#damn i wish i kept copies of both so i could compare to the most current version | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

halothenthehorns · 3 years ago

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TLTNL- SILVER AND OPALS

James took the book from Lily with a happy enough air. He was mostly hoping the first Quidditch game would come up soon, considering tryouts were already past and they needed to see the team in action of course.

Where was Dumbledore, and what was he doing?

"Thoughts I really don't think of too often, unlike Moony," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"You make me sound like a panting teenager," Remus grumbled. "Of course I wonder all the time where the leader of the Order is."

"Your ears really have been saved Harry," Sirius continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Used to come up at least once a meal what that man could be up to, and that's nothing compared to school."

"I take it back," James agreed. "We might not have ever noticed if he was missing from the staff table, but Remus would have flipped the castle inside out if he was missing for more than a day."

Remus' scowl increased upon both of his friends. Their jesting was in good nature, but it still rankled him they weren't wrong. It simply angered him more than anything how blind he'd been until days ago, how he'd refused to see any side of Dumbledore except his white beard until he had it shoved in his face he could be missing something.

His friends obviously knew that had been shaken. They just weren't sure what to make of that themselves. It should have been...a relief? That wasn't the right word either, because it was too sad how down he was now with no one to look up to in that same sense.

When James realized Moony wasn't going to react in any sense of the word he decided to keep going instead, deciding he'd been through more than enough today already, no need to push it.

Harry caught sight of the headmaster only twice over the next few weeks. He rarely appeared at meals anymore, and Harry was sure Hermione was right in thinking that he was leaving the school for days at a time. Had Dumbledore forgotten the lessons he was supposed to be giving Harry?

"I entirely doubt that," Lily sighed. "Though what else he is busy doing is beyond me."

Harry nodded his agreement, trying not to pretend he hadn't been panicking just slightly at the thought of being forgotten, left alone, again.

Dumbledore had said that the lessons were leading to something to do with the prophecy; Harry had felt bolstered, comforted, and now he felt slightly abandoned.

He wanted to laugh at his own thoughts, but his teeth were still rather gritted. He didn't want to see the expressions on those around him, either pity, remorse, or anything else for something of his past that just could not be changed no matter how much he'd wish for it, so was more than relieved when James continued without too much of a hitch in his throat.

Halfway through October came their first trip of the term to Hogsmeade. Harry had wondered whether these trips would still be allowed, given the increasingly tight security measures around the school,

"Nah, never seen the school get that bad," Sirius rolled his eyes at the thought. "The teachers are well aware we'd burn the place to the ground ourselves if they didn't let the students get some air."

"And that was the normal students, considering this lot went about it without permission," Lily snorted.

but was pleased to know that they were going ahead; it was always good to get out of the castle grounds for a few hours.

Harry woke early on the morning of the trip, which was proving stormy, and whiled away the time until breakfast by reading his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. He did not usually lie in bed reading his textbooks; that sort of behavior, as Ron rightly said, was indecent in anybody except Hermione, who was simply weird that way.

Lily started snickering away again at once, and Harry looked at her in exasperation, still wanting to demand just what was so funny he was missing? It certainly wasn't the same reaction from the Marauders, who looked more dumbfounded than anything this was how Harry chose to spend his time. Even if he'd chosen to pursue homework they'd have thought nothing of it, but independent study!

"You lot can't even really mock him," Remus pleasantly interpreted the almost constipated look on James and Sirius, "because I caught you lot doing the same thing with Transfiguration books so often I honestly thought you had split personalities."

"Yes, well, we had a pretty damn good reason," James huffed.

"So does Harry, he's catching up on five years worth of Potions that useless teacher couldn't have taught him," Sirius insisted, deciding to defend this for now, though no one in here was accusing him of anything.

Lily started laughing harder than ever, and James quickly kept going then, to Harry's relief.

Harry felt, however, that the Half-Blood Princes copy of Advanced Potion-Making hardly qualified as a textbook. The more Harry pored over the book, the more he realized how much was in there, not only the handy hints and shortcuts on potions that was earning him such a glowing reputation with Slughorn, but also the imaginative little jinxes and hexes scribbled in the margins, which Harry was sure, judging by the crossings-out and revisions, that the Prince had invented himself.

Harry whistled in surprise. "Hard to imagine a student inventing spells."

"I wouldn't be that surprised, we tend to experiment quite a bit in our years, far more than when we age and do things out of habit," Remus shrugged.

Harry had already attempted a few of the Prince's self-invented spells. There had been a hex that caused toenails to grow alarmingly fast (he had tried this on Crabbe in the corridor, with very entertaining results); a jinx that glued the tongue to the roof of the mouth (which he had twice used, to general applause, on an unsuspecting Argus Filch); and, perhaps most useful of all, Muffliato, a spell that filled the ears of anyone nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing, so that lengthy conversations could be held in class with out being overheard.

The first two weren't of much consequence, they were used regularly in all their years at school amongst the students and it was more likely this Prince had simply copied a spell he intended to practice. That last one however did catch them off guard, they'd never heard of that exact spell.

"That's really interesting, sort of like honing an Imperturbable Charm, except instead of directly forcing anything not to be around you, you're merely distracting them instead," James eyes were alight at once with the possibility of this.

"Glory I want to meet whoever got a nail on that spell," Sirius agreed enthusiastically, causing James' face to settle back into drawn confusion for that and Lily to start snickering harder than ever.

The only person who did not find these charms amusing was Hermione,

"No surprise there," Remus rolled his eyes at this continuing to be mentioned.

who maintained a rigidly disapproving expression throughout and refused to talk at all if Harry had used the Muffliato spell on anyone in the vicinity.

Sitting up in bed, Harry turned the book sideways so as to examine more closely the scribbled instructions for a spell that seemed to have caused the Prince some trouble. There were many crossings-out and alterations, but finally, crammed into a corner of the page, the scribble:

Levicorpus (nvbl)

Harry watched wearily as those around him frowned at the mention of that spell, one they hadn't used in quite some time. Before he even had a chance to ask, James gave a blustering sigh but explained, "you already saw that one in action, courtesy of me."

Harry's eyes flipped wide in surprise as he demanded, "you invented that spell?"

James frowned in confusion at Harry's leap. "Nah, did a Transfiguration paper for a sixth year Slytherin, he taught me this in exchange." He waited and watched Harry flip through the spells he'd seen his father use, only one of which was silent in the one time he'd 'seen' his father perform magic.

"Oh," was all he could think to mutter before waving him on. He still felt like there was some connection he was missing in this, even if he had latched onto the right memory for once for an answer.

While the wind and sleet pounded relentlessly on the windows, and Neville snored loudly, Harry stared at the letters in brackets. Nvbl., that had to mean "nonverbal." Harry rather doubted he would be able to bring off this particular spell; he was still having difficulty with nonverbal spells, something Snape had been quick to comment on in every D.A.D.A. class. On the other hand, the Prince had proved a much more effective teacher than Snape so far.

Lily had to fight very, very hard this time not to fall off the furniture in a fit of laughter, she knew that would be just too much of a giveaway. Thankfully she'd been in such a spirited mood for so long now, the others were just ignoring her still near constant stream of snickering, even though their annoyance continued to grow just what she found so funny.

Pointing his wand at nothing in particular, he gave it an upward flick and said Levicorpus! inside his head.

Then there was a scream.

"Well, it seems to have worked," Sirius said pleasantly.

"Wonder which of his roommates he snagged," James chuckled, he'd accidentally caught a random third year on his first try and this was bound to be funnier because Harry would know the bloke.

"Hopefully not myself," was all Harry could think to mutter.

There was a flash of light and the room was full of voices: Everyone had woken up as Ron had let out a yell.

"I half expected it to be Neville, you already mentioned him snoring and he hasn't had a catastrophe happen to him in ages," James chuckled.

Harry sent Advanced Potion-Making flying in panic; Ron was dangling upside down in midair as though an invisible hook had hoisted him up by the ankle.

"Revenge for him punching you awake over the summer," Remus got a good laugh out of that. "It happened so long ago he wouldn't even realize you'd still planned retaliation."

"Moony's favorite," Sirius sighed.

Harry yelled an apology, as Dean and Seamus roared with laughter, and Neville picked himself up from the floor, having fallen out of bed.

"Ah, well, I was half right," James's laughter continued, the easy mood flowing through the room making him continuing just had everyone chuckling even harder than they really should have been.

He groped for the potion book and riffled through it in a panic, trying to find the right page; at last he located it and deciphered the cramped word underneath the spell: Praying that this was the counter-jinx, Harry thought Liberacorpus! with all his might. There was another flash of light, and Ron fell in a heap onto his mattress.

Harry repeated his apology, while Dean and Seamus continued to roar with laughter.

Ron requested tomorrow, Harry just use an alarm clock.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Sirius cackled.

By the time they had got dressed, padding themselves out with several of Mrs. Weasleys hand-knitted sweaters and carrying, cloaks, scarves, and gloves, Ron's shock had subsided and he had decided that Harry's new spell was highly amusing; so amusing, in fact, that he lost no time in regaling Hermione with the story as they sat down for breakfast.

"Why?" Remus demanded, looking genuinely dumbfounded at this display. "He must know by now anything regarding that book won't entertain her."

Harry just shrugged, he hadn't been planning on telling her.

Hermione had not cracked a smile during this anecdote, and now turned an expression of wintry disapproval upon Harry, demanding if this was yet another spell from that potion book of his.

Harry frowned at her, calling her out on always jumping to the worst conclusions.

"It's even worse when she's right," Sirius huffed.

He agreed it was though, and she lectured him on just attempting an unknown, handwritten spell to see what would happen!

"She's got half a point," Lily couldn't help but agree now that some of their laughter had subsided. "That really could have been dangerous, or you may not have even known the effect at all until it was too late to understand something was wrong, may not even have had a countercurse ready."

Harry couldn't help but shift in unease, not at all enjoying the foreboding feeling he believed her.

Harry asked what made it so bad handwritten?

Hermione snapped that meant it wasn't Ministry approved,

"Gah!" Sirius clutched his ears in pain.

"As if we didn't hear enough of that last year, Hermione's really working to get on every one of my nerves lately," James agreed tartly.

She also concluded this Prince must have been quite a dodgy one, to be inventing spells to dangle people around, who put energy into that?

"I don't even think the Prince made up half those spells," James rolled his eyes. "I'm starting to wonder if he just heard about them and was trying to figure out how to do them himself." At least four of them so far had been common knowledge during his time at school, it seemed ridiculous one person had made up all of those and they'd grown popular in that same time frame.

Ron offered his twin brothers, while Harry pointed out his dad. He quickly fibbed and told Lupin had mentioned this spell once, but this last part was not true; in fact, Harry had seen his father use the spell on Snape, but he had never told Ron and Hermione about that particular excursion into the Pensieve. Now, however, a wonderful possibility occurred to him. Could the Half-Blood Prince possibly be-?

James tried to laugh, but the sound didn't really make it to full crescendo. Harry very obviously realized the answer to that one here and now, but what he wouldn't give to gift his son with something like this. His cloak often times didn't feel like it was enough to remind his only child he'd even existed, but he tried as always to shake off those thoughts.

Lily really was getting a handle on herself and almost entirely smothered the funny little noise Harry had the wrong parents influence for this book.

Hermione kept going past his thoughts, pointing out they'd seen this spell in action before as well, by Death Eaters during the Quidditch World Cup.

"That must have been an entirely different spell," Remus disagreed, "or at least a modified version of it. Levicorpus very specifically hoists one up by their ankle. That other bit of magic was much more..." he trailed off, not at all liking the words his mind offered up to explain such evil magic.

Flexible seemed to light for what those Muggles had suffered.

Ron came to his aid, saying this was different, those people were abusing the spell. Harry and his dad were just having a laugh, then he told Hermione she just didn't like this Prince because he was better than Hermione at Potions.

Hermione insisted it had nothing to do with that, even as her cheeks went red.

"At once proving her wrong," Sirius needlessly pointed out with his own eye roll. Girl needed to get a handle on her expressions. He only wished Lily were so easy to read, he still kept eyeing her and hoping any moment she'd slip and tell them who this Prince was, but aside from laughing at their ignorance he wasn't getting anything.

She insisted it was all just irresponsible what they were doing with the unknown of that book. Then she persisted Ron stop calling him Prince, like it's a title, he obviously wasn't a good person!

Harry deflected if she was getting towards him being a Death Eater there's no way he'd be boasting as a half-blood.

Lily let out a blistering sigh the kids had just so easily transitioned into talking about what she'd refused to see for far too long about this Prince.

Even as he said it, Harry remembered that his father had been pure-blood, but he pushed the thought out of his mind; he would worry about that later.

Hermione stubbornly went on with her point, Death Eaters couldn't all be pure-blood, there just weren't that many of them. At least some had to be half-bloods, pretending to be pure. It was only Muggle-borns they outright hated, they'd be quite happy to let Harry and Ron join up.

"Oh but of course, lots of parties would be going on during that," Sirius wrinkled his nose in disgust even as he joked of this.

"Deathday parties," Remus agreed with the same expression.

In Ron's indignation, he sent a sausage flying to hit Ernie Macmillan.

James snorted at the random insertion, and all the sudden memories of doing that with much more purpose.

Pointing out his family was nothing but blood traitors, and that was worse than a Muggle-born as far as Death Eaters were concerned!

Harry agreed they'd just love to have him around, they'd all be best pals if they'd stop trying to kill him.

"You mean that's not how you make the best of friends?" Remus mockingly demanded.

This made Ron laugh; even Hermione gave a grudging smile, and a distraction arrived in the shape of Ginny.

"Ginny's been doing that a lot this year," Lily chuckled in surprise while Harry was quick to smile again for getting off this topic, it was starting to give him a headache lingering on this.

She gave him another scroll of parchment with Harry's name written upon it in familiar, thin, slanting writing from Dumbledore. He thanked her, and then asked if she'd be going with them to Hogsmeade?

Ginny said no, she was meeting up with Dean, but would probably see them there.

Filch was standing at the oak front doors as usual, checking off the names of people who had permission to go into Hogsmeade. The process took even longer than normal as Filch was triple-checking everybody with his Secrecy Sensor.

Ron demanded why they were checking to see if they were smuggling Dark stuff out? Surely this would only happen when they were trying to get back in with it.

His cheek earned him a few extra jabs with the Sensor, and he was still wincing as they stepped out into the wind and sleet.

The three Marauders sighed heavily, more than making their point they'd laughingly demanded the same thing of Filch at one point or another, and received the same results.

The walk into Hogsmeade was not enjoyable. Harry wrapped his scarf over his lower face; the exposed part soon felt both raw and numb. The road to the village was full of students bent double against the bitter wind. More than once Harry wondered whether they might not have had a better time in the warm common room, and when they finally reached Hogsmeade and saw that Zonko's Joke Shop had been boarded up, Harry took it as confirmation that this trip was not destined to be fun.

"Fred and George already put them out of business?" James forcefully put a happy little spin back in his voice at the reminder of how murky business' were in this climate. He still hated all the reminders pouring back in now upon Harry's life.

Harry couldn't even begin to play along. Ginny had only caused a slight delay in an ever growing headache, which clearly hadn't been about the Prince, but his coming day, and this wasn't boding well.

Ron pointed, with a thickly gloved hand, toward Honeydukes, which was mercifully open, and Harry and Hermione staggered in his wake into the crowded shop.

They were immediately enveloped by warm, toffee-scented air.

Sirius inhaled deeply like he was trying to pull that scent to him right now, boy he missed his frequent trips to that shop.

Ron was just saying how they should stay in here all afternoon when Slughorn called out to them from behind. He had a box of crystallized pineapple in his arm, and was scolding Harry he'd missed three of his little suppers now.

"That toffee scent still worth it?" Remus muttered conspiratorially, as if Slughorn were here now and trying to wrangle the pair of his friends along once again.

"Nah, I'd have gone outside again already," Sirius agreed.

"Maybe come back with a few snowballs if he didn't take a hint," James agreed.

He insisted this wouldn't do, Miss Granger loved them!

Hermione helplessly said they certainly were-

"I can't decide if Hermione's lying to herself, or him," James snorted.

Harry defended he'd had Quidditch practice, when in fact he'd been scheduling these every time Slughorn had sent him a little, violet ribbon-adorned invitation. This strategy meant that Ron was not left out, and they usually had a laugh with Ginny, imagining Hermione shut up with McLaggen and Zabini.

All of the boys got a good laugh out of that, while Lily rolled her eyes. They really weren't that bad.

Slughorn said he expected them to certainly win their coming match then, with all this hard work.

"I already expected that," James smirked while Harry gave a nervous grin back. He really wanted this game to go without a hitch, it being his first one as captain.

He tried to offer Harry to come on Monday, he surely wouldn't be playing in this weather.

Harry said he had an appointment with Dumbledore, and Slughorn dramatically sighed he'd been foisted again. He threatened Harry couldn't avoid him forever.

"Try him," Sirius sniffed, they'd managed quite often in their years.

And with a regal wave, he waddled out of the shop, taking as little notice of Ron as though he had been a display of Cockroach Clusters.

"An insult on top of an insult," Remus groaned, as if Ron didn't have reason enough for his insecurity problems to be in his face.

Hermione added on even after Slughorn left that they really weren't that bad, they could be fun at times. Then she caught sight of Ron's face, and was suddenly very interested in the deluxe sugar quills.

"Subtle," Sirius drew the word out with a deadpan expression.

"I don't see why she doesn't just invite him along," Lily sighed. "Ask Slughorn if she can bring a friend, he'll say yes on principle, he can come along to one and see how they are. I'll doubt he'd want to go again after that," she finished with a grumpy look at the boys.

"After that first one she hadn't the chance," Harry reminded of his Quidditch practices.

"And I'd be even more cross with her, subjecting him to that!" James rolled his eyes good naturedly. They'd invited Remus and...well they'd invited their friends to one as well, and they'd taken to it as well as to be expected. Needless to say, there was a reason Slughorn only invited he and Sirius to the important parties instead of every one after that.

Glad that Hermione had changed the subject, Harry showed much more interest in the new extra-large sugar quills than he would normally have done, but Ron continued to look moody and merely shrugged when Hermione asked him where he wanted to go next.

No one wanted to linger in the shop after that, and instead bundled backup to head for The Three Broomsticks.

The bitter wind was like knives on their faces after the sugary warmth of Honeydukes. The street was not very busy; nobody was lingering to chat, just hurrying toward their destinations. The exceptions were two men a little ahead of them, standing just outside the Three Broomsticks. One was very tall and thin; squinting through his rain-washed glasses Harry recognized the barman who worked in the other Hogsmeade pub, the Hog's Head. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione drew closer, the barman drew his cloak more tightly around his neck and walked away, leaving the shorter man to fumble with something in his arms. They were barely feet from him when Harry realized who the man was, Mundungus.

"Oh joy," Sirius huffed. The last time this one had been significantly mentioned he'd dropped the ball and allowed a dementor to attack Harry. The end results weren't the point, this one wasn't a favorite of theirs no matter the good laugh he was worth from time to time.

The squat, bandy-legged man with long, straggly, ginger hair jumped and dropped an ancient suitcase, which burst open, releasing what looked like the entire contents of a junk shop window.

"Sounds about right," Remus snorted.

"Probably stole the lot," James agreed.

He greeted them with a most unconvincing stab at airiness.

"Wonder why he would be," Lily muttered. Harry really hadn't shown much inclination towards him for Mundungus to be anything other than passingly cordial.

He began scrabbling on the ground to retrieve the contents of his suitcase with every appearance of a man eager to be gone.

Harry politely asked if he was selling all this?

Mundungus snapped yes he was while snatching a silver goblet out of Ron's hands.

Ron had just begun to say how familiar that looked when Mundungus shouted ouch!

James startled hard in surprise, automatically trying to lean in closer to his kid in fear someone had attacked him. It was a natural reaction after all the threatening situations his kid had been in. Forcing himself not to imagine dementors swooping in once more upon his child, he kept going frantically because of that one simple word.

Harry had pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat. Holding him fast with one hand, he pulled out his wand.

"Bloody hell, what did he have!" Lily yelped in concern, fighting with herself to jump in front of Harry and demand a reasonable explanation for this. His fierce expression wasn't giving much of an answer, clearly so outraged the words weren't coming to him, but she just knew it had to be a good one for him to be acting like this.

Harry pressed their noses together as he shouted that had been from Sirius' house! That had the Black family crest on it!

This was so far beyond the scope of the danger they'd been fearing, the burst of surprised laughter almost sounded like it had been punched out of Sirius. He still kept going though, his shoulders shaking with mirth even as his eyes landed shrewdly on his godson. "What a reaction."

Harry's anger didn't lessen at all for his godfathers careless way, keeping a focused anger on no one in here for the disrespect he saw in this act.

James cleared his throat uneasily before calling for his attention. "Really not seeing what you are here Harry. Sirius doesn't give a damn about that stuff, surely you know that."

"He nicked his stuff!" Harry spat, aghast now that no one seemed to be getting this. "It doesn't matter he wouldn't care, it was still his things!"

James still exchanged a puzzled look with Remus, who shrugged without answer. If he'd caught Mundungus doing that, he likely would have rolled his eyes and ignored the act, exactly for the reason Prongs had just said. They were things, they barely associated that house and anything inside it with their friend because Sirius himself put so much distance away from it.

Sirius decided it was best to just play this off for now though, it didn't really matter what his reaction would have been, but Harry's anger for it, and so he persisted, "well, the point here is Harry's finally giving Mundungus some revenge for bailing on him last summer, so whatever the reason, I say you keep going with it Prongs."

James shrugged and did just that, not doing a very good job of hiding his mystified expression.

Mundungus tried to protest, but Harry's hold only tightened as he demanded if he'd gone back that very night to strip the place?!

James winced hard at that line, swallowing convulsively and nearly choking on the spit. He had to remind himself it had already been months to Harry since this happened, where as he'd just heard the news days ago. He could hardly fathom speaking the words in a conversation yet, let alone Harry still casually dumping that pile of words no matter his temper.

Harry demanded Mundungus hand it all over, but with a crack, he disapparated.

Harry whirled on the spot, demanding to know where he'd gone.

"Not anywhere around there," Lily muttered. If there was one thing Mundungus was good at, it was weaseling himself out of those kinds of situations.

He kept shouting about that thieving-

Tonks appeared out of nowhere, her mousy hair now slick with sleet. She told him there was no point in his yelling.

Harry's anger only seemed to double as he howled, "am I really still being followed?!"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Remus frowned, a bit of reproach already boiling if Harry really took this out on Tonks, she didn't deserve it at all for doing her job. "What makes you think it went away?"

"Probably not though," Sirius quickly tried to defuse, more than happy to jump topics. "She said she was stationed in Hogsmeade, probably walking the area and the Hogshead is as good a place as any to do that, or maybe you just missed an Order meeting."

Harry just turned to grumbling and not acknowledging either of them, his hands still itching like he wished to pin someone where they stood.

When Harry groused what had happened, Tonks seemingly took no notice of the information but to say there still wasn't a point to yelling about it.

"Wouldn't surprise me if she knew," James gave an uneasy chuckle at the idea of her helping to pack it away instead of Sirius like they'd all laughed about at one point. Why did everything have to come back to haunt them with their jokes?

Then she told them to get out of the cold. She watched them go through the door of the Three Broomsticks. The moment he was inside, Harry burst out in further frustration about Sirius' stuff being nicked!

"So we gathered," Lily frowned in sympathy at him. She really was trying to understand why Harry was in such a temper about this, and she could sort of see it just being the principle of someone desecrating his godfathers house like that, but even then that wasn't a place Harry liked to think of Sirius in anymore than them. Sad maybe, depressed at the reminder of those things now in Mundungus' possession she'd understand, but where was this anger coming from? It was starting to wind her up as much as him for the simple fact she couldn't grasp what was bothering her child.

Hermione softly agreed, but also rebuked his shouting as people were staring. She told him to go sit down and she'd fetch drinks.

Harry was still fuming when Hermione returned to their table a few minutes later holding three bottles of butterbeer.

"I don't know why you wouldn't be, you're clearly not going to let this go," Sirius sighed, though he more than wanted to.

Harry demanded of no one couldn't the Order keep him in check? He shouldn't be able to steal whatever isn't nailed down!

"No," all four of them muttered. That really had been part of Mundungus' 'charm.' It wouldn't do to have a thief around who wasn't good at his job.

Hermione desperately shushed him now, looking around to make sure nobody was listening; there were a couple of warlocks sitting close by who were staring at Harry with great interest, and Zabini was lolling against a pillar not far away.

"Oh good, I needed someone to hex," James muttered for himself on that one, well aware Harry didn't partake in his personal feelings of venting, but he certainly was envisioning it right now.

She did agree she'd be annoyed to, someone stealing her stuff- Harry gagged on his butterbeer; he had momentarily forgotten that he owned number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

"All the more reason I would have laughed it all off, now it was doubly uncared for," Sirius sighed. "Least Mundungus would put it to a good cause, his own pockets."

Harry gave him a scandalized look and Sirius quickly raised his hands in surrender, deciding against pursuing the point.

He did agree it was no wonder Mundungus hadn't been happy to see him, that being his now. He still decided he was going to tell Dumbledore about this Monday.

"What exactly do you expect Dumbledore to do about it?" James asked curiously.

Harry just let his expression keep stewing without an answer, he didn't really have one.

Hermione seemed pleased he'd at least found a solution to get him to stop shouting, then demanded of Ron what he was doing. He'd been glancing around the room this whole time, but quickly muttered nothing when caught. Harry knew he was trying to catch the eye of the curvy and attractive bar-maid, Madam Rosmerta, for whom he had long nursed a soft spot.

"Most lads do," Sirius chuckled, "though I'd think he'd know better by now than to show as much in front of Hermione."

"Getting her back for ignoring him at breakfast that other day," James shrugged.

Hermione clearly didn't buy it, as she waspishly said 'nothing,' was probably in the back getting more drinks.

"Hermione's jealousy really is getting more obvious than ever," Remus chuckled, more than willing to play along and put that nasty business off their minds. "I'm wondering how long it'll take Harry to lock them in a classroom and force them to have it out."

"I was more waiting for them to get on with it, they'd never been subtle in the past about their rows," Harry rolled his eyes, but at least his words weren't as biting anymore, he was clearly calming down.

Ron ignored this jibe, sipping his drink in what he evidently considered to be a dignified silence. Harry was thinking about Sirius, and how he had hated those silver goblets anyway.

All four of them sighed as it registered Harry knew this anyways. It was maddening he wouldn't just spit it out and tell them what his real problem with this was, but he also had his teeth clenched again and wasn't looking at any of them. Weather he thought it was obvious enough or just didn't want to talk about it, no one was going to force it out of him when they'd rather it never be spoken of again.

Hermione drummed her fingers on the table, her eyes flickering between Ron and the bar. The moment Harry drained the last drops in his bottle she asked if they were ready to head back to the castle?

The other two nodded; it had not been a fun trip and the weather was getting worse the longer they stayed. Once again they drew their cloaks tightly around them, rearranged their scarves, pulled on their gloves, then followed Katie Bell and a friend out of the pub and back up the High Street.

Despite his hands still twitching in his lap and his face tightening more every second, they all thought he was still just on the topic of Sirius, it didn't occur to them a headache was forming again. That warning feeling deep in his gut was starting to bubble, this trip into Hogsmeade was destined to get worse.

Harry's thoughts strayed to Ginny as they trudged up the road to Hogwarts through the frozen slush.

"How random," Sirius chuckled forcefully, but was all for Harry's stray thoughts being shown rather than his lingering one.

They had not met up with her, undoubtedly, thought Harry, because she and Dean were cozily closeted in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, that haunt of happy couples. Scowling, he bowed his head against the swirling sleet and trudged on.

"I can see how that would bother you," James was quick to jump in and agree with this, making Lily wonder if she wasn't the only one feeling wrong footed in not getting a handle on Harry's real problem. "If I had anything resembling a sister I'd feel the same."

Harry was so startled to hear that coming out of his mouth he entirely lost his contrite expression and turned to him in surprise. He'd never contradicted when anyone said this because before now he'd really felt no reason to. This time though, he wanted to protest in disgust it was nothing like that, Ginny was far more of a friend to him than anything resembling a sister. He held back though, because he wasn't sure that was the right comparison anymore either. It wasn't like his friendship with Hermione after all...so what was the word to use for it? He was chewing on this so hard he hardly noticed the tempo of his headache increasing as his dad continued.

It was a little while before Harry became aware that the voices of Katie Bell and her friend, which were being carried back to him on the wind, had become shriller and louder. Harry squinted at their indistinct figures. The two girls were having an argument about something Katie was holding in her hand with her friend Leanne.

"Urgh, avoid this Harry," Sirius swiftly inserted. "Teammate she is, but you don't want to get in between her tiff with her friend. She'd think you're a right pig of a captain."

A trickle of sweat started forming on the nap of Harry's neck despite the freezing temperatures he so vividly remembered. He could no longer focus on Ginny, Sirius, or much of anyone right now except the very real pain of his head screaming at him to pay attention around the splitting it was causing his vision.

They rounded a corner in the lane, sleet coming thick and fast, blurring Harry's glasses. Just as he raised a gloved hand to wipe them, Leanne made to grab hold of the package Katie was holding; Katie tugged it back and the package fell to the ground.

At once, Katie rose into the air, not as Ron had done, suspended comically by the ankle, but gracefully, her arms outstretched, as though she was about to fly.

James froze, the feeling erupting in the room all around them. As Harry had just said, this was not in any way funny, but with a glance at his friends he tried his hardest not to immediately assume a Death Eater was around. This didn't have to be the panic inducing fear for life he was already latching onto with far too much practice...

Yet there was something wrong, something eerie. . . . Her hair was whipped around her by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and her face was quite empty of expression. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne had all halted in their tracks, watching.

Lily's lip was already trembling, her face as white as the sleet in her mind during this depiction, she was fighting back the urge to shriek as loud as that wind. Even without Harry's ghastly face a mask of horror promising this should not be interpreted any other way, she knew, they all did, something was terribly wrong.

Then, six feet above the ground, Katie let out a terrible scream.

James startled to his feet without remembering to do so, his body trying to put him into action even as no spell truly came to mind. There was no answer for this, his eyes only staying locked on the words for explanation, even while the back of his mind was already offering up the horror of this happening to the rest of the kids, his Harry next any second.

Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was clearly causing her terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed; Leanne started to scream too and seized Katie's ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground. Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed forward to help, but even as they grabbed Katie's legs, she fell on top of them; Harry and Ron managed to catch her but she was writhing so much they could hardly hold her. Instead they lowered her to the ground where she thrashed and screamed, apparently unable to recognize any of them.

Harry looked around; the landscape seemed deserted.

He told them all to stay here while he ran for help.

"No! You don't separate from them!"

Harry hardly acknowledged this, couldn't even have said who'd scolded him, his mind purely absorbed on the one goal of finding help.

He began to sprint toward the school; he had never seen anyone behave as Katie had just behaved and could not think what had caused it; he hurtled around a bend in the lane and collided with what seemed to be an enormous bear on its hind legs.

Before the guttural noise could even form, a snarl of anger or fear for Harry next running into yet another problem, James was still going in the same breath, though he really hadn't breathed since Katie began her 'flight.'

Harry recognized Hagrid in relief and quickly explained someone had been cursed!

Hagrid was in a panic at once, asking about Ron and Hermione?

A spastic noise thumped somewhere in Sirius' throat, a good old laugh about who Hagrid worried about more with the order of those names, but it never even made a flicker in his mind, to focused on every word Prongs was saying.

Harry corrected the right girl before leading the way.

Together they ran back along the lane. It took them no time to find the little group of people around Katie, who was still writhing and screaming on the ground; Ron, Hermione, and Leanne were all trying to quiet her.

Hagrid shouted at them all to get back, and then without a word, bent down, scooped her into his arms, and ran off toward the castle with her. Within seconds, Katie's piercing screams had died away and the only sound was the roar of the wind.

Lily was still shivering nonstop, her teeth clicking together as if that cold was permeating the air in here as well. This was what brought James back to the room, and he crossed it quickly to settle beside her, with her son on her other side. She tried to protest, but he ignored her as he kept going still on the same breath, even if it was coming out more strained every second for not giving himself a chance to breathe in between this mayhem starting out of the blue.

Hermione hurried over to Katie's wailing friend and put an arm around her.

She asked if Leanne could tell them anything more that happened. All she could sob was it happened when that package tore. She pointed at the now sodden brown-paper package on the ground, which had split open to reveal a greenish glitter. Ron bent down, his hand outstretched,

Harry startled out of his seat as well, nearly sending Lily and Sirius to the floor in his wild grab to stop this. James hardly noticed, locked as he was to the words to ensure Harry's intent went through to the one who needed it.

but Harry seized his arm and pulled him back, telling him not to touch it.

The breath of release escaping them all finally forced air in again. They'd all wanted to shout that from the moment Leanne had said the words, afraid Harry's natural curiosity would send him off to do this, but it had been locked in place until he showed he'd be doing otherwise, the opposite in ensuring his friend wouldn't suffer the same fate.

"It's cursed," Remus said flatly, as his mind finally spun back into processing things again.

"And a powerful one at that," Sirius agreed as he rubbed ruefully at his jaw, that was the kind of thing he'd expect to find in his mothers jewelry box, not some poor kid at Hogwarts possessing.

"What the bloody hell was Katie doing with it?" Lily demanded, her voice not anywhere near normal volume no matter how hard she tried.

"That is a very good question," James agreed, only managing the flat tone because he was still getting his breath back. He took one more cautious look at Harry, the idea of his son going through that nearly suffocating him all over again. It helped nothing Harry refused to take his seat, but began pacing the room, a deeply troubled look that he hoped had everything to do with his teammate being in these circumstances rather than remembering this happening to him next.

He crouched down. An ornate opal necklace was visible, poking out of the paper. He recognized it, that was on display in Borgin and Burkes when last he'd been, the case had said it was cursed.

Sirius snarled, fighting back the impulse to spit in disgust at how often that store kept being brought up recently. He made a mental note to burn it to the ground, and sadly that wasn't even in his top ten of things he had to do first.

Katie must have touched it. He looked up at Leanne, who had started to shake uncontrollably, and asked how they'd come across this?

Leanne explained that's why they'd been arguing. Katie had come back from the bathroom with it, and she'd been acting odd saying she had to get it to Hogwarts right now. She brokenly ended in further sobs Katie had probably been Imperius and Leanne hadn't even realized!

"There are more ways of bending people to your will then that curse, that one just tends to be the most powerful." Lily murmured to herself, the idea of it happening at all still causing her to want to scream any second. Why did this have to keep happening in Harry's life? She wished this was more boggling, but sadly in their time in school it wasn't unheard of for students to come across cursed objects, and cursing each other with powerful spells was a walking liability, and still her son kept managing to find the most oblique ways of emphasizing that in his life.

Hermione patted her shoulder gently.

Harry tried to find out more, if Katie had said who it was for, but Leanne said Katie wouldn't say. So she'd tried to take it away from her, and then- Leanne let out a wail of despair.

Harry hesitated for a moment, then pulled his scarf from around his face and, ignoring Ron's gasp, carefully covered the necklace in it and picked it up.

James shivered so hard the book nearly fell from his grasp. He understood why Harry was doing it of course, so no one else could unwittingly come across it, so someone like Dumbledore could investigate it. Reasoning obviously said Harry would be fine, so had Katie until it had been touched by skin and his son was clearly being careful of this. None of that fought off the compulsion to slap that away from his child this second, to be the one to do this instead.

He told his friends they'd have to take this to Madam Pomfrey.

As they followed Hermione and Leanne up the road, Harry was thinking furiously. They had just entered the grounds when he spoke, unable to keep his thoughts to himself any longer, he spoke aloud to Ron this must have been Malfoy's doing. This is what he'd bought that day in Borgin and Burkes.

"You're very likely not wrong," Lily passively agreed as she watched his hurried steps pick up in tempo, weather in agitation for being wrong or excitement of being right she really couldn't tell. "It does tie up rather well, but at the same time, it doesn't at all explain the conversation you heard between Borgin and Draco." The bit about being seen carrying it down the street sticking out most in her mind, this was easily something that could have been hidden away. Hermione herself had seen it moments later when she'd stepped in after Malfoy.

Harry just gave a jerky nod he'd heard her without adding anything, likely meaning he was still thinking hard about something else, or trying very hard not to think of something more likely.

Ron was hesitant of the idea, reminding this had happened in a girls bathroom, surely Malfoy wasn't in there.

"Like a bloke couldn't slip into the girls bathroom for a second," Sirius jeered, entirely sick of Harry's friends protesting something like this at every turn. "It's not as if it's got a ward on it to stop us!"

"An interesting query though, why the girls bathroom? If it was indeed Malfoy and not some isolated incident, why did it have to be a girl? Malfoy could have just as easily done this to any male coming along," Remus muttered, wondering if they were missing some significance in light of Harry's train of thought.

Before Harry could go any further, McGonagall came marching down the stairs to meet them. Harry quickly handed over the wrapped necklace. They were stopped by Filch at the door hurrying forward with his Secrecy Sensor,

"That's another thing," James said in clipped tones. "No matter the cursers intentions, there's no way that thing would have gotten in the school past Filch with Katie."

"Maybe she wasn't trying to get it back to the school, but headed to somewhere else in Hogsmeade with it." Remus offered.

"No, Leanne specifically said someone inside Hogwarts," Harry parotid, still pacing this way and that as his mind clamored to show him something he was forced to keep away, the movement wasn't helping at all.

"Someone inside Hogwarts who very likely wasn't actually inside the school at that time," Remus agreed. "Everyone in the castle was likely to be out that day," clearly thinking his theory still stood.

Harry didn't acknowledge him, afraid anything he said would only make his own mind worse.

McGonagall carefully passed the necklace off to him, telling him to take this to Snape.

They really were all in such a highly agitated state that hardly made a blip on their thoughts. If they'd thought about it at all, they would have said McGonagall herself, they just cared to much about Katie and whoever the target had been right now to think otherwise of who looked that thing over.

Harry and the others followed Professor McGonagall upstairs and into her office. The sleet-spattered windows were rattling in their frames, and the room was chilly despite the fire crackling in the grate. Professor McGonagall closed the door and swept around her desk to face Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the still sobbing Leanne.

The moment the door closed she demanded what happened.

Haltingly, and with many pauses while she attempted to control her crying, Leanne told Professor McGonagall how Katie had gone to the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks and returned holding the unmarked package, how Katie had seemed a little odd, and how they had argued about the advisability of agreeing to deliver unknown objects, the argument culminating in the tussle over the parcel, which tore open. At this point, Leanne was so overcome, there was no getting another word out of her.

McGonagall kindly asked her to go onto the Hospital Wing then, and she left.

Her expression returned sharp as she continued to the trio this all happened when Katie touched the necklace?

Harry described the rest in detail. Then he followed up if he could speak to Dumbledore.

She looked surprised, but responded he'd be gone until Monday. However, anything he had to tell the Headmaster could be said to her.

"I think you offended her," Sirius tried absently to put a smile in place, though nothing of this whole chapter had been funny at all.

For a split second, Harry hesitated. Professor McGonagall did not invite confidences; Dumbledore, though in many ways more intimidating, still seemed less likely to scorn a theory, however wild.

"I can see your point though," Lily said fairly, even if the same thing wouldn't have crossed her mind. No matter how open Dumbledore seemed to Harry, her son was still one of the few students in that school who would see him that way, everyone else had even less direct contact with him and would have gone to their head of house with this.

This was a life-and-death matter, though, and no moment to worry about being laughed at. So he blurted out his idea about Malfoy.

On one side of him, Ron rubbed his nose in apparent embarrassment; on the other, Hermione shuffled her feet as though quite keen to put a bit of distance between herself and Harry.

All three Marauders looked very snappy at that, with the firm belief they held that no matter their personal disagreements they wouldn't be showing that in front of anyone else. This was just insulting on Harry's friends part, far more than disagreeing with him in general when they wouldn't even play along with his idea.

McGonagall said that was a very serious accusation,

"He didn't accuse me?" Sirius went wide-eyed and innocent again.

Harry glanced up at him and gave an obligatory laugh, but only faked that this put him at ease as he sank down in the nearest seat, next to Remus. He was still rubbing hard at his temples, his eyes clenched shut and for all the world wishing he could sever his head to be rid of this constant pain.

Harry admitted he didn't have any proof, but also told her about what they'd heard over the summer.

Hermione cut in to remind Borgin had asked if he'd wanted to take a package with him, and Malfoy had said no.

Ron interjected he'd look like a prat carrying a necklace down the street.

"Both you boys really aren't keeping up very well with this," Lily shook her head at them.

"It had been months since that happened, not this morning," Harry mumbled in slight defense he hadn't recalled the exact words, even as much as he'd obsessed over them.

Hermione sharply reminded both of them it would have been wrapped up, that wasn't the problem. Obviously it had been something big and bulky Malfoy couldn't go around with.

McGonagall cut into their squabble, furious now at their accusation that held nothing. Hundreds of people could be in the same circumstance.

Ron muttered that's what he'd said.

"Congratulations Ron, now you're mimicking the book inside the book," Sirius pressed out an even more forced chuckle, growing heavily agitated this was getting harder every time.

In any case, Mr. Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade today.

"How would she know?" Lily muttered in confusion, that seemed more like something Snape would be aware of. The point didn't particularly matter she supposed, as she agreed with James' next words.

"Ra-drat," James sighed, there went his prime suspect.

"I wouldn't rule him out just yet though," Sirius still had a calculating look in place, still prepared to defend Harry's idea. "Crabbe or Goyle could have done this for him, if he is the one behind this." He really found it hard to believe Malfoy was very possibly up to something this year and then this happened without being connected.

Harry looked up sharply at him, but even this answer still felt a step off. Still, it did ease his pain somewhat, as always, to hear the conversation around him circulating, the true answer just beyond his reach but at least not festering as his dad continued.

Harry gaped at her, deflating, asking how she knew.

McGonagall explained he was doing a detention with her, as he'd failed to turn in two Transfiguration assignments.

"I didn't realize Malfoy's boasting earlier literally meant he wasn't going to be doing his work this year," Remus rolled his eyes at this inconsequential bit of information.

"Surprised he hasn't been paying someone to do it for him like all the other years," Sirius groused.

She dismissed them then, as she needed to go check on Katie.

They began climbing the stairs towards their dorm, and no matter how angry Harry was at the two for not backing him in front of McGonagall, he still joined in as they discussed who the necklace was supposed to go to.

Hermione said the most likely subjects were Dumbledore, Slughorn, or Harry.

Harry's eyes lit up briefly, he was so sure that was the right answer and the confidence nearly spurred him into words, but was cut off by Remus shaking his head while James had been listening the other two. "No, to all three. I'm still leaning towards it being a woman the intended target now. Why the girls bathroom, that part just makes no sense."

It had all happened so fast he'd lost his confidence with the exact same thought, back to muttering in squalor of the uselessness of his mind.

Harry disagreed with the last one at least, or Katie would have turned around right then to hand it to him.

"I might disagree," Lily hedged, twisting a strand of hair around her finger as she thought. "It really depends on the kind of magic placed upon her to force her doing this. If she'd been given the very explicit command to give this to you in your shared common room, she may not have even registered you behind her at all." Her focus came back though, and she shook her head sharply to dispel away that line of thinking. "Point is, though sound logic Hermione's using, we can't rule out anyone."

Harry could at least nod his agreement to that, though his eyes kept drifting out of focus like he'd struck gold and let it slip through his fingers all at once and for the life of him couldn't understand why.

He did wonder aloud why Malfoy had told her to take it into the castle at all.

Hermione stamped her foot in frustration Malfoy hadn't been in Hogsmeade today!

"Ooh, now we know we've got her in a temper," James huffed with a roll of his eyes, but did tell Harry, "you're being rather single minded with this though. You're causing just as much trouble not hearing others ideas and insisting on your own as they are ignoring yours."

"But you know I'm right!" Harry spluttered.

"Not really," he sighed. "I agree it's a very, very good chance, but it also never hurts to hear other ideas while you're at it. Could even somehow round back to helping your own on a completely different theory."

Harry crossed his arms and muttered defiantly, causing Remus to actually smirk in genuine amusement again. Harry sounded so like both James and Sirius with the grumbles he was using.

Harry moved past that, saying he must have an accomplice. Crabbe or Goyle, or any number of Death Eaters now he could call upon for help.

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks that plainly said, 'There's no point arguing with him.'

"That's as much as you can ask for at this point," Sirius sighed. "Letting you talk yourself out."

"Gee, thanks," Harry snipped.

The portrait swung open to admit them to the common room. It was quite full and smelled of damp clothing; many people seemed to have returned from Hogsmeade early because of the bad weather. There was no buzz of fear or speculation, however: Clearly, the news of Katie's fate had not yet spread.

"Give it a few hours," Lily sighed, knowing this wasn't the kind of thing to stay secret in the castle.

"At least until breakfast," James agreed.

Ron boosted a first year out of a seat next to the fireplace as he said

Remus snorted in surprise.

the whole thing wasn't done very slick at all. The curse didn't make it into the castle, and had a very low chance of doing so. Not very foolproof.

Hermione agreed with him, even as she toed him out of the chair and offered it back t the first year.

"I'll call that a small miracle she managed that," Sirius agreed, finally managing an easy laugh along with Remus for that random exchange.

It hadn't been very well thought out at all.

Harry agreed up to the point of saying since when was Malfoy a great thinker.

Neither Ron nor Hermione answered him.

"Glory, why is it always you," James groaned as he hastily snapped his chapter shut before anything else could happen.

Harry couldn't help but agree. His stance on Malfoy aside, why had it been him coming across this at all!

HPHPHPHP

Actually, despite the characters not, I do get Harry's little tizzy over Mundungus in this chapter. I'd have been just as outraged, as it's the principle of the matter Sirius was being stolen from. I hope I made it clear though that they just don't because they can't associate that stuff with Sirius, whereas that's really all Harry has learned to attach to his godfather, things. He barely has any memories with him. This is getting depressing, but I still hope you enjoyed on some level.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #HP #HBP #The Life That Never Lived #Marauders #James Potter #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Lily Potter

2 notes · View notes

hatsukeii · 5 years ago

Text

Another song inspired scenario!

Okay this time it’s haikyuu.

And it’s gonna be angsty. Fr this time.

Heather// Tsukishima Kei

Word count: 1830

Trigger warning: Suicide, implications of self harm, little to no swearing

Summary: Tsukishima writes down three final notes.

Another day. This was just another day for Tsukishima.

His life had been exceptionally shitty these months. Who knew it was this easy to get so depressed? Who would’ve predicted the death of his perfectly healthy dad, days after his parents divorced? Did anyone eventually figure out why he stopped wearing short sleeved shirts? Why he came to practice with a bottle of pills? Why he started falling asleep in class? Why the counsellor had to constantly pull him out of class? Why he started skipping practice without coach Ukai or Takeda sensei questioning it? Or perhaps why he started wearing his sports wristband everywhere?

The biggest question of all, how did you succeed in shattering his cold and measly little heart to pieces? The scene replayed like a broken record in his head, looping everything that hurt him. The way you were pulled away by Kageyama. How he held your hand. It looked perfect, engulfing yours easily. The way you ran up to him trying to apologise for your indirect rejection every single day, failing to do so every time as he walked away from you, not even sparing a glance. The time when Kageyama kissed you in front of the crowd during the win against Seijoh as he watched, Yamaguchi comforting him from behind. Millions of irritatingly negative voices swarmed around his head constantly, buzzing like flies, refusing to let him forget about you for even a second.

This was just another day.

Just another day, as Tsukishima walked past the crowded hallways, squeezing his way into his classroom. Just another day, where he would see you and Kageyama act all lovey dovey and shit in front of your locker. He walked into the classroom, seemingly unbothered as you cuddled the raven haired boy. How he wished he was the one that held you. All he wanted was to be the one that made you feel special. That possibility was long gone. He regret everything. He regret befriending you. He regret opening up, trusting you with his life, only to be disappointed again. He hated all of it. If he could, he’d just burn it all. Burn all his problems to the ground. Burn your image. Burn the memories. That way maybe he wouldn’t have to think about it. Maybe he forgot the part where he’d have to get rid of the ashes too. Because no matter how hard he tried to convince himself life was going to be okay, it always found a new way to screw him over again. Of course it did, what was he expecting anyways? For life to become instantly easier because of one traumatic event he had to go through?

This was just another normal day. Going to lunch with Yamaguchi like usual, his mom’s leftover strawberry shortcake sitting there in his lunch container. “Tsukki, you feeling any better?” There were two options in front of him. Tell Yamaguchi the truth, and disappoint him, or lie, and let him think that he was doing something in helping to mellow out his depression. What did he have to lose anyways? “Yeah, I’m doing a bit better I guess.” His freckled friend gave him a tiny grin, playfully punching his side as the blond forced a smile on his face. “Nice Tsukki! I’ll help you get better, as will your brother and your mom, so don’t worry too much!” Get better? So what if it gets better? Doesn’t life and luck just find a way to let things “get better,” then rip it all away from him anyways?

“Tsukishima!”

Ah of course. Just like any other day, you somehow found a way to get to him. His heart clenched at your voice as he turned around. “Go talk to her Tsukishima. Please.” Yamaguchi urged him on. Behind you was Kageyama, grumpy expression plastered on his face as always. The two boys glanced at each other, Tsukishima’s bored ones meeting an icy cold glare. A glare that said one too many words. “She’s mine.” “Don’t you try taking her away from me.” “You don’t stand a chance.” A sigh emitted from the blond’s mouth. “No.” Yamaguchi visibly frowned. “But Tsukki! You have to talk to her one way or another!” Tsukishima scoffed. “Who said I was obligated to do that? I can do whatever my heart damn well pleases.” Before Yamaguchi could even protest, his friend had already turned around, and walked away, headphones already on his head. He had once again walked away from help. Once again pushed everyone that cared away. That was what he wanted to do. Push everyone away. That way no one could hurt you more than you hurt yourself. That was what he constantly told himself and believed.

What annoyed Tsukishima the most, was that he couldn’t bring himself to hate Kageyama fully. He just couldn’t. He didn’t know why, nor did he know how. The setter managed to kill out the last bit of hope he had with one single move. The second he saw your hands and Kageyama’s intertwined, that little ounce of hope leaked right out of his broken little heart. He was stupid. To think he ever stood a chance against the raven haired boy. To think that by getting close to you, he may have had a chance. That was his fault, not Kageyama’s. As long as you were happy, Tsukishima wasn’t going to complain. If Kageyama were to hurt you, however, he would be the first to act up. At the same time, he wouldn’t mind punching his face in once in a while either. The satisfaction that would bring him, damn.

Just like any other regular school day, he skipped practice and went straight home, as instructed by both his psychiatrist and counsellor. He opened the doors to his home, and was welcomed by none other than nobody. He hastily made his way to his room, throwing his bag down onto the ground, locking the door behind him. He peeled off the wristband, wincing in pain, before throwing it onto the floor. Teachers set him significantly less homework compared to the other students, meaning he had finished it all prior to the end of school. With hours on hand, he would usually just clean up, change, and go to sleep. No food, no nothing.

But he had other plans for tonight.

Instead of heading to the shower, he grabbed his notebook, ripped out a few pages, grabbed a pen, and began to write. He wrote until tears started to stream down his face, until his hand cramped up and his wrist felt like death. His salty tears dropped onto the lined paper, spreading some of the ink out. When he finally finished, he re-read the three letters, before folding them and placing them neatly into three envelopes, letting them sit on his desk.

He sat in the water filled bathtub, uniform still on, an unopened bottle of rat poison he found from the bathroom cabinet in hand. Was he really about to do this? Was this what he wanted? His hand shakily reached up to the cap of the bottle, twisting it open aggravatingly slowly. He let his eyes flutter shut, placing the rim of the bottle to his lips. What would people think of him after this? What would happen to Karasuno’s volleyball team? Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he tipped the bottle and let the gross, bitter liquid flow into his mouth and down his throat. It tasted disgusting, as it should, but he kept going. He kept going until he couldn’t taste any more. He let the last drop of the poison fall into his mouth, before throwing the bottle onto the hard, porcelain floor of his bathroom, shattering it to pieces. He waited in the tub, letting the water go cold as he felt his breathing become shallow, his vision becoming hazy. Finally feeling the effects of the poison, he let his head into the water, shutting his eyes as he took his last breath, the corners of his mouth turning upwards to resemble a grin.

“Have you seen Tsukki?” Yamaguchi was fully panicking. Tsukishima never skipped school. Never. “Maybe he’s sick? I don’t know.” Everyone in your class was confused. Tsukishima Kei was absent. For once. Your form teacher walked into the classroom solemnly. She headed to her table, placing down her documents, her mascara messed up, a stained and crumpled up tissue in hand. “Don’t tell me…” Yamaguchi covered his mouth, feeling the tears start to gather around his eyelids as a knot formed in his throat. “Everyone, we will be having an emergency assembly in five minutes. Please get to the hall in an orderly manner.” The class shared a few confused murmurs, before heading to the hall. “Yamaguchi? Why are you crying?” You were beyond confused at this point. All Yamaguchi could muster up was a strained sob, followed by a few shakes of his head.

“We have gathered you here this morning, to tell you the terrible news we received from Mrs. Tsukishima.” What? What the hell happened to Kei? Was this why Yamaguchi was bawling his eyes out? “We are terribly sorry to announce that Tsukishima Kei was found dead last night by his brother, who is Tsukishima Akiteru, an alumnus of Karasuno High. The cause of his death will not be revealed as of now. Kageyama Tobio, Yamaguchi Tadashi, and Y/f/n please meet me backstage right now, everyone else, you may leave for your respective classes. Please refrain from disturbing these three students about the situation.”

No.

This can’t be.

There was no way he would’ve done that.

This has to be a joke.

Yamaguchi was hunched over next to you, now sobbing uncontrollably after reading his letter.

“Why? Tsukki, you said you were doing better? Was it all a lie? Why would you lie to me like that? What were you thinking?”

Kageyama’s head hung low, his eyebrows furrowed as he re-read the letter to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

A copy of a letter was handed to you by the principal.

To: Y/n

By the time you read this, I’d have gone out the same way my old man did. I don’t know what you’re doing, nor do I know how you’re feeling, but I just want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not letting you apologise all those months. I regret not acting quicker than Kageyama. If you’re crying right now (which you probably aren’t), I want you to stop. Wipe those tears from that pretty face of yours, and forget about me. Forget I ever existed. But please just remember,

I love you.

From: Kei

Your tears stained the paper as you dropped it, a knot seemingly making its way into your throat as you fell to the floor, whimpering and sobbing like a madwoman.

Why? Why did this happen?

Perhaps it was because yesterday wasn’t just any other day.

References:

Heather- Conan Gray

1 SIDED LOVE- Blackbear

Suicidal thoughts- The Notorious B.I.G.

Lyrics to all three of the songs

A lot of worrying google searches

Hi yes I love making you sad and I love making people depressed.

I’m sorry.

Not.

Tags:

@poppirocks @caxsthetic @burnt-tomato @writeiolite @atsumus-squeling-pig @just-another-bored-writer @for-ests @bokutokoutarou @artsamber @thirstyvolleyballhoe

#haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu scenarios #hq x reader #hq tsukki #hq yamaguchi #hq kageyama #conan gray #blackbear #heather #1 sided love #biggie smalls #suicidal thoughts #tsukishima kei #yamaguhi tadashi #kageyama tobio #im sorry

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utterlyinevitable · 4 years ago

Note

For the Directors Cut - something, everything, or anything about For All the Lies.

And if you don't mind saying, why didn't he keep in touch?

That fic still breaks my heart whenever I think about it ❤️

Ruby, you have no idea how excited I was to get this about FATL 😄 I am gonna re-read and will tell you anything and everything you’d ever wanna know 💗

Starting with the idea...

It was a dream scene I had with someone I used to know my muse - the two of us meeting after all this time, harboring old unresolved feelings but coming to terms with how life panned out. Some time’s you’re just not meant to be with someone and there’s a greater happiness out there to grasp.

So I just realized that the first line makes no sense and I should probably change it 😂

I did initially want Becca to be engaged to Bryce but thought better of it. She left her life at Edenbrook behind for a job far away, being with Bryce meant that there was always a possibility for her to come back - an teeny tiny opening where she could potentially fall back into Ethan. The finality of her fiancé being some unknown guy just felt right. Someone whom no one knew existed could finally, actually give her everything she’s always wanted and never knew she needed.

In my mind Becca accepted the fellowship somewhere between the Gwyneth case and the Senator incident (which ultimately never happened in this timeline). Her and Ethan were getting closer, though for every time he kissed her he’d then be super strict and assert his position as her boss. Very waffley and she was not here for that after 1.5 years. With Edenbrook going under, Ethan being mad at her for turning the team for-profit, and the hospital cutting jobs, Becca did the one thing she knew she could do: used her clout as Dr. Banerji’s savior to secure a fellowship abroad and keep some other Edenbrook doctor off the budgetary chopping block. What really was left in Boston for her anyway?

She and Ethan had one last night together before she made her decision. He was completely unaware she had even applied, treating the night like any other with them having takeout in his office looking over their respective files. He pushed her away. They had a little fight. The next morning she accepted the position. Ethan found out she was leaving in an email she sent to Dr. Banerji and CC’d him on. He responded with a simple: “Congratulations. I have every faith you will make an invaluable addition to their team.”

Becca left and got a new local phone number. He could have emailed her personal account, but a part of him was definitely hurt. If she wanted to hear from him she would reach out, he told himself whenever she crept into his thoughts. For Becca it was easier to let go, he’d broken her heart one too many times. And just like him she thought if he wanted her in his life he would have reached out - he did know what new hospital she’d be working at.

It was Ethan’s turn to feel abandoned, just like he did to her. Except this time she wasn’t coming back. There wouldn’t be a reset button or a chance to do things over in two months when she returned from her sabbatical. His pride took a serious hit. But he still kept tabs on his protégé - he had a google alert with her name. Any time it pinged with a new published work of hers, he was always the first one to order a copy. He missed her but he was so proud of the brilliant doctor he knew she would become.

Having them meet at Harper’s engagement party was a happy accident, though now I really like how she’s shown how a workaholic can change their habits and find love and happiness. I wanted a place where Bryce and Ethan would definitely be dressed up in suits but nothing involving medicine. It’s also morbidly funny to have Ethan be witness to both the incredible women he lost move on and find happiness in their lives without him. He’s kinda stuck in his small box of ethics and morals. Which as we all know got in the way of his relationships.

Aurora’s purpose here was to subtly reassert that Bryce is a friend and not fiancé.

I’d like to think that Ethan felt Becca’s presence the moment she entered the gates on Bryce’s arm. Like even though he was at the back of the garden yards and yards away, somehow he could smell her perfume swirling in the air around him. Unsettling and alert. Then his eyes fell on her and he couldn’t believe it. He inched closer and closer until luckily she was alone and he could muster the courage to face his biggest regret.

God I wish I could paint the picture that’s in my head of the two of them when she turns around and acknowledges him. It breaks my heart. All that yearning and pent up anxiety and months and months of tears packaged in the faint acknowledgement of “Dr. Ramsey”. Everything just fades away when their eyes lock onto one another and it’s like no time had passed - one week, two years, three decades - none of that mattered in the other’s presence. There’s this underlying feeling that if he was just brave enough to pick up where they left off and saw sorry that she’d forgive him and run away with him. That is, if he had the courage to do that before she committed to another man four months ago. A part of Becca always held onto the idea that he’d find her again. But the moment - no, a about four weeks after her fiancé proposed she finally put her childish crush in the past for good. Where it belonged.

I like to think that Ethan and Becca were friends. So old times for them would be dancing at a highbrow event he was forced to attend and invited her just because he liked the company, he’d drive her to a shopping center after work sometimes when she needed to get a lot of items she couldn’t carry on the subway, or window shopping during their coffee breaks.

They were always respectful of the other’s boundaries for the most part. Except when eyes and hands would linger a little longer than they should have. Except for when innocent lip biting became too enticing. Except when they drank a little more than usual and just enough to act on their emotions. Except for when they were at his apartment, and when they recalled the few times they gave in intern year.

Becca’s hand at his chest is always over his heart. Ever since Miami she’s held his heart in the palm of her hand. Then there’s also the practicality of it being there to push him away if she needed to.

Ethan knew she was engaged. He heard it through the Edenbrook grapevine and then saw it on Pictagram to confirm the rumor - he hadn’t logged into the damn app since he used it to make sure she landed in her new homeland safely. But having her in his arms now and knowing this fact... it was all so confusing. He couldn’t believe it. One of these had to be fake. He hoped it was the ring on her finger.

As he twirled it back and forth, both of them were taken aback and just a little guilty.

She mindfully thanked her fiance for once again knowing her and her needs better than she herself did.

This is the other bit I put in just to hone that Bryce is not Mr. Becca.

I went through so many things of what Ethan could say to move the conversation along and literally nothing felt right. As much as I wanted them to jump in and talk about what happened in their absence, the awkward tension between them had to reign supreme. There is no reason these two near-lovers should have been comfortable enough to bare all their insecurities, especially when they still harbor feelings for one another. Though they try to push past it with banter.

The ghostly smile I imagine on Ethan’s lips when he tells her he read her book. It breaks and warms my heart. And Becca completely not knowing that he would read it? It’s like she never really knew him at all. Of course he was going to keep track of her career no matter what happened in their personal life. This stemmed from the idea that there are people in my life that I’m not close with and haven’t spoken to in years, but I still keep track of them and support their businesses and endeavors. I’m proud to have them as someone I used to know.

Becca was going to ask him How he was which is why she let him continue his question.

In this moment Becca recalled every single thing that kept her from reaching out. If she reached out she’d be letting him back in. She’d be letting him break her once more. If Ethan didn’t date her while they were in the same city, there was no way they could have a future if they’re an ocean apart indefinitely. I think this “Ethan...” is more exasperation compared to the later one.

These two idiots should have confessed how much they love one another ages ago. That way they probably wouldn’t be in this position and she wouldn’t have left to ‘reset’.

The hand motions between them is everything. Ethan squeezing hers to keep her close, her squeezing back to pull an answer from him. Him going slack in her arms and having to take a step back like the admission knocked the wind out of him. Her moving back into place like a magnet, her hand going back to his heart. His hand going over hers, letting his fingers fall through the cracks. Her immediately balling her hand up so he couldn’t linger in the space she left for him anymore - effectively finally shutting him out and not holding him in her palm anymore. Not holding onto him anymore.

And then there’s the last three bittersweet lines that kill me every single time.

That’s all we ever want for someone we care about - for them to be happy, right? If it couldn’t be him because he threw away every single chance she served up to him on a silver platter then Ethan guesses he’s glad it’s a man who know what kind of ring she needed and put a smile on her face.

[I think I lost the plot of this commentary thing oops]

#starrystarrytrouble #asked #fatl #directors cut #my magnum opus #does any of this actually make sense?#didn't edit just word vomitted sorry #if you have more questions PLEASE @ ME #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc

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aperfecttimeforscreaming · 5 years ago

Text

AN EXCHANGE OF MEAT

Late valentines day ZADR drabble, extremely nsfw, takes place in the #izspacetrash universe NSFW 18+ Warning: Petplay, Zussy, Choking, Power play, Power theft, Over-stimulation, flirtatious bullying

Back on Irk, coupling is illegal. It’s a big deal for humans because they can’t name a rock without forming an emotional attachment, for Irkens however, there’s no reason for the law to even be in place. As a species we have evolved past the need to interact with others. Every individual in the empire has the potential to be a sturdy, self sustaining island unto themselves. We’re built better than every sentient stain in all the known everything!! We have YET to encounter anything that even compares to our size and MIGHT. The last fertile cluster of Irkens died out a thousand decades ago. Every irken is cloned and easily replaced if not functioning at maximum capacity.

So, the desire to do more than indulge yourself is...low. There’s no reason to involve another irken in the matters of ones…..self congratulation.The practice of an EMOTIONAL and spiritual coupling fell out of favor long before we learned to control our natural impulses.

If this is all true (and it is), how can I feel so much for the vicious neanderthal that calls me his? Dib was working on one of his drones as I sat in the dark pocket of the lower bunk bed, the bed itself built into the wall of a home on wheels. Dibs white rectangular fat assed Arr Vee was parked behind a dunky doughnuts so that we could stay out of the sightline of main roads and siphon power to recharge the vehicles battery. See, the outside of Dibs roaming home looks like any other shitty old caravan. In fact, it is more like Dib’s own mobile base. The battered shell outside the chrome and black and blue innards of the crisp sterile mobile lab are no more than a clever disguise. An infuriatingly smart trick. It’s a trick wrapped around stolen Irken technology and it’s to our collective benefit that everything stays hidden. It’s more comfortable being a prisoner, knowing that Dib has become secretive of his most prized belongings. Legs crossed, back pressed to the wall, chin in hand I was thinking my thoughts.

My hand drifted down my neck to trace the soft top edge of the lined matte black metal collar locked around my neck. I felt at the difference in texture between the soft barely there fuzz on my skin and the smooth cool metal. It had been locked there for thirty one days, ten hours, six minuets and eleven seconds. It’s some fluke of nature that Dib is as smart as he is. At one point in my career as an invader I theorized that as humans grew taller, their brain shrunk to make up for the increase in body mass. With Dibs lineage, this is less so. As an adult he is only more cunning, more dangerous, more cloyingly obsessive, more driven. He neglects his sleep to work. He works with the single minded diligence of an Irken researcher. His drive to excel in his field transcends the greasy smelly differences between our kinds. The efficiency he commands my own technology with rivals that of a practiced PAK technician. He’s studied the things I left behind on earth for 14 of his years, and it shows. With a single steady bare claw I traced the shape of the emblem embossed onto my collar tag. Dibs skull shaped symbol, displayed in shiny silver across the front of my neck at all times. An unnecessary humiliation that marks me as one of many stolen treasures. I feel its shape on the bare pad of my finger and silently kiss my teeth, stung by the reality that Dib thought of it first. If the world was just, if things made sense, things would have been flipped, things should have been different. If I really am the more advanced life form, I have no excuse for his subjugation. Thirty one days, ten hours, seven minutes and forty fucking seconds.

From my dark hideaway I could see him, hunched over his desk with the posture of a scoliosis king. A bright white desk light illuminates the front of him and reflects off the cobalt blue shine of his protective eyewear. The blue strips of emergency LED light that mark out the floor area catch the underside of his form, and stripe the wrinkles of his sloppy mechanics smock in toxic blue slivers. Through the gap in the curtains in front of him, I could make out a flickering yellow street light. Dibs sigh broke through the silence. He set down his tool and leaned back in his chair, away from the open shell of the drone he’d been repairing. I watched him drag a long fingered skeletal hand back through his greasy weird hair, and watched the unruly sprig of bone and black people fur spring back up as his hand passed it. “You’re quiet.” The human announced, obviously. Before he could twist the rotating chair around to face me I let my hand fall into my lap and folded both hands neatly together. “My brain is loud.” It needed no explanation, but Dib had demanded the cause. Slouched back in his chair, I watched him copy how I had my fingers folded into each other. His eyebrows arched high on his forehead and crinkled his sweaty brow. “You’re thinking? You’re capable of thought?” He’d lick his loathsome incisors and grin. “Damn, I’ll have to correct my notes. I thought the metal parasite on your back did all that for you.” “IT’S NOT A PARASITE! I TOLD YOU! It’s as ME as the rest of ME!” The corners of Dibs eyes crinkled with delight as he watched me retrace the fact. “MY PAK stores the thoughts of my brain jelly- it’s not responsible for my depthy, nuanced original thoughts. It’s all to my benefit. Your simple animal mind can’t BEGIN to perceive the archives of information, understanding and theorizing, locked away between my two magnificent thought centers.” On my knees at the side of the bed, I pointed to my skull, illustrating the thing Dib wished to understand but could never fully unravel. He reached up to peel the lenses of the goggles from the hollows of his eye sockets. As Dib deftly replaced them with the large circular frames of his glasses, he spat noise at me. “You’ve beaten that dead horse to a pulp, Zim. I don’t think your PAK is any different than a circuit board hardwired to the brain of a roach. You’re just as animal as I am. Only, your issues stem from being part evil cyborg, and mine stem from trauma.” Sunny as a blistering summers day, he grinned at me. Smugness radiates from him like pulsar blips, and my innards are assaulted by tight gripping trembles. I tense my core muscles to keep my tymbal from rattling at the slightest provocation. With my antenna pitched slightly forwards, I can smell the pheromones on his sweat. I crossed my arms over my chest, raised my chin, curled my lip at him to flash fangs. “Tch. Zim is no creature. You’re the animal here. You have the technology to advance yourselves into a race of space faring monstrosities, and yet all you want to occupy yourselves with is the pursuit of earthly pleasure. Your kind construct elaborate rituals just to try and rutt against each other. It could be so much simpler!!!” Dib scratched his chin, nonplussed. “Yeah, I never really got all that either. We do have dating apps and that can simplify things if you don’t account for catfishing, and people who straight up lie about themselves just to get their dick wet.” I grimaced at the mental image of a wet human phallus. I re-contextualized the image in my head and imagined the organ as Dibs. I bit the inside of my cheek. “Sooooo… what? As you get older you stop exchanging meats, and instead swap false personal information?” Dib laughed, quick and dry, brimming with unearned superiority. “Oh, fuck- what you mean like what we did back in grade school?” He sat up, leaned in closer to me. Elbows folded on his knees he hunched closer. I could smell his breath on my antenna. Coffee and sugar and bacteria filled my senses and the stalks flicked quickly backwards at the olfactory intrusion. “Yeah I don’t really know why we did that. I have a theory it’s all metaphorical, some kind of mind manipulation game the government was playing with kids to get them to associate “love” with “flesh”. I mean, you know what “meat” alludes to, right?” My face screwed up as I searched my brain for obvious answers. “MMHhn. HHHMN. Pain? Obviously, pain. Emotional...badness.Maybe hormone tampering. Disease?” Dib was already getting out his phone, snickering to himself as he does when he knows something I do not. I kept going. “Death? Blood? Salt? Disgust? The inevitability of the cycle of consumption? How you’re all doomed to be slaughtered by a greater predatory force?” “No. No- what?” He cocked an eyebrow as he looked back up at me. I wanted to rip the piercing out of it. “No. Shut up and look at these.” Dib held out his portable telephone slab to me and on it I saw a digital gallery of meat related memes. The phrase “beat my meat” was prevalent. There were photos of hammers pounding sickly off grey slabs of deceased pig muscle, and a man dusting a sprinkling of salt or spice over a carved rib of bovine corpse.

My head pulled back, giving me the appearance of multiple chins of disgust. My gut churned as I turned my head away. “Why would you show me those??! THEY’RE REVOLTING!!”

Dib frowned, irritated, and put his phone away. “The “meat” those memes are talking about? It references human JUNK- y’know, genitalia? The memes aren’t talking about actual dead farm animals. And, that’s what I’m saying.” He put his large warm hand on my shoulder and continued, sure to hold my eye contact as he put the curl of his thick broad thumb against my cloth covered collar bone. I tensed my guts to keep my tymbal from rattling. “The government has skool children trade literal meat, so we get the idea early on that we’re supposed to exchange our "meat" with people we're attracted to. So that way, we learn to breed, and the men in power get more workers and soldiers and grease for the wheels of their self destructing machine.” My eyes flicked to look at his hand- the long pale olive fingers, the beaten fight scarred knuckles. My gaze then returned to Dibs humorless expression. “That’s a… problem?” Dib groaned, he rolled his eyes, he took his hand off my shoulder.

It slid down to my hip, his free hand mirrored the motion and I was lifted up from the bed and onto my humans lap. He held me there and growled at me in frustration. “YEAh! Zim! It’s a problem! If people are going to have sex it should be their own choice to do so, it isn’t something we should be culturally brainwashed into accepting! And we don’t NEED to do it! Some people are asexual- some people don’t want children and-” Dib rambled, on and on, laying out the injustices of an archaic capitalist system reliant on the breeding whims of its workers. I couldn’t help but wonder how much of the argument was fueled by Dibs xenophilic leanings and revulsion towards his own kind. I gave less than a quarter of a shit about the very political tangent my human was going off on, but I did like how Dibs lap made for a nice sitting surface, and how the heat of his angry body felt against my skin. As Dib spoke I smoothed out the front of his damp black wife beater absentmindedly, my expression unmoved. As my hand rested in the center of Dibs chest, I patted him, I then mock pouted at him. “Poor Dib, how he’s been rejected by his own kind at every turn. How hard it must’ve been for you! Brainwashed into needing the fuck, harassed by the need for fuck with noooo options for how to obtain it!!”

That got him to glare at me, and my spine tingled for it. I grinned as he countered; “You’re missing the point.” And I kept going. “Addicted to the unknown feeling he can never hope to attain, his vile monster meat might have shriveled up without the wetness- like an unwatered flower! Like a rotting length of carrot! Like a bundle of seaweed on a beach, growing drier and nastier the longer it’s left alone, collecting nothing but mold and botfly eggs and-” Dib grabbed me by the throat. His hand closed around my throat. He gave a warning squeeze as he told me to shut up and I peeped in response.

Lowly, my tymbal rattled.

Dibs narrowed angry eyes softened as he caught the surprised chirp of arousal.

The words on my tongue stalled at the tight curling of his long fingers as they overlapped my neck.

“Even if that was how things worked, I’m not at risk of that anymore, am I?”

Dib looked at me with a gaze that implored an answer, and I shrugged coyly. As he frowned and squeezed harder I gagged, my stomach fluttered and a chirp rattled out of me far clearer than the first.

"Mhhn. That's what I thought."

Dib hummed, his human purr was deep and infuriating. He used his free hand to shift my placement on his long thigh, so that I straddled his thigh as he choked me. My eyes began to water as he raised up his knee and gently bounced my vent against his leg.

There is nothing playmates can do for eachother that a squidgyblit cannot also achieve the end goal of. However, being choked while your nemesis grinds your pleasure center against his leg hits differently.

I moaned with a grimace. I scowled at him as he drew another choked out squirm from my body. Unpleasant as the sensation of constriction around my throat was, we both knew the short term strangulation wouldn't kill me. It was a comfortable routine and Dib continued his gloating games.

"You think you can resist all this? You think you can resist the urge to get absolutely wrecked- by someone who's going to lovingly put all your pieces back together when he's done? You need me as bad as I need you, you fucking moron."

He’s wrong. I don’t need him. But, his games are so amusing, they’re so entertaining. It’s such a thrill to be obsessed over. If he ever knew that, it would all go to his head. As bad as he already was, there was ample room for things to get worse. Dib pressed his fingers up underneath my jaw and held my mouth shut. My growl came out as a choking sound, I tried to open my mouth wider and he put his free hand on my shoulder as a threat. “Shhh. You don’t need to talk right now. Why don’t you show me what you want?” I glared, I tried to hack out a rebuttal, but he didn’t want that. Pink heat spread across the skin of my face plate, I chirped and ground my slick vent slowly against the black jean fabric of his thigh. In doing so, I inspired an unhinged smile to pull across his gaunt snout.

He released my throat and my posture bent, towards him as I gasped. My throat opened back up, and my PAK hummed softly as it began to replenish its oxygen reserves.

Dib patted my warm cheek with his hand. “That’s a good boy.” He mocked softly. I was well within my right to bite him. His hands settled on the bone of my hips, I watched his eyes pass over my head and point towards the bunk behind me. The curious gentle twitching of my antenna caught the heat of his words as they stood on end, and I lifted my chin to glare up at him. “Is that really what your brain was being so “loud” over? You’re still angry about our arrangement?” My lip twitched, it’s downwards arch could not have been more dramatic. “HOW could I not be mad about it? You know better than ANYONE what a powerful beacon of mayhem my existence is- that I can be controlled by someone as misshapen and weasley as you is a blistering amount of shame for Zim- full offense.” As I spoke his fingers laid over the small of my back, he rubbed along my tense lower spine and his gentle ministrations forced my aggressively postured antenna to lower. “Oh, full offense taken. But I know you’re happy about it. Deep down, somewhere in your cold blooded brain, there’s a tiny Zim just glowing over how it feels to be fully appreciated. You’re a hideously evil space terror, I can’t take that away from you by loving you. And I wouldn’t want to.” The heat in my face wouldn’t stop, the fluttering sickly feeling in my guts wouldn’t go away. Like knotted strings being unwound or spider web being gently tugged by a trapped fruit fly, the vibrations of his words unwound my nerves. I had to look away from him to speak, the weight of his useless human affection was too heavy to bare the brunt of head on. It was blasphemy that something a horny ugly alien said to me could mean more than the approval of any tallest. “MMMhhNNG. Stop making words.” I growled politely. Dib chuckled without malice, he curled in over me to press his lips to the crest of my skull. “You love serving me.” “Phheh. Zim loves nothing.” “You love what I’ve done to you, Zim. And I can prove it.” Dib lifted me up to move us onto the bunk bed, and bumped the front of his proportionally massive head against the shelf of the top bunk. “Fuck-ow,” “HAH!”

I reached up to hit the button on the bottom of the shelf, and the top bunk folded up against the wall behind it. As the mechanical components hissed, Dib rubbed his five head. “Yeah? That’s funny? You think your master getting brain damage is just hilarious don’t you?”

“If my “master” (I used my fingers to make mock air quotes) is dumb enough to turn his brain to garbage when we aren’t even under attack, he’s not showing mastery over anything, is he?” Dib dropped me out of his arms and onto the bed, I landed with a yelp of surprise though the impact came painlessly. “HEY!”

With his teeth clenched and his eyes narrowed Dibs hands flew over my body, grabbing and groping, pulling off boots and leggings, striping me of the new uniform I’d been given, replacing dark blue cloth with an expanse of green skin. There was ample evidence to suggest Dibs need was as urgent as my own, from his feverish actions to the telltale tenting at the front of his tight emo boy pants. He needed me. I gave a quick shiver twitch at the feeling of air on my exposed skin, and hissed at him. He pinned my chest down with one hand, and sneered at me as the other cupped over my pelvis. “Your standards are way too fucking high for someone who screws up constantly.” I grinned at him with challenging eyes as my legs folded up and opened. “Where would your challenge be if I lowered them, Dib?” His middle finger split the wet slit of my vent open. He traced the sensitive pink interior and I had no choice but to draw in an afflicted breath. The finger slid deeper, he brushed the base of my wriggling dwarf ovipositor, and the distraction sent my antenna fully back. “You, crave conquest.” I crooned, distracted. Sensations continued. I felt the shivers of pleasure in the back of my teeth, my tymbal rattled with quick twitching clicks each time his middle finger teased the inch length of my pink wiggly hot button. “You don’t know what I crave, Zim.” I cackled, light and airy and I gripped the blankets beside my face. I bit my lip and looked at him. His thumb slid into my slit and he gently pinched his fingers around my “dick”. I gasped sharply. I kicked out a heel as he pressed firmly enough to make me whine. I could not help how my eyes wanted to roll back into my skull at the continued friction, but I swear I caught the reddening of his cheeks before vision became meaningless. I do know. I chirped, I moaned, I rubbed my cheek into the soft blankets stained with floral detergent as the tingling feeling of goodness rolled from my loins up the rest of my body. I felt good, and I made it LOOK good. Dib likes to watch me writhe, and in return he rubbed over and over, again and again he rubbed, till it seemed I was breaching a new level of tingly bliss with every passing second. “But, I know what you want, don’t I?” I groaned in disagreement, his fingers stalled on my sex, then his thumb rubbed small twitching strokes at it’s base. I trembled all over at the teasing agitation, and breathed out hard. “MHn, you’ve… got AN idea, of it.” Dibs motions were less practiced as he set out to release his tube steak from it’s denim cage, but he didn’t move his hand from the source of my sultry keening sounds. He wouldn’t, I had been so SO fucking good to him. Letting him work uninterrupted without a single complaint of boredom. I hadn’t tried to attack him in DAYS. It was a personal best record at the time. I was overdue for a reward.

“UHM, EXCUSE YOU??” Dib took his hand out of my vent and I sat bolt upright on my elbows, glaring at him in a sex flushed daze as I watched him inch the clothing down his nearly non-existent ass. “I WAS BUSY. Who said you could STOP?”

He pushed me back down, grabbed my leg and sharply fixed himself between my open thighs. “I’m not stopping, you know I’m not stopping you shrill shitty bedbug.” It spiraled into more routine. In the act of copulation I could always count on the sensation of his fingers sliding into my orifice to pull it’s tight walls steadily open. I could feel all the bumps and ridges, the rough calluses, the finger pad curling around my core and pulling delicious sensation from the thing inside me that made my guts twitch and tremble and rattle like a sack of angry crickets. It didn’t take much. I didn’t need long, and he wasn’t willing to hold off from indulging in the ambrosial clutch of a wanting Irken tunnel. I groaned as he withdrew three of his fingers from me, pulling with them a thin strand of pinkish slick that broke and collapsed over my cleft. I trembled, I hissed in disgust with myself as Dib aligned the head of his extraterrestrial shaft with it’s destination. As he looked down on me, he commanded. “Beg.” “What?” My head cocked, one antenna lifted while the other lowered, my hand reached up to wipe the pearling sweat from my brow. “Really???” He ground his length into the gooey mess he’d left my vent in, I grit my teeth as my tymbal rumbled. “Yeah. Really Zim.” “Mhgghh.” Eyes closed I tensed as the friction of dick on dick action swayed my compliance. “ Plleeeeeaaaase.” “Please what?~” I tried to scowl at Dibs goading, but his grinding made me bite my own tongue. “You have to say it, pet. I won’t give it to you unless you ask properly.” The nickname is a scorning stinging wound that burbles and pops like a pollution born wound, it feels like a hot sudden burn, it catches me the way his fingers do when they clamp around my most intimate points. In the most pathetic of tones and volumes, I answer my mate; “Please, please fill me with your cum, master Dib.” I was rewarded by a hand coming to stroke across my skull. He cradled the dome of my head and caught one of my antenna stalks between his fingers. With the same care he gave my cock, he gently strokes the black hairs to reward me. “Good boy. Good bug.” When the rutting commences sense tumbles out the window in a broken screeching fury, like an escaped chimp on meth, like a rat on fire making a break for water. I lose my fucking mind to the reactions of my body. The vehicle rocks under us with the power of Dibs mighty thrusts.He fills me so deeply with his oversized ovipositor, I can feel his pulsing want bulging against the skin of my stomach at full hilt. When he finally spills in me I am so wound up that I have already hit my climax twice over. I snarl, I lean into him and the lips I have put to his salty skin part so I can taste his sweat on my tongue. My jaws open wider, and as Dib grunts, at the height of his peak, I bite hard enough to puncture his fragile skin on the edge of my teeth. The red taste of metal is smeared over my lips, on my tongue, over the pasty tan palette of his shoulder muscle. Dib hisses air in through his teeth. “You couldn’t- you couldn’t help yourself, could you?” His panting breath stalls his words, a red tinted smile spread across my fuck drunk face. I licked my lips as I replied, and watched a thin trail of human red meet up with the black fabric of his shirt and diffuse into it.

“No, no I couldn’t.” I hummed back at him. In the state of high endorphine swing I am not fully myself. Everything was brighter, lighter, more exciting. A hazy happy drugged exisence takes hold of me and sways me to Dibs whims. As he pulls out of me, he sighs with a shivering buzz. “Then, you’re not done yet.” In a matter of minutes Dib is redressed while I remain naked, wrists and ankles shackled to the four rectangular points of the bunk via metal shackles that the walls of the Arr Vee spat out. I was only just beginning to come out of my fogy mental state when my human retrieved a black blunt vibration wand from a drawer of tormenting devices. Over the following hour I grew more and more delirious as Dib wrung my body out for increasingly mind crushing orgasms. Things stopped having meaning, Dibs taunting words lost their sense, and I rattled straight through to my bones. That I could not pull my limbs in towards myself and protect my body from the assault of sensation had at one point been disquieting, but then and there, it encouraged me to let go of my resistance. I had let go of my fruitless delusions, I had given myself up to Dib, and Dib did not stop till I was crying with the intensity of multiple peaks.

It made up for everything else that had happened. The blinding beacon of his smothering affections absorbed me in it’s garish embrace as he unshackled me from the walls. He cleaned me, he held me in a folded blanket till the shaking of my overwhelmed body stopped. My prickly insults bounced off him like harmless pebbles of sand. The Dib stroked over my antenna, groomed them with the sex scented oils of his fingers, the Arr Vee reaked of the smell of our sins. Accepting Dibs terms of affection is illegal, but I’m defective anyways, aren’t I?

#screaming//#izspacetrash #zadr #zadr fuck fick because in this they bone #no fuckin minors allowed

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thatanonwiththeoc · 4 years ago

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The Taste of Coffee Ch. 2

A Lukagami fic. Read on AO3

Part 1

woah where’d this sudden jump in writing quality come from??

quick thank you to two people before the fic begins!

@15megapixels-mlb who inspired me to kickstart this project by feeding some quality lukagami as well as recc’ing it to their followes

and @hermionemonica who also helped write an amazing marichat fic called Cause I knew I was in love with you (when we sat in silence). highly recommend it for the fluff and hurt/comfort lovers

Onto the fic fhaskjlfhas

“Kagami…”

Kagami looked up from the guitar in her hands.

“I’m not saying you’re not capable-”

She looked Luka straight in the eye. “I’m going to get it, I swear. Just watch me”

“Of course you will.” He smiled. That idiotic handsome smile. “I don’t doubt you, not for one second.”

Although it would’ve sounded sarcastic coming from anyone else, Luka was nothing if not sincere in his words. He shifted in the couch to face her better, though the guitar on his lap didn’t exactly do them any favors. The couch was already cramped as is.

“I’m just saying that I think this piece is proving to be a little… out there. At least, for now.”

Kagami quirked her brow. “What do you mean?”

He paused, looking away to consider his words. It was at least somewhat comforting to know he was being careful in what he said. But another nagging part of her begged to know what was going on in his mind. But like all other impolite impulses, she quelled it. Being rude wouldn’t prove very useful at the moment.

“I just think you’re struggling a bit is all.”

Kagami shot him an unimpressed look. “The struggle is what makes the end result worth it.”

“Of course it does.” Luka nodded in agreement. “But there’s also the fact that you’re gonna drive yourself insane trying to push yourself this hard.”

She should’ve figured that he’d say something like that. Of course, pushing herself was what she was good at. The outside of her comfort zone was her comfort zone. It was one of the things that made her the person she was today. Perseverance and determination were her pillars, and she’d be damned if those ever fell. It was frankly, sort of surprising that he hadn’t picked up on that yet. Wasn’t he supposed to be the type to be able to read people?

Their lessons had been going on for a few weeks now, and she could’ve sworn she was making good progress. She’d learned a fair bit in the past month and a half. Not to mention that Luka’s constant encouragement and commendation only fuelled her desire to keep going; keep pushing herself and see how far she could go.

Kagami tilted her head. “What do you suggest, then?”

Looking back up to meet his eyes, she brought both hands to rest on the hunk of wood on her lap. Darn thing.

“We’re going to learn another song.” Luka said.

“Another one?” She questioned.

“Yes, another one.” He readied his hands into a playing position. “Here, you remember this chord, right?” He fretted a chord with practiced ease and strummed. The sound rang out as clear as day, shimmering in the air.

She followed to do the same. “Right, of course.” Kagami tried to follow, trying to mimic the posture down to the angle of his hand as well as the curl of the fingers. She had to adjust the way her fingers pressed down on the strings a few times and she hated how long it took for it to feel comfortable enough. No matter how hard she tried, it just felt weird and unnatural. Her fingers never really moved in the way she wanted it to. Instead, it seemed as if they chose to get in the way. Bringing her right wrist up, she tried to attack the strings in the same way Luka did.

Keyword: ‘tried’. A dissonant buzz came out of her guitar. It was nasty and grating. Kagami had to resist the urge to cringe at her own incompetence. How was she going to expect to learn if she couldn’t even play a single chord?

Was Luka giggling?!

Kagami glared. “Is something funny?”

“No, no.” He waved a hand in front of him, looking down while his laughter subsided. “You’re so tense, Kagami! Loosen up a bit!” As if to illustrate his point he rolled his shoulders and looked at her expectantly. Kagami did the same, trying to will the tension in her shoulders to run back to whatever pathetic hole they crawled out of.

She took a deep breath and loosened herself. She could do this.

Kagami raised her wrist once again.

And strummed.

This time, what came out of the guitar was something she could actually call half-decent. It wasn’t as smooth or as clean as she heard Luka did, but it was a start. And a start was where many adventures began. Only this time, she wasn’t alone in taking it.

“Great!” Luka praised. He began strumming up and down to a moderate tempo. He nodded and smiled, signalling for her to do the same. Simple, she could do that. Kagami copied the way his arm went up and down, striking the strings with just enough force so it would be heard yet still sound somewhat musical. Her playing was nowhere near as polished as his was, but it was something.

“And then play D!” He called, shifting onto another chord. Kagami felt a quick rush of panic before she was able to follow. After fumbling with her fingers for what felt like an eternity (seriously, how was he able to transition that quickly?), she finally got the shape down and pressed into the neck with enough force to make the strings play again. A messy mistake, but nothing a little hard work couldn’t fix.

Looking away from her hands and towards Luka, she saw that he looked like he was having the time of his life. His head was rocking from side to side to the rhythm of the music while he boasted the widest grin on his face. His eyes were closed, like he was losing himself in the music, and that was what he lived for. The boy’s stupid ignorance was so contagious she couldn’t help but smile as her shoulders felt a little lighter. He was definitely cute, she’d admit that much. Marinette wasn’t just teasing, after all.

She hastily ignored the butterflies in her stomach.

He’d only come out of his haze to call the next chord. They kept going like that, switching between the two chords. It was relatively easy compared to the piece she was trying to learn before, so she had him to thank for that. It wasn’t long before she was able to anticipate when the next change would come, and she was able to settle into a flow. Even stiffly bobbing her head to the rhythm along with him.

But Luka surprised her.

He started singing.

Kagami didn’t recognize the lyrics. Or song, for that matter. She was much too entranced by how joyous he was, sharing his passion with someone else. As he sang, he added the occasional embellishment to the chords he was playing, complimenting her own playing like the colors on a blank canvas. Maybe that was what he thought of when he played music.

Art in its most raw, visceral form.

Beautiful.

And maybe, just by the tiniest bit, Kagami wanted to find herself lost in that little world of his too.

It was strangely intimate, being able to join him when he was in that state, but he didn’t seem to mind. None of her research ever prepared her for ‘What To Do When Playing Music With Your Friend.”. But strangely, she felt calm. A delightful feeling of belonging settled within Kagami, and she wanted it to stay there. And the smile one her face felt too good to pass up.

Eventually, the song came to a close when Luka finished the song with a concluding strum, loud enough that it made her flinch. She hadn’t even noticed she was staring until he looked back at her, and she immediately felt her stomach drop. How could she let herself get carried away like that? And more importantly, how were his strings still intact after that brutal attack?

All questions were immediately discarded however when Luka laughed and held out his hand. Yes! Another high-five!

Kagami smacked it with what she hoped would convey her enthusiasm. A smile (a natural one, she hoped) was still on her face after being able to ‘jam’ with him. She hadn’t known that playing music would be this fun. But he just kept surprising her.

“You did awesome! I’m really impressed!” Luka still seemed on a high from his playing. And if Kagami was completely honest with herself, so was she. She wasn’t aware of that peak until she came crawling down from it.

“Thank you.” When she removed her fingers from the strings, she felt a stinging pain surge through them. She hissed as she rubbed the sore fingertips. When did that get there?

She heard Luka’s voice from beside her. “You alright, Kagami?”

“I’m fine.” If he was alright, then she was too. She only wished she knew that playing guitar would mean her fingers would hurt every time. It was very much enjoyable to her, but Kagami couldn’t help but wonder how Luka was able to play that much without showing any signs of discomfort whatsoever. He must’ve gotten used to the pain. That was the only explanation she could think of.

Luka leaned in closer, concerned. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

It was then that Luka realized she was massaging her fingertips idly. His eyes flew open and a knowing smile found its way onto her face. Ah, this was the part where he was going to start looking down on her for being fresh meat, wasn’t it?. She’d already gone through this with fencing, and she wasn’t looking forward to doing this again-

“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly normal.” Luka assured, and put the guitar back behind the couch. Kagami had already discarded the instrument, as it lay on the floor to the side.

Kagami winced. “How do you deal with the pain?”

“Oh, simple. I don’t.” He winked.

Her brow furrowed. “What?” At her confusion, he snickered. She was glad he was finding her predicament amusing.

“After you play enough, you get callus on your fingers. See?” He held out his left hand in front of him.

She wasn’t even aware of how close he was to her until that exact moment. His knee was brushing up against hers, and he didn’t seem to notice that his face was now only a few centimetres away from hers. Close enough that she could smell his scent. Not wanting to lose the moment, she chose not to mention it. The close proximity was warm; welcoming. And she didn’t want to ruin that. She had to admit, it was pretty nice.

Kagami brought out her hand to slightly graze the tips of his fingers. Sure enough, the skin there was tough; rough to the touch yet still gentle in the way he touched her own hand. Kagami wondered how long it would take until her own hands would be like that. Without thinking, she gently gripped his wrist with her other hand, absentmindedly rubbing the skin there.

She ran a thumb across the tips of his fingers, trying to get a better feel for him. It was like little tingles of electricity rushed through her fingers and up her arm, escaping through her spine, because she had to resist the urge to shiver. Nonetheless, the heat in her cheeks was there. Almost warm enough that he may have felt it too.

When she looked up and met his bright blue eyes, the intimacy of what they were doing sank in.

Oh.

The two quickly shuffled away, and the warmth in her cheeks suddenly exploded into a full-throttle assault.

Kagami shifted in her seat, clenching her hands in her lap a little harder than was necessary. She tried to fix her composure, but her muscles refused to cooperate with her brain, the useless things. What good was a body if it didn’t even do what she wanted it to?

She hastily looked away, her gaze tilting in the opposite direction, unable to look at the person whose space she was in just 5 seconds ago. She tried not to think about his breath on her skin, the way his hand felt in hers, the smell of him being so close to her…

There had to be some way to salvage the conversation.

Without thinking, she spoke up before the silence would settle around them.

“Are you doing okay?” Kagami whispered.

She heard him shift beside her. “Sorry, what?”

“After what happened with Marinette.”

Kagami wanted to hit herself. That was extremely untactful. The wound was likely too fresh and tender and didn’t need any further prodding. Who was she to ask about his love life? She knew as much as the next person that Luka used to have strong feelings for the girl. Feelings that only proved to be unreciprocated.

She knew how much that had to hurt.

Still, she made a mistake, and she was determined to face the consequences of it.

When she summoned all of her inner courage, she looked up at Luka. He wore a sad smile on his face. Somewhere in her heart, she wanted to reach out in empathy for the boy.

“Marinette, huh?” Luka breathed.

Luka’s gaze fell to the opposite side of the room where their band used to rehearse. Kagami remembered a moment where Luka would hold down the chords of his guitar with his left hand while Marinette would strum it with her right.

“It’s… going alright, I guess.”

“You guess?” Kagami quirked a brow. He wasn’t usually this vague.

Luka shook his head, as if coming out of a daydream. “I always knew her heart belonged to Adrien. It was obvious from the moment I met her. Her heart was his, and it always was.” He let out a half-laugh that was more like an ironic acceptance; an admittal to defeat.

“Why did you even try, then?” She asked. It was rash, she knew. But she needed to know. Why did he even bother when the end result was clear?

Especially when it would only end in hurt?

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe a little part of me hoped I could change her mind. That I could try and find a way into her heart and become the person she always wanted.” He hunched forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. His eyes were downcast. A severe contrast to their usual serene aura. “For once, I found something worth fighting for. Something, or someone that gave me an opportunity to try and do for myself. I tried, Kagami. And I- I knew she didn’t love me as much but I thought that, as long as I loved her, it would be fine, right?”

Kagami could only stare in silent shock as he ran a hand through his messy hair. Luka stared at the ceiling and sighed.

“I guess it doesn’t even matter now, huh?” His lips curled into a smile that nowhere near reached his eyes. “The heart just wants what it wants.”

Luka looked back at her, and Kagami dared peek into the soul behind his eyes. Underneath the calm exterior, and beneath the gentle smile, she could see it. She could see the boy inside and the inner working of his being.

He was hurting.

It’d been at least three months since Kagami ended things with Adrien. And she could proudly say that she’d been able to move on from whatever that was. It was something, but she wouldn’t be able to call it a relationship. The feelings she had for him were real, she was sure. But life, like a river, kept ebbing and flowing. And all Kagami could do in the face of unexpected events was to adapt and make the most of her time. After a few nights silently crying herself to sleep, she was thankful enough to whatever powers that be that she could calm her grieving heart and see the full picture. After all, she was still a teenage girl who had a full life ahead of her. Full of new opportunities that were ripe for the taking. There was so much more to her that was worth more than something as trivial as a crush.

But looking back at Luka was more than enough evidence to know that wasn’t the case for him.

In his eyes, she could see the hurt that remained from yearning after something that he couldn’t have. That pain was still there, and was still throbbing, pulsating through his being. The room was silent, but Kagami was sure she could hear the unsung songs that played in his head. The haunting melodies he’d crafted, trying and trying and trying.

It wasn’t a feeling of him trying to win her back, no. This was beyond that. It was obvious to Kagami that he’d long moved past her. Rather, this was the after-effects of someone who’d spent so long pining after someone, trying to give himself only for it to get it given back. In the after effects of a storm, there was always a haze. A numb limbo of sorts, where there was no clear onslaught of thunder and rain, but also no sunshine to be let in. That was what Kagami was thinking of when she gazed into the eyes of the boy before her. He looked at her with a desperate plea, begging to be answered.

Kagami had always known Luka to be held-together, more emotionally mature than most of the people she knew. Much similar to herself. She had the impression that he was patient, warm, willing to listen and always, always there for those who needed him. She admired that much about her friend.

Friend.

He was her friend.

And if Luka was her friend, then Kagami had an obligation to remedy his pain. She may not be as experienced, but she sure as hell was going to try.

Kagami took his hand.

“You deserve more than that.”

“It’s fine.” He shook his head. “I’ve already moved on, anyway.”

“No!” Kagami gripped his hand tighter. He wasn’t getting her point, and she was going to make him listen.

“This isn’t about Marinette anymore. It’s about you.” Kagami subconsciously leaned in close to him. It felt like his gravity was pulling her to him. And for once, she didn’t want an explanation why. “The fact that you were willing to fight for something like that is very commendable. It really is. But it’s not fair to try and settle. There is no ‘compromising’ when it comes to trying to find someone to love.”

“You deserve more than that, Luka.” Kagami said as she held their hands up between them.

She squeezed softly.

“We all do.”

Luka’s gaze fell from her towards their hands. For good measure, she ran a thumb across the skin there. When he looked back up at her, she tried not to shift as his mouth was left half-open, as if trying to come up with a response. The sight of him looking so surprised at her words made Kagami realize something that felt like ice water being poured down her jacket.

Because for the first time in forever, Kagami didn’t know what to do.

And that terrified her.

This was too intimate, she was only trying to offer some advice, try and make things better. This wasn’t meant to be anything more than a friend comforting another friend. She hadn’t meant to look into his eyes and hold his hand in her own. The escalating situation was already derailing, her world was already starting to rumble. She wouldn’t be surprised if all of a sudden she started vomiting-

“Thank you.” Luka said, interrupting her spiral. “I… really needed that.”

And then he smiled.

Really, really smiled.

When he squeezed her hand back, Kagami tried to stifle the noise that threatened to spill out of her. It didn’t work as well as she hoped, though. It came out as more of a silenced, high-pitched whine that she could only pray he didn’t hear. If he did, he didn’t mention it. She peeked into his eyes once again, eyes that were slightly squinted from the genuine, genuine smile that was being sent her way. Her way. He was smiling for her.

And then something in Kagami finally clicked.

All the times he lit a warmth in her cheeks, all of the times he listened to her about how her week went, all of the praise he gave her during his lessons, both on the guitar and on her other passions came crashing at her at full force. She wasn’t oblivious, she knew very much how she felt at any given moment. And unlike others, she didn’t try and deny herself her feelings. There was no point to it.

There wasn’t a sure way to find out how it happened, the minute, the hour, or the exact date, but in an unexpected turn of events…

Kagami had somehow, somehow caught feelings for him.

She looked deeper into his eyes. The silence between them was crashing and deafening all at once. Luka was thinking so loud she could practically hear his thoughts. His still eyes were moving at lightspeed, like his inner self scrambling for any words to say. The novelty of her realization made her breathing slightly quicken, and she could feel the lightest traces of sweat covering in the crevices of her palm.

In the time she’d gotten to know Luka, he’d been nothing but sweet to her. He’d become one of her first friends outside of her mother’s circle. Not only that, but one of her truest and closest in what little time they were able to spend together. Even though they came from different walks of life, they found that they had much more in common than they both expected. She’d learned to be more comfortable around him than anyone else. Not just because of his handsome smile (though, that wasn’t too bad), but also because he was always patient, and ready to listen to her. Even offering some surprising advice every now and then. He’d even enabled her at times to bad mouth her mother where it was due. An accomplishment she’d never thought of doing in a thousand lifetimes.

To top it all off, their lessons together slowly evolved into something less of a formality and more of an excuse to spend their time together. As friends.

Kagami didn’t know many people. It was a sad fact that she knew was a part of her life no matter how much she tried to push it. But she also knew that what she shared with Luka was special. It was something that she cherished and grew attached to without even noticing. Even the little things meant more to her than he’d ever realize. The drinks he’d make while she was over, the tunes he would silently hum to himself when he thought she wouldn’t hear him, the feel of his arms wrapped around her small form when they went for their usual goodbye hug. She seldom found the opportunity to tell him, but those sweet embraces were always a favorite part of her visits.

She wanted that. She wanted all of it.

All of it and more.

One time, they’d taken a break from their lesson to learn how to make a meal he saw online. Neither of them had tried it before, but he suggested that they’d do a better job together than he would by himself.

In all but fifteen minutes, everything went wrong.

But even days later, Kagami looked back fondly at the time they laughed both with and at each other at the ungodly stains that ruined their clothes.

Never, never before had anything been given to her like the boy in front of her.

Luka Couffaine.

Everything made sense now.

And judging by the way Luka was so earnestly looking at her now, it all came to him too.

Kagami steeled herself.

There was only one more thing to do.

Luka swallowed.

“Kagami, I-”

He was cut off by Kagami reaching her hands around his face to pull his lips against hers.

The feeling of having Luka’s gentle lips soft upon her own would never leave Kagami’s memory. It was like the gentle whispers of the forest were caressing her face, and lovingly whispered their songs into her ear and immersed her into a new world. An undiscovered path that she wasn’t aware was there until now. Each subtle movement of his lips upon hers dared make her head spin. This was new to her, yet she was thriving in it. The eruptions in her system were only elevated when Luka responded in kind, deepening their kiss as he lightly held his chin between his thumb and forefinger.

Kagami didn’t even know that this was something she wanted until only a few moments ago. But now that she’d tried it, she couldn’t find it in herself to stop. At least, not when the low hum he emitted under her touch sent a welcome vibration through her entire being.

Even through closed eyes, she could sense the way he was melting under her touch. Kagami could hear the sound of him over the roaring flames in her ears. And a heady sense of power coursed through her at the thought. Kagami ran her hands through the locks of his hair, making sure to memorise each centimetre like a sailor navigated the sea. To make a mental map of the new uncharted territory before her. It was only intensified when they shifted their position so he leaned back, making room for her to straddle his lap.

From the new angle, she was able to gain more leverage and hold his head tight after wrapping her arms around the back of his head. She’d never actually kissed anyone, but how could anything be wrong when his arms were holding her flush against him like that?

And if a soft giggle erupted from her, then who was she to care?

She knew she could always be herself around him.

Luka already knew her that way.

It was a wonder to Kagami how she hadn’t realized her feelings earlier. Looking back to all of the times they’d brushed hands, smiled at each other, talked about nothing and everything all at once. Everything, one way or another made her feel something that was both new and old. Different and familiar. So, so wrong in all of the best, most lovable and amazing ways. Luka was someone that she didn’t want to let go of.

Kagami did believe in fate, and that the universe had a plan for her. Somewhere, at least.

But she also believed in choice; seizing the moments as they come.

And she chose him.

It would always be him.

When they eventually broke apart after what could’ve been forever, they found themselves gasping for breath she didn’t even know she needed. It was like he was oxygen, and she was drowning. A bit dramatic, she was well aware, but there was really no other way to describe how much she realized she needed him at that exact moment. The only sound in the room was their deep breathing, and the scent of him filled her senses. If she had the chance, she’d fall for him all over again. The new, thrilling feeling that was both terrifyingly exciting and new in the most exhilarating ways.

Kagami couldn’t wait to see where this new path would lead.

One look at him was all it took to send her steady heart racing. His hair was a ruffled mess in her hands, looking all but thoroughly loved and tussled. It was a sight that Kagami would never get sick of. Of Luka looking right and thoroughly kissed to perfection.

She looked into his eyes. They looked more blue than they’d ever been. Now that they were even closer, the waters of him were even clearer now. She saw a thriving ecosystem with sea life, plants, storms followed by calming waters, the twinkling slivers of a sunset behind a high mountain in the distance before it gave way for a beautiful serene nighttime that would take the breath away of even the most stoic of souls.

In all of those poetic details, she saw him in each and every one of them.

It was him.

They were him.

Him.

And he spoke.

“You kissed me.” He said.

After coming down from her high, Kagami responded in kind.

“I did.”

“May I confess something?” He asked, and Kagami gently nodded, their foreheads brushing gently against one another at the movement. “That was kind of my first kiss.”

Kagami blanched. “Kind of your first-” She gaped. “You mean, you hadn’t kissed anyone else before this?”

“Mm-mm.” He shook his head.

“Oh…” She said. And ‘oh’ was right. How else was she supposed to feel when she found out that she was this boy’s first kiss?

“It was mine too.” Kagami admitted.

They never broke eye contact as she scoured his gaze. His irises were still, yet teeming with life and energy. His mouth broke out into a large boyish grin that Kagami was rarely able to see on him. It lit a joyful fire within her, and she wondered how else she’d be able to make him smile like that. She liked a good challenge, after all.

It came again when he asked her a request that she’d never forget in a millenia.

“Could you do that again?”

Kagami couldn’t help the smile that crawled its way onto her face.

“Do what?” She teased, licking her lips.

Luka breathed a laugh that was full of both humour and disbelief. She couldn’t help but smile just as wide as he did.

“You know what I mean.” He said.

Kagami decided that she’d teased him enough.

She cradled the side of his face in her hand, and he leaned into the touch. When her other hand came to rest on his shoulder, he removed his own from her waist to rest it atop hers. And Kagami was sure that no matter how many times that they’d do this, it would always, always be just as amazing as the first. The fire inside her was a candle, but it’d forever be burning for them.

Both of them.

Her lips met his in another chaste kiss. Gentle and promising in a colorful, pleasant way that filled her with warmth. This time, she was softer. Kagami wanted to relish every single detail of their kiss. It was her proper first kiss, after all. And what better person to share it with than her closest friend?

Friend. Kagami thought.

Maybe that word wouldn’t be appropriate for what they were now.

But labels or no, what they had was something. A beautiful something that could be pried out of her cold, dead hands.

Luka shifted underneath her, running slow circles behind her back with his hand while he squeezed her hand with his other. He kissed her back with enough tenderness to make her heart sing. It must’ve been a natural talent of his to drive her insane, she figured. But she certainly wasn’t complaining when she heard him emit a happy low hum from the back of his throat.

Absolutely not.

They were pulled out of their own reality when they heard a low, feminine voice from the doorway. It had a smug lilt to it that implied it was more teasing than harsh.

“Jeez, I didn’t know you had a type.” It muttered.

Luka and Kagami whipped their heads around so hard that she was surprised she hadn’t given herself a severe case of whiplash. If she wasn’t already dizzy off of Luka, that is.

Juleka stared at them, a small knowing smile on her face as she leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. Kagami felt Luka clutch her hand tighter. She couldn’t see through the girl’s bangs, but Kagami would’ve sworn that she had raised a cheeky brow at their… compromising position.

“Hey, Jules.” Luka drawled out awkwardly. Kagami wasn’t sure how much more embarrassment she could handle. “You’ve uh, met Kagami, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Juleka said.

Luka groaned.

“I can explain.”

(He couldn’t)

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #lukagami #anon's writing #the taste of coffee

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saikostories · 4 years ago

Text

Nanbaka - The Peculiar Guard pt1

Nanba Prison…

Ever heard of it?

It’s one of the most classified, if not the only, secretive prison in the world. It is the hardest prison that anybody in the world could break out of. It is built on an isolated island, floating on sea.

No one can get in or out of it.

Equipped with the latest technology and guards recruited around the world give it Japan’s largest, and the world’s highest-level, security network. Even the famous Alcatraz Island is full of holes and opportunities to escape when compared to this place.

The full truth of this place will never be revealed to the world. That is because this is Nanba Prison. No one has ever escaped successfully from this prison.

Except one…

The Warden of Nanba Prison is known as Momoko Hyakushiki. She is in charge of it all. The main tower, you could say. And, being a Warden of Nanba Prison, she usually handles large piles of paperwork daily. Those papers vary from inmates, to paychecks, to ministrations in the prison, and guards. At this moment, she was going through papers of guard requests.

There is technically an academy for training to get into the Nanba Prison as a guard, but sometimes the warden herself will gain administrations or requests from people. Going through each paper, one caught her eye.

“Hm…” She picked it up and eyed the paper. ‘I recognize this name…’

Name: Theodora Nicci

Sex: Female

Age: 20

Ethnicity: Italian

Nationality: American

Height: 177 cm (5'10")

Weight: 65 kg (156 lbs)

Blood Type: AB negative

Background:

Has a family of both parents and three younger siblings. Lives in America. Has a criminal record of multiple misdemeanors; vandalism, resisting arrest, petty theft, and Grievous Bodily Harm. She began at age 10, admitting to knowing what she was doing and “simply not caring for the consequences.” She has done her multiple years in different prisons, but has escaped a few because she couldn’t stand their health treatments, or because she got “bad vibes” from them. She was sent to Nanba Prison at age 12, but has been passed through multiple buildings and wardens from her supposed wide “variety” of talents.

Health History:

Has been diagnosed with Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy (HSAN). States that she cannot feel or sense things like the normal human can. She has the inability to sense pain unless it’s severe, like slicing her hand open, all the way through the muscle. Even with this handicap, she she has strong senses of sight, taste, and hearing. She tends to be unaware of injuries on herself, but is usually sharp at catching them.

Request:

“I wish to be apart of the jail guards in Nanba Prison. Finding jobs are hard and sustaining a house, much less an apartment, is practically impossible. From being in Nanba, I have found a way to clean up my act, and have sworn to myself and others to make a new beginning for myself. I know that I can be of service to this prison. If I am given the chance, that is. All I ask for is to be a guard. I am willing to go through the academy if I must. All that I ask for is a chance to prove my worth. ~ T.N

The blue haired warden gazed through the paper again. Placing it down, the woman stood from her desk and began opening files until she found the one she wanted. Once found, she went back to her desk to sit down while reading the inside of the envelope. She compared both files before placing them down. She put her finger against her lip as she thought about this file.

"How strange…” Muttered the Warden.

Knock knock. A knock could be heard from the door. Snapped out of thought, the woman raised her head up and gazed at the door.

“Come in.” She instructed.

Opening the door and peeking their head in was none other than Building 5’s Supervisor, Samon Gokuu. He stepped into the room and greeted the Warden with respect. The last thing he wished to do was anger her, especially so early in the morning…

“Hello, ma'am. I came back here with those papers of the new inmates you wanted.” Said Samon.

“Bring them here, then.” Momoko said with her hand raised out for the papers.

Samon quickly walked to her desk and handed her the papers. She took them carefully and gazed through a few while Samon talked.

“Each new inmate in alphabetical order, just like you asked for, ma'am.” He said. “I made sure that each one was accounted for as well.”

“Good.” Momoko looked away from the papers and to Samon. “May I ask you a question, Samon?”

“O-of course, ma'am!” Samon nervously replied, trying to act calm.

“Tell me what you recall from this past inmate.” Said Momoko as she twisted the file on her desk so it faced Samon. “Inmate No. 7, Theodora Nicci.”

“Ooh, her. I had almost forgotten about her…” Muttered Samon as he glared at the file. “Everyone, including her past prisons, thought she was really a he. She was taller than the average woman and stronger than most men. She got away with being a male for a long time. That is, until she came to Nanba.”

“She became our very first female inmate, correct?” Asked the warden.

“Yes, but nobody but us knew of her true gender.” Samon said before gazing back to the Warden. “She… wasn’t always the calmest person at times… Got into fights pretty easily and lost her temper a lot… but nonetheless, she did a damn good job at keeping who she was hidden. She continuously hopped from building to building until she was finally placed into Building 5. Her ability to watch someone and copy them is unique in itself, but she couldn’t master it completely. If anything she just found her own in making it look professional when in reality she was pulling at straws. But her acting saved herself plenty of times. Trained with me pretty much all the time since it took her mind of things and she thought it was fun. Like to think it was a successful rehabilitation.”

"Is there anything else about her?” Asked the warden. “Did she have any grudges with any of the inmates?”

“Actually, no. Though I can’t say she liked everyone. There were some that annoyed the crap out of her.” Samon answered as he thought carefully. “She actually got along with many people. Once placed in 5, she kept to herself and fights stopped. She respected us guards and in turn earned respect from her fellow inmates. It was pretty weird, how she could make almost anybody her ally by just talking to them.”

"I see…” Muttered the warden as she gazed at the picture in the file.

“If I can ask, why did you ask me about her?” Samon questioned his superior. “She’s been gone for at least 2 or 3 years by now. Don’t tell me she’s being brought back here…”

The warden’s mouth twitched upwards at Samon’s concern. She gazed up at him as a smirk graced her lips.

“Not quite the way you would imagine it…” She replied. She then closed the request paper and handed it to Samon. “Please give this to the Supervisor of Building 4, Kenshirou. Tell him that I ask for this request to be given, and to bring the person here to my office immediately.”

“Uh, alright.” Samon took the file from her hands. “I’ll head over there right away.”

“Thank you. That will be all.” Replied the Warden before turning around in her chair.

Samon eyed her for a moment, wondering if she would ask him anything else. When a response wasn’t given, he turned and walked out of her office. Once he was out, he was very curious about why the sudden mention of one of his past inmates. When the door closed behind him, he took a peek at the request file. As soon as he saw the picture he couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

“NO WAAAAY!”

***

Theodora Nicci.

The female warden gazed at her desk in deep thought. Ever since the request paper she was given, she couldn’t help but think about the person. Momoko remembered this prisoner well because of the strange occurrences that happened with her.

’…Why would a request come from you of all people…?’

Knock knock.

“Come in.” Instructed the warden as she lifted her head up.

The doors opened to reveal the intruders. The Supervisor of Building 4, Kenshirou Yozukura, was standing there with his hand firmly placed on the person in front of him.

“Excuse the intrusion, ma'am. I retrieved the person you asked for.” Kenshirou said.

Momoko gazed at the person standing in front of Kenshirou. They looked very uncomfortable and never took their eyes off of his hand.

“…Could you… ease up on the grip…?” They asked softly.

“No.” Instantly stated Kenshirou as he gazed down at them harshly.

“Good to know you’re the same as always…” Mumbled the civilian.

The Warden couldn’t help but examine the person she asked be brought in. Standing under Kenshirou’s firm grip on their shoulder was a female. She wasn’t that short compared to him. I’m fact she was almost just as tall. Her skin seemed pale. She wore a white shirt that had the sleeves hang just past her wrists. She wore black skinny jeans that were tucked in to what seemed like black riding boots.

Compared to how she used to look, she seemed a lot more different. If she had to pick her in a crowd, then she would hardly recognise her. Her cheekbones stood out more, as if she had lost weight on her face. Her silver hair was definitely shorter than last time, and more boy-ish too as it stopped just after her ears. Her ocean blue eyes were looking as calm as they always do. She was a lot thinner than before too… yet the way she stood, anybody could tell she was strong. But Momoko frowned when she noticed that her hands were cuffed in front of her, making her look like an inmate. But, with a record like hers, it was to be expected.

“She isn’t an inmate anymore, Kenshirou. The least you can do is release her shoulder.” Momoko said, sharply eyeing the man.

Without argument, he took his hand off of the woman’s shoulder. She seemed to relax as her eyes now gazed at the Warden. Momoko gestured for her to come forwards.

“Please come closer.” Momoko asked her.

With her head slightly down, the woman walked over so she stood in front of Momoko’s desk. Kenshirou, who kept his eye sharp on the woman’s back, eyed her carefully in case she tries something. Momoko held a slight smirk as she recalled the woman’s familiar face.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen your face.” Spoke the warden. “You haven’t been causing any problems, have you?”

“I can’t necessarily answer that…” Mumbled the woman.

The warden chuckled slightly, knowing quite well of what the answer is. Her eyes examined her again and stopped at her hands. The skin looked rough and had her white sleeves had traces of dirt. “…Where did all that dirt get on you?”

“Oh, that…” The woman gazed down on the ground, wondering if she was leaving a mess. “I’ve been working on a local farm. Helping with all the heavy duty appliances and all. If it pays, it pays, I guess…”

“I see…” The warden’s eyes stuck to her hands. “Did you get those scars from the farm as well?”

The woman looked down and rolled her sleeves up slowly. Scars littered her skin. She frowned slightly and gazed intently at her hands and arms.

“…Maybe.” She replied with a shrug. “Some of them came from fights, others from mishaps. I probably caused a few of them by accident…”

“I see…” Muttered the warden before looking towards her face. “It’s been awhile since you’ve seen Nanba Prison, correct?”

“Not really…” Replied the woman as she gazed around the office. “I mean, from when I was around, things have definitely changed. I’ve noticed you created a few new centers as well…”

“Nanba Prison is always improving, after all.” Replied the warden.

“When isn’t it?” Said the woman as her eyes came back to the warden.

Momoko’s lip twitched in amusement. “I see your emotionless sarcasm still remains.”

“I…” The woman flinched, probably not expecting to hear that. “…didn’t mean anything behind it, ma'am…”

“I know you didn’t.” Momoko said. She put her arms on her desk before placing her lips against her entwined fingers. “Now, let’s get down to business… You sent in a job request to work here in Nanba Prison. Specifically, to be a guard… Why’s that?”

“Nanba Prison is honestly a lot nicer than the outside.” Replied the woman without hesitation. “The food is nice, making friends isn’t that hard, the place is super clean compared to other prisons, and comparing my pay to here, this place is like a sanctuary. With the jobs I have now, I’m barely making enough to sustain a roof over my head, much less covering for my health insurance and having left over money for food. Nobody in a business industry wants some woman with a criminal record, especially when she has a genetic disorder…”

“Then why do you believe that we would take you in?” Sharply spoke Kenshirou. “You were our prisoner, after all. Why come back?”

“Because…” She turned and looked him in the eye. “This place is full of a variety of strange and unique individuals. Why pass down an opportunity of working in a place full of misfits when you’re a misfit yourself��?”

“Why you…” Kenshirou growled at her before Momoko gave him a sharp glare.

“She means no harm, Kenshirou. There’s no need to be on the offensive.” Said Momoko.

“…Yes, ma'am.” He muttered and stepped back, showing he was backing down.

“Now, why specifically a guard?” Asked Momoko as she looked back to the woman. “Why would you want that instead of an easier and safer job? Like working at the mall or even the theater?”

“Because… I know I can be of use as a guard.” Replied the woman. “As a guard, I can gain the trust of the inmates easier. By doing that, I can gain information other guards usually can’t. Plus, when it comes to stopping fights and taking down runners, I’m one of your best options. Even as an inmate here, I still did all those necessities for you guys, so…”

“You believe you can do it again…?” Finished Momoko.

The woman gave a curt now. Momoko held her gaze for a while, seeing a determined expression in her eyes. It was clear that this woman wants nothing more than to help. Momoko couldn’t help but smirk at her.

“You honestly haven’t changed a bit, huh?” Asked the warden.

The woman gazed to the side, almost in an embarrassed manner. “I… wouldn’t exactly say that.”

“Let me ask you this, Theodora.” Momoko spoke sternly, grabbing the woman’s attention. “From your time here in Nanba Prison we had to specifically be careful of your identity of being a woman. Even though no one but us faculty found out about your gender, I can’t accept you. You are a female after all, and with a criminal record. Yes, you have helped in multiple cases with befriending the inmates and handing us the intel, and you have stopped multiple fights, but I still can’t accept you…”

The woman tilted her head down, gazing at the ground. A mix of emotions flooded her eyes as her face still remained calm.

“But…”

Hearing Momoko drag out the word, the woman picked her head up and gazed at the warden in curiousity.

“…The only thing stopping you is your gender.” Said the guard as her lip twitched upwards. “But, you know how to manage with that well.”

“So, does that mean…?” The woman’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You can’t be serious…?!” Exclaimed Kenshirou.

“You can be a guard of Nanba Prison, as long as you remain male.” Stated Momoko as she smirked. “…Of course, with you being a former inmate, you have your own restrictions as well. You aren’t an inmate here, but you aren’t exactly a free citizen guarding the place. Do you understand where I’m getting at…?”

“Yes, ma'am…!” Nodded Theodora.

Momoko kept her smirk as her eyes narrowed at her. “Welcome back to Nanba Prison, No. 7. I hope you get along with everyone…”

***

“To think you of all people would come back…”

“And as a guard, too…”

“You look so different!”

“I hardly recognised you…”

“This is gonna be good!”

The Supervisors of all buildings were talking with each other in the meeting room, gazing at the person before them. They couldn’t help but feel uneasy with the Warden’s sudden decision. But nobody would question her decision, especially when she was sitting right before them.

Standing before multiple supervisors was Theodora. She had cleaned herself up and put on the given uniform of the Nanba Guards. She didn’t have to do much. Since working on the farm, she had built up enough muscle, yet she was as skinny as a rake. Her robust chest from three years ago had gone and instead had just a much smaller chest. Once every button was in place, she then placed the black officer hat over her hair, securing it carefully on her head. Since her hair was so short, she didn’t need to hide it. Gazing in the mirror, she looked anything but female.

She looked like an ordinary, American man.

“Whoa, she changed so quickly too, I’m impressed.”

“Wait, that’s a 'she’?!”

“Weren’t you listening?”

“My, my~” Sang the Supervisor of Building 3, Kiji Mitsuba. “I’m impressed. She didn’t even have to use cosmetics to look manly. But, she still has that girlish look to her. But, she does make for a handsome fellow!”

“Hi, Kiji.” Greeted the girl in a casual but monotone manner.

“That’s Mitsuba to you.” He quickly said, his eye twitching slightly.

“Oh, right…” She mumbled to herself in thought. “A lot of you guys are Japanese, and this prison is Japanese themed, so I have to use everyone’s last name from now on… Very different from America…”

“Ah, who cares about that.” Samon spoke up, waving his hand as if to shoo the thought away. “He knows all the guard routines anyways, so he’s not exactly a newbie at this.”

“But, isn’t polite to respect someone’s wishes?” Theodora turned to him and asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Eh… I forgot about that polite side of you…” Samon muttered, recalling his past encounters with her. “Just, don’t do everything someone asks you to do, alright? You’re not an inmate anymore, you’re a guard. Remember that.”

“Okay…” She nodded to him in understanding.

“You’re never going to fool anyone if you keep talking like that.” Kenshirou intervene, grabbing their attention. “If you speak so softly and in that high of a pitch then you might as well be saying goodbye to your job.”

“Always so strict…” Murmured Theodora as she deepened her voice slightly. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t underestimate my acting abilities, Kenshirou. I was able to fool your eyes and ears, or have you forgotten…?”

“That’s Yozakura to you,” growled the man.

“Sorry…” She instantly mumbled, dropping her act and apologizing.

“Don’t apologize!” Samon exclaimed at her. “You don’t always have to apologize for something you did, Nicci! Don’t let everyone step on you so much!”

“Okay…” She mumbled and nodded to him.

Samon could only sigh and put his hand on his forehead. 'She really hasn’t changed…’

“That’s right,” Mumbled Kiji as he looked at Samon. “After her multiple Cell Hopping from building to building, she was originally placed under your building, correct? So you know her better than any of us here.”

“Yeah, so where are you getting at here?” Samon asked.

“She, or shall I say 'he’, is a new guards after all.” Kiji smiled at him. “He should be placed under your care, shouldn’t he?”

“No.” Quickly spoke the Warden.

Everyone stiffened and looked towards her. She was so quiet the entire time they accidentally forgotten she was still in the room. Silenced, Momoko spoke up again.

“These are the guidelines you will be instructed under, Theodora.” Momoko said sternly. “Because of your past record, you will not be authorized into certain places. You will stay in one building unless given permission from your building Supervisor, understood?”

Theodora nodded.

“This is the male ward, so you have to be careful.” Momoko instructed her. “I could send you to the Nanba Female Prison, but from your past complaints, you just wouldn’t 'fit in’, correct?”

Theodora nodded again.

“We can’t have you get caught…” Muttered Momoko. “If somehow an inmate does find out, then we might just have to let you go. You know very well of how dangerous this prison is. Once a month, you will report to my office and give me a report on how you’re doing. And don’t make up any lies. I’ll be talking with your Supervisor as well for a behavior check. Step out of line in any way and I won’t hesitate taking your job away and kicking you right back into those cells. Your pay will be just like anybody else’s, but I will be giving it to you by hand.”

“My, my! That’s a lot of guidelines for a newbie!” Exclaimed the prison’s broadcaster, Mitsuru Hitokoe. He frantically patted her shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be a little bit easier on 'im? He just got here, after all! Plus, look at this face!” He grabbed Theodora’s head and began smushing her cheeks. “Ain’t she adorable, whether it be boy or girl!?”

“Hey, stop messing with that handsome face of his!” Kiji yelled and kicked Mitsuru away from the girl, only to hug her in a protective manner. “You might just ruin his adorable face with your disgusting hands!”

Theodora whined softly, not enjoying the tight space in Kiji’s arms. She may not feel many things, but she definitely didn’t enjoy the sensation of being restricted. Momoko slammed her hand on the table, silencing everyone quickly. She eyed Kiji, signalling him to step away from Theodora. Frightened, he complied and stepped a good few feet away from her.

“She isn’t someone we can just shrug and take for granted.” Momoko said sternly. “There’s a reason for why she was directly placed into Building 5, or have you all forgotten that? She may have stopped her criminal doings, but she still has that record. She is to be watched, not adored like a doll. Theodora will work as a guard, but only with this restraint on…”

Momoko lifted something from under the table. She firmly placed the box on top of it, looking straight at Theodora. She then pushed the box, causing it to slide across the table top, right towards the girl. She grabbed it as soon as it came to her, not wanting for it to fall off. She opened the box and picked the item up, trying to understand what it was.

“Is that one of those weird ninja movie masks…?” Samon questioned.

“It’s a human muzzle.” Momoko answered, surprising the group. “This mask is a sort of… restriction. It will hide your lower face well, concealing you feminine features. Not only that, but it will react if you try to yank it off. The parts that wrap around your ears will dig themselves through your ears if you try pulling it off. If you try punching, scratching, or ripping of the mask without properly taking it off, it will cause you harm.”

“Isn’t that a bit brutal?!” Asked Mitsuru.

“She can handle it.” Momoko said. “If not, then she can just give up her job…”

“You purposely planned this, huh…?” Theodora questioned her, gazing up from the mask. “You want to make sure I’ll be taking my job seriously, right? So you loaded a bunch of guidelines and gave me multiple restrictions to see if I can really handle this job…”

“Perceptive as always…” Momoko smirked.

“But wouldn’t that be dangerous?” Questioned Kiji. “What if a prisoner were to act out and punch her mask? It would cause her double the pain. Is it truly necessary?”

“I-I’ve got to agree on this!” Samon spoke up himself. “I understand where you’re coming from, ma'am, but isn’t that a bit too cruel for him?”

“It’s alright…” Muttered Theodora. She placed the mask on and wrapped the hooks around her ears, hearing a clicking sound to signal it’s in place. She lifted her head up towards the Warden.

Being muffled, she still spoke clearly through the mask.“…What else is there?”

Everyone couldn’t help but stare at her. She was very much serious about this job. Samon couldn’t help but sigh again and rub his head. Just her being there was giving him a headache…

“Is there anything we should know about that isn’t on your record?” Asked the Warden.

“…I don’t believe so.” Theodora answered, putting to where her lips are and tilted her head. “Besides the HSAN, I’m just a normal human being…”

“Bullcrap!” Samon instantly shouted, clearly surprising Theodora as her eyes widen. “Don’t tell me you lost that ability because I know you didn’t! You’re still freakishly strong, aren’t you?! No wonder you worked the heavy lifting on that farm you were working at before!”

“Oh, yeah… that…” Muttered Theodora as she had a deadpan expression. “I thought that would be in the files, though…”

“Do you know how hard it is to write down your freakish strength on paper?!” Samon stomped his foot on the ground. “Don’t even get me started on how you almost destroyed one of your buildings because of two inmates fighting!”

“I thought we agreed to never mention that again.” Theodora said quickly, sweat beginning to form on her neck.

“Like hell I wouldn’t!” Samon said, pointing his finger at her. “I know you better than anybody here, so if I get any complaints from the Supervisors then I’m going to have to punish you myself, got it?!”

She gave him a harsh look, annoyed that he was now pressuring her as well. Samon wasn’t affected by it since he knew she was just annoyed. The warden gave out a sigh, causing everyone to look at her.

“You can’t go by your full name.” Momoko stated, getting everyone back on track. “For now on, you’re Theo Nicci. You will remain under this Supervisor unless I say so. Please get along with them him…”

The room became silent. Everyone kept shifting glances, wondering who will get the extra work of a new guard. Theodora just remained stoic, wondering who she will be put with. 'I hope it’s Samon… Over half of them hate me, and the others just want me for looks and what I’m capable of… Only Samon really knows me…’

“Your Supervisor is… Hajime Sugoroku.”

“Huh…?”

Everyone’s head turned towards the man named Hajime Sugoroku. Theodora knew who he was since Samon always ranted and raved about him before. She recalled seeing him in action before. It actually made her nervous. She tried to conceal her shock as she gazed at the older man. He looked at the Warden in surprise.

“Wait, why me?” He asked her.

“Because, Theo has a thing for troublemakers…” Replied the Warden. “I’m sure he’ll be of great use for you. It’s only been two years. I have faith that you can handle him on your own.”

Hajime could only shift his attention onto Theodora as she stood there. She held his gaze, neither backing down for a solid minute. Theodora backed down, gazing at the table, and shifting the hat’s visor to hopefully hide her eyes. Hajime could only sigh.

This was going to be rather troubling…

***

How annoying…’

Hajime Sugoroku, Superviser of Building 13, could only sigh in annoyance. He glanced at the woman, now man, standing beside him. They were on the Nanba Loop Line, trying to get back to building 13. After being dismissed by the Warden, Theodora, or Theo, had been following him like a shadow. It honestly creeped him out from how silent he was. He really was a shadow…

'The guy doesn’t talk at all… You would think she would at least say something, or ask a question…’

It took an hour before getting off of the transportation. The walked through the building, passing a few cells, and traveling through the long hallways. Theodora kept gazing around, amazed with how much the place had actually changed.

“…Got any questions?” Hajime asked her.

“…Not really.” She said. “But… Do you know anything else about this muzzle? The Warden said no harm will come to me if this thing isn’t harmed…”

“Well, you won’t be able to take it off yourself.” Hajime said. “The thing’s thumb printed, so only your Superiors can take them off. That would be me…”

“Wow, I’m impressed.” She said and gently touched the mask. “This place is always advancing… It’s actually startling…”

“I know I’m not supposed to, but…” Hajime looked over his shoulder and at her. “When night time comes, and when you leave the island, I’ll take that mask off of you. It’s bad enough they’re pressuring you because of your past record, but that mask? I can’t have my newbie unable to fight simply because of pain.”

Theodora smiled at him, not like he could see, but she was pleased. “Thank you. But, don’t worry. Pain will be the last thing to stop me from fighting…”

“Uh, right, that HS… whatever you have.” Muttered Hajime. “What exactly does that do? Do you need prescriptions and stuff?”

“No, not really.” She replied. “HSAN prevents me from feeling things. I can’t tell the difference from hot or cold unless it’s extreme. Pain is a thing I can hardly feel. In order for me to actually feel pain, I would would either have to be punched so hard my organs are crushed, or I would have to be stabbed.”

“That bad, eh?…” Hajime looked at her in surprise.

“Yeah, but, it’s not totally bad.” She shrugged casually. “If I could feel pain, I wouldn’t quite be able to have the abilities I have now… My hearing’s sharp, as well as my eyes, and I can taste poison if somebody tries anything. It’s neat…”

“What about smell?” Hajime asked.

“Actually, my sense of smell is quite terrible…” Theodora admitted. “I believe it’s because of my condition…”

“But yet you can taste and hear?” Hajime raised a brow at her.

“Well… My sense of taste is good, but not extremely great.” The woman tried explaining. “I’ve trained myself to recognize poison when I eat it. But, it’s still tough compared to other people. My hearing… It’s very possible that I may lose my hearing because of HSAN. So, I’ve trained myself so it’s sharp, so that hopefully it won’t completely disappear on me… That’s just how it works…”

“That is pretty bad.” Hajime nodded to her in sympathy. “…Will it affect your ability to run and fight if you must?”

“Not at all.” She said, her voice becoming light as if enjoyed. “Fighting is all that I’m good for. I remember being in one of these cells… Some guys tried escaping but I broke my door down and stopped them. I remembered you got angry with me and hit me, heh. You guys didn’t know about my identity then.”

“Yeah, I remember that…” Hajime sighed deeply. “You gave me a heart attack…”

“Sorry.” She said, her eyes showing amusement.

They kept advancing through the building. Once they got to the headquarters, or faculty office, Hajime opened the door and entered. Alloisia followed him, gazing around the room carefully. But her eyes stopped and landed on a blue haired boy that was sitting at a desk. He turned and greeted them with a smile.

“Oh, hello Supervisor! Was the meeting well?” He asked in a childish way.

“I guess you could say that…” Grumbled Hajime. He then jutted his finger at Theodora. “This is a new guard that’ll be working with us in the building. But they’re on heavy restrictions, so don’t allow them to access high status papers and files.”

“Oh, okay…” Muttered the boy as his smile fell. He stood up and put he hand out to her. “I’m Seitarou Tanabata. Nice to meet you.”

“Uh, you too.” Theodora said, her voice sounding very boyish, and shook his hand carefully. “Theo Nicci.

"Just let me know if you have any questions.” Seitarou said and smiled again. “I hope we get along.”

“…Yeah.” Theo nodded to him since she couldn’t show a smile.

They released hands and Seitarou turned to get back to work. Hajime had already taken a seat at his desk and began to light himself a cigarette. He puffed out a bit of smoke before pointing to a very unoccupied desk.

“This’ll be your desk.” He told her. “Take a seat and begin going through those stacks of paper. Divide them into three piles. One for guards, another for inmates, and the last one for garbage. You can do that much, right?”

“Understood.” Theo nodded his head.

He walked over and took a seat. He grabbed a packet of clipped paper, his eyes skimming and scanning the pages. As he did that, Seitarou couldn’t help but eye him. There was just something… unsettling about the newbie. He figured it was the mask, but it didn’t help him calm down. Seitarou went over to Hajime and decided to ask a few questions about the new guy.

“Excuse me, sir, but…” Seitarou grabbed his attention, trying not to grab the guy’s attention. “What’s with that mask on Theo’s face? It’s kind of… scary looking.”

“What? It’s just a black mask.” Hajime said, looking at Theo.

“Yeah, but… isn’t it a bit strange?” Seitarou asked.

“It was given to him by the warden.” Hajime stated. “That mask restricts him from doing things he’s not supposed to. He has a criminal record, but was allowed to become a guard anyways. He can’t take that mask off. If he even tries, the mask will activate and harm him. Only the Supervisors of Nanba can take it off.”

“S-seriously?!” Exclaimed Seitarou. “I-is he s-safe…?!”

“Of course he is.” Hajime said calmly. “He willingly asked for the job and proved himself to the Warden. He’s got a lot of pressure on him because of his criminal record, but he can be relied on.”

“O-oh… I see…” Seitarou relaxed.

Suddenly, a small beeping could be heard. Theo turned around, confused to what the noise was. Seitarou walked to his desk and picked up his phone and stopped the beeping.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized to them. “Looks like I have to do my rounds.”

“Actually…” Hajime placed his pencil down. “Seitarou, wait. Take Theo with you. Show him around the place and warn him about a few of the inmates. He needs to see the rest of the building, after all.”

“A-are you sure, sir?” Seitarou asked, nervous about being alone with a criminal.

“Yes I’m sure.” Hajime stated bluntly before looking at Theo, who was staring at him. “Theo, follow Seitarou around. You need to be shown around the place.”

“Alright…” Mumbled Theo as he stood from his seat.

“J-j-j-just f-f-follow me…!” Stuttered Seitarou as he stiffly walked out of the office.

'Is he okay…?’ Wondered Theodora.

Either way, he followed behind Seitarou. As he followed him through the building, he noticed how nervous and jumpy Seitarou was. He was literally shaking as he walked. Theo wondered if her was okay, concerned if he should call for Hajime. He easily caught up with Seitarou and placed his hand on his shoulder. Seitarou yelped and jumped away from him, clearly startles, as he was still shaking in his place. Theo was surprised by this and was confused for his fearful expression. Isn’t he a police officer?…

“U-uh, you okay, Seitarou…?” Theo asked him.

“U-u-um, y-y-yeah, I-I-I’m f-f-fine…!” Seitarou stuttered.

'He’s anything from fine.’ Theo deducted. He sighed softly at him. “Calm down. I don’t know why you’re so jumpy, but you should take a breather. None of the inmates are going to respect you if you show them fear. You should calm down before we continue on.’”

“N-no, that’s okay…” Seitarou said as he appeared to relax.

“Do some of the inmates make you nervous?” Theo asked.

“W-well, sorta, but that’s normal for me…” Seitarou admitted, not gazing at his eyes.

“Then why are you so nervous?” Theo asked with a raised brow.

“I-it’s just…” Seitarou fidgeting with his hands, not locking eyes with the new guard. “Y-you make me nervous… having a criminal record and all…”

Theo sighed softly. 'I knew it…’ Pushing away the sad little feeling in his chest, he lifted his hand up and gently patted Seitarous shoulder in a slow manner. Seitarou hesitantly looked up at him in confusion of the gesture.

“Don’t worry, I’m on your side.” Theo said softly as his eyes seemed to smile. “I’ve done my time and I’ve corrected the error of my ways. You might not trust me, and I understand why, but… please trust me enough to have your back. My goal is to be a guard, not an enemy. Please believe that…”

Seitarou stared at him for a moment. He smiled again and nodded. “Alright. I apologize if I caused any offense to you.”

“Not at all.” Theo lifted his hand and waved, as if to shoo the thought away. “I understand where you’re coming from…”

“Now, let’s go back to looking around the prison.” Seitarou said. “There’s still a lot for you to learn here. Just ask me if you have any questions, okay?”

Theo nodded to him.

Seitarou continued to lead the way around. Theo stayed behind him, just like he did with Hajime, and basically followed him like a shadow. His eyes kept looking at the cells, sometimes seeing the inmates. It made him recall his time here in Building 13 when he was a prisoner. 'It’s changed, but at the same time it hasn't…’

A loud sound of banged metal snapped Theo out of his thoughts. He also heard Seitarou yelp right after. Theo looked at him, startled from his scream, confused to why he screamed. He looked to his right to see four inmates at the bars, making scary faces, hissing and glaring at him. Already understanding the situation, Theo narrowed his eyes at the group.

“P-please… stay back…!” Seitarou said, his voice soft and full of fear.

The four inmates dropped their scary expressions and began snickering like a bunch of school girls. Theo crossed his arms, wondering why they had bones to pick with Seitarou.

“ 'Please… stay back!’ Haha!” Mocked one of the inmates.

“Five bucks he peed his pants!” Betted another.

“Layoff, would ya?” Theo spoke up, glaring at the bunch.

“Y-yeah!” Seitarou said as he tried to collect his confidence. “I don’t have to take this!”

In a blink of an eye, the tallest inmate hit the bars and began yelling at Seitarou in an attempt to scare him. Needless to say, the poor guard fell backwards in fear. Theo could only sigh, wondering how on earth he became a guard.

“Knock it off!” Theo turned his head and yelled at the four, his voice being loud and deep, despite his mask.

“Who the hell’re you?” Asked on of them, specifically the one with blond and pink hair.

“I’m on of the new guards here. Mind giving me your names?” Theo asked, eyeing each of them carefully.

“A newbie, eh?” Said the same inmate while smirking. “How about we play a round of poker and we can tell ya all you wanna kn—”

“No thanks.” Theo instantly shot down without hesitation.

“You didn’t even let me finish my sentence!” Yelled the inmate.

“I’ll just ask Hajime for you files when I get back to the room.” Theo said and gazed up at the plate above the cell door. “Cell 13, eh? I’ll make sure that it’s memorized…”

“What’re you even doing following that wimp?” Asked an inmate with black hair, pointing at Seitarou.

“You insult him one more time and I won’t hesitate to shut your mouth.” Theo threatened, not at all liking their attitudes.

“I-it’s fine, really!” Seitarou jumped his his feet and began to frantically wave his arms in front of Theo to distract him. “L-look, let’s just ignore them and continue on, okay? There’s still a lot for you to see…”

Theogazed over his head and locked eyes with each inmate. He gave them one last glare before asking Seitarou to lead the way. The blue haired male turned and briskly began walking in a very stiff manner. Theo, dropping his glare and watching Seitarou, could only sigh at his figure. He could only stuff his hands into his pockets and begin following him while in thought. 'He’s a complete scaredy cat… I wonder how long he’ll last in this Prison…’

“You need some confidence.” Theo stated as they were in a different hall than before.

“I know…” Seitarou muttered. “I can’t help it, though. Those four are the most troublesome inmates we have here in the building…”

“Why’s that…?” Theo asked, raising a brow at him.

“They try escaping whenever they can.” Explained the guard. “The big guy is No. 69, the short one is No. 25, the guy with the hat is No. 11, and then there’s No. 15. Each of those guys are known for escaping their cells and past prisons. It’s the very reason for why each of them are here. They’re nothing but trouble…”

“Each of them are known for escaping, huh…?” Mumbled Theo before speaking towards Seitarou. “So, have they tried escaping from their cells?”

“Plenty of times.” Admitted Seitarou. “They escape and try escaping the building constantly. But they’ve never been able to get past Supervisor Sugoroku. We never tell the Warden, though. If we did it would be our paychecks on the line if we did that. So, it’s best if you don’t either. Our Supervisor might punish you for it.”

'Sounds like Hajime…’ Sighed Theo. 'This might be bad… The warden threatened to strip me of my job if I lied to her. But, since Hajime will be asked the same, he would be lying as well. But still…’

“I’m sure you’ll do fine here.” Seitarou said, catching Theo off guard. “You seem to know what you’re doing. Sugoroku has a lot of confidence in you, so I believe I should as well. You faced against those four when they were mocking me, so I know you will do fine. Like you said, you just need confidence…”

Theo felt his eyes soften, feeling rather sympathetic towards Seitarou. He reached his hand out and gently wrapped his arm around his shoulders to hopefully cheer him up.

“Yeah, well…” Muttered Theo. “You’re still pretty cool, Seitarou. You’re technically my superior, and you’ve been around longer than me. Yet, even though you’re scared, you still stay and do your job. That’s an impressive right in itself. Don’t let those guys get to your head, alright? They’ve got nothing that you have. Just believe in yourself sometimes, alright…?”

“…Yeah, thanks.” Seitarou smiled up at him.

Theo smiled, not like he could see, but laughed lightly to hopefully cheer Seitarou up. They continued down the hall as the mood seemed to lift. 'All you need is to believe…’ Theo thought to himself while frowning. His fist tightened without Seitarou knowing. 'Believe… Yeah, right…’

***

Poke. Poke.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

'Huh…?’

Theo, who has been peacefully asleep, woke up to his forehead being poked. He opened his eyes to see Seitarou squatting down before him since Theo was sleeping on the couch. Theo grunted softly and sat up, now realizing that he passed out without taking any of his clothes off.

He placed his hands on his face to rub his eyes. But he noticed the absence of a certain object. He touched his lower face, only to realize the mask was gone. He doesn’t remember taking it off, so he wondered if Hajime did it when he was asleep?

“Hey, did you stay here all night?” Seitarou asked.

“I… guess I did. Sorry.” Apologized Theo. He glanced around the room. “Where’s uh… Hajime?”

“He called in sick.” Seitarou said.

“Sick?” Theo questioned in surprise. 'I hope he doesn’t have the mask… The Warden might screw me over if I’m seen without it…’

Looking back and forth, he spotted it right on the table in front of him. He grabbed the mask as Seitarou walked away and towards his desk. Carefully placing the strange yet cool material against his mouth, he carefully wrapped the hooks behind his ears, stopping when he heard the loud click. He sighed softly before look to Seitarou.

“So, if Hajime isn’t here, who’s taking his place?” Theo asked.

“Oh, that would be Yamato.” Answered Seitarou. “Do you know him?”

“Yamato…?” Theo questioned as he thought. “That… sorta sounds familiar…”

Suddenly the door was kicked open, startling both men. They looked towards the door to see a very tall man in it’s place. He stepped right into the room and began laughing. Both younger men sweatdropped at the very sight of the guard.

“Ha ha ha ha! My apologizes!” Bellowed the man in a friendly tone. “I tend to forget how strong I am once in awhile!”

“W-who…?” Theo could only stare at the man in shock.

“Yamato, this is our newest recruit, Theo.” Seitarou said and then looked at him. “Theo, this is Yamato. He’s our superior, and is temporarily replacing Hajime for today.”

“Greetings! It is a pleasure to meet you!” Exclaimed Yamoto and jutted his hand out to him, grinning widely.

“U-uh, yeah, you too…” Mumbled Theo.

He grabbed his hand, a bit overwhelmed by his enthusiastic energy so early in the morning. Yamoto roughly shook his hand up and down, causing Seitarou to fear he might rip Theo’s arm off.

“I’m glad we have a new pair of hands on deck!” Yamato exclaimed before finally releasing his hand. “Could you do me a favor?”

“U-uh, sure…” Theo muttered, staring at his hand. 'My hand feels weird…’

“Could you go around the first section of cells and wake everyone up, please? It is almost time for breakfast!” Yamoto exclaimed.

“…Okay.” Theo nodded.

“Here!” Yamoto grabbed a clipboard and jutted it out to him. “These are the names and cell numbers of each inmate! Please make sure they’re all accounted for!”

Theo nodded again, carefully taking the clipboard. 'I guess I have no choice now…’

Just as he heard Yamoto say something else towards Seitarou, Theo quickly escaped the office and stepped outside. He looked at the clipboard and sighed, feeling his breath bounce back at him thanks to the close contact of the mask.

Doing as Yamoto asked, Theo walked to each cell and made rollcall to each inmate. He made sure each one was accountable for before moving to the next cell. Most of the inmates didn’t seem to care about him, but a few cursed at him. Theo wondered if they were doing it because they knew Hajime wasn’t here. Not being affected by their crude language, he continued on. When he soon got to Cell 13, he couldn’t help but eye it carefully.

'These are the jerks who mocked Seitarou…’ He recalled as his eyes narrowed. 'I’m sure they won’t hesitate to try and irritate me. I have to remain calm, no matter what…’

Taking in a deep breath, he stepped towards the cell. Using his outer fist, he banged against the door to grab the inmate’s attention and, hopefully, wake a few stragglers.

“Rise and shine, boys.” Theo called through the bars. “Roll call time!”

He heard a few groans, but continued on.

“No. 69!” He called.

“Here…” Groaned the big guy with the mohawk.

“No. 25!”

“Hehehe…” Giggled the smallest one, who still appeared to be sleeping.

“Please wake him up. It is close to breakfast after all. No. 11!”

“I’m here!” Yawned the guy with a gigantic braid. “No need for shouting…!”

“No. 15!”

No response came. Theo raised his brow in alarm.

“No. 15!” He called again, this time using more aggression.

A soft groan came from inside as his head popped up into Theo’s sights. “Too loud… What’s your deal Haji—”

The inmate’s eyes shot open when he realized what guard was waking them up. The others, seeming to now realize this themselves, all gazed at her wearing the same expression of shock. Only No.15 snapped out of it quickly.

“Well well, looks like the newbie’s back.” He said and crossed his arms. “Is Hajime sending you out to do his dirty work?”

“First off, as a 'newbie’, it is required of me to do morning roll call every now and then.” Theo stated and he switched the papers. “Second off, Hajime is absent today. He’s sick.”

“Seriously…?” No.15 groaned and flopped back into bed.

“Aw, man. It’s no fun when Hajime’s not around…” Muttered No.11.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Theo said as he turned to the next cell. “We got a guy filling in for Hajime who’d be happy to pummel you guys if you do anything naughty.”

“And who might that be?” Asked No.69 who seemed to almost sneer at him.

“His name is Yamoto, or something…” Muttered Theo while simultaneously reading the paper in his hand. “He’s basically my higher up, but is ranked under Hajime. He’s in charge for today.”

“Oh god, not him!” Groaned No.11. “I swear if he makes us do morning training again I swear I will beat him myself! My arms can’t take his hardcore training!”

“…Training…?” Theo questioned, gazing at No.11.

“Yeah, he’s really serious when it comes to training.” Spoke No.25, who now looked awake.

“He makes us do one thousand push ups, then one thousand sit ups, and then he makes us run around the track until we hit one thousand km…” Grumbled No.69

Theo stiffened in shock as chills went up his spine. 'I recall him now… No wonder he was so familiar…’

“It’s terrible, am I right?!” Exclaimed No.11 who noticed Theo’s expression.

“Yeah… It sounds it…” Theo agreed, secretly knowing first hand of his harsh training. 'That man made me do fifty times the amount that he regularly does because he figured out my ability… Needless to say, he made me experience a new type of pain…’

“So, you gonna tell us your name or what?” Suddenly asked No.15.

“Huh…?” Theo looked at him in confusion since he snapped him out of thought.

“You said you were going to go into our files and figure out our names, right?” No.15 spoke again, looking almost annoyed. “You figure out our names. Mind giving us yours?”

Theo’s lips pressed together in a flatline. As he thought about answering, he sighed softly and got himself to relax.

“Theodore Nicci. But, you can call me Theo if you want…” Theo said, holding their gaze.

“Knee-sea?” No.15 tried pronouncing his lastname. “The hell is that from?”

“It’s Italian…” Theo stated.

“Sounds like a type of bread…” Muttered No.69.

“…Heh.” Theo smiled lightly in amusement. “Yeah. I actually get that a lot…”

“Wait, you’re Italian?” Exclaimed No.25 as he came up to the bars, grinning. “That’s pretty cool! I didn’t know the name Theo was Italian!”

“It’s not, actually.” Theo corrected him in clear amusement. “Theo is more or less an early British or Celtic name. But, Nicci is totally Italian. I’m actually American like my father while my mother is Italian.”

“Now that’s a pair of genetics!” Exclaimed No.11.

“Tell me about it,” Theo said and laughed lightly. “I basically know every Italian curse word thanks to them. Holidays are great. A gigantic Italian dinner while we drink until we’ve emptied the bars. But, that is until you start a bar fight. So many angry Irish guys, ugh…”

“That sounds awesome!” Exclaimed No.69.

“Sometimes it is…” Theo shrugged. “It humorous, actually. My dad gets drunk every holiday, and he’s gotten drunk so much, that all of the local police stations know his name to heart. Not the greatest way to get the Police to know your family, but it’s pretty hilarious sometimes.”

“So your dad’s a bit of a criminal while his son’s a cop?” No.11 questioned before letting out a laugh. “Now that’s hilarious!”

Theo nodded his head as he thought about it. “Not only that, but he was a cop himself, so it’s double the hilarity.”

“Seriously?” Asked No.15. “That's… pretty ironic.”

“Yeah, my siblings get a good kick out of it.” Theo smiled as he thought about his family. “We’re not the greatest family in the world, and we’re pretty big nutjobs, but we make it through just fine…” Theo then put on a poker face and hit his clipboard lightly. “Now, that’s enough talk about myself. I need to finish up rollcall. You four wait here and we’ll get out when breakfast is ready.”

“Okay!” Happily exclaimed No.25.

Theo turned and went to the next cells. He smirked to himself as he walked. 'Even though they aren’t exactly fond of me, I at least got them to enjoy a bit of my story. Slowly I’ll gain every ounce of their trust. Until then… I have to do my job.’

***

“Wow, he’s really making them go at it.”

“Yeah, he is…”

Theo shivered at the sight of Yamoto forcing the inmates to do an extraneous amount of exercising that’s practically inhuman. Seitarou and Theo was outside in the training area with them since they had to keep an eye on the other inmates. From what Theo understood, the four from cell 13 tried to escape but Yamoto caught them since he was literally in front of the door.

'At least it explains the bumps on their heads…’ Theo though as he watched them.

“Hey, Theo, are you okay?” Seitarou asked him. “Your face looks pretty pale, are you alright?”

“U-uh, yeah…” Theo nodded before glancing back at Yamoto. “Yamoto’s training looks pretty terrible… I wouldn’t want to be victim to that…”

“Yeah, I can agree with you there…” Seitarou nodded as he looked at the inmates. “But, those four deserve it for being naughty like usual. They should just stay in their cells…”

“Hm…” Theo was now staring at Seitarou. “Have you guys figured out how those guys continuously keep escaping?”

“Well, we know who, but we’re not quite sure how.” Admitted Seitarou. “No.15 has the ability to unlock any sort of lock possible. Shackles, chains—he can unlock them all. It’s impressive if he only used it other than breaking out…”

“Really…?” Asked Theo in surprised. “That’s impressive… I want to see hat for myself, but maybe another time. I’ve read his file and all, but I had no idea that could be a talent of all things…”

“Yeah, it really surprised us the day he first tried to escape.” Seitarou said. “Ever since then we’ve never really had a break with their jail escapes…”

“Have they ever tried releasing other inmates?” Theo asked him.

“No, never.” Seitarou shook his head. “But, they do sometimes escape into other cells to play with them or just be social. Supervisor Sugoroku always gets angry whenever they get out of their cells without permission…”

'Yeah, I figured as much…’ Thought Theo. “…Guess we should be more alert for today with them. But, with Yamoto’s exercises, I doubt they’ll have enough energy left to even try and run…”

“True.” Seitarou nodded in agreement.

'Those guys are real troublemakers, huh? What else is there to expect when it comes to Building 13…’

***

“Ow ow ow ow ow…!”

“My everything hurts…”

“Yamoto’s so cruel…!”

'I can literally empathize with them even with my HSAN…’

As soon as lunch came around Yamoto ended their exercising. Now it was Theo’s job to get these four to the cafeteria without any trouble. And through the entire time, they did nothing but complain. But Theo wasn’t annoyed, though. He honestly knew where they were coming from, and even he complained when he spent his time here.

“Yo, Theo,” called the familiar voice of No.11.

“Huh…?” He looked over his shoulder to him.

“Have you ever done training that extraneous before…?” The long haired male asked.

“Oh yeah, totally…” Theo nodded and paled, sweat dropping as he recalled the memory. “Yamoto is a very brutal, brutal man…”

“Wait, how would you know that?” Asked No.15. “You’ve only been here for a day, right? You make it sound like you been through it before.”

“That’s because I have.” Theo stated bluntly. 'The Warden said that they couldn’t know I was a woman. Never said anything about being a criminal…’

“Really? When did you do that?” Asked No.25.

“Well…” Theo looked over his shoulder as his eyes shined in mischief. “Let’s just say I’m not your average jail guard…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” No.15 asked, looking unimpressed by him.

“It means…” Theo looked in front of him. “I was a prisoner of Nanba Prison myself.”

“SAY WHAT?!” All of them exclaimed.

“Ha ha, funny joke, dude.” No.15 said, clearly doubting Theo’s claim.

“Yeah, that’s hilarious!” No.11 began laughing a fake laugh. “I mean, having their own prisoner become a guard? Isn’t that illegal, hehe…?”

“Why do you think this thing’s on me?” Theo turned his head towards them, gesturing to his mask. “This isn’t a regular mask. It’s 'special’…! Punishes me if I break any of the harsh guidelines given to me.”

“What you’d do to get placed in Nanba?” Asked No.69.

“Plenty of shit, to be honest.” Theo stated and shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve stolen stuff, vandalized some stuff, fought the officers when being arrested, Seriously harmed a few people—there’s plenty of stuff I’ve done. But the main reason I got kicked into Nanba was that I broke out of jail…”

“How’d ya do it?” No.25 asked. “Did you pick the locks?”

“No…” Theo replied as he thought back to it. “After a day of being there, when the clock hit lunch, I knocked the guards out and stole their keys… But, I had to break the doors down because the surveillance cameras caught me, putting the security bars down to prevent my escape. I eventually made it out and ended up on the run…”

“But you got caught.” No.15 stated bluntly, causing Theo to nod.

“Yeah. Damn hounds got me, heh.” Theo let out an amused huff. “I was… In a really dark place back then. I was twelve then. Once I was recaptured, they put harsh restrains on me and sent me to Nanba. But… I was more trouble than I was worth…”

“What happened?” No.11 asked.

“Sorry, that’s for another time!” Theo turned to them, appearing to smile, as his emotionless tone became light hearted. “I can’t let the readers learn about me on the fifth chapter only! That’s poor writing. Gotta keep them wanting more, after all!”

“C'mon, man!” Whined No.11. “It was just getting gooood!”

“Yeah, well, we’re already at the cafeteria.” Theo stated as he went back to his usual monotone self. “You guys are still on a bit of a timer, right? Back when I was here they only allowed us an hour to eat before kicking us out.”

“Only an hour?!” Exclaimed No.69 in shock. “That’s horrible! It takes that long to just get our food!”

“Wait, they extended the times…?” Theo asked, looking surprised. “Wow, this place changed a lot…”

“I’ll say!” No.69 said and held his fingers up. “We’re only allowed a maximum of three hours if we wanted. But there’s so many inmates here that it’s more like one and a half.”

“Are you serious?” Theo’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow… That’s a lot more than my time here. Wonder if the chief’s turned soft…”

“You’re a guard here yet you don’t know that much?” No.11 said, causing Theo to frown at him.

“I’m a guard with high restrictions. Plus, Seitarou trusts me a little bit, but he’s still pretty fearful of me.” Theo explained. “I would ask Hajime, but he’s sick still. And Yamoto's… eh… Yamoto. He’s not a bad guy, but he’s got way too much energy for me to handle…”

“My condolences.” No.11 put his hand on Theo’s shoulder as if he understood.

“Anyways,” No.15 walked by them, hands behind his head, as he looked bored still. “We only have so much time in the cafeteria. Let’s eat something, I’m starving…”

“Oh yeah, I think we’re having ramen today!” Excitedly exclaimed No.69 and quickly followed him in.

“Yay! Japanese ramen!” Cheered No.25 as he skipped on in.

“Hey, Rock, if I can beat you in a round of poker I get your bowl of ramen.” No.11 called and followed them in.

“Like hell I’d agree to that!” Yelled inmate No.69. “I’ll never bet my food on ramen day!”

’…What a strange bunch…’ Theo thought and watched them walk in.

Theo stepped into the cafeteria and stayed against the wall, watching the inmates carefully. The staff of officers was very minimum, which was very surprising. Before there used to be guards all over the walls, sometimes even walking in between the aisles to make sure no funny business was going on. Now there was only a maximum of four, and that included himself.

'What’s with this prison…?’ Theo asked himself. 'Giving more lunch hours, having fewer guards around—seriously, what the hell. Is Nanba becoming soft…?’

A loud bang caught his attention.

His head whirled around, startled out of his thoughts from the sound. Standing at one of the tables was a very, very, large man. He had slammed something down on the table before looking down at the inmates and nodded to them.

The man walked away, revealing he had placed a large bowl of icecream in front of one of the inmates. Even the inmate’s eyes were wide in shock. He then called out to the guy, who apparently looked like a chief, and thanked him for the desert.

'So that would explain why…’ Theo realized until he caught sight of the guy’s face. 'Hold up. Is that…?’

A smile took place on his face in realization. He quickly left his post and rushed towards the man who was multiple times his height and size. He stopped once he got into his view, standing in the man’s way. He gazed down at him, his looming form rather intimidating, as he looked almost pissed off. Theo took his hat off, revealing his short silver hair, and greeted the man.

“Sorry for stopping you when you probably have plenty of work on your hands.” Theo said to the man. “But I just had to see that familiar face of yours. Would the lastname Nicci ring any bells, Shiro…?”

The large man’s eyes widened, breaking his normal stoic expression. He lifted his hand up and patted Theo’s head, causing the guard to laugh.

“I look completely different to before don’t I?Man, I forgot how huge your hands are!” Theo exclaimed when he drew away. “Never thought I’d see you back here. Let me guess, you came here because of Old Man Chief, right?”

Shiro nodded his head, huffing in contentment.

“That’s awesome, man!” Theo said, sounding like an excited little kid. “I never thought a fellow prisoner would come back here. Guess I was wrong. If it isn’t obvious, I’m here for being a guard, too. Give the Old Man my regards, 'kay? I bet with your help around here the foods been turned up a notch, eh?”

Shiro nodded to him again. Theo stepped out of the way, allowing the older man to get back to his job. He watched him walked back into the kitchen and quietly snickered to himself.

'I’m glad he got the job! Good for him!’ Theo thought before calmly placing his hat back on his head.

Turning around, he began walking back to his post, unaware of all the burning gazes of the inmates. They all seemed a bit surprised and curious by that 'friendly chat’ the new guard had with Shiro. But the inmates of cell 13 couldn’t help but stare at him in shock.

“Did… Did Shiro just show that guy affections…?” Questioned No.15, who’s known as Jyugo.

“Y-yeah, he did!” Softly exclaimed No.11, also known as Uno.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shiro look so surprised before!” Said No.15, or Nico.

“He sure seemed happy about that guy.” No.69 added with a grin. He was called Rock. “Shiro never really touches anybody. It’s rare to see him touch anybody else they’re causing trouble. He must really like that guy.”

“If Shiro knows him, then I guess he wasn’t lying about being an inmate here…” Murmured Jyugo, looking over his shoulder at Alan. “What’s up with that guy? I guess I can understand Shiro’s reason, but what’s his?”

“I’m wondering that myself.” Uno said before grinning. “Guess we just have to find out. That guy’s pretty talkative for being so soft spoken. Shouldn’t he be more defensive about giving his personal life to the inmates?”

“Yeah, that is kinda weird.” Rock agreed. “Think he’s up to somethin’?”

“I like him!” Nico said with his usual grin. “He’s a lot nicer than Hajime, and he isn’t easy to scare like Seitarou. Plus, from what he told us he sounds kinda like us, don’t you think?”

“What? As if.” Jyugo said before giving the group a mischief smirk. “Say… He’s new, right? So he shouldn’t have a well enough knowledge of the place. Why don’t we have another breakout and see what this guy can do.”

“But Hajime isn’t back.” Uno stated. “It’s not fun without him around, though. Plus, thanks to Yamoto’s training I can barely feel my legs…”

“Yeah, my arms are still throbbing.” Nico added, looking at his arms.

“Aw, come on!” Groaned Jyugo as he place his head on the table.

“How 'bout tomorrow?” Rock suggested. “Hajime will be back and we won’t be so sore by then. I hope this new guy knows how to take a punch.”

“Let’s see if he can get past my gambles,” smirked Uno.

“He read our files, but I bet he doesn’t know enough about my diseases!” Nico added, grinning with everyone else.

“Let’s see what this newbie can do…” Jyugo lifted his head, his smirk now on his face, as he gazed back at the unsuspecting man.

’…Hey, I still have that new chief’s clever!’ Theo thought to himself silently. 'I can give it to Shiro as a present! Man, this day just keeps getting better and better…!’

***

“Oh, good morning Hajime. How’re you feeling?…”

“Better than yesterday, I’ll say that…”

“That’s good…”

The Supervisor of Building 13 of Nanba Prison had finally returned from his day away because of a cold. Seitarou already greeted him, and Theo just spoke up. Yamoto, well… He has yet to be seen, but Hajime could honestly care less. When he put his bag down he looked back at Theo, seeing the mask still tightly on his face.

“Did you just put that on?” Hajime asked.

“No. I placed it back on yesterday as soon as I woke up.” Theo answered before turning in his chair to look up at Hajime. “I apologize for falling asleep here then. I should’ve just went home but I didn’t because of my first day…”

“It hasn’t been hurting you, has it?” Hajime asked.

“Not in the slightest.” Theo shook his head. “I kinda forget it’s there…”

Hajime hummed and nodded. But his eyes didn’t leave the mask. Sighing to himself he walked over to Theo. He just gazed at him, wondering what he’s doing. Hajime bent down, being as tall as he was, and put his hands carefully on the mask.

How the mask was is that it is made from a special type of metal that was flexible, but was hard to pierce. It resembled a type of 'ninja mask’ as Samon had questioned at the meeting. But, at the very end of the sides of the mask was a circular contraption that was located just before the tragus of the ear. The circular contraption was technically the main core of the machinery and had an electronic blue outline that glowed a bit. From the circular piece had the hook attached to it. When taken off, the hook curls into the thick circular piece.

Hajime pressed his hands against the circular piece, waiting until he heard a loud clicking sound. He watched as the hooks lifted off of the back of Theo’s earlobes. He took the mask off of Theo and saw his surprised expression.

“You had this thing on all day and night, yeah?” Hajime placed the mask down on his desk. “Figured you could take a break. Put it back on when you have to leave the office, alright? Both of us will get in trouble if it’s seen off of you.”

“Right… Thank you…” He thanked Hajime and nodded his head in gratitude.

Hajime sat back down at his desk without another word to him. He gazed at a few of the papers, wondering how much he had missed. He looked up at Seitarou, who was basically right across from him, and spoke up to him.

“Did anything happen while I was gone?” Hajime asked.

“Well, not anything bad.” Seitarou answered. “The inmates from Cell 13 tried to escape, but Yamoto caught them and punished them like you do. They trained for five hours before Theo took them to lunch. After that he brought them back and they stayed in their cells. Other than that, they behaved well for once.”

“At least they didn’t escaped any farther than their cells…” Hajime sighed deeply. “Even when I’m away they cause nothin’ but trouble…”

“I can at least say I think they kinda have a liking to me.” Theo spoke up as he walked by Hajime with a bunch of papers in his hands. “They definitely don’t trust me yet, but I’m slowly gaining their trust…”

“I’m unsure if that’s a good or bad thing…” Hajime muttered.

“When have I ever betrayed you, Hajime?” Theo asked in a joking manner, but it sounded like he was serious.

“Ever since you broke a door down in rage and tried to hit me with it.” Hajime stated with an agitated undertone.

Theo flinched at his statement, recalling the memory. He felt embarrassed at the thought of it. He looked back at Hajime, pouting slightly, as he looked rather guilty.

“T-that was a dark time for me back then, alright…?” Theo softly mumbled.

“Yeah, yeah, I know your story.” Hajime waved at him to signal to leave it alone. “You forget that I was the one to actually figure your background out back when you were in my cells.”

Theo was silent after that. Hajime did have a point. But he wasn’t too fond of the memories. He placed the papers down before grabbing a new stack and returning to his desk. Once he sat back down he wiped his lower face with the upper sleeve of his jacket. Have that mask on for more than 24 hours left his face with sweaty residue from breathing, talking, and almost caused him to drool a few times. It was like having foggy water goggles on for too long. To be honest, it was pretty gross.

Taking in a deep breath, finally being able to breathe properly, he began his new stack of paperwork. He was like that for a while until he heard the sound of the door opening and closing. Gazing over his shoulder he could see it was Yamoto who entered, not wearing his usual uniform, and looking very sweaty.

“Good morning, sir!” Greeted Yamoto to Hajime. “Good to see you back to your usual healthy self!”

“Same to you, Yamoto…” Murmured Hajime as he lit up a cigarette.

“I just finished my morning exercises, so I will take a quick shower and get back to work!” Promised Yamoto as he marked merrily towards his lock.

Once he gathered his needed items, he marched out of the room. When he opened the door he stopped and greeted someone at the door.

“Oh! Why hello there, No.15! If you will excuse me, I must take a shower!” Yamoto said.

“Yeah, okay.” Replied a familiar bored tone.

Instantly the other three guards became alarmed by what Yamoto said. Theo whirled around in his seat, quickly becoming on guard. As Yamoto walked out, walking into the office was inmate No.15. He had his signature hands behind his head, looking bored as ever, before turning to a shocked Hajime.

“Good to see you back, Hajime. It’s boring without you around.” Spoke the inmate.

“WHAT’RE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR CELL?!” Screeched Hajime in anger.

“I wanted to see if you were here today, you should be grateful.” No.15, or Jyugo, answered with a smirk. “Escaping with you gone is useless, so I had to make sure you were here for today.”

In a flash Hajime shot up from his desk, dashed towards the inmate, and punched him right in the head. Jyugo groaned loudly, now lying on the ground in pain, as a clear bump quickly formed on his head. Theo was startled by the action, forgetting about Hajime’s infamous hair trigger temper.

“I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT’S BORING! YOU’RE SUPPOSE TO BE IN YOUR CELL AND STAY THERE, YOU DAMN BRAT!” Bellowed the Supervisor. “IT HASN’T EVEN BEEN AN HOUR OF ME BEING HERE AND YOU’RE ALREADY CAUSING TROUBLE! AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL THE AFTERNOON, IT’S TOO EARLY FOR YOUR TROUBLE MAKING ANTICS!”

“Yeah… Good to have you back…” Groaned Jyugo as he got back onto his feet. “I definitely didn’t miss that inhuman strength of yours, though…”

“You annoying little…!” Hajimed growled and got the inmate into a headlock. He turned to his other guards as both of them had sweatdrops on their heads. “You two stay here. Check the surveillance and see if the others are gone. I’ll be taking this little shit back to his cell…!”

“Y-yes, sir!” Replied Seitarou.

Without another word, Hajime stomped out of the room with a struggling Jyugo. Theo slowly turned back to his work, still semi in his frozen state, as he tried processing what happened. ’…Maybe I should’ve stayed on the farm…’

It was quiet in the guard’s office.

Too quiet…

Hajime was suspicious of the quietness of the place, but he tried to shrug it off and label him being paranoid. But still… It was just strangely quiet. Periodically he would get up from his desk and walk the halls, specifically keeping an ear out for Cell 13. But whenever he walked by he usually heard their usual obnoxious banter. He would keep in the cell every now and then, seeing that each inmate was accountable for. He would then proceed with his parole, only to find himself seated back at his desk while the suspicion was eating him away.

Eventually he sighed again and tried to coax himself to relax. He just got back from being sick, he told himself repeatedly. He was probably just feeling uneasy because the remanence of the bug is still there in his stomach. He just had to breath and calm down. There’s nothing to worry about…

“Greetings, everyone!” Exclaimed none other than Yamoto as he came back into the room. “I have taken care of the much needed attention to the problem with the Cell door 17! On my way back I greeted the boys from Cell 13! Ha ha! Such young men. I think I’m finally turning them into gentlemen!”

“Really? What makes you say that?” Softly asked Seitarou.

“Because the boys informed me that they were going on a wonderful walk to stretch their legs!” Informed Yamoto. “I believe my training has finally gotten ahold of them, haha!”

“WHAT!?” Shouted Hajime as the other guards stiffened at the news.

“They were out of their cell?” Theo asked as he was clearly alarmed.

“Why, yes, yes they were.” Answered Yamoto. After a moment his smile fell as if realization finally hit him. “Wait… Those boys aren’t authorized to leave their cells, are they?”

“NO!” All three of them shouted at Yamoto.

“I knew the calmness was too good to be true!” Hajime exclaimed as he began typing away at the computer. “Seitarou, get to the surveillance cameras and figure out where they are!”

“Yes sir!” Exclaimed the officer as he disappeared from the room.

“Yamoto, it’s your fault those brats escaped.” Hajime growled at him. “Go apprehend them at once!”

“Of course, sir!” Saluted Yamoto before rushing out of the room.

“Theo, get to your feet!” Hajime ordered as Theo already was standing. “Looks like you’re going to be seeing some action for today. We can’t allow those four to get outside, especially since the sun is still out! Follow me.”

“Yes, sir.” Theo nodded.

Hajime marched to the camera room where Seitarou was while Theo followed closely behind. They entered the dark room while Seitarou just finished giving instructions to the officers of Building 13. Theo’s eyes gazed at the multiple cameras as he wondered where those four were.

“Where are they?” Hajime growled.

“They’re past Block 11. I’ve already closed Block 12 and trying to get them towards Block 17 instead.” Informed Seitarou.

“They’re fast…” Theo commented as his eyes kept darting towards different screens.

“Yeah, well, we’re faster…” Hajime muttered at him as he glared at the screen. “There they are…”

They all looked towards one of the center screens. The four inmates were running through the hall, only for No.11 to stop the group. He took out a type of card and flung it, revealing the hidden electric floor. No.15 walked over to the wall, tracing his hand around it. Suddenly a control panel revealed itself and his hands flew across the keys. He looked at his accomplices and smirked, giving them a thumbs up. All four of them advanced, getting past the security.

“A-are you kidding me…?” Theo gaped in shock, stepping forwards as they appeared on another camera. “How the hell did he figure that out so quickly?”

“Beats me.” Seitarou said and he began to flip switches. “They’re entering into an open area around Block 18. Thankfully a lot of the guards are there so they should be stumbling upon them at any moment.”

“That’s your queue.” Hajime ordered and placed a hand on Theo’s shoulder. “Get in there and stop them. Knock 'em out if you have to. We can’t allow them to advance any further. Just try not to bring the building down with you…”

“Got it.” Theo nodded curtly and turned towards the door. “Leave it to me…”

As soon as he was out of the office he began running down the hallways very quickly. He was sprinting through the place, trying to get to Block 18, and hopefully in time before those four get through. Seitarou kept his eyes on the monitors, but was surprised with how fast Theo was hopping from monitor to monitor.

“W-whoa, he’s fast…!” He said in surprised.

“There’s a reason for why the Warden trusted him enough to become a guard.” Hajime said and smirked. “Looks like he hasn’t changed a bit from his time in Nanba…”

It took a while, but Theo found his way in Block 18. He entered into the room, just in time to see the last guard get knocked down by No.69 aka Rock. Theo growled softly under his breath, annoyed that they got through the guards. He walked into the room, his echoing footsteps grabbing their attention, as he began adjusting his gloves.

“Well, well, looks like they sent the newbie.” No.11, Uno, spoke up with a sly grin on his face. “Are they even trying anymore?”

“I was hoping we’d bump into him soon.” Said No.15, or Jyugo as he’s called. “It wouldn’t be as fun if they didn’t send him…”

“Looks like you wanna brawl too, eh?” Challenged Rock as he held his fists up.

“Hi Theo!” Greeted No.25, known as Nico, as he waved at him. “Could you let us go by?”

“You four have caused quite a stir tonight, don’t you think?” Theo spoke in a deadly calm voice as he advanced slowly towards them. “It’s the middle of the sun setting, you know. Don’t you think it would’ve been smarter if you waited until midnight…?”

“We got impatient.” Replied Jyugo as he shrugged. “You’re a pretty strange guy, you know. You made us so interested in you that we just had to come and see you for ourselves.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty interesting for a former criminal to become a guard, you know.” Uno said and made a face at him. “If you couldn’t stay away then why couldn’t you do more crimes, eh? Where’s that mask of yours anyways? Don’t tell me you’re 'getting serious’.”

“You boys don’t know anything, do you…” Theo scoffed at them as he began pulling his gloves off. “How sad. If you did I bet you would’ve thought twice before acting like you did.”

“You act like such a big shot after just being here for only three days.” Jyugo rolled his eyes at him. “You might’ve read our files, but that doesn’t mean you know the whole show.”

“I think I know plenty enough.” Theo stopped walking and dropped his gloves on the ground. He rotated his neck, hearing the satisfying cracks. “You’re morons for believing you can escape Nanba Prison so easily.” He lifted his hand and pointed at them. “I’m giving you one last chance. Now be good boys and go back to your cell…”

“No thank you!” Rock yelled and ran at him.

Theo put his hand down and allowed Rock to come at him. Having his arm recoiled back, Rock swung his fist at full force, his knuckle slamming right into his jaw. Theo head twisted around, the force being enough to knock Theo off of his feet. He flew back and hit the ground without a moment later. The group could only stare in slight shock.

“Oh, come on!” Rock whined. “That wasn’t even a fight!”

“All talk and no bite, eh? That’s sad.” Jyugo commented.

“Hahaha! K.O.!” Uno exclaimed while laughing. “That was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen!”

“Looks like Rock was a bit too hard on him.” Commented Nico.

After a few comments here and there, they didn’t realize Theo’s twitching body. He curled his arms up, placing his hands on either side of his head. With his feet pressed together tightly, he picked himself onto his hands and pushed against his arms, pushing himself into the air. He got his feet under him quickly and was now standing back on his feet.

Hearing the echo of his feet hitting the ground, their comments stopped as they stared at him. Theo’s visor was concealing his eyes while he rotated his shoulders around, the loud cracking echoing in the room. Just him standing there quietly, allowing his shoulders to crack, was rather unsettling.

“I guess you’re tougher than you look.” Jyugo smirk returned. “I was hoping you could give us more of a show.”

“Hey, you cracked your shoulders enough. You might just break them if you keep that up.” Uno said as he was becoming uncomfortable with the noise.

“Ready for a rematch?” Rock asked in a taunting manner.

“Oh, the match never ended…” Said Theo in a deadly calm voice.

The group stopped, their smirking features falling. Something just wasn’t right with how Theo sounded. Usually his tone revealed no emotions. But now… He sounded utterly serious with a hint of something else—that something else was smugness.

Theo adjusted his hat to reveal his eyes. His irises were now smaller than normal while his eyes were wide open. But the thing that gave them chills was the sudden, large, toothy grin that was on his face. His teeth looked sharp and pointed while his eyes were trained on them. The group shivered as they felt the sudden murderous intent that could rival that of Hajime’s.

“Idiots…” Theo hissed at them as his shoulders bounced up and down like he was giggling. “Did you really believe that one puny punch could knock me out? It was like a fly landed on my cheek.”

“Puny…?” Rock growled as he was clearly insulted.

“I’ll show you why you shouldn’t mess around…” Theo brought his fist up, his smirk never faltering. “Come on, Rocky! Do you even call that a punch?”

“You asked for it, Bastard!” Rock shouted and ran at him again.

Once again, Theo allowed Rock to come to him. The inmate swung at Theo again, just like he had before. Except this time, Theo stopped his fist. The sounds of his knuckle slapping against his palm echoed, shocking the entire group. Rock could only stare at Theo in wide eyes, confused to why his fist was stopped so easily. Theo’s giggle filled the air as he glared sharply at Rock, causing the younger male to begin to sweat nervously.

“Pa-the-tic~!” Sang Theo. His voice suddenly got deeper when he spoke his next sentence. “I’ll show you a real punch.”

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Theo punched Rock in the chest with his free hand. Rock was shot off of his feet, fly back until his back hit the wall. His friends could only gaze at Rock in shock. They watched as their friend bounced off of the wall and onto his knees, only to fall onto the ground as he became unconscious. The group turned their heads to see Theo walking towards them.

“Wow, he didn’t last very long.” Theo laughed. “You boys could escape all those traps, knock all of these guards out, but you’re not strong enough to at least slow me down? That’s pretty pathetic… Oh, come on. Where’s all that big talk you were all saying before? Cat got your tongue~”

“You bastard…!” Uno growled at him.

“H-how did you…?” Jyugo could only mumble in shock.

“G-g-guys…!” Squeaked Nico. “W-w-w-what should we d-d-do…?!”

“I have an idea!” Theo quickly stood before Nico, towering over him with ease, as his smile never left his face. “…How about you go to sleep~”

Nico squeaked again before fainting on the ground from fear. Theo looked at the other boys. Clearly enraged Uno ran at him with a war cry, his fists in the air, prepared to punch Theo’s face in.

As he got close and swung, Theo dodged his attack and moved behind his back in a flash, karate chopping the back of his neck. Uno released a choke sound before passing out on the ground. Theo looked at the last one standing, seeing Jyugo’s shaken form. He walked towards him in a rather taunting manner.

With each step taken, Jyugo stepped back. Step by step, Theo backed Jyugo into a wall. The inmate because to break out in a cold sweat, trying to think of a way to either attack or run. But he was unable to come up with anything as Theo stood right in front of him, inches away from his body. Jyugo could only stare up at him as his hands were secretly shaking.

“You’re pretty impressive, you know…” Theo spoke softly, his voice not sounding demonic anymore. “Unlocking all those traps… Leading the way for your friends. It’s remarkable, actually. But…” Theo’s smirk grew, as if that was possible, and glared down at his shaking form. “…I’d like to see you get out of this trap…”

Not even allowing Jyugo to open his mouth, Theo brought his head down and slammed his head against Jyugo’s forehead. Jyugo cried out in pain, only to fall to the side. Before he could hit the ground, Theo caught him with one arm. Theo giggled softly at his unconscious form.

“I win~” He sang.

Of course, no one could respond.

As the room got quiet, Theo’s smile fell and the deadly look in his eyes fled. His face was emotionless, stoic as ever, as if a switch had been flipped off. He carefully put Jyugo on his shoulder and went over to Nico. One by one, he picked up each fallen inmate. Step by step, he back making his way back to Cell 13. Nico and Jyugo were on his right shoulder while Uno was under Theo’s left arm while his left hand was latched onto the back of Rock’s jumpsuit as he dragged him.

The camera room was quiet. Seitarou was shaking in his seat, horrified by the scene he just saw. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes as he couldn’t believe what he just witness. He looked up at Hajime to see the man smirking calmly.

“He really hasn’t changed, eh?” Hajime turned and began to exit the room. “I’m surprised he held back.”

With that said, he exited the room, closing the door on his way out. Seitarou released a shaky breath as he looked back to the monitors in horror.

“…H-held b-b-back…?”

***

“Seitarou, how’re the inmates in cell 13?”

“Well, they’re behaving, sir…”

Three days has passed since the recapture of cell 13. They have been rather quiet, staying in their cells, and they haven’t tried escaping once. Theo hadn’t visited them since Hajime gave him a rather unhealthy pile of paperwork to keep him away from the inmates. After seeing Seitarou’s terrified expression of being around Theo from that day he decided that he might’ve gone a little too far.

Theo began the paperwork and was just one paper away from finishing it. As soon as he had finished that one page his head hit his desk in exhaustion. He hadn’t moved from his desk since then and was powering through it. Seitarou had been startled by the loud noise and asked Hajime what was wrong with him.

“Oh, him?” Hajime looked at Theo before sighing. “He probably went down from exhaustion. I haven’t seen him move from that spot since I’ve given him those papers, so he probably stayed there and powered through the work. The idiot probably ran out of batteries…”

“W-what do you mean by that…?” Seitarou asked softly.

“Theo isn’t 'normal,’” replied Hajime. “He’s got this type of handicap that doesn’t allow him to feel things. Whether he touches ice from antarctica or places his hand in a roaring fire—he can’t feel it. It’s like his nerves aren’t there. It’s the reason for why he can jumped back onto his feet so quickly in a fight. He can’t feel any pain. But because he can hardly feel anything he tends to forget to eat, gets himself injured a lot, sometimes forgets his own strength, and is his own natural problem.”

“W-will he be okay?” Seitarou asked in concern.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine.” Hajime said calmly. “Let 'im rest and give him breakfast or something. He was like that when he was an inmate. He’ll be fine.”

“Sir…” Seitarou spoke quietly, looking rather nervous. “Just… why was he sent to Nanba prison?”

“Why? There’s plenty of reasons why.” Hajime popped a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. “He’s the most human and inhuman being you’ll ever meet.”

Seitarou didn’t feel comforted by that response.

The guards left Theo alone until he woke up on his own. Two hours passed with him sleeping and he woke up to find his mask gone. Hajime felt it was best to take it off of him since he didn’t want him to stupidly hurt himself by accident. Being slightly groggy he got to his feet, went to his locker, and went for a shower.

Of course he was as fast as he could. He is not legitimately a 'he’ after all. Once he cleaned himself he got all his layers back on and went to the cafeteria. He hadn’t had a bite to eat for over three days, after all. After his stomach was filled he went back to the office.

Through the day he kept rubbing the back of his neck, his hands going up and down and left and right. It was a nervous habit he did when he had something eating away at him. And it didn’t go unnoticed.

“Is… Is everything okay, Theo?” Seitarou had asked him. “You keep rubbing your neck like you’re in pain…”

“Oh, that…” Theo muttered and retracted his hand. “It’s just a habit of mine… It’s nothing, I promise. I’m completely fine…”

“O-okay…” Seitarou nodded and went back to work.

After another hour of work, Hajime said he had to go and meet with the Warden. After he left, Yamoto hadn’t came back from yesterday. Theo kept doing his work with his mask off and stayed cooped up into the office. Eventually Seitarou got up and grabbed his attention.

“Hey, Theo.”

“Hm…?”

“I’m going to go get lunch.” Seitarou informed him. “I’ll be as fast as I can and I’ll get back here. Do you think you can hold the office being alone?”

“Yeah, of course…” Theo nodded to him. “I’ll stay in the office until you return.”

“Alright.” Seitarou nodded and stopped at the door. “I suggest you keep an eye on the surveillance cameras just in case. Oh, and if any of the inmates escape, contact the Supervisor on the radio. But, with your ability, I bet you can catch them without help…”

Theo’s lips pressed hard together, sensing Seitarou’s nervousness. Theo scared him. That he knew well enough. Not pointing it out, Theo just nodded softly before gazing back at his desk. With nothing else said, Seitarou left the room.

Once the door was firmly closed, Theo could only sigh and hang his head. His hands found their way onto the back of his neck as he began to rub all around the area. The feeling he felt was something he was used to feeling. Guilt. Shame. If anything it was probably the only emotions he could 'feel’. With a history like his, it was understandable why that is.

“Huh, so I guess you weren’t lying about being an inmate.” A sudden voice spoke behind Theo.

Instantly becoming alarmed, Theo shot to his feet and whirled around. Standing in the room was Jyugo, who had backed up quickly before Theo could hit him or something. The officer semi relaxed, but his guard never went down.

“What’re you doing here…?” Theo asked him.

“Being locked up in that cell for three days without escaping was becoming a bore.” Jyugo said and shrugged in an innocent manner. “I figured I might as well visit the guy who basically gave us all concussions…”

“You’re not supposed to be here.” Theo stated sternly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Jyugo rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard it all from Hajime before. But you wanna know what isn’t a bore?” He smirked and pointed right at Theo. “That number on your neck.”

Theo eyes narrowed at the inmate while his hand grabbed the back of his own neck.

“So you’re No.7, eh?” Jyugo asked looking rather smug. “That’s pretty interesting. Which building were you sent to?”

“…I’ve been thrown in every building in Nanba.” Theo stated coldly. “I gave them hell trying to figure out which building I should go to. Each Supervisor got pretty fed up with my shenanigans, and eventually threw me into Building 5… The first building I got sent to was Building 3…”

“You’ve been thrown into every building?” Jyugo repeated as he looked surprised. “The hell did they do that?”

“Acting…” Theo replied. “By acting and causing a lot of mayhem, I was basically thrown around like hopscotch. But, after an accident, I was eventually thrown into Building 5.”

“Does that mean you have different numbers all over you?” Jyugo asked.

“No, actually…” Theo shook his head. “The only number I have is on my neck… The Supervisors all knew me as 'Trouble Theo’ since I was nothing but a nuisance to them. It was fun… Pissing each of them off, causing over half of them to hate me… Got a real good kick out of it…”

“It’s funny to hear that come from a freak who can’t feel.“ Jyugo said.

Theo frowned at his statement. Jyugo’s face held nothing but smugness. Looks like he was the one having a real good kick out of this conversation.

”…How long have you been hiding in here?“ Theo demanded.

"Who’s to say? All I know is that it’s been a good amount of time…” Jyugo shrugged and sat in Hajime’s seat. “I bet the others have figured out I escaped by now…”

“You didn’t release your friends?…” Theo asked, raising a brow at him.

“Nah, they didn’t want to leave.” Jyguo replied as he begun to spin in the chair like a child. “Nico’s to terrified, Uno doesn’t want to even think about you, and Rock is still sore from you punching him. Hell, there’s still a bump on my forehead from you headbutting me.”

“Hm…” Theo’s eyes hit the ground, feeling a bit guilty to hear that.

“You’re more of a freak than us, huh?” Jyugo said and laughed. “You were an inmate, but now you’re a guard! You can’t feel anything and you’re an utter freak thanks to your strength! I guess you do belong here in Nanba, hahaha!”

Theo flinched at the words thrown at him. A pinching sensation was in his chest as he listened to Jyugo’s laughing. 'I haven’t been called that for a long time…’

“Are you done?” Theo asked him, cutting off Jyugo’s laughter. “If you want to talk we can do it in your cell. Don’t make me drag you by force…”

“Well now, did I hit a nerve?” Jyugo taunted him. Theo only now just noticed how he seemed angry at him. “So what, you’re freakishly strong. I rather not have my skull beaten in, thank you very much. Plus, that’s Hajime’s job.”

“…You just looove talking.” Theo mumbled and crossed his arms. “I still don’t understand why you’re over here. Are you pissed because I harmed you and your friends? Is there something you’re after?…”

Jyugo’s expression became rather stoic very quickly. Something flashed in his eyes, but Theo didn’t know what. Not even a moment later, Jyugo’s smirked twitched up as his eyes held a hint of anger.

“It’s nothing… I just enjoy escaping. It’s fun…” Jyugo stated. “Getting past traps and puzzles are a hobby of mine. You could say that I’m the key to the world~”

“How egotistic of you…” Replied Theo as he began walking towards him. “Enough of your joking. Get back to your cell now, otherwise I will throw you in myself and tell Hajime what you did. He’ll be the one to punish you once he gets back.”

“Oh, sounds like fun.” Jyugo said, grinning up at Alan as he towered over him. “I rather stay here for a while. Those cells are pretty boring.”

'He’s like a leach…’ Theo immediately thought. 'Or maybe he’s more of a mosquito… Either way, he’s annoying as hell. I don’t want to knock him out again, who knows if Hajime will punish me for it. The infirmary will surely whack me a good amount of times if I harm him. I wonder…’

Theo huffed out through his nose. Jyugo just kept gazing up at him, looking rather smug, as if he was daring Theo to harm him. The guard began to bent down towards Jyugo since he was sitting down. Jyugo’s smirk fell instantly as Theo got really close to his face. Without even able to act, Theo placed his lips against Jyugo’s. The inmate sat there, his head trying to process what the hell was happening. He suddenly felt Theo’s tongue lick his lips.

Only then did reality hit Jyugo like a train as his entire body shivered. Jyugo fell out of the spinny chair, scrambling to his feet, and went to the farthest wall in the room to get away from Theo. Jyugo’s face was pale as he looked utterly horrified, his hand over his mouth, as he began screaming at Theo. Theo just stood there, his face blank, as if nothing ever happened as his eyes stayed on the inmate.

“WHAT THE HELL!” He had screamed. “WHO THE FUCK DOES THAT! YOU FUCKING CREEP!”

Theo said nothing. Theo only maneuvered around Hajime’s desk and stepped towards Jyugo. The inmate yelped in horror.

“S-STAY OVER THERE! DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!” Jyugo yelled.

“…Get back to your cell.” Theo ordered, taking another step towards him.

Jyugo yelped and bolted out of the room. He screamed while running down the hallway. Theo looked out of the room to see Jyugo open the door to his cell and run right it, slamming it shut behind him. Theo just watched before turning back around into the room.

“That worked a lot more effectively than I thought…” Theo said and closed the door softly.

***

When Hajime came back he did not expect to hear inmates yelling at each other.

He instantly recognized the voices of those from cell 13. Hajime’s eye began to twitch in annoyance. He only just got back from meeting the warden and he hadn’t even had the time to sit down. With a deep sigh he decided to see why they were causing such a ruckus. As soon as he was in front of the door he slammed his fist against it to grab the inmate’s attention.

“Shut up! You’re all noisier than usual!” Hajime yelled at them. “What the hell’s the problem?”

“YOUR GUARD IS THE PROBLEM!” Jyugo shouted at him instantly, looking almost flustered.

“What’re you goin’ on about?” Hajime grumbled, raising a brow at is strange behavior.

“Jyugo says that your newest guard kissed him.” Uno stated bluntly. “He’s been like this for hours.”

Once Hajime heard that he sighed deeply. Hajime pinched the bridge of his nose, trying hard not to allow his annoyance to high any higher.

“I can’t believe that brat did it again…” Hajime grumbled.

“What?” Uno said, catching what Hajime said. “He’s done this before?!”

“Look, if you knew his circumstance you would understand.” Hajime stated as he thought about Theo. “Yeah, it’s not necessarily right for him to do that shit, but stop freaking out about it. Theo’s a good kid but he's… 'special’. You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to you.”

“THAT STILL DOESN’T ALLOW HIM THE RIGHT TO DO THAT SHIT!” Jyugo shouted.

“Calm down and get over it.” Hajime growled at him. “You’re causing more of a ruckus with all that shouting and it’s giving me a headache. Shut up, do as you’re told, and let me handle this. Theo has no intentions of harming anybody.”

“Yeah, right. My stomach still hurts from being punched from that guy…” Groaned Rock.

“H-h-h-he’s s-s-scary…!” Nico added, looking ready to cry.

“'No intentions’ my ass!” Uno said, clearly pissed. “He hurt all of us more than you’ve ever done. That guy’s psychotic! He shouldn’t even be a guard!”

“Especially when he freaking sexually assaults us!” Jyugo shouted.

“Enough!” Bellowed Hajime as he punched the door again, silencing the inmates. “That’s enough out of you. You four know nothing about that kid. Yeah, I get that he freaks you out, but it’s not like he asked for it. I’m not tellin’ you to like him, but I’m telling you to not hate him. If anything he actually cares about you little shits more than anybody here.”

“Then why the hell did he do all that shit to us?” Asked Uno through grinding teeth.

“Because I told him to.” Hajime stated. “I ordered him to go and capture you all, explicitly stating for him to knock you guys out. The kissing thing was something he did even as an inmate because of his genetic disorder. He calls it a 'habit,’ or an 'instinct’. Plus, he doesn’t just do it to anybody. He almost always has some sort of intention behind his actions. Now if it’ll shut you up, I’ll punish him since he knows that he shouldn’t do that shit. Is there anything else you’d like to complain to me about before I beat your heads in?”

“…No.” Uno muttered, speaking on the behalf of the group.

“Good.” Hajime growled and stepped back. “Now stop causing a ruckus and behave. Today’s a busy day, you know.”

With that said, Hajime turned and walked off. He went back into the guard’s office and spotted Seitarou, Yamoto, and Theo inside. Seitarou was at his desk while Theo and Yamoto was playing some type of chest game on the table. They all looked towards Hajime since they heard the door open.

“Hello there, sir. How was the meeting?” Seitarou asked cheerfully.

“Fine.” Hajime answered and walked towards Theo.

“…Checkmate.” Theo stated and knocked down Yamoto’s king.

“Beaten again! My, you have quite an eye there, Al! Ha ha ha ha!” Laughed Yamoto.

Hajime’s shadow casted over Theo, causing the guard to gaze up at him. Without a moment’s hesitation Hajime punched Theo’s head, knocking the boy off of the couch and onto the ground. Seitarou yelped while Yamoto was surprised to witness the action himself.

“Uunn… That made me dizzy…” Mumbled Theo as he sat up and rubbed his head.

“That’s for being stupid.” Hajime growled at him. “What the hell did you do to No.15 today, huh? Did you really think it was such a bright idea to freaking liplock with him?”

“…Oh. That.” Theo mumbled and got back onto his feet. “No.15 apparent escaped his cell earlier this afternoon without any of us realizing it. I checked the monitors a little later and figured out he’s been hiding in the night room here the entire time. Once you were with the Warden and Seitarou went to lunch he revealed himself to me and we talked… He refused to go back to his cell and I knew that I shouldn’t knock him out. I didn’t want to harm him since he was taunting me. I didn’t want him to think I acted out because of that…”

“So you kissed the brat to make him leave?!” Hajime questioned, shocked by his explanation.

“…Yeah, basically.” Theo confirmed. “He screamed and ran back to his cell… Worked better than I thought… I guess that he’s traumatized and yelled to you about it?”

“Yes.” Hajime said and hit Theo in the head again. “You dumbass. Was that really necessary? You know better than to do that, especially with all the trouble it got you in from the past! Think before you act!”

“I couldn’t help it…” Mumbled Theo as he held his head, his eyes looking dull. “It was just… instinct…”

“Urgh…” Hajime groaned and rubbed his head. “You’re just as troublesome as those four… Put that damn mask on and keep it on. I bet that was probably the reason for why the Warden even gave it to you.”

“…Yes, sir…” Whispered Theo as he went to his desk.

“Wait, why did he… kiss an inmate…?!” Seitarou asked, looking very bewildered.

“Remember when I told you about that freakish genetics he’s got?” Hajime spoke to him. “The only nerves he’s got are the ones in his tongue. Back in his days as an inmate he had kissed one of his fellow inmates. That got him kicked out of the cell, and restrained for sexual harassment. His excuse back then was it allowed him to 'connect’ with people. But, we later figured out he meant nothing behind it, and it was just a habit of him growing up.”

“From growing up…?” Seitarou questioned.

“Tasting was the only way I could feel things…” Theo spoke up after placing his mask on. “My mom thought it was just from how she taught me growing up, trying to teach me and all. I was diagnosed with HSAN as a kid… My dad knew what to do since he had other relatives who had the disease. So whenever I kissed them or even licked stuff he knew I meant nothing behind it… It was the only way I could feel. But of course, society didn’t see it that way…”

“W-well, kissing people isn’t quite a normal thing…” Muttered Seitarou.

“I know…” Theo replied while staring at the ground. His hands tightly clenched into fists at his sides. “I just… Didn’t mean to hurt anybody…”

The room got quiet real fast. Hajime, sensing the dense atmosphere, sighed deeply and walked towards Theo. He awkwardly patted his shoulder roughly, trying to show some sort of comfort. Theo just nodded his head in response and turned back to his desk. Today was already turning into a long day…

***

“I hate that guy so fucking much…!”

“You’re still going on about that? It’s been three days, Jyugo.”

“You’d be just as traumatized if it happened to you!”

The inmates of cell 13 have had a gloomy/annoyed atmosphere around the cell ever since Theo came to the Nanba Prison. They finally healed of their physical wounds, but have yet to really heal of the mental and emotional ones. It’s not like the events were super traumatizing that it caused the group to not want to talk about it. It just made them cautious of Theo.

Nico wasn’t shivering in place at his name anymore, but a fearful expression did take place every time. Rock more or less was probably the calmest about it. Yeah, the guy hurt him, but when Rock thought about the guy impressed him. Shiro from the cafeteria seemed to enjoy him, and he proved to be a tough opponent like he hoped. Jyugo was clearly angry and flustered since he couldn’t get over the kiss incident. Then there’s Uno, who was more or less annoyed only because Jyugo kept bringing it up and wouldn’t let it go.

“Look, we haven’t seen that guy for six days, alright?” Uno spoke up again, trying to calm Jyugo down, as he himself was just down right annoyed. “The only times we have seen him was when he’s been doing patrol through the halls. But even then he doesn’t stop by our cells or anything. I’m still mad that he knocked us out too, but like Hajime said, he only did as he was ordered. It’s their job.”

“It still doesn’t clear up the excuse for him to kiss me, damnit!” Jyugo exclaimed, waving his fist around. “I don’t give a damn if he can’t feel a thing, it’s not a fucking excuse! Even then it doesn’t make any sort of sense!”

“Wait, what did you say?” Rock spoke up, finding interest in one of the things he said. “He can’t feel anything…?”

“Yeah, something like that…” Jyugo grumbled as he was still angry. “I overheard Hajime talk about it. It’s some genetic thing he has or whatever. Apparently he can’t feel anything.”

“How can someone not be able to feel anything?” Rock questioned in disbelief.

“I think I might’ve heard of something like that.” Uno spoke up as he tried to remember. “It’s a disease I think. Something about not letting your nerves work or whatever…”

“S-so, he can’t feel anything…?” Softly asked Nico.

“Yeah, something like that…” Jyugo muttered and scratched his head. “From how Hajime talked about it he said that he was troublesome because of it…”

“Hey, I just got an idea!” Uno exclaimed and hit his fist into the palm of his hand. “Let’s play a game, yeah?”

“A game? What type of game?” Nico immediately asked, turning back to his bubbly self.

“That Theo guy can’t feel a thing, right?” Uno grinned mischievously. “Let’s see with how much stuff we can get without him realizing it.”

“What do you mean…?” Jyugo asked, eyeing him carefully.

“Just hear me out.” Uno wrapped his arm around Jyugo’s neck. “Let’s mess with this guy, yeah? Poke him, throw stuff at him, stick things to him—anything that might get his attention. If he can’t feel anything then he shouldn’t be able to feel us putting stuff on him.”

“So, we’re basically messin’ with the guy.” Rock summed up.

“Yeah, but it’ll be fun.” Uno said. “We’ve messed with everybody else. Why not try this guy, yeah? I have a hunch that we’ll get away with a lot of stuff.”

“I wanna try!” Nico exclaimed, having his hand raised in the air.

“But what happens if he does feel it and question us?” Jyugo questioned, looking unamused by the idea. “This guy was able to knock us all unconscious. He could seriously pound us if we’re not careful.”

“Then why the hell did you escape the cell three days ago saying 'I’m gonna mess with him!’ only to come back by getting kissed.” Uno stated bluntly.

“S-SHUT UP!” Jyugo yelled at him, starting to fume again.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Uno said and punched his shoulder lightly. “He’s going to be making his patrol in fifteen minutes. Sooo…”

Uno turned and grabbed one of Nico’s crayons and a piece of paper. Uno drew on it and the guys all surrounded him, wondering what he was doing. Uno held up the paper and chuckled.

“This’ll do…” He said and gazed around the place.

“Isn’t that kinda immature?” Jyugo said unimpressed.

“Oh, I get it now.” Rock said as he began grinning.

“Haha! I get it! Just like those drama animes I’ve seen!” Nico laughed while clapping.

“Now, all I need is tape.” Uno muttered and began looking around the room.

“Found some!” Nico said and handed it to Uno.

“Perfect.” Uno grinned. “Now we wait…”

Uno stood by the door, eyeing the hall for Theo to walk through. And, just like he stated, Theo came just on time. Just as he passed cell 13 without even glancing at it, Uno called for him. Theo immediately stopped and looked at him, looking slightly curious. Uno had to tell by his eyes since his black mask was on this time.

“Yo, Theo!” Uno has called. “Mind comin’ here for a moment?”

“Huh…?” Theo blinked owlishly, clearly surprised.

But, Theo complied either way. He stepped forwards and stood in front of the door, wondering what Uno wanted.

“Is… something wrong?” Theo asked softly.

“I just wanted to talk to ya.” Uno said in an innocent manner. “I may be a criminal but I ain’t all that cold hearted. I just wanted to talk is all.”

Theo’s eyes narrowed at him. “…Talk about what?”

“Let’s talk about your job.” Uno said smirking. “You said you were a criminal, right? Well, why would you want to come back to the place you were imprisoned? I just don’t get it.”

“Well…” Theo mumbled and looked almost thoughtful. “When you have any sort of criminal record, especially mine, then finding a job in society is hard. Yeah, there’ll be people who will take you in, but the pay is low compared to others… I eventually began working on a local farm because the guy knew my family well and took pity on me…”

“So you became a guard?” Uno questioned with a raised brow.

“Yeah.” Theo nodded. “I sent a request to the Warden. She then brought me in, gave me a uniform and mask, and gave me the job. I know how the officers work and I get the jist of their protocol. The pay is a lot higher and allows me to keep a roof over my head…”

“Sounds tough.” Uno commented. “But why Nanba…? Couldn’t you gone to other police stations?”

“You do realize what you’re asking, right?” Theo gave him a flat look. “My criminal record has vandalism, theft, has a violent history, fought against officer arrest, and even broke out of prison every now and then. Who the hell in their right minds would give someone like that a job, especially at a police station.”

“True, true.” Uno nodded. “But that still doesn’t answer why Nanba allowed you here.”

Theo sighed softly and gazed away from him. “After a year of being in Nanba Prison I stopped being a troublemaker. That was when I was officially put into Building 5. At the time there was rumors that people had been handing out drugs through the inmates because they stole them from the infirmary. A lot of inmates knew who I was because I ended up becoming close to them… The officers knew that… So, I ended up becoming their information dealer, you could say…”

“Seriously? Why’d you rat them out?” Uno asked.

“Because those drugs were dangerous.” Theo stated, now looking very serious. “They were hardcore drugs that the inmates stole and mixed them together carefully. Inmates were actually dying because of it. They’re brains were being fried and they weren’t acting like yourselves. Plus, the bastard had been injecting the drugs into unsuspecting prisoners, testing his work out. Twenty-Two people died.”

“Holy shit…” Uno whispered as his eyes were wide.

“That many people?” Rock ask, now standing behind Uno.

“That’s fucked up…” Muttered Jyugo.

“Who would do that? Messing with other people’s medicine and handing it to others isn’t right!” Nico exclaimed, looking slightly fired up. “Some people really need those drugs to survive.”

“That’s why they came to me.” Theo said calmly and crossed his arms as he recalled the memories. “I began investigating before they even asked me to. After narrowing the search and speaking to the right guys, I ended up finding the bastard. Once I found his little drug exhibit I pounded his face in… He killed a lot of good people… I wasn’t going to forgive him, and I still won't… Nobody deserves to die…”

“What else happened?” Rock asked.

“…After I found him I dragged him off to the police.” Theo continued. “The guards took him to the deeper parts of the prison, away from everybody else, and extended his sentence. Not even a week being in there, the guy went mental… He ended up killing himself by choking on his own chains… According to a few guards, it was a pretty fucked up scene. I could only imagine how bad it was…”

“Whoa…” Rock muttered in shock.

“That was wild from start to finish!” Uno exclaimed.

“You asked.” Theo said. “…But, I still feel bad… Those guys passed without even realizing what happened. I knew them all. One of the guy’s had a kid and wife waiting for him back home… He ended up dying because of a psychotic druggy…”

“That’s so sad…” Muttered Nico.

“…It was my first participation with the guards.” Theo added as he placed his back against their cell door. “From then on, I made a promise to those men. I would help the guards prevent an incident like that ever happening again. That’s when I officially became the guard’s information broker on inmates whenever something got fishy…”

“What a noble guy you are.” Uno commented with a light smirk. “I bet a lot of inmates didn’t trust you from then on out.”

“You’d be surprised, heh…” Theo smirked, not like they could see, but he did catch them off guard. “Thanks to my outgoing nature, almost everybody trusted me. They talked to me because I was the only one who would listen. I listened because I knew it would help. Didn’t even realize doing something as simple as that would lead towards everyone liking me… Because of my vital intel I collected, I ended up becoming a type of bigshot in Nanba. I guess that’s why the Warden took a risk in me and gave me the job…”

“Are you okay with that, though?” Jyugo asked in a slightly harsh tone. “Being used only for intel like that? Is it even worth it?”

“Kinda, yeah.” Theo nodded before pushing himself off of the door to face them. “As long as I can be of worth of some kind, it’s worth it…”

“…You’re weird.” Jyugo said before turning around and went deeper into the cell.

“Fair enough.” Theo shrugged, finding what he said amusing. “But I enjoy my job. It’s worth it…”

“I don’t think I could ever change my ways like that and become a guard in the prison I was held in.” Rock muttered and scratched his head.

“Fair enough.” Theo said as his eyes seemed to smile. “Is that all you wanted to ask?”

“U-uh, yeah.“ Uno said and rubbed the back of his neck. ”…Now that I think about it, you really are easy to talk to. That’s freaking creepy, man.“

Theo released a short laugh, which sounded a lot like huffs, as he found what Uno said amusing. He was surprised that their hate towards him from a few days ago had apparently subsided.

"I get that a lot…” Theo said softly. “If that’s all, I need to get back to my job.” He turned towards the hall, but gave the three by the door a pointed look. “You better not escape again otherwise I’m gonna have to chase you guys again. I honestly don’t enjoy beating you guys to death, so please don’t make me.”

“Fine, fine.” Uno waved at him. “But we make no promises for tomorrow!”

Theo sighed softly and shook his head. “I’ll act like I heard nothing…”

WIth that said, he began walking down the hall. Uno, Nico, and Rock watched from the barred window until he was out of sight. Once he was gone, Rock looked to Uno.

“After hearing that story, you still put that paper on his back.” Rock muttered.

“What? I had to do something!” Uno said and began to laugh. “Still, I placed that thing right on his neck! He really didn’t notice, ahaha!”

“Theo’s not that bad of a guy, huh?” Nico said and looked at the others. “Hajime was right when he said we had to know him better.”

“But we never did figure out his full story…” Muttered Rock.

“Who cares?” Grumbled Jyugo as he was laying on the ground. “He could have the most saddest backstory in the world and I still wouldn’t care.”

“Are you still holding a grudge because of some dumb kiss?” Uno asked him.

“Of course I am!” Jyugo yelled at him, now sitting up and shaking a fist. “I don’t care who he is! There’s no excuse for him to kiss someone, especially an inmate he’s in charge of!”

“Yeah, Jyugo does have a fair point in that.” Nico said before looking at Rock and Uno. “Do you think Theo likes boys instead?”

“Don’t ask me, I don’t know the guy!” Uno exclaimed and walked away from the door.

“If he’s as open as he says he is, then maybe you can ask him next time…” Rock suggested, honestly just wanting to change the conversation.

“Okay!” Nico said innocently and went towards the TV.

***

“Oi, Theo. There’s something on your neck.”

“Huh? Really…? I didn’t even know it was there.”

LOSER! ;P HAHA!

'I recognize that penmanship anywhere! Those bastards from cell 13 are screwin’ with him! And he can’t suspect a thing because he can’t feel the goddamn paper! Those little shits…!’

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gcntlemxn · 4 years ago

Text

william john stanhope, earl of bath and prime minister of great britain

Hey folks! I’m Flint and this is Bill Stanhope, who runs the country for some god damn reason. Under the cut will be some form of intro, but whether its gonna be a few bullet points or his entire bio copy and pasted remains to be seen. Let’s click and find out! Anyway, my discord is @trash lord#7277 so hmu for some plots.

Full Name: William John Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Bath (3rd Creation) Birth Date: 17th February 1756 (36 years old) Birth Place: Stanhope Hall, Bath, Somerset Current Location: 10 Downing Street, London

Religion: Church of England, Protestant (Loosely) Politics: Whig (Strongly; Leftist, authoritarian, democratic socialist) Languages: English, French, Greek, Latin Occupation: Politician; Prime Minister of Great Britain

Personality: Ambitious, generous, confident, secretive, loyal, intelligent, independent, brash, violent, diplomatic, bitter, serious, intemperate, unlucky.

How is your character viewed by the ton?

A somewhat controversial figure, Bath is known for two things; confrontation and rumour. Both make him unpopular with companions, yet a treat to have around, if only so one might stir gossip. As a politician, he is known to excel in debate. A staunch anti-traditionalist, he takes an aggressive approach to all matters of Parliament and seeks to run a government that serves its people — much to the chagrin of the aristocracy it has served for many hundreds of years. Therefore, the ton does not regard him favourably as he does not balk at making enemies in high places. Indeed, even on a personal level, he is contrary and loud spoken, never submitting to polite company or appropriate conversation, making it difficult to catch a break among those out for the season.

what are two potential plotlines you would be interested in exploring with your character?

Political intrigue sounds like it could be an extremely fun time in this rp, especially given the range of thought the characters show. A lot of Stanhope’s opinions directly intrude on the way other characters lead their lives, and he has the political platform to exercise against them, the greater aristocracy, and especially the tories and Royalists among them. I look forward to exploring this and playing out some controversy with the other characters.

Personally, he has plenty of issues to contend with as well. While he begins the rp as the recently elected prime minister of britain, he has a lot to contend with and I foresee things deteriorating fast for him. His combative personality and myriad of dangerous and scandalous secrets from his past will gradually make him vulnerable. Perhaps to the delight of his many critics, especially given the merciless regard he has for them. It’s hard to predict where this will take him, but I look forward to him growing a bit more dangerous because of it.

how does your character’s early life differ from their current life?

One could never call William Stanhope poor, but comparatively, he was once a nobody. There has seldom been a time he wasn’t in another’s shadow, that of parents, siblings and partners. He prides himself on learning much from this time and today uses it to his advantage.

These days, he has power, but he’ll never grow complacent of it. At times, he finds himself floundering, as he was never brought up with any expectation of achievement and has, for the most part, taught himself everything he knows. Yet he doesn’t stand by and let things happen to him as he did in his youth. Today, his actions are swift and derisive. Meekness is still melting from him, burned away by a steadily growing radical fire that has made him such a compelling political candidate. Those that knew him as a boy would recognise little of the grown man.

how does this character’s reputation differ from who they actually are?

Reputation trickles down. It is decided by those in power and dispensed to those without it, who, possessing their keen appetite to resemble the rich, eat what they are fed and regurgitate in kind.

And so, it is his opposition that dictates him as a crass and cold hearted socialist, skimming money with one hand to pay mollys with the other, using any spare farthings on drink and smoke.

In reality, he has never spent a penny he hasn’t earned and prides himself on hopefully being rather more discreet about his personal purchases than the lascivious rumours would suggest.

As for his countenance, it is no small wonder that the pigs across the benches label him a cruel tyrant when it is their self-serving decadence and traditionalism that he sets out to dismantle. Those loyal to him receive a far different, smiling face. In truth, he might call none of them friends, yet he has many allies.

how does your character view themselves?

At once an egoist and a pariah, he has a poetic and self-critical view of himself. Over exaggerating his own importance, yet never falling back into the crutches of propriety as he keeps close countenance with the unwashed masses he strives to support. He struggles to call himself a saviour of the people, yet that is all he wishes to be. A struggler is, altogether, perhaps the best word he could find for himself. Every good action counters another he regrets, yet the regrets pile up as he struggles against addiction and faltering willpower in the face of his vices. This part of himself does not please him. Yet it is the fuel of his flame, compelling him forward to do better in return. He’d call himself a messianic leftist, but identifies more with the iron fist of a dictator than the welcoming smile of the prophet. And, lastly, he’d call himself an isolationist. People bother him. As concepts, they are magnificent, and without hesitation he will commend a man’s rights until the last line of the law. Yet he’d sooner rather his supper alone. Perhaps read a book. At every opportunity, his seat is left empty at soirees and celebrations. The intimate company of a handsome gentleman, a trusted advisor, his wife or, before his death, his beau would always be a thousand times more preferable than the stink of a crowd of clammering politicians.

is this character a leader or follower?

In general, a leader. One must be to rise to his heights and overcome his supposedly humble beginnings. He takes no issue in commanding, dividing, conquering. Believing, for the most part, in his own intelligence, he takes confidence in enacting laws, advising budgets, hiring, firing, fighting.

At times, he follows. He holds the opinion of few in value; his wife, his closest allies. Beyond that, the will of the people is his own. That is, after all, the entire concept of his campaign and candidacy. True democracy, as much as such is impossible in a proto-industrialist age, keeps him somewhat subservient to the will of the people and he will always act in their favour.

At times, he may be taken advantage of, swept up in good feeling and the easy charm of another. There is talk that his wife takes too much control of him, speaks too frequently in his ear, but he will scoff at such claims despite their truth. In another world, she would be a better politician than he. As it stand, they are a double act; she the only recipient of his utter trust, and he her loyal adept.

what are two headcannons you have for this character?

A man of many secrets, he covers a violent past with thin gossamer. Once a rioter and public campaigner, he’s given speeches to rabble in Trafalgar Square for many years and thrown punches in strikes and food riots for the sheer thrill of it. Now, society requires him to tighten his cravat and smile. It is a struggle to keep his buttons fastened to tight.

Political pugilism not withstanding, chief among his secrets are as follows; a drinking habit, through which his penchant for violence thrives, along with other behaviours unbecoming of his status; a fondness for opiates, of which he now takes delivered home, where once he might have lounged in dens and at least had some damn fun with it.

Lastly, there is the matter of his homosexuality. It is something he had always been aware of within himself, first culminating in the frightfully storybook fumblings with a stablehand. Less fable, perhaps, is that the older boy threatened to tell. In terror, William claimed assault to his own father and had the boy dismissed without reference.

In later years, William gained confidence in his attractions, sought out clubs and friends among whom he could be himself. Through the years, he had had many short lived relationships, mostly amounting to a mere handful of nights in one another’s company before slipping away forever. Among this number, only one stands out. For many years, Stanhope kept a young man on payroll; an unusually exclusive molly, awarded his own, modest apartments, clothing, salary and the sole beneficiary of William’s genuine adoration. Francis was his name. He’s dead now. As nobody ever knew of his existence, none will ever ask William how.

#ls.intro #idk why this wont small text but i can only apologise that its hideous

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lunarfanfics · 5 years ago

Text

Hey, Mister No Name Kid

Words: 2,121 | Rating: G

Pair: Eren Jaeger & Annie Leonhardt

i was a bit inspired by the song “Fight For Me” From Heather's the Musical. So here's some HIgh school AU!

[ FF.net / AO3 ]

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Why was it that High School fights seemed to garner more attention than most tussles that happened outside of the school vicinity? Was it that teenagers were just more generally aggressive, and full of raging spirit and hormones? Was it that the loud hooting coming from the ring of Freshmen, Juniors and Sophomores surrounding the two boys grappling at each other incited the hype? Was it that the teachers attempting to break up the fight only caused more of a commotion that further riled the kids up?

The cafeteria became more of a screaming jungle the moment a fist collided with a cheek.

Annie found it ludicrous, annoying… And yet so-very intriguing. Being a senior, she sat with the rest of the disgruntled older teens at the back of the Cafeteria, she sipped idly at her milk, watching with the slightest bit of interest as the darker haired youth tackled the taller blond boy, knocking him to the ground. Loud “Ah’s!” and “Oh’s!” erupted from the crowd of teenage spectators.

“Check it out. Jean punched that kid out twice, and yet he still gets up! Kid’s got more fight in ‘em than anybody here.” Reiner, the famed quarterback of Maria Highschool commented, folding his arms.

Bertolt, a tall quiet young man who looked more twenty-five than eighteen shook his head solemnly.

“They’re so loud. It’s almost the end of the year. Couldn’t they have waited until schools out?”

“As if!” Reiner chortled. “What would they have to fight about then?”

Bertolt shrugged, he stood grabbing his tray. “I’m going to head to class early, meet me after school.”

“I’ll tell ya’ who won!” Reiner called after him as Bertolt slipped away among the chaos.

Annie could see the dirty blond youth, the one called Jean who tried so hard to be the bad boy of the school, trying desperately to break free from the darker-haired boy’s chokehold. His gasping red face almost made him resemble a fish out of water. The corner of her lips curled just slightly.

Not bad…

The darker-haired boy seemed to have the upper hand now. He blew strands of chestnut hair from his face, his forearms tight around the other boy’s neck. Annie shifted to the side as another student got in her line of vision.

That kid does kind of have nice arms…

Reiner tutted. “Shit. Look whose coming.”

Annie turned her head, just as the raven-haired dean of Maria Highschool strode through the cafeteria doors, looking for all of intent and purposes, pissed off. The crowd of students sensing impending doom hastily stepped out of the dean’s way as he made a path through to the center of the excitement with a hard-earned glare.

The darker-haired boy still had his arms wrapped around Jean’s neck, but Jean had rolled them both onto their backs, so that the other boy was pinned underneath him, Jean tried to elbow him in the gut when two finely polished leather shoes stopped in front of his face.

“Jaeger. Kirstein.”

The boys inclined their heads to meet the steely gray eyes of Mr. Ackerman. The taciturn, short yet terrifying when furious dean of Maria Highschool. She couldn’t see too much, what with the sophomores milling about, but Annie was sure both boys had gulped the moment Mr. Ackerman spoke their names in that calm tone of his.

“Both of you. In my office. Immediately.”

The boys released each other. Staggering to their feet, Jean nearly tripped twice over those steel-toed boots of his. Both appeared haggard and out of breath. Sporting scratches and bruises here and there. Jaeger’s shirt collar was stretched across chest, and two band patches hung from loose threads of Jean’s biker jacket. Mr. Ackerman fixed them with that clipped stare, before turning to the audience who watched them with rounded eyes.

“if any of you wish to accompany Jaeger and Kirstein then I suggest you get back to your tables.”

Even if the threat seemed far-fetched to Annie’s ears considering there was no way Mr. Ackerman could apprehend all of Maria Highschool’s students, Mr. Ackerman had enough of that cold ferocity in his eyes that he could scare students back into their seats. Soon all the Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors were back to conversing with their friends, eating their slightly cooled down lunches and sneaking peeks as the dean marched both boys out of the cafeteria doors.

Reiner blew air out of his nose. “Damn, just when it was getting good.”

Annie looked down at her own forgotten lunch as the jungle became a forest full of ambient noise and mindless chatter once more. A Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a fruit cup. She sighed, Annie had to survive just a couple of more months before it was bye-bye to this hectic zoo and hello to the fresh start of University. She was sure there was not one thing she was going to miss here.

“Hey Annie?” Reiner gazed down at her as she fiddled with her straw, a smirk playing at the edges of his lips. “Who do ya’ think would have won that fight? Jaeger or Kirstein?”

“Bold of you to assume I care.” She droned.

“Aw, don’t lie. You totally do. I saw you checking out the fight. That Jaeger kid was copying some of your moves too!”

Annie blinked.

He was… He was copying my techniques, wasn’t he? Or at least trying too.

“More like he was fumbling around trying to land a hit.” Annie tucked platinum fringes behind her ear, before standing up with her tray. “And don’t compare him to me.” She side-eyed Reiner as he snatched the fruit cup from her tray.

“Fine. Fine. But y’know… Maybe he has eyes on you. You never know.” Reiner waggled his eyebrows. Annie sneered at him, walking away from the big oaf.

Sure, he does. Not. If he did, he would’ve noticed that I had my eyes on him all along…

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The skin beneath his left eye was an ugly plum color, bad enough that his left eye had swelled to the size of one too. It still ached, and he could barely see through it.

Dammit!

Eren slammed his locker shut, the metal clatter echoed throughout the near empty halls of Maria Highschool. Mr. Ackerman had kept both him and Jean—the horse-faced asshole—Kirstein after school hours, berating them, and even calling Jean’s mother since he had claimed to insinuate the fight, much to Jean’s horror.

Their detention lasted until 6:00pm. When the afterschool activity clubs where finished. Eren was glad to see that Jean had all but ran out the classroom the moment the last bell rang.

Good. I would’ve kicked your ass out of school anyway.

Unfortunately, while they weren’t suspended or even worse… Expelled. The two still had to attend another week of detention and be forced to sit near each other because apparently it was suggested by Miss Hange, their biology teacher, that the boys wouldn’t be so hostile towards each other if they spend another week in each other’s company.

Fat chance. Eren gritted his teeth at that.

The hallways were mostly empty now, with only one or two afterschool students gathering their things from their lockers, office attendees clipped posters for summer events onto the boards that lined the hallway, and the school custodian was busy mopping up some spilled Pepsi while jamming out to 70’s rock.

At least it was more peaceful during this hour. Eren exhaled as he pushed through the heavy double doors of the school entrance.

“Hey.”

Eren startled, whipping his head to the voice. He saw a blonde girl sitting crossed legged to his right, on the stone steps. She held a busted looking guitar in her hands, wearing her usual ripped stockings, a checkered skirt and the school standard shirt. One of her ears were pierced several times.

Oh. Eren came a little closer. It’s her.

“Hi.” He stopped just when she looked up at him with those clear blue eyes. That punk girl.

She narrowed her eyes at him, looking him over in a way that felt he was being assessed. Eren didn’t like being judged by anyone… But, for once he kept his mouth shut about it.

“You’re that kid that fought Jean in the cafeteria.” She stated matter-of-factly.

“I am. What about it?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. What was that all about anyway?”

Eren tilted his head. He didn’t even know this girl’s name, yet he saw her all the time. Sometimes in the hallways, sometimes in the school yard, sometimes in the cafeteria line or even the gymnasium. He knew she was a senior. He knew from his dear cousin Ymir, that she was bred a fighter too. The best of the best when it came to women’s lightweight. Eren knew this girl had better things to do than involve herself in childish confrontations. Yet his seventeen-year-old mind couldn’t fathom not showing off in front of the punk girl.

He shrugged casually, playing it cool. “We just exchanged a few words, some insults, it got out of hand when I said something about his mom, then he swung at me. I obviously didn’t mean it, but Jean’s a big softie for his mom.”

At this, the blonde girl snorted. “Most boys are.”

“So, uh—” Eren shifted from one foot to the other. He nodded to her guitar. “You play?”

She looked down at her beat up instrument. “I wouldn’t bring a guitar to school if I couldn’t play it.”

“Ah—right, right.”

“Hey, why don’t you sit down. You look fidgety.”

“Sure.” Eren mentally slapped himself. Looking nervous in front of a senior girl. Jean would laugh that hyena laugh of his if he saw this.

He plopped himself down onto the second stone steps, not too close to her, but not too far either. The blonde began mindlessly strumming the taut strings of her guitar. The spring breeze picked up and ruffled their hair, more afterschool kids were piling out of the school, some parents were parked in front of the building, waiting for their sons or daughters.

“So, Jaeger. Huh?”

“Huh?” He raised a brow at her.

“Jaeger?” She inclined her head, peering at him through light colored fringes. “That’s your last name. right?”

“Uh… Yeah?” Eren became puzzled. “You, uh—don’t know my name?”

“Should I? I don’t know most Junior names, honestly.” She pursed her lips in thought. “Hm, but I do see you around a lot.”

“You do?!”

“Oh, yeah. You’re that quiet kid, always keeping to himself. Not really getting involved with any cliques or clubs. A real nobody.”

Eren deflated. “A nobody?”

“Don’t worry.” The punk girl waved a hand. “It’s good to be a nobody sometimes. You don’t get into much drama er—” She looked closer at his bruised eye, “—at least not too much drama.”

Eren flushed. More at their proximity than anything else.

Her eyes are a very bright, and cool blue. Pretty…

“Mister no-name kid.”

“Huh?” He turned to her again. She had gone back to strumming her guitar, only this time the uneven notes took to a soft tune.

“It’s what I call you. Because I never knew your name, yet I always seem to notice you out of everyone in this school. I don’t even care for the seniors I hang out with much, so it’s kind of… Strange.”

Eren felt something like butterflies burst in his gut.

God, I hope that’s not gas…

“Strange, huh?” He cleared his throat. “Well I—I’ve always noticed you too. But I don’t know your name either.”

She stopped strumming for half a second, and in that half-second, he saw something akin to a smile adorning her pink lips.

“You can call me Annie. Leonhardt, Annie.”

Eren grinned crookedly. Smiling made his left eye ache like a bitch, but he was feeling a tad to giddy right now to care. He held out his hand to the punk girl—to Annie.

“Annie. I’m Eren. Eren Jaeger.”

She took his tanned palm into her own. Surprising Eren by just how small her hands were.

And yet they can pack quite a punch or, so the tale goes.

“You sort of held your own in that cafeteria earlier, but your grappling was sloppy.”

Eren laughed. “Heh, yeah I mean—I wasn’t really putting any effort into it, y’know?”

“How about,” She tugged at his hand, so she could lean in to him, “I teach you a thing or two about real fighting, Eren?”

Eren swore he could hear his own heart beating like a drum in his ears. “I—I would like that.”

This time she gave him a genuine smile.

#Eren Jaeger #Annie Leonhardt #ereani #EreAnnie #wwwyfic #snkfic

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lupizora · 5 years ago

Text

Shattered Reflection

Since the leftover sales for @bnhavillainauzine are on, I can finally post my fic for it here. It was a Villain Bakugou origin story, or more precisely, how imagined it would go down without anyone having to die for it.

Please consider helping bring this project to a satisfying conclusion by snatching our last copies!! Bonus, you’d get to enjoy the badass content from our contributors in all of its glory~ ♥

Genre: Angst/Drama

Pairing: None/Gen

Rating: T

Word Count: 4684

Summary: After a chance meeting with a rising Hero, the ghosts of the past return to remind Katsuki of the dream he left behind.

Explodo never thought he would hit the ground, more so roll on it until he had to stretch a hand to stop. The lower layer of his gloves shredded like paper from the friction, and hot air rushed through the crack in his gas mask. Street lights illuminated the secluded parking lot around him, the sickly orange color bouncing off the cars. Footsteps echoed like sledgehammers in the silence as the Hero materialized from the shadows of the alley. The same alley Explodo shot out from like a bullet when the asshole had punched him out of nowhere.

He got up on one knee, pieces of his mask fluttering like leaves to the ground. "What's your fucking problem?"

The Hero's metallic headpiece glistened as he stopped at a safe distance. "You're under arrest."

"And what are my so-called crimes?"

"Isn't burning someone's small-time business enough?"

"His tempura was horrible. I was doing the world a favor."

"It's not up to you to decide that. Now stop resisting."

"I was peacefully getting away until you attacked me, dipshit." Explodo sneered. "This is me resisting."

He closed the distance between them with a double explosion, aiming for a right hook. The Hero avoided it. Grabbing his arm and the front of his turtleneck, the Hero slammed him over his shoulder on the concrete. Explodo's teeth clattered. He jumped to his feet, delivering an uppercut square on the Hero's jaw. It felt like hitting a wall even if his gloves absorbed part of the impact.

The fight continued with a barrage of fists and explosions. Explodo returned with double ferocity every heavy punch the Hero struck, like they were locked in some sort of odd dance. Explodo would press forward. The Hero would step back. Adrenaline rushed through Explodo’s veins. His heart pounded like a wild horse and sweat gathered underneath his face mask. This was a pointless fight. He knew it. Still, the thrill of it kept him going until a curious question popped up in his mind.

How is this guy still standing? He thought. His burns should be second-degree by now.

In that moment of lost concentration, the Hero found an opening and grabbed the muzzle of Explodo's gas mask. Rough fingers scraped against his cheek and his stomach did an unpleasant somersault. Pressing both palms on the Hero's bare chest, he released the most powerful explosion so far and the shockwave pushed them apart. Explodo managed to stay upright. His fingers were numb, pain running along the length of his forearms.

He stood, breathing hard, but the Hero didn’t reappear. As the smoke cleared and his ears stopped ringing, Explodo followed the cracked path of the concrete to find the Hero spread-eagled against a car. He had dented the vehicle inwards, but he himself appeared unharmed.

Seriously, what is this fucker made off? Explodo thought. He looks too normal to be a Mutant-type.

Something wet stained his cheekbones, and part of his face ached from where the straps of his mask had rubbed against his skin when they snapped. He ran his tongue along the length of his lower lip and felt the sharp tang of blood.

The piercing cry of a police siren shrilled through the night air. This was his cue to get the hell out of there. As he stepped forward, the Hero took a harsh breath.

"Why…" he whispered. "Such a powerful Quirk and you ended up like this?"

Explodo stared wide-eyed at him. "Huh?"

Grabbing the hood of the car like it was made of butter, the Hero heaved himself to his feet again. His eyes were set on the villain like his life depended on it. "Of all things you could do, why did you become a petty arsonist?"

Sparks of irritation ran along Explodo’s spine like firecrackers. "Who are you calling petty, asshole? You don’t know a damn thing about me!”

"But you could’ve become anything you wanted!" The Hero took a step forward, grunting from the effort. His body crackled like he was a walking stone statue and that didn’t seem too far from the truth.

Explodo snorted. "Get off your high horse. Only Heroes get to use their Quirks in public. That's what their licenses are for." He glared at him from under his hood, the words dripping like poison from his mouth. "Everyone else has to lower their heads and pretend they don't have one—like they are Quirkless."

His animosity stunned the Hero, who lowered his head. "But did you try?" he asked. The earlier accusatory tone melted into an almost innocent curiosity as if he wanted—no needed—to understand but couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Explodo would have preferred if the Hero had yelled this question. Then maybe he wouldn’t have remembered his fourteen-year-old self, when he was still named Bakugou Katsuki, brimming with confidence as he shouted from the top of his desk that one day he would surpass All Might and become the number one Hero; a memory Explodo had buried so deep and for so long, it could belong to someone else.

Something moved on his right. Explodo jumped backward as a set of tentacles crashed into the pavement where he’d been standing. They appeared to be the fingers of another Hero entering the scene. He wore a cape with a hood in bright colors and his mask was covering half of his face.

"Are you alright, Red Riot?" he asked with a quick turn of the head to the other Hero.

"I've been through worse."

The easy-going tone in his voice, like this fight had been a walk in the park, irked Explodo but he suppressed his anger. These were unfamiliar waters. He hadn't been against two trained Heroes before and this second guy seemed like he was hiding more tricks up his sleeves. It was time to make his exit.

"As much as I'd love to kick both your asses, my job here is done." He propelled himself into the air, landing with a backflip on a street light. "Three is a crowd anyway."

"Wait!" Red Riot called. "You never answered me."

Explodo glanced over his shoulder. "Being this soft gets you killed in the real world," he said and jumped to avoid another tentacle coming after him. "Better remember that, Hero."

These were his final words as he propelled himself onto another street light, keeping this pace until he left the parking lot and the Heroes behind.

A few days later and Katsuki was staring at the ceiling fan with the intensity of a million suns. Good thing he couldn't set things on fire with his eyes too or the poor plastic thing would have been incinerated into a pile of ashes. He kept replaying the recent disgraceful encounter like a broken record. So far he had gotten by with hit-and-run attacks. In the past, whenever a Hero had intercepted him they hadn't been a serious threat. This had been the first real fight since meeting the Villain Alliance two years before. Katsuki had managed to escape by the skin of his teeth back then too; the same anger rumbling inside his chest as Shigaraki had more or less allowed him to live.

Sparks crackled like fireworks in his palms, but it did little to ease the prickles crawling underneath his skin. Katsuki scratched the flesh between his fingers. Of course, who would have thought such an up-and-coming sidekick like Red Riot would show up in this degraded shit-hole of a district. He was a U.A. graduate who made his debut during an internship by apprehending a crook that had taken a Quirk-boosting drug. Through watching videos and reading articles of his deeds, even Katsuki could admit the guy was promising. That didn't stop him from wishing revenge though. The bruises and his damaged pride hurt like hell.

The fan did another lazy turn and dust glinted in the few light rays the blinds let through. If he paid attention long enough, Katsuki could hear the plumbing rattling through the walls. Whenever water rushed a little stronger than usual, chips of paint would rain from the ceiling and cover everything like sugar powder.

"Kiddo! Come here for a sec," Jin called.

With an annoyed huff, Katsuki hopped over the couch's back and walked to the kitchen. It was a narrow room with a low counter on the left and a kitchen table almost making contact with the right wall, but it was decent compared to the previous dump they’d called home.

He leaned on the doorframe, crossing his arms. "Will you cut that shit out already? I'm of age." His birthday was three months ago and he had been a few centimeters taller for a while, but Jin hadn't stopped dropping some variation of "kid" when he addressed him.

"I will when you start acting like it." Jin pointed at the table. "There's some cash. Take it and go to the convenience store."

"Why?"

"You have the itch-look on your face, and you're supposed to lay low so you can't go around burning things. We are out of milk anyway."

Katsuki's expression changed from mildly annoyed to grumpy, and then to super pissed in the span of the entire sentence. He smacked his hand on the counter. "I haven't burned anything in this fucking house for months!"

Jin stopped peeling the potato and used the handle of the knife to raise his palm from the counter. There was a faint scorched imprint from where his skin had come in contact with the steel.

"For fuck's sake." Katsuki snapped his hand away. "Can't you just clone me or something?"

"Doubling you will only double my problems." He allowed himself a small smile before his expression turned serious again. "No matter how interested I am in seeing you having a showdown with yourself, I don't want to replace furniture so soon. Don't be such a brat and go already. The fresh air may cool your head a little."

"Fine, you prissy old man."

His keys jingled as Katsuki unlocked the door, but he stopped with his hand on the handle. "If your Quirk works with you having a clear image, can't just clone yourself as you were before?" he said, tapping the center of his forehead. "At least that way we'll know who's the real one."

The knife stabbed the doorframe a few centimeters above his shoulder. Jin was panting with a strained expression, sweat already dripping from his chin. He covered his face with his hands.

"Get out."

The convenience store was packed for such a warm afternoon. Old ladies, students, and mothers with their children walked around, not seeming to mind the malfunctioning AC. Their chatter was like radio static to Katsuki, bits and pieces of a peaceful world he wasn't part of anymore. It baffled him how folks could go on with their mundane everyday lives while knowing of the terror lurking out there. Or maybe they didn't know. Not fully at least. After all, not everyone got their life turned upside down by a Villain; one that slid out of an ordinary soda bottle no less.

Katsuki had just begun his last year of middle school back then. After the incident, he couldn't stop wondering that if he had reacted faster, if he hadn't stood frozen like a fucking idiot, he could have prevented it. But while drowning under the sludge he had none of those thoughts. All his energy was focused on clawing his way out of it.

"C'mon! Stop struggling," the Villain said. His slime had covered Katsuki almost entirely by then, like a heavy blanket he couldn't shake off. "It'd be easier for you too."

As if I'd let an asshole like you win! He thought, frustrated. I'm stronger than this! His palms ignited explosions of their own volition, shattering the road around them.

The Villain's whistle rang inside Katsuki's head as if he had done it. "What a jackpot! Why have you been hiding such a Quirk, huh?"

It had been a ridiculous remark. One Katsuki shouldn't have paid attention to considering who it came from, but it stuck even after All Might had saved both him and Deku. In the following days, it had evolved into the same question buzzing at the back of his mind.

Why hadn’t his strong Quirk helped him in the first place?

His goons provided the answer. They had been avoiding him like the plague after the incident, so one day Katsuki hunted them down at their hidden smoking spot. Long Fingers attempted to greet him casually, but Katsuki grabbed him by the lapel of his school uniform and demanded an explanation for their behavior.

"It's nothing personal," Long Fingers said. "Just uh…"

"It was the first time you went all out like that," Undercut said. "Like we knew your Quirk is top notch, but this…" He fiddled with his unlit cigar. "This was freaky."

Katsuki let Long Fingers go. "And what about that? You dolts think no Hero ever went that far to beat a Villain?"

"If the Villain wasn't there…" Undercut looked up. "I'd say you were enjoying the destruction."

"You think I did it on purpose?" He said as an itch gnawed at the flesh inside his palms. "I'm gonna be a Hero! Collateral damage is in the goddamn job description."

"Then tell me, is beating the bad guys the only reason you wanna be a Hero?"

The irritation spread to the rest of his hands and Katsuki clenched them into fists. "Cut the crap. Who do you think you are to question me? You lot of ambitionless extras will never understand what it takes to make it into U.A.! If I have to destroy public property to practice, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do!"

"But it'll get on your record," Long Fingers said. "You wouldn't dare."

It had been as if someone flipped a switch inside his head. Katsuki pretended the topic was over in front of them, but he pondered it in the privacy of his room. He had been using his Quirk within regulations his whole life. He needed a clean record to even think of enrolling in the most popular school of the country. After all, there were things that even he wouldn't be able to get away with doing.

Without Katsuki realizing it, the earlier itch had returned. He scratched absentmindedly at the spot below his fingers and followed the calluses all the way to the heel of his hand. His palms had always had a rough texture to them, like a countermeasure against burning his skin with his Quirk. Due to that, irritations were rare. He stared at his hand. Any more scratching and he would bleed. His Quirk ignited, sparks flying along his fingers like mini-firecrackers. For a moment he hadn't noticed something was missing until the heat from his explosions receded.

The itch was back.

Grabbing the nearest hoodie, he left the house. The sun was a single brushstroke of red on the horizon. No one had paid him much attention, and the crowd thinned significantly closer to the beach park until Katsuki stood alone at the entrance.

Behind the protective railing, trash piles spread like hills among the sand. It was common for the locals to dump their garbage there, despite the glaring warning sign. Of course, the chances of bumping into someone were low, given how sneaky people were being about it. Still, Katsuki didn't stop looking behind his back as he navigated through the trash. Several steps later he stumbled into a clearing. Microwaves, television sets, and other electrical appliances were scattered all around him. A large fridge got his attention as the last sun rays were reflected in its mirrored surface. The door of the refrigerator was missing, the ice long since evaporated. With a deep breath, he pressed both hands on the fridge. The cold metal bent under the growing heat and at its peak, he released the explosion.

The fridge split in two, scorched parts and cables spilling to the ground like intestines. Katsuki skidded backward but managed to stay upright. Birds flew off from the ruckus. Worry plagued him for a moment, but soon euphoria replaced the weight in his chest. His smoking hands weren't itching anymore. He closed them into fists, allowing a feral grin to spread across his face.

It was intoxicating; like a forbidden early taste of the freedom awaiting him.

The whole situation turned into a game in his head. Passing under the radar of his parents and crossing paths with unsuspecting pedestrians amused him. No one had considered for a moment that an honor student like him would be breaking the law. Lowering the strength of his explosions had helped avoid arousing suspicion from the locals. Everyone pretended the trash weren’t their problem, but loud noises in the middle of the night would had eventually gathered some complaints. His grades were unaffected too, because he made sure to finish his homework before sneaking out. By the time he decided to go there during the day, Katsuki was sure he had won.

His footsteps were light against the pavement that summer day. It took all his concentration to not propel himself a little faster with the help of his explosions.

I could try that today, he thought with a smile as he neared the beach park.

There was a man standing at the entrance.

As if lightning struck him, Katsuki stopped in his tracks.

Super tall and criminally thin, the man leaned against an old pickup truck. His back was still turned as he observed the piles of trash, so Katsuki fled. After at least a block away, he ducked behind a wall to hide. His heart hammered in his chest like a caged bird. Blood pounded in his temples and he was sweating all over. Reality dawned on him like someone had doused him with cold water.

Game over.

Of course, the man had worn only a regular t-shirt and pants. He couldn’t have been an officer. Rumours spread fast though and Katsuki had been doing this for months. Witnesses were bound to show up, no matter how careful he had been. One-time offenders were forgiven with barely a slap on the wrist but given the level of his offence, this would go on his record for sure. So from that day on, Katsuki stopped going to the beach and used his Quirk only when it was allowed.

He could endure this. The exams were only nine months away.

This was his mantra when pens started melting in his hands, and he left hand imprints on his chair. Everyone was willing to sweep these accidents under the rug with only a minor scolding. Being nervous was to be expected. He aimed for the top after all. But the itch kept him awake even the night before the exam. Katsuki stared at the ceiling, battling the thought of sneaking out for one last time until the sun rose on the horizon.

Endure it…

His mother caught him in the hall with his bag already on his shoulder. She tightened the scarf around his neck, raving about how proud they were. His dad managed to sneak a photo at that moment with a fond smile. Katsuki still remembered vividly their confident faces as they sent him off.

Endure it.

The train ride was a blur of faceless people and bleak scenery. It didn't help him forget the itch crawling inch by inch along his forearm. Katsuki kept his hands strictly in the pockets of his coat all the way to the main entrance of U.A. Passing under the gateways was like a dream come true. Then his gaze landed on the mustard yellow backpack in front of him, and the boy with the mess of green hair wearing it.

Endure it!

Anger flared in his chest like a grenade. That bastard Deku still aimed to take the spotlight from him. What right did that Quirkless nobody have to try and play the hero? The stench of burned fabric reached him, and Katsuki stared at his smoking palms, terrified. He was amongst a mass of examinees and probably members of the staff. He wasn't allowed to make a scene.

In his hurry to leave, Katsuki bumped onto someone. He only registered the other person wearing a black uniform too. With clenched fists, he tried to move past him, but the guy stood in his way again.

"The exams are the other way," he said.

"Dropped my ID," Katsuki mumbled.

"Ouch. I can help you lo-"

"No fucking need. Move."

"O-okay…" The guy flashed him an uneasy shark-toothed smile and stepped aside. "Uh, good luck!" he shouted at Katsuki's disappearing back.

"Whatever."

Reaching the foliage-less trees was a race against his raging emotions. The moment Katsuki passed the brow of the forest, he broke into a sprint. It was after several meters that he stopped and leaned wheezing against a tree trunk. He pulled at the scarf.

This is ridiculous. I have to go back, he thought. I won't lose this chance because of the damn nerd.

But that's not it, isn't it? The voice, that wasn't quite his, whispered in his ears. What if you can't contain yourself during the exam?

Something heavy settled on his shoulders. Phantom tentacles started coiling around his arms as if the Mudman from a year ago was back.

I'm gonna have to use my Quirk to fight anyway.

What if they see me?

His reflection stared back from the fridge he had destroyed in the beach park. It grinned like a wild animal ready for the kill. The imaginary slime covered him whole. He was suffocating again. Katsuki ignited his Quirk. The wind scattered the scorched remains of his scarf away.

No, he couldn't do this. Not in this state. What Hero can't control his Quirk?

Katsuki fled like hell was chasing him, and didn't stop boarding trains until he had left behind all familiar places.

For a society boasting about low crime rates, the outskirts were brimming with people illegally using their Quirks. So Katsuki just followed their example to stay alive in these streets. Falling under the radar took some time to get used to, especially when all sorts of oddballs—Vigilantes, Villain-wannabes, the random police patrol—tried to get ahold of him at any given opportunity. It turned into another game of hide-and-seek, his loathing growing with each encounter. Their Quirks were extensions of their bodies. Why should Katsuki repress his? They’d lived in a superhuman society for decades. Normal and ordinary were supposed to be out of the dictionary.

They weren't, though, because Quirkless people still existed. Those echoes of an era long gone didn't want to feel left out and had to drag everyone else into this farce of appearing as equals. Things had changed, the world had changed, and someone had to show them the truth. So Katsuki did. Maybe Jin was right calling him a kid. His resolution hadn't changed from back then. It wasn't about controlling his Quirk anymore. He only wanted to see the world burn beneath his fingertips.

Sometimes Katsuki wondered if the other kid, the one dreaming of heroics, still existed underneath the mask. He couldn't recognize anymore where Explodo ended and his civilian persona began because his reflection had the same intensity either way.

Intensity he currently directed at the misplaced shelves in front of him. He knew this convenience store like the back of his hand as it was the closest to their apartment. The fruit and vegetable stalls should have been there. Katsuki sighed, frustrated. He had plowed through the shopping list he’d been given with the money easily, but decided to get some watermelon slices too—watermelon was Jin’s go-to desert during summer. Katsuki hadn't tried to be a total dick to the older Villain; he’d only wanted to release some of his annoyance in less destructive ways. But he had pushed the wrong buttons on someone that was more mentally unstable than him. If he didn't want this to end badly, he had better patch things up.

While turning around the corner of the particular corridor though, he crashed into someone. Both their baskets fell to the floor. Katsuki attempted to steady himself on the shelves but his hand missed. The other person grabbed it instead and straightened him. The muscle-toned and caked-with-scars arm belonged to a guy around his height and probably his age, although some remains of his teen softness still clung to his face. His hair, tied into a loose short ponytail, was as red as his eyes when they locked gazes. Of course, Katsuki knew that pulling his hand away as fast as he did was rude, but the goddamn contact made his skin crawl. He didn't fancy people touching him in costume; he sure as hell didn't like it out of it either.

"Watch where you're going, Shitty Hair."

"Hey!" he said with a hidden laugh in his voice. "Have you seen your own hair, Explosion Boy?"

Katsuki froze. "What?"

"I mean the way it sticks out in all directions like that reminds me of a static explosion." He flashed an awkward sharp-toothed smile. "So I went along with the joke."

As the little scar running on his eyelid was revealed, Katsuki realized he had just rubbed shoulders with Red Riot again. If he allowed him to continue this thought it would mean the worst scenario was around the corner. After all, the scratches on Katsuki’s face were still fresh and visible.

An attack was the best defense.

"You look familiar," Katsuki said skeptically, crossing his arms.

Red Riot mirrored him. "I don't think we've met."

Katsuki cocked his head like a curious cat and forced his eyes to widen in fake surprise. "Could it be…? You're Red Riot, the Vigorous Hero, right?"

Total bliss washed over the Hero's features to the point of almost glowing. It only lasted for a brief moment before he tried to suppress it.

"You got me," he said. "And I'm really sorry for the mess." He gestured at the scattered groceries at their feet.

"Nah, I kinda overreacted. It's wasn't that big of a deal."

"Let me help then."

They gathered their stuff in silence with Katsuki stealing glances in Red Riot's direction. He appeared calm, but couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom off his shoulders. Had he dodged this or not?

Everything was back in place before he could come to a satisfying conclusion. But the Hero didn't make a move to leave. Instead, he scratched the back of his neck with a puzzled expression.

"Uh… Would you like me to treat you to some coffee? For the trouble and all?"

"Really it wasn't-"

"I insist."

He had such an honest look on his face, like he had done some great offense to him and wanted to repay it. Katsuki bit the inside of his cheek to keep the feral grin from spreading across his face. This guy was indeed too soft for this job.

"Alright," he said defeated. "I know a place nearby if you want."

"You're a lifesaver, man! This is my first time in this neighborhood."

"And you still offered? Are you an idiot?"

Red Riot actually laughed at that. "You're pretty weird yourself," he said and gestured at him from top to bottom.

"Katsuki."

"Eijirou. Nice to meet you."

"Same."

And he wasn't lying. Opportunities like this were considered miracles. It was like the star guiding the wicked finally smiled at him. If he played his cards right not only revenge, but valuable info too would be within his grasp. It didn’t matter that Red Riot resembled the guy Katsuki bumped into the day of U.A.’s entrance exam. Idiots with that considerate attitude were those aiming to be Heroes the most. The bravery of sticking to their dreams didn’t matter either. It was Villain policy to give them a reality check.

After all, Heroes don’t always win in the end.

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