking his lips in anticipation, he pulled the finger out, then pushed it back in, over and over and over again as your thighs twitched around him, mouth falling open as you breathed heavily, moaning ever so softly.
His heart pounded in his chest as he added another finger, continuing the motions for before.
Your hips shimmied at the stretch, his fingers much larger than your own slim once, but so much nicer, because it was him, and not you. Your hips involuntarily chased the rhythm he set.
“Ahh.. haa..h.. Oh! Ah! Ahhhghh!” your eyes shot open as his fingers curled inside you, brushing against that spongey spot in your clenching walls. “Oh! T-There Iz-Izuku~!” You moaned out his name, and it was as if his body got put on autopilot, fingers thrusting in and out of your sopping heat, curly against that spot that had you moaning.
A particularly loud squeal left your parted lips, and he snapped. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed you so bad it hurt. Watching your body react violently around only his fingers? The cherry on the cake!
He needed his dick in you, to feel those soft walls clenching around him, to hear you cry out his name more as he brought you to the peak of madness.
But he was worried about how long he’d last.
He was so close before, what if he came nearly immediately?
Pulling his fingers out fully, which drew your attention back to him, he lifted them to his mouth, shoving them in and putting on a sinful display of licking them clean for you
He smiled at you with half-lidded eyes as you stared at him with astonishment. Lurching forward, you took him by surprise by gripping his sweaty hair and pulling him down for another passionate kiss, moaning around his tongue as you tasted your essence on him.
Keeping his focus on the kiss, Izuku’s hand blindly felt around his bedside table, opening the drawer and somehow managing to find the single condom he kept in there.
You noticed it from the corner of your eye, the moonlight reflecting on the silver wrapper.
“When did you get that?” You pulled away from the kiss, indulging in your curiosity as you stared at the condom between his fingers. 
He chuckled nervously, looking to the side in embarrassment, “I- I got a pack from the corner store.. Not long ago..”
He left out the motivation behind it, not ready to reveal he knew you were watching him the entire time - thus bringing forth his precautious side as he fumbled with measuring himself and getting the right size.
“Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait any longer, princess..” He whispered under a heavy breath, ripping open the packaging, grabbing the latex and rolling it on himself, ignoring your eyes practically burning holes into his heated skin as they watched with eagerness.
Now that it was on, he looked back up to you, hand coming to gently caress your face, thumb smoothing over your blushing cheek as he leaned down to kiss you once more.
Yes, he wanted to pound you into next tomorrow right this instant, be he couldnt ignore the fact that this was your first time together. He wanted it to be.. Sweet.
As sweet as he could make it, anyway.
He jumped in his own skin when he felt your cold fingers wrap around his cock, bringing his oozing head towards your entrance. He was quick to replace them, though, just so he could rub himself between your folds and teasingly against your clit.
“..ready?” He asked nearly impatiently as he guided his tip to your entrance once more.
He slowly pushed in the moment you nodded your head.
Oh god! He thought to himself as he moaned loudly. He was only in by an inch and already it felt like his world was spinning! You were so damn tight! 
He nearly collapsed on top of you, bringing his hands up just to hold your own against the bedsheets.
He was being much too slow for your liking. You were so aroused on, so ready for him that, though you appreciated him going slow for you, you couldn’t handle another second with this agonizing pace.. So, without warning, your legs, which were still wrapped around his hips, tightened, and you forcefully drove his hips forward, fully sheathing him inside you.
He screamed in pleasure, head involuntarily being thrown back as his eyes rolled back. You moaned along with him, the feeling of being full outweighing the slight stinging pain that it brought with it.
His fingernails dug into your hips as he tried to control himself, his body vibrating from how much he was shaking. You held him flushed against you, eyes squeezing shut as you fought to relax around him and get used to his length. Which was pretty damn big! Perhaps you bit off more than you could chew..
But it didn’t take long for the pain to slowly subside, and you were back in business. Meanwhile, Izuku was staring cross-eyed up at the ceiling, holding himself back from exploding.
“Izu-”
“I-I Don-t think I c-can last long, (Y/N)...” he whimpered out, chest heaving and heart hammering. 
You nodded in understanding, he was quite busy with himself before you showed up anyway.
And now all this? It certainly must be sudden.
Plus, Izuku has always been a sensitive boy, so no doubt his nerves were on fire.
Nonetheless, he was quick to catch on to your ‘okay’ for him to move.
So, he pulled himself out halfway, nearly sobbing as he thrusts back in.
You felt so good.. So good.. sogood- “So good.. Ahh! A-ahh nnghjnn S-so go-goo- gahn! Hahhh!” The sheer velocity of his moans overpowered your own as he soon found himself uncontrollably drilling his cock into your pussy, absorbed by the feeling of you sucking him back in like a black hole just to squeeze the life out of him.
That hot coil that had been winding up in his stomach all this time was soon to burst, he could feel himself getting closer and closer with every slap of skin against skin, edged on by your beautiful moans.
“(Y-Y/N)!! I-I’m gonna! I-!” He could barely form any sentences, all that spilled out of that drooling mouth were moans and mindless babbles and praises.
You were just as close, but you wanted more.. So, you ripped one hand free from his grip, licking a digit before thrusting it down just to furiously rub at your puffy clit aching for attention.
You both moaned simultaneously, him at the sight, and you at the combined stimulation.
He was about to break, about to hit the point of no return when he found your G spot. You cried out in ecstasy, body practically arching of the mattress as he focused deep, powerful thrusts on that area.
And by some miracle, you reached your high before he did.
A wave of electrifying pleasure washed over you as your body tensed beneath him, back arching impossibly high off the mattress as your walls seemed to clamp down on his cock like a vice just as that burning hot coil wound tight in your belly burst. Stars bloomed in your eyes as your vision went black, Izuku’s name tearing from your throat.
Your hot, wet walls clamping down on him threw him into his own long-awaited and intense orgasm. His thighs tensed as he cried out in ecstasy into the night air, hips slamming into your fluttering cunt once more before thick, hot cum shot from his dick, filling up the condom deep inside of you.
You both stayed like that for a moment, basking in the afterglow of something you both waited weeks for.
He inhaled shakily before pulling his softening member out, rolling the condom off in a sleepy haze before tying it off and throwing it into the trash bin.
He flopped down beside you, far too sleepy to even think about getting up.
You were already fast asleep, and he couldn’t wait to join you. Wrapping his scarred arm around your waist, he pulled your warm body to his chest, tangling his legs with yours and falling asleep within moments to your soft breaths and the crickets singing outside his glass door.
There was a lot to talk about tomorrow morning.
You’d both have to explain yourselves, talk about what happened, what was next, and confirm feelings for each other. That this wasn’t just a ‘one night stand’ between friends.
And, of course, you’d be hit with a truck of pain between your legs, rendering you unable to walk properly. At least Izuku is there to take care of you, and that it was a Sunday.
Until you both come to the horrifying realization that Izuku, in the heat of the moment, accidentally flung your panties out the open window, which was then miraculously carried by a stray gust of wind just for Kaminari to find in a bush by the side of the building the following morning when taking the trash out.
Thank god nobody recognized them, but you could only hope you’d get the chance to get that back before he, along with Mineta, no doubt do something with them.
2K notes · View notes
yuusa · 4 years ago
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𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝟐𝟏
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𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟐𝟔𝟑𝟖
𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝟐𝟏:
“Eeeh?! (Y/n)-kun is sick today?” Tohru gasped while Yuki nodded. 
“It seems as if she stayed out too late yesterday night.” Yuki sighed, how clumsy could you simply get by staying out until late dark without a jacket? 
You were a bit overconfident when you decided to stay late at night with Machi to watch a Mogeta movie. You had been out shopping for the entire day and by the end of it, you both spotted a movie theater that was still open. Everything wasn't planned out perfectly, but that was just how Machi liked it to be, something that was spurts of interest rather than an organized meeting. Although Machi insisted that you go home to sleep for school, you told her that it was fine and that Machi looked really excited when she saw the poster for Mogeta. She felt guilty when you began to sneeze and shiver once you had left the movie theaters. Could you really say you regretted it when Machi's eyes sparkled? You would be a fool to take the road home. 
Yuki sighed, this was the explanation you gave to him. You were apologizing profusely for having Yuki carry around your committee work but he simply dismissed it off, telling you that it was fine and he would be visiting your home later to deliver your homework. 
“T-That’s terrible! I-I can bring over food for her!” Tohru suggested, bringing up different types of food she could make to help you recover faster. 
Yuki shook his head, “it’s okay Honda-san, I’m going over to her house to give her the homework assignments. You should stay home, I don’t think (L/n)-san would want you to get sick either.”
“O-Oh! You’re right! Then, tell (Y/n)-kun that I hope she gets well!” 
He smiled before stacking your paperwork on top of his. He only needed to sit through one school day and he would be able to see you after. 
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You sneezed and wiped your nose with a tissue, throwing it across the room and narrowly missing the trashcan by a few centimeters. You opened your small container of hand sanitizer and wiped it across your skin, the cold feeling spreading across your warm body as you laid back down in bed. 
This day sucked. 
You groaned as your eyes slowly fluttered shut, the need to sleep was beginning to take over your body. Your head was throbbing with pain as if someone was knocking on your head like a door, or a wood chipper bird piercing through a tree trunk. Before you could drift off completely you heard the sound of your doorbell ringing.
'Who could be at my house at this time?' You thought, completely forgetting the fact that you were actually supposed to have a guest over. You yawned and stood up from your bed, wobbling slightly as you walked towards the door, your hands touching the wall for support. You opened the door and cracked your eyes open slightly, seeing Yuki in front of your house with stacks of papers. 
‘Her apartment. . . It smells even more like (L/n)-san!’ He thought, seeing your body sway side to side as you tried to rub your sleepiness away from your eyes. 
You internally cried on the inside at the number of work he carried in his arms but opened the door for him to come inside, “. . . Good morning. . .” 
Yuki nervously chuckled as he took off his shoes, “it’s already the afternoon (L/n)-san, why don’t you go back to bed?” 
“. . . Lazy.” 
“You’re lazy?” 
You slowly nodded as you zombie-walked over to your table and slammed your head down, the throbbing pain of the impact was nothing compared to the unbearable heat and sickness you felt. The cold feeling of the wood soothed your stinging and burning forehead as Yuki quickly ran over to your side, almost tripping on some of the loose items on the floor. 
“A-Ah are you okay?!” You gave Yuki no response as you quietly laid your head on the table, feeling tired yet hungry. 
Yuki could hear your stomach growl loudly from the other side of the room, “did you eat anything today?” He asked. 
You shook your head no, your forehead rubbing against the wooden material as you continued to lay your head there. Yuki smiled before opening your fridge, noticing that there wasn’t much other than vegetables and leftover chicken. He sweatdropped at the realization that he would have to cook something for you. Perhaps he should have taken up Tohru’s offer of having her cook for you, but he shook his head. It was already too late to call over Tohru for something as small as this. 
“Are you okay with eating porridge (L/n)-san?” You pressed your cheek against the table, your eyes watching as Yuki searched through your cabinets for a pot. Although your room was messy, you actually kept your kitchen quite clean and tidy. 
“. . . Okay.” You replied, your eyes slowly closing and opening every few seconds as you tried to stay awake. 
He wrapped your apron around his body, tying a knot behind his back to secure the material. Yuki nervously began to cut the vegetables as you stared at him from a distance. He certainly wasn’t the best at cooking and it was making him feel anxious when you are staring at him, but he reminds himself that you might be dozing off in your half-asleep form. He heard you shuffle in your seat as you moved your arm to rest underneath your head, serving as a pillow while you waited for Yuki to be done. He smiled at you before returning to finish the porridge. 
Although he has been at your house for quite some time, it still surprises him to see that you have nothing on your apartment walls. There were no photographs, no sticky notes, there was simply nothing hung up on the walls. You didn’t have any photos for your contacts either. He wonders if you ever took a photo of yourself that you actually kept. 
He pressed his lips together as he covers the lid of the pot for the rest of the food to finish cooking. He turned around to face you, you had already fallen asleep while waiting for him. He carefully walked over to you to brush away the strands that were covering your face, revealing your peacefully sleeping form. He could hear you mumble something in your sleep but it was too quiet for him to catch with his ears. 
He noticed that on your desk was a sheet of paper on top of all of your stacked books as well as the two erasers that looked newly bought. He peered over the top of the desk to see that it was the drawing he and you created when you first sat together for lunch. He reached out to pick up the paper with his pale fingers, admiring the pencil strokes and memories that were carved into thin sheets of a former tree. The image was well preserved, the strokes were not smudged and it looked the same as when you first drew it. The rat leaning up against the eagle on the trees as they peacefully slept together, his side of the drawing was messy compared to yours but you still kept it there either way. There weren’t many creases in the paper other than the one that was on the left side. He pressed his fingertips against the paper, staring at it while you slept on the table. 
There was a lot that he didn't know about you. 
You had no family background, no photographs in your house, nothing on your phone aside from the basic apps that were preinstalled. There was nothing about you that connected you to anyone else. You were a solo animal striving for something you couldn't see. You depended on only yourself. You had no one to pull you up from this darkness.
He wonders how the eagle would take away his burdens. Was it truly possible to rid someone else of their problems when you couldn't help yourself? The kindness Tohru showed him made him realize that perhaps there is a light in this world, her smile makes his day much brighter than it was before. However, your presence was an enigma, you made him feel as if there truly was someone else in the world who understood the same pain he felt. He doesn't understand why he feels this way to you but he does anyway.  
He wants to rid you of your pain as well. 
He moves up from his position, leaving the paper on top of your books to finish the porridge that finished cooking. He tasted it with the small saucer that was stacked neatly on your counter. It tasted slightly bland to him but it was the best he could do at this moment, he wasn't the best cook in the world but he wouldn't consider him to be the worst either. Yuki quietly sets up the food in front of you before hesitatingly shaking you awake. 
"(L/n)-san, wake up, it's time for you to eat." You groaned and slowly opened your eyes again to see Yuki in front of you. 
You could smell the porridge and you began to rub your eyes, your vision adjusting to the scene. A small, cute yawn came out of your mouth as you picked up the spoon and stared at the food. Some of the pieces of vegetables were cut unevenly and strange, the porridge itself didn't look too bad though. You took a spoonful of the porridge and began eating it, your mind still tired. Yuki thought that your lack of silence meant that it didn't taste good, which made him feel slightly concerned on the inside. 
”Does it taste okay. . .?” He asked, nervously fidgeting with the edges of his clothes as he watched you continue eating. 
”. . . Mmhm. . . I can’t taste anything.” You frowned as you stared at the food in confusion. You held the spoon upside down to your tongue, still trying to figure out if you were actually tasting the food or the spoon. There wasn't much flavor and some parts of it were undercooked but it wasn't completely bad. Even in your tired, half-asleep form, you still knew that Yuki had put a lot of effort into making you something despite having the chance to just order take out. 
”Is that you telling me that my cooking sucks or it’s because you’re sick?” He sweatdropped. 
You hummed, ”. . . Both?" Yuki felt a comedic arrow stab at his heart, this was hard coming from one of the top students in Home Economics. 
You picked up another spoonful of the porridge and brought it to your lips for another bite, "But. . . Sohma-san made it for me so. . . It still special to me.” 
His cheeks began to feel hot as he watched you continue eating it. He knew he wasn’t the best, it was undercooked and messy, it didn’t even taste that good, it was imperfect and yet. . .  it still was enough for you. You ate it as if it was the best meal that someone had presented to you, your smile still on your face as you were halfway finished with the food. You had this strange effect on him that neither of you even realized. 
You were starting to feel tired after eating, your stomach feeling satisfied as you set the spoon down and leaned back, feeling the plush material of your comforter on your back as you began to feel sleepy. Yuki stifled his laughter at the sight of you so tired. 
“(L/n)-san, you should get up so you can lay down in bed.” He shuffled over to your side and brushed back your hair, wiping at the stray pieces of rice that stuck to the edges of your lips with his handkerchief, “come on.” 
“. . . Okay.”
You hummed before slowly crawling into bed, listening to his soft voice as you dropped your head onto the pillows. Yuki pressed the back of his hand to your forehead, your temperature was slowly rising and he was beginning to worry. One moment he turned around to look back at the kitchen for a nearby towel, you had already fallen back asleep despite eating just minutes earlier. He sighed before quickly walking to the counter and running a towel underwater, he squeezed the remaining water out of it. He folded it into a rectangle before placing it on your forehead. 
You must have been really tired from yesterday, he thought. If you were this sleepy when you got sick, he couldn’t imagine how you would last the entire day without eating or taking proper care of yourself.
”You shouldn’t have gone out so late without a jacket.” He scolded pressing his cold fingers against your hot cheeks. 
”. . . Sorry. . .” You apologized weakly like a small child.
”It’s okay, wear a jacket next time.” Yuki rubbed the top of your head as you hummed. 
His cheeks still felt warm as he watched you fall asleep for what seems like the third or fourth time already. He turned to look down at his phone, seeing that it was starting to get late. As much as he knows that he should go home, it doesn’t extinguish his worry about you. 
What if you fell off of your bed? Or what if your temperature got worse? What if you need help getting water for your throat? There was too much that was worrying Yuki that he was starting to internally panic at the different things that may go wrong. He sighed before standing up to get a drink of water, but your hand reached out to grab onto his. He yelped as he felt you tug on him with enough force to bring his face closer to him. 
'Was she always this strong?' He thought, his face beginning to burn a hot color as he felt your warm breath against his lips. Instead of waking up, you stayed unmoving in your bed, still asleep as you held onto him. He fears that you may give him a heart attack, or worse he would transform back into his rat form. He quickly pulled his face away from you, but your hand was the only thing keeping him from completely separating himself from you. 
“. . . Don’t. . . Leave me.” You mumbled, stirring in your sleep as you held onto his hand, “. . . Please stay.” 
His eyes widened as you intertwined your fingers with his, bringing it close to you. He slowly caressed your cheek with his fingers, watching as your eyes began to drip with small strings of tears. You flinched in response, the flow of water continuing to flow down your cheeks and onto the tips of his pale fingers. 
“. . . Stay. Please. . . Don’t leave.”
He gave you a small, saddened smile, “I’m not leaving (L/n)-san.” He leaned his head on the blankets that covered your stomach, watching as your breathing began to slow down, your body relaxing slightly as he felt your fingertips rub against his palm. 
How many times have you cried in your sleep? How many times have you been left behind? Did you cry like this when you slept at his house? He wants to know. He wants to know so desperately to cure the ache in his heart. You sniffled as he continued to wipe away at your tears. What sort of pain have you been through? How badly broken was your heart that you had to hide everything away? 
Will you ever tell him?
He felt his eyes close as he began to drift off into sleep, the warmth of your cheeks still brushing against his skin. His phone may have rung and buzzed several times, but neither of you paid attention to the noise. There was only one thing the two of you did feel. 
It was the presence of someone else by your side as you were at your most vulnerable.
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witchygirl99 · 4 years ago
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Hi @fantasizingmyfantasies, I’m your Secret Santa for the @inusecretsanta​! Hope you enjoy :)
Pairing: InuKag
Rated: G
Summary: Professor Naraku, in a fit of rage over Inuyasha’s insolence, has given every House an assignment on a nearly impossible undetectable poison. Two Gryffindors and two Hufflepuffs solve it anyways, with interesting results.
Note Regarding Witchy Banner Below: Shoutout to @neutronstarchild​ for making this for me :) She’s the absolute best. Inspiration for the banner comes from @dangerouspompadour​ and her wonderful creative to let you all know to keep reading ;)
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“Are you sure?” Jinenji asked, tugging his long, swirling robes tighter around him as they bustled through the arched hallways of the castle. Students were everywhere, both fleeing into and out of the library. With O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s so close, wizards and witches at Hogwarts had settled into an almost zombie-like state of mania, complete with the muttering of enchantments and funny hand twitches as they fake-casted spells. As a third year, Jinenji was thankful he still didn’t have to worry about those. At least, not yet.
“Have some faith in me,” his best friend, Kagome, argued. Her dark brown eyes looked up at him, somehow glimmering off the yellow inner lining of her robe, peeking out while they hurried to their destination. Jinenji had met Kagome back when they were both first years, both assigned by the Sorting Hat to Hufflepuff. They had become fast friends and for the most part, the two of them managed to partner on most important projects. “Miroku already finished the assignment. Apparently, his guardian was always going on about different poisons, especially those that could be hidden in a drink.”
Jinenji hummed, believing her. He had never talked to Miroku before but Kagome was a good judge of character. If she trusted the Ravenclaw, then he did, too. “I’m surprised we were given this assignment at all. Aren’t we supposed to discuss undetectable poisons, not create them for homework?”
“Well, we have Gryffindor to thank for that.” His best friend pushed through the grand wooden door of Hogwarts’s library, a hush befalling them, like the outside noise of the castle was cast away. Immediately, they could feel eyes on them, though no one visible stood behind a desk. That was likely because the library was ruled with an iron fist by Mister Myoga, the head librarian and also a flea demon. He used his virtually non-existent height to sneak around and ensure students were treating the books with care or remaining quiet. “I heard,” Kagome whispered now, “that Professor Naraku was so angry that he kicked some Gryffindor out of the classroom and then proceeded to make three Slytherins who cheered cry.”
“You’d think he’d have enjoyed that,” Jinenji mumbled back, trying his best to keep quiet. “Professor Naraku is kind to the Slytherins.” His friend hummed at him, leading them further and further back into the library. Jinenji trusted her to know where they were going, and exactly what they were looking for. “Seems unnecessary that this is our assignment, too. Gryffindor and Slytherin had class yesterday. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw today. Why give it to us, too?”
“It’s Professor Naraku, who knows?”
That, at least, was a fair point that Jinenji couldn’t argue with. Not that he was one to argue much at all.
“Come on,” Kagome whispered, hand tugging on his robe. “There’s a potions book – almost like an encyclopedia – by the greatest potioneer ever, Mukotsu Inada. Terrible wizard. I’m pretty sure he’s been in Azkaban for the last ten years. But!” She waved a hand at Jinenji’s look of horror. “The greatest potioneer ever. If there’s no details on this undetectable itching poison in there, then it’s nowhere.”
Jinenji hid his expression, knowing Kagome was right. At this point in the library, he was completely lost, but his friend had no such issues. They turned a corner at one stack of books before zagging in the other direction, muffled voices coming from not too far away. He watched as Kagome frowned, dragging him still, and when they came to what was clearly supposed to be the right spot, he spotted two other students scouring the shelves: Gryffindors.
“You!” Kagome exclaimed, surprised.
Jinenji blinked, surprised by the outburst, and then finally took a good look at the wizard and witch before them.
It was Inuyasha and Shiori. The Troublesome Twosome of Gryffindor.
Oh no.
X+X+X
Inuyasha Taisho was already in a sulking mood, not that he would ever admit as such to Shiori. “Are you sure it’s here?”
“Where else would it be?” Shiori snapped at him, violet eyes a little crazy. She’d been looking that way ever since Inuyasha and Professor Naraku had it out in yesterday’s Potions class, and Shiori had been saddled with taking down the notes for their joint assignment on undetectable poisons without him. Potions was already the bane of Shiori’s existence; she was far more about actions and spell work, leading the Defense Against the Dark Arts grades. Inuyasha’s snarling outburst at Professor Naraku’s stupidity, followed by his dismissal only twenty minutes into class made Shiori have to do double the work. He owed her.
Still. “And you swear you heard the name correctly? You’re not just making shit up?”
“For the love of Merlin, Inuyasha, shush,” Shiori hissed. He was lucky her wand wasn’t out, or he was sure she’d have cast something on him by now. A silencing spell, if nothing else. “I overheard your Hufflepuff girl in the hall. I’m sure it’s correct.”
Inuyasha couldn’t help himself. He turned unimpressed golden eyes at her. “She’s not my Hufflepuff girl!” Ever since their first year, the two of them had been having this argument. Inuyasha didn’t understand why Shiori couldn’t let this go. So what if he thought the Hufflepuff girl was cute? That was normal. She was quick to smile and friendly and basically the opposite of Inuyasha’s entire existence. But it wasn’t like they had spoken or anything, which meant that there was no way Kagome Higurashi, Hufflepuff darling, could be considered in any way ‘his.’
“Whatever,” Shiori replied, kicking him lightly in the leg. “I guess your forlorn staring at her in the Great Hall every evening at dinner means nothing. Fine. Help me find this book!”
Inuyasha sighed. Best friend or not, Shiori was quick to call him out on anything deemed bullshit.
“You!”
Immediately, Inuyasha glared at the intruders to their little library stack, hating being surprised. It was only then that he realized, like some kind of nightmare, that the exact person they were talking about was standing before them. Kagome stared at them in shock, Hufflepuff robes fluttering around her, with another hulking Hufflepuff wizard right behind her looking rather uncomfortable. “What?” he asked, the question coming out far ruder than he meant to.
“Oh, just—” Kagome frowned a little, brow furrowing as she looked between both him and Shiori. Her dark gaze landed on his friend, curiosity taking over her features. “You were listening in earlier!”
“No,” Shiori argued immediately, shaking her head. It didn’t help that the book she was shielding herself with was, in fact, the Great Book of Potions by Mukotsu Inada.
“Just because we’re not in Ravenclaw doesn’t mean we’re stupid,” Inuyasha barked, crossing his arms defensively. “We go to the library for research, too.” He knew that he had a reputation at Hogwarts, and that by association, Shiori did too. Very few witches and wizards ever dared to challenge them at anything. This was almost refreshing.
The Hufflepuff wizard stepped forward then, looking between them and his friend before trying for a smile. He was so tall, his head was the same height as the top of the stacks. If he wasn’t in Hufflepuff and known around Hogwarts as a gentle giant, Inuyasha probably would have been worried about a fight. “We don’t think that at all,” the wizard said quietly, voice shockingly small. “It’s good that you found it. I’m Jinenji and this is Kagome. You’re looking for the itching poison too, right?”
Inuyasha couldn’t help but look at Kagome, swallowing down the words that he already knew her name a long time ago. She smiled back at him despite his unwavering scowl. Inuyasha was begrudgingly endeared even more than before. Shiori could never find out.
“We have Potions class tomorrow and if we don’t complete the assignment tonight, Professor Naraku will have our heads,” Shiori said then. “Specifically Inuyasha’s.”
“Hey!”
“Where’s the lie?”
Inuyasha scowled and looked away. “Whatever. We need the book more. We can give you back the book when we’re done.”
“No way,” Kagome argued, smile slipping. “We have far too many other assignments and this is hard enough that doing it last minute would be terrible.”
“Well then you can copy the book right now.”
Kagome plastered on a smile. “Since I was the one that led you here, you should copy the book.”
Inuyasha eyed Jinenji, the giant Hufflepuff, watching him deflate. “No,” he retorted, just to see what Kagome could do. How far could a Hufflepuff go in friendliness? “We got here first.”
“I have an idea,” Kagome interjected, still friendly but oddly firm. “Since we all want to do the same assignment tonight, why don’t we do it together? That way, we get all the information we need, we all complete the assignment on time and everyone is happy.” Inuyasha opened his mouth but she shot him a sharp look, smile gaining an edge and quelling his argument. “This is the best plan.”
“That’s fine for me,” Jinenji replied quietly. Inuyasha noticed that despite his size, he almost shifted behind Kagome, as if hiding from the confrontation. “Where will we do it? We can’t practice in one of the classrooms at this hour or we’ll be caught for sure.”
“The girls’ Gryffindor bathroom,” Shiori said suddenly, finally speaking up. “No one goes in there, not even the prefects.”
“That’s perfect,” Kagome encouraged, nodding. “Great idea.”
Too nice. She was far too fucking nice. At least she wasn’t smiling anymore, menacingly or sweetly.
Jinenji hummed. “Should we go now, then? Meet up in ten minutes so we can get our scrolls?”
“Works for me,” Shiori answered, her elbow digging into Inuyasha’s side.
He huffed. “Yeah, whatever.”
“Wonderful,” Kagome concluded.
Inuyasha watched her and the giant Hufflepuff walk away, mouthing the word wonderful incredulously. Who even said things like that?
X+X+X
The Gryffindor bathroom was haunted. This was very likely why no one came in it, Kagome thought, staring up at the ghost floating in front of her.
“You must be the Hufflepuffs,” the ghost whispered, eyeing her and Jinenji in turn. He was a squat little thing, a toad demon with massive eyes and a permanent frown. While non-corporeal and clearly transparent, the ghost still took off the hat on his head and scratched, assessing them. “You shouldn’t be here,” the ghost warned.
“Leave them be, Jaken! You’re never supposed to be in here anyways, and yet.” It sounded like the Gryffindor girl Kagome had caught hanging around her in the hall earlier that day, right after the disastrous Potions class with Professor Naraku. Kagome wasn’t the suspicious kind, but she had noticed the way the girl had stopped and fiddled with her bag for an overly long time, those violet eyes looking up every once and a while like Kagome wouldn’t notice.
Well, she had. Kagome didn’t mind that she was being listened to, but wouldn’t it have been so much easier if the Gryffindor had just…come to her outright and asked?
Suddenly, Shiori poked her head around the corner and flashed them a smile. “This way! There’s enough room by the stalls for us all to sit.” She eyed Jinenji as she said it, only a brief glance, but Kagome was grateful that the two of them had at least considered her friend’s bulk. Jinenji was too kind-hearted to ever complain and it drove Kagome nuts every once and a while.
A cauldron sat in the middle with numerous jars and bags surrounding it. Seated on the far side was Inuyasha, glowering at it. Kagome tried for a smile, sitting down beside him. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out so Professor Naraku can’t pick on you.”
Inuyasha blinked at her, looking confused for all of a moment before his nose scrunched up. “Pretty sure we could get perfect on this and he would still pick on me.”
“He is, after all, the reason we were even assigned this horrible homework,” Shiori grumbled, sitting across from Kagome. She elbowed Inuyasha and shot him a sympathetic glance. “In fairness, Naraku was being a huge jerk.”
“Whatever,” Inuyasha grumbled, and Kagome watched as he peeked at her quickly before returning his glower to the cauldron. “Let’s just get this over with. If we miss curfew and I get caught again, I’m fucked.”
“We wouldn’t want that,” Kagome agreed.
“I can read out the ingredients,” Shiori offered then, holding the book. “Inuyasha can do the cutting—”
“Actually,” Kagome interjected, smiling to soften the blow of her interruption. “Jinenji is the best with preparing the ingredients. He’s saved so many of our potions I can’t even keep count.”
Inuyasha shrugged, looking like he didn’t particularly care. Jinenji, as expected, turned red at the praise, big hands fidgeting with each other. Kagome knew this would make him the most comfortable though, and pushed over the various ingredients already collected. “That’s fine with me.”
“We can work on the potion itself,” she said, reaching out to get Inuyasha’s attention back. He startled again and Kagome felt helpless but to do anything other than smile reassuringly. “What’s first?”
Shiori gave Jinenji the proper instructions for the ingredients. Some things were quite simple, like pouring in a certain amount of the powdered porcupine quills, but other ingredients required some finessing. Kagome was pleased when Inuyasha and Shiori watched, entranced, as Jinenji deftly prepared the aconite flowers, big hands somehow managing to cut up the petals while only touching the safe stems. He gave Kagome the tiny board he had brought filled with the sliced petals, prepared as always, and Kagome carefully held it over the cauldron while Inuyasha transferred them into the mixture.
They let it heat for a minute, the four of them quietly watching the ingredients mix together. Jinenji, smart as always, started to crush a few of the remaining herbs using a pestle.
Inuyasha tapped on the floor of the bathroom, golden eyes seeking Kagome’s the moment time was up. “Now what?”
Shiori, leading them all, was the one to answer. “The effectiveness of the poison is determined by the length of brew. Great Potions tells us what the consistency is supposed to be, so I think as long as we record it on our scrolls, we’ll just have to hope that by tomorrow morning we’ll have the right result. I can bottle it up first thing, one for each of us to deliver in class.”
“Here’s the last of it,” Jinenji interrupted softly, offering what was in the pestle.
Kagome took it and just like their usual routine, Inuyasha made sure it carefully was put in. She nudged gently at his knee, gesturing towards her own wand. “You do the honours and then I’ll stir?”
The Gryffindor blinked at her for a moment before shrugging, grabbing his wand. Inuyasha waved it above the cauldron, and the deep purple mixture bubbled into a dark blue.
“That’s it,” Shiori exclaimed, excited. “Matches the book exactly.”
“Thank god,” Inuyasha groaned, making Kagome laugh. She double-checked with Shiori before putting in the long spoon and stirring seven times exactly, watching the blue liquid swirl around. It was bubbling quite rapidly, despite the low heat, and when she removed the spoon there was a tiny burst of it, popping out of the cauldron and landing right on the chest of Inuyasha’s clothes.
For a long moment, the four of them were silent, staring in disbelief.
“The itching poison—” Jinenji started, but was cut off immediately by Inuyasha’s heavy sigh.
“Why does this always happen to me?” he grumbled, undoing the tie of his outer robe. The problem was that the blue liquid could clearly be seen on the shirt underneath, closest to his skin. The itching poison was supposed to be quite horrible and she really didn’t want to have to take them down to St. Mungo’s.
“Hurry,” Kagome insisted, getting worried. If Jinenji had started to bring up the itching poison, it could only mean that things would go bad quickly.
The Gryffindor scowled at her. “I am hurrying!”
“No, not—” And then Kagome was forcing her way in front of him, pushing at his robe before grabbing onto the buttons of his shirt underneath. “If this touches your skin, you’ll be itching for a month, at least, and you’ll never be able to make it through class tomorrow—”
“I have it!” Inuyasha argued, even as Shiori tugged the robe from behind him. “It’s fine, it won’t—” But then he got somehow impossibly tangled. Shiori wasn’t letting go, pulling even harder, and Inuyasha flailed backwards.
“Oof!” Kagome, her hands on his shirt still, was dragged down with him. It was an ungainly sprawl with Kagome embarrassingly ending up straddled above his prone form, lying on the ground.
She stared at him for a second, horrified, while Inuyasha looked at her with something akin to fear.
And then she saw the blue liquid on the collar, having moved from the fall, and it was so close to his skin. “Off!” she yelled, tugging furiously.
“You’re not undressing me!” Inuyasha shouted back, even though he, too, was trying to avoid the poison.
“You have to!”
“No!”
“Inuyasha!”
“Kagome!”
“Inuyasha!”
X+X+X
Behind them, Shiori crawled over until she was side-by-side with Jinenji. She stared up at him with big violet eyes, trying and failing to suppress her smile. “Should we tell them?”
Jinenji sighed but he looked just as amused as she was. “That the effectiveness of the itching poison doesn’t begin until at least an hour of brewing?”
“Yeah.” Shiori nodded and then stared at Inuyasha and Kagome, yelling at each other and somehow both trying to accomplish the same task. “That.”
“I already tried.” Jinenji shrugged. “It’s not like they can actually get hurt.”
But just as he had spoken, Kagome had finally managed to successfully tug at Inuyasha’s shirt, hauling him up into a sitting position and whipping off the material from the side. They both twisted, and Shiori could only watch, like a train about to crash, as Inuyasha’s and Kagome’s faces collided.
To call it a kiss would have been excessive. Both turned extremely red anyways.
“What are you doing?” Inuyasha yelled.
“Me? What about you? Why would you lean so far forward?!”
“It was that or you were going to dislocate my shoulder!”
“No, I wouldn’t have,” Kagome argued.
Shiori nudged Jinenji, even though her elbow barely made it past his huge legs. “If you and I are going to have to watch this play out for the next four years, we better get an Outstanding on this stupid assignment.”
The giant Hufflepuff smiled down at her. “I’m sure we will.”
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chauhee · 4 years ago
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More Than Just a Tease pt. 2 - K. Sunwoo
Summary - You’re forced to face Sunwoo...
Genre - Angst
Warnings - Some cursing/Strong language, not proofread
A/N - There you go, I made a part 2. Let’s get this enemies to lovers !
Read Part 1
Request here!
It was before class the next day. You had been staring at your bag for almost five minutes, arguing with yourself. You considered skipping class today, but you knew that would give Sunwoo too much satisfaction. 
After driving home last night, you walked into your dark, lonely apartment. You dropped your stuff on the living room couch, going straight for your bedroom. Without changing, you crawled into bed, defeated. You clutched your pillow tightly, trying hard not to let the tears spill from your eyes, but to no avail. You ended up crying yourself to sleep, all because of him.
You took a deep breath and grabbed your bag, leaving your apartment for class. The walk was calm, you tried to focus on the peaceful quiet around you. Mostly, you avoided thinking about what, or who, awaited you at your destination.
You watched the trees that had already begun to shed their leaves rustle in the cool wind, the same wind that brushed your skin gently, seeming to support you as you walked forward. 
You arrived at school all too soon. There was a large amount of people walking around, groups of friends speaking to each other, teachers headed to their classes, students seated, trying desperately to finish that assignment for their next class. To your surprise, Sunwoo was seated at the entrance of your building, looking around. It seemed like he had been waiting for you.
When he spotted you, his mouth curled up into a wide smile. He put his phone away in his back pocket, standing to meet you at the base of the stairs. It irritated you how friendly he was acting after what happened last night. But you weren’t about to entertain him by acting like it bothered you. You swallowed your emotions as he joined you in walking inside the building.
“Hey, Y/N!” He matched your pace beside you, fixing the strap of his backpack on his right shoulder. “How was your night~?”
“Fine.” You answered calmly.
“Hmm? Nothing interesting happened?” He was trying to get you to talk about what happened, but you weren’t budging. “What’s up with you? Did it really bother you that much?”
“What?” You said as you neared the chemistry class. You kept your expression as nonchalant as possible. He seemed pretty confused by your composure.
“You’re really not going to talk about what happened last night?” His expression was serious now. He sat down beside you on the lab table.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” You avoided his gaze as you took out your supplies. You heard him laugh beside you.
“It must have bothered you a lot, since you won’t even talk about it.”
“I didn’t even go,” You lied. “I just assumed you were going to trick me, so I texted you to confirm my suspicions. You’re not as smart as you think.”
That left him speechless. He almost shrunk into himself, knitting his eyebrows before pulling out his supplies as well. Your professor began the lesson shortly after, giving you guys another paper assignment to be done in pairs with your lab partner. You didn’t even bother to talk to Sunwoo. You simply began the assignment on your own, hoping that it wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Y/N...” He said quietly from beside you. “We need to work together.”
“I can do it myself,” You said without looking up from your paper.
“But...” He paused, “I can’t.”
“Too bad.”
At the end of class, your professor stood in front of the classroom. “I will need you guys to finish this assignment for homework. Next class we will be doing a titration lab and you will need to use those calculations to complete it. Oh! and one last thing: Please make sure you and your partner have the same answers, I will be grading for teamwork as well.”
“Shit.” You said under your breath. You had already gotten halfway through the packed on your own. You knew you couldn’t get out of studying with Sunwoo after school.
“Looks like we have to work together,” Sunwoo said to you as you gathered your things.
You stood up tall, looking down at him. “If you want to get it done, you will have to come to my apartment this afternoon. Don’t even think of pulling anything because I’m not afraid to make us both fail.” 
You walked out of the classroom before he could argue with you.
It was 6:00 PM, Sunwoo would be at your apartment any minute now. You waited with your things already spread out on the living room table. You had a plan to get him out of your house as soon as possible. You would only need to get him to focus on the assignment, which was, evidently, the hardest part. 
You heard a knock at your door. Preparing yourself for the worst, you stood up, walking to your front door slowly. You looked through the hole in the door before opening it, making sure it was Sunwoo, and only Sunwoo. When it turned out to just be him, you opened the door.
“Hey.” He said softly. He didn’t seem to be as playful anymore. He looked a bit tired, actually. “Can I come in?”
You realized you hadn’t moved out of the way to let him in. Opening the door wider and stepping to the side, you watched him as he walked into your apartment. He seemed to be surveying the place, considering the furniture and how clean it was. He saw where you put your stuff and walked towards the living room. 
“Do you want something to drink or eat?” You asked to be polite.
He shook his head. “No, I’m okay.” 
He was acting so different than usual. In public, he was confident, easily able to pull a one-liner on you. He was also able to ruin your day with one simple comment. But here in your apartment, he seemed calm. You almost forgot how much of an asshole he was being yesterday.
“We should get started, then,” You motioned for him to sit down beside you at the table. He pulled out his packet, leaving it on the first page.
“How far did you get? We need to have the same answers.” He said to you. You passed him your packet for him to compare his answers to yours. As you watched him do that, you realized how handsome he looked. His hair was a bit messy from the walk over, but in a way that was extremely attractive. He was dressed nicely, too, and you could smell his cologne. 
He noticed you looking at him and glanced over at you, trying to catch you in the act. You looked down at your packet, trying to play it off, but he already saw you. You were expecting him to tease you about it, but he just returned back to the packet, cheeks burning a bit red. 
“Why are you so mean to me?” You said suddenly. 
He looked up at you, suddenly his eyes looked sweet, almost like puppy dog eyes. He put the packet down on the table.
“I know you think it’s playful, but it really hurts my feelings, Sunwoo.” You looked down, wiping your hands on your jeans.
“I...” He begins, not able to get his thoughts in order fast enough. “You make me nervous.”
“Nervous?” You look back at him.
“Yeah, I mean...” He bites his lip nervously and looks back up at you. “I like you.”
Your heart began to beat incredibly fast. You tried to push down your own feelings for him. “You can’t treat me like that if you like me.” You were obviously blushing.
“I know.” He looked down at his hands. He didn’t seem to have an excuse at this point. 
You thought it was probably a stupid move, but you moved closer to him. You placed your hand on his chin, moving it towards you for him to look at you. He seemed shocked by your actions, but he didn’t move away from your touch.
“I shouldn’t, but I like you too...” At your words, his eyes went down to your lips, and his hand grabbed yours that was on his face. 
He leaned forward, and kissed you.
89 notes · View notes
noona-clock · 4 years ago
Text
The Counselor - Part 3
Genre: Teacher!AU
Pairing: Bobby x You (Female!Reader)
Warnings: Sexism, Somewhat verbal abuse
Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Words: 2,617
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As usual, the weekend went by far too quickly.
Truly, whoever thought that a five-day workweek was a good idea -- whoever had invented that -- you wanted to have a talk.
When you really think about it, how did it make sense that out of seven days in the week, you should go to work for five of them? Why not four? A four-day workweek and a three-day weekend would make the world a much better place, you were convinced.
But, alas. There was nothing you could do to change that right now.
The fact that it was now the second week of school helped a little, though. The second was much easier than the first week, and basically from here on out, the weeks would go by in a flash.
I mean, Monday had already come and gone, and that was the worst day of the week! You’d already gotten it over with!
But now you had to prepare for the pre-test you were giving all of your classes tomorrow. Apparently, you had gotten a bit too overzealous when cleaning out your cabinets during planning, and you’d ended up throwing the test you’d used last year in the recycling bin.
But, hey. If you were going to work late creating a test, it might as well be on a Monday, right?
Just after you opened up your favorite test creator website, there was a soft knock on your door. You always left your door open after school, but you still called out for the guest to come in.
“Hey,” Bobby greeted before you even had the chance to shift your gaze and see who it was.
“Oh, hey,” you replied with a small grin, very quickly glancing at him before getting back to work. Bobby was probably the only co-worker you knew wouldn’t get offended if you didn’t give him your full attention when he came to see you. 
“Whatcha up to?” he asked casually as he shuffled over toward your desk.
With a sigh, you answered, “I’m giving a pre-test tomorrow, but I guess I accidentally trashed the one I gave last year. Gotta make a new one.”
As he usually did, Bobby perched on the edge of your desk, and he grabbed the stress ball from next to your pen holder. “Sounds fun,” he murmured as he threw the stress ball gently up into the air and caught it when it came back down.
You simply hummed unenthusiastically in response and continued typing away on your laptop.
For the next minute or two, the only sounds in your classroom were the clacking of your keyboard and soft thuds of Bobby throwing your stress ball up and down.
This was one reason why you enjoyed and valued your friendship with Bobby so much. He could come to your classroom to talk but the two of you may not end up talking at all -- he didn’t mind. And neither did you.
Still, though, after you finished a few questions, you let out a soft sigh and turned your head wearily over to look at him.
“How was your day?” you asked.
Bobby paused, holding the stress ball in his hand and squeezing it as he looked back at you. “Pretty good, I guess,” he shrugged. “It was Monday, and my appointments are starting to pick up, so the school year is in full swing, I guess.”
“Yep,” you replied with a slight frown. “First week is over, so now the real work begins.”
You let out a mix between a whine and a groan as you leaned back against your chair, spinning around slowly and letting your arms hang down over the armrests.
“Hard at work, I see!”
You immediately sat up, ignoring the inward cringe you felt at hearing that particular voice. You wondered how long it would take you to get used to Principal Howell -- surely, you wouldn’t dislike him for the entire school year.
...Right?
“Yes, Sir, Mr. Howell,” Bobby answered, and you didn’t even need to look at him to know he was smiling that angelic but professional smile of his. “I really shouldn’t be bothering Y/N because she’s trying to get ready for her pre-test tomorrow, but she’s too nice to tell me to leave.”
Truly, thank god for Bobby. You were a nice person, but you weren’t too nice -- you most likely would’ve responded to the principal’s comment with something far too sassy to be considered professional.
“Aha,” Mr. Howell chuckled, wagging a finger toward the two of you. “Sounds like a woman to me.”
You began to push yourself out of your chair, ready to retort back with something even more sassy, but Bobby interrupted you.
“Thanks for checking in, Sir,” he said.
Mr. Howell either understood Bobby’s covert request to leave you alone or he was too stupid to and simply had other things to do (if you were a betting person, you would bet it was the latter) because he shot Bobby a grin and left.
“Are you serious?” you hissed, barely waiting long enough for your boss to be out of earshot. “What the --”
“It was definitely sexist,” Bobby agreed.
You let out a strangled groan and practically threw yourself back against your seat, your strength forceful enough to spin your desk chair around about 180 degrees. “And it’s only the second week!” you cried, throwing two fingers up into the air for emphasis.
Bobby sighed, and all of a sudden, your chair was spinning back around to face him. “If you hear him say anything more, let me know. I’ll start keeping documentation and talk to one of the assistant principals.”
...Had you ever said just how grateful you were to be friends with the school’s guidance counselor? Bobby wasn’t afraid to take care of problems, but he never did it in aggressive way, and you just appreciated that so much.
“Thank you,” you nodded, making sure to look him right in the eyes so he understood you really meant it.
Bobby simply replied with a close-lipped smile before putting your stress ball back beside your pen holder and sliding off your desk.
“I’ll leave you to it,” he said as he made his way over to your door. “And let me know if you hear anything else so I can add it to my notes.”
You brought two fingers to your forehead and gave him a quick salute. He returned the gesture just before he stepped into the hallway, making a soft, amused grin appear on your lips.
Normally, you would procrastinate right now. You would’ve told Bobby he didn’t need to leave, and the two of you would’ve start talking about whatever conversation topics came to mind.
But you knew you were going to have to stay late creating this pre-test, and the more you procrastinated, the later you would be here.
So, you sat up straighter in your chair and got right back to work.
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“Happy Hump Day, Ms. Y/L/N!” one of the students in your last period class said with a smirk as he waved good-bye to you from your doorway.
“Yeah, yeah,” you chuckled. “See you tomorrow, Daniel.”
And just before he had fully left your classroom, you called out, “And don’t forget your homework tomorrow! Yesterday’s and today’s!”
“Absolutely!” you heard his voice reply faintly, and you wondered to yourself what the odds were he would actually turn it all in tomorrow afternoon.
You shook your head to yourself, a half-grin tugging at your lips as you began to straighten up your desk. While students like Daniel could be a handful... they were also kinda your favorite ones. Daniel, specifically, was very outgoing and loud -- not to mention forgetful and lazy -- but he was also sweet, thoughtful, and genuinely funny. He made up for the fact he forgot to do his homework 3 out of 4 days with how often he made you laugh or smile -- at least, in your eyes he made up for it. Surely not every one of his teachers felt the same way, but hey. What could you do?
As you put your pens back in your pen cup, your gaze scanned over your calendar to see what was planned for tomorrow -- and then you saw the note for Victoria’s tutoring today.
Oh, yeah!
You had remembered during your third period class earlier today, but you had already forgotten. Such is the life of a busy math teacher -- and that was exactly why you wrote things down so often. If you didn’t, you would never remember anything.
Right on cue, there was a soft knock on your door.
“Ms. Y/L/N?” Victoria’s sweet voice called out, and when you looked up to greet her, you saw she wasn’t alone.
“Hey,” you smiled, raising your eyebrows slightly. You recognized the girl standing next to Victoria as one from your first period class, but you couldn’t pull her name, even from the recesses of your mind.
“I brought Lisa with me,” Victoria explained. “Is that okay?”
Lisa! Yep, that was it. Lisa.
“Of course,” you assured them, gesturing toward the small, kidney bean-shaped table in the back of your classroom. “The more the merrier. ...Except not really because if too many people come for tutoring, it’ll turn into just another class period, and no teacher wants that after school.”
Both Victoria and Lisa giggled as they approached the table, taking off their backpacks and getting out their math textbooks.
You joined them at the table with a grin, pulling out the chair in the notch of the table and sitting down. “Where shall we begin? Anything in particular so far that you want to go over?”
Lisa answered that the lesson you’d taught today had been hard for her to follow, so you started there, having them flip to the chapter in the textbook you’d focused on just a few hours ago.
Since your lesson hadn’t clicked with either of them, you took a different approach to it this time. You used visual aids and tried to think of applicable examples -- especially examples that two teenage girls would appreciate. You had Lisa and Victoria come up with their own examples to make sure they understood, and then you began helping them with the first few questions on their homework.
“Good,” you praised Victoria after checking her solution to the second problem. “Do you feel better about it?”
“A little --”
But Victoria was interrupted by someone -- a male someone -- clearing his throat.
The noise came from your doorway, so you quickly shifted your gaze to see who it --
Oh, lord.
It was Principal Howell.
...And he did not look happy.
“Hi, Sir,” you greeted with a softly wrinkled forehead. “Can I help you?”
“What is going on here?” he asked in clipped tones.
He didn’t sound happy, either.
“I’m just helping them with --”
Mr. Howell stepped into your room, his chest puffed up and his eyebrows raised menacingly. “I don’t recall signing off on this,” he interrupted.
Your heart began to beat a little bit faster. You really didn’t like the way he was speaking, and you especially didn’t like that he was coming toward you.
“Oh, I --”
“I’m sure you’re aware, Ms. Y/L/N, that all after-school activities must be approved? By myself?” he asked, his tone nothing short of patronizing and condescending.
He had stepped too close to the table for your comfort, and since you didn’t want Lisa and Victoria to be physically in the middle of this, you quickly stood, almost knocking your chair over in the process.
“I --”
“I know that you young teachers have all these ideas and think you’re going to change the system, but I specifically said ALL --”
He raised his voice then, and you jumped a little.
“After-school activities need to be approved by me!”
“I’m sorry, Sir, I just thought--”
“Well, it’s very obvious you weren’t thinking, Ms. Y/L/N,” he snapped.
Inside, you were fuming. You were mortified. Terrified. Angry, embarrassed, and scared all rolled into one. You wanted to retort back with something smart and sassy. You wanted to tell him just what you thought of his stupid policy and his sexist remarks.
But on the outside... you found you just couldn’t. You could only gulp nervously and stammer and wring your hands together and --
“Mr. Howell.”
Suddenly, Bobby was standing next to the principal. You jumped a little again, and your heart sped up.
What was Bobby doing here?
Mr. Howell’s glare briefly shifted over to Bobby, and he muttered, “Ah, Mr. Kim. Hello.”
“My apologies, Sir,” Bobby said in his most confident yet casually polite voice. “This is my fault.”
Your brow knit together with confusion. This was all what now?
Mr. Howell looked just as confused as you felt, though there was definitely also some skepticism in his eyes.
“Excuse me?” he asked Bobby.
“I told her tutoring probably doesn’t count as an activity, so she didn’t need to get your permission,” Bobby answered.
...Oh my god. Bobby was taking the blame. 
Even though it was actually the opposite -- he had warned you about the new approval policy, but you had assured him tutoring didn’t count.
“I’m so sorry,” Bobby added.
Bobby had been shuffling around as he spoke, and somehow, he was now fully in-between Mr. Howell and the table, successfully blocking the principal’s view of you.
“I assume she has your approval now?” Bobby asked. “Since it’s just two students, one day a week.”
You held your breath. For some reason, you were convinced Mr. Howell would refuse to give his permission.
But, to your utter surprise and relief, he murmured, “Yes, I suppose so.”
“Perfect,” Bobby replied with a grin. “Actually, while I have you, I was wondering if you could take a look at something in my office?”
You held your breath as Bobby escorted Mr. Howell out of your classroom, only letting it out in a short huff when you could no longer hear their footsteps out in the hallway.
You deflated back into your chair and let your head drop onto the table with a thud.
Wow.
That had been --
Wow.
Wow wow wow wow -- oh, god, you weren’t alone.
Immediately, you picked your head back up to look at Lisa and Victoria sitting across from you. “Girls, I am so --”
Both of them looked completely in awe, and apparently, your words were just the sign they needed to spill all of their thoughts.
“Ms. Y/L/N!” they both burst out, their voices somewhat breathless.
“That was so --”
“Mr. Kim!”
“He came to your rescue --”
“Oh, it was so romantic!”
Your head jerked back in surprise when you hear the word romantic.
“Wait, what?” you interrupted, doing nothing to hide the confusion in your tone.
Lisa’s eyes widened, and she asked with wondrous curiosity, “Is Mr. Kim your boyfriend?”
You almost choked on the air you were breathing, but you managed to answer her. “No -- friends. We’re just friends.”
Both Victoria and Lisa’s eyebrows lowered, and they glanced at each other knowingly.
“Are you... sure?” Victoria asked.
“Yes, I am quite sure,” you assured them. “And I’m not just saying that because I don’t want to divulge my personal life. We are just friends.”
They looked at each other again, but this time it was long enough to make you nervous.
So, you asked, “...Why?”
Both girls’ heads whipped back around to face you.
“Well,” Lisa began.
“We think he likes you,” Victoria finished.
Part 4
102 notes · View notes
toutallyahoe · 5 years ago
Text
Flirt ~ Shinsō Hitoshi (BNHA)
Requested By: --
A/N: this'll be a series but my dear gremlins... pray to a god that ill actually follow through the fucking outline i have written and have the motivation to write because lmao
also, wowowow bnha yall? and here i thought i outgrew my weeb phase but guess not! now, dont spoil me shit please because i still have no clue what the fuck is happening in the fandom since i havent touched any anime for fucking months (well, except me watching four episodes of free! two weeks ago but shhhhhh) so dont fucking be cunt to spoil, yeah? lmao thanks and enjoy this shit ajsvdjskdbjsb
fun fact, this was supposed to be only 500-800 words but GUESS WHO GOT TOO INTO THIS SHIT AND WRITTEN 3600 PLUS WORDS YALL?!?!?!?!?
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Flirt | Flirt 2 | Flirt 3
─────────────────
Hitoshi let out a tired sigh leaving his lips as he shoves his hands on the pockets of his hoodie. A frown on his lips as he tried to hide his face inside the purple scarf wrapped around his neck, hiding away from the cold breeze passing by.
It was a cold day, that can be said and Hitoshi wished to just stay in his warm bed while being cocooned with his comforters and blankets to keep him from suffering the cold air of January while sleeping probably until noon, if he was lucky that is and not have his mom wake him up. Sadly, Hitoshi was asked by his one (and only) friend to meet up and hang out and the indigo haired knew that no matter how many times he flat out disagrees, the [Hair color] haired male always was a stubborn one. And once he makes up his mind, he'll drag Hitoshi along with him.
"This better be worth it," Hitoshi grumbled as he was still angry to leave the comforts of his bed and warm room to be outside with the January air being cold and having no clue where he was. With a sigh, Hitoshi remembered how [Name], his friend, basically begged him to accompany him to the new cafe that opened. Hitoshi would have flat out reject the [Hair color] haired male if it wasn't for [Name]'s four words he uttered yesterday.
It was a cloudy, Friday morning. The first period was over and each class has a ten minute break before the next teacher comes in to discuss whatever subject they had planned for the young minds of each of their classes. Hitoshi distinctly remembered that the next period teacher was absent for today and with that knowledge, the indigo haired male decided to spend the ten minute break and aswell as the next period doing something important. Sleeping.
The indigo haired male suffered from the lack of sleep. With his hectic sleep schedule and insomia just kicking in, Hitoshi has limited amount of sleep and it can be known with the large bags underneathe his eyes. It doesn't help that he had to finish some homework his teachers had pilled up to them. So, Hitoshi decided he'll sleep than study or chatter with his classmates like the others are currently doing. The indigo haired male let out a sigh and he positioned himself to be comfortable on his seat and plopped his arms on his desk and was about to slam his head onto his arms when a loud bang echoed inside the room.
Due to the loud noise, it made a lot of students shriek in fear and stopped whatever they were doing and snapped their heads on where the loud noise was heard. The loud bang they heard was from door of the classroom slammed open with so much forced that some pondered how the hinges of the door was still intact. But what everyone focused was the figure stood there, clad in the familiar clothing of the male's uniform of the school although the uniform was now wrinkled here and there and the student's hair was messy and all over. His hand was gripping the doorknob tightly as the student was panting harshly and gasping for air, indicating that he had did something to actd that way, and everyone knew it was running.
"HITOSHI!!!" The figure screamed when be had gathered his bearings and immediately, everyone recognized that it was none other than the school's resident ray of sunshine, [Name] [Last name].
[Name] stood tall and proud when he finished gasping for air. Wiping the sweat off his forehead as he sent a beaming smile to everyone as he frantically looked around the room but then his gaze directed to the said male he screamed their name out.
"Hito-chan!" [Name] had happily called out to the indigo haired male as skipped inside the indigo haired male's classroom. Not minding the lively chatter that comtinued before he interrupted from the other students that were still inside the room nor the way their eyes following him approaching the indigo haired male that everyone enjoyed to avoid like the plague. As [Name] was close, he immediately threw himself to Hitoshi and hugged the male who gave him an unimpressive stare with his actions.
"Let's go out together this saturday!" [Name] suggested as he smiled at his friend who he felt slumped on his arms, clearly lazy and tired. "I found this new cafe and I think you'll like this one!" He had happily said as Hitoshi grunted on his arms.
"No," Hitoshi bluntly disagreed and shoved [Name] away from him. Hitoshi's surprising actions made [Name] let out a yelp and almost stumbled back. It doesn't help that the realization hit him on the indigo haired male's answer, he frowned for a second but then jumped back to his childish attitude. Hitoshi did not mind his friend's sputtering on his answer as he prompted his arms on his desk and placed his head on them. "And stop calling me that!" Hitoshi grunted as he closed his eyes as the indigo haired male wanted to sleep for a bit before the break was over.
"Huh?!? But why?!?" [Name] pouted and whined as he looked at Hitoshi. The indigo haired male let out a groan when he felt the [Hair color] haired male shake him by the shoulders.
"Hito-chan! Don't just sleep on me!" [Name] whined to his indigo haired friend in annoyance. "Tell me why!"
Hitoshi grumbled incoherent words to himself as he raised his head and opened his eyes to glare at his friend who still was shaking his shoulders. "Stop being immature, idiot," Hitoshi grumbled ad he rolled his eyes at his friend's childish and immature actions on puffing his cheek and crossing his arms over his chest, acting like a toddler being mad.
"Am not!" [Name] grumbled as he then pouted. "Why are you such a meanie, Hito-chan... and answer my question!" He whined as Hitoshi rolled his eyes again. Christ, why was he friends with [Name] again? Who even says meanie as an insult anymore other than four and five years old?
"Because I said so," came Hitoshi's blunt answer which made the [Hair color] haired male whine louder. [Name] frowned as he looked at Hitoshi who did not paid mind to him and was about to lay his head on his arms again to try and sleep.
"Come on Hito-chan!" [Name] had begged as he drop down on his knees and kneeled down beside sitting form of his best friend. His hand cupped together in front him as he gave his best puppy dog eyes to his indigo haired best friend who didn't even looked at him. "Please, Hitoshi?" He begged, using Hitoshi's proper name and not the one he calls to the indigo haired male. "I promise you'll enjoy this one!" [Name] pleaded.
Hitoshi narrowed his purple eyes and took a glance at his [Hair color] haired friend who was still in the floor, kneeling and trying to coerce him with his puppy dog eyes that was definitely NOT working. Hitoshi sighs as his ears picked up the sound of chattering surrounding him. 'Right, we're still in class... this is so embarrassing...' Hitoshi grumbled on his thoughts as he closed his eyes.
"Please Hitoshi!" [Name] shouted when the indigo haired male was too silent for his liking. As the [Hair color] haired male stayed there on the ground, not moving from his kneeling position. Hitoshi thought over his words on hanging out together on Saturday. After a few more seconds, Hitoshi finally made his final decision.
"No," came Hitoshi's final and blunt reply. Still unchanging despite the [Hair color] male's efforts on pleading and begging for him to consider.
"Hitoshi!" [Name] cried out as he whined at the indigo haired male who went back to placing his head on his arms to get some sleep.
"I'll pay for everything!" [Name] had said. It seemed like those were the magic words as he saw the indigo haired male crack one eye open to look at him. There was a hum from the tired male as [Name] begged to whatever deities listening to him currently that they would give him some good karma and bless him to have his friend accompany him.
As [Name] begged some higher beings to make the indigo haired male reconsider his answer, Hitoshi thought about it again. Was it worth waking up early to meet up with the [Hair color] haired male? Was it worth not getting some much needed sleep just to hang out with this male who Hitoshi swore doesn't know what quietness or silence is?
"... fine..." Hitoshi grumbled out his agreement as what is more better than food? Free food and Hitoshi will make sure the [Hair color] haired male will have an empty wallet after tomorrow. Hitoshi saying his agreement had closed his eyes again and tried to get some sleep. Not minding [Name] immediately stood up from his kneeling position and fist pumped the air while screaming "yeah!" in excitement.
Hitoshi sighs as he stopped walking and looked around the area he was in. The indigo haired frowned and looked at the sky in annoyance, he then looked back around again and tried to remember if he was in the right place on where his [Hair color] haired friend was supposed to join him to take him to the cafe he was obsessing on taking Hitoshi there. Tapping his shoe in annoyance at the pavement, Hitoshi let out a tired sigh as he then took his phone out from his hoodie's pocket and unlocked it. Pressing on the massaging icon, the indigo haired male immediately pressed the very top of the messages with the familair name displayed and he began typing, rather annoyedly as he did.
TO: Idiot (◕ω◕✿)
FROM: Hito-chan♡ (눈_눈)
where are you?
[08:22 AM]
Hitoshi typed and sent it when done as he stood and looked arpund again. He was standing in the sidewalk from a busy street where people, young and old walk around and minding their own business. On some occasions, Hitoshi would see some people with unique quirks. The indigo haired male had to hold his sjort when he saw a businessman with a head shaped like a cactus. As Hitoshi looked around and waited for his [Hair color] haired friend, his phone vibrated on his hand. His screen lit up, indicating it recieved something to have its user be notified. And the indigo haired male saw the sender's name which made Hitoshi let out a tired sigh.
Idiot (◕ω◕✿) sent (3) messages
Hitoshi opened his inbox and tapped the most recent messages that he received and the indigo haired male saw what his friend had replied. If he can, Hitoshi would have liked to slap [Name] when he saw the messages.
TO: Hito-chan♡ (눈_눈)
FROM: Idiot (◕ω◕✿)
IM SORRY FOR BEING LATE HITOSHI!!! .·´¯'(>□<)´¯'·
[08:27 AM]
I OVERSLEPT AND I HAD TO FEED TOSHI \(๑>д<๑)/
[08:27 AM]
DONT WORRY IM ON THE TRAIN GOING THERE ASDFGHJKLL ヽ(≧Д≦)ノ
[08:28 AM]
The indigo haired male stared at his screen for a moment as he then raised one of his hand and slapped it on his forehead. "My God... [Name]..." Hitoshi grumbled underneath his breathe as he began to type his reply.
TO: Idiot (◕ω◕✿)
FROM: Hito-chan♡ (눈_눈)
hurry up idiot
[08:32 AM]
or else im leaving
[08:33 AM]
After sending those two text, Hitoshi immediately gotten a reply and he didn't have to look at the screen of his phone which displayed the messages to know that his [Hair color] haired friend was whining at him on being a 'meanie' and begging him not to ditch [Name].
Not a few seconds later, Hitoshi's phone vibrated. The indigo haired let out an annoyed grunt as he tap the green icon to receive the call from [Name] as he then placed the phone on his ear. Hitoshi winced and had to hurriedly pull his phone away from his ear with how loud [Name] was on the other line.
"HITO-CHAN!!! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE!!!" [Name] cried out on the indigo haired male's phone. Hitoshi had to gather his bearings from the [Hair color] haired male's voice. Hitoshi swore that [Name] sometimes had that loud pro-hero's voice, Present Mic. Both being incredibly loud and their voices goes annoying real fast.
"HITO-CHAN PLEASE WAIT FOR ME!!! IM ALMOST THERE!!!" Hitoshi let out series of grumbles as he listened to [Name] beg for him to wait. Hitoshi wonders why he even bother with his friend. Looking around, Hitoshi noticed he was getting some looks, from judgmental, curious to annoyed ones. It made the indigo haired embarrassed.
"Keep quiet," Hitoshi hissed as he felt heat creeping in on his cheeks from the looks of passersby he was getting from the loud [Hair color] haired male on his phone. "I'll wait but just... shut up, idiot," Hitoshi grumbled as he heard [Name] thanked him profusely on the other line. The indigo haired male rolled his eyes at his friend's attitude and had to stop himself from snorting when he heard [Name] getting scolded on the other line from how loud he was. 'Idiot...'
"A-ah! I'm so sorry for the disturbance!" Hitoshi heard his [Hair color] haired friend apologize. There was another voice piping on the other line aswell as shuffling. The indigo haired wondered where his friend was. 'He said he was close?' Hitoshi thought. 'But he also said that he was still in the train...'
Hitoshi was about to end the call when [Name] continued talking, more quietly than before. "Hey, Hito-chan?" [Name] had called out. The said male hummed to show he was listening as Hitoshi looked around the area again to see people walking pass by him.
"Yeah?"
"I... well..." Hitoshi raised his brow at his friends uncharacteristic hesitation but the indigo haired nale did not mind. The indigo haired male knew that [Name] always goes head first in situations and did not think about it. Hitoshi found that attitude of his to be stupid really but [Name] was [Name], and his friend always gets it in the end. "Thank you for being my friend..."
Hitoshi paused. Gripping his phone tightly, there was a smile on his lips as he rolled his eyes at the [Hair color] haired male's words.
"Yeah... sure... whatever, idiot..."
Hitoshi looked at the time on his phone and let out an annoyed sigh when he saw it was twenty-two minutes after [Name] had called him and ended the call with the [Hair color] haired male promising he was close by already.
'Yeah right... close my ass...' Hitoshi thought as he bit his bottom. The male was still not here and it made Hitoshi regretted leaving his bed more than ever. 'At least he should've have the decency to come in time...'
Hitoshi swears that when he sees his friend, he'll slap the [Hair color] haired male for being late. The indigo haired male knew that he will make his friend buy the most expensive stuff in this cafe they were going so [Name] will regret inviting him and being late. But either way, Hitoshi liked watching the cars and people passed by, the indigo haired male just wished it wasn't so goddamn cold and that he was actually sitting than standing like a dumbass in the middle of the sidewalk as he waited for his friend.
Looking at his phone again, Hitoshi decided to pass the time by playing games on his phones. It was already twenty-six minutes since the call and despite [Name] assuring him that he'll be there, he still wasn't and Hitoshi did not want to think what made his friend so late. He knew [Name] always had a terrible skills in time management. The [Hair color] haired male can either be ten minutes early or twenty minutes late, there is no inbetween and the indigo haired male wished [Name] was the former for atleast this outing but it seemed like lady luck was not on his side. Well, when was she always on his side? She never was as he grew up anyways. Having born with a villaino--
"HITO-CHAN!!!"
"GAH!!!" Hitoshi almost dropped his phone and would have been thrown to the ground if he had not steadied himself on time. That still not prevented the indigo haired male to be scared out of his wits and a frightened scream leaving his lips when he felt a body colliding behind him aswell as weight distributed on his back and arms wrapped around his neck, tighly.
"Hito-chan!" The said male let out quiet curses as he turned to look behind him to see the male he was waiting shining him a beaming smile. "Hito-chan! Im so glad you didn't ditch me," [Name] had said as he nuzzled his face on the other male's cheek.
Hitoshi felt his face burned in embarrassment from his best friend's affectionate gesture. And not to mention [Name] was being so close to him in public. Hitoshi's cheeks were painted a light shade of pink flush as he turned his head the other way from his friend.
"I almost did..." Hitoshi muttered as [Name] guffawed at his answer with his [Eye color] eyes widen from Hitoshi's words. "Now... g-get off me idiot!" Hitoshi had exclaimed as he tried to push his friend away but [Name] whined at him.
"Hito-chan!" The [Hair color] haired whined in a childish way. "Don't be mean!"
"Idiot! Just-- get off me! It's embarrassing," Hitoshi retorted as the [Hair color] haired male pouted but complied with his words. Not without one last whine about the indigo haired male being so cold towards him which amde Hitoshi roll his eyes at his words.
"Whatever..." Hitoshi had said as he adjusted the scarf of his neck and avoided his [Hair color] haired friend's eyes as [Name] turned to look at him with a bright smile.
"Here you go Hito-chan!" The [Hair color] haired male had pushed a white plastic bag towards the indigo haired male's chest. His actions made Hitoshi turned to look at him with surprise on his face as he took the bag. [Name] still had that smile on his lips as he looked at Hitoshi.
"What... what's this?" Hitoshi asked, confused as he looked down on the white blastic bag on his hand. Hitoshi heard [Name] awkwardly laughed as the [Hair color] haired male rubbed the nape of his neck. If Hitoshi would have looked, he would have saw the soft pink flush on [Name]'s [Skin color] cheeks.
"Ah, well..." [Name] had started as he awkwardly coughed onto his fist. "I knew I would be really late so I... kinda decided to stop at this small shop near here to buy you an apology gift..." He had explained as Hitoshi looked up towards him again then back at the bag. [Name] flashed Hitoshi a grin, silently urging his indigo haired friend to see what's inside the plastic. "Hope you'll like it Hito-chan."
Hitoshi opened the plastic and had one of his hand to reached inside. There was something small and round. That's what Hitoshi had felt and with curiosity swallowing him whole, the indigo haired male pulled it out. Hitoshi couldn't help but softly smile. On his hand, it was a small keychain. The keychain was shaped like a cat with its paint being purple and had a droppy eyes. There was a small mischievous grin on the cat's face as it stood in two legs while one of its paw was raised to signify it was waving. Oddly enough, Hitoshi thought the small cat was to signify it was him.
"When I saw that... it kinda reminded me of you..." [Name] confessed.
[Name]'s comment made Hitoshi feel something inside. It was sweet, Hitoshi could not lie as he looked at the purple cat keychain on his hand. His [Hair color] haired friend thought of him when he bought this. Maybe he'll not rob [Name] off of his money for being late when they get to this cafe. It made Hitoshi feel happy--
"I mean... it had Hito-chan's tired, grinning face!" Scratch that. [Name] was still the dumbass that he was and the indigo haired male is going to order every expensive stuff to leave him broke.
Hitoshi turned to look at [Name] and would start to nag the [Hair color] haired male's ear off when the male had reached down and took his unoccupied hand and began to walk away, dragging Hitoshi with a smile on his face.
"Now, come on Hito-chan!" [Name] had said. His tone excited and happy as he looked forward and not looking at Hitoshi who walked behind him, a bit dumbfounded from his actions on just dragging him along. "The cafe is a few blocks away from here!"
"You could've had sent me the damn address so I could've waited inside..." Hitoshi bit his bottom lip and rolled his eyes. He tightly held the keychain on his hand as he caught up to his friend's pace.
Now, the indigo haired male walked side by side with the [Hair color] haired male who if Hitoshi would've looked, the indigo haired male would have saw the soft smile on his lips and a pink hue on his cheeks as they walked together towards the direction of the cafe in [Name]'s lead, hand in hand. And if [Name] would've looked at Hitoshi, the [Hair color] haired male would have saw Hitoshi held a small soft smile on his lips.
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quicksilversquared · 5 years ago
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Pants on Fire
Ladybug AU/ After Lila decides that Adrien's implied threat has no teeth and decides not to walk back on her claims about Marinette, Marinette stays expelled. But she has absolutely no intention to let things stay that way.
Soon enough, Lila will wish that she had taken Adrien's easy way out.
links in the reblog
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Across the street, the school bell rang, and the last of the Françoise Dupont students cleared off of the sidewalk and into the building. From her balcony, Marinette could see her old classmates in their homeroom, gradually making their way to their desks. Lila was still sitting in the back, but Marinette didn't doubt that before long, she would have taken over Marinette's old seat.
Day three of her expulsion from Dupont, and Marinette was (rightfully) no less bitter about it now than she had been three days ago.
Seriously, how was it fair that she got expelled without any sort of investigation? How was it legal? How had her teachers and principal even believed that Marinette would do anything like what Lila had claimed?
Did Lila have secret brain-draining superpowers that no one had found out about yet? That was the only thing that she could think of.
"At least Adrien tried to get Lila to come clean," Tikki offered as her Chosen clambered down from her balcony and headed for her desk. "I mean, I know it didn't work because Lila is too stubborn, but..."
"At least he tried," Marinette finished. She was really grateful for that, honestly. When Adrien had stopped over to check in on her the previous day, he had sounded super frustrated. Apparently Lila had somehow gotten herself invited to his photoshoots and he had confronted her then, trying to bargain the appearance of his friendship to get Lila to walk back her claims about Marinette. At the time, Lila had seemed to agree, but she hadn't followed through afterwards.
Count Marinette not surprised. If Lila walked back on any of her claims, well, that meant that all of her other claims would be questioned, and she would not want to open that door. Even if that meant irritating Adrien.
"And at least someone at Dupont knows that it was Lila's fault," Marinette added with a sigh. Not that it did anything, really, since no one would listen to Adrien, but it was still nice. "And at least he's planning on coming over again and talking to my parents today, so that they aren't just going on my word that I didn't actually do any of the stuff Lila accused me of. But that doesn't get me un-expelled."
"Well, if you can't do anything about it, maybe we should just brush it off and move on," Tikki suggested. "Mulling over it isn't going to help, and if an akuma comes again-"
Marinette hid her scowl and reached for her remote, flipping her monitor from computer screen to TV to drown out the rest of Tikki's words. She knew that it wasn't a good thing that an akuma had actually managed to get as far as corrupting her purse, even if Marinette had still had enough control at the time to start taking her earrings out so that Tikki could fly away with them. Tikki didn't have to keep reminding her that getting akumatized wouldn't be good. Marinette knew that.
(Marinette was this close to going to Master Fu without Tikki and talking to him about her kwami's constant scolding. Marinette knew that her duties as Ladybug were important, but what about the girl under Ladybug's mask? Didn't her feelings matter, too? What was she supposed to do, take a train out to the countryside so that she was out of Hawkmoth's range and only let her emotions out there? Be an emotionless robot until Hawkmoth was defeated? No thank you.)
"Don't be bemused, it's just the news!" Nadja Chamack was saying on-screen, beaming into the camera as Marinette pulled up her first lesson of the day on her tablet. "In today's news, we have extended coverage from the most recent akuma battle, updates from the mayor on proposed new recycling initiatives, and much, much more!"
Madam Chamack chatted on as Marinette started reading through her first class's lesson, determined to at least stay on top of her studies and not let herself fall behind. The online school she had gotten herself enrolled in for the time being was flexible enough that if she got a little behind schedule because of an akuma attack it wouldn't be too big of an issue, but there was no point starting off on the wrong foot.
Besides, if she could work ahead, then she could maybe have some more free time to try to make some progress on tracking down Hawkmoth. That would be making the most out of her situation, at least, and then she would be in a better position to focus on improving her designs and sewing techniques so that she could start developing a portfolio while she was in lycée.
Tikki finally settled down across the room, fiddling with some of Marinette's extra thread and beads while Marinette worked her way through the day's Literature lesson, then Math and Civics and Chemistry. The TV kept playing in the background, muted only when Marinette needed to listen to a video for her schoolwork on her tablet.
"Morning classes done ahead of schedule," Marinette said cheerfully as soon as she finished her last electron drawing. "And homework for them finished at the same time, not that there was much homework to do to start with. Time for a break, I think."
"It is almost time for lunch," Tikki agreed, flying over to join her. "You wouldn't be getting out for another half-hour at Dupont, but you've been working hard! And normally, you would have breaks between classes."
"Mm-hmm." Marinette glanced back up at her computer monitor to glance at the time, then did a double-take when she saw the screen. "Hey, I remember hearing something about this before! Tikki, can you turn up the volume?"
"-the continued fallout from the plagiarism scandal at Paris's famed university for the arts," Madam Chamack said onscreen as Tikki bumped the volume. "Another professor has been linked to the scam, which came to light after a student discovered the plagiarism. After the faculty member that she brought her concerns to didn't do anything about the issue, the student, who wishes to remain unidentified, did her own digging and found enough evidence to go straight to the police."
Marinette froze, eyes fixed on the screen as Madam Chamack kept talking, telling her viewers the timeline of what had been discovered so far. There was a lot, with faculty members at the university trying to sweep the problem under the rug all because of some rich donors who wanted to keep the flow of ideas coming to them. Three attempts from the student to let professors and administrators know that it was happening had all been swept aside with empty assurances and nothing had happened.
No one had expected the stubborn student, armed with facts and evidence to the point where she could directly get the police involved.
And Marinette's brain went aha.
There was plenty of evidence out there that Lila was lying, if only people bothered to look. The looking had been the issue at school, with everyone just taking Lila at her word instead of actually looking for themselves. Marinette didn't doubt that Lila had taken at least some steps to cover her steps- forging her mother's signature, probably, and giving incorrect email addresses that would divert to any emails to her mother to a mimic email that Lila could control- but that didn't mean that they just had to take that at face value!
But if Marinette compiled a whole pile of evidence, then- well, Marinette wasn't going to kid herself into saying that that would solve everything, either. Knowing the discipline that was given at her school, Lila would probably get a tap on the hand as punishment, and everything would get swept under the rug. But if Marinette got evidence, and then went to the proper authorities so that Ms. Buster and Mr. Damocles were forced to act, well...
That might be the exact thing she needed.
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  Adrien wasn't sure what to expect when he headed over to the Dupain-Cheng bakery after school. He had waited until most of the other students had cleared off before leaving, so that Lila wouldn't see him going over and try to mess things up even more, then ducked into the bakery itself.
He had told the Gorilla that he was studying at the school for a couple hours, so hopefully he wouldn't be interrupted.
"Good afternoon, Adrien," Mrs. Cheng greeted him. She didn't sound as upbeat as she usually did, which wasn't much of a surprise considering that Marinette's expulsion was still fresh. "What can I get for you today?"
"I wanted to talk to you, actually," Adrien told her, glancing around the bakery. The collège student rush had passed, and now there was only a businessman perusing the shelves of baked goods. "About what happened earlier this week-"
Mrs. Cheng's shoulders stiffened, and her smile became a bit more wooden. "I appreciate the concern, Adrien, but-"
"Lila's a liar," Adrien blurted before she could wave him out of the bakery. "She's been making up stories left and right about knowing all these famous people ever since she arrived in Paris, and she's had it out for Marinette from the start because Marinette never fell for her lies."
Mrs. Cheng blinked at him, clearly perplexed. "Are you sure that Lila is making up her stories? Alya dropped by for a couple minutes yesterday and she seemed certain that Marinette was just jealous."
Adrien only just barely resisted the urge to snort. Marinette, jealous? Marinette was possibly the most connected person in their class, if he didn't count the connections that he and Chloe had just because of who their parents were. She designed things for Jagged Stone on at least a semi-regular basis, and Clara Nightingale knew her and liked her, and his father had complimented Marinette's designs. "I'm positive, Mrs. Cheng. Lila claimed to be Ladybug's best friend right after she first arrived in Paris, and I was there when Ladybug confronted Lila about lying. And Lila claimed that she once saved Jagged Stone's kitten on an airplane tarmac and so he's a huge fan of hers, and Marinette knows Jagged Stone. She knows that Jagged never had a kitten. And if Lila was making that up, the probability of everything else being a lie, too..."
Mrs. Cheng's expression turned pensive.
"Besides, the pendant that Lila claimed was her grandmother's is actually from my father's latest jewelry line," Adrien added. "It's a replica of the Fox Miraculous, and she bought it shortly after she arrived in Paris. And Lila claimed to have injured her ankle from falling down the stairs, but as soon as there isn't any attention on her, she's walking just fine. And the foot that she's 'favoring' keeps switching."
"And the teachers didn't notice that, or investigate?" Mrs. Cheng asked, the doubt in her voice finally starting to vanish. "It's what they're meant to do, surely."
Adrien could only shrug. He wasn't sure why Marinette's expulsion had been rushed, unless... "Lila told us that her mom's an Italian diplomat. They might have just not wanted to cause an incident."
Mrs. Cheng muttered something under her breath that Adrien didn't entirely catch, but it sounded rather like "I'll show them an incident."
...if Mrs. Cheng was going to storm over to the school to throw hands with Mr. Damocles, Adrien wanted to be there.
"Thank you for letting me know, Adrien," Mrs. Cheng finally said after a couple of seconds had passed. "I didn't want to doubt Marinette, because the accusations didn't sound like her, but I was putting too much faith in the teachers, it seems. That, and the fact that Alya seems to like Lila... well, that was a bit confusing."
Adrien nodded. He could understand that.
"You can go up to see Marinette, if you want," Mrs. Cheng added after another pause. "I mean, if she's working on her schoolwork then don't disturb her, but I'm sure she would enjoy seeing you otherwise."
"Thank you, Mrs. Cheng."
"And here, have a cookie on your way up, I know these are your favorite."
Adrien lit up as he accepted the treat. "Thank you, Mrs. Cheng!"
That mission accomplished, Adrien headed up the stairs with a bounce in his step. It seemed like Mrs. Cheng had believed him, which would hopefully help repair any strain that had appeared in the relationship between Marinette and her parents. He wasn't sure if Marinette's parents would be able to get through to Mr. Damocles any better than he had- Adrien had tried talking to their principal again today between classes, only to get immediately brushed off- but it was at least a step in the right direction.
Even with a fresh cookie to munch on, it didn't take Adrien long to reach the Dupain-Cheng living room. Marinette's trap door was propped partway open, so he headed, up, keeping his steps quiet in case she was still trying to study. Up above, he could hear Marinette's voice, a low murmur as though she were absentmindedly talking to herself.
"Okay, so either Lila was lying about her mom being an ambassador, or the pictures that she showed us of her with her mom were photoshopped," Marinette was musing aloud when Adrien popped his head in her room behind her, going completely unnoticed. She was sitting in front of the computer, intently focused on something onscreen. It didn't sound like schoolwork, though, so Adrien slipped through her open trapdoor and into her room. "Which would make sense, if she didn't want us recognizing her mom out on the street and saying anything about all of her lies, but how good would she have to be at Photoshop, really?"
"This doesn't sound like schoolwork," Adrien teased, making Marinette yelp and startle before spinning to face him. "Your mom said not to disturb you if you were still doing your lessons, but is it safe to say you've finished?"
"Finished and then some," Marinette agreed, waving him over. "Right now, I'm finding evidence."
Adrien bounced up, at her side in a moment, instantly curious. "Evidence? That Lila's lying, I'm guessing, just based on what I just overheard."
"Exactly." Marinette waved at her screen. "And right now, what I'm finding is that Mrs. Rossi isn't an ambassador. Not unless she has a different last name than Lila and isn't the same person that Lila showed us in her photos."
"I- what?" Adrien leaned over, scanning the computer screen. Marinette let him, scrolling down to let him see the rest of the page, which was apparently from the Italian Embassy's site and showed all of their top staff. Sure enough, there was no sign of the woman whose picture Lila had shown them of her mom. "That's just- wow. Uh, do any of them have, like, personal descriptions at all? You know, like get-to-know-me pages?"
Marinette shook her head. "I've already checked. They're all very professional, no personal information in sight. Which doesn't surprise me, really. I mean, if there are people out there who might have a bone to pick with the embassy for some reason, you don't want too much personal information online."
Adrien opened his mouth, then closed it. He hadn't thought of that. He also didn't understand why someone might have an issue with an ambassador to the point of wanting to target their family, but if Marinette thought that that might be an issue, then he would believe her.
"So that's a dead end for the time being," Marinette told him. "Which is fine, really, because I got a job description of what ambassadors do, which isn't what Lila has been telling people, and then this is evidence that either she's lied about her mom being an ambassador, or she's lying about what her mom looks like-"
"Or she's lying about which country her mom is ambassador for," Adrien finished. He shrugged when she gave him a dubious look. "I mean, it's possible! Then the teachers wouldn't know which embassy to contact."
"I guess. I hadn't thought of that."
"D'you think it's enough to make Mr. Damocles undo your suspension?" Adrien asked, stepping back to snag Marinette's extra chair and pulling it over to sit next to her. "Because I mean, it feels a little mean to say it, but... he sometimes doesn't seem the sharpest? And I just worry that he might try to say that Lila's other lies don't matter, just because of what they 'found' in your bag and locker."
Marinette ducked her head, clearly trying to hide a giggle. Adrien was glad that he could amuse her, at least. "I'm not planning on going over with just a little evidence. Lila could probably lie her way out of that. I want to find a ton of evidence and actually get other authorities involved. Like, Lila definitely was skipping class without permission, and there are such things as truancy officers."
...this was starting to sound serious. Like, really serious.
"That seems like a lot of work that you shouldn't have to do, Marinette," Adrien pointed out, suddenly worried for his friend. He knew that Marinette had a tendency to overwork herself, and with all of the additional stress of getting expelled, that didn't seem like a good idea. "Are you sure-"
"That I want to spend time on it? Definitely," Marinette finished. "I'm not sitting by and letting Lila get away with expelling me. It'll go on my permanent school record- getting expelled, and the cheating and the stairs and the stealing from another student. Once I get to lycée and go back to a traditional school, the teachers won't trust me at all." Her expression became determined. "So if the adults won't step up and help, then I'll make it so that they can't not help."
...Adrien hadn't thought of that before. Being expelled from the school that Marinette had gone to for years and from classmates that she had known for even longer was bad enough on its own. But the effects didn't just stop there, and that had to suck. Like, a lot.
(Adrien was going to ask Plagg to destroy Lila's homework, he really was. Maybe it was petty, but in comparison to what Lila had done? It was nothing.)
"Ooh, yeah, I didn't think about that." Adrien scooted closer, glancing at her for permission before snagging her notebook to look at her list of lies. There... well, there were a lot of them. He had kind of tuned Lila out after a point, so to be honest, he didn't remember all of them. One of the topmost bullet points caught his eye, though, and Adrien frowned in confusion. "You're trying to disprove her being abroad using her Skyping? How is that meant to work?"
Marinette grinned, perking up and snagging her tablet from next to the computer. "Yeah, I took pictures of her when she was Skyping us, and they're clear enough to make out the background behind her." She tapped a couple spots on her screen, then turned it to face Adrien. Sure enough, there was an entire folder of pictures of Lila Skyping them from a whole bunch of different places. "Aside from the fact that she definitely wouldn't get enough Internet to get be able to call us from the street- or good enough cell service to get that clear of a photo- there's no people or cars in the background. Of very main streets. Ever."
Adrien's jaw dropped, and he stared at her in admiration. He had suspected that Lila wasn't telling the full truth, of course, but he had mostly thought that she was lying about who she was meeting, not necessarily where she was. But Marinette was absolutely right. "Wow, Marinette. I didn't- I didn't even think of that! You're brilliant. So what was she in front of, then? Posters?"
Marinette nodded. "I think so. I did a little bit of searching at the time, and if she had used a greenscreen, then she would have risked a little distorted halo showing up around her. Either way, she had to get the picture from the backdrop somewhere, and I want to find it. How I'll do that I don't know, exactly, but I'll figure it out."
"Brilliant." Adrien gave her another admiring glance before turning his attention back to her list. Marinette was a lot like Ladybug, really. She noticed details that no one else did, and could pick out when things were even a little out of place. It was a talent for sure, and one that Adrien honestly wished he had.
But he didn't, so he would have to content himself with helping out the most fantastic girls in his life in whatever ways he could.
Which, at the moment, could very well be using his connections.
"I actually have Prince Ali's contact information," Adrien commented as he noticed one specific bullet point on the list. Lila had told several stories about being in contact with Prince Ali and organizing charities and events with him. Connections with an actual prince was a undeniable attention-getter, so her fascination with him was no real surprise. "We've not been in contact that often, but my father had him and his assistant over while they were in Paris. There was an idea that there might be some collaboration or publicity with Gabriel that fell through, but, well..." Adrien shrugged, bashful. "Neither of us had that many friends at that time, so we exchanged numbers. I can text him and ask about Lila's claims and if he has any suggestions for sites to look at to back up his claims." He flashed a smile at Marinette. "Because I bet we don't just want word-of-mouth, right? Since emails can be modified or faked."
Marinette looked thrilled. "Right! And I'm so glad you have a way to contact Prince Ali, because I figured- well, I figured that those lies would be the most difficult ones to disprove, since Achu seems to keep him fairly sheltered from the media and not that much information about his life gets out."
"They do, but I'm pretty sure that Prince Ali does have some official pages with information on his projects." Adrien pulled out his phone, shooting a quick text to Prince Ali before tucking it back in his pocket and turning his full attention back to Marinette. He had the better part of an hour left before the Gorilla would come looking for him, and he wanted to use that time to help Marinette as much as he could. "Okay. What else do you have on your list?"
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  Things were coming together faster than Marinette had expected, she had to admit. Only days after she started collecting evidence, her parents' last lingering doubts about the validity of any of the claims against her had vanished, they had told Madam Chamack and she was preparing a story to break once Marinette said the word, and on top of that, they now had a lawyer who had listened to Marinette's detailing of everything that had happened at school. They were preparing a lawsuit against the school, because absolutely none of the required procedures for expulsion had been followed.
Like, literally none. The accusations had been flimsy and all coming from one other student, and they hadn't been investigated at all. There had been no consideration of how likely the accusations were given Marinette's stellar history, and no calling in Lila's mother to discuss the accusations. There was absolutely no sense of any procedure being followed, and considering how much behavior from Chloe the school had let slide before, well...
The favoritism there was astounding, and they couldn't let it stand.
Marinette smiled at the reminder of that meeting as she navigated her way though her online school's portal. It was really nice to have so much support from adults, after months and months and months at school where people hadn't listened to her about Lila, hadn't done anything about Chloe, had told her that really, it isn't as big of a problem as you're making it out to be.
It was a big problem, and people weren't addressing it correctly, and that was going to be fixed. It was unfortunate that it had gotten to the point where lawsuits had to get involved, but things couldn't just be allowed to continue as they were.
And this time, it wasn't entirely up to Marinette to end it. The adults would take care of all of the legal stuff, and if Marinette decided that she was tired of dealing with the situation entirely, then that didn't mean that Lila would get away with things.
Which was nice to know, even if Marinette had no intention of excusing herself from the whole thing. Lila had made life exceedingly difficult for Marinette; now, Marinette wanted to look Lila in the eye while grinding all of her lies into the ground.
...maybe she shouldn't be so focused on revenge when she was a superhero, but honestly, Lila had it coming.
Smiling to herself, Marinette clicked a couple few more times before reaching her target page. It loaded quickly, the title of her class and her current unit at the top of the page, with a little bar below it showing where she was compared to where she was meant to be.
Marinette had started slightly behind schedule- Dupont had apparently fallen behind the national standards schedule, probably because of akuma attacks interrupting their days- and now she had caught up in most subjects and already had started edging ahead in a couple classes, including this particular one.
Civics. Unit: Foreign Relations
Unit project: Create a product- a poster, a paper, or a film- on a country of your choice, documenting their relationship with France, current and historical. Exact requirements, due dates, and minimum lengths detailed below.
It wasn't a mistake that Marinette had pushed herself to get ahead in this particular class. She had looked ahead and seen this particular project coming up and, well, filming some interviews at the Italian Embassy sounded like it would fit the bill perfectly.
"Do you really think that that's necessary at this point, Marinette?" Tikki asked from where she was perched on Marinette's sewing machine. "I mean, you have enough evidence to prove that Lila has hardly been truthful and shouldn't be trusted, and even if she tries to wriggle her way out of it, it's not going to work. Not with a truancy officer alerted and on her trail. Once an accusation has been filed, they will investigate it until they're satisfied. It's going to take more than a couple fake tears and excuses for them to drop it."
"Honestly, this bit is mostly because I'm still curious." Marinette sat back in her chair, scanning over the project guidelines. "Like, I know that Lila needed a backstory that would make it plausible that she could have met a bunch of famous people and be traveling all of the time, but why the Italian Embassy? Was that picture really of her mom? I just- I want to nose around a little. Besides, more evidence is always a good thing, and it doubles as a school assignment, too!"
"A school assignment that isn't due for weeks," Tikki pointed out. "You know what your mom told you, about not burning yourself out by overworking!"
Marinette shrugged, even as she made a few notes about things that she would have to do before filming- looking up some basic history about France-Italian relations, reaching out to a couple ambassadors to see if she could interview them, and seeing if she could check out some decent video camera and microphone equipment from the library were on the top of her list, along with coming up with questions that would hit all of the needed points plus a couple extra. "I mean, I think I'll be fine, especially because, well, I don't think I'm going to get invited to any get-togethers with the girls this week. Alya seemed pretty ticked with me when she left yesterday. So I'll have a lot of free time, probably."
Tikki made a face at that. "I suppose. But you still have Adrien coming over every day! It's not like you aren't speaking to any of your old classmates."
Marinette ducked her head, unable to hide her smile. Adrien had been spending a lot of time with her, and every afternoon they spent together made it that much easier for her to speak to him and see the time as hanging out as friends, not as a potential lead-up to a date. She could enjoy their time together fully, instead of being strung out and on edge.
It didn't take long for Marinette to get fully back into her schoolwork, continuing her slow edging forward ahead of the schedule. Despite her kwami's (and her mother's) worries, she really wasn't overworking herself. Pushing herself, maybe, but really, all Marinette was doing was putting her best foot forward and going at her own pace. It was just that her own pace was fast.
It was just that in class, they always had to slow down when someone didn't understand what was going on, which- well, in some classes, it could be pretty often. Then there were disruptions from people asking questions (or making comments about the famous people they had "met" that were somehow meant to be relevant to whatever they were doing) or having arguments, and the time spent handing out and collecting papers. There were breaks between classes, and even some classes where they ended up with extra, wasted time at the end of their class when they finished something early and didn't have enough time to start something new. That added up to a lot of time, it turned out, and with someone who was properly motivated, getting ahead in classes was a piece of cake.
Marinette was properly motivated. So motivated, in fact, that she completely missed Adrien calling her name from downstairs before coming up into her room, hair in disarray with sweat after his fencing lesson and backpack slung haphazardly over his shoulder.
"That doesn't look familiar. You must have passed us, then."
Marinette yelped, startling and whipping around. Adrien just looked amused at her reaction, pulling up his usual chair next to her. "Am I right?"
"Yeah, I'm working ahead," Marinette admitted, glancing back at her screen. "It gives me something to do. And when the curriculum was made, I think they factored in some interruptions during class, and I don't really have that. I mean, we had a meeting with a lawyer today, but that was kind of over lunch anyway so I didn't fall behind."
Adrien blinked, puzzled. "A lawyer?"
"My mom was talking to Madam Chamack, because they're friends, and she said that it would be the best idea," Marinette told him. "It'll get my expulsion cleared for sure, and will address some of the ongoing problems at the school."
A flash of uncertainty crossed Adrien's face and he started worrying at his lip. "So Ms. Bustier and Mr. Damocles will be getting in trouble, too, not just Lila?"
She had suspected that Adrien might have trouble with that. Marinette had too, because she had known Ms. Bustier for years now and for the most part, had enjoyed her as a teacher. But, well, it was impossible to ignore all of the serious missteps that Ms. Bustier had made. "Yeah. But if it was just Lila getting in trouble, then what happens down the road if another liar shows up, or just another bully in general, and they just keep doing the same thing where there aren't any punishments? I could handle it, but I couldn't always, and, well..."
"And not everyone is as resilient and brave as you," Adrien finished, the uncertainly on his face starting to ebb away. "And not everyone is as willing as you to stand up and fight, or help classmates. I know if it was me that Lila had targeted, I- well, I might try protesting, but I don't think it would go very far. I would end up homeschooled again for sure, and never get to go back to public school again."
"I think the rest of us would protest, and I would definitely go after Lila just like I am now," Marinette assured him. "But for kids in the future who might not have that- well, I don't want injustice to go unchecked. I'm not going to be surprised if someone gets akumatized over this, but better one or two people now than a whole slew of people in the future."
Adrien nodded, letting out a slow breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I can understand that. It makes sense, I was just surprised." He worried his lip, then perked up. "Oh, I meant to tell you right away- I think that Madam Mendeleev has caught on that Lila isn't telling the truth, because she isn't being as lenient with Lila as she used to be. She's not giving any accommodations whenever Lila tries to claim that she needs them because of some condition or another, and she's told Lila off about story time in her classroom."
Marinette giggled. "Oh, I would love to see that. I bet Lila is pretty mad about that."
"She's whined plenty, but I don't think that it's going to do much. Not if she doesn't have a doctor's note to back all of her 'conditions' up, and not when Madam Mendeleev has actually had students with some of the conditions that Lila has claimed before." Adrien grinned. "The look on Lila's face at that- oh, you should have been there. Al- some of the other classmates were scandalized that she was questioning a medical condition, and there was a whole thing- actually, I can see how you're getting so far ahead of us," Adrien interrupted himself with a snort. "Ten minutes of class, gone, just because of, uh, people pulling up sources on accommodating disabilities and trying to talk over Madam Mendeleev until they got sent to the office."
"Why do I get the feeling that you were referring to Alya?" Marinette asked with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. "Now she decides to go for her sources. She won't even entertain the idea of looking up sources for Lila's claims or for some of the stuff she posts on the Ladyblog, but the moment that someone questions Lila..."
Adrien quirked an eyebrow at her. "Should- should I ask?"
"Alya came over yesterday to update me on her 'investigation' and I commented on the fact that she wasn't even looking at Lila as a possibility even though she was the one leveling all of the accusations, and she got really ticked at me," Marinette told him. "She said something about making accusations without any evidence and being obsessed with Lila and then stormed out."
Adrien spluttered. "She- you- she accused you of making accusations without evidence? But you have a literal pile of evidence right over there- it's not hidden or anything! Like, it's super-obvious! How did she miss that?"
Marinette could only shrug. "You know Alya. When she gets focused on one thing, she just turns oblivious to everything else."
"That's frustrating." Adrien reached over to squeeze her hand comfortingly, flashing her a small smile. "I'm sure she'll be kicking herself once everything comes out."
"Yeah, especially because of the latest interview I got." Marinette reached forward, picking up the flash drive sitting next to her computer and waving it at him. "I got a brief interview with Ladybug, and she confirmed that the first time she heard of Lila was when she saw the video on the Ladyblog, and that she saw Lila throw away your father's book, and that she was in Paris on Heroes' Day, and that she's maliciously interfered with akuma battles before."
"Ooh, nice," Adrien said appreciatively. "That must have been hard to get, but that'll be good. And also a good way to point out to Alya that she literally didn't check anything."
Marinette could only smile. Actually, once she had gotten things set up, it had been quite easy to get the video. All she had really needed to do was record herself asking the questions, pitching her voice a little higher than usual, and then play them back while Ladybug answered the questions, doing her best to make it sound like she hadn't practiced already and pitching her voice slightly downwards.
The Miraculous would protect her identity no matter what, but there was no point in risking someone noticing that her voice and Ladybug's were incredibly similar.
"Are you almost done with evidence-collecting, do you think?" Adrien asked Marinette, giving the flash drive one last look before turning his attention to Marinette. "I mean, the sooner you break the news, the sooner you can come back."
Marinette winced. This was the news that she hadn't been looking forward to breaking. "Actually, I, uh..."
Adrien practically wilted. "You're not coming back?"
"My parents are really furious at the school," Marinette admitted. "We've been talking a lot, and I maybe hadn't told them everything that had been happening at school over the past few years with bullying and discipline, and- well, they said that unless there were significant changes, they don't want me going back. I'll be rejoining everyone in lycée," she added quickly before Adrien slouched straight off of his chair. "Which isn't that far off, really, in the grand scheme of things. And I can hang out with the class whenever, and if you want to come over like you are now, or over lunch..."
"So it's not like we won't be seeing you at all," Adrien finished, scooting closer to her. "I was worried about that."
Marinette flashed a smile at him. She was going to miss hanging out with people between classes, but sacrifices had to be made if she wanted to fully capitalize on her temporary homeschooling and it wouldn't be forever. "Right. I'll be right across the street, available to hang out. It's not the end of the word."
"And it gives me a reason to look forward to lycée," Adrien added on. He glanced at her computer screen, which still had her online school portal up. "And I was right, wasn't I? About you being ahead of Dupont now?"
"It wasn't hard," Marinette admitted. "You guys are behind, and when I work at my own speed, I can cover more than a day's work. So that's another reason it wouldn't really make sense for me to go back, because I'll be so far ahead. And it's probably going to be another week at least, because all of the legal stuff takes some time to put together and file."
Adrien nodded, still looking a bit let down. Clearly he had been hoping that Marinette would be returning to school soon, and as much as that made Marinette's heart race, she couldn't change her plans. "Right."
"But enough depressing stuff," Marinette decided, shutting her notebook and closing the school website before grinning up at Adrien. "Wanna play Mecha Strike?"
"That sounds perfect."
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  Marinette headed up the steps of the Italian Embassy, a spring in her steps. It hadn't taken long to set up an appointment to interview an ambassador and a couple other staff members at the embassy, and they were more than willing to spend a few minutes with her. She had promised not to take up too much of their time- after all, they had important work to do- and now she was arriving early, just to make sure that something like a delayed bus wouldn't make her late.
Not that she would have allowed a delayed bus to make her late. After all, Ladybug could cross Paris faster than any bus could, so if it had come to that, she would have just transformed and raced across the rooftops. It wouldn't be ideal- she didn't want Chat Noir to see her out and about and interrupt his school day because he thought that there was an akuma- but the option was still there.
"So I'm meeting with Ambassador Bianchi in ten minutes and Monsieur Moretti after that," Marinette told Tikki as she mounted the last few steps and headed for the door. "I tested all of the equipment last night, so that I know how it works and that it works. I checked to make sure that all of my previous footage was off, so I have plenty of space. Tikki, am I forgetting anything?"
"No, I don't think so!" Tikki chirped, sticking her head out of Marinette's purse briefly before vanishing back inside. "You're all set, Marinette!"
Giving a determined nod, Marinette pulled open the door, stepping inside the embassy. A cheerful lady at the welcome desk gave her directions to the ambassador's office, and Marinette strode as confidently as she could down the hallway and up the stairs to the second floor. There were more than a couple people wandering down the halls chatting in Italian, and Marinette caught flashes of conversations as she passed them.
It wasn't hard to find the ambassador's office- the embassy had good signage, she would give them that- and Marinette stepped in the open door, coming to a stop in front of Ambassador Bianchi's secretary's desk, where a oddly familiar woman sat.
Lila's mother. And it definitely was Lila's mother because behind her, pinned to a very full corkboard, was a picture of Lila and her mom together with an older couple.
Well. Maybe Lila had been lying about her mother being an ambassador or in any sort of top diplomatic position, but she was at least at the Italian Embassy.
"Ah, you must be Ambassador Bianchi's eleven o'clock appointment," Mrs. Rossi said, giving Marinette a friendly smile. "She said something about a student project?"
"Yes, I'm on my Foreign Relations unit right now and we're supposed to do a project on France's relationship with another country. My Nonna is Italian, so..." Marinette shrugged. It wasn't an entire lie. Even if Lila hadn't been in the picture, Marinette probably would have picked Italy to research. That, or China. "I decided to learn a bit more about the country that side of the family is from."
"How lovely!" Mrs. Rossi exclaimed. She smiled at Marinette. "Now, if you want to take a seat over there to wait, the ambassador will be about five minutes."
"Okay," Marinette said automatically, then paused. Maybe she already had all of the evidence she needed to get Lila in very deep trouble, but she couldn't deny that she was really curious about Lila's mom and what exactly was going on there. "Or, actually- if you're busy or don't want to, that's fine, but could I maybe interview you about what you do at the embassy as well?"
Mrs. Rossi perked up. "Oh, I think I can spare a few minutes for that! I never really get asked about what I do," she confided as Marinette quickly pulled out her camera and attached the microphone to it. "Which I can understand, because everybody always talks about the ambassadors and the ministers and they get the spotlight, but there's plenty of staff behind the scene who make the entire place run smoothly. There's a lot of work involved- I work overtime most days, but that's also because I'm still getting used to this job."
Marinette nodded as she checked both mic and camera to make sure that they were running. "When I was reading up on what an embassy does, it certainly sounded complicated! It's not a huge surprise that there are people behind the scenes making sure that everything gets done."
"It might surprise you how many people that information does surprise." Mrs. Rossi considered Marinette again, pausing. Marinette tried to not stiffen up. Had Mrs. Rossi realized who she was? "Forgive me for prying, but I'm curious- shouldn't you be at school right now? Did they give you a pass so that you could do the interviews?"
Marinette shook her head, feeling herself starting to relax. Maybe Lila had decided that her mom might be suspicious or decide to move her to another school if she reported any problems- real or imaginary- to her and so hadn't mentioned Marinette at all. "I'm being homeschooled at the moment- or, rather, I'm enrolled in an online school for the rest of collège."
"Oh, that's quite nice," Mrs. Rossi commented, perking up. "And smart, considering the akuma attacks here in Paris! My daughter's collège was closed for several months because of akuma attacks there- or maybe it was just one akuma who was taking forever to defeat, I don't remember- and I do worry about how that's going to impact her education. I'd have her switch schools, but I worry that other schools would have the same problem and the one she's at is quite highly rated." She sighed. "And Lila seems to have made quite a few friends there, and she's gotten a boyfriend, so I don't want to make her switch and I hadn't had the time to look into other options anyway."
...okay, this was interesting. It also answered the question of how Lila's mom hadn't noticed her skipping school for months on end, but Marinette was really wondering how busy Mrs. Rossi was if she hadn't even looked into Lila's claims. One simple Google search, and she would have found out that no such long-term akuma existed.
She also had questions about the boyfriend claim. Something told Marinette that Lila had probably claimed that she was dating Adrien, who was likely to be less than happy about that claim.
"Huh, I hadn't heard any news about any collèges being closed because of akuma," Marinette said instead of questioning anything, shrugging one shoulder. "Odd. But getting back on track..." She made a show of getting the camera properly lined up, then peered over the top. "Can you tell me what you do here at the embassy?"
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  Marinette was prepared.
Over the past couple of weeks, with Adrien's help and a bit of an assist from her family's lawyer, she had debunked pretty much all of Lila's lies. She had printed out pages of evidence and compiled video clips from the interviews she had done on flash drives. The lawsuits- both against the school and against Lila specifically- had just been filed, and Madam Chamack would be breaking the story that morning, while Marinette went in to confront Ms. Bustier and Lila.
Everything was ready, all of her evidence packed into her bag the previous evening, and Marinette was doing breathing exercises while waiting to head into the school. Her family's lawyer, several members of the school board, a substitute teacher, and a truancy officer were all waiting downstairs in the bakery, and would be accompanying her over.
A ding from her phone caught Marinette's attention, and she pulled it out of her purse. On-screen, there was a message from Adrien.
Looking forward to seeing you! You'll do great :)
Smiling, Marinette tapped out a quick reply before sending it and heading downstairs. Nerves were really building in her stomach now, but she pushed them back down. She had faced akumas and supervillains before. This would be a piece of cake.
"The bell has rung," Madam Rochefort commented, glancing up from her tablet. "Let's head over in five, to give people time to settle down."
Ms. Boutin flashed a grin at Madam Rochefort. "It's so odd, seeing you deliberately planning to make a scene during classes. Normally you're all about pulling teachers aside before or after school."
"They decided to make the accusations and expulsion a public spectacle, so I'm not going to grant them the privilege of resolving their problems in private." Madam Rochefort smiled at Marinette. "And I certainly couldn't deny Miss Dupain-Cheng here the satisfaction of throwing all of her evidence in her class's face."
Marinette smiled at that. She had been a little worried with all of the officials that had gotten involved that she wouldn't be able to carry out her (admittedly somewhat petty) plan, but they had been willing to accommodate her.
Five minutes later, they were marching over to the school. Ms. Boutin knocked on the large doors sharply, then stepped back to wait for an answer. Seconds later, Mr. Haprèle opened the doors, annoyed look giving way to confusion.
"Good morning, we're from the school board," Madam Rochefort announced, ushering Marinette in ahead of her and flashing her ID at . "We've come to speak to a couple of the teachers and your principal."
Mr. Haprèle nodded, stepping to the side to let them in even as the confused look stayed on his face. Marinette led the way up to Ms. Bustier's classroom, excitement mounting in every step.
She could do this. Everything was labeled so there was no chance of her messing anything up. There was no need to go into detail for anything if she didn't want to. For once, other people could exert some actual effort and look at the evidence she had helpfully gathered for them instead of her having to explain each and every piece.
"Go get 'em," Ms. Boutin told Marinette, patting her arm. "And we're right here, waiting for our cue. They won't be able to ignore you this time."
Nodding, Marinette put on her Ladybug face, then turned towards the door. With one last deep breath, she shoved open the door, sending it flying open and drawing every student's eye to her as she strode into the classroom, confidence in every step.
"Marinette!" Ms. Bustier exclaimed, rising from her desk at the front. There was a frown on her face. "What are you doing here? You've been expelled, you're not allowed on school property, especially during school hours-"
Marinette's fierce expression cut her off. "Actually, I'm here to contest my expulsion. I think you'll find that none of the requirements for expulsion were even met. Additionally-" Marinette started digging in her bag, a frown flashing across her face as she realized that it might be a bit difficult to pull things out of her bag.
"I can hold your bag, Marinette!" Adrien offered at once, sliding out of his seat and coming up front to join her, taking her bag and flashing her an encouraging smile. You've got this.
"Thank you, Adrien." Marinette returned his smile, then returned to her earlier intensity. "As I was saying- no procedure was followed. The decision to expel me was entirely based on claims made by a lying, thieving, completely untrustworthy liar."
Lila gasped theatrically from her seat, which- surprise, surprise- was now next to Alya, in Marinette's old spot. "You're still trying to call me a liar? Just because you're jealous-"
Marinette cut her off, pulling the first stack of packets out of her bag while staring Lila down. "Evidence that Lila was lying about saving Jagged Stone's cat and knowing him at all. Almost all of which is public information, if anyone had bothered to look." She slammed the first packet down on Ms. Bustier's desk. "That she was lying about knowing Prince Ali." Another slam. "And that literally all of her supposed involvement in charity work and other organizations is a lie, as are all of the other connections that she claimed to have and that I'm not even going to dignify naming."
This slam was even louder. There were several flinches around the room. Lila was starting to look a little less confident, her eyes darting towards Ms. Bustier.
"And, most importantly." Marinette's eyes flashed back to Ms. Bustier, who was looking very taken aback. "Which the teachers here really should have looked into properly, instead of just blindly believing Lila. She was lying about being out of Paris at all and was using posters as her background when she called us, which should have been obvious to anyone with eyes, because there were exactly zero pedestrians or cars behind her. I found all of the posters she used with a very simple reverse photo search."
There were gasps at that, and Ms. Bustier pressed a hand to her chest, looking over at Lila.
"Additionally, as if the posters weren't enough, I have interviews with both Ladybug and Mrs. Rossi that confirm that Lila was in Paris for the entirety of the time that she claimed to be traveling." Marinette reached in the bag one more time, pulling out her flash drive. Lila had gone pale at that, and oh, it was so satisfying. "Those were both very interesting, actually. Ladybug told me that the first time she had ever heard of Lila was when she saw the Ladyblog video where Lila was claiming to be her best friend, and that Lila has hated her for calling her out of the lies. Additionally, Lila has deliberately gotten in the way of the superheroes during akuma battles in order to sabotage them, and she was in Paris on Heroes' Day as Volpina, who made the illusions of Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting."
There were gasps at that. Marinette was not done.
"And on top of that, Ladybug saw Lila throwing a book into the trash- a book that Lila stole from Adrien." Marinette's eyes narrowed at Lila, whose mouth was opening and closing wordlessly. "Because she had gotten what she wanted out of it, also known as the fake Fox Miraculous that she had just bought from a Gabriel shop."
"Which, I might add, she tried to pass off as the real Fox Miraculous right away," Adrien chimed in from next to her. "And that necklace was the same one that she said was from her grandmother and she claimed that Marinette stole."
"And, if that isn't enough, Mrs. Rossi thought that Lila was staying home because the school was closed due to an extended akuma attack," Marinette finished, a smirk flashing across her face at the look of pure panic that flashed across Lila's face. Clearly she had thought that Marinette was bluffing about meeting her mother."Because Lila told her that the principal was akumatized and therefore the school was closed." Against her better judgment, Marinette's eyes flashed towards Alya for a moment. "How's that for research and evidence, hmmm?"
"I- no-" Lila attempted, clearly scrambling to pull herself together. "That is- a misrepresentation of what- Marinette is just making things up, she's just jealous and bitter that I didn't let her bully me-"
"I have video evidence, Lila," Marinette told her, using her best cold, no-nonsense, I-am-a-superhero-and-you-WILL-listen-to-me voice. She could see several people shrink back, intimidated. "And an entire pile of evidence to disprove your other lies. And..." She reached into her bag for her final folder, opening it up and pulling out another packet before striding over to Lila and slapping it down on the desk in front of her. "A lawsuit against you, for slander with malicious intent."
"But Lila can't get in trouble with the law," Max protested from the back of the room. "She has diplomatic immunity because of her mother."
Marinette smirked at that. Lila was really wilting now. "Top diplomats might get diplomatic immunity for their families, sure. But the secretary for the ambassador certainly doesn't get immunity for her family."
There were gasps at that.
"Additionally, diplomatic immunity can be waived by the family member or the home country even if it did apply," Mr. Bernard announced, stepping into the classroom. "Which we have seen before, and if it had applied in this case, I'm sure we would see it again."
"Who are you?" Ms. Bustier asked, stepping forward. "This all seems like a lot of disruption, we are a school-"
"I am a truancy officer, and Ms. Rossi here is in quite a bit of trouble. Skipping multiple months of school is definitely grounds for punishment, particularly when I suspect that she forged her mother's signature on the school leave forms." Mr. Bernard flashed a doubtful look at Ms. Bustier. "If, of course, there was even an attempt at following procedure in that case."
Ms. Bustier flushed. "We- we were told it was a very last-minute trip, and that Mrs. Rossi was quite busy, and we wanted to be accommodating, so we waited until after the return to really push for ..."
"Procedure is not optional. It is there for a reason, to keep things like this from happening." Mr. Bernard did not look impressed, but he jerked his chin at Lila. "Ms. Rossi. Your mother has been contacted and is on her way. Collect your things at once."
Lila glanced around frantically, rather like a cornered rabbit, but all of her classmates were glaring at her. Slowly, she gathered up her things, picking up the lawsuit notice last, and then headed out after Mr. Bernard, dragging her feet the entire way.
There was a pause.
"It- well, it seems as though I owe you an apology, Marinette," Ms. Bustier finally said, sinking back into her seat. "I should have looked into things more thoroughly instead of letting them slide. I'll get your expulsion wiped off of your record at once, and you can return right away."
"Actually, I won't be returning to Francois-Dupont," Marinette informed her, ignoring the gasps from the class in favor of fishing out the last of her forms and setting it on Ms. Bustier's desk. "My parents don't think that the environment here is conducive to my learning experience, and they don't trust that there will be enough change in the remainder of the year to satisfy them."
Ms. Bustier reached across the desk for the form at once, her eyes going wide as she took in the top page. It was another lawsuit, this one against the school for not following proper procedure for expulsion and for failing to protect their students from a bully.
Marinette had been a little unsure about the last bit, but the school board had pointed out that, had any of the teachers looked into things, Mr. Bourgeois didn't actually have the power to punish the school for properly disciplining Chloe, and even if they couldn't be bothered to look that much up, they at the very least could have separated Chloe and Marinette into different homerooms instead of placing them together for so many years in a row. It wouldn't have been possible to place them in different classrooms every year- after all, Chloe bullied everyone- but getting a break every other year shouldn't have been too much to expect.
Having adults standing up to Chloe instead of leaving students to do that themselves shouldn't have been too much to expect, either.
"I'll be rejoining the class for lycée, but not before," Marinette added, because she could hear Rose starting to sniffle. "And I can hang out with you guys whenever, but my parents aren't at all happy with the administration here."
Rose managed a small smile when Marinette glanced her way, nodding in understanding.
"Speaking of people being unhappy with the administration, we need to speak to you, Ms. Bustier," Madam Rochefort announced, sticking her head through the door. She stepped aside to let the substitute teacher who they had brought in. "We'll go to Mr. Damocles' office, if you could."
Ms. Bustier nodded, even paler as she followed Madam Rochefort out. Marinette took that as her cue to leave as well, tucking her empty folder back into her bag and taking it back from Adrien. He was smiling at her, proud and a little sad at the same time.
"We'll miss seeing you during class," Adrien murmured in her ear as he slid Marinette's bag over her head, arranging it at her side before pressing a quick kiss to the side of her head. "But I know I'll visit as often as I can. For both the company and the food."
"Our door is always open for you," Marinette promised, trying not to flush and probably failing. Adrien was too cute for her blood pressure sometimes. "And you have my number, too. If you want to come over during lunch, too, you can."
Adrien perked up at that as he escorted her to the door. "I might end up never leaving if you keep inviting me over, just so you know."
Marinette giggled. As though she would actually ever complain about that. "We'll make up a bed for you."
"Very tempting." Adrien smiled at her, then glanced back into the classroom. The substitute teacher was looking back at him. "I have to go, but see you later?"
"Of course." With a final wave, Marinette stepped back, watching Adrien head back into the classroom before turning herself and heading back out of the school. She was by herself now, the school board members and lawyer and truancy officer all busy, but that didn't matter. She had done what she had come to school to do. The expulsion would be wiped from Marinette's record, and the faculty at Dupont would be given the help and training they needed to be far better teachers for the next set of students to come through and all of the students after them, too. On top of that, Lila had been taken down, her following gone and her reputation in shatters. With any luck, she would be removed from Paris entirely in order to keep her from getting akumatized again.
Hopefully her next set of teachers would be given a heads-up about Lila's tendency to make up stories so that no one else would have to go through the same thing that Marinette just had.
Humming to herself, Marinette paused at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. She had taken down one schoolyard bully and made life in Paris just that little bit better for everyone.
And now that that was over... well, now that she had more free time, she could turn her attention to a much bigger target. Hawkmoth had better beware, because before long, Ladybug was going to be on his case.
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epic-potato-crisp · 4 years ago
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Caramel Syrup
Note: Dear @gingerrhd, I was your secret santa this year! You mentioned KouKei, autumn, sarcasm, and the worst coffee date ever in the prompts, so I decided to go with a coffeshop! AU for the story. I hope you enjoy!  ^-^
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The bell jingled over his head as Kei pried open the heavy door of “Fantôme.” There weren’t many customers around, which is what he had been going for for when he decided to pick a small, secluded coffeeshop to study in favor of the larger franchise store down the road. It had been his go-to-place, before Kei discovered just how many students from his High School spend their free hours and afternoons there.
No thank you. Kei could do without the obligatory socialization every time he tried to get ahead in his homework. Also, their management had changed and for some absurd reason he had a strange feeling about the new shift manager behind the counter, an old man approaching pension age who graced him with a downright unsettling smile every time they met. So Fantôme it was. As it turned out, not only was the store empty, and offered “Free Wifi” if one were to believe the obnoxious signs plastered throughout, it also held a large amount of seating opportunities. That was welcome news to Kei, who despised encountering his classmates almost as the lack of free tables. “Welcome!” The red-haired boy behind the counter shouted as soon as he spotted him, bowing promptly. Kei grimaced at the ear-splitting volume. “A gingerbread latte please.” he ordered, after a customary glance at the menu. “That will be 600 yen.” Kei nodded, and handed over the required amount. “Alright. Please take a seat. Coming right up!!” the barista responded, flashing him an irritatingly cheerful smile. Kei rolled his eyes and went to find a table.
  “Here you go, sorry for the delay.” A good ten minutes later, a steaming cup of coffee was placed in front of him. Kei had already spread himself out over the desk, his laptop turned on and class notes on his side. “Thanks.” Kei graced the barista-server-whatever he was with a court nod, before turning back to his screen. “Oh, what are you doing there?”
Someone save him.
“Homework.” “Oh, cool, for what subject?” The redhead didn’t seem the slightest bit deterred by the venomous look Kei shot him, sliding into the empty next to him. On the contrary. “History.” “Oh man, I hate that subject. But you know what I hate even more?” Kei did not remember asking, but the barista generously provided him with an update anyway. “Biology. Seriously man, I didn’t know there were so many complicating things to know about plans. Don’t you just water them?” He gestured wildly as he spoke. “Oh, and don’t get me started on Japanese Literature-“ “Don’t you have work to do?” Kei cut across him. “Nah, actually, my shift break just started. Lucky, eh?” the barista grinned.
Oh God, he should have gone to his old place. Not even his classmates talked this much.
“I’m Nakano Kou, by the way! Nice to meet you!” He held out his hand. Kei grimaced, but forced himself into the polite response and shook it briefly. “Likewise.” He replied monotonously. Nakano tilted his head, his bushy eyebrows travelling skywards. So much for privacy. “I’m Nagai Kei.” Kei grumbled, “And I have work to do, so if you excuse me-“
It was at that moment a tall man with glasses and silver hair appeared behind the counter. “Nakano!” he barked, as soon as he spotted the pair of them, “If you have time to harass the customers, you might as well get to work! The tables won’t clear themselves.” Nakano winced, caught and got to his feet with a sigh. “Sorry, my shift manager is no fun. I’ll see you around, yeah?” Kei didn’t dignify that with a response. He got to work.
  “Welcome! Oh, Nagai, it’s great to see you back!” “Likewise.” Kei ground out between clenched teeth, cursing his luck. The shop was fuller this time, the tables being occupied by elderly people enjoying their afternoon treat and college students typing away at laptops alike. Did the Fantôme not employ anyone else? Either Nakano was the epitome of obliviousness, or he purposefully ignored Kei’s hostile tone. He took his order- Kei went with his regular, with an extra helping of caramel syrup- chatting away merrily as he did. “Honestly, I’m really glad you chose our store. You know, the bigger franchise one down the road?” “Hard to miss.” Kei deadpanned. “Yeah, that one! So, they drive away most of our customers. But Hirasawa-san- that’s my boss, you know- he says not to worry. That the Phantom has its own unique charm, ya know?” The coffee machine beeped shrilly. “Oh, whoops, gotta refill the water tank. Just a second!” “It’s Fantôme.” Kei couldn’t help himself. “What?” Nakano appeared genuinely confused, as he filled a large container under the sink. “The shop. It’s pronounced Fantôme.” Correcting other people’s pronounciation had always been one of Kei’s biggest pet peeves. It hadn’t exactly helped him in making friends at school. “Sure, if you say so! French confuses the heck out of me.” Kei was about to spitefully remark what doesn’t, but held his tongue.
Nakano, who had meanwhile successfully managed to get the machine working again, turned his back on the cup filling with coffee and grabbed a chocolate pastry from showcase, placed it on a tiny plate and handed it to Kei.” “Voila!” “I didn’t order that.” Kei said. “Yeah, I know. Consider it on the house.” Kou winked and rang him up.
Kei managed about an hour of successfully typing away at his essay before a certain redheaded menace decided to join him again at the table.
“Hey, hope you don’t mind!” He declared energetically, before taking a seat next to Kei, armed with a piece of cake and sparkling glass of soda. Kei did mind, but apparently that was obsolete.
“So what are you doing today?” “History again. Citing my sources.” “Ugh, that sounds boring.” Nakano said emphatically. “Tell me about it.” “So you’re going to Kaisei?” Nakano said, with a nod to his blazer. “I guess.” “Isn’t that crazy hard to get into?” Kei shrugs. “Maybe. I didn’t think the entrance exam was that difficult.” “Woah!” If Kou’s eyes widened any further, they would have popped out of their sockets. “You’re really fucking smart, aren’t you?” Kei, much to his disagreement, felt his cheeks warm at the unexpected praise. “So, you’re in High School too? What year?” Kei asked, in an attempt to redirect  the conversation towards Nakano himself. “Year 2.” “Same as me.” Nakano groaned pitifully. “End of term exams are going to kill me once I start studying for them.” Kei stopped his typing. “What do you mean once you start studying for them? They’re in February.” “Yeah, so? “It’s December.” Kei knew it wasn’t his place to advise the other boy on study methods, but he was adept at spotting a train wreck in the making. Or perhaps, that was just his OCD talking. “When were you going to start?” “End of January?” Nakano responded. It sounded like a question.
Oh dear God.
“Anyway.” Nakano said, misinterpreting his stunned silence for agreement, “You know how I said that the larger store drives our customers away? Know why that is?” His eyes sparkled excitedly. Kei glanced at the counter, hoping the coffee machine would decide to act up again and save him from the rest of this conversation. “Other than that they’re an internationally renowned franchise with stores all over the world? No. Couldn’t possibly imagine.” Kei replied sarcastically, which went right over Nakano’s head. “Nah, that’s not it.” Nakano said, dismissing Kei’s perfectly logical statement with a wave of his hand. He grinned conspiratorially. “Listen to this. There are rumors that their new manager is cahoots with the yakuza. The Yakuza! Crazy, right?” “Wow.” Kei said, not knowing what else to respond to this. Indeed, the grandpa behind the counter did look like he could murder his him in his sleep and get away with it. It would probably a merciful death by comparison, he thought, side-eyeing Nakano, who rambled on as though there was no tomorrow. A few minutes later, he was saved by the same sour-faced shift manager that had come to his aid the other day. “Stop trash-talking the competition, Nakano! Table 3 wants to order!” “Ah, yessir!” Nakano yelled, making Kei wince. He jumped up and gave a wave. “Laters!” Kei pinched his forehead, and returned to his sources.
For someone who had vowed to never return here, Kei thought glumly to himself, as he walked into the Fantôme a week later on a rainy Thursday afternoon, he was really bad at keeping promises. Even to himself. The lady behind the counter was tiny. “Good afternoon.” She greeted him monotonously, staring at him with dark, soulful eyes that looked like they’d seen enough. “What would you like?” Kei thought decisively that he didn’t miss the exciting chatter that had accompanied his earlier orders, and got out his wallet.  
“Oh, hey! Nagai! Izumi-san, I’m taking this one.” Kei didn’t know what exactly possessed him to return the very next day, but there was work he had to yet finish, and the atmosphere of the coffeeshop had provided to aid his levels of productivity. Well, for the most part. “Alright.” The petite woman from yesterday replied, eyes even more weary than the day before, and moved on to the next customer. Fridays were busy, even at the Fantôme. “Gingerbread latte?” Nakano asked, as soon as Nagai reached the counter. Nagai nodded. “And, one of these pastries, please.” he said. “Coming right up! And, sorry, but I guess I’ll have to charge you for the pastry this time. Tosaki-san- that’s my shift manager said I’m not allowed to give out freebies.” He shrugged. “That’s fine.” Kei said. “But I’m starting to convince him of the fact that you’re a regular, so that might change!” Nakano winked. “Don’t count on it.” “Yeah, yeah, that’s what they all say.” Nakano said teasingly, and rang him up.
Kei was impressed to learn that even a rush on a Friday afternoon was not enough to deter Nakano from bothering him at his table. Strangely enough, he found himself not really minding the company. Even if it did keep him from his statistics homework. “Fun fact.” Nakano said, “You know that this store was originally gonna be called IBM? But you know, that’s trademarked, so Hirasawa-san didn’t go ahead with it.” “What the hell would IBM even stand for?” Kei shut his laptop screen, deciding that perhaps a small break would not completely ruin his progress. He took a bite out of his pastry, which tasted more delicious than it had any business being. “I don’t know, man. International Brewery Masters?” “You literally have one store.” “Point taken.” Nakano grinned.
Kei rolled his eyes. “Shouldn’t you be at the register?” “My coworker’s handling it.” Nakano said, making large puppy eyes at him, “I have a double shift on Saturday, give me a break.” “Your coworker?” “Well, yeah, Izumi-san. You’ve met her, right?” Nakano’s voice picked up, excitedly. “She’s really hot, isn’t she?” “What exactly is hot, Nakano-kun?” a quiet voice asked behind him asked. Nakano choked on his soda. The woman in question had approached with the stealth of a panther. She narrowed her eyes at the younger employee. “I-Izumi-san!” Nakano responded, flustered, “I, uh, I meant the coffee! Right, Kei? It’s really nice and hot, isn’t it?” “It’s very good, indeed.” Kei responded, after a delighting moment of watching Nakano struggle in embarrassment. Izumi left, but not without shooting last glare in Nakano’s direction. “I feel like she doesn’t like me.” Nakano whined, as soon as she was out of earshot. “How on earth did you reach that conclusion?” Kei asked, raising an eyebrow. He glanced at his watch. It was already close to 6 pm. “I’m sorry, but I’m leaving in a bit.” Eriko was home from the hospital for the weekend. And as strained as their relationship might be, Kei did feel guilty for not spending as much time with his little sister as he probably should have. “Oh, that’s perfect!” Nakano replied, “I’ll get off in half an hour. Want to walk to the station together?” Oh well. He needed to catch his train either way. “Sure.”
   Nakano, predictably, talked the entire way to the station. Which suited Kei well this time, as it saved him from having to make awkward small talk. He learned that Nakano had been working at the Fantôme for a year already. He was one of two High Schoolers the shop’s owner, Hirsawa-san had employed. Most other employees were college students. There was Tosaki, who was studying for his masters at Keio University, and Izumi, an undergrad student at Sophia. He also learned that Nakano lived on his own, and had barely scraped by his first year in High School. When asked about his parents, he shrugged. “They didn’t pay the rent, and got us kicked out of our place. My uncle’s helping me pay for a room, but I’m pretty much on my own with all other expenses. Sucks, but that’s the way it is.” “I’m sorry.” Kei answered, not knowing what else to say. “Don’t be.” Nakano gave him a smile that seemed genuine, “I do like my job. Even though Tosaki-san can be a pain at times.” An awkward silence fell between them. “Want to exchange LINE ID’s?” Nakano asked, just before they reached the station. “Sure, whatever.” “You can call me Kou, by the way. Nakano’s so freaking formal. And can I call you Kei, too?” “Whatever.” Kei repeated, ignoring the pleased feeling in the pit of his stomach when he realized Nakano had bothered to remember his first name.
Ten minutes later, on a crowded train heading back home, Kei muted his phone notifications when Kou wouldn’t stop spamming their chat with rilakumma emojis.
  Despite his better judgement, Kei started showing up at the Fantôme once a week. His visits fell mostly on Mondays, which was coincidentally also the day that Kou was on his regular shift. Kei blamed it on the workload the school assigned with the beginning of every week.
He had slowly developed a craving for the Fantôme’s coffee specials, and the place did offer a rather peaceful study atmosphere, if he left aside Kou’s chattering during his impromptu visits at Kei’s table.
But even those, he secretly grew to like. Not that he would ever admit to it.
  “Welcome! Your order?” The barista at the counter was not Kou. A shadow fell over Kei as the man towered above him at what was easily two meters of height. The Fantome’s signature apron barely reached his midriff. The accompanying cream-coloured frills provided a striking contrast to his perpetual scowl. Tanaka, the name tag read. “I, um-“ “Oh, hello Kei.” Izumi greeted him, emerging from the kitchen with a rare smile. He did know when exactly she had learned his name, but somewhere between his first and his fifteenth visit, he had apparently made an impression. It was what came with being a “regular” , he supposed, which wasn’t nearly as beneficial as Kou made it out to be. Even though he enjoyed the occasional complimentary pastry. Where was he, anyway? It was a Monday like any other. “Nakano’s not working today.” she said, apparently having read his thoughts, “He’s at home studying. His exams are coming up soon.” “Oh, I see.” Kei said, “Then, well…” he glanced at the mountain of a barista that looked like he could take him out in one ill-timed blow, “I just wanted to get drinks for takeaway. One gingerbread latte, please.” he said. “600 yen.” “Actually, can you make that two?” Tanaka grunted, which Kei understood as a confirmation. “Visiting a friend?” Izumi-san asked, a knowing look in her eyes. “Just for my sister.” Kei responded. His heart was racing, which was a little odd, he thought. He was yet to consume any amount of caffeine. “I see.”
  This was most likely a bad idea, Kei thought. In between spamming him with memes, links to prank compilations on youtube and various emojis, Kou had also written his address.
“What would I need that for? ”Kei had texted back. “In case you ever wanna hang out!” Kei had left him on read.
Now, standing in front of his door, he considered turning around. But he had already come all this way, to a ward on the suburbs of Tokyo. Also, the coffee was getting cold. He sighed, and pressed the doorbell. “Kei!!” Nakano’s surprised expression gave way to a joyful one when he noticed his unexpected visitor. “Come in, please!” He beckoned him inside eagerly. “Please excuse the intrusion.” Kei mumbled, taking off his shoes and stepping into Nakano’s apartment. It was tiny. There was bed and a dresser, a floor table and seating pillows. A fridge, and a single stove with a microwave took up one corner of the room. Kei spotted a door in the another one, probably leading to a bathroom. Also, it looked like a bomb had exploded in here. “Please have a seat. Sorry, it’s not very tidy.” Nakano said, That put it lightly, Kei thought, stepping over books, socks and empty bottles. Nakano brought him a glass of water, and they sat down at the table. “I heard you were studying for exams.” “Yeah, I have some tests coming up.” Kou sighed, “Tosaki-san told me to take the week off and study. When I came into work this afternoon, he yelled at me, so… I guess I’m here.” He laughed embarrassedly. “When are your exams?” Kei asked, with an impending feeling of doom, taking a sip of his water. “Thursday. Friday.” Nakano said. “This week?” “Yep.” He should have just gone home. “Do you have trouble with any of the material?” Nakano flashed him a saccharine smile. “Perhaps you could tutor me?” Kei could feel a headache coming on. “Depends on the subjects.” “Math, I can mostly do, but I am struggling with biology.” Nakano said, giving him the largest puppy eyes Kei had ever witnessed. “Alright, fine. Let’s do this.” Kei agreed with a sigh, opening a textbook. How hard could that possibly be? He aced biology every time. Surely tutoring someone else was not that vastly different.
One hour later, their styrofoam cups were empty and Kei was about to lose his sanity. “What exactly are you not getting about the polymerase chain reaction?” He snapped, twisting a pen in his hand, ink smudging all over his fingers, “It’s not that hard!”
“Yes, it is.” Nakano yelled, desperation clawing its way into his voice. “Well, what part?” “Everything.” Nakano moaned, burying his face in his hands. “Oh man, I’m sorry. Nagai. I’m a lost cause. You should just go home.” Kei felt very tempted to do just that, but he took a way at Kou’s room and the tense way he hunched his shoulders and the staple of bills on the corner of the desk, and felt like an asshole for even considering it. But wait. He still had an ace up his sleeve. He stepped out onto the balcony, and made a call.
“I came as fast as I could.” Kaito leaned against the doorframe, motorcycle helmet underneath his arm, “Lucky I live nearby.” “Thank you. I owe you one.” Kei said. Kaito waved him off. “No, believe me, you’ll call in that favor once you see what I mean.” Kei said dryly. Kaito laughed at his pained expression. “It’ll be fine.” “Kei, are you leaving?” Nakano called, emerging from the bathroom. He paused in his tracks once he saw Kaito. “Oh, hi, you are-“ “Your new biology teacher.” Kei said coldly. Kou tilted his head in confusion. “A friend of mine. Who’s good at biology. He agreed to teach you. That’s all.” Kei grumbled. Immediately, Kou’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Hey! Wow, thanks for doing this! I’m really an idiot, so sorry in advance for taking up your time. I’m Nakano, by the way. Come in!” “Kaito. Pleasure.” the blond replied, giving him a warm smile. “I’m gonna go and get some food from the conbini down the road.” Kei responded, “Have fun.” “Get me some tuna onigiri, yeah?” Kou called after him. “In your dreams.” Kaito laughed.
  Three hours later, they sat at Kou’s table together, feasting on rice balls, soba noodles and lemon tea. “Kaito, you’re seriously the best.” Kou said, mid-chew. Kei turned his face away in disgust. “I feel like I really understood the stuff for the first-time!” “You’re welcome.” Kaito replied, “And by the way, Kou, don’t be so hard on yourself. You do understand more than you think. I think you just have trouble remembering the detail, but that’s okay. It’s what you study for, after all.” “You’re so nice, Kaito.” Kou fawned, “You’re much nicer than Kei.” “Hey. Remember who got him here in the first place?” Kei snapped, irritated. “I know, sorry. That was pretty great of you.” Kou said apologetically, grinning at him cheekily. Pretty great of you. Kei felt his cheeks heating up. “Bathroom.” he said, leaving as quickly as he could, and ignoring the smile on Kaito’s face.
  “So, what’s the result?” Kou’s shift manager had apparently been waiting for them already when they walked into the store on Monday. “Hello, Tosaki-san, nice to see you too.” Kou said, rolling his eyes. Tosaki glared at him. “Okay, okay, fine!” Kou held up his hands in defeat. “I passed. Both exams. B in maths, C in biology.” “Just a C, after all the tutoring that Kaito gave you.” Kei comments acidly, “Were you even trying?” “Hey, I passed, okay? Wasn’t that the goal?” Kou pouted at him. Kei sighed, wishing that his puppy eyes didn’t have that much of an effect on him.
“I guess you did. Well done.”
Kou smiled at him. Kei felt his heart flutter, and looked away. “Well done, Nakano-kun.” Izumi said, who’d apparently overheard a part of their conversation, “Nagai’s drink is on me.” “Thanks.” Kei said. “Well then, get to work.” Tosaki adjusted his glasses. “Seriously, that’s all? Don’t I get a reward or something?” “Your reward is the tables you’ll be clearing.” Tosaki says haughtily, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “You’re late, so get moving.” “Yes, boss.” Kou sighs. “…Well done.” Kou turned in his tracks. “What was that?” “Move it!”
“Your regular?” Izumi asked, just as Nakano trudged off to get changed, “It’s on me.” “Is the gingerbread latte even a seasonal item anymore?” Kei said, seriously. “We make exceptions for our frequent customers.” Izumi responds, lowering her voice secretively. “Well, then I won’t say no.”
Izumi hummed and got to work preparing his drink. “Oh, in case you were worried. Nakano-kun still has all his vacation days. I guess that’s a type of reward, isn’t it?” “Hadn’t crossed my mind to be worried at all.” Kei answered, too quickly for it to be true. “I see.” Izumi said, with this knowing smile Kei hoped he interpreted too much into. “Here you go.” “Thank you.”
Kou came out from the staff room at this very second, wearing his work-shirt and apron. “Grab a seat, yeah?” he told Kei, “I’ll be with you as soon as I get a free minute.” “You don’t have to-“ His voice cut off, his brain short-circuiting in shock once he realized that Kou had kissed his cheek. “I-“ “That’s your reward.” Kou said, smiling at him, gentle and invigorating like summer rain, and for the first time in months, Kei was speechless.
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stevie-kd · 4 years ago
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“Feral”
Part 5
Read part 1 here
Read part 2 here
Read part 3 here
Read part 4 here
::in which Bakugou and Kirishima are closer than ever, quite literally and figuratively. Bakugou messes up, plans are definitely NOT cancelled, and there is a maybe date happening::
P.S. IM SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO POST. It was a loooong week. I’ve gotten a promotion though, so that was cool! Anywho, I’ll try and be quicker with the updates since I have a lot of my one-shots already half finished:)
P.P.S. I wrote out the whole chapter and apparently it’s exceeded a word count or something so I had to split it into two chapters. I just have to give it a quick edit and I’ll have it up today, hopefully in the next couple hours.
+++++++++++++
Aizawa kept Bakugou for one more night just for observation. He was allowed back to class Tuesday morning.
Kirishima waited outside of his dorm for Bakugou to finish getting ready. He played a game on his phone and leaned against the wall opposite of Bakugou’s door.
He’d only been waiting a few minutes before the door opened and a fully-uniformed Bakugou Katsuki stepped out. He looked well rested and much more like himself than Kirishima had seen him in days. He still had his usual grumpy look, but it put a smile on Kirishima’s face to see it. He’d missed Bakugou so much that having him back felt like a hole had been filled in his chest.
Kirishima didn’t think about what he did next until Bakugou pulled away. The redhead looked down at their hands, dawning on him that he’d just tried to hold Bakugou’s hand. The movement felt so natural, almost like an instinct.
“Oh!” he said, surprised by himself. “I’m sorry, man. That was weird of me. I didn’t even think about it—”
“It’s fine, Shitty Hair,” Bakugou interrupted him. “Here.”
Kirishima watched as Bakugou laced their arms together at their elbows. He had a weird scowl on his face, but he didn’t say anything about it and opted to tug Kirishima along to get him moving. Together, arm in arm, they descended the hall until they reached the elevator.
They didn’t say a word the whole ride down. Kirishima was too lost in his racing thoughts to come up with the right thing to say.
Was Bakugou touch starved? He wasn’t ever the type of guy to initiate any sort of touching. Though, he hadn’t been able to get near anyone in days. On average, at least a few times a day Kirishima would lean on him or put a hand on his shoulder or sometimes even throw him into a surprise hug the blond didn’t see coming. Bakugou had adapted to Kirishima’s fondness. This—having Bakugou as the initiator—was so foreign, Kirishima couldn’t wrap his head around it.
They didn’t let go of each other until they reached the kitchen. Kirishima tossed Bakugou ingredients and utensils as the explosive boy whipped up some egg drop ramen for the two of them.
He usually made more food to include the Bakusquad, but he never bothered with breakfast. The other three were never up early enough.
As it turned out, Kaminari was right: Kirishima had missed Bakugou’s cooking. He wasn’t sure where the blond learned to cook so well, but Kirishima would have given his pal a five star review on Yelp if he could have.
“What did I miss in class?” Bakugou asked after they’d sat down. He was twirling his chopsticks around in his bowl to pick up some noodles.
“Don’t know,” Kirishima answered through a mouthful. He swallowed before continuing. “I didn’t really go to class yesterday.”
Bakugou frowned. He glared at his ramen like he’d just witnessed it murder his cat. “Let’s ask Ponytail for her notes. I’m not asking shitty Deku. His notebook is a fucking mess.”
“Good idea,” Kirishima agreed. “Hey, did you wanna do some extra training after class? The gym is free today. We could work on our special moves like last time.”
Bakugou seemed to be thinking it over. After a moment of considering, he set his chopsticks down. “What if we went to the movies?”
Kirishima stared at him. He’d said it in such a soft voice, Kirishima knew he was being serious. “The movies? Over training? That doesn’t sound like you.”
He glared in return. “Do you want to or not, Shitty Hair?”
He laughed. “Yeah, totally! Was there a movie you had in mind?”
Bakugou picked his chopsticks back up and was using the utensils to play with his food. Kirishima couldn’t help thinking he looked shy. His cheeks were the slightest hint of pink. “There’s that action movie… I know you like those.”
Kirishima perked up at that. “Really? You’re talking about the one where those two guys have to duel for the dojo after their master is killed, right?”
“The only cheesy-as-hell action movie in the theaters right now, yes.”
“Dude, I’ve wanted to watch that forever! It didn’t do great in the box office, but I think it looks great! You really want to sit through that for me? That doesn’t seem like your kind of movie.”
He finally stood to take his bowl to the sink. “I just want to get out. I’ve spent the last four days staring at white walls.” He nodded his head to Kirishima’s empty bowl, who got the message and passed it over.
“I’m down for the movie, one-hundred percent! And, hey—maybe this weekend we can go hiking? That should help get you out of your own head.”
He hummed in response. “There was that new trail we could try.”
“Oh! Yeah, I remember that. We wanted to go last time, but it was getting too dark so we didn’t get the chance. How’s your schedule look? I’m free all weekend!”
He finished up washing their dishes and deposited them onto the drying rack. “Let’s go Saturday. My shitty aunt is in town this weekend, so I can avoid her at least then. I have some stupid family dinner my parents are making me go to on Sunday if… uh, if you wanna go.”
Kirishima cocked his head. “To your family dinner? You want me to go? Would I be intruding?”
Bakugou leaned against the counter and folded his arms. “No. If you’re there I might actually act ‘civil’ is how my old hag put it. You can sleep over too, if you want.”
Kirishima’s eyes sparkled. A sleepover? At Bakugou’s house?! He’d been over a few times, and he loved being able to spend the extra time with his hot-headed friend. But a sleepover? His heart nearly leapt out of his chest.
“Hell yeah! You usually head home Friday nights, right? What time should I be around Saturday to head on the hike?”
“Just come home with me Friday. Then we can leave early.”
Holy. Shit.
Two whole nights with Bakugou. He felt like his brain was about to short circuit.
His moms wouldn’t like him not visiting over the weekend, but they would understand. He talked pretty highly of Bakugou to his parents, so they would know how much this meant to him.
He pumped his fists together. “Alright! A guys’ weekend! This is gonna be great, man! We can watch movies and play video games, and I’m gonna get you to stay up past eight-thirty!”
Bakugou snorted. “Then I’ll make sure to wake you up by six in the morning.”
“No!” Kirishima gasped. “That’s just cruel, man.”
Bakugou smirked and grabbed his book bag, then headed for the door. Kirishima jumped up to follow.
Class was extra boring today, and Kirishima couldn’t pay attention to a word of his lessons. The day dragged on, probably because he had the movies with Bakugou to look forward to.
Finally, the bell rang for lunch. He and the squad moved out while Bakugou stayed back to collect the homework assignments he missed yesterday. He’d catch up with them after.
They were all seated at their usual table, Ashido chatting everyone’s ears off. Kirishima zoned out staring out the window at the lawn when the pink-haired girl brought him back down to earth.
“Kiri? Babe. Earth to Kirishima.”
He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. My head is all over the place today.”
He hadn’t even realized Bakugou sat down beside him. The blond was giving him a weird look as he popped open his bento box.
“So!” Kaminari exclaimed, catching everyone’s attention. “I had this idea—”
“Oh shit,” Bakugou muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Kaminari glared at him while everyone else laughed. “Anyway. Wouldn’t it be such a good idea if we challenged Bakugou and Sato to a cook off? Our class chef versus our class baker. It'd be epic!”
“I love it!” Ashido announced.
Sero looked into the distance dreamily. “Think about all the leftover food.”
“I don’t bake,” Bakugou stated. “I don’t do sweets. And Sugar Freak is a shit cook. Wouldn’t be much of a challenge.”
“Well, we can have you both whip up something as a main dish and then a dessert to follow,” Ashido suggested. “We could vote whose meal was better.”
Bakugou didn’t look impressed. He stuffed a chunk of beef into his mouth and ignored the rest of the conversation.
“What if we did it tonight? Everyone’s free, right?”
Kirishima whipped his head up from his meal to face Kaminari. “Not tonight, man. We’ve got homework to catch up on, and Bakugou and I were going to catch a movie.”
Everyone’s eyebrows scrunched. They stared between the two boys like this was weird behavior of them.
“The movies?” Ashido asked, her expression shifting to something more mischievous. “Like, just the two of you? Alone?”
“You annoying shitsticks aren’t coming, so don’t even ask,” Bakugou said in his grumpy voice.
Kaminari raised a devilish eyebrow. “So… is this like… a date?”
Kirishima felt his ears grow hot. “No! No, it’s not like that! We’re just two bros going to the movies! Right, Katsuki?”
He looked over to the blond, who had a death grip on his chopsticks. His face read pure rage, but there was a blush crawling up his neck and cheeks. It seemed to worsen at the use of his given name. The chopsticks snapped in his grip.
“KATSUKI?!” Ashido practically screamed. “He lets you call him by his given name?”
The other two boys were dying at this point. They clutched their stomachs as they busted out laughing, tears sparkling in their eyes. Sero slapped a hand on the table. “Oh my god! I can’t breathe!”
Bakugou slammed his own fists against the table and stood. “FUCK YOU GUYS, WE’RE OUT OF HERE! COME ON, SHITTY HAIR! LET’S GO.”
Kirishima stood on wobbly legs, his meal forgotten as his mind reeled. He chased after Bakugou, a million questions racing through his brain he couldn’t seem to vocalize. Was this a date? If it wasn’t, wouldn’t Bakugou have corrected them? If it was, why’d he get so defensive?
Bakugou turned around and grabbed Kirishima by the elbow to speed him up. They must have been too loud, because half the cafeteria’s eyes were watching them as they left.
They made it back to the classroom, and Bakugou’s grip hadn't let up. He finally let go when he moved to his desk and sat down heavily. He crossed his arms and turned his face away from Kirishima.
“Uh,” Kirishima tried to form words, but he wasn’t sure what to say. “Should we talk about this?”
“No,” he answered quickly.
“Well, that seemed to really bother you back there. If you were thinking—”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Eijirou.”
Kirishima could see the angry blush on his face when he glanced back at the redhead. Kirishima settled into the desk beside his. “Alright. You still want to go though, don’t you?”
He huffed. “Yeah, we’re still fucking going.”
His lips spread into a smile. “Glad to hear it! I can’t wait.”
The two broke out their homework after that, attempting to get caught up before the rest of the class slowly trickled back in. To Kirishima’s surprise, it was Bakugou who was having trouble focusing.
Class started up again, and Kirishima had to migrate back to his own desk. A worksheet was passed out by Midnight, and they were told to fill out what they could. Kirishima was only a few questions in when he glanced Bakugou’s way out of habit.
Midoriya was leaning forward, whispering something to Bakugou, who looked his usual amount of annoyed. It was when the green-haired boy reached out to tap Bakugou’s shoulder that chaos ensued.
Kirishima shot from his desk and across the room before most students even noticed anything was wrong. Everything happened so fast, even Kirishima’s brain had to play catch up.
Bakugou had snapped. In an instant, he’d had Midoriya pinned to the floor, slashing at his face with the claws that weren’t there. Midoriya was obviously caught off guard, but he was still fast enough to hold his arms up to shield his face from Bakugou’s attacks.
Kirishima tackled Bakugou off of his rival, using his hardening to pin him down. Bakugou was uncharacteristically hissing like some wild animal. Sero and Tokoyami were out of their seats now too, ready to help if they could.
“Katsuki!” Kirishima yelled, trying to snap the blond back to reality. “Katsuki, stop! It’s me! It’s Eijirou!”
Midnight stood above the boys, her hand resting on her sleeve and ready to tear it to put Bakugou to sleep with her quirk. Kirishima quickly shook his head at her. “Don’t! That won’t help.”
Bakugou’s movements became sluggish and he was blinking hard, quicly coming back to his senses. Kirishima watched as realization dawned in his eyes. He looked between Kirishima on top of him to Midoriya on the ground a few feet away. “Shit,” he cursed.
“Kacchan, I’m sorry!” Midoriya apologized. “I didn’t know the quirk hadn’t worn off yet. I shouldn’t have touched you. Kacchan, I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t fucking apologize to me, damn nerd!” he shouted in return. He growled in frustration. “I thought this shit was over.”
“It’s alright, man,” Kirishima sighed, relieved to have Bakugou back. He slid off of the blond and sat on the floor, rubbing the back of his neck. “Midoriya, you okay?”
“I-I’m fine!”
“Ahem,” Midnight cleared her throat. She had her hands on her hips and an unimpressed look on her face. “Could someone tell me what’s going on?”
“After effects,” Todoroki was the one to explain to Kirishima’s surprise. “It seems the quirk hasn’t quite worn off.”
“I’m fine now,” Bakugou grumbled. “It’s gone.”
“I highly doubt—”
“It was a fluke!”
“Guys!” Kirishima raised his voice to get them to stop. Bakugou glared at him for his interruption. Kirishima ignored the look and turned back to the other student still on the floor. “Midoriya, why don’t you swap seats with me for today?”
Midoriya nodded, finally pulling himself off the ground. “Good idea.”
Bakugou caught Kirishima’s wrist before he could stand as well. “I don’t need a damn babysitter.”
“I’m not babysitting you,” the redhead fired back. “My quirk is best suited to stop you if it happens again, which I doubt it will. Just a precaution, man.”
Midnight was tapping her foot, arms folded as she stared the two down. “Are you boys sure this is such a good idea?”
“Yes,” they said in unison. They looked at each other, and Bakugou bowed his head to allow Kirishima to finish. “He’ll be fine. It won’t happen again, and I’ll be there to stop him before it could happen again.”
She clicked her tongue. “Alright. I’ll allow it. Don’t make me regret it. And there had better not be any more interruptions.”
Everyone migrated back to their seats and the light chatter died off. Kirishima and Midoriya collected their things and traded seats. Once he was seated, Kirishima noticed a folded up piece of paper on the corner of the desk.
He opened it as quietly as he could, but Midnight seemed pretty preoccupied by the romance novel her eyes were glued to. It was definitely Bakugou’s handwriting, all caps and angry penmanship.
THANK YOU EIJIRO. YOU’ RE A GOOD FRIEND
Kirishima smiled. Bakugou really had grown so much in his time since coming to UA. Kirishima was so proud to be the explosive boy’s friend.
It’s cool ! Don’t sweat it man . Still wanna see that movie tonight ??
He tossed the note over Bakugou’s shoulder, who jumped a little like he was surprised to see it return. Kirishima could hear his pencil scrawling out a reply.
He passed it back, his eyes on Midnight to avoid being caught passing notes.
STILL THINK IT’S A GOOD IDEA?
Totally !! I wanna spend time with you dude
He chewed on his lip. Maybe that was a little too forward. He ended up erasing that bit and starting over.
Yeh man I think it’d be good for you to get out . Being cooped up for days isn’t good for ya
Bakugou held onto the note for a few minutes, maybe contemplating what to say. Kirishima tried to focus on his assignment, but it proved impossible and he ended up circling random answers.
Bakugou twisted his arm behind his back and held the folded note between two fingers. Kirishima plucked it from his grasp and unfurled it again.
COME TO MY ROOM AFTER YOU’RE READY TO GO. WE’RE GONNA GET DINNER FIRST SHITTY HAIR.
Kirishima giggled, and a few heads turned his way. He was too excited to care about the prying eyes or the blush that rose to his cheeks.
He couldn’t help but think about how date-like this seemed. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but… well.
He couldn’t help it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hope you guys liked it, and thanks for the read !!
Read part 6 here
8/31/2020
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theastrophilearchitect · 4 years ago
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Reworking the plot & getting my hands dirty.
Writing journey #2.
Sat 06/03/2021 - Word Count: 28,150 19.38 So, a month ago, today, actually, I started writing a book. For context, I've sorted out scenes and planned my plot; I'm now simultaneously writing my first draft and outlining scenes in more detail - I'm just into act two of my draft and just into act three of the outline.
I included today in my first writing post, which you can find here, but, while outlining, I realised something that will result in a major plot change (even though I probably should wait until revisions, it sorts out the climax I'm currently incredibly vague on, and will help me actually be able to complete the draft), and felt it was time to start a different post, because the other one was long, and already had its own focus.
Previously, I've been setting mildly insane word count goals, and even though I'm sticking to vague targets, I'm going to drop that, because I need to do a major plot change, and that'll mean the word count isn't going up that much for a while.
So, I have my first and second acts good, but while outlining act three, I've realised the event at the start of act three would work better as a climax than the vague battle idea I have. It just seems more original, more effective, but it means I need to shift events around and re-figure the first block of act three. I'll begin tonight, but it's already 8pm, so I'll probably do most of it tomorrow.
Sun 07/03/2021 - Word Count: 28,365 08.24 I'm reworking act three, and I think I may just drop drafting for the moment and focus on incorporating the edits I have in mind, then start drafting over. I know all the advice says not to go back and edit, but this is a big change I can't wait to do, so it seems opportune to just make the others, too.
08.31 I've now finished reworking act three, and I'm much more satisfied with it than I was before. I do now need to go through the scenes again, however.
13.57 Still re-scening. This is frustrating, but I've decided when I'm back to drafting, I'm going to drop my daily minimum to just 500 words - even though I'll make very little progress at that pace, it's more realistic considering I'm about to be plunged back into the world of homework and commuting, and it's something I'll always be able to meet to help me keep in the habit of daily writing. Word count isn't applicable when I'm doing re-scening like today, though.
Something else I've noticed, when I'm writing literally anything, I'm just scribing the words I'm literally hearing in my head, which is a little bit of a problem because where I wrote 'meet' just now, I meant 'meet' but heard 'eat' in my head and wrote 'eat'.
17.07 I feel like I'm finally making some progress - I've been writing on-and-off all day. My word count has actually decreased a couple hundred words since yesterday, but Scrivener is convinced I've written 42,000 words today, which I obviously haven't. I've typed a lot of words, but not that many, not all of which added to that since deleting words takes words off that number. It thinks I've written so many, however, because I duplicated my act one folder twice (then deleted it, obviously, because I don't need three copies of the same act) but Scrivener doesn't take off the words when you delete the file, only when you literally hit backspace.
17.50 Sorting out my climax, I'm realising how bad it was before. Which I guess is good, because it shows internal criticism and growth...? Or something...?
21.04 I've totally planned out the majority of act three, but I haven't finished it because where I'm up to ends with my characters essentially making a game plan, and since I'm not yet sure what that game plan is, I can't outline the bit where they carry out the plan, but I'll do that later. I've incorporated some of the edits I wanted to make, though I've left a couple out because they're less drastic and I'm not sure whether or not to include them, so I'm going to sort that either during or after my first draft.
Since I've made quite a few changes that will affect the parts I've already drafted, I'm going to start my draft over, and reset my word count, but I'll do that tomorrow. For now, Scrivener thinks I've written 42,385 words today, which I absolutely have not, and my word count is currently 28,365, but I'm going to remove every outline and drafted piece I've done so I can start from zero for what I'm going to call draft #1.4, because I already wrote a version of about 40% of it.
God, my word count has gone back to 0 of my minimum 50,000. That hurts. It really hurts. My actual goal is more 70-90K, but 50K is my minimum, so that's what I'm going with for now.
Anyway, goodnight, and good luck me.
Mon 08/03/2021 - Word Count: 820 So, I wrote 820 words before school, then got home, attempted to do some homework and lost all motivation and will to do... anything. Which means I'm very glad I did over my 500 words this morning.
Tue 09/03/2021 - Word Count: 1,367 15.07 I called this a #1.4 draft, but it's more like a #1.3. Anyway, writing is so much less stressful when I'm working from something I've already written - with the first section, so far, at least, I'm basically just editing the writing itself rather than the events because I'm pretty happy, at least at the moment, with my first couple chapters. Very little thinking required.
Also, it's been over 30 hours since I've written because I did my writing before school yesterday, but haven't written yet today because I've got so much work to get done for school. It feels like it's been forever.
16.17 I've finished rewriting chapter one, and still have a lot of fuel in my tank (that's a hideous metaphor) but I think I'm going to cut off today at 547 words, just because I have quite a lot on my plate this week, and I'd like to invest some time in actually reading the book I started eight days ago, and am only 200 pages of the way through.
Wed 10/03/2021 - Word Count: 2,082 I could write significantly more than 500 words most days, but it really is easier to set a minimum that doesn't feel like a strain, so that's what I'm sticking with for now.
Thu 11/03/2021 - Word Count: 2,801
Fri 12/03/2021 - Word Count: 3,405
Sat 13/03/2021 - Word Count: 32,211 07.40 I've just had nothing extra to say the last couple days, which is ironic considering how much I wrote each day of the last post, which went up yesterday! Anyway, it's finally Saturday, and even though I have exactly zero motivation to do anything this morning, I've been awake for two hours already (I recently discovered I like mornings??) and I think it's time to get going. Still sticking to my 500 word minimum, but since it's Saturday, I'm going to invest most of the day in writing, so I should surpass that.
08.20 I don't think I've mentioned yet that I dubbed this WIP Bay Tree in this post. Sorry if I have, but I skimmed this post and can't find it. So, this is about to get messy. I'm basically just cleaning up my prose, but there's so little point doing that when I'm not certain each scene will stay. There's no point editing a chapter unless I know it's sticking around.
So we're reverting, and this is about to get messy. I didn't quite finish my initial draft of chapter seven, because I wasn't sure how exactly the event at the end of it would happen, but I think I'm just going to delve into it. I'm going to add everything, including outlines, back to my word count, finish writing chapter seven, then pick up where I left off in chapter nine. Okay. That's why my word count is jumping around.
And, just like that, I've gone from 4,074 to 28,864. Well, 500 words accomplished. Surpassed, in fact, by just 24,290.
I'm going to aim to just hit 30K by the end of this weekend. I can easily do 1,136 words in two days.
As I've mentioned before, I haven't outlined all the way to the end and through the climax--I have a fairly clear idea of how I want it to do go down, but I'm not sure what I want the characters' plan to actually be, so I currently have 21 chapters, but I'm projecting 23-26, which, at about 3,000 words each, is pretty damn good, especially when it'll just get longer as I redraft (she says optimistically).
Already feeling more motivated now my word count's higher.
09.54 Oh! Also, I logged onto Tumblr today to find someone reblogged my last writing post with a really positive, encouraging comment. It's nice to think I'm bringing someone else a little joy with this.
11.13 And we hit 30K! I'm not quite done for the day, but I do need to go pack. Also, I've been operating under the impression the minimum word count for a novel is 50K, but it's actually 40K, which, though I'm only about 40% of the way to my projected total word count, I'm officially 75% of the way to being able to say I've written a novel.
I'm so glad I've gotten as far as I have, and I just hope I can keep myself going to the end.
12.27 This post is going to look really strange to read - if you're only looking at the word counts, it looks like I've written nearly 27K words today. That makes sense.
Oh, and I finished chapter seven. Like an hour ago.
13.52 At this point, I have literally no idea what continuity things I've already established, so I'm just going by a let-my-future-self-suffer philosophy.
14.36 That's chapter nine done. That leaves chapters 10 to nobody-knows. I'm going to stop writing now, but I wrote nearly 4,000 words today (plus recounting about 20K) so I don't exactly think this cut-off will be detrimental.
Sun 14/03/2021 - Word Count: 35,548 07.58 I’ve written over a thousand words already, and it isn’t even 8am yet. Being a morning person is genuinely the best thing ever as an introvert--I’m asleep when people want to socialise, and awake when no-one else is. That makes me sound like a hermit. I love it anyway, and feel like I’m stacking up for a good writing day. 35K is probably a little overambitious, but what’s life without aspiration?
09.04 As I’m going, I’m realising my plot is actually coherent, and being surprised that I can actually make a story without plot holes (as of yet.)
09.21 And that makes the first eleven chapters drafted! 
...And, Houston, we have a problem. Dammit. Eleven chapters, and I haven’t established one of the most important world-building points. Which is especially irritating because it needs to be established by chapter twelve. Unless I can establish it at the start of chapter twelve? We’ll go with that, so I don’t have to go back, then I’ll sort it out in edits or draft two or something.
I’ve just started writing chapter twelve, but I think, having written 2,600 words today already, I need a break. I have less than 500 words until I hit 35K, but I’m going to leave it for now, and come back this evening. I should be able to hit 40K this week.
18.19 And that makes 35K. Chapter twelve is only two scenes, and I’ve written one, but having written 3,000 words so far today, I’m going to leave it until tomorrow.
Mon 15/03/2021 - Word Count: 36,337 17.19 So there’s a crucial plot point just after my midpoint, and I’m not completely sure what to do. I mean, I know what I’m doing--I just wasn’t sure exactly how I wanted it to go, but now I know. The issue is other stuff needs to be pre-established, and I’ve worked out where it needs to go, but I don’t know whether or not I want to go back and write those bits now, or just make note of it and add it in draft two.
I think I’m just going to make note, plough ahead, and deal with it in draft two. I’m trying to figure out exactly how I’m going to operate after this draft: things generally say put it down for a few weeks, come back for edits, then go into your next draft, but I feel like I’m already going to have so many edits gathered by the time I reach the end of this draft, I should just go back into it, but time will probably be beneficial. Not that it actually matters now. I’m only just halfway through an under-draft (by that I mean it’s going to get a lot longer). I’m going to add new scenes in my next draft and generally fiddle with plot aspects, but as quite a linear writer, I think I’m more naturally inclined to just incorporate aspects in a draft rather than as edits. I’m not sure. Does that even make any sense? 
Depending on when I finish this draft, I think I’ll plan to pick it back up May 1st, and just see how I’m feeling. But, again, this all depends on when I finish the draft, and how I’m feeling when that time comes.
Tue 16/03/2021 - Word Count: 37,025 I bought my Scrivener license today! Yay!
Wed 17/03/2021 - Word Count: 38,408 08.04 This is mostly irrelevant to my project, but I just wanted to mention the odd fact that I’m definitely a plotter when it comes to longer pieces, but when I do shorter pieces, creative or essays, for school, I hate planning, and just start immediately, then go back and edit. Huh.
Thu 18/03/2021 - Word Count: 38,950 I’m going to edit this, but writing the date just now I noticed I’ve put 2019 for the last three days. It’s absolutely not, and I know why I did that, but still.
14.31 Also, Oxford commas? Found out what they were. Granted, that was actually a few days ago.
Fri 19/03/2021 - Word Count: 40,139 06.55 Even though I wrote 500 words yesterday, I didn’t quite reach my goal of 39K, just because I had to stop writing 50 words off, and by the time I had the opportunity to go back, I just wanted to go to bed. So, today, my goal is to hit 40K words, and officially be able to say I’ve hit the minimum word count for a novel.
Honestly, I’m starting to lose my love for this project. I’m still enjoying working on it, don’t get me wrong, but I’m anticipating finishing it because I know exactly what I want to write next. I feel like I’m mostly still working on it as a lesson, and I know it’s not what I ultimately want to write--mostly because it’s not super high-concept, and high-concept stuff is what I want to be writing. I am still enjoying working on it, I’m just not sure I’ll get to the ‘final line-edits’ stage. But who knows?
10.19 And that marks 40K. We’re in novel terriority, people. And, yes, I could correct that spelling, but I’d like to draw attention to how bad I am at spelling when typing. I’m excellent at spelling in writing, and wrong spellings bother me, but when I’m typing, my fingers are just trying to keep up with my mind, which means I try to type a letter and the one after it at the same time, and often end up with letters in the wrong order and punctuation in the wrong place. Or I just hit halfway between two keys instead of the key I’m going for, and type a wrong letter. Anyway, that was meant to say territory. See? I can spel..
Or I just double the punctuation instead of the last letter.
So I’m definitely not meeting my old goal of 80K words or a finished draft by the end of the month--that’d be another 40K words in just 12 days--but I’m definitely on track to finish by the end of April.
Sat 20/03/2021 - Word Count: 40,692 15.30 God, second acts are hard. I hate being in the middle. At the start, you have novelty, and at the end (not that I would know from experience) you have the knowledge you’re near the end, that you’ve already written most of it.
I’m currently operating the reminder, ‘You’ve written an act before, why not again?’, in hopes that’ll eventually extend to, ‘You’ve finished a draft before, why not again?’ and ‘You’ve written an entire book before, why not again?’
I’ve literally written 243 words so far today, and I just don’t want to. Normally, I sit down, I slog through the first hundred or so words, then pick up momentum. Maybe it’s just because chapter 13 is a boring part to write. Ha. 13. Just my luck.
I’m being nice to myself because a lot has happened in my life over the last few days, but I still want to write a minimum of 500 words, even though most Saturdays I can write more like 3,000.
21.41 I’d like to be asleep. That sounds like fun. Today slipped through my grasp, and I haven’t even written 300 words, but I am going to try to at least hit 500. And then maybe write thousands and thousands tomorrow, but I’m also going to bake a cake, and I’m notorious for being able to make cooking and baking take at least three times as long as is necessary.
21.57 So I got just past 500. Relatively speaking, that’s not that impressive for me, but it’s more words than most people in the world added to their manuscripts today, so I have to give myself some credit. (I’m working on crediting myself for productivity rather than degrading myself for not being productive--I could go on for hours about how much it pisses me off that capitalism teaches us productivity=worth in everything, not just business, but I’m going off on a tangent.)
Sun 21/03/2021 - Word Count: 41,466 08.08 Cakes baked! And I’ve come to a conclusion about how irritating I am to myself--I didn’t fully outline the latter half of act two (by which I mean I have each scene and a purpose of each scene, but virtually no detail) which I can absolutely cope with, but it does slow me down. Anyway, I’m waiting for my cakes to cool, then I can ice them.
14.28 I wanted to write up to 42K this weekend, which I don’t think is going to happen. I’ve written 774 words, so passed my 500-word minimum, but haven’t yet reached 42K, and don’t think I’m going to this weekend. I just don’t have much motivation, which may just be because of the part I’m on, but I’d rather work through this part really slowly then pick up the pace when I get to the part I want to be writing, than force myself to write this section quickly and poorly, then not want to continue into act three. So, sticking to 500 words a day; I may do more later, but I’m leaving it for now.
Mon 22/03/2021 - Word Count: 42,006 17.56 God, I don’t want to write today. I’m going to anyway, because I haven’t yet failed 500 words. They can be a shitty 500 words, but they have to be 500 words. Also, the scene I wrote yesterday? Absolutely getting deleted. But I’m leaving it for now because I refuse to lose those 800 words.
I really enjoy putting edits at the bottom of scenes in brackets and making them unnecessarily wordy so Scrivener thinks I’ve written significantly more words than I actually have.
18.31 Yay, did it. I’m really hoping I can just work through this low spot and don’t have to take a break. I’m on the penultimate chapter of act two, and the first few chapters of act three are really exciting, so I’ll know if I need to take a break based on whether I get motivated when I get to that part.
Tue 23/03/2021 - Word Count: 42,124 16.37 GOD, I need a break. I don’t have motivation, even for 500 words. You know what? I’m just going to make a note of the scene idea I had earlier, and I’m going to take a week’s break. Unless I get antsy, in which case I may end it earlier, but, I’m not going to write again until Tuesday the 30th. Unless I get antsy. FUCK.
I’m just reminding myself breaks are good and important, but I still hate that I’m taking one without finishing my first draft. Tue 30/03/2021, I will be back! Though my word count may increase between now and then as I note down any ideas I have, which I will update with. Okay. Just leave it.
Sun 28/03/2021 - Word Count: 42,150 10.47 Since Tuesday, I’ve made some notes on my phone of little things I want to change, but haven’t added them to my project file, so the word count hasn’t gone up.
Last night, I was just thinking about how badly I wanted to get back to this project, but this morning, I just... don’t. I’ve been thinking it through, and I’m not ready to drop this project yet, but I’m just not happy with what I have at the moment. So, I’m going to add my notes to the file, and then leave it for a few weeks, so I can return with edits in mind, apply them, and then start what I guess will be like a 1.7 draft, because I didn’t finish this draft.
In the meantime, however, I do want to keep writing, so I’m going to start another project in the meantime, which I can work on a lot in the next few weeks because, in a few days, I get a couple weeks off, which won’t be completely free of work, but will give me a lot more time to dedicate to this.
I think I’m going to say I’ll return to Bay Tree (or at least review, if, say, I just want to dedicate a little more time to whatever phase of the new project before I move on) on May 10th, because that’s basically when I get to relax after my exams finish.
So I’ll add the notes I have so far, keep making notes on my phone, and return on May 10th.
Which wraps up this writing update--a new one will come with my new project!
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paullahotes · 5 years ago
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Incalescent-Chapter Four
Pairing: Paul Lahote x Fem!OC
Summary: Em just wants to be loved and have a family for once in her life. But nothing has ever gone right in her life before so why should it now?
Word Count: 6k
Warnings: kissing, tiny vampires who won’t take no for an answer, lots of feelings that are all over the place
A/N: Listen, I don’t think I’m a good writer so this could be terrible! Let me know what you guys think of it!
Paul had cooked for me again when we got back from the beach. We had only spent a short amount of time there but my face was feeling tight with a little sunburn. Though I was grateful because I hadn’t had much sun since being here in Forks. I also felt grateful now for the blush that spread across my cheeks every time I looked at Paul. As I had watched him cooking with his back turned to me everything felt like it was falling into place.
I had spent my whole life thinking that everything was going to be awful and lonely. I always thought that it would just be my father and I, with him forcing me into solitude for fear of people finding out our secrets. Now so many people knew our secrets and I couldn’t feel safer. The thought of my dad randomly popping in still loomed in the back of my mind, though I knew he wouldn’t find out about anything. Who would tell?
  Yesterday had gone so well after I ditched the rest of my school day that I decided to go against my father's wishes and skip school again today. Paul had given me a clean shirt for the day after I spent the night at his house. The fabric was soft and smelled like him. He was out on patrol now but every time I inhaled I could smell him and that comforted me. 
Thinking back to last night was a good distraction from how bad I was turning out to be at sewing. I was at Emily’s house, sitting on her couch and sewing the packs clothes back together. They shredded them when having to phase quickly and Emily tried her best to put them back together so they didn’t have to keep buying new ones. My fingers fumbled with the small, delicate needle as I worked on a pair of Embry’s shorts. They weren’t too bad and I’m sure Emily would have no problem fixing them but my fingers were not cooperating with the task at hand. 
“Have you ever sewed anything before?” Emily asked, laughing lightly as she saw me struggle with the needle. I huffed out blowing a piece of hair out of my face and glared at her slightly. The smile on her face didn’t waver and she mumbled, “so stubborn, just like Paul.”
“I will learn how to do this correctly,” I mumbled out through my gritted teeth. Over the years I hadn’t taken on too many hobbies that involved me producing something. I was always fascinated with art and got really in Art History at whatever high school I went to. But I never took a regular art class and when I was forced to I didn’t excel in the slightest. The same went for my love of books and music, I would never sit down and write either. 
“At least you’re trying to help,” Emily mumbled back, there was a needle pressed between her lips as she spoke. “Jared’s girlfriend is a very lovely girl but she took one look at me doing this one day and didn’t offer anything. She just sat with him at the kitchen table, eating the food I had made.”
“Hm, maybe I should’ve done that,” I joked just as the needle poked my finger. It didn’t bleed, thanks to my more durable than human skin. I swore quietly to myself and shook my finger off, it was more of a hit to my ego than painful. 
Emily and I fell into silence then, except for my occasional swearing. It wasn’t long until I had finished Embry’s shorts and I was sighing in relief. I held them up to inspect them and saw that they were in fact wearable but he would win no fashion awards for them. 
We spent a couple hours sewing, some of it in silence and some of it with the living room filled with laughter. Being at Emily’s place felt like home. People were constantly coming in and out, leaving food or taking it. Over the course of the day I had seen every member of the pack and their girlfriends. I had even had the privilege of meeting Sue Clearwater when Leah had shown up with her in tow. They were stopping by to grab some of the clothes, Leah didn’t have any clothes of her own to sew because she had finally controlled her random phasing.
I noticed as I was going through the pile of clothes that Emily had given me, none of them belonged to Paul. I scanned the piles of freshly sewn shorts and shirts from Emily’s piles and realized none of Paul’s clothes were there either. Emily noticed my looks and followed my gaze around the room as I looked.
“Paul can control his phasing, he was the worst at first. We’d be sitting around, laughing at some jokes and suddenly the urge to phase hit him and he had to run out of the house quickly.” Emily explained to me like she could read my mind. Paul always seemed so collected that it sounded odd to me that he had trouble controlling anything. I started to wonder how that would even work, I didn’t really know anything about the wolves and I had yet to ask Paul.
“When were you going to tell us?” Emily and I were taken out of our thoughts as we heard Leah’s voice call out. The front door banged open to reveal Leah standing with her hands on her hips. Her eyes trained directly on me. 
“Tell you what?” I asked, my brow furrowed in confusion. Leah walked over and sat on the couch next to me. Emily had stopped sewing and pushed everything to the side, watching our interaction.
“When we are in our wolf forms we can hear each other's thoughts, all of each other's thoughts,” Leah started, looking over at Emily and then back to me. “Paul and I were just phased at the same time with a couple others and he was thinking about something that happened between the two of you.”
“Oh,” I mumbled, my body started to feel hot all over. My mind wandered back to Paul and I kissing the previous day. It didn’t dawn on me how it would look wearing his shirt and I hoped they didn’t notice that I was wearing it. 
“What happened?” Emily asked, coming over and kneeling on the floor beside my legs. She looked up at me with wide, excited eyes as she waited for me to spill the details. I pushed my sewing stuff to the side before looking between Emily and Leah.
“Paul and I kissed…” I trailed off as the two women squealed, Leah gripping my shoulder and lightly shaking me. “...we kissed a lot.”
“Finally, I’ve been getting sick of Paul’s sad inner monologue about he thought you hated him because you weren’t showing any signs of liking him beyond friendship,” I rolled my eyes at Paul’s idiocy.
“I’m very happy for the two of you! From what I hear you make Paul happier than he’s ever been,” Emily said, with her hand on my knee and squeezing it encouragingly. 
Emily and Leah forced me to tell every single detail from the day before. Every kiss that Paul and I shared, along with every last thing we said to each other before and after. They were both confused when they asked if he told me about the tribes legends and I said that he hadn’t. They both shared a knowing look and dropped the subject quickly. The interaction made me make a mental note to ask Paul about it later. 
“Now that you and Paul have decided to be more than friends we should double date sometime!” Leah suggested, holding Em’s hand tightly. 
“That would be great!” I exclaimed, though I sounded very nervous. Were things moving quickly or was I just not familiar with everything?
Emily and I spent a while talking about the guys we were with. She confessed she thinks Sam would be proposing soon and she couldn’t wait to start planning the wedding. The thought of watching Emily and Sam get married warmed my heart. Being able to be around the two of them and watching be so in love, felt so pure. I knew I was a better person for just being around them.
“Hello, ladies,” Sam opened the front door dramatically when he came in. He took a couple large strides across the room to scoop Emily up into his arms, kissing her. I looked away to give them privacy and saw Paul walk in. He stopped in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed against his chest and smiled at me.
“C’mere,” Paul said, nodding his head to signal what he wanted. I scrambled to my feet and walked over to him without hesitation. If we were being honest once I kissed him for the first time I didn’t see how I’d ever be able to stop. 
He didn’t waste anytime as he cupped my face and leaned down to press his lips to mine. With my hands on his waist I pushed up on my tip-toes to deepen the kiss. I vaguely heard Leah mumble something about everyone being ‘so gross’ before she brushed passed me and Paul, running into the forest. Paul didn’t stay kissing me for long. He eventually pulled away to press our foreheads together and look into my eyes.
“Missed you today,” Paul whispered to me. I gripped his hand that was cupping my face and pressed harder against his palm. It was silly that I had missed him too. We had only been apart for a few hours, less than if I had gone to school. 
“Walk me home? I should catch up on some homework considering I do have to go back to school eventually,” he took my hand and we said a quick goodbye to Sam and Emily. She thanked me for helping her and didn’t let me leave until she had quickly put together my school lunch for tomorrow. She had upgraded me from a plain paper sack to a lunchbox of my favorite color.
Paul and I walked hand in hand through the forest. My body temp has always been higher than a humans from what I had noticed over the years from accidentally touching people at school in the hallways. Paul however burned hotter than I did. I had noticed it before but now that we had been touching more regularly it was very apparent. His hand clasped mine, the heat almost searing my skin.
We came up to the river that separates Forks from La Push, he looked over at me wagging his eyebrows. He stepped back a few paces and then ran forward as fast as he could, launching himself over the river. My stomach flipped in fear, he had never done this in his human form. I was never worried about his wolf form making it over the river but I had no idea how he would make it over as a human.
“Were you worried?” He yelled over to me from the other side of the river. He looked smug as I watched him in awe. He had made it and was able to land gracefully. Frowning at him I took a couple steps back and launched myself over the river like he had. As I flew through the air I knew I had gone further than Paul and began to smirk. I landed then hit a cartwheel just to show off. Putting my hands in the air dramatically when I was done, I spun around to face Paul.
“Show off,” he muttered, shoving me lightly as he passed but still grabbing my hand to hold it. I giggled lightly and gripped his hand in mine, my other hand going to hold the crook of his arm. We walked quietly the rest of the way to my house, it was a comfortable silence.
“Emily told me you’re the best at controlling your phasing,” I started to speak when my questions from earlier popped back into my head. When I looked over at Paul he looked sheepish, like he was embarrassed from the praise.
“Now I am but when this first happened I wasn’t,” Paul explained, sounding like he didn’t want to. We walked in silence for a couple more minutes, our paces slower than a snails. 
“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable by bringing it up. I’m half a vampire and I barely know about them and they’re my kind. Finding out people can turn into wolves really turned my world upside down and I was curious about how it all works,” I felt myself starting to feel defensive and on edge. I wasn’t allowed to ask my dad questions and if I did he usually yelled at me for it. Paul wasn’t anything like my dad but I didn’t know anything else. 
“I’ll have to bring you to a council meeting sometime so you can hear it from them, I’ve told you a little of what I know about it. It has to do with who are ancestors are,” Paul started, squeezing my hand lightly. He looked serious now, determination clear all over his face. “Everyone that can turn into a wolf now relates back to the original one. Taha Aki, the first shapeshifter in our history. Our main enemies over the years are the same, our legends call them the ‘cold ones’.”
“I’m assuming the ‘cold ones’ are vampires,” I concluded, thinking about how cold my father felt to the touch. Every vampire that I touched was cold like ice, one touch from a human could give away a clue as to what they were.
“You’re right, every time vampires come near us our genes tell us to turn into wolves,” Paul told me, as we walked into my backyard. “I don’t like to take credit for being the best at ‘controlling’ my phasing. We haven’t pinpointed a trigger for it besides the vampires. We don’t phase do to emotions or situations. We phase when we’re happy, mad or sad so none of really know how to stop the phasing. It’s all just luck.”
“Maybe it’s a skill you develop over time,” I suggested, trying to sound hopeful. To this day I hoped that I would show signs of some sort of ability. I had tried for years to force something out of myself. I tried to figure out things I was good at to see if I could practice them enough to where it started to grow and become something beyond the average but nothing ever panned out.
After a while my dad made me give up, his excuse was that I looked stupid trying to force something that wasn’t there. He said I wasn’t special and couldn’t make myself become special no matter how hard I tried. 
“I’ll be back later after my patrol,” Paul told me as he walked me up my back steps. I was pulling the back door open when he pulled me into him for a kiss. It was unexpected and left me breathless. He had the same smug look on his face from earlier. He pressed a quick kiss to my lips before letting me go.
“Don’t take too long,” my voice barely above a whisper, with a slight hoarseness to it. He winked at me and sprinted off into the woods, unbuttoning his shorts on the way. I shook the dizziness out of my head and continued into my house.
The paper I was working on practically wrote itself. I had been writing the same paper for my history classes for a few years now. Whenever we were given the opportunity to write about the Civil War I wrote a lengthy essay about the women of the time and how they helped, sometimes more than men, in the war. It was fun to see what men in our history tried to erase and I loved digging up new details about the women. 
The sudden ringing startled me as I was typing out my last sentence. My phone had been left back on the kitchen table while I sat at the island working on my paper. It was probably Paul changing plans and sending someone else over to spend the night to make me feel safe. I picked it up without looking.
“Long time no talk,” I joked as I answered. It had only been a couple hours since Paul had dropped me at my house. The other side was silent for a minute. “Anyone there?”
“You skipped school today,” a voice finally came through but it wasn’t Paul. My heart skipped a beat. My whole body broke out into a cold sweat so bad I could feel the beads of sweat pop up all over my skin immediately. 
“I-I, uh…”
“I don’t want to hear it. I warned you before I left. I would always know if you stepped out of line and you have. You are walking on thin ice with me now,” he seethed on the other end. I could hear the malice in his voice. It felt like shards of glass were hitting my ears with each word. I couldn’t defend myself, the words were stuck in my throat. 
“I have eyes everywhere, Clementine,” he started speaking again. He had eyes everywhere? I spun around anxiously, looking out the doors to the backyard and all the other windows that anyone could see me through. 
“I’ve left you speechless now, haven’t I?” he asked, sounding satisfied with my lack of response to anything he said. My body felt like it was vibrating, my legs were weak. I gripped on the kitchen table as my legs started to give out.
“You better start being able to speak because I have a little question for you,” he began. Sitting down at the table, I stayed silent and let him continue. “Did you think I wouldn’t find about your dangerous little dog friends too?”
I froze, my tongue going so dry I thought it would turn to dust. I cleared my throat hoping it would help before I spoke, “What are you talking about?”
“I have a reliable source that says they saw you with them, more than once over the past couple weeks. Did you think you could away with kissing one of those foul beasts?” he explained to me. Someone had been watching me the whole time? Someone had learned the packs secret in the process? My stomach flipped as I thought about how someone had seen Paul and I at the beach, spying on us while we kissed. This was all my fault, I knew something like this would happen if I got too close to anyone. I had never underestimated my dad before and I shouldn’t have this time around either.
“They have just as much of a secret to keep as I do, maybe even more so,” I tried to reason with him. It was foolish to even try but I had to. I was old enough at this point to do things for myself and I had to stand up for myself, no matter who my dad has watching me.
“The more people that know about you the worse off you’ll be. Vampires are curious creatures, they love to check out their own kind from time to time. Sometimes even hunt them for fun. Do you want to be hunted for fun, Clementine?” The second use of my full name alerted me to how serious he was. There would be no reasoning with him now, not that there ever was to begin with.
“No, father,” I muttered quietly, my stomach churning. It didn’t matter how old I got or how far he was from me, I would never be out from under his control. He had never let me go far enough to learn how to be on my own or defend myself. 
“I suggest you stop seeing your friends and continue to go to school. You never know the next time someone will be around and see you,” he warned before abruptly ending the conversation. My phone beeped alerting me to the ended call but I sat there with my phone to my ear, frozen in place. 
There was a clock hanging on the wall across from me, I could hear each tick the second made as it went by. My phone began to slip from my hand as my muscles went slack. My whole body slumped back and my phone went clattering down to the tabletop. 
The only good thing that came from that conversation was the implication that no one was currently watching me. Who would even be helping my father keep an eye on me? He had driven the notion of never getting to know anyone into my brain so much that I thought he had always adhered to the rule himself.
I snapped out of it suddenly, grabbing my phone and typing out a message before my brain could even realize what I was doing. It was a message to Paul, a light and airy feeling one, about how I didn’t need anyone over tonight because I was working on a paper and would be doing so all night. I didn’t bother to wait for a reply, turning my phone off and leaving it upside down on the kitchen table.
We hadn’t unpacked everything when we moved in. Most of our stuff still in boxes around the house. I didn’t know exactly where my father had put the box that held our curtains but I was on a mission to find them. I wouldn’t be letting anyone spend the night here anymore so I would need to make myself feel as safe as possible and I was going to start by having all the windows covered so that no one could see in.
The box wasn’t too hard to find, it was located in the closet under the stairs. Everything I needed was miraculously in it, from the curtains to the curtain rods that held them up. There were so many windows all over my house that I hoped I had enough to cover all of them or I would be limiting where I go when I was home. 
It didn’t take long for me to hang up curtains all over my living and in my kitchen. There was nothing I could do about the sliding door, no curtains were big enough so I looked around for a bed sheet big enough to cover it up. I already had my sheets on my bed and my dad wasn’t around to use his, not that he would anyway since he never slept.
With hammer and nails in my hands and a bedsheet in the other hand, I set to work. Standing on different kitchen chairs in the process, I had the bedsheet nailed over the sliding door in no time. Feeling no safer when I was done, I decided to grab my laptop and school work and barricade myself in my room until it was time to go to school in the morning. I reluctantly had to grab my phone and turn it back on just so I could set an alarm in case I somehow was able to fall asleep.
Paul had texted back saying that was fine and wondering if I was sure I didn’t need him. He didn’t express it but I knew he was hurt by me suddenly being cold toward him. We had just gotten to a good place, one I had never been in before and it was ruined. This was my life and I had better learn to just keep my head down and deal with it. 
To distract myself from the hole I was on the brink of spiraling down I decided to get my essay back out and begin to pick it apart. My eyes were burning by the time I decided my essay couldn't get any better. The sun had been gone for a while now, the sky completely dark and void of stars. Looking out my window and into the backyard I saw something move beyond the tree line. A shadow too big to be a human or vampire but it was too far away for me to be sure it was one of the wolves. But if it was it was probably Paul checking on me to make sure my father wasn’t home and keeping me from him.
Guilt washed over me as I abruptly shut the curtains and threw myself down on my bed. The blankets were in a pile next to me and I grabbed them, pulling them to me to wrap my body around. I didn’t want to cover up for fear that I would need to get up quickly to defend myself, only to get stuck in the blankets and get killed because of it. I didn’t have much of a say in the matter as my eyes closed and didn’t reopen.
Rap! Rap! Rap! I startled awake at the sudden sound, my feet hitting the floor before my eyes even opened. The pounding sound didn’t stop. As I gained my bearings I realized it was someone knocking on my front door. It couldn’t be anyone I knew because Emily had a key to my house and would give it to anyone she trusted who wanted to come see me. 
From the top of my stairs I could see a man with a navy blue hat on standing on my front porch. His whole frame wasn’t visible through the little window on my front door so I couldn’t know where he was from until I went down and greeted him.
“Can I help you?” I asked as the door swung open. His whole uniform matched his hat. The crisp navy blue uniform, was loose on his body. He stood awkwardly on my porch with a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. 
“I have a delivery for, Clementine Abbott?” It was more of a question than a statement. I nodded at him and he handed me the clipboard to sign my name, stating that I received whatever it was he had brought with him. He uttered a quick thank you and picked up a heavy box from the porch that I hadn't noticed before. It was a white, styrofoam box. The same kind we put blood bags in when my father and I stole them for me. 
“This isn’t the only thing,” He gestured my usually empty driveway. There now sitting in the driveway and looking completely out of place was the car I had wanted for a while. It was the newest version of it too. A royal blue, Land Rover Range Rover, sat there looking pristine. The man handed me the keys and an envelope. 
“Have a good day,” I muttered, trying to be polite but I was in absolute shock. The envelope was heavy in my hand, somehow even more so than the keys were. I tore it open already knowing who it was from.
Clementine,
This is sort of a peace offering. Peace on the condition that you do as you are    told from now on. The car is so that you don’t have to rely on anyone for anything. You have everything you need at the house and you have a credit card to go and buy whatever you should find the need for. The car is now a way for you to get there without running into anyone while you walk to and from. 
The blood bags are so that you don’t find yourself thirsty and running into the dogs while in the woods hunting. Remember, I will know if you see them again. 
You will see me again very soon. I have run into an old friend and we have something big and exciting planned. You’ll know everything when the time is right.
Hope you just love your new dream car!
Stay Safe,
John Abbott
Him and an old friend had something big and exciting planned? Nothing about this letter sounded good. Each word brought more bile to the back of my throat. Breakfast was now out of the question with the way my stomach felt. With the blood bags stowed away in the fridge and the keys left on the island in the kitchen next to my backpack I went upstairs to take a shower and get dressed for school. 
It may be springtime here in Forks but the weather didn’t show it. The window to my bedroom had slight fogging to it, meaning it was a lot colder outside than inside. Slipping a sweater over my head to pair with my jeans I was finally ready to leave for school. Despite everything I was excited to be able to drive at school, especially in the car I had wanted for so many years. 
My car stuck out in the school parking lot. Everyone had used cars, years old. I had noticed that even the Cullen’s had a car that blended into the surroundings. The only other car that stuck out like mine did was Bella’s old, rusted, bulbous truck. I parked in a spot that was the closest to the school, I had never driven to school before but I’m sure it was rare that this spot was ever open this late in the morning. 
A couple kids were staring as I grabbed my bag and got out of the car. I needed to head to the main office building to print out my paper quickly before going to class. It was due this morning and if I hadn’t spent time procrastinating my skipping school to hang out with Paul I would have already had it done and turned in. This was super last minute for me and I usually never did this. If my dad found out I was turning my paper in the last minute he would say it was late even though it was right on time. 
There was no one in the main office that I could see but I could hear the principal and secretary somewhere chatting. The smell of coffee lingered in the air, it was an office but it felt comfortable. Without bothering them I went to the computer and signed in to print out what I needed. 
The task didn’t take as long as I thought it would so I went back to my car with my papers. The Cullen’s had now arrived. Bella had gotten out of her truck and was now standing with the two vampires at their car, chatting quietly while eyeing me in my car. I looked away from them and put my papers away.
It wasn’t surprising to me when I heard a soft knock on my passenger side door. When I looked up I saw Alice. She waved at me, looking sheepish. My lips pursed but didn’t go into a full pout. There was no getting out of this so I clicked the unlock button to let her in. She slid in gracefully and let out a long sigh.
“I’m really sorry for what happened the other day,” she started, turning her tiny body to look into my eyes. Her tiny, cold hands reached out and grabbed mine. She clasped them tightly as if to emphasize how serious she was. 
“I can be a lot and most people don’t really like that. My siblings however are usually the quiet brooding types so I didn’t see the outburst coming,” she looked genuinely upset. I knew from what I heard the other day that she could see the future, which made me wonder how she didn’t know what I was. Or maybe I was going to be able to keep my secret forever and they’ll never find out?
“It’s fine, this whole town seems to act weird when new people show up,” I wasn’t going to drag this on. She needed me to accept her apology to get her to leave me alone. She seemed to agree with me as she nodded slightly and leaned back in the seat.
“Are you alright?” She asked, her eyes were locked with mine. She was probably noticing how tired I looked. Or maybe it was the fear I had that showed all over my face. Was someone watching me interact with her? Would my dad call again threatening me to not talk to the towns vampires? Or would his friend show themselves to tell me to stop in person?
“I haven’t been sleeping that well,” I muttered back to her. It wasn’t technically a lie, I was scared of being alone in my house and I was scared that my dad would show back up soon. I had a lot on my mind that wasn’t letting me have the peace of mind I needed to sleep. She seemed to believe me and leaned back in her seat looking around my car.
“I love your new car by the way. With your taste you’d really get along with my family. We may take a bland car to come to school but we have a whole garage of fancy ones,” she seemed excited now. Her eyes went somewhere for a second, like she was seeing something I wasn’t. She looked very worried for a minute but then shook it off with a laugh.
“Are you graduating this year? I know you have a couple classes with Edward and Bella but you could just be advanced,” she asked. Where could this be going? I thought once I told her I wasn’t bothered by what happened the other that she would leave me alone but it wasn’t turning out to be like that.
“You guessed it, I’m a genius. I’ll graduate next year hopefully early so I can start some college,” and hopefully get the hell out of this town. After the stunt I pulled my dad probably wouldn’t argue if I asked to move after this school year. Hopefully whatever him and his friend were planning it would be over in time.
“Would you like to come to the graduation party I’m planning anyway? You said you wanted to graduate early so you won’t get one if you do that! Edward and I really want you to know how sorry we are for the other day and what better way to show you than a party in a mansion!” she was easily excited. Her cheerful voice filled the car as she spoke. There was a sparkle in her eyes as she waited for me with her hands now clasped under her chin no longer holding my hands.
“Oh, I don’t know…” the look on her face told me it wasn’t optional. It was clear that she wouldn’t leave me alone until I said yes. I leaned back in my seat, feeling defeated. If my dad found out he would be furious but what teenager says no to a party? The Cullen’s clearly knew how to dig into someones life and would surely nose around more if I was acting like anything but a normal teenage girl. 
“Yay! This is so exciting!” Alice squealed, bouncing around in her seat. She settled down after a second and looked me over. “I think I know your size so I’ll send you something to wear to it! You’ll love it!”
“You don’t have t-” she was gone, the door clicked shut behind her. She was already standing back with Bella and Edward before I could even process the door shutting. Edward looked displeased at what she was telling him, probably about how she invited me to the party. Bella looked uneasy and I could hear her mumble something about them ‘being tricked by them’. Whoever ‘they’ were worried me a little bit. Bella seemed really scared about whoever they were, scared to the point of some new kid in town being a potential threat.
All the students in the parking lot eventually made their way to their classes. I followed only after the three people I didn’t want to interact with again had disappeared to wherever they needed to. The gloom from over night had stayed, low rumbling thunder sounded in the distance. The rain was staying away, for now, as I made my way to my first class.
I turned in my paper as soon as I got there and the teacher read it while he played a video for us. It was over the Civil War and turned out to be very boring. If I hadn’t slept at all last night I’d be a goner as the black and white pictures flashed, dully on the small tv screen at the front of the class. Much to my mortification he read my paper during class and stopped the video before it was over to make me read my paper to the entire class. 
Everyone stared at me as I stammered through the words. The teacher applauded when I was finished and bragged to the class that he hadn’t read a paper ‘this good in years’.He wanted to keep it and hang it on his wall if that would be alright with me. I just wanted everything to be over so I told him it was alright and practically ran back to my seat. 
The rest of the morning went quickly, as usual. I kept under the radar for it, not wanting to risk reliving my first period of the day. My lunch sat on the table in front of me as I sat in the cafeteria. I was alone today, thankfully, and could eat in peace without having to storm out at any point. 
Alice, Edward and Bella were all sitting with the group of people they had been with the first time I saw any of them. Alice was inviting them to the party too. Everyone seemed shocked by the invite and one girl even exclaimed that ‘no one has ever seen their house’. Alice seemed to ignore that and her eyes went somewhere again, I was guessing the same place they had gone when she was in my car. Edward looked concerned in the worst way. His eyes became scared even though he was trying to hide it and he subconsciously put his hand on Bella’s. The small action took some fear out of his eyes and he tried his best to shrug it off and look normal. 
Lunch was over in what felt like a matter of minutes and I was walking back to class when I overheard Alice and Edward whispering anxiously to each other. Bella was nowhere to be seen so it seemed like they were keeping something from her. They were stopped just outside a classroom, so I stopped behind a tall bush and pretended to be on my phone as I eavesdropped.
“My vision was clear, she’s coming this weekend,” Alice whispered, she sounded more determined than scared. 
“We have to get Bella out of here for the weekend. I’ll remind her of the place tickets Esme and Carlisle got her for her birthday, maybe she’ll actually listen to me for once and go visit her mom,” Edward suggested, he didn’t sound determined. He sounded completely wrecked at even the thought of Bella not listening and being here for whoever was coming this weekend.
“She’ll go I can see it but she’s going to ask you to come along. You should go, we can handle Victoria without you,” Alice assured him. My heart seized in my chest at her name. The pack hadn’t seen or caught her scent in a couple weeks, they thought she had finally given up and moved on. They needed to know she was coming back, they needed to prepare.
There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to risk it all and go warn them about it. I had no idea what my father would do if he found out about me seeing the wolves again but I didn’t matter when it came down to every life in the packs and the lives of those involved. Hell, I would probably even join in and help them catch this dangerous, red-headed vampire.
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here4theheartbreak · 5 years ago
Text
Stretched to the Breaking Point (Ot7)
AO3 Link Here!
Relationships: Hoseok x Jimin x Jin x Jungkook x Namjoon x Taehyung x Yoongi (ot7) Genre(s): angst, fluff
Written for @btspolyshipbingo
Square Filled: Bed Sharing Tags: angst, fluff, polyamory, ot7, canon compliant, set in 2016, slice of life, miscommunication Summary: Jin’s exhausted after 4 years solid of picking up after/for the absolute loves of his life. He wants to prove he’s useful, but is this really how he’s going to have to do it?
Word Count: ~7.1k
A/N: This fulfills a request a got quite a while ago about Jin being stressed at being the eldest but hiding it. I turned it poly, I hope that’s okay!
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‘Please pick up some lamb when you go shopping today, hyung? I’ve been dying for your skewers.’
Jin sighed a little at the text from Taehyung. He shifted the basket in his arm to type a reply when a text from Namjoon came in.
‘Hey I know you’re busy but you could stop by the office and grab my hard drive? It’s the red one, I don’t want to bug manager.’
Jin responded with a simple yes, and went back to typing his response for Taehyung. He had just pocketed his phone and headed in the direction of the meat when his phone buzzed again.
He pulled it out to see a text from Jimin,
‘Hey, can you stop by the pharmacy on your way home? My knees are really aching and we’re all out of painkillers. The heating packs aren’t doing it for me.’
Jin sighed again. He responded to Jimin, telling him to check his bedroom in the desk for painkillers, but decided to pick some up anyway. He continued on his shopping trip, arm beginning to ache from the weight of the basket. It had been a trip just for a few items, but the requests had rolled in as soon as word got out among the group that Jin was going shopping.
It was always like this, from pre-debut to now. Please get this, help with that, save me from this… Jin didn’t mind. He knew he shouldn’t mind, at least. He was the eldest, and these guys relied on him for a lot. But sometimes it was just too much.
He loved each member dearly, no one could question that. Both on the surface, the ways fans saw them, as brothers who would die for one another and friends until the very end of the earth, and behind the scenes, the less publicized affection. The nights spent in one another’s beds and quick kisses shared behind the camera before concerts and stages.
Sometimes Jin wondered if it was the pure unorthodox nature of their relationship that set him so on edge sometimes. He’d always grown up being told he would find some woman to marry - a single, solitary female, that he was meant to fall in love with, marry, and give children.
He knew it was bullshit - he’d never been much into women and the idea of monogamy was dull at best. He loved all six of his band mates and boyfriends. Some he was more intimate with, some more emotionally attached to, and some he’d only ever cuddled and shared a kiss or two. Yoongi and Namjoon were first, followed closely by Taehyung and then Jimin and Hoseok. Jungkook fell quickly into a relationship with Taehyung, but Jin had resisted. He’d worried about Jungkook’s age, and accidental manipulation. But just like with the others, Jungkook had a piece of his heart too big to ignore.
Outside of the relationship though, Jin was still the eldest. Both within the company, within the fan base, and even within the dorm, he was just expected to handle certain things that he’d never been asked to handle on his own before. He didn’t question it, didn’t shy away from it. The six men that held his heart so firmly needed him in these ways, and he would rather die than let them down.
He knew sometimes he should ask for help. He knew they would freely give as much as they took. But the idea of burdening them at all, especially when he was their support... The idea made him sick. So he kept quiet and planted a grin on his face. He cooked and bandaged Jimin’s injuries. He listened to Yoongi’s rough tracks and helped Jungkook do his homework in time for practice. He held Taehyung’s hand when he got scared or cried and watched Hoseok work on dance routines. He stood by Namjoon - his first kiss and their leader - no matter what the situation.
He set aside his worries and woes because that’s what a good eldest does, and what a good boyfriend does.
He wrapped his own injuries in solitude, so the others wouldn’t worry. Locked himself in the shower when things got to be too much and he just needed to cry. Stood at the front and made a fool of himself so the others could relax. Figured out his own homework assignments crammed somewhere between the hours working. Smiled and cooked and cleaned and kept his chin up. Because if he crumbled, what would happen to the rest?
Jin balanced bags in his arms as he walked through the apartment. It had taken two hours longer than planned, but he got everything. Jimin hurried to him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Did you remember?”
“Of course, they’re in one of these bags. Give me a minute.”
Jungkook raced down the hall, nearly barreling into Jin as he passed. “Sorry, hyung!” He screamed, darting into the laundry room.
“Wh—“
Taehyung bumped into him, sending one of the smaller bags toppling to the ground. “Sorry!” He shouted, following after Jungkook.
Jin bit back the urge to yell at him. Instead he hurried to the kitchen before any more bags could fall, setting them on the counter. Jimin began to pull items out as he walked back to the main room to gather the fallen items.
“Did you get my harddrive?” Namjoon asked. Jin dug in his pocket, fishing it out and handing it over to him without looking up. Namjoon took it quickly. “Thank you!”
Jin watched his bare feet pad away and duck into the bedroom. He sighed softly, rising with the bag.
“Crap, you’re home already?” Hoseok asked.
“I was gone three hours.”
“I needed another can of cooling spray, I was hoping you could pick it up.”
“Ah...” Jin shrugged. “Lemme put this stuff away and start dinner. I’ll run out and get it.”
“You don’t have to.”
Jin cocked an eyebrow. “How low are you?”
“Ah... I’m out.” Hoseok rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke.
“I’ll get it.”
Hoseok grinned broadly. “Thank you, Jin-hyung. You’re the best.” He pecked Jin’s mouth.
Jin entered the kitchen, his heart sinking when he saw the purchases scattered on the counter. Jimin was nowhere to be found, clearly having found the item he needed in particular. Jin rolled his eyes and chuckled. He set to work putting everything away.
Jin ran to the store once more, gathering the forgotten items. He made dinner and cleaned up, then worked on some of the choreography he’d been struggling with with Hoseok. He fell into bed late in the evening, a little surprised - and a little disappointed - to find it entirely empty.
Jin woke early Monday morning. He padded out to the kitchen to start breakfast, enjoying the few minutes of quiet before the others woke. He opened his laptop and textbook, skimming over his homework assignment as he stirred the food on the stove.
He put it on low, going to dig Jungkook’s backpack out of the closet. Just a few more months and he’d be officially graduated, all the members were ecstatic. He considered what to get Jungkook as a graduation present as he packed him a snack and double checked that his homework and gym clothes were in place.
He’d just turned back to the stove when a loud crash broke the silence. It was followed by a string of profanity that only Namjoon could put together. Jin turned to grab their first aid kit, counting down from five. As soon as he hit one, Namjoon rushed into the kitchen, holding his bleeding hand.
“Jin-hyung!”
“Come here.” Jin held up a bandage. He helped Namjoon wash and clean the cut, making sure it didn’t need medical attention. He bandaged it and pressed a kiss to Namjoon’s lips. “Be more careful.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Breakfast is almost done.”
Namjoon nodded. Jin watched him disappear back down the hall of their bedrooms.
Right on cue, the others began to wake and pile into the kitchen. Jin served each, answering questions and listening to complaints. Jungkook rubbed his eyes, last in line.
“Did you—“
“Backpack is ready.”
“Awesome. Will you give me a lift today? Manager was supposed to but Yoongi-hyung was talking about how he didn’t feel well yesterday. I wanted to let him rest. Since you’re up—“
Jin glanced at his own neglected homework.
“Sure. Hurry and eat then we’ll go.”
Jungkook beamed. He hugged Jin tightly, kissing his cheek. “You’re the best.”
“I know. Come on.”
Jin joined the others already eating, listening to them talk and argue over various things. He couldn’t help but smile fondly as he listened.
After eating he hurried to get Jungkook to his school, mentally making his to do list for the day even as Jungkook rambled about one of his teachers.
Homework that was due today, practice in an hour, a meeting with the office later, more practice, he should make an appearance on social media, he needed to start dinner at some point, pick Jungkook up, not in that order... And—
“Hyung!” Jin looked over, smiling sheepishly.
“Sorry. Up in my head.”
“I can tell... See you after?”
“Sure. Hurry out though, you have vocal practice right after.”
Jungkook nodded. He pressed a kiss to Jin’s mouth quickly, grinning. He snagged his backpack and hurried out of the car before Jin could scold him about getting caught. Jin watched him walk, meeting up with a few other students as they entered the school.
Jin kicked his shoes off and hung his jacket when he returned to the dorm. He entered the kitchen to grab his homework and stopped short. The sink was piled with dirty breakfast dishes, remains of the food not put away. A glance at the table showed it was still a mess as well. Jin’s shoulders sagged. He looked at his textbook and laptop for a moment before closing the lid of the laptop and setting to work cleaning up the breakfast remains.
He finished in record time and settled into a corner of the kitchen to do his homework when Taehyung’s shout echoed through the dorm.
“Fuck you! I know you have it!”
Jin scrambled to his feet and raced through their home.
“Bite me! I didn’t touch the stupid laptop!” Yoongi snapped.
“Whoa, whoa, what’s the problem?” Jin shouted, pushing open the door of one of the bedrooms.
Taehyung and Yoongi were nearly nose to nose. Taehyung’s cheeks were blotchy with strain.
“He stole my laptop!”
“Why would I steal that beat up thing?! I have my own!”
“Guys, breathe.” Jin raised his hands and stepped forward. “Where did you see it last, Taehyung?”
“It was on the couch!”
“Okay... And why do you think Yoongi took it?”
“Because he admitted it!” Taehyung stepped forward to shove Yoongi but Jin farted between them.
“Whoa, stop. He just said he didn’t.”
“I moved it off the fucking couch so no one would sit on it. I put it on the shelf. I don’t know what happened to it after.”
Jin nodded. “Okay, fine. Have you checked the shelf, Tae?”
“Have I checked the shelf?” Taehyung mimicked. “Of course I checked the shelf, I’m not an idiot, Jin-hyung!”
“I’m just saying, it could have been overlooked. There’s no reason for Yoongi to take it.”
“You’re always on his fucking side! Just because he was around first doesn’t mean he’s always right!”
Jin’s face sank. “I’m not always on his side, Taehyung. He just doesn’t have a reason for taking it.”
“To be a dick! And you are always on his side! You never support me when we argue! If you’re not gonna help just go away!” Taehyung planted his hands on Jin’s chest and shoved hard.
Jin stumbled backwards, trying to avoid Yoongi. He tripped over a pair of jeans on the floor and went down, bashing his hip on the sharp corner of the bedside stand. A sharp pain shot through him and he cried out.
“Hyung!” Taehyung cried, surprise clear in his voice.
Jin scrambled up, tears blurring his vision and burning his throat. He could hear Yoongi and Taehyung both calling for him as he rushed to the bathroom.
He slammed the door, locking it and sliding onto the floor. The tears overflowed and he began to cry into his arms, his side aching. He could feel a wetness and knew he’d likely cut himself open, but couldn’t bring himself to care.
It was too much. Things had been building and building for years. He wanted to handle it, he wanted to make his boyfriends proud and happy. He wanted to make his family proud. But nothing was ever enough. Taehyung’s words cut deeper than the physical injury. He tried so hard to be fair. He hated knowing he didn’t do enough.
Admittedly, he never did enough. Hoseok always needed to work longer with him on dances, their vocal coaches longer on songs. He panicked easier in public and was less friendly with the fans. He hated it, and he hated himself.
A knock sounded at the door. “Hyung? Are you okay?” Taehyung’s voice was small.
“I’m fine, just cleaning the cut,” Jin called, trying to make his voice steady.
“Hyung, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it, Taehyungie. I’ll help you look for your laptop as soon as I’m bandaged.”
Jin rose lifting his shirt. The cut wasn’t too bad, thankfully. He cleaned it as well as he could, blinking away his tears and struggling to stabilize his breathing. He could cry tonight. He had too much to do today. Washing his face quickly to hide his tears, he opened the door, coming face to face with a very guilty looking Taehyung and Yoongi.
“Namjoon-hyung texted... He took my laptop by accident to the studio this morning.”
Jin plastered a smile on his face. “Oh great, problem solved.”
“I don’t wanna ask but... Would you go exchange it?” He held up Namjoon’s laptop.
“We have practice in an hour.”
“Yeah, but Namjoon-hyung needs his now.”
Jin bit back his sigh. “Okay.” He took the laptop and headed toward the door.
“Hyung, your shirt!” Yoongi called, pointing to his side. Jin glanced down, seeing the blood from his injury.
“I’ll just wear my coat.” He tugged it on and his shoes, heading out before either could argue.
He arrived at the offic, nodding to a few of the staff as he hurried through to Namjoon’s studio. He knocked once before entering, setting the computer on Namjoon’s desk.
Namjoon smiled. “Hyung, thank you so much. Here.” He passed Jin Taehyung’s laptop. A scowl crossed his face.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Jin said, offering a smile he knew was a tiny bit too strained. Namjoon’s frown deepened.
“What’s the matter?”
Jin’s smile wavered. “Just a lot to do. Gotta go.”
“Hyung!” Namjoon shouted even as Jin hurried out of the office.
Jin got home just in time to hear yet another member shouting bloody murder. This time it was Jimin, hurling obscenities. He rushed in, narrowly missing a book that Jimin had chucked.
“What’s wrong?!” He shouted. Jimin stood up straight. His room was a mess, chair overturned and drawers ripped out.
“Who did this?”
“I did,” Jimin said.
“Why?”
“I can’t find my lyric notebook...”
Jin blinked at him. “The purple and black leather one?”
Jimin nodded, looking close to tears.
“Jimin... You left that in the living room. It’s under the TV with the other notebooks.”
Jimin’s entire body relaxed.
“Oh God, I forgot. Thank you!” He hurried past Jin, bumping into his hurt side as he did. Jin winced. He surveyed the damage done to the room, shaking his head. Hoseok was going to flip out if it wasn’t cleaned.
“Jimin—“
Jin turned just in time to see Jimin darting out of the apartment, notebook in hand.
“Guess not,” he mumbled. He leaned down, picking up a pile of clothes and beginning to fold them.
He finished in time to get to dance practice, at least, rushing in and apologizing to the dance teacher for being a few minutes tardy.
“What took so long?” Hoseok hissed when Jin stood next to him.
“Oh— Mess at the house. Lost track of time.” Jin said. He grimaced as he began to stretch, his side aching. He tuned his focus completely to learning the new choreography, ignoring everything else for the moment.
Afterward, Jin ducked down the hall to meet with a few members of the production team about one of his parts that needed fixing. His side was aching something horrible and panic was beginning to set in with how late he was on his homework. Still he smiled and listened, scheduling a time to re-record a part of the track. He left to pick up Jungkook and pick up lunch for the rest of the group immediately after, keeping a list as they texted him their requests.
The rest of the day flew by, as it always seemed to. Get Jungkook, get their lunches, go back to the office. Sing, dance, work out. He ended up with Jungkook, Jimin, and Yoongi in his car on the way back, the younger two talking a mile a minute in the back seat. Yoongi was sitting sullenly most of the ride home.
“How’s your side?” He finally asked.
“Oh, it’s fine. Just a scratch,” Jin lied, not wanting him to feel worse.
“Would you mind listening to a new beat I’ve been working on? I need another ear.”
“Sure. I have to start dinner, but I can listen while it’s cooking.”
“Thank you. Sorry about getting you involved earlier.”
“Tae’s screaming did that. No harm though, it was all resolved.”
Yoongi nodded. Jin could feel him watching him quietly the rest of the way home, but said nothing. He didn’t want Yoongi to worry; the guy had enough worries as it was.
Jin began dinner almost as soon as they made it back. He opened his textbook again, a vain hope to get work done. “Jungkook!” He called when he saw the other on the couch. “Homework?”
“Just a math sheet.”
“Need help?”
“Probably.”
“Bring it here and start on it.”
“Hyung, can you listen?” Yoongi asked. He was standing near the counter, computer and headphones in hand. Jin nodded. He covered the stew and wiped his hands, taking the headphones. Yoongi started playing the track while Jungkook leaned against the counter, pencil and notebook in hand.
Jin’s brows furrowed as he listened. He didn’t know why Yoongi asked his opinion on this — Namjoon and Hoseok, even Jimin we’re far better, but he knew it was his job to try.
“I like it,” he said when it ended. “I think it needs something else, like... Under the beat? If that makes sense.”
Yoongi’s brows furrowed. He nodded, setting his laptop on the counter as he grabbed a water from the fridge. “That makes sense. You might be right. Thanks, hyung!” He headed out and Jin headed back to the stove.
“Tell me if you have trouble, JK.”
Jungkook nodded, scratching his ear with the pencil as he looked at the worksheet.
Jin smiled fondly, watching him for a moment. He continued to stir dinner as he read over his own textbook.
Jin worked with Jungkook throughout the dinner making process, and again after serving everyone.
He could hear the others wrestling in the living room as he cleaned the dishes, and a worry set in about what they’d make a mess of. His homework had piled much higher than intended with the chaos of the day. He needed to check his side, and he needed to work on his moves for their new choreography.
After cleaning up, he re-bandaged his side, glad the choreography didn’t do too much damage today. He double checked Jungkook’s homework before slipping it into his bag.
The living room quieted down finally, a signal the others had gone to bed or at least to their rooms.
The mess, however, remained. Jin bit back his thousandth sigh of the day, making a mental note to apologize to his parents; he prayed he wasn’t this stressful as a child. It took nearly an hour to clean up and return to his own room to -hopefully- get his own homework finished.
Jin’s vision blurred the second he opened his textbook. His head was pounding and exhaustion hit him like a truck. He tried over and over to read through his chapter, having to stop and reread. He could hear muffled noises from at least two of his boyfriends in another room. The sound made him ache with a sudden, surprising loneliness. He realized, aside from quick pecks on the mouth, he’d not had a moment with anyone in weeks. He’d been so busy running errands and cleaning, balancing their schedules and his own.
His vision blurred for an entirely different reason. He snapped his book shut and rose, padding over to his, once again, empty bed. Anger flushed his cheeks and he grabbed his pillow, flinging it across the room. He shouted into his fist, not wanting to draw attention.
Still overwhelmed, Jin began to beat on his other pillow, hot tears streaking down his cheeks. He collapsed to the floor, his back to the bed. He hugged the pillow he’d beaten, sobbing and yelling into it.
It hurt to cry, it hurt to admit his weakness even to himself. He should be stronger for them - for his family, both chosen and blood. But it also felt good, letting all of the stress and overwhelming emotions drain out.
Jin didn’t know how long he’d been sobbing when the hand landed on his shoulder. He startled, whipping his head up. Namjoon was looking at him wide wide, worried eyes.
“You scared me!” He scolded. Then softer, “What did you need?”
“Why are you crying?”
Jin wiped his eyes. “Nothing, just— Nothing.” He rose and turned, his heart leaping into his throat.
Everyone was in the room. Jungkook was hanging onto Yoongi, concern and fear etched on his pretty features. Yoongi’s eyes were filled with concern. Taehyung looked close to tears, holding Jimin’s hand. Hoseok’s mouth was a thin line, his expression unreadable.
“Wh— What? Why are you all in here?” Jin asked, panic squeezing his throat.
“Yoongi-hyung got us. He came in to ask you about a track... And found you sobbing,” Hoseok said.
“What’s wrong, Jin-hyung?”
“Why did you get everyone?” Jin asked, looking at Yoongi.
“Because you’re not okay. You keep saying you are but... You were crying when you broke up the fight between me and Taehyung.”
“You weren’t okay when you dropped off my computer,” Namjoon added.
“You were distracted all morning and even this evening,” Jungkook said.
“You didn’t tell us you were hurt,” Jimin added, touching his own side.
“I’m fine. I’m just a little stressed, no more than usual,” Jin said. He scrubbed his hands over his face and planted a smile.
“I gotta get up early though, and still have a ton of assignments to do. Sorry for worrying you guys, but I’m okay. You can go back to bed.”
“You haven’t slept with anyone in a month, hyung,” Jimin said softly.
“You’ve all had others to stay with.” Jin said. He slid between the group members and sat down at his desk, opening the textbook again.
“You haven’t made love to... Anyone... In at least as long.”
Jin’s jaw twitched. “You���ve all had others.”
“You make it sound like you’re not welcome to join. Like we’re not all seven.”
“I’ve been kind of busy.”
“Too busy to be with us?” Namjoon scolded.
“Yeah.”
“How?” Taehyung asked.
“Our schedules,” Jin tried.
“We all have the same schedules,” Jungkook said. “And I have school. I still make time for the guys.”
“Fine. Cooking. Breakfast and dinner, getting lunch for everyone. Driving Jungkook to school. Cleaning house over and over. Picking up rooms after members trash them in a fit. Breaking up fights. Taking extra choreography time because I’m not near as good as others. Meetings to fix vocals I’ve messed up. Spending hours at the store shopping for all seven. Being there to bandage your legs and help with homework and listen to tracks. Cleaning the living room after everyone goes to bed so others don’t get in trouble for leaving messes. And then doing my own homework. Is that a full enough schedule to explain my distance?”
Jin’s voice wavered as he spoke, guilt telling him just to shut up, stop making trouble. He looked down at his textbook, surprised to see little circles of wetness. “Please. I have to finish this — It’s due in two hours. I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you all. I’ll... Tomorrow I’ll be better. I’ll do better going forward, okay? I just... Need you all to leave me alone tonight. I’m so sorry.”
Jin remained still, hating how visibly his shoulders shook as he struggled to keep himself together. He could hear the members leaving one by one, the air becoming thicker and thicker the fewer were around.
He knew he’d ruined it. They probably hated him for snapping. Tears worked their way down his cheeks once more, shame and guilt eating at his stomach. He struggled to focus on his homework, using all two hours available to finish. It was one in the morning when he finally fell into bed, crying himself to sleep. He would try to fix the damage he’d caused in the morning. Four hours of sleep, then he’d work harder, he promised himself.
The next morning, Jin rolled over, scowling at the ceiling. He could hear the members in the hallway, a streak of panic rushing through him. Did he sleep in? He checked his phone, almost more confused when he saw it was right at the time he was supposed to get up.
He rose, pulling on his hoodie. He winced at the injury from the day before but padded out to see what the ruckus was.
He slammed almost directly into Yoongi, who was piling laundry into Hoseok’s arms. He grinned at Jin and stopped for a second, pressing a kiss to Jin’s surprised mouth. “Morning.”
“M— Morning.”
“Do you have any dirty laundry?”
“Uh— y— yeah in the basket.” Jin motioned to the basket in the corner of his room. Yoongi slid past him to grab it. Hoseok smiled softly.
“Did you get your homework done?”
“Mm.. Mhm.”
“Good. Do you have any today?”
Jin nodded again, still bewildered. He turned and padded into the living room, where Namjoon was packing Jungkook’s backpack. The kitchen was full of activity as well, Jungkook and Jimin were making breakfast, laughing and dancing in the small space.
A swell of love and affection filled Jin’s chest as he watched them. Taehyung came out of the laundry room, catching Jin’s gaze. He rushed to grab one of their first aid kits and took Jin’s hand.
“Have you cleaned the cut?”
“Not yet.”
“Lemme help. Then you should go help Jungkookie before he burns down the whole dorm.”
“Hey, I can cook!” Jungkook shouted.
Taehyung ushered Jin into the bathroom, helping him clean the cut. He bandaged it despite Jin’s argument that it was fine.
“Go on.”
“Tae—“
“I’ll do dishes after breakfast, okay? Me and Namjoon-hyung decided to. So you can take Jungkook to school.”
Jin nodded, still unsure what was happening. He padded into the kitchen, taking the spoon from Jungkook. “I got it. Thank you.” Jungkook tilted his head a little, smiling.
“Will you take me to school today?”
Jin nodded, beginning to stir the food the two had made. Out of the corner of his eye, Jin saw Jimin take some of the laundry Hoseok and Yoongi were balancing, heading with them to the laundry room.
Jin served up the group as normal, sitting with them last. They were all eating and talking over one another, seemingly none the wiser than anything was different from normal. It was at that point that Jin wondered if maybe he’d imagined it. Was he hallucinating?
Taehyung rose from the table, gathering plates that were empty even as he laughed over a joke Jimin had told. Jungkook rose and took Jin’s hand.
“Ready? I have a test today, I can’t be late.”
“Is your backpack ready?” Jin asked, rising.
“Books, papers, gym stuff. Good to go,” Namjoon assured him. Jin grabbed his keys, letting Jungkook pull him out of the dorm.
Once in the car, Jungkook set his hand over Jin’s.
“Hyung...”
“What?”
“I’m sorry for being such a bastard. Thank you for being so good to me always.”
Jin smiled softly. He reached out, brushing Jungkook’s hair back.
“You’re not a bastard, JK.”
“I have been.” Jungkook leaned forward, pressing a desperate kiss to Jin’s mouth. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight?”
Jin nodded. “Y— Yeah, of course.”
“Good. Let’s go.” Jungkook buckled up, holding his backpack to his chest and sitting forward. It took Jin a moment to remember he had to start the car to drive.
Jin headed back to the dorm, surprised to find the dishes done, as promised. Taehyung was sitting on the couch, playing on his phone.
“Hyung.”
“Hm?”
“I’m sorry for pushing you yesterday. That was out of line. I hurt you and I shouldn’t have.”
“You were frustrated.”
“But it wasn’t your fault. You’re not always on Yoongi-hyung’s side... You treat us the most fair during fights. I was being a brat.”
Jin shrugged awkwardly, unsure how to respond. Taehyung rose, snuggling himself against Jin. “I love you, hyungie.”
“I know. I love you too.” Jin kissed Taehyung’s forehead.
“Can I sleep with you?”
“Jungkook already asked.”
“I know. We can both share you... If you want.”
Jin smiled. “Of course I do.”
“What are you doing until practice?”
“Hm... Normally I do the dishes and clean up but... That’s done. I should check on the laundry the guys put in earlier.”
“Yoongi’s finishing that. He’s got the timer.”
“Oh. I mean, I guess I’ll do homework...” Jin said.
Taehyung nodded. “If you wanna take a break, I have a new game I got on my phone, I’ll show it to you, you might like it.”
“Sure. Thanks.” Jin cocked his head a little, heading toward his bedroom.
He started in on his homework, a little amazed that there hadn’t been an interruption yet.
He spoke too soon, however, because as soon as he’d fallen into a good rhythm, Jin’s phone buzzed. It was a text from Jimin.
‘Hey, hyung... I wanted to thank you for cleaning my room. It was wrecked and you didn’t have to do that. I would’ve deserved Hobi-hyung’s wrath. Just... thanks. A lot.’
Jin smiled a little. ‘His wrath would have hit all of us with how bad that room was. You’re welcome though. Maybe next time.... Clean up before bolting?’
‘Or just ask you before trashing the place. Thanks for always having my back, even if I don’t always act grateful for it.’
‘It’s ok, Jimin.’
‘Hyung?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Can I sleep in your bed tonight?’
‘You’ll have to share the space with Jk and Tae.’
‘That’s okay.’
‘Then yeah.’
Jin smiled a little as he read over the messages. Jimin responded to his final answer with a photo of himself giving a heart. He was shirtless, sweat pouring down his face. ‘Don’t work out too hard,’ Jin scolded before setting his phone down to get back to work. His mind kept drifting, but in a different way. Maybe they didn’t all hate him. The way Jungkook and Jimin and Taehyung had apologized, the care they put into not overwhelming him this morning… Maybe he didn’t mess things up so badly.
A knock sounded at Jin’s door.
“It’s open,” he called, jotting down another note before looking up. Yoongi was in the doorway, an armful of freshly folded clothes.
“Done.”
“You can just put them on the bed… Thanks for doing that.”
Yoongi did as he was told and went to the desk, leaning his hip on it. He fiddled with his hands, chewing his lip.
“Need something?” Jin asked.
“I was wrong to take advantage of you.”
“What?”
“I’ve been taking advantage of you. You’re always willing to listen and help and I knew that so I used it. I care about you and it was shitty of me to do that.”
“We all do things for ourselves. It’s okay.”
Yoongi reached out and squeezed Jin’s hand. “I wanna sleep with you tonight.”
“Gonna have to move to a bigger bed,” Jin said.
“What?”
“Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook all asked to sleep with me.”
“We’ll push two beds together.”
Jin chuckled. “Alright, if you want to.”
Yoongi nodded. “Will you lemme ride with you to the studio?”
“Sure. I’m going here in a bit, after this assignment, I have to work on some parts I didn’t do right in recording.”
“No problem, I need to talk to Namjoon about something anyway. Call me when you’re ready to go.”
Jin nodded, watching Yoongi walk out. He turned back to his homework.
Jin ducked into Adora’s office as soon as he, Yoongi, and Taehyung arrived at the studios, spending time redoing some parts of songs.
When it was time for lunch, he sent a quick message to the group, asking everyone what they wanted.
Instead of the normal flood of requests, just Hoseok texted back, ‘Just pick up whatever you’re craving - you know what we like, hyung’
Jin’s expression must have been one of pure confusion. “You okay?” Adora asked.
Jin nodded, setting his phone down. “They’re being weird.”
“The guys?”
Jin nodded again.
“Did you guys fight?”
“Last night yeah, but today... I don’t know. I’m just stressed.” Jin grinned at her. “Let’s finish up this part, I gotta get lunch and pick up Jungkookie.”
Jin entered the practice room, arms stacked full of lunches. Jungkook followed after, carrying drinks. The others rushed up, taking containers and passing them out. They scattered on the floor, crouching, sprawled out, kneeling, cross legged, as they began to eat. Hoseok settled next to Jin, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Lunch.”
Jin cocked his head. “I always get lunch.”
“And I don’t think I’ve ever said thank you. I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for… Anything, honestly. In all these years. That was kinda shitty of me, as your team mate… But also as your boyfriend. I’m sorry for that, Jin-hyung.”
Jin smiled softly. He reached out, stroking his thumb over Hoseok’s jaw. “It’s okay. You’re all here for me. That’s what matters.”
Hoseok smiled a little sadly. “I hate… Asking but… Can I have a favor?”
“What’s up?” Jin asked, finally tearing into his food.
“Could I sleep with you tonight?”
“Aw, Hobi… I’d love to say yes, but… I’ve already got four members who’ve asked.”
“I’m skinny.”
Jin smiled softly, shaking his head. “You deal with their bitching then, I won’t say no. If you all can fit, I have no problem with that.”
Hoseok beamed. He leaned against Jin as he ate.
Practice lasted a few more hours before their dance teacher let them go. Jin ended up with the youngest three on his way home. Jungkook was already working on homework, muttering soft threats at the other two who kept interrupting him.
Once inside, Jin immediately started in on dinner, a little surprised to see Namjoon loitering in the kitchen.
“Do you need something?”
“Well… Kinda. You don’t have to make dinner tonight.”
“You wanna deal with a starving Jungkookie?” Jin teased.
“I can order. Let’s just order something.”
“Why?”
Namjoon looked down. “Because I think we all need to have a talk and I’d rather do it now.”
Jin hesitated but nodded. “Okay. Go ahead and order. Or do you want me?”
“I already did. It’ll be here soon… Come into the living room, hyung.”
“This sounds serious… Is this where you break up with me?” Jin half joked. His smile faded when Namjoon didn’t laugh.
He followed him into the living room, seeing the others already grouped around their coffee table. Jin sat on the floor at the head of it, looking around at everyone.
“Guys?”
“Jin-hyung… We’ve been together for years,” Namjoon said. “One way or another. Friends, teammates, lovers… For four years.”
Jin nodded.
“We’ve gone through a lot. We rely on you… A lot more than we realize, I think.”
Jin lowered his head, guilt forming in the pit of his stomach. “I know… I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” Yoongi asked.
“I let you guys down, didn’t I? Yesterday… Snapping… The way I’ve been lately…”
“You’ve been taking care of us for four years, Jin-hyung,” Jimin said. “You used to buy us food when we were hungry without ever asking for anything back.”
“You always take me to school,” Jungkook said.
“You support me no matter what, listening to my tracks, offering advice in the most supportive, positive way,” Yoongi said.
“You were the first one to hug me,” Taehyung whispered, “and to tell me I was cool.”
“You work so hard to impress us, to impress the fans, to prove yourself – harder than half us put together,” Hoseok said.
“You stand by me no matter what city or country we’re in, and support me both as your friend and your leader,” Namjoon said.
“You have never let us down, Seokjin-hyung,” Yoongi said firmly.
“We let you down,” Jimin whispered.
“How?” Jin asked.
“We’ve been taking advantage of you for so long. And how many times have we said thank you?” Namjoon asked. “Over and over… When Yoongi-hyung caught you crying and you yelled… Do you know what we did? We came out here and talked. We talked about what your day was like. About what every day has been like since we met. You work so hard for us, hyung. And you say nothing… You let us walk all over you. Why?”
Jin shrugged, hanging his head.
“Hyung…”
“I just want to feel like I’m useful. Like I give something to the group. I wanted to give you guys a reason to love me… Keep me around,” he whispered.
“We do love you. And we want you around. If you keep working yourself into the ground like this… We won’t have you. You need to let us help. And you need to say no sometimes. You aren’t our maid, or our servant. You’re our lover. You don’t need to do everything… Even if we’re useless.”
“That means maybe I get shouted at by Hobi-hyung for my mess, maybe I learn,” Jimin said.
“Maybe Yoongi-hyung and I fight, we always make up,” Taehyung said.
“Maybe I mess up some homework, or have to go to someone else for help, there’s seven of us,” Jungook said.
“It’s not all on you, hyung,” Hoseok said. “We miss you… The real you, not the exhausted one.”
“Cuddling and laughing and… Other stuff,” Namjoon said, rubbing the back of his neck. “We’re sorry, Jin-hyung… Can you forgive us?”
Jin chuckled a little. “I was never mad... There’s nothing to forgive.”
“Yeah, there is. And tell us when we’re being pushy shits okay? We’re gonna try to help around the house more. We’ll work out a schedule or something,” Namjoon said.
“Just don’t let Namjoonie cook,” Yoongi lamented.
Namjoon chucked one of the throw pillows on the couch at him, smacking him in the face with it. Jin laughed a little despite himself.
Namjoon climbed closer to him and pulled him into a kiss. “We have a lot of fixing to do, but trust us to do it, okay? We’ll get better for you. For us all.”
Jin ran his fingers through Namjoon’s hair. He nodded. “I trust you. All of you. I’m sorry I stayed quiet for so long too.”
“We all fucked up.” Hoseok said. “We can all work to get better.”
Jungkook perked up when the buzzer sounded.
“Food! Taehyungie-hyung, help?” Taehyung rose and followed Jungkook out to get the food.
Namjoon nuzzled Jin’s neck, kissing it gently.
“Hyung?”
“Hm?”
“Can I share your bed tonight?”
“Mind sharing it with five others?”
“Aw, I asked too late?”
“No,”
Yoongi said. “I think... We seven can all fit. We could push a couple beds together. If worse comes to worse, we could drag some mattresses out and just have a floor party.”
Jin laughed a little. “Since when am I so popular?”
“We all miss you,” Jimin admitted. “It’s like a chunk of us has been getting farther and farther. We were just too stubborn to see it was partly our doing until you said it.”
“I’m right here,” Jin assured him.
“We aren’t letting you go,” Hoseok agreed.
The two returned with with food and all seven crowded around the table, sharing the containers and feeding one another. Despite the weight of the conversation they had just finished, they fell into their own comfortable rhythm almost immediately. Taehyung wormed his way into Jin’s lap, kissing over his neck even as Jin shared salt seasoned kisses with Yoongi. As the containers emptied and bellies filled, their casual touches became more intense. The seven piled onto the couch, limbs tangled together. They shifted and moved together, holding and kissing any member in their reach. Though it would be an early morning and they couldn’t do anything, the feeling alone was enough to settle into Jin’s bones. He was more content than he’d been in nearly three months.
Yoongi pried himself out of the pile, enlisting Jimin’s help in fixing the beds.
They returned, tugging up various members until the group got the hint and made their way to the bedroom. They stripped down, all piling into the beds.
Jin found himself in the middle of, and half crushed by, all six of his lovers. Under normal circumstances he’d complain, and he knew he’d get too hot in just a few hours. But their gentle touches and the featherlight brushes of their mouths soothes him deep down in a place he hadn’t even realized was aching.
As everyone drifted off to sleep, Jin couldn’t help but smile. Despite the fights and the stress and the miscommunications— this was exactly where he belonged. This was his family, his shared life. And nothing could take that love away.
153 notes · View notes
minnuet-archive · 5 years ago
Text
I’m Sorry, Logan
Rating: PG-13
Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism, suicide, abusive family, homophobia (let me know if there are any more i missed!)
Word Count: 3,754
Fan-fiction or Original Work? Original Work
Story Type: Short Story
Notes: I wrote this a while back for a book that was going to be made, but didn’t end up happening. It was about suicide awareness and the different reasons for it. There was to be informative writing about the topic and cause and then a short story. This is the short story. Also, I spent a solid hour or two revamping and editing this for you all today since I couldn’t post much about my soon to be posted book. I hope you enjoy!
I wake up to my alarm blaring in my ears. My eyelids refuse to lift, the world a blurry mess.  I stumble into my uniform, the alarm still blaring.  Eventually, my patience runs out and I shut off the alarm. I snatch my backpack out from the corner of my room before hastily grabbing a granola bar and running to the bus parked outside.
I jump into the bus and walk down the aisle, all of the noise, ranging from random conversation to yelling and fighting, filling my ears and overwhelming my mind. I almost want to put my hands to my ears and drown out the noise, but someone’s bound to take offense. As I sit down in a seat next to the seemingly quietest kids, the horrible stench of what are probably 10-year-old raisins with a generous side of sweaty gym socks permeates my nose. I hate the bus. I decide to try spacing out. 
Arriving at school, I go into the girl’s bathroom and wait until everyone leaves. I look really weird waiting for people to leave, and I don’t care. Actually, that’s not true. I definitely care. 
Once everyone’s gone, I slip out of my catholic school skirt and into far more comfortable slacks. My mother had refused to get me anything but the “girl’s” uniform which consisted of a tight, long skirt and a blouse. 
I hear the bell and run to class, bursting into the classroom and sliding into my seat directly after my name is called. 
“Late.” I  groan and get out my homework. Why does it have to be me?
Vanessa and her friends snicker across the classroom. “Hey look, the plant’s here.”
My ears burned and I clenched my teeth. Those obnoxious jerks. I’m not a plant. “My name’s E-” My eyes widen as I catch myself. “-Ellie.” 
Vanessa gasps dramatically and then says, “It can talk?!”
I don’t respond and give her what she wants, but it takes all of my strength not to. God, how am I so stupid? I don’t care if I’m using the Lord’s name in vain. I already let them know I was asexual! And if I let it slip? “My name’s Elliott.” I can only imagine the crap they’d do and say to me. What would I tell them? “Oh yeah, by the way, I’m nonbinary.” That would totally work. 
I take deep breaths. I look at the teacher and then to the board, and suddenly, zoning becomes much easier. The lunch bell rings after a while and I walk towards the courtyard, finding one of the trees in the corner that no one ever sat by. It’s sad and droopy. I wish I couldn’t relate.
“Hey, Elliott!” I flinch at the noise. He smiles and sits down next to me. 
I relax and say, “Hey, Logan. How was the class?”
“Class was crappy,” I crack a smile and when I do, he adds “as always. I love how you did your hair today. It’s pretty.”
My mouth goes dry and I fidget with my hands, forcing myself to smile. I shove my (sadly, homemade) peanut butter jelly sandwich into my mouth and then spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to swallow enough of it to even be able to chew. 
We talk and smile, though he does most of the talking, and I force myself to listen, because he always has great things to say.
The lunch bell ringing is jarring and sudden enough to make me jump, but that isn’t saying much. I grin at Logan. “ I’ll see you tomorrow, man. Bye!” 
He high fives me and starts walking towards his classroom. I walk towards mine. After Mr. Simon takes role call and I raise my hand and answer a question once, I figure I’m safe and promptly space out for the rest of the day.
The bell rings and right as I’m about to walk out of the door, I heard Mr. Simon say, “Eleanor, may I speak to you?” A collective ‘oooh’ sound comes from what’s remaining of the class, suggesting I’m in trouble, as I walk up to his desk.
“Can I help you, Mr. Simon?” 
“Do you remember the dress code guidelines we went over at the beginning of the year?” 
I start to panic. “Uh, yeah.”
“Then you remember that girls are to wear skirts and a blouse and that boys are to wear a button down and slacks.” 
I mutter that I might remember something like that. “Why can’t I wear pants? I’m not wearing anything completely out of school uniform.”
“Yes, but we have a strict dress code and you, as a girl,” I flinch at the word girl. Of course, I can’t correct him. “are to wear a skirt. If you come to school tomorrow wearing pants, I’ll have you change back into a skirt, confiscate the pants, and then call your parents.” 
I nod my head as if I understand, which I don’t, and then walk out of the classroom. I know he hates me, but I had no clue he would go to these lengths to get me in trouble. What the hell kind of person would go to the lengths of confiscating pants? None of my other teachers cared! He’s just an asshole!
I really don’t want to wear a skirt and that was only the first time I wore pants. On the other hand, I don’t want them to get taken away because I had to save up for months to get them and I really want to avoid having to deal with my parents.
As I walk home, I approach the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge and smile. It’s so beautiful. Late afternoon fog is quite unusual this time of year and most people don’t like it, but I’m secretly happy about it. 
I love walking along the bridge in the morning because it’s so easy to clear my mind. The wind can make my hair clothes flap wildly in the wind which is annoying, but the feeling of the cold wind can be comforting. The smell of saltwater in the air fills my nose as I approach one end of the bridge.  I start to cross the bridge, right into the fog. It’s peaceful and the moist air feels cool and nice against my skin. 
After around 45 minutes, I come out on the other side of the bridge. 
As I walk, I fantasize about laying down on the couch and not worrying about homework.  Not because I finished it, but because I’m planning on procrastinating. 
I turn down my street and see my house. As I approach it, I realize that my house has been egged. I see a note on the door and run up and grab it. Get out of here, fag. You don’t belong here. 
Vanessa, her boyfriend, and their horrible friends were right about the last part. I don’t belong here. I wish I could leave, but it isn’t exactly possible. I rip up the note and look up at the eggs that are covering my home. 
I don’t want to clean this up… but my parents will ask why it happened if I don’t. Plus, they’ll make me do it anyway. I sigh as I trudge inside to grab a mop and some other cleaning supplies. 
Opening the closet door, I grab everything I think I might need, which is a lot. I’ve never cleaned up eggs, so I’m just guessing. 
I turn back to trudge outside again and start to wipe the door with a random rag that I found. Once I finish cleaning everything that I can reach from the ground, I place all my supplies on the roof overhang, awkwardly climbing onto it. 
I get on my knees shakily and start to clean the roof. Damn, can these kids throw. It takes what seems like years, but is probably just a couple hours to finish cleaning the house. 
Taking a risk, I jump from the overhang. I didn’t break any bones! Yay!  I grab all of the cleaning supplies and shove them back into the closet as I walk to my room. I get changed into some paint-stained jeans and a band t-shirt that my parents begrudgingly bought me for Christmas. 
I walk back out and throw myself on the couch. I log into the only social media my parents let me have and open a chat with one of my best friends,  AchillesIsTheTrueGayIcon, also known as Bentley (or Ben). Sometimes I call him Benjamin just to annoy him.
Me: What’s up, Benjamin?
He responds almost immediately.
Ben: Asshole. But not much. You?
Me: You want to know who the real assholes are? The jerks from school who egged my house.
Ben: Oof. That sucks, dude.
Ben: Hey I gtg do homework. Talk later?
Me: Sure.
I turn off my phone and put it down. I hear my mom pull up so I sit up and take out my school binder. I place my homework from yesterday in front of me so I look like I’ve been doing homework since the second I got home.
As soon as I finish setting up my fake homework station, she walks in. “Hey, mom!” No. Too cheery. Calm down. 
She smiles happily, “Hi, Ellie!” I cringe at my old name. At least she didn’t notice my overly excited greeting. “How was your day?” My little sister, Adia follows her in and then runs to our room. 
I consider telling her that my day hasn’t been great, but decide against it. There are only two outcomes. The first is that she wouldn’t care and tell me to suck it up. The second is that it would just invoke a flurry of questions. Neither sounds particularly fun. “It was good. Yours?”
“It was fine. Busy as always,” I give her a knowing nod and then I see her smile slowly fade. “You didn’t make yourself dinner, did you?”
“No, not yet.” I smile sheepishly and she sighs loudly in annoyance.
“Alright. Dinner will be ready soon.”
I roll my eyes and she scoffs as she walks into the kitchen, tossing her bags onto a chair at the table. I hear Adia’s footsteps approaching before I see her jump onto the couch beside me.
“Hi, Adia. Did you have fun at daycare today?”
”Yeah! I played with Sammy!” 
“That’s fun.” She smiles proudly as if having a friend is something to be proud of, which in my case, is true, but in her case, not so much. She has a lot of friends. 
“I got to see all mommy’s friends, too! They’re so nice!” 
I’m contemplating how untrue that is when I hear my mom start to reheat leftovers from last night. She tosses all of the food on three plates the same way she did her bag. 
Wow. Soon really did mean soon.
My mom presses the power button on the remote and we pretend to watch a sitcom as we shovel food into our faces. Eventually, the episode ends. Too lazy to change the channel, we leave it alone and ignore it.
My mom is seated facing the screen and I watch her chuckle. I turn to the screen and freeze. It's a pride parade. All of a sudden I hear Adia’s excited voice.
“Ooooh! Rainbows!” I look at her and smile a little bit. She doesn’t even know. Sometimes I wish I don’t know what LGBTQ+ means. But that’s not really true.
“Those rainbows are for gay people.” She says gay in disgust as if it’s the worst thing you can be. 
Mom continues, “You don’t want to be gay. Being gay is bad. You’ll go to hell if you’re gay.”
Now she just looked confused. “Why is it bad?”
“Because a man is supposed to marry a woman. That’s how God created us.” Mom says.
I finish eating my food as fast as I can to escape this horrible conversation and then interrupt. “Can I be excused? I’m getting tired.”
Before my mom can respond, my father swings open the front door.
This time, it’s not just me who’s frozen. He’s holding a beer bottle. His tie is loose. The top button of his shirt is unbuttoned and it’s stained.
What makes it most obvious that it’s happened again is his eyes. They’re huge. And not in the caring way.
He smiles goofily and stares at Adia and I. “No hug? No ‘Hi daddy!’ or ‘Thanks for working your ASS off every day to provide for us’?” 
My first instinct is to pull Adia closer to me and step one foot in front of her, which I follow through on. My second instinct is to throw something at him so we can all run.
I hold back. Mom’s too close to dad. She would never be able to run away in time. He could hit her. Hurt her. Even kill her, if he wanted to. She’s not a good person, but she doesn’t deserve that.
“Go. To your rooms. Now.” I turn to my mom in utter surprise.
“But mom-“
“Now.” Her voice is sharp and cold, but filled with fear. The most confusing part is that I know the fear isn’t for herself. It’s for us. 
I grab Adia and make sure she’s safe and locked in her room before running to mine. I press my ear against the door because I might be able to get an idea of what’s happening. I can’t hear anything. 
I slump down and hang my head in my hands. Holy mother of God. What is wrong with my family? Why doesn’t she just kick him out when he’s hungover? Why don’t we leave?
I can't deal with this.
I'm sobbing now. I clench my teeth to trap the noise in my mouth.
Over the course of a few minutes, I draw myself up onto my knees and stand up, walking over to sit down at my desk. I start to scribble words that seem right on a paper. After a minute of writing, I reread it. It's not good enough. I crumple up the piece of paper and throw it in the trash.
I hug my knees tightly, trying not to make any form of sound. My breathing slows to its normal pace as I continue to sit there and I grab another piece of paper. I start to write once again, this time neater.
In the morning, I wake up the same way as yesterday. I put on my pants and even throw on a t-shirt instead of a blouse. I don’t care if Mr. Simon tries to force me to wear a skirt. I’m not taking anyone’s crap on my last day of school.
As I look in the cracked medicine cabinet mirror, all I can think of is my hair. I chew on the inside of my cheek for a minute while I go over all my options. I finally tug open the drawer and grip my father’s razor in my hand. There are lots of those weird plastic protectors that I think make sure you don’t accidentally shave off all your hair. I choose the one labeled number 4 at random and push it onto the top of the razor.
My heart starts to beat faster as I push it gently against my scalp, running it down my head in different places until my entire head is buzz cut. For the first time, I feel alive.
I peek out of the crack in the door and watch my mom walk into the kitchen. I run to my room, grabbing my backpack and binder.
I do this again and again until I’m out of the door. 
I step into the bus, a huge grin slapped on my face. The other kids stare and I don’t even pay any attention to them. For the first time, I don’t care. I hear a kid yell “Get off, queer!” and I resist flipping him off… well, I try to resist flipping him off. 
Taking my time, I walk into the classroom and sit next to Logan. He stares at me, dumbfounded. “What the hell did you do?” he whispers.
“I buzz cut my hair. I don’t even care anymore. I’ll deal with the consequences,” 
Not. 
“I just needed to do it,” I finish.
His face is contorted into a mixture of dumbfoundedness and horror as he slowly shakes his head. “Yeah. Alright. Tell me if you need anything, I guess.” He can’t stop staring at me and I honestly find it kind of funny.
A kid walks up to me sitting at what is most likely his desk. 
“You’re sitting in my seat.”
“Yeah. I know. My seat’s over there. Feel free to take it.” He looks as if he’s about to say something more, but he turns to walk towards my actual seat. 
Logan looks at me. I wonder if he knows something off. That taking some other kid’s seat isn’t something I’d normally do. 
If he notices, he doesn’t mention it. “Anyways, how was your day yesterday?” He laughs and then adds, “Holy crap. That was such a mom question.”
I snort and answer, “Oh my god, you’re right. But it was good. I’m tired as hell, though.”
“No kidding.” I grin at him as the teacher looks at us again. I don’t really pay attention in math. I just talk to Logan. It’s relaxing to not have to care. To not have to worry about the consequences of my actions. 
When we walk to lunch, I start complaining to Logan about how much of the day we have left. 
“Uh, you know that we have an early day, right?”
“Oh! I do now.” He chuckles and smiles. I feel my cheeks warm up slightly at his smile. It’s a beautiful one. He starts to talk about some fandom of his and I try my hardest to pay attention. 
I don’t really know what triggers this, although I have an idea, but I realize something. I’ve never kissed someone. Okay, this needs to change. I feel weird thinking about it, but I know exactly who I want to be my first and last kiss.
He’s about to start another thought, but I interrupt him. I don’t care. “You’re amazing.”
He looks at me as if I said the strangest thing he’s ever heard. “I mean it. You’re always there for me and you talk to me about things we like. I feel I don’t thank you enough for that.”
He still looks confused and a bit weirded out but he just smiles calmly. “Right back at you,” he responds as he fidgets with his hands and looks down at his shoes. I gesture for him to continue and, without hesitation, he does. 
Logan sighs and packs up his lunch as the bell rings. 
“Hey, will you walk home with me? I know you normally hang out here for a while but I want to talk to you.” I know this is a risk. 
Just like before, he doesn’t say anything, but now I’m sure that we both know something’s wrong. “Yeah, of course.”
We grab our stuff and we start walking. He starts walking faster and gets ahead. This is not acceptable. 
I break into a full sprint and he starts to chase me. My breath is short and raspy as I laugh all the air out of my lungs with him. When we reach the bridge, we’re both out of breath. We start panting like dogs on a hot day as we bend over and try to distribute our body weight evenly.
I stand up straight again and look at him. His face is glowing and his brown eyes are big and happy. He runs his hand through his slicked-back (with both gel and sweat) hair and adjusts his glasses. What a dork. 
I know this is the moment. I move closer to him and press my lips against his own, my own brain not having a say in it. 
The salty air blows through my hair and I feel on top of the world. After a couple of seconds, I step away. He looks confused. He wasn't okay with it. Oh, God. What have I done? I'm about to keep running down the bridge when he hugs me.
This time, I'm the unprepared one. After a minute, he lets go and slides his hand into mine. We continue to walk across the bridge. There's nothing we need to say and it feels amazing. 
We don't have to explain ourselves. We can just walk quietly together. And it's not awkward.
My happiness fades away as I realize this is the first and last time I’ll be able to do this. I couldn’t change my mind if I wanted to. I already taped the note to his backpack when we left school. 
Today was the best day of my life, but the rest of my life will be a living hell if I go back home right now. Today was a good day. One in a million.
This has to be the last time. Nothing good can last forever. Nothing can last forever.
We reach the other side. “Goodbye, Logan.” 
He laughs. “You say it like this is the last time I’ll ever see you. I’m going to see you tomorrow.”
I feel my heart shatter a little bit more than it already had but I cover it up with a soft smile. “Yeah. It’s just goodbye for now.” He leans in and kisses my cheek and then twirls around like a ballerina. I choke back a sad laugh.
He starts to walk towards his house, but I just turn towards the water. 
Tears spill silently down my face. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my sobs. I want to run to Logan and scream his name, but I can’t. This has to be done alone. 
I lift one foot onto the railing and then the other. This is it.
One last tear slips down my face as I whisper raspily, “I’m sorry, Logan.” I know it will be peaceful. A quiet ending. Not that I deserve one, but I guess it’s a favor to myself. I let go of the pole that I had been holding onto.
And then I’m falling. 
Falling.
Falling.
Falling.
Gone.
Tagging: @sunandshinee @writingamongthecoloredroses @ettawritesnstudies @rhycantspell @just-perhaps @etddivine @antisocialdragonenby  @crabsthinkfishfly @holdup-pause @gaydemiboy 
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proherostories · 5 years ago
Text
Internship Break
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Author’s note: LOL semi-nsfw? don’t know her
Pairing: Kirishima x OC || Age: They’re 18! Third years <3
WC -  3881 || AO3
Warnings - overstimulation, multiple orgasms, mention of somnophilia, semi-clothed sex
Extra - Koi means love in Japanese. I didn’t use it but subsequently, Koibito means ‘sweetheart’ as well. I tend to use the two as a pair for couples, but for some reason, it didn’t flow the way I wanted this time.
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Ugh, everything hurt. 
Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, considering he still had the energy to work with. He was definitely sore, though. 
Kirishima grunted as he leaned and contorted his upper body backward, groaning as several places in his back popped. Bouncing forward he rolled his shoulders and crossed one arm over, hooked his other over it and stretched it before doing it to the other side. He’d finally gotten to his room in the third-year dorm and after changing out of his hero costume, he really wanted to relax his muscles in the showers. Thank god for weekends and being able to finally relax after patrolling the streets.
Shower caddy in hand, it was fun looking back on how it felt like yesterday when he’d stormed these halls to hunt down Tamaki Amajiki and beg him to help get him interning at the Fatgum Agency. Now Suneater had been a full-fledged Pro Hero for at least two years now, and Kirishima was still interning there because he loved the work and fully intended on joining permanently after he graduated. He had never really expected to be someone who liked the night shift, but it was like, as soon as the sun went down he had a rush of energy. 
Today was one of those days that he was still rip-roarin’ ready to go, so there was a skip in his step as he neared the showers. Since it was still early morning, a lot of his classmates were groggy and waking up so it was going to be quiet and wonderful- “Whoa yikes!” he yipped, twisting on the ball of his foot to spin out of the way of someone coming down the hall. Hell ya, Bakugo would’ve even been impressed by those reflexes! “Hey hey, sorry ‘bout-babe!” his casual apologetic smile morphed into a full-blown grin.
“Kiri!” Nagisa perked up excitedly, her beautiful orchid purple eyes making Kirishima’s heart squeeze. Wow, he missed her. “It’s been ages since we saw each other outside of class!”
Kirishima groaned with his head thrown back a bit, but then he rubbed his neck sheepishly, “Yeah, I know. I’m so, so sorry, I know texting isn’t enough sometimes and-” his shoulders stiffened and his eyes widened when he felt her soft, dainty finger on his lips. All of a sudden it was very difficult to ignore the urge to pop the digit in his mouth.
“Now don’t you start,” she told him firmly, a slight scowl on her pretty face. “You don’t need to go spiraling down a rabbit hole there’s no business taking a trip into. I get it, I’ve been busy at my internship too.”
All at once Kirishima’s breath wooshed out of his lungs. Somehow he found himself smitten all over again. Of course, she knew he'd start tumbling with insecurities. Her personality always did it for him, but...had he really not been paying enough attention to his girlfriend that he forgot how gorgeous she looked close up? No...it couldn’t be. He was pretty sure the round baby-face had slimmed down some since the last time he had really looked at her. “Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled breathlessly. “I was about to take a shower, but I’m still pretty awake. You wanna hang at all? Catch up?”
The way she lit up made Kirishima feel like floating. He loved her smile, but he loved it even more when it was directed at him, “That sounds wonderful, Kirishima! I just finished with my own shower and was going to grab breakfast. Would you like me to grab you something? I’m sure after we chill you’re going to pass out. I don’t want you to not eat!” she put her hands on her hips with a pointed look.
Laughing, her fierce expression causing him to give her a cheeky smirk and he nodded to her, “Sure thing, koi,” he realized now that yeah, her usually pastel-purple hair was quite a few shades darker and more flat in comparison to how voluminous it tended to be. It contrasted against her alabaster skin, making her appear even paler. “My room, eta fifteen? I wanted to let the water relax my muscles a bit, so I’m going to chill in there a bit longer than normal.”
“Good for you, doin’ some self-care!” Nagisa beamed at him, “Awesome, it’s a deal.”
Watching her go he couldn’t help the sly lilt to his lips as he watched her hair, mid-length down her back, sway with each step she took. The bounce in her step made him happy, and there was a fire licking underneath his skin now. It really had been too long…
X
He might’ve wanted to stay in there longer, but after crossing his girlfriend Kirishima became way too antsy to relax. So a fifteen-minute shower turned into ten, but he used that extra time to get back to his dorm room and throw on some sweatpants. A slow devious smirk crossed his face, but he threw on some casual rock music and took a glance at his homework to do that weekend. He could knock out what was easiest first, then with the harder stuff he could ask Bakugo for help, or Midoriya depending on the subject. 
A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts and he called over his shoulder, “It’s unlocked!” before setting his notebooks on his table. When he turned around he had his usual wide grin on his face, “Hey, babe! Man, whatever that is, it smells great!”
“I could hear your music from the hall you know,” Nagisa drawled, closing the door behind her and then paused, her gaze zeroing in on the fact his sweats hung low on his hips and there was seemingly nothing else he was wearing. All of a sudden her face burned.
“Good. Maybe that was the point,” Kirishima’s toothy grin morphed into something sly, and he went to sit on his bed, patting it for her to come join him, “I am starving, you were right. Let’s eat?” he hummed.
Swallowing thickly, Nagisa nodded and had the presence of mind to lock Kirishima’s door first, then walked over to him. Handing him his plate, she sat beside him and...her heart squeezed. In spite of it being extremely clear to her, her boyfriend was being coy, they had a nice, relaxing breakfast together. Well, breakfast for her and dinner for him. As they talked, taking their time eating and not rushing to get to whatever it was Kirishima had intended, it was like they hadn’t been separated at all by work and school life. Conversation came easily, she laughed and smiled at his antics and his own booming laughs warmed her own soul. 
They missed each other, dearly, and were both soaking up this time they managed to snag for themselves. By the time they were done eating, Kirishima put the plates on his nightstand to take back to the kitchen later. 
He spread his arms wide and his smile this time was nothing but genuinely sweet, “C’mere, Nagi,” he coaxed, “I’ve been wanting to do this since I saw ya.” 
Nagisa threw her arms around him without further ado, causing him to laugh quietly and let them fall back onto the bed as if the petite 5ft 2 woman really had managed to knock this 6ft mountain of a man over. Feeling him chuckle and the way it rumbled in his chest made her blush and nuzzle into his neck, squeaking in surprise when she felt him hook his leg over her thigh and essentially trap her in his koala embrace. Snorting in amusement, she rolled her eyes while she smiled into his collar bone, “You’re a dork.”
“You love this dork.” Kirishima immediately quipped, kissing the top of her head and his fingers found their way into her hair. Peering down over her, since the size difference made it pretty easy, he brought his arm up and let the strands fall in ribbons back down onto his bed. The way the morning light through his window caught them made her hair look prismatic. He loved it and missed it. Missed her. After spending a minute or two doing that repeated action, he started feeling himself drift, but he didn’t want to. “I love you, you know.”
“I love you, too, Eiji,” Nagisa murmured, kissing his chest over his heart. Even wrapped up like this against his hard body he was still surprisingly comfortable, and his body heat was making her sleepy when she really should be going about her day. “Even when you’re being a dork, you’re right.”
Snickering, he pulled back enough so he could see her face, taking his hand from her hair to stroke along her cheek. They were both quiet for a long moment before he released her body and scooted down, only to surge forward and capture her lips with his. There was a soft ‘mmph’ sound between them both and Kirishima pulled her tight to his body in a different way. One large hand pressed at the small of her back and the one on her cheek moved into her hair and cupped her head. A soft groan was pulled from his throat, “Nagisa…” 
The whisper of his breath on her face and the way he said her name had her shivering against him and a quiet whimper answered his groan, “Eijiro...Please…”
“Please what, baby?” he cooed with a chuckle, “If I don’t know what you want, I can’t give it to you,” he kissed her nose playfully, making her scrunch her face and with a snicker, he caught her in another heated kiss. 
Nagi gasped a little when his pointed teeth caught her bottom lip, giving it a gentle tug and bite. Always careful, and plenty of practice to know what was too much pressure. “I know this...is what you were planning, you big pervert…” she called him out finally, but it didn’t stop her from arching her back into his roaming hand and pressing her chest into his, “You could start by evening the score. I seem to be quite overdressed in comparison to you.”
Kirishima laughed and nodded, rolling both of them over so he was on top, “I always love how sassy you can be.” He smirked down at her as his fingers skimmed under her shirt.
God, every time they did this, Nagi felt like his hands were trailing fire along her skin. Her breath was coming out in hot pants and she whined as he skimmed his thumbs under her breasts before popped her bra above them...and leaving them that way. Blinking, she brought her head forward and stared at him in confusion.
His smirk was all the answer she needed, “You gotta get back to whatever you gotta do today soon, right? Fewer clothes to put on if you don’t take them off to begin with,” he winked and started dragging her skirt and undershorts down.
“Let me guess, you’re going to just push my panties to the side, too?” Nagisa arched a dusty purple brow at him but lifted her hips so it would be easier. He was leaving her socks on, too. “I didn’t know you had a clothed-sex kink, Eijiro. Want me to just wear my uniform jacket next time?”
He shrugged innocently, though he did have a pink blush that appeared on his cheeks and nose, “I’ve thought about just tugging your tits out of your uniform shirt before, yeah…” he admitted with a mumble, finally tossing the bottoms off the side of his bed.
Nagi was entertained that he was embarrassed enough that even his ears were going red. Giggling, she brought her feet up and shoved his sweatpants down in one motion, “Doesn’t bother me.” She assured him, eyes darkening as she saw his cock bounce up instead of being constrained by the fabric. “And you thought you were being sly, not wearing anything underneath.”
He shrugged, still blushing, “What can I say? I like being a tease.” 
Rolling her eyes a bit, Nagi grinned and sat up enough to grab Kirishima right around his cock, “Shut up, you big dork, and c’mere,” she giggled and let herself fall back onto his bed. By reflex, he had to follow and his hands planted against the bed which bounced with his weight. If he was blushing before his face went red now. His hair even fell forward enough to tickle her face, but all she could do was stare up into wide and dark ruby eyes. Even his mouth was slightly open, his breathing shallow. “You going to stare at me all day, Red Riot?” she cooed, giving his wonderful girth and nice length a couple of long strokes.
At that his eyes rolled back and his dark lashes fluttered across his cheeks as he groaned and throbbed in her grip, hips jerking a bit, “Fuck, babe, can’t a guy admire his lovely girlfriend?” he asked, voice shaky and strained, but he couldn’t deny that she turned him on like no other.
“Well, you did point out that I have things to do, so why don’t you get to it?” Nagi sassed, letting him go and situating herself better on the bed, her legs planted farther apart and she smirked as her fingers trailed down her bare abdomen to her panties, pushing them to the side for him to view her glistening folds, “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
He’d pulled back to shove off his sweatpants the rest of the way when she did that and he had a full-body shudder, “Hell ya, just like that baby,” he purred, and part of him wanted to dip down to taste her since it had been a while, but he also wanted to be buried deep inside. So he settled for gathering some spit onto his tongue and slathering two of his meaty fingers, leaning forward as he reached for his nightstand and her center at the same time. Her gasp as he hit the bullseye made him swallow thick as he yanked the drawer open and as his other hand snatched out a condom he dipped the tips of both digits into her. “Goddamn, koi, so tight for me…” what did he expect, after being apart for so long? At least this proved, if nothing else, that she’d been perfectly faithful to him, too. He worried about that sometimes, when he got so busy he was barely able to say hi to her in class. 
Nagisa whined and arched her hips down onto his fingers, rocking and breathing harshly as she watched him rip the foil with ease, making grabby hands he chuckled and gave her the condom with a fond look. Since his hands were busy, she made full use of hers as he got within her reach. “Just, uh...go easy on me?” she asked softly, whimpering as he curled and stretched his fingers a few times.
“Of course,” Kirishima soothed, rubbing her knee and then stroking her inner thigh, “Spread ‘em wide for me, baby...yeah, just like that,” he smirked a bit and tugged his fingers out, popping them in his mouth and he let out a really long moan around them as her flavor filled his senses, “Mmph...god, y’know I can leave my door unlocked for ya and I wouldn’t mind being woken up with ya on top of me,” he winked at her.
It was so lewd how he did that, and Nagi chewed on her lip, “I’ll think about it…” she told him on a heavy breath, “I’ll add somnophilia to the list.”
He rolled his eyes, positioning his cock at her center and rubbing up and down her folds, catching across her clit and he enjoyed her keening when he did. “Ready for me?”
“Please,” Nagi heaved, her legs quivering and eyes half-lidded, “Don’t leave me hanging…”
“Never,” he promised, slipping just the head in and he had to stop anyway because if she was tight around his fingers, she was practically a vice around his dick. Hearing her whimper through his swimming brain, he soothed her by rubbing his hands up and down her torso, grasping at her breasts and distracting her as he gave small rolls of his hips. A little bit at a time. He wasn’t just...huge as a person. He was also girthy, had decent length, and he didn’t give her nearly enough prep. “I love you, you’re doing so good for me...yeah, just like that, a little at a time...relax yourself, baby, you can do it…” 
It took a minute, but Nagisa nodded and gasped as he pressed even further. A deep groan left both of them at the same time, causing her to be really grateful for his music in the background. It covered their noises and she didn't feel like she had to hold herself back as much. So when he finally bottomed out she whimpered and bucked her hips, squeezing around him as her body throbbed. This caused his breath to get caught in his throat and he gripped her hips a bit harder than he meant to. She didn't mind, it only added to the heat, the need. "Eiji, please...please move…" the coil in her abdomen was already feeling tight and the smallest movement of his hips had her keening.
"Fuck...fuck, anything for you, I just don't want...to be a two-pump chump. You're so tight, babe, and it wouldn't...it wouldn't be very manly, not at all…" he could already feel the sweat on his neck and how his muscles shook with the effort to hold back. Still, when he felt like he wasn't going to explode he pulled back a little bit and pushed back inside. That sweet sweet friction was going to end him but he wasn't about to leave his lady unsatisfied, no sirree. 
Each push and pull of his hips had her gasping and whining in her throat, and for a few minutes, they simply fed off of each other. Nothing but harsh panting and the sound of skin hitting skin mixed with his music, getting drowned out in the best way. She didn't know if it was on purpose, not like it mattered, but it also felt like his thrusts were in time to the songs seemingly flashing by. "Oh god, Eijiro! Just keep...doing that, yes! Oh…" he'd shifted just right and somehow went deeper than before, the curve of his dick rubbing something intense and she shouted, arms going back to grasp at his pillow.
"Yeah?" Kirishima felt like his shower was pointless by now but Nagisa was so worth it. He locked himself in place so he could continue to drive her insane, also hooking an arm around her back to help lock her in place so she wouldn't squirm in pleasure and shift away from the blinding heat. "I got ya, baby...ya close for me?" As amazing as she felt, he knew he could at least push her over the peek twice, "You were...so responsive when...we started…"
His panting words on ragged breath made Nagisa clamp down reflexively. His voice always got to her and she cried out, "Close...close, so close...Eijiro!"
"Yes, yes...please cum, baby…" he gasped with her, "Let me feel you cum around me, yeah...just like...that's it, Nagi…" he watched her body arch up and he surged down, capturing her scream of release in a searing kiss. His music covered a lot, but it wouldn't hide that. It was all well and good, however, since he also had a full-body shudder as her orgasm washed over his length, making her walls clamp down. Yet he had a ways to go before he followed suit. That was part of the fun in his opinion. Getting her to have another right before or during his own. "I'm...not gunna...hold back now…" his voice strained.
Nagisa nodded numbly and was pliable in his arms as he rearranged her to his liking. What she wasn't expecting was the surge of renewed pleasure spike through her body as soon as he reared back. He dragged along her insides and because of her fresh juices, it was so easy to ram it back with no resistance. “Oh god...ah!” then he did it again, rougher this time, slamming so hard she felt it hit her cervix. 
Picking up the pace without further ado, if Kirishima wasn’t growling before he was now. His hands had hooked under her knees and he was pressing her down, pistoning as fast as his body would allow. The muscles of his thighs were burning, any attempts of being ‘relaxed’ was thrown out the window, but oh god was it worth it. 
Seeing him gnash his teeth, Nagisa whined had to give up on gripping the sheets with how he was starting to push her up the bed towards the wall. Instead, she reached up and gripped at his back to the best of her ability, her cries lewd and desperate. “I...can’t...Eiji, please…” even the way the sound of their lovemaking as skin slapping against skin filled the room made the coil wind tight again.
“Yes you can,” he hissed, feral with the tightening of his abdomen, the buildup and burn under his skin driving him wild. Grunting, he shuddered as her fingers dug into some sensitive spots, making him throb and gasp, “C’mon, Nagi, I’m so close...fall with me, baby…” he was getting lightheaded and he leaned further down, changing his angle which made her eyes go wide and he wasn’t able to catch her scream this time. Too enamored by how beautiful she looked in the throes of passion, he was slammed with his orgasm as if he had been hit by a ton of bricks and he roared his own release, entire body seizing up and his Quirk activating by accident around his hands, cutting and digging into her thighs.
The pain didn’t even register, and she didn’t mind. Smiling weakly, she used her hands around his back to coax him to fall onto his side when his Quirk let up around his body. His huffing and puffing made her giggle, a bit delirious, and she kissed his nose, “My big bad wolf needs to rest now. Don’t worry, I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”
“Maybe I should be that for Halloween or somethin’,” Kirishima mumbled tiredly, but smiled with the barest hint of a shy blush. Grunting as he removed the condom, he heaved himself over her so he could toss it in his bin by his bed, then let himself fall back onto his bed. He could’ve been silly and thumped on her, but he was dead weight by this point and that’d be rude. “Thank you, baby...for staying a little longer,” he cooed as he tossed at least one arm around her torso and nuzzled into her hair. A comfort, but easy enough for her to wiggle free from. “We can...hang out more later...yeah?” he asked sleepily, already drifting.
“Of course, Eiji. Anything for you.”
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