#delinquents who fall in love but are too ashamed to admit it...

[second-second]

Need... more manga... abt delinquents..........

[sohin-ace]

Kakyoin - Fateful Day

Kakyoin x Jotaro's sister reader

I freaking love the Joot-sister prompt

You were always used to Jotaro and you walking separatedly from and to school. The guy had way longer legs than you and would rather not be seen with you in public and near school, for reasons mysterious to you.

At first you felt offended that he would be ashamed of you, or just not bear your presence.

You did not know, in fact, that the reasons he kept his distance from you as much as he could when on schoolgrounds or when going to school, was to protect you from danger.

Not only was Jotaro constantly surrounded by crazy girls who would probably harass you for existing in his world, but he also had troubles, to understate, with local delinquents and other gangsters who wanted to throw some hands at him.

Furthermore, with the new discovery of that bizarre, seemingly evil spirit that started following him around, you were really the last person he wanted to hurt.

Unfortunately, being distant from his little sister wasn't near enough to protect her this time.

One fateful day, soon after your grandfather arrived in Japan and Jotaro got out of holding, you were walking home from school as usual.

Jotaro was already a solid five minutes away in front of you, which meant you were all alone.

You didn't mind the lone walk, the town was peaceful and you were used to it. But something irked you when you felt an insistant presence behind you.

You turned around, checking, but no one was there. You shrugged the feeling off, feeling a bit stupid for thinking the worse and kept walking, telling yourself it must have been a cat or an innocent someone who got home.

"Jotaro~! Welcome back- hm? Where is your sister?" Holly asked as she welcomed her son who just came home.

The boy grunted, reluctantly accepting his 'welcome home' smooch. "She's coming. She's just slow."

After a long while of waiting for your return, Holly started to worry, stress and anxiety clouding her mind. Panicked, she barged in Jotaro's bedroom. You weren't usually this late.

"Jotaro, are you sure Y/N was behind you? It's been almost thirty minutes and she's still not back…"

Jotaro huffed in annoyance as he got up from his laid down position on his bed.

"Yare yare daze, quit worrying over nothing, she's probably fine."

" 'Probably'?!"

"What's going on, Holly?" Joseph joined in after hearing the commotion.

"Y/N's not back from school yet… I'm scared something might have happened to her…" Holly explained to her father, dread even more evident in her voice as she worded her worries.

Joseph rubbed her shoulder in reassurance, "It's okay, Holly, I'm sure she's not that far. Jotaro! Get up and go look for your sister! You're supposed to keep an eye on her, that's your role as a big brother!"

The old man scolded as the teenager stood up and got on his way, as if he had been asked an annoying chore.

"Yare yare, you're all so noisy over nothing." He put his shoes back on and took his leave.

Stopping every once in a while and unable to shake off your uneasy feeling truly delayed you. You were sure you'd never hear the end of this if your father knew how late you were today.

"Kujo..." A sudden deep voice called right behind you, and you turned around, meeting with a complete stranger. "…Am I correct?"

"Yes?" You replied a bit shyly as you turned fully to him. "And you are...?"

As you now had a better look at him, you realised how handsome he actually looked. Not at all how you imagined a potential creep following you.

He wore your school's uniform but you didn't recognize his face. He must be a new student, you told yourself. He had beautiful red hair and a white shawl that flew gracefully in the wind. He was also strongly and elegantly built. Just who was he?

But all that charm quickly shifted as he smirked eerily in response. He approached you, his eyes glaring into your soul and you stepped backwards as fear built up inside you. Why was he looking at you like that so suddenly?

The uneasiness from before came up tenfold, this time completely justified. You spoke up as he came uncomfortably close to you, towering over your much smaller form.

"U-um… Did you need something…?" You hesitantly stuttered as he now stood arm-length away from you.

"Yes I do." He spoke confidently, his goal like set in stone. "I need you to lead me to your brother."

"What? My brother? If it's a fight you want with him, I won't let you." You protested with more confidence, now that you started to understand where he came from.

You were used to people trying to pick fights with Jotaro. You knew your brother had way too many enemies for his own good, and surely you wouldn't let anyone get to him and filter them out if you had the occasion.

"Who even are you? I don't recognize you from school…" You squinted your eyes warily. This boy arised too many questions in your mind.

Kakyoin smiled softly at you, which you didn't trust at all. He was fishy and there was something in his eyes that you quite couldn't put you finger on.

"My name is Kakyoin Noriaki." He sighed. "I didn't want to use force on a lady, but you don't leave me any choices..."

Before you could even react, green tentacle-like appendices appeared from behind him and lunged at you. You gasped and bolted away as fast as you could.

You knew it. It was bad. Real bad. You had no chance against a Stand user like him, you couldn't manage your own newly found Stand just yet. It was exactly like your grandfather said.

You tried to run, but not even 2 meters far and his green vectors wrapped around your ankles.

As you were about to trip and land on the floor, more of the tentacles wrapped around your legs, waist, arms and wrists, preventing you from falling, keeping you still in mid-air.

You couldn't move. Kakyoin came up behind you as you struggled in Hierophant Green's grip.

"Well that was easy." He snickered over your tied up and desperate form.

"LET ME GO!! LET ME- HMMFF!" He put a large hand over your mouth, effectively silencing your now muffled screams.

"Shhh! Don't make this harder for us, I'll just borrow your body real quick. It'll be over before you even know it. I'll make this painless, I'm a gentleman."

He released your mouth and Hierophant green squeezed itself around your neck, choking you, your mouth agape for you desperately needed air.

He took this advantage to grab your wrists and lock you against his chest as his Stand released you to nest itself inside your opened mouth.

Your body tensed up at the foreign and disgusting feeling of the spirit slipping down your throat and you violently squirmed in Kakyoin's grip as he forced your mouth closed, keeping the Stand inside to own your will and possess you. Just as Dio had taught him.

"Good. That's good. Jotaro would never kill his own sister, now would he? Even though his own sister will kill him. How tragically ironic."

He wrapped his arms back to your midsection as you stopped squirming, tired and breathless from fighting against him in vain. He held you against him as he knew you would surely collapse if he let go.

"Haaah… Ahh… Haaaa… Haaahh…" You panted shakily, scared and exhausted as your head hung low and your cold hands rested upon his own, barely able to swat them away from you with how shakey you were.

You were weak and alone, which was perfect for him to use. He chuckled and you felt the rumble of his chest against your back as he did. You felt like crying.

"It's too bad that you have to die. You're so cute, I would have loved to bring you to Master Dio with me."

You suddenly felt nauseous. You felt his stand inside you, trying to slide itself into every part of you and take control of your body.

You tried to resist, your arms and legs were shaking, your arched your back and writhed in pain, you knew your own Stand was fighting against it.

To Kakyoin's utter shock, Hierophant Green was violently pushed out of you by your own Stand as you let out lung-piercing coughs. Spitting the enemy out like some flesh-eating parasyte.

"WHAT-?!" Kakyoin yelped at the scene, but was then forced to let go of you as your Stand punched Hierophant Green in the face, the red-head owner feeling the hit full-force as well.

Kakyoin fell down, knocked down by the impact as you collapsed to your knees, coughing up and vomiting spit and blood.

Adrenaline pushing you through, you didn't let yourself any time to recover and took this chance to run away as fast as you could, taking sharp turns and passing through narrow paths that you prayed he wouldn't fit through or have the idea of searching.

You eventually lost track of him, gasping desperately for air as your lungs hurt in a dry and sharp pain, fed by the ceaseless pounding of your heart. Your legs were shaking uncontrollably, you couldn't take it anymore.

Right as you passed the Torii gate of the temple nearest to your neighborhood, one you walked through every day, you passed out cold onto the paved holy ground.

Jotaro slowly walked his way back to the path you usually both took to come home after school. He walked and walked, but still no trace of you on the way.

Although he would never admit it, his anxiety grew inside him and his heartbeat quickened as he realised that you were way too far from home for his own liking. You were right behind him, how could this happen?

He started to feel guilty that he didn't even check if you were still following him or not. Especially when he realized that so many people, people who yearned to get under Jotaro Kujo's skin, could easily do so by taking you down and harming you, his own sister.

His train of thoughts were interrupted when he found something, or rather someone on the stoned floor of the local temple. And as he approached the figure, sure enough, his eyes widened and his heart jumped in his chest. No...

"Y/N…!"

He immediately kneeled down next to you and lifted you to his lap. He checked you up and down for injuries and noticed you had fresh bruises forming on your wrists and neck and you were bleeding from your mouth. He could not believe what he was seeing.

"Aah… Jojo…" you whimpered in a wheeze as you recognized your brother's voice and his smokey scent.

"Who did this to you? What's the name of that fucking asshole?!" He growled, his gruff voice contrasting with the care he held you with.

"H-he's a stand user like you… Kakyoin… He's after you, don't go to school tomorrow…" You croaked and coughed out while looking up at his worried eyes and your brother scoffed.

"Yare yare, you're stupid to think I won't go to school and drum his ass."

He lifted you up and carried you back home to get your injuries treated. As to be expected, Holly freaked out at your state and Jotaro received a earful from Joseph who told him to never let a young girl walk all by herself, let alone his little sister and especially with all the trouble he gets into.

The next day, you stayed home to rest for the day, making you feel much better. Thankfully you had no major injuries and the Speedwagon foundation doctors knew about Stand inflicted wounds.

You had interesting chats with the guest Abdul and Joseph spoiled you all day like you were his baby which, to be fair, you were in his eyes.

In the mean time, Jotaro had met with Kakyoin and had an inevitable fight. Unfortunately, what Kakyoin had going on was much deeper than just wanted to bully Jotaro. When Jotaro came back home, he brought Kakyoin's unconscious body and you learned about what happened to him, about Dio, the fleshbud, and why he aimed at killing Jotaro.

Knowing what had transpired and with you doing much better, you decided to go check on the boy. You felt it was important to start allover with him.

You knocked gently on the guest room's door and slid it open, revealing Kakyoin in his injured state. Your brother truly did not hold back, you thought.

"Hello Kakyoin…" You greeted a bit shyly as you walked through the door. The red head looked at you with wide eyes as he recognized you.

"Y-...you're the girl I attacked yesterday?" You nodded and he sighed sadly. "I'm deeply sorry for what I did… That was.... Despicable of me..."

"Don't worry," You approached him and knelt down at his side. "My grandfather explained what happened to you. I'm not mad. You weren't yourself."

Kakyoin then glanced at your bruised neck and looked away in shame.

"I can't believe I harmed a girl… in such a low, awful way…" You chuckled lightly at his exaggerated worry.

"Hey, I'm fine! Look, you're in an even worse state than I am. Stop fretting and let us take care of you, okay?" You gently smiled at him.

He looked at you with a soft gaze. He bit his lip and blinked back the tears that prickled in his eyes. Were all members of this family pure redempting angels of sympathy and goodness?

"Thank you, Kujo, you're very kind..."

"Just call me Y/N." You smiled as you leaned in to move out some hairs that were stuck to his frontal bandage.

"Y/N…" He softly repeated, a blush rising to his face. Even your name was beautiful, he thought to himself, never daring to say it out loud.

His heart fluttered in his chest at your feathery touch and he felt suddenly much shier. He wanted to hold that soft hand in his own, but before he could even do anything, Holly called your name from afar.

"Y/N! Can you please come here for a second?"

"I'm coming!" You replied before looking back at the boy. "Sorry, I have to go. I'll let you rest until dinner is ready."

Kakyoin nodded and laid back down on the mattress. He let out a soft 'oh' of surprise when you gripped the blanket and tucked him in sweetly before getting up and leaving, sliding the door close behind you.

He sighed, unable to fight his little goofy grin.

"Damn it… I'm falling in love…"

Old writing again. I'm really just putting the dusty stuff I should have posted a year ago. I apologize for the poor litterature.

[helpimhyperfixating]

Help with the Horde - Jotaro x Reader

This is a bit of an older one but decided to post it anyways :) CW: Mild Yandere if you squint.

Word Count: 1782

"Honestly, Jotaro, I don't know how you do it with all your fangirls."

"I don't know how they can't seem to get the hint." He grumbled and that made you giggle light-heartedly.

"I wish I could help in some way. I really do. But unfortunately, I have no experience in running away a horde of avid fangirls." You joked but Jotaro on the other hand, leaned a bit closer to you, bringing his lips to your ear.

"I know of a way how you can help me with them."

"Oh?" You perked up, interested to know his idea. If there was any way you could help, you'd gladly do so!

"It might not help in the grand scheme of things but it would certainly help me." He said in a low voice and your eyes widened slightly, unsure if he was implying what you think he was implying.

With a sly smirk, Jotaro took hold of your waist and pulled you onto his lap so that you were straddling him. "J-Jotaro?" You squeaked slightly, earning a chuckle from the delinquent.

"What're you-? What is-? What?" You rambled, unable to form a coherent sentence or even thought.

"You haven't figured it out already?" He teasingly asked.

Since when was this man so playful?! Was what shot through your head as you had your hands on his shoulders, unsure of what was happening. Unexpectedly, he shifted you even closer to himself on his lap; wrapping one arm around the small of your back to press your stomach into his, subsequently bringing both your faces closer.

You now had no way to avoid looking into his aquamarine eyes, seeing him carefully tracing over your face - mapping every single part of your skin as if to remember this moment forever.

"This however-" He started, his warm breath gently gliding over your skin from your closeness. "-should work perfectly in the grand scheme of things." With no other words said, Jotaro bridged the small gap between your faces and pressed his lips to yours, closing his eyes and tilting his head so that his hat wouldn't get in the way.

Your heart started sporadically beating in your chest the moment his lips came into contact with yours. For a second you wondered if this was just a way to get the fangirls off his back but the way he pressed even firmer against your lips quickly drove that thought away, making you melt into the kiss.

Feeling you finally giving in, Jotaro brought his left hand - that was not holding you close by being wrapped around the small of your back - up to cup your jaw, tilting it to his desired angle so that he could deepen the kiss, sucking on your lips slightly.

This made you make a noise in surprise, sounding not unlike a groan, and Jotaro's arm around you pressed even harder - if that was possible; him shifting his hips slightly as well.

Breaking the kiss, Jotaro moved his head back but only a little, his arm never letting up and him never letting you move away.

"Y/N, I love you. Be mine."

He asked and you might as well have fainted right then and there if you had not been lost in his eyes, the life and vigour in them grounding you and keeping you stable enough to keep your head.

"O- I... love you too. Okay." You responded to his question and he pulled your head closer again, kissing you once more.

The arm around your body ended with his hand on your hip and the boy now slyly slid his hand down to rest at the hem of your pants, pushing his thumb under the material so that he could hold onto it, feeling your warm skin against his digit.

He might not have shown it but Jotaro was in pure ecstasy right now. Not only did you just confess to loving him back, but he had you on top of him, feeling your body pressed against his own as he felt your soft and supple skin under his hand, your plump lips pressed against his own in a kiss he never wanted to break.

You on the other hand were only feeling pure delight as butterflies crashed through your chest. Not only did Jotaro, your lifelong friend and longtime crush, school delinquent and heartthrob to masses, just admit to having feelings for you, but now he had pulled you on top of him and started kissing you. You never took him for PDA but then again, you were on the rooftop and the only other people there were his fangirls, so maybe he was doing this within their line of sight on purpose.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jotaro finally pulled away again, letting up. His breath was a little ragged and it caused you to blush even deeper than you already were, breathing heavily yourself.

The delinquent took in the way you looked now, with your dark and flustered face - only for him, and your slightly swollen lips from where he sucked and kissed them. It nearly drove him mad at just the sight.

"Fuck, if we weren't at school right now, I would mark you as mine so fast." He growled a near animalistic growl, pushing your upper body against himself as he buried his head in your neck, breathing in lightly.

If kissing Jotaro just now wasn't enough to make you flustered beyond compare, his possessive and lustful statement sure was.

With his head buried in your shoulder and neck, you just wrapped your own arms a little tighter around the boy, entangling one of your hands in the hair at the back of his neck, just trying to find an anchor to make sure what was happening was actually real.

"Y/N..." His voice was so quiet, partially muffled by your own skin even, that you nearly missed what he said. "I've wanted to do this for so long. You have no idea how long I've waited." You felt his lips move against the nape of your neck, quickly followed by a small, barely noticeable kiss pressed to your skin. "I love you." Another kiss. "I want you..." he now turned his head just a fraction so that he was directly lined up with your neck, softly dragging his teeth down your skin; from the underside of your chin all the way down to your collarbone. "...all to myself." He nibbled softly, making your breath hitch.

"J-Jotaro?"

He lifted his head, gazing into your eyes. "What?"

"We-we're at school, your fangirls are right around the corner, watching." You whispered, sounding a little panicked.

"Let them watch." He smirked. "They'll know not to mess with either of us anymore."

Just seeing that man's smirk was enough to kill you and any rational thought you might have had.

He pressed a shorter kiss to your mouth before moving his lips to the shell of your ear and whispering. "Besides, I can't wait entirely anymore. You drive me crazy, Y/N. No one ever has before." With that he dove back down to your neck, only this time, he brought his hand up and slightly pulled your shirt aside, exposing your collar bone to him.

"E-Eh?" You started, attempting to bring your hands up to pull your shirt back normally, but Star Platinum came out and held your hands together, still stuck around Jotaro's neck.

"Ssh." Jotaro shushed you, the sound almost hypnotic to your ears. "I won't do something you don't want." He whispered, slowly starting to trail kisses from the nape of your neck to your now exposed collarbone, previously hidden behind your shirt.

"Jo-Jotaro..." You sighed out, a little ashamed for liking the feeling of his lips fluttering over your skin.

"Mhm." Jotaro hummed, liking the sound of you saying his name like that.

This was all new territory for the both of you, but by god, after years of unknowingly pining for each other, it needed to come out.

Jotaro continued to hold your shirt aside slightly to make room for himself. Finally happy with the spot he reached, he let his tongue slither out, lapping at your skin before he softly started sucking, turning a little more firm after a few seconds.

Your breathing turned a bit ragged as you tried to keep your composure while Jotaro was abusing your skin.

Not happy with you staying so quiet, he suddenly bit and you let out a squeak, satisfying the teen as he let go and licked over the mark as if to soothe it.

Nibbling for a few seconds longer, Jotaro eventually just held your skin gently between his teeth for a second, savouring having his face pressed against you as you were practically clinging to his neck.

Finally figuring that was enough, he let go and backed up a little bit, still holding your shirt to the side to expose the spot he had just been attacking, satisfied to see a rather large hickey had now formed. He admired it for a few seconds longer before pressing a soft kiss to it and letting your shirt go, allowing it to fall back to its usual position where it now covered up the bruise Jotaro had just given you.

"Was that necessary?" You asked, looking off to the side as you felt incredibly embarrassed and flustered.

Jotaro just grabbed your chin and made you look at him, now seeing the smirk on his face. "Very." He said before pressing his lips to yours once more. The last one before the school bell rang, signalling break was over.

Upon hearing the shrill sound, you broke the kiss and looked up as if looking for where the noise came from, not noticing Jotaro's annoyed look at you for pulling away too soon for his liking. "Oh, we wasted the entire lunch break." You spoke as you then looked back down at him, looking a little sip.

"I wouldn't say we wasted it." The delinquent stood up with you, whispering that in your ear as he did, now towering over you again. "Come to my house after school with me, I'd still like you to help me with those fangirls."

Yup, you were now sure that that was exactly what he was insinuating now. But then again, you had wanted this for a while, so who were you to say no. Following your new boyfriend to the next class, your mind couldn't help but wander to what just transpired, making you blush furiously as you followed the tall delinquent, only to blush even harder - but in embarrassment - when your stomach growled loudly.

[misschifuyu]

hi.May I please request koko and smiley as your boyfriend hcs? Thank you<3

(Also i love your writing)

- of course nonnie ! and tysm !! im so happy to hear that you like my writing ♡

Koko and Smiley boyfriend headcanons 

genre: fluff

warnings: none

the way you will have to put up with an immense amount of cockiness before you break past his tough exterior is...an unavoidable fact

it'll be on his account to actually approach you one day, saying he wanted to have a serious conversation with you. expecting the worst, you had followed him to a little park in a district not far from your home

as it turned out, he had simply wanted to get a moment alone with you to explain that, though he understood if the feelings weren't mutual due to the way he treated you, he wanted to ask if you would go out with him

though taken by surprise, you were quick to confess that you, too, had started to consider him in more than just a friendly way

boy, did you boost this guy's ego when you told him this

but he was simply too happy to show it, knowing that the one who's eye he had had on since the two of you met was able to reciprocate the same feelings.

and he wasn't about to ruin it

he's a busy person, constantly looking out for new, monetary opportunities that he won't have much time even for himself. however, when he started a relationship with you, he knew he was going to have to change ways if he didn't want to lose you like he had done with others

once the word had gotten out to the other members of the black dragons, he would start taking you along whenever he knew that there would't be major fights breaking out. this would allow you to spend time with him, but also to get familiar with his own friends, as daunting as the ambience had seemed at first

inui will always check up on the two of you, in case koko slipped into his tendency of getting too invested in his work and snap at you on accident. he knew him well enough, and was willing to help you out in such situations if they were to occur

this is much less probable if the two of you are spending time together, outside of the gang. his favourite place to have dates is at your place. he's aware that it's not really a date, seeing as he isn't taking you out anywhere, but just being wrapped up in the comfort of your arms as you rested in your room was more than enough for him.

he'd never admit it, but he adores pda when the two of you alone. give him soft kisses on his face and he will be the happiest man on the planet

he's can just be a really soft idiot when he's with you

Smiley (Nahoya)

literal walking sunshine

it was quite obvious to pretty much everyone in toman that he was fond of you, right from the moment he turned up to a meeting with you

you thought he was an absolute sweetheart of a person, and it really didn't take long before you found yourself slipping up over him. not to worry though, he had already been a few steps ahead of you

the confession was casual, and nahoya hadn't even bothered to take you somewhere quiet to tell you. he was anything but ashamed, especially when you admitted that you also liked him

your relationship was one that most looked for themselves, as whenever anyone spotted the two of you, smiles were present on your faces. you felt genuinely content and comfortable in his presence, and you couldn't be more grateful

when his brother, souta, found out about you, he was just about ready to break his angry expression. of course, you had met the younger twin many times before, and despite his initial appearance, you had found a genuine friend in him

nahoya, of course, will also trust you enough to let his smiling demeanour down whenever alone. you had already known that not everything about the life he led was rainbows and smiles, so you were more than ready to be there for him whenever he needed a rest from it

that was one of the factors that had brought him to fall in love with you, knowing that he had found someone he could feel safe around and would be there to give him as much comfort as he needed

but also expect to be showered in overly joyed kisses and hugs at any given point of the day. nahoya's quite touch-starved, so whenever he's around you he will, undoubtedly, give you quite a bit of attention

and, of course, you would reciprocate said actions

despite his soft side, he will be very protective over you. not so much around the other members, as he trusts them enough to know that they wouldn't do anything to harm you, but more so whenever you are out

his smile wouldn't falter, but the fixed glare he would shoot at anyone suspicious who showed intentions of approaching you would very much lead even the strongest away

it was the life of a delinquent, really. he had to keep his eye open for two people now

[soulwillower]

narcissist  • bill denbrough

(bill denbrough x reader)

(title taken by the song narcissist by no rome)

requested:  hi i was wondering if you could do another fan-fiction of bill denbrough x reader and bill used to be friends with the reader until he became popular and started bulling the reader also the other losers are popular too so the reader has no other friends. when ever she comes home shes ussually crying or blaring music oh and her parents only care about there job then there daughter but you can do whatever you want from there

warning: swearing, mentions of shitty parents, mentions of bullying, lil angsty, fluffy ending, unedited and poorly written 

[losers + reader are 16+ in this.]

hi i may come back and edit this bc i think its choppy, also the user that requested this deactivated their account sometime since i last talked to them :( i hope they’re okay <33 this is for them!

2.2k words

♡

it was one of those days that really should have been fantastic. 

you woke up happy and not tired, you had the chance to actually make it to school on time and grab an apple on your way out the door, your parents even said good-bye to you as you left. and then today at lunch, you were eating on your own and you didn't quite feel as lonely - after that, nobody had come towards you and shoves your shoulder in the hall or knocked your books out of your grasp.

so yeah, it wasn't much but you take what you get, honestly.

and now you're walking home, headphones in your ears and drowning out the world around you as music blares at you from all sides, consuming your thoughts and creating a sense of security that you never found within the walls of your own home nor the halls of your school.

"y/l/n!" a voice barks, and you turn your head quickly, startled as you pull a headphone out of your ear. your stomach falls to your ass as you lock eyes with the only face you didn't want to see staring back at you.

bill denbrough.

he looks completely hazardous as he walks towards you, a teasing smirk on his lips. you already want to cry and he's not even opened his mouth yet - but you know when he does you'll loose the tiny shred of hope you had left for a good day, because he made your life a living hell.

well, you suppose it wasn't really just him, but he certainly didn't help whenever he would snicker at the words uttered by your peers, or the way his mouth seemed to tease you just as much as his eyes did.

and if your life was a silent film, bill had the means to force your world into an array of technicolor screams and and an endless, torturous laugh track that started with a joke at your expense and continued through your day until you ran into your indifferent parents as they stared at their laptop screens and barked work orders into their phones. everything you did, bill's domineering laugh haunted it.

and you know bill could take your silver screen tragedy and turn it into a major motion picture film starring you, the sad delinquent without a caring family and a disputably unappealing social life, and him - the star boy of the town, the dream boat, the handsome devil himself.

he could do that, but instead he just continues his ways, every day hurting your already smashed-out heart and stomping it into a messy pulp on the ground he floats upon.

although despite this, you know he wasn't ever really the one saying it. it doesn't matter, because he stands there and watches as you're berated and sometimes even cracks that brilliant smile of his at a real funny jest at your expense - and that was the most painful part of every day. because you used to be friends. you used to bring that same smile out all the time.

but in a much, much different way.

you and bill had a falling out so long ago that you barely remember what it was like to have him always by your side. all you can remember is feeling the complete opposite of how you now feel - you used to feel so powerful. but you'd gone and lashed out at bill after the stress of your absent parents, resulting in you doing some very terrible things that caused him to abandon you and find new friends.

"d-did you hear me?" he says with a lifted brow, staring down at you with a boldly irritated look. your throat feels dry and you shake your head, "leave me alone, bill." you squeak out, your legs starting to carry yourself faster down the sidewalk towards your neighborhood. but of course, there's that damn laugh again and his long legs carry him back to you effortlessly.

"i s-said, m-mrs. graham told me she lent you a copy of the s-scarlet letter. i need it."

you swivel your head to stare at him. "what." you say, completely unsure of the complete lack of animosity behind his words. is that why he's here? he needs something from you? you want to scream as you let your feet fall against the pavement, nearing closer and closer to your house.

"you r-really are a d-dumbass, aren't you? i said i n-need the book." he says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. what's he doing, walking with you right now, asking to borrow a book? he's not your friend, as he reminds you every day, so why is he suddenly trying to act like it? "well i don't have it." you say honestly, "it's in my room. get it from one of your friends." you utter, mind flashing to the faces of the losers who, really, were absolutely not considered losers by a popularity standpoint.

the losers were the life of every party, they were the 'cream of the crop,' they were the most popular kids in school. and as much as you hated to admit it, they were the reason that you weren't friends with bill anymore. you and him were the best of friends when you were younger; your moms had been friends for a long time and when they both had kids the same age, it was like a match made in heaven. so for the first fourteen years of your life, you and bill were close to the point that you somehow fell for him along the way.

which is why it hit even harder when you went to high school and the losers started to pull bill away from you unintentionally. and even the losers didn't mean to do it. other people loved bill because of his charismatic, gently leading nature. they loved him because he was handsome and funny and caring.

and they hated you, so bill had to start conforming to that stereotype. and now, almost four years later, you still flinch when you catch a glimpse of the losers in the hallway or when you meet a certain pair of green eyes.

"n-none of my friends have it, y/n. that's wh-why i'm asking y-you." he insists and you swear you're about to scream or cry. maybe both.

in the end, he follows you to your house and you dig out the scarlet letter.

"fine, i gave it to you, will you leave me alone?" you mumble as you turn to meet bill, who hasn't moved a muscle since grabbing the book. bill huffs beside you, a strange and unexpected silence falling over you as the air changes in the room.

his eyes are swimming over your empty walls and you're suddenly embarrassed because you have no photos of you with friends to hand up. and he can see that. "you ch-changed your r-room." he says next, rocking on his heels.

you're so nervous about what he's going to say that you almost stutter like him. "y-yeah, of course i have since middle school." you reason, looking around and noticing all the ways it's changed since he and you were friends. now the walls are a new color, posters of your favorite bands hanging up, covering the spots where photos of you and bill and even georgie used to hang proudly. you aren't sure where those photos are anymore, but you know they're not here. it still hurts too much to look at them.

"why? i liked it b-before." he says, sounding honest. your heart drops and you look up at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“you’re joking.” you say, arms crossed. he glares at you, the animosity obvious in his green eyes. “you know why i changed it all.” “what, y/n? i don’t know what you want from me.” he snaps and you nearly scream at the irony of his statement. “you’re a narcissistic dick, you know.” you mutter, crossing your arms. and you believe it, which makes it even worse to realize that you still love him, despite that. you sigh, sitting on your bed and dropping your face into your hands.

slowly, the mattress dips beside you and a warm body slides next to you. you look at him out of the corner of your eye suspiciously.

“y/n.” he whispers, but this time his voice is soft and you’re just confused. he looks at you, eyes flickering downwards a few times and confusing you. until he’s leaning forward and his eyes are closing and... oh god -

you jerk your head away from him like he's a hot pan and he opens his eyes and stares at you. you want to fucking sob. "bill, are you kidding?" you whispering, noting how broken you sound to yourself.

your mouth continues before your brain can filter it. "come on. i can put up with the incessant teasing, the rude remarks, the dirty looks. whatever. but if you're going to try and make fun of me in this way..." you trail off, afraid that if you keep going you'll actually cry. he looks lost and nervous.

"can you just leave?" you whisper, avoiding his eyes and picking at the hem of your sleeve.

"y-y/n, but-" he starts but you let out a half sob, "no, bill, this is not funny. this is really fucked up." you say, the words slicing through the air like a sizzling knife.

"its n-not a j-joke." he says quietly, but he stands up and scratches his neck. your eyes snap up to watch him with an apprehensive feeling of hope blossoming in your chest. as he turns to leave, you catch his wrist. he looks at you, cheeks red and a defeated look across his features. "what did you say?" you ask quietly. he just looks at you, as if he doesn't want to say it again.

and you can’t believe he won't willingly say it - because he’s that ashamed.

"you've made my life hell, bill. you can't just act like everything's changed because you tried kiss me just so you could make fun of me." you say, tired of his shit, "you're a terrible person for what you've done, especially if you know that i still have feelings-" you try to cut off your frustrated ramblings but it happens too late and you sigh. "leave." you say simply, dropping his wrist.

he kneels down instead, though, so he can try and meet your downward tilted eyes. "p-please, y/n. i'm s-sorry. i don't want to h-hurt you any-more." he whispers, tears welling in his eyes. you look at him, shocked to hear him sound so vulnerable. you realize you aren't sure when the last time was you heard him sound so sincere.

"i kn-know you can't f-forgive me. i don’t d-deserve that. b-but maybe, one d-day, you'll s-see that i feel r-really awful. a-and i need to make a ch-change." he's saying these words and it's like your world is clicking by one still frame at a time and you realize fleetingly that he's done it - bill denbrough has finally turned your life into a major motion picture.

"so... that-what was-" you stammer and bill shakes his head, leaning closer and gently placing his hand on your jaw. you don't flinch this time.

"i w-wanted to kiss you for r-real, b-because... because i've w-wondered what it would f-feel like for y-years." he says, staring into your eyes. “so i’m s-sorry to put you in th-that situation. i-it’s just a crush, y-you don’t have to w-worry.”

your heart starts flipping as you stare at him, lips parted in shock. "what?" you ask, feeling dumb because no way is this happening.

no way is bill denbrough, the boy who learned just how to make your bad days just a little worse, confessing that he's wanted to kiss you for a while. and no way are you admitting to yourself the same thing.

“i l-like you, i think. i w-want to know you a-again. i hate not talking to you e-every day.” he says, staring into your eyes. you smile lightly, resolve breaking and he beams, happier than you’ve ever seen him.

so yeah, it was one of those days that really should have been fantastic. and as you sigh a shaky breath and lean forward, bill closes the gap with a soft press of his lips to yours and you suddenly dont care what the day should have been, because you have a feeling that what's happening is going to change the course of the rest of your life.

his lips are a presence against yours; a force that knocks the wind out of your chest as his hand caresses your cheek and lightly licks your bottom lip. you’re putty in his hands, and you both know it.

you just have to trust him.

as you pull away, though, you take one look at him and realize that yes, he will wait for you because this is bill, and he will show you how much he cares.

"c-can i stay? p-please." he asks, looking insecure and making you smile softly. "yeah, bill, of course you can."

he smiles fully, pulling you into his chest before rising up to flop on your bread, star fishing and tugging you to lay with him. you laugh slightly, heart pounding just as hard as his own

"we have homework, bill." you state, knowing the boy despite all that you'd been through. he grumbles, nuzzling his nose into your shoulder with red cheeks. your stomach flutters with nerves and butterflies.

[queenofanime]

The Girl in White

(Haikyuu x reader)

Part 1

It is only at that moment, Kenma realizes he is holding a gold watch in his hand. At the back of the watch was a small phrase engraved:

To the angel with no wings

My love, my life,

Martha

It was clear that the watch was expensive but most of all it seemed like a valuable treasure. A treasure that wasn't his. He didn't take it on purpose, it just happened, probably when he bumped into the table out of panic. But Kenma had to admit it was a beautiful object. The watch must have had a great number of straps over the years, yet the machine itself was perfection in cogs, gold, and glass. Part of him wanted to return it, but the idea of going back to that hunted place and face whoever had that scary husky voice was a no-no. Without showing it to any of the other players, Kenma slid the watch into his pocket.

                                                          ****

Morning came and it was time for both teams to start packing. Unfortunately for Kenma, his conscience didn't seem to want him to rest. The watch was beginning to grow heavier with every passing minute and the guilt was beginning to take over the poor boy.    

"Oi Kenma! What's this?"

Kenma's yellow eyes widen in fear when he saw non-other than Kuroo holding the said treasure.

"Oh, that looks expensive!" Taketora yelled across the room causing more unwanted attention to the duo.

"It's nothing. Give it back!" spat Kenma. Annoyance lingering in his voice. However, Kuroo wasn't satisfied with the answer, and he knew exactly how to push his friend's buttons.

"Oh? Then please share with everyone who is Martha? 'Cause I'm daying to know... Is it a beautiful girl at school? A crush?"

As soon as those words left Kuroo's lips, Kenma went from annoyed to embarrassed. Not only because his so-called friend was hinting at the idea of romance, but because he didn't know how to get out of this mess. By now everyone was looking at him; 'what was he suppose to say?' On top of that, how was he going to explain the fact he didn't even know who Martha was, let alone know if she was an angel with no wings or not.

"Uhm... uh" No constructed words could form. Kenma's cat-like orbs roamed the room trying to find an exit. With no way out of the awkward situation, he finally gave up. Ashamed of what he was going to say next, he let his vision fall to the floor. "I-I kinda... s-tole it." Kuroo's eyes narrowed at the confession, but before he could say how extremely disappointed he was, Hinata intervened. "Does it belong to the owner of the house?"

Now that comment perked the interest of everyone, including the less interested.

"House? What house?" asked Kageyama, trying to hide his curiosity poorly.

At that moment, Hinata realized the horrible mistake he had committed. Nervously laughing, he tried to brush off the question of "The King". But Kageyama's blue eyes were piercing the poor ginger boy's soul. And it didn't help to have Daichi on father-mode either.

"Well... uh funny thing" studdered Hinata while fidgeting with his hands. "Yesterday we kind of took a shortcut and um got kind of lost and..." His brown eyes traced Kenma's figure, "and it was late and we just happen to find a-a house, so we k-kind of ent-entered it."

"You morons trespassed?" ask nonother than Tsukishima, who by now was quite attentive to the conversation.

With that, Kenma lost all hope that he could get away from the awkward situation and accepted his fate.

As expected, both boys got a punishment and were chastised by their respective captains. And of course, the only reasonable conclusion ended up being returning the stolen treasure.

                                                  ****

To say, both teams were spooked out by the setting, was an understatement. Everyone was freaking out. Hinata and Kenma pleaded to not go back there alone, and with good reason. Yet no one listened because, no one was buying that the place was creepy, in fact, some even told them they were being scary-cats, but now...

Now all the boys were staring at the abandoned playground, at the rusty swings that moved with the wind, creating an infernal screech. And there it was again, that feeling of being watched, observed every action, every move. For some reason, whenever Hinata watched the abandoned structure, he remembered the feeling of childhood. The laughter of children. But that was here nor there.

"H-how about w-we turn b-back" suggested Asahi. Although his physical features made him look like a grown-ass delinquent, Asahi Azumane was a baby at heart. And probably, the most scared. "I-I mean, Kenma c-could keep the w-watch, r-right?"

A strict stare from Daichi made him shut up, though. Yet, Karasuno's ace wasn't wrong, the place was unsettling and everyone seemed to be tense, hell, even Kuroo and himself looked doubtful, but as a captain, he had to move forward. If Hinata made it out in one piece, so could he.

After some encouraging words from Nishinoya, the boys decided to walk through the forest. The setting was quite different than the other night. The sun was up and one could see the peaceful clearings. The smell of wildlife was quite pungent, and the big, tall trees might as well be magical creatures like Titans and Giant Trolls. A small stream could be seen in the distance. Kenma wonder why he didn't hear the water before, maybe he was too tired and concentrated on the cat.

Finally, after one and a half-hour later, all males made it to another small gate. There were dirt roads leading to it as well, which indicated that there were other routes one could take. The gate had the same architectural structure as the first one and lead to a well-maintained garden. Hinata and Kenma recognized it immediately. At the back, the white antique house stood proudly. House was a little underrated since it was rather a massive white mansion, that had colossal glass windows, and no Japanese influence at all.  At the center of the garden, a fountain made of stone and moss stood. A mighty oak was near too, making the place look astonishing. However, all magical trance disappeared when they heard someone approaching.

A girl.

Dressed in a white silky summer dress. It had a touch of vintage, however, it was quite transparent, highlighting all of her curves. She couldn't have been older than 17, maybe younger. Her skin was smooth and shiny, the rays of sunshine reflected in her hair, while the soft spring breeze created movement all around her. Her eyes sparkled. She was barefoot as well. Now that, was an angel with no wings.

"Who are you?" Her voice didn't match at all with her sweet looks. It was a stern commandant voice, full of confidence. At this, all the boys flinched.

Moving slowly through the group, Kenma cowardly stood in front of her.

"I um I'm wan-wanted to um..." What was he supposed to say? 'I'm the one who stole your watch' Of course not. Kenma wasn't used to talking with girls, let alone one that was stunningly gorgeous.

"I'm, I'm Kenma K-Kozume and I uh-Yes the watch thief." The girl bluntly interrupted, which caused some snorts from Tsukishima and Tanaka.

Kenma could feel the heat spreading through his face out of embarrassment. This was clearly an unwanted situation.

"You know, watch-thief Kenma, your manners aren't great either. You should see the other person's eyes when talking to them." She continued. Although her words were harsh, she wasn't using a mockery-childish tone, no, she was just pointing out the truth without sugarcoating it. For some reason, Kenma always seems to have difficulty seeing other people's eyes and faces. He didn't really know how to interact with others, however, before he could react, a soft hand spread to his chin and lifted his gaze. The girl wasn't laughing or being mean, she was serious, observing, taking in every feature.

"Well?" She repeated. She acted very maturely for her age, something that didn't go unnoticed by the others, especially the third-year students.

He didn't know why, but instead of feeling petrified, Kenma felt a wave of confidence forming.

"I'm Kenma Kozume and I wanted to return the gold watch." His hand stretched towards the girl and handed her the object. "I'm sorry for taking it, it was an accident."

The girl observed the watch for a long time, examining it, she then, lifted her gaze towards the boy, giving it back.

"The watch belongs to Germán. You took it from him, you give it back to him."

"Germán?" The obviously wasn't a Japanese name, no it was Spanish and quite difficult to pronounce.

"My father." She answered.

"And who are you?" Asked a voice from behind. It was Kuroo, who until now, was just observing the situation unfold.

"His daughter." She responded. Unfazed by the harshness in his tone

"That's not what I meant."

"I'm well aware of what you meant." The same monotone voice responded.

Ignoring Kuroo's irk forehead mark, her gaze fell on Kenma once again. "My father is inside. You will personally return the watch to him."

Not waiting for anyone to speak, she headed inside the garden and made her way to the old mansion. Everyone else just kind of followed.

                                                    ****

The inside of the house was just as cozy as Hinata remembered it. The Siamese cat sat on a sofa, looking at the new strangers coming in with lazy eyes.

"Um, may I ask what's the name of the cat?" The girl turned around to spot the boy who had asked the question. He was of average height, green-ish hair color, and his skin was full of freckles.

Not paying too much attention, she replied. "That's Violet. There's also a brown one named Kafka, and we have a Great Dane named Sargent."  At her comment, Hinata got extremely excited. "Whoa! You have so many pets! Can I see the dog!?" The girl was taken aback by the boy's energy but quickly composed herself. "If he passes through here you can. I'm going to get my father, so don't touch anything." Giving one last look to all the males, she headed to a carved wooden door, "Oh, and don't steal anything."

Her comment left a bittersweet taste in Kenma's mouth.

"Well, this place is something." Admitted Kageyama, who was observing a carved decorated music box with a porcelain ballerina on top. No one disagreed. The place seemed to be taken out of a fairy tale. Every ornament seemed to tell a story. The decoration of the living room defied all time and space as if it had frozen in the Victorian European movement. For a second, every player forgot they were still in Japan.

Soon, the door opened, revealing the mysterious girl and her father, Germán.  

He was a tall, thin man. His hair was brown but also grey, showing age. Even though he had wrinkles in his forehead and eyes, he clearly was a handsome man in his time. His eyes were icy-blue but there was a warmth to it. On top of that, he was well dressed.

Both teams bowed, showing respect. However, he waved his hand, "That's not necessary, young ones." His voice was sweeter than the other night. It wasn't as rough, rather calm and soft, almost a whisper.

Kenma approached and told him the situation. Asking forgiveness, for the watch. Hinata too apologized for trespassing.

"Well, I'm glad you returned it. By the way, all of you seem tired, would you like a late breakfast?"

The unexpected question from the man causes a lot of eyes to widen. Even her daughter seemed surprised.

"Oh, we couldn't accept your kindness after everything that has happened" Explained Daichi, which everyone nodded in agreement, yet, as soon as those words left his mouth, a couple of stomachs growled in hunger, including his. This caused the young girl to laugh. It was the first time they heard her laugh, and it was music to the ears. Although, everyone got flustered by the bad timing.

The man just smiled kindly.

"Cricket, would you be so kind to put out plates and heat water for our guests?" She only nodded and headed to the kitchen while he made all the boys pass to the dining room.

                                                      ****

The table was long enough for everyone, which was kind of impressive. At the end of the room, hanging from the wall was a beautiful vivid painting of a woman. She resembled the girl but in adult form.

The table was full of fruit, and bread, and eggs, and coffee, and chocolate milk. The volleyball players ate like there was no tomorrow.

At first, no one dared to say a word, but with time, Hinata and Nishinoya lighten the mood. And soon, Germán was talking to all the boys like they were his own sons. Kenma noticed a pair of orbs looking directly at him. The girl was clearly deep in thought, journeying through some creative stream only she could sense. He also took in her features. She was very well built and good-looking yet, there was something captivating about her. A special quality that could put anyone in a trance.

Unfortunately, breakfast was cut short when the older man started coughing. Immediately the girl stood up and helped her father head to his room. It was clear he was sick, however, no one mentioned it. Sugawara and Morisuke offered to help but were shut down by the death glare of the young girl. Helping her father she left the room. When she returned, the dishes were picked up. Apologizing in a neutral tone, the girl offered everyone to head to the door.

The awkward silence returned once more, yet she paid no mind to it. By now, everyone was at the iron gate, ready to part.

"Why did you entered our house yesterday?" She finally spoke. Everyone turned their heads to Kenma, then to Hinata, then to the girl, then back to Kenma.

"I don't know," responded Nekoma's setter. "Maybe because of the mystery."

The girl smiled energetically for the first time.

"So, you like mysteries?"  

Kenma only nodded.

"You have something to do tomorrow?" her question was out of the blue, unpredictable. Before Kenma could respond, she continued. "Tomorrow, here, at 9;00 am."

And with that, she turned around and left running.

"Wait!" cried Hinata who wasn't even part of the conversation.

The girl stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"You haven't told us your name!"

"Y/n!"

[fantasymouse]

Our Ordinary Life - 3

Word count: 5.2k

Tags: ot7 x reader | monster!au | fluff | mature themes

Summary:  When a hapless human named y/n is inducted as a “volunteer” into the government exchange program, her world is turned upside down.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Yet another sunny, summer day. “Okay, we’re going to review the Interspecies Exchange Bill,” Jungkook explained. He was standing in front of a whiteboard, where he had scribbled different laws and other rules onto. He held up his fingers accordingly “ first, humans and other species may not harm each other. Second, a non-human may not go out unless accompanied by their host family” Jungkook crossed his arms for effect, before turning to face the whiteboard and drew a cute doodle of what was obviously him and you hugging. “Third and most importantly, the exchange student who’s lived with the host longest is ranked highest, so you have to listen to me!” He exclaimed, while quickly doodling Jimin as number two and Hoseok as number three. Jungkook even drew a large picture of himself, writing number one beside it and small phrases such as ‘so cool’ and ‘most handsome’. Hoseok was quick to berate him “you can’t just change the law.” 

Jimin, however, seemed to take every word Jungkook was speaking very seriously. He was holding a thick book, with all current interspecies exchange laws in it. “Really?” he asked with a convinced gleam in his eyes “don’t be deceived, Jimin!” Hoseok exclaimed. Jungkook tapped on the whiteboard to gain their attention “you there. Do you understand? Hoseok?” Hoseok glared at Jungkook, responding “quiet. I already know the Interspecies Exchange Bill.”

You opened the door to the living room with Namjoon on the phone. “Hobi, Namjoon said you should fill out your homestay application.” The second you entered, Jungkook and Jimin stared intently on the visible skin of your thigh. Or rather, the blue horseshoe mark on it. Jungkook turned to Hoseok with a bloodthirst. “Humans and other species may not harm each other” he hissed at the centaur. Hoseok shrunk into himself, feeling incredibly ashamed. “No- I just…” Before Jungkook jumped at Hoseok, you quickly stepped in “hey Jungkook! I can explain. I was going to get your bath ready so I went into the bathroom. I didn’t think Hobi was in there. It’s my fault” Hoseok hastily blurted “n-not at all. I-I worked up a sweat during my morning run. If I’d locked the door, this wouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry” you smiled sweetly while Hoseok tried apologizing. Neither of you taking notice of how much Jimin was struggling with reading the heavy law book. 

“It’s okay, I’m used to it” Jungkook jumped between you and Hoseok, loudly whining “Princess, you’re always defending Hoseok! Hoseok, hurry up and fill out your homestay application!” Hoseok stepped back and nodded “I swear, centaurs are so violent. She only saw you naked!” offended, Hoseok pointed at Jungkook and bickered “what? How dare you ignore your own faults? Sir Kim told me everything. I heard you dislocated her shoulder!” Jungkook’s cheeks tinted red when he was reminded of that incident. “I just couldn’t contain my emotions…” Hoseok wasn’t finished and continued to argue with the stubborn naga. “In contrast, my master jumped in front of an evildoers sword to protect me!” They started getting in each other's faces, squaring up in a small territorial display. “Well, my princess beat up some delinquents to protect me!” You tried to calm them down but quickly realized that it was a fruitless task. “She was far more valiant protecting me!” 

You suddenly noticed Jimin moaning in pain his head completely overheated from trying to understand the many difficult laws and rules. “Jimin?” he groaned “the Interspecies Promiscuity Bill is too confusing. My head hurts. I want to take a bath” you gently patted his head suggesting that he go take one. “Let’s take a bath together, Master!” surprised at his request you looked to Jungkook and Hoseok “what? Ask Jungkook or Hobi to…” 

“I’ve taken a bath with my princess!” Jungkook hissed, by now he had his long tail wrapped around Hoseok, as the argument kept getting more heated. “Well, my master f-fondled me!” Hoseok was easily carrying Jungkook which was quite a strange sight, Jungkook coiled his tail tighter while snarling “what? I’m so jealous!” you instantly recognized that those two were getting nowhere in the foreseeable future. So you ended up leaving with Jimin. 

While filling up the tub, Jimin started taking off his clothes. “Hold on! Namjoon got you some swim trunks” you handed him the dark blue shorts, he complained but eventually changed into them. Jimin eagerly jumped into the now filled bath. Floating on the surface while giggling. He patted his stomach inviting you to sit on him, which you gently refused. Of course, he wasn’t having that, so he pulled you closer. Not caring that you were still dressed. Jimin placed you on top of himself, your ass directly on his dick while you squirmed to get comfortable. His heart skipped a beat at the sensation. “This is great” Jimin blissfully sighed as he enjoyed the feeling of floating on the water with you so close to him. You couldn’t stop yourself from giggling as you mentioned: 

“We’re kinda like parent-and-child otters.” His smile brightened considerably, finding the comparison amusing. “I think of us as a family too!” Surprised he thought so highly of you, you couldn’t stop yourself from asking “really?” Jimin nodded viciously “well, you play with me, you’re nice to me even when you scold me for being bad, and you praise me! I’ve always wanted a family of my own, so I’m really happy now!” he turned you around so you were laying stomach to stomach. You were surprised by the loving expression he had. “W-well, I guess I wouldn’t mind being family” you quietly admitted. Jimin wrapped his feathery wings around your body in a tender hug.

“Then let's get closer, like family” he not so subtly rutted against you. Your face turned beet red as you barely accomplished to push off his chest. “Hey! What are you-” his wings remained on your hips, keeping you in place. Jimin innocently replied “my heart jumped when you touched me earlier. I want to feel that even more” his sweet and innocent way of talking did not match his intentions at all. “Family doesn’t do that!” You exclaimed in a flustered frenzy, your heart was beating out of its chest while you tried getting off of him. Jimin smiled playfully, thinking you wanted to play. “You’re resisting me?” he playfully warned before suddenly rolling you both around, making him go on top of your body. You flailed in the water as you tried getting out of his grip. “You bad girl!” Jimin scolded, standing up to jump you. Before he could, the door burst open to reveal Hoseok with an angry scowl. “Unbelievable. I’ve been tolerant because I believed you to be a child, but you’re my age? I won’t allow you to behave this way” Hoseok easily pushed Jimin off, his wings too wet and heavy to fight back. “I-I can’t move” Jimin whined while trying to fly after you.

Seizing your chance, you stepped out of the bath. “Hobi…” your relief only lasted so long as Hoseok extended his hand to you and commanded “Master, climb on my back” not bothered by his request you replied “okay? sure.” before you could swing your leg over his back, Jungkook stormed in behind you. Shouting and waving around Hoseok’s Homestay application papers “hold it right there! How dare you run off behind my back? Namjoon is coming to pick up your paperwork soon. Hoseok, you have to fill out your...” He didn’t get to finish as you had already mounted Hoseok and he was running full speed out of the bathroom. Jungkook narrowly managed to dodge, although his tail wasn’t so lucky, part of it had gotten trampled by Hoseok’s hooves making Jungkook howl in pain and curse at the crazy horse. By the time Hoseok slowed from a gallop to a steady trot, you were a few blocks from your house. “Jimin should cool down, given some time” he headed for the neighborhood park. When you reached the entryway, Hoseok halted and walked normally. You couldn’t help but sigh, relieved that you were no longer at risk of falling down. 

After what happened last time you had been riding Hoseok, you were apprehensive of galloping. The entire park was in full bloom, every tree lush with leaves in a lovely shade of green. In the large grass areas were small flowers sprinkling in some vibrant color. The cool air provided a nice balance from the heated summer sun. “Are you alright, Master?” Hoseok asked you held a firm grip around his waist as you nodded “yeah, I’m fine. The wind from riding on your back dried my clothes off” he smiled in response although his face was slightly red. He softly asked “really? In that case, could you let go, please?” you realized how close you were sitting and jumped down from him, apologizing profusely, as you knew he became easily flustered. “It’s alright, for one who serves you, it’s not a serious problem.” you couldn’t help but frown, it was very flattering that he thought like that, but you couldn't help saying “serves me? You’re exaggerating” Hoseok quickly turned to face you defending: “I’m not! The dignified centaurs are warriors who value loyalty to their masters above all else. That’s why I’ve been searching for a master to serve!”

You had no words, Hoseok's entire body moved with renewed passion. “My father, grandfather, and great-grandfather did the same. I am a knight first, and a man second. This is the spirit of my kind. It is no exaggeration” by now you could practically see every generation of warriors standing behind him as he talked with pride. “Okay, I get it. But… This isn’t your home country. I know centaur culture is important to you, but you could let your hair down a little” you smiled kindly at him, causing his cheeks to redden once more. “I could never” Hoseok softly mumbled, you patted him on the back while suggesting “you should take advantage of the Interspecies Exchange Bill. That’s why you came here. Isn’t there anything you want to do?” he looked around dumbfounded “anything I want to do?” Hoseok spotted a couple walking together through the park while holding hands. He mumbled “um, I… No, never mind” you spotted the same couple wondering what he wanted “don’t be shy.” His hoof scratched at the ground while he shyly replied “my hand. I was hoping you’d hold my hand...” Hoseok couldn’t meet your gaze. “I’ve only ever held swords and bows, so I thought… I just thought that’s what people do in human society. There’s no deeper meaning. No, as one who serves my master, that was an unbecoming outburst. Just pretend I never said-” without a word you grabbed his hand. Intertwining your fingers. His request to hold hands didn’t bother you and he was being positively adorable while he ranted. “Like this? Um, Hobi?”

His face was by now completely red and he couldn’t take the wide smile off his face. Hoseok instantly pulled his hand back and covered his face while turning away from you “d-don’t look. Even I don’t know what I look like right now” you tried stepping around him so that you could face him “yeah, but…” Hoseok once again avoided you by turning the other way. “I told you not to look!” The moment was interrupted by Jungkook who literally fell from the sky. Shortly followed by Jimin who gracefully flew to the ground. “What’d you do that for, Jimin?!” Jungkook cried while rubbing his backside. Jimin leaned forward with a mischievous grin “you told me to let you down.” 

Jungkook, mildly outraged, exclaimed “I didn’t tell you to drop me!” once Hoseok got out of the shock of seeing a fully grown naga falling from the sky, he yelled “what are you two doing here? You said yourself that you’re not allowed out alone!” Jungkook spun to a stand shrewdly responding “it’s fine if no one finds out!” Hoseok was quick to scold him “that’s not a reason-” Jungkook and Jimin didn't listen, both too distracted by how Hoseok was hugging you tightly to his body. Not an inch between you. “Hoseok!” Jungkook snarled at the other male. Hoseok quickly stepped away from you, trying and failing to explain what was going on “no, this is just…”

Jungkook without hesitation grabbed you from the centaur and hugged you to his own body. “Stupid horse, you kidnapped my princess just to flirt with her?! Dignified centaur my butt!” flustered, Hoseok grabbed your other arm and pulled you back into his embrace. At this point, you were starting to feel more like a chew toy, that two dogs were fighting over. Both sides trying to pull you closer. “Enough. I’ll not take this from you, you vindictive snake! Who are you calling ‘Princess’ anyway?! Do you think you’re my master’s husband?!” Jimin suddenly enveloped you in his soft, brown wings from behind, and pulled you to his own chest, gleefully exclaiming “I’ll be taking y/n, then.” Both Hoseok and Jungkook shouted, “stay out of this, chicken wing!” Jungkook was pulling at your right arm, Hoseok your left and Jimin was hovering above you, trying to fly off with you. All guys were yelling at each other getting equally more riled up. “Fine, then. We’ll settle this by force!” They exclaimed.

Jungkook let go of you, his tail twisting with anger as he readied himself to lunge at the other two. Hoseok pulled out his sword while stomping his hooves in fury and Jimin let out a horrifying screech as his talons extended completely. At this moment, you could understand why humans had so many legends of evil monsters. All three of them were terrifying, especially considering that you were caught in between them. In all of the commotion, you failed to notice a familiar black SUV pulling up and Namjoon rushing out of the car. “s-stop!” you feebly tried calming them. You stood in front of them all to gain their attention. Unfortunately, you also stepped right ahead of Namjoon just as he fired his tranquilizer gun. Three small shots hit bullseye right in your back. It didn’t hurt all that much, it was barely a pinch but you very quickly started to feel tired. When the world started spinning, you heard everyone screaming your name in shock.

By the time you woke up, it was late into the evening. You were lying on the couch in your living room, with a pillow beneath your head. The first thing you saw when opening your eyes was Namjoon, in his usual suit with a coffee mug in his hand. With a sheepish smile he exclaimed “wow, I can’t believe I hit you, Princess. They may be tranquilizer darts, but I’m surprised you’re okay after getting hit by three” your massive headache begged to differ. You carefully sat up while holding your head, trying to stop your vision from swaying too much. “I’m not okay” you groggily moaned. Namjoon smiled sweetly and cheekily remarked “I could get in trouble for this. Don’t tell anyone, okay?” he even winked at you, like this was some cute little secret between the two of you. You suddenly sprung into action, realizing that none of the boys were in the living room with you, “where are the guys? Normally they’d come running” Namjoon silently pointed to the hallway. You turned and was met with all three of them peeking from behind the wall, only their heads visible from the ajar door. “W-what are you doing?” you questioned. All three had a disheartened expression, Jungkook was the first to speak “this happened to you because of what we did” Jimin added with tears in his eyes “I’m sorry, Master!” Even Hoseok’s head was bowed in shame. “I have failed as your servant” Namjoon couldn’t help but chuckle at their behavior.

Soon after they all entered the room, they lined up. Jungkook once again spoke first “so, the thing is, we decided that, from now on, we’ll hold back. So we won’t cause any trouble for you!” you were immediately confused by what they meant by hold back. Jimin continued saying what they had rehearsed “yeah. I won’t ask you to play with me!” Hoseok also added “I won’t act out of line again” shocked at what you were hearing you blurted “what are you talking about?” You tried standing but had to steady yourself against the couch, as your legs still wobbled somewhat. With a forgiving voice, you explained “sometimes you do go too far, and it’s not good to fight. But it’s really Namjoon who’s most at fault here” Namjoon had just taken a sip of his coffee, and nearly choked when he heard what you said. Not minding Namjoon's outburst, you continued comforting the guys “problems happen. Isn’t learning to overcome them a part of doing a homestay? And since this is a homestay, that makes us family. So you don’t need to hold your selves back” all three men were staring at you with wide eyes. What you said meaning more to them than you could ever know.

Just as you were about to continue, Namjoon interrupted your tangent with a joyful sneer “that’s perfect then!” he adjusted his tie while ominously laughing to himself. “Family. Family, huh? I was right to ask Princess to take care of them” by this point you were more scared of what Namjoon was plotting than you had ever been of the boys. Namjoon enlightened you on his thoughts: “recently, there’s been a movement to amend the Interspecies Exchange Bill. It’s just a few minor changes, but one of them would allow humans and other species to marry. I was just looking for a test case to see if that’s truly possible” your eye twitched slightly in a mix of annoyance and bafflement. “What?” you stuttered. Namjoon continued, undisturbed by your protesting. “Princess, you will marry either Jungkook, Jimin or Hoseok!” all three guys blushed as they repeated the word ‘marry’. Their earnest eyes drifting to you.

“H-How did this suddenly lead to marriage?” You exclaimed while following Namjoon, as he headed for the front door. He turned to you with a patient tone explaining: “Going forward, marriage will become an unavoidable part of interspecies relationships. As a test case, you-” You interrupted Namjoon by wailing “that’s not what I meant! You can’t suddenly tell someone to get married! That’s crazy! What am I supposed to do?!” The guys looked slightly rejected while you continued to loudly protest. Namjoon scratched his chin in thought “do your best?” was his final answer. Annoyed you mumbled “you’re not even trying! Hey, wait. Why are you trying to leave?” Namjoon had opened the door and had one foot outside already. He turned back to you and with a satisfied expression, he waved Hoseok’s papers saying “well, I got what I came for. Wait… I forgot to tell you something... Oh, well. It probably wasn’t important. Bye. Do your best!” with that, he slammed the door behind him and drove off. Leaving you a flustered mess.

When the full moon was at its highest, you were still awake. Lying face down on the bed, you contemplated everything Namjoon had announced. “What is he thinking, telling me to get married? He said he’d arrest me if I laid a hand on them. No, wait. I haven’t tried anything with any of them” you scoffed and looked out at the moon. “They did try to seduce me, though. Every time, it took so much self-control to-” realizing what you were thinking, you slammed your face back in the soft pillows and screamed “wait, what am I saying!?” you kicked your feet in frustration. When your small tantrum subsided, you rolled onto your back and stared up at the ceiling.

“Marriage, huh?” Two knocks at your door interrupted the silence, and nearly scared the life out of you. You practically leaped up to sit, when Jungkook softly called out to you from the other side of the door. “Princess, are you awake?” He silently opened the door, cautiously poking his head in. His dark locks were messy, suggesting he had been sleeping restlessly, if at all. “You seemed distressed, so I was worried” Jungkook whispered, his expression saddened considerably, “I thought maybe you didn’t want to marry any of us” you hated seeing him look so unhappy. You hesitated but eventually explained “no, it’s not exactly that. I was just at a loss because he forced it on me. It’s not about the marriage itself” Jungkook’s eyes quickly returned to you a hint of excitement in his voice “really?” you continued explaining “well, technically speaking. I’ve never even dated a guy. And I’m a virgin” Jungkook entered your room, closing the door behind him. “I see. So It’s not that you don’t want to get married” his movements were fluid as he slithered across the floor and now that he was closer, you noticed how his amber eyes were glazed over.

“Jungkook?” you questioned when he suddenly leaned towards you. “I knew you would say that, Princess. After all, you’re so sweet. That’s what I love about you” Jungkook brushed some hair away from your face. His fingers traveled down your cheek and lingered at the corner of your soft looking lips. When he started getting even closer to your body, you leaned further back. Eventually, his weight forced you to lay down beneath him. His black tail wrapped itself around your legs while he caged you in between his arms. Jungkook looked into your eyes, huskily whispering “Princess, did you know? Snakes mate all night long. They wrap around each other from head to tail, just like this, so tightly that the lines between them blur” your lower body was by now, completely coiled up in his tail as he pushed against you. Jungkook's large, chilly hands moved beneath your shirt, pulling it up to reveal more of your soft skin.

The black scales on his cheeks were tinted pink. He smiled seductively at you “hey, Princess, why don’t we become one?” Jungkook poked out his long, forked tongue and licked the visible area on your stomach. Your heart was beating a mile a minute and you had even worked up a bit of a sweat. You had no idea what was going on with Jungkook. Normally he was flirty and clingy, but tonight, he was sort of bewitching. “Wait, Jungkook-” a loud crash caused both you and Jungkook to stop. Jimin had literally burst through the window, grabbing Jungkook and thrown him off of you. In the process, you tumbled out of bed. “Are you okay?!” you questioned since he might have gotten hurt when breaking the glass.

Jimin straddled you, answering “I’m fine” which he most certainly was not. He wasn’t wearing any pants, giving you a full view of the already semi-hard package. “Where’s your underwear?!” you shouted, completely flustered. You couldn't decide where to look. Eventually, you managed to lock eyes with Jimin and gulped when you noticed the lustful look in his eyes. He almost seemed drunk. his body moved sluggishly, while his words were slow and sensual. “Huh? Oh, it’s okay. We’re getting married, so it’s okay” panicked, you squeaked “it’s not okay! Do you even know what marriage is?” Jimin looked back at Jungkook who was completely knocked out, then answered “it’s when you mate and lay eggs, right? With my pe-” by now your entire body was completely flushed, “that’s too direct! You can’t say that!” he smiled sweetly while asking “why not? I’m an adult. I’m not sterile either. I can mate, too, so it’s okay. I can even get married to you” his voice was captivating while he spoke. Jimin, too? What had gotten into them? He had changed way too much since all this talk about marriage. The sound of hooves alerted you that Hoseok was nearby. Hoseok, actually, kicked down your door, yelling “are you alright, master?” Your room was by now in total disarray, an unconscious naga on your bed and Hoseok had swiftly flung off Jimin who was now covering the small bump on his head from landing harshly on the floor.

“I’m too late” Hoseok stated. Relieved that at least one of them was acting normal you breathed out “thanks, Hobi. Everyone’s acting weird” he walked up to you and gestured to the sky. “I’m not surprised. After all, there is a full moon tonight. Instincts are fully awakened on this night” you turned to stare at the white ball hanging in the sky. “A full moon?” you questioned, encouraging Hoseok to elaborate on their unusual behavior “with marriage on the table, they must have lost control of themselves” you walked to the open window, shivering from the draft. “Just because of that? So are you okay, Hobi?” you asked. He almost sounded offended at the accusation, loudly claiming “of course! I don’t lose my head over a mere full moon! I swore my loyalty to you. My body and heart are yours. Therefore, you can do anything to me! We are as good as married!” He grabbed both your hands and pulled you close to him “come, you can touch me all you like, master!” 

By this point, you were shaking. Even Hoseok had succumbed to his instincts “you have lost it!” Hoseok moved his hands to your ass, you could faintly hear Jimin and Jungkook growling and hissing behind you. Jungkook’s tail had curled itself around the steel framing of your bed and bent it from squeezing so tightly. “princess, can I squeeze you?” Shocked at what you were seeing, you barely noticed Jimin walking closer to you, moaning “I want to squeeze you, too!” his sharp talons were fully extended, leaving claw marks as he walked closer to you.  “Don’t try to get ahead of me! I want to do it, too!” Hoseok stomped his hooves into the ground, creating large dents in the wooden floor.

They could obviously not control their strength, they were all acting on instinct. If they tried mating with you now, you might actually die. Fearing for your life, you sprinted out of your room, rushing towards the stairs. “I got you!” Jimin exclaimed when he grabbed your shoulder, “I’m not letting you go. You are destined to marry me, princess!” Jungkook clung to your arm. “Master’s marrying me!” Jimin whined, Hoseok angrily growled “only I am a worthy companion for my master” all three of them yelled your name so you could tell the others off.  Luckily, they had been so distracted by yelling at each other, they still had not noticed you make your escape. You ran downstairs and hid beneath the dinner table. You nearly screamed when your phone buzzed. You hurried to pull it out and answer so they wouldn’t hear. “Princess, are you alright?” Namjoon’s warm voice asked. “Namjoon!” you hissed angrily. “I forgot to tell you there’s a full moon tonight” irritated you seethed “yeah, I know! At this rate, we’ll be holding a funeral before the wedding!�� You could faintly hear water splashing in the background. This guy had the nerve to call you while he was taking a bath. “Did you do them?” he casually asked which you strongly denied. “Since you brought up m-marriage, they’re even more excited than usual. They’re beyond my control” Namjoon hummed in understanding.

“So, have you decided who you’re marrying?” the fact that you didn’t answer, told him everything he needed to know. “So you haven’t decided yet.” you whined “I can’t possibly decide that!” instead of humoring your complaining, Namjoon sternly asked “have you discussed your plans for the future with them? You ran right to your room and hid, didn’t you?” you couldn’t defend yourself since his accusation was spot on.

“It’s no wonder they’re so uneasy, you won’t talk to them. That’s why they’re all acting like that” he sighed heavily “well, for the time being, you need to cool them down” you perked up, relieved to have a possible solution. “Is there a refrigerator nearby?” carefully, you rushed to the kitchen, opening the fridge. “you could cool them down with ice” clearly that wasn’t going to work. “You’re so thoughtless!” you chastised his bad idea, abruptly there was a loud splash and you could faintly hear Namjoon cursing a colorful selection of words “my phone fell in the bath-” the line cut to static before ending the call. “Namjoon? Namjoon?!” you were starting to panic again. You had no clue what to do. Sadly you didn’t have time to ponder it, all three guys bust through the door and ran straight into you. Completely wrecking the kitchen. “I caught you” Jimin gleefully cried, Hoseok seductively stated, “you won’t escape again, master.” Since you didn’t respond they all leaned back, Jungkook sweetly asked “what happened, princess? You’re soaking wet-” his voice turned cold when he looked at his hand. It was completely covered in a deep, maroon fluid. They all gasped in horror when they saw that you were laying in a pool of the liquid. They jumped from you in terror.

Confused, you sat up “huh? what? Oh, the ketchup… I hope it’ll wash off” you mumbled to yourself when you realized that you had landed on a full bottle of ketchup and its contents had been splashed everywhere. You sighed with relief “hey, you’ve calmed down. Are you back to normal?” You immediately regretted turning around. They were all glaring at you with a dangerous glow in their lust driven eyes.

When morning rolled around, they were sleeping soundly in the living room. Hoseok was lying face down on the couch with his upper body. His horse part on the floor. Jungkook was curled up on the second couch, clutching a thick blanket to his body and Jimin was sleeping on the coffee table, with the largest pillow you could find. Softly, you shook Jungkook’s shoulder and prodded “Jungkook, wake up. It’s morning. Jimin and Hobi, you too.” Jungkook yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes “huh? Good morning, princess…” he gasped in shock when he saw you. A large band-aid on your cheek, covering a cut from Jimin’s talons and an ice pack strapped to the bump on your head from being tackled by them all. With no amusement or joy in your voice, you responded “good morning.” They all examined your bruised body with concern.

“P-Princess, what happened?” Jimin stretched his wings before asking “who did this to you, master?” even Hoseok seemed utterly clueless as to what happened last night. “Did something happen?” All morning you had prepared for this. So with confidence, you declared “I’m fine! Well, not really. But this happened because I was indecisive! I made all of you feel uneasy. I’m going to try to make a decision.” You cleared your throat before announcing “I’m going to start dating all three of you as potential marriage partners. So, you know… I’ll look forward to it!” You felt unsure of how to end your little speech but decided you were happy with the outcome. All three of them had wide eyes and broad smiles. Clearly, they were happy and relieved to hear this from you. Although their joy didn’t last long because you suddenly started swaying and collapsed. Your body too tired and beaten from running to stay awake anymore. “Also… Go to bed early on full moon nights…” you groaned exhaustedly.

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[troubleshipping]

Long list of various Team Rocket headcanons

Recently I had a really nice talk with @masterstarpikachu about Rocketshipping/general Team Rocket stuff, and some of the headcanons that were brought up are just too good not to be shared with the world so I have compiled them into a big post

Warning: Some small nsfw elements at the very beginning of this, please beware if you don’t like that kinda thing! Nothing explicit but like the evil word s*x is mentioned once so shield yo eyes kiddos

Contents of this post include:

- Controversy about the see-through level of Pokéballs - Meowth and the Pokémon shittalking humans behind their backs - Meowth and Jessie tease James about literally everything - Meowth is a supportive friend in the most asshole-y way possible - Jessie actually being nice for once - Food - Hot take but Jessebelle is a yandere - Jessie almost dies but it's okay because the ship happens

Actual list under the cut because this good content here got long

- Starting topic that triggered this entire conversation: - Jessie and James are about to get intimate, but just in that moment - *Pokéball release sound* “WOOOOBBUFFET” - So that raised an important question: - How much exactly are Pokémon able to see out of their Pokéballs? - Because most of the time when they’re called out mid-battle they immediately charge in without hesitating, so it seems like they know what’s been going on - Larvitar was able to see out of its egg shell too which suggests similar things for Pokéballs - Trainers, do not leave your Pokéballs in the same room you do private stuff in

- What if that’s how Meowth finds out Jessie and James are a thing - “Meowth, how did you know? What do you mean Seviper told you?? How did Seviper know???” - “…..oh my god” - Mime Jr was too young to see that - James will never live it down - He’s too ashamed to look his son in the eyes ever again - Probably needs to sit him down to have *the talk* and it’s the most shameful thing he’s ever had to do - Does Mime Jr even understand what he’s saying? Does it care about what humans do? Probably not, but Meowth won’t think it’s necessary to point that out

- I like the idea of Meowth sharing gossip with the other Pokémon in general - He’s barely seen talking to Pokémon, which is honestly a waste if you ask me? It’s like the writers forgot that bilingual people don’t actually forget their mother tongue - Imagine Meowth and the other Pokémon just complaining about the dumb shit the humans do - Besides, let him have some friends he won’t be the third wheel to lmao

- Literally tho, imagine all their Pokémon had seen their masters, ahem.. “blast off” - Poor souls didn’t know Pokéballs were see-through from the inside - Jessie would pretend not to care, she’s above that. There’s no reason at all to be ashamed. But she’d be blushing so hard she wouldn’t fool anyone. - Shit’s awkward no matter how tough you are - James wouldn’t even try to pretend, James would straight up die - RIP James

- On another note - James totally makes those little high pitched squeaky sounds during sex and you cannot change my mind it’s canon - You know exactly what I mean - There’s literally no way he doesn’t - He’s tryna be all sexy and smooth and stuff but then Jessie starts touching him or something and he just SQUEAKS - Secretly she finds it kinda hot in a weird way but she’d never admit it - Pretends it’s a coincidence that she’ll keep trying to get him to make more of those sounds - Meanwhile Meowth outside the door is like “what the actual fuck James” - “Jimmy’s such a weird one” - He’d tease James to no end about it - Meowth embarrassing James about details of stuff he shouldn’t even know about is my new favorite thing - Also Jessie trying to stop him but also holding back laughter because “well he’s not wrong” - “WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?!” - C’mon she can’t turn down an opportunity to tease him - James is then all embarrassed and lowkey offended and gives her the silent treatment - He refuses to talk to her ever again - Aka for like the next half hour or so - Eventually she’d probably apologize though because even she isn’t THAT mean - At least not when it comes to James - Not always - Maybe - She gets soft around him when nobody’s around to see it - Sometimes - And maybe he’d forgive her if she did those things again...

- Jessie being soft with James is my absolute weakness though - Especially since they’ve been friends for so long and he knows full well that nobody else is allowed to see that side of her ever - It’d definitely make him feel special and loved - Imagine Jessie letting her guard down and being kind to James for no reason other than because she genuinely wants him to be happy - I am weak - Even if it’s just little things - Especially those tbh - Just trying to cheer him up when he’s down instead of simply telling him to get over it - Saving a nice bottlecap she found even though she never understood that hobby of his - Just saving it for him because maybe he’d want it - He’d be so touched - Probably would make his entire week - He’d save that one bottlecap forever - Even if it’s not one of the kind he collects, or a duplicate or sth - It’d be his most prized possession

- Something I really want to happen is them sharing their food properly, because you know that for those two that’d be a HUGE sign of affection - The anime may pretend they share everything equally (they say so in an episode) but honestly 90% of the time they get in literal fights over the last scrap - So one of them happily sharing could even be the first step of them realizing their feelings - Like, maybe James would let Jessie eat his portion - She’d definitely take longer than him to show any signs of affection - And she just - “Why’d you let me have it is something wrong with you?” - “No…it’s just…you seem really hungry” - When he offers her the food, instead of immediately devouring it like she usually would she just - Stops and doubles back - Stares at the food in his hands, then at him, back at the food - “Are you serious?” - In that moment he realized what he’s done and gets all defensive - “Just eat it, Jess!” - “I’m just not that hungry, okay?” (*stomach growling noise*) - Then they are interrupted by Meowth - “What about me? I’m starvin’!” - In the end they just split it in three parts because sharing with them both is a bit less awkward to explain

- Also - In the beginning when they start falling for each other, Meowth would be oblivious by choice - As in he sees the signs but he ignores them because “nahhh no way” - Then when he figures it out he mercilessly teases James about having a crush on Jess every chance he gets - Though he’d do it without her hearing about it, because he isn’t THAT mean to him - But when they actually start dating he realizes he was a FOOL and now he has to deal with that forever - Like - He probably gave James advice out of pity - (James totally confides in him at some point because he just needs to talk to SOMEONE) - But then Jessie went for it and he realizes too late what that means for him - Now he needs to live with the consequences

- Meowth giving James love advice about Jessie though - That sounds like a huge train wreck - I mean he may tease him to no end but they’re still best friends so he’d still try to help when he realizes James is serious - “That dumbass really got it bad huh” - Deep down he does care for his friends after all - He’s like permanently done with James’ shit but he still keeps his secret - Although he can and will use his newly gained knowledge as blackmail whenever he wants something from him - And at the same time half of his “advice” consists of “lol Jessie’s gonna kill you” - “YOU’RE NOT HELPING MEOWTH” - James is already well aware of that - That’s his problem - He’s been faced with the full extent of Jessie’s wrath before - He knows better than to risk getting on her bad side

- On the other hand, it’s canon that when Jessie falls for someone she tends to actually act friendly and kind around them to some degree - Which I’m assuming is an instinctive reaction because she doesn’t want to scare them off - But falling for James would be weird since it’d trigger her instinct to be soft and good but at the same time - “No that’s James wtf” - She’s been treating him full force nasty for years and so far he hasn’t left so there’s really no need - Honestly James tends to get freaked out whenever she’s calm because a nice Jessie is just WRONG - Pure boy got so used to her mean antics he gets worried about her when she’s friendly to him - As a result, before admitting her feelings even to herself, Jessie would instead get MORE mean out of defiance - That darn Tsundere smh - She cares a lot about him but she cannot show weakness her mind won’t allow it - Nope - Fight me, feelings

- Vs Jessebelle, who is a Yandere and should be feared - And should also be decked in the face by Jessie tyvm - Imagine an actual Yandere Jessebelle tho - Nightmare fuel - I mean that whip scene was already terrifying - She broke a fucking dresser with the hit that was aimed at James - I know it was exaggerated cartoon violence but like she almost straight up murdered him - And his parents are okay with that?? - Because he’s too delinquent for her - So he can just die apparently - Now imagine her getting obsessed with him to the point of actively following him around to get him to marry her - And trying to get Jessie out of the way to get him back - Can I just say Horror AU right there - I’m an angst writer don’t test me - I like to take dark stuff and make it WORSE - Picture this - James coming back from a short trip to gather firewood or sth like that, only to find Jessie unconscious and bleeding from a stab wound - :) - Maybe Jessebelle is still standing there and laughing because she finally won - Of course she’ll survive but just BARELY - They’re in the middle of nowhere and James frantically tries to find someone to help her but they’re all alone - I mean after all that blasting off they probably know some basic first aid at least - He could stop the bleeding and then take her to a hospital with the hot air balloon - Cue that good ol’ “refusing to leave her bedside until she wakes up” cliché thing - But also imagine Jessie waking up in the hospital with James asleep next to her - Maybe even subconsciously holding her hand in his sleep - Because he was too worried about her and was probably talking to her before he ended up passing out from exhaustion

[thethistlegirl]

Character Analysis: Angus MacGyver (Wunderkind AU Version)

@tomminowrites asked some of us writers if we’d be willing to use a character analysis sheet (Original by @the-right-writing) to analyze Mac as a character. I did two of these, the first one is for Mac as he is in canon, and this one will be for him in my AU Wunderkind) 

Some of these will probably be similar or identical to the last ones, but there’s still enough difference to warrant a whole new post. Prepare for the angst...and darkness... 

Tagging my Wunderkind folks because I can... @bands-space-and-monsters-oh-my @boozy-the-ghost @dickgrysvnwrites (don’t know if you read the fic or not but I know you read the last post like this) @impossiblepluto @telltaleclerk @sassysarcasticlove @silentheartedone @patriotproblems

What would completely break your character?

At this point it’s more a question of what would re-break Mac, because he’s already been broken by everything life’s thrown at him. Any number of things would be able to tip him over the breaking point. Losing another person he’s close to, being sent back to prison, losing the trust of the few people who actually seem to treat him like he’s worth more than just being seen as an ex-con; any of that would send him into a spiral. 

What was the best thing in your character’s life?

Bozer’s friendship, Pena’s mentoring (while it lasted) and his new team have been the few bright spots in Mac’s life. Jack is slowly becoming the most important part of Mac’s new world, but he’s hesitant to let another father figure in, because one abandoned him and one was killed, and he’s not sure which of those options is more horrible to think about happening to Jack. 

What was the worst thing in your character’s life?

Mac’s not sure if James leaving, Jerry Bozer’s death, Pena’s death, or his entire two years in prison are the worst part of his life. He kind of sees it as a cascade effect, where James leaving set everything else in motion, so if pushed he’d probably say that was the worst thing. But prison gave him the most lasting nightmares and trauma. 

What seemingly insignificant memories stuck with your character?

Mac remembers what he was wearing the day James left. He thought turning ten was the coolest thing that could happen to a person so he actually wore a nice little button down shirt and failed miserably to try and tie one of James’s much too big ties on. He waited all day to ask James to help him fix it, refusing to let Harry retie it. A few years later, when no one knew, he burned the tie on the Bozers’ grill. 

Mac remembers the last song he heard Jerry Bozer play. Jerry was practicing his guitar set for his friend’s band one night when they were at the house, and Bozer complained he couldn’t study with the music going and made Jerry go upstairs to his room instead of playing in the living room. The last song Mac heard drifting down from the stairs was “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears. 

Mac remembers what the prison showers smell like. Just the smell of mold or cheap soap (he’s run into something similar in some hotels on missions, and nearly had a panic attack right there) is enough to take him right back to some of the worst moments of his life. 

Does your character work so that they can support their hobbies or use their hobbies as a way of filling up the time they aren’t working?

Mac is lucky enough now to have a job that lets him do what he loves. When he worked as a mechanic after high school, though, he had the day job to support both the Bozer family and his nighttime vigilante work. Mac’s never been great at functioning in a nine-to-five style world, and he would have suffocated in an office job. He needs to be working with his hands. 

What is your character reluctant to tell people?

Mac is afraid to let anyone see how afraid and broken he is. He doesn’t want to admit that he has PTSD, partly because he’s ashamed of the reasons why and partly because he doesn’t want to risk being seen as a burden. He thinks that maybe, if he just pretends all the traumatic things never happened, they’ll just slowly fade away. 

How does your character feel about sex?

Mac has nothing but bad experiences with sex. He never had a girlfriend in school, and as soon as he started being a vigilante he didn't want to put anyone else at risk by being associated with him. He never wanted a casual relationship, because of his abandonment issues. Now, though, he’s not sure he could ever be intimate with anyone, because he associates sex with pain, shame, and fear, since his first experiences were in prison. Even someone casually flirting with him can make him nervous, if they seem too pushy, because other prisoners often said the same things, mockingly. 

How many friends does your character have?

Not many. Most of the people from his hometown saw him as a delinquent troublemaker and want nothing to do with him now that he’s got a record. He still talks to Mr. Ericson, but he didn’t initiate that. He’s got Bozer, who’s determined to stick up for him, but their relationship is strained by Bozer’s guilt and Mac’s unwillingness to open up. He considers Jack and Riley friends, he’s not sure what he thinks of Cage, because as nice as she is, he knows she’s potentially manipulative and that scares him. He would never call Thornton a “friend” but he appreciates that she treats him well. 

How many friends does your character want?

Not many. In Mac’s experience, the people he cares about leave or get hurt. He doesn't want to risk either of those happening, and it’s easier to feel safe in a small friend group. He’s not sure letting Jack and Riley into that was a safe decision; he’s afraid one or both of them might be hurt on a mission if he makes a mistake, or might decide to bail on him.

What would your character make a scene in public about?

Mac hates drawing attention to himself, and he’s terrified that if the police showed up they’d find something to accuse him of. He hates arguments and raised voices and will give in in almost any case rather than fight back. The exceptions would be seeing a crime happening, or if someone attempted to hurt one of his friends, or if he was about to be sexually assaulted or killed. Mac won’t risk drawing attention to himself unless it’s a seriously terrifying situation. 

What would your character give their life for?

Mac will do whatever it takes to protect innocent people. He wasn’t worried about what might happen to him as a vigilante, because he thought it was better for him to be hurt or killed, since he was willing to be, than for it to happen to someone else. 

What are your character’s major flaws?

Mac is afraid to let anyone care about him. After losing so many people, he wouldn’t exactly say it in as many words, but he feels cursed. He’s also a bit of a pessimist and tends to give up on his own situation fast. He can find a way to fix anything around him, but he doesn’t really see any way of his own life getting any better. He sees himself as beyond repair, and thinks that’s how everyone else sees him too. 

What does your character pretend or try to care about?

When people complain about the small things that go wrong in their days. Mac can’t help but feel a little spiteful when someone complains about traffic, or the weather, or some other minor inconvenience. He thinks that if he can manage to not complain about the absolute hell he’s been through, other people can manage not to moan about having to pick up the slack of someone else’s job or about who left the coffeemaker out of water. He tries to politely listen and nod but some people at the Phoenix get on his nerves in a big way.

How does the image your character tries to project differ from the image they actually project?

Mac’s tried to be a lot of things. He’s literally worn the mask of a tough, streetwise vigilante, he’s tried to pretend to be a model son so James might actually like him, and in prison he tried to be quiet and blend into the background so no one would single him out. Once he's out, with the team, he initially tries to pretend to be a bit hardened and callous, but that doesn’t last long, since nothing he does can hide the vulnerable boy who just wants to be loved and treated kindly. It’s rare that people are actually fooled by whatever Mac tries to pretend he is, because his true nature is such a big part of him that it naturally shines through. 

What is your character afraid of?

Mac is deathly afraid of heights; he fell out of his treehouse once and had to find a way to get home on a broken ankle because he knew James wasn’t going to come looking for him. Ever since then he’s had nightmares of falling with no one to catch him. He’s afraid of losing the people he loves, as well. 

A very tangible fear that affects his day to day life is a fear of people being physically too close to him. Anyone brushing up against him, especially his legs, is going to make him immediately anxious and defensive. 

What is something most people in your setting do that your character thinks is dumb?

Mac is absolutely terrified when he’s riding in the car with someone who doesn’t obey traffic laws. He doesn’t want to have them get pulled over and have to interact with a cop at all. He doesn’t understand why people think it’s a good idea to blatantly break the law, or why they seem to blow off getting a ticket or even worse, sometimes talk back to the officer. He understands why Jack breaks traffic laws when they’re in the middle of a mission, but other than that, it scares him. 

Where would your character fall on a politeness/rudeness scale?

Mac has never been that great at controlling his smart mouth. It got him into trouble with his teachers, with James, and in prison. But he can’t seem to avoid making snarky remarks. He thought it was going to make Jack angry, but Jack actually seems to like the banter, and it’s becoming a routine where Mac doesn’t actually mean it and Jack finds it amusing and retaliates, also not meaning what he says. 

[pinayillustrada]

Things I Love About Collar X Malice

The busy summer is over, and so are all my runs of Collar X Malice. I finished it yesterday. A few people have reviewed the game already and I don’t have that much time to write a full review (blame my dissertation and two RA jobs), so to keep this short, I’ll just list my favorite parts of this game, and the various ways this game could possible improve (or things that otome game writers can take note of if ever they are reading this).

Let’s start with the things I love:

1. Ichika

I did mention my preference for independent otome game heroines, with Code: Realize’s Cardia and Princess Arthur’s Alu, being some of my favorites despite some problems. Ichika too is not perfect.

She’s not exactly the most badass (but she’s an excellent shot though), or the most intelligent, but she is a girl who makes the most of the situation. While it is true that there are certain routes where she gets saved (a number of times in Okazaki’s route), she also does a fair amount of the saving.

She has a family and a life of her own. In the game, one does see her do normal stuff—cooking, her dayjob as a rookie cop, and has occasional spats with her tsundere brother.

Unlike many other otome game heroines, she is not too shy about being the first to admit her feelings to the guys she like. In most of the routes, she is the one who confesses first.

Above all, the story hinges on her unwavering conviction that she can uphold justice without causing malice or sorrow.

She’s a very unique otoge heroine and I wish there were more like her.

2. Datable characters are not easily reduceable to types

Sure, there is the recognizable tsundere in Sasazuka, but not everyone is can be summed up via a type. Mineo, for example, is also slightly tsundere and baka, but there is more to him than his love for history and theatrics. It’s the same with slightly yandere Shiraishi, but Shiraishi is not exactly the possessive yandere, as he actually does encourage Ichika to spend some time with her girlfriends. They all have interesting backstories that challenge one’s idea of “type” casting characters in the first place.

3. The ethics of the game are on the gray side

As one plays the game, one may find oneself sympathizing with the villains. That, I think, is the point of the game, because the villains themselves also suffer injustice. It makes one ask interesting questions: how does one deal with injustice?

4. Getting bad endings are not too bad

There are a lot of bad endings in this game, but one may find that getting a bad ending can clue one in to other plots of the game. In many ways, getting bad endings can also function as hints on future narrative choices. Getting bad endings too is can be a way of piecing together a larger narrative, that involves multiple characters with their own subplots.

5. It makes you question the nature of a “good” ending

*Spoilers in Shiraishi’s route*

A lot of people have noted how bittersweet the “good” ending of Shiraishi’s route is. But it can lead one to ask though: is a good ending about the heroine being happy with the guy she falls for, or is it about serving justice to its characters? This game definitely thinks it is the latter. And I agree.

True, Shiraishi and Ichika have to part in that ending, but it does prove that Shiraishi has truly moved beyond being just a pawn of Adonis, and has learned Ichika’s form of justice. Compare that to the tragic ending where they remain happy together, but Ichika is not aware of who Shiraishi really is because she loses her memory. So while the “good” ending does have a bitter aftertaste with not a lot of closure, it is the better ending of the two.

*End spoilers*

6. The yandere route leaves some room for the heroine to be badass

*Spoilers in Shiraishi’s route*

Yes, Shiraishi is the yandere. But unlike in other yandere routes, where the heroine has to comply to the other character’s yandere-ness (ie. MC with Jumin in Mystic Messenger or Toma in Amnesia), it is the opposite here. Ichika sees the signs of yandereness, and does what a reasonable heroine should do: GTFO. And other times when Shiraishi turns yandere, she snaps him right out it. The story makes it super clear that it is Ichika who really saves the day, even if she loses her memory at the end of it.

I usually hate yandere routes, but this is one is not bad.

*End spoilers*

7. It passes the Bechdel test

Okay, it barely passed it, but at least it did! Apart from Ichika, there are three other female police officers in the game Eriko and Kotoho. Sure, they are part of the Shiraishi Bashing Coalition, whose sole purpose it to shit talk about Shiraishi, but they sometimes talk about other things. After all, they do have cases to solve, and lunches to eat. Kotoho especially loves meat.

In addition to those, Ichika also discusses some other matters with other female suspects. Those contributed too.

8. Characters sleep together and are not too ashamed about it

Yes, Ichika does end up in bed with some characters, but the game does not cast her off as a slut. She is still very lovable as she is.

9. Getting the villain route does not involve the heroine getting into a creepy relationship

Yes, in a way, the villain has a route. And one gets to see the villian’s side of the story. But at least Ichika does not have to date said character in order to get that side of the story (ie. Sweet Fuse as much as I also love that game)

10. Your perfect husbando can do feminine things.

This game pretty much casts Yanagi as the almost-perfect husband type. While he used to be a delinquent and has his own dark backstory, you also see him do feminine things like cooking and cleaning. While everyone literally calls Yanagi the Dad of the group, in many ways, he is also their mom.

But of course, Collar x Malice is by no means perfect. Here are some ways the game can improve:

1. Ichika still does a fair bit of emotional labor

Emotional labor is the job of managing people’s feelings. It is highly gendered because women are often the ones expected to do this job. While Ichika is definitely a wonderful heroine, key parts of the game is still about her managing mens’ feelings. Sometimes, I think a heroine should not be made to deal with too much BS in order to be a wonderful.

Moreover, In many of the routes,there seems to be a lot of focus on Ichika’s domestic abilities in the form of her cooking and cleaning skills. While it is not wrong for a heroine to have these and be feminine, writers have to keep in mind that historically, women have been told again and again that they have to excel in these things too in addition to the other jobs that they do.

2. Trigger mode allows one to feel a bit badass for a few seconds, but they are super limited.

Trigger mode is a timed-mechanic, wherein Ichika has to shoot at the right time. They are found in key parts of the plot, but they are very limited. Usually once per route. While it is true that it drives the point that Ichika only uses her gun in times where it is really necessary, surely the game can think of other ways where Ichika can be proactive and a bit more badass than just that and narrative choices. Also, trigger mode preselects your target for the player. It would actually be interesting if one actually gets to decide who the target is.

3. Investigate mode does allow one to interact with some objects, but this is also limited.

One could get great deal of story via environments, case in point being Bloodbourne. I am not saying that an otome game has to be Bloodbourne, but more objects to interact with can allow for better world and character building

4. Map is also limited

There are moments where one can select areas in the police station to go to, but the problem here is that it only allows you to select where one is supposed to go to. Other places are locked. It would be nice to be able to explore other places other ones where one is supposed to go to. Being able to explore the station at least would have given the police station a sense of place.

5. All the characters are straight

There are many other genders and sexualities out there. There’s a problem if all the characters are all deemed to be cis-characters.

6. Stereotypical representation of gamers

One route features a gamer as a villain. Sure, otome games are not really that great with representations of gamers from Yoosung in Mystic Messenger to the MMO players of Period Cube. But it does not help if most gamers in otome games are addicts.

With that, I would say that this could easily be one of the best otome games of the year. That is, if Bad Apple Wars does not upstage it on October.

[heavenbursts-blog]

of simplicity and fortitude. rating. teen and up. ch. 1/23 word count. 5,134 summary. a johzenji-centered / terushima-focused story following terushima’s metamorphosis. as he changes his image to rebel against his parents expectations and regulations, terushima stumbles upon the johzenji volleyball club. what was supposed to be a one time thing suddenly becomes a life consuming thing. he grows, learns, falls, and flies with the rebirth of the johzenji volleyball club.

can also be read here.

Terushima wasn’t a morning person. Not much of a shocker considering he had no concept, or respect , for time. Waking up in the morning was a process. He’d wake up to his alarm only to turn it off and sleep in another fifteen minutes. He would miss school entirely if Bobata didn’t come into his room every morning to drag his ass out of bed. Because best friends did that for one another.

“I’m going to start charging you for this,” Terushima yawned and Bobata rolled his eyes. “How late did you stay up playing video games, huh?”

Terushima began to pick up clothes from the floor, trying to find a shirt that didn’t smell too bad. He grabbed a white one and sniffed, “Ugh yeah no.” he balled it up and threw it into his hamper. “Uh like, a couple of hours? I dunno what time does the sun start to rise—?”

“You’re a mess dude!” Bobata flopped onto Terushima’s bed, pulling out his phone to play some games while Terushima got ready. This was  their daily routine. It started with Terushima being dangerously close to oversleeping until Bobata swooped in to get his ass in gear. Terushima always took extra time getting ready because, if they were to be real, neither one really had the desire to go to school. But they went anyways because Futamata would beat their asses collectively if they didn’t. Again, just best friend things.

“I mean you’re not wrong,” Terushima pulled on a shirt that didn’t smell like ass and pulls on his blazer. He refused to put on the mandatory tie on principle. Ties were a representation of capitalism and oppression! Two things Terushima would never support. “I’m a hot mess, though.” he added in with a wink

Bobata snorted, “Unbelievable. That’s what you are.” Terushima walked over and stood in front of Bobata, backpack hanging off one shoulder. Bobata reached a hand out and urged Terushima to bend down. “Lemme take a look at your hair real quick.”

Terushima’s was going through a metamorphosis. Changing his appearance and dynamics and well, his entire being. A revolution was in process. As Terushima bent he suddenly felt awkward. And he hated it. His transformation was complete now with his hair cut. His natural hair was dark brown. However yesterday, on impulse, Terushima had went to get it cut, styled, and dyed . Now he was rocking a blond undercut that became the cherry on top for his new look. Coupled with his earrings that he got pierced over a week ago and his tongue ring that he got done the same day, Terushima looked like a fully bonafide delinquent.

Which was fine . Delinquent was what he was going for.

Bobata’s hands fell to his hair and carded through Teru’s hair. Teru shut his eyes, stomping down his awkwardness to enjoy the careess. “Mmm, stop that. I might jump you.” Terushima purred.

“Shut up, idiot.” Bobata was having none of Terushima’s shit. Teru laughed, “It feels soft,” Bobata continued his petting slowed. “How’d your parents react?” his voice got quiet. Terushima tensed.

But the tension didn’t last. He was smiling shortly after, standing up straight so they could get a move on. And push through the discomfort of talking about his parents in any way shape or form. “They haven’t seen it yet.” Both his parents were off on a business trip. Nothing too uncommon in the Terushima household. He wasn’t looking forward to their return. But he was looking forward to their reactions once they saw his hair. They would be utterly disappointed and filled with resentment. Terushima could practically see it on their faces now. “Come on, man. Let’s go. I feel like Takeharu’s gonna call us any minute now—”

His phone started going off just as he mentioned their other friend’s name. Bobata threw his head back and cackled while Terushima got his phone. The two were heading out the door as Futamata’s screeching rattled Terushima’s ears. “ How long do you plan on making me wait!? ” Futamata yelled.

Futamata was the final piece to their trio. He lived closer to their school so he would wait up for the two at school. Bobata had been Teru’s friend for years but Futamata had joined their duo in middle school. They all ended up attending the same high school, Johzenji because the three musketeers could never be separated. Such a fate was unacceptable. The three got into so many hijinks the teachers stopped attempting to discipline them. They acted like a domino effect: if one person was going to do somethingfuckinig stupid , you better believe the other two weren’t far behind.

Bobata’s laughter carried as they walked down the street for the train. “Uh, we just put on our clothes.” Terushima covered his mouth to hold back his laughter, moving it away from the phone to shot a look at Bobata. Bobata was snickering along with him, shaking his head.

“Oi! Yuuji! Let’s just stay home today! I’m already tired!” Bobata played along, hitching his voice higher than usual.

“Hmmm, Kazu~” Teru pretended to contemplate the idea. “That sounds like a good plaj. I was gonna rage play after school but why wait till then? I could just rage play now and skip school all together! You in?”

“Oh I’m so in.”

“ You’re both dumb as shit. You’re already at the train station, aren’t you ?” Futamata wasn’t buying their shit and rightfully so. He had to deal with the dynamic duo’s antics all last year. He was immune to their nonsense.

Terushima and Bobata broke out into laughter while they entered the train station. Businessmen, students, and citizens walked haphazardly throughout the station. “Yeah, how’d you know?” Terushima asked through laughter.

“ Because you’re idiots who aren’t that hard to figure out. Can you just hurry up? I’m hiding out in the convenience store a few blocks away from school and I refuse to walk in late without my squad! ”

“Yeah yeah yeah, we’re coming soon. Bobata! Say goodbye to our child!” Terushima held up the phone and Bobata took it, making kissy noises into the receiver.

“Daddy loves you so much we’ll see you soon son!”

“Oh sweetheart,” Terushima cooed, pinching Bobata’s face as they boarded the train. “You’re gonna embarrass him in front of all his friends.”

“ I HATE YOU BOTH GOODBYE! ”

Terushima was met with the angry beeping of an ended phone call. Him and Bobata exchanged glances before breaking out into laughter. They were dumb. But they were dumb funny together and that was the best kind of funny to be.

/

He expected staring. Terushima walked down the halls with his hands in his pockets and his head held tall. As he did, he attempted to pay no mind to the whispers and the pointing from his classmates. Blond hair and piercings were a sure sign of defiance. He knew very well how much he was deviating from the norm with his decision. In the moment, he didn’t give a fuck. Terushima was impulsivity incarnate. He went with his gut first and listened to his head later. He rarely, if at all, experienced regret. Or rather, he didn’t linger long enough on the negative attention to let regret seep into his bones and weigh them down.

Girls stared or moved out of his way as he walked down the hall. Guys tensed, not knowing if they should pick a fight or prepare for a fight. Terushima already had a reputation for being wild. He did what he wanted, when he wanted. But changing his appearance was apparently the last straw for some people. Too bold.  

He walked into his class five minutes late, sliding the door open as his teacher was going through attendance. He ignored the weird ache in his stomach and slapped on his usual, shit-eating smile.

“Mornin’, sensei~! You’re wearing the green suit again? I keep tellin’ ya it doesn’t go with your eyes!” the whispers came again. Some were heated. They asked what he was doing and what the fuck went wrong. Others were envious, commenting how bold of a choice it was to dye his hair blond. He was used to it. He expected this.

The very same thing happened when he pierced his ears. And when people found out his tongue was pierced too? God, he remembered sitting in the teacher’s office for hoursgetting lectured about how appearance was everything and he practically felt his soul astral project out of his body to Pluto.

Keiichi, his teacher, looked annoyed. Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his hands on his hips as Terushima lazily strolled into class towards his seat. “Late again I see, Yuuji-san. Rather than sharing unnecessary comments about my fashion, which is great mind you.”

“Lol yeah okay,” Terushima said just loud enough for the few people around him to hear. The class laughed and he felt energized. He loved this. Loved causing a scene and seeing the reactions he earned afterwards. He was such an attention whore and he wasn’t even ashamed to admit it.

“But you’re late!” Keiichi-sensei pressed, scowl deepening. “Consistently, for the fifth time this week. Which is unacceptable. Therefore, meet me in my office after school.”

Terushima acted as if he hadn’t just heard his teacher’s rant. Perking up delayed a few seconds after. Eyes widened and mouth opened in feigned shock, “Oh what? Sorry I zoned out.”  Terushima bit back on his grin as laughter broke out and his teacher’s glare turned deadly . Boy … if looks could kill. But Terushima felt so satisfied .

Sure, maybe Terushima should down the sass a bit.  Give his teacher a chance to, well teach . But Terushima was feeling so antsy. He blamed the staring and whispers from earlier. The negative attention, though he loved attention and swallowed it up greedily with every chance he got, grated on his nerves more so than he thought they would. He bounced his leg up and down as his teacher continued with class, taking the high road by ignoring him. Terushima snorted.

His teacher was going to get his excess snark to balance the universe out. Such was how the world was going to play out. Class went on without much issues. As time passed people cared less about giving glances and more about their schoolwork. Great, for Terushima! Who could turn his attention to the window because he couldn’t pay a lick of attention for longer than five minutes. Especially on boring content. Terushima would rather wax his legs then sit through fifty minutes reading some dead guy’s poetry who was severely caught in his feelings. He’d just get notes from someone later. Maybe from Mimi-chan. She was cute, and they normally flirted a lot during lunch. So he could hit two birds with one stone easy peesy.

/

Thank God lunch had finally rolled around. Terushima looked down at his notebook. Rather than having taken notes on the math problems they learned, his book was filledwith designs for characters, monsters, anything his mind could think of. He held up his book with a childish-like pride. “Man, Terushima your a Picasso in the making!”

“What’s that, Teru-kun?” Ah, it was Mimi-kun! Terushima lowered his book and in front of him was Yoshida Mimi. They’ve shared classes before their first year of high school. They clicked immediately, Terushima liking her carefree attitude and Mimi liking his no-strings-attached mentality. They hooked up quite a bit last year, and some more continuing into the new school year as well. She was beautiful, in Terushima’s eyes.

Her black curls bounced, framing her round face. Whatever mascara she wore was magical because it made her eyelashes look ten times longer and curlier than what they should have been. And, Terushima’s eyes immediately went to her cleavage and a goofy grin curled on his lips. She had great breasts too.

“Oi! Teru-kun, my eyes are up here.” but there was no venom in her voice. Another thing he digged about this girl was her super chill personality. Any other girl would have slapped him sideways but not Mimi! A true ride or die she was, in Terushima’s eyes. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

“Haha, sorry Mimi-chan. Got distracted,” he stuck out his tongue, leering. but it dissolved into laughter shortly after as Mimi huffed and pulled up a chair to sit by his desk. He laid down his notebook, hands splayed at the ends as he proudly displayed his newest work. “It’s another masterpiece! I title it, Aliens vs Dinosaurs !” he pointed at a T-rex covered in armor holding a sword, facing off against a three-headed alien with a flaming gun. Terushima pointed, “See see! The Aliens have come trying to colonize the Dinosaurs but the Dinosaurs are like fuck that and you man so they’re defending their land!”

Excitement danced through his voice as he rattled off to Mimi more of his story. Mimi laughed, resting her cheek in the palm of her hand. “You’re really talented, ya know? Oh, oh! Draw me next!”

“Hmmmm, maybe~” he didn’t comment on the talented part. He leaned closer, lowering his voice in her ear. “Like a … nude portrait?”

“Ewwww, gross! What foul things are you whispering about during lunch time?” A book dropped onto Terushima’s head. Mimi laughed and Teru stuck his tongue out, caught in the act but not even a least bit ashamed. Bobata, who had dropped the book, stared back with little to no amusement. Though Terushima wouldn’t be fooled. He knew that bastard was smirking underneath his fake deadpan.

Futamata was standing behind him, lips pulled up in a grimace. “Why are you like this?” and then he saw Terushima’s notebook and laughed, “Nice notes you got there, dude. What subject ya’ll working on?”

“This is my masterpiece!” Terushima would put more energy defending his artwork than his own reputation ten times over. “Besides, Mimi-chan was gonna gimmie her notes to copy, right?” he batted his eyelashes and Mimi hummed.

“Maybe~ Depends what I get in return,” her foot rubbed against her leg and the two shared a secretive smile. Futamata gagged and Bobata scoffed, reaching out to grab Terushima by the back of his collar. He gave him a good tug, dragging him up by his feet. “Enough out of you two. Save the nasty for elsewhere! If you keep flirting like this they’re gonna run out of weiner pan,” Bobata said.

He didn’t really have to say anything more after that. Terushima was already halfway out the door, running in place as he waited for his friends to catch up. “Oi! Ya’ll gonna stand there or are we gonna make moves ?”

“I hate him,” Futamata sighed. Mimi laughed, moving back to her group of friends now that Terushima was gone like the wind. They heard distant sounds of gasps, screams, and laughter. The general reaction to a wild Terushima on the loose.

“Yeah, same.” Bobata huffed but they were both grinning as they ran after him.

They found Terushima flirting it up with the lunch lady. Who was significantly older than the three of them combined but age never stopped Terushima . He was chatting her up, asking about her day, trying to finesse extra weiner pans. Everyday he tired to get three instead of one and everyday he failed. But today could be different!

“Come on! Pleaaaaaaaaase!” he whined, laying his body dramatically against the counter. “I’m a growing boy! I’ll starve!”

“I doubt that,” the lunch lady laughed. Bobata and Futamata came just in time to see Terushima throw a fit over being rejected. Again. “Now none of this whining! I tell you the same thing I tell everyone else: you can have extras if there are leftovers .”

“Leftovers? In this economy?” Terushima threw his hands in the air, ready to cause a scene. Bobata and Futamata slipped in underneath his raised arms, snatching their own meals and resting them on their trays. They also got a meal for Terushima. Who, no doubt, forgot to get his main one while he was trying to schmooze the lunch lady over a piece of bread.

“Hey, hey, there’s a line ya goon.” Bobata nudged Terushima with his shoulder.

“But!”

“Let’s goooooo!” Futamata led the fray and the three fell in line as they exited the lunchroom. Their go to spot for lunch was the rooftop. Off limits to students but Futamata had excellent lock picking skills and could get into the rooftop with ease.

The three took their seats on the roof, springtime sunlight shining cooly upon them. The weather was nice. There was a light breeze that made it cool, but not so cold that it was unpleasant. Clouds lazily strolled above their heads , thin and airy.

Terushima took a large bite into his bread as Bobata said, “So your costume change is a big discussion in my class. Well, amongst the girls anyways.”

The blond raised an eyebrow, swallowing, “Why can’t people mind their own business?”

“It’s funny how you act like you’re bothered,” Futamata smirked.

“I am!” a bit, kind of, more so than he’d let on. But also not, at the same time. Because the change was what he wanted. He actively seeked to make a ripple, a disturbance. Just, not from his peers. “Don’t they have something more important to talk about? Like the latest episode of Super Sentai!” another angry bite of his bread, “Now that’s discourse material.”

“Nerd,” Bobata snorted.

“Geek,” Futamata followed suit.

“Shut up!”

“Anyways!” Bobata laid on his back, looking up at the sky. “What do you guys wanna do after school?”

“Hmmm, arcade? We still gotta break the tie between you and Teru on Street Fighter.” Futamata offered.

“Ooo, that’s an idea,” Bobata hummed.

“I gotta meet with my teacher after school.” Terushima jammed his straw into his juice box and slurped, “Apparently my comment on their whack fashion sense was uncalled for   and necessary for reprimand. ” Terushima used air quotes around uncalled for and necessary for reprimand. “But jokes on them! Cause I’m not going.”

“A true rebel with a cause,” Bobata snickered.

“Oi! Can you not come for my neck for like two minutes you little—!” and thus a fight broke out between the two. Like clockwork, their lunches surrounded a two-v-one drag session with the one lone ranger inciting a full out brawl. Terushima had Bobata gripped by the collar, Futamata snapchatting it all, when his phone buzzed.

“Pause!” Terushima, still gripping onto Bobata’s shoulder, pulled out his phone. ONE NEW MESSAGE flashed on the screen. When he opened it and read the message his eyes lit up. “Oh fuck yes!” he typed out his response, his eyes a lit with excitement.

Bobata rested his chin on Teru’s shoulder, peering at his phone. “Oh, it’s from your uncle?”

Terushima’s uncle was perhaps, one of Terushima’s favorite human beings to ever walk the earth. They met once a month, sometimes even more, on the weekends to hang out. He was Terushima’s saving grace on multiple occasions. “Yeah! He just confirmed our plans for this weekend. Ah, I’m so hyped!”

“You’re gonna come back with more fox things, aren’t you?” Bobata teased, flicking the little fox charm that dangled from Terushima’s phone.

Teru sniffed, “They’re cute!”

“For now, until you find something new to obsess over.” Futamata said. “Speaking of obsession, what’s up with you and Yoshida?”

“Noooothin,” Terushima drawled. His phone buzzed again, a new message from his uncle. Then one more time, but it was a message from a girl in the neighboring class. He grinned, saving that text for later. Flirting was, of course, all about the reactions and Terushima learned rather quickly in his debauchery that keeping a good distance always made the heart grow fonder. “We’re still foolin’ around, if that’s what you mean.”

“She has such a thing for you dude,” Bobata shook his head. “It’s a damn shame she’s being wasted on you! Mr. Can’t Handle a Stable Relationship.”

“Mr. Doesn’t Date Anyone for More than Three Days,” Futamata added.

“Mr. Doesn’t Believe in Love,” Bobata grinned.

“Mr. Says he Doesn’t Believe in Love but is Actually the Biggest Hopeless Romantic of all—”

“OKAY SHUT UP I GET IT!” Terushima’s neck grew hot and he threw punches at both Futamata’s and Bobata’s shoulders. “You guys are the worst.”

“True,” they said at the same time.

“Just because ya’ll are jealous.”

Bobata snorted. Futamata gave him the dead eyes and Terushima flipped them off. And like that, they fell into casual routine. Finishing their lunches up as the bell rang. But the sound didn’t rush them one bit. They always took their time getting back to classes. Usually because they were fucking around for so long they lost time. Five minutes after the bell rang they finally made their move. The game plan was to meet by the shoe lockers after school and head to the arcade. Invite some girls along and then maybe finish the night with some karaoke. The later they stayed out, the better.

/

Classes were over and Terushima’s brain sighed in sweet relief. He had no idea what his history teacher spoke about for the last fifty minutes but he could only assume it was something boring and not worth his time. He yawned, leaning back on his chair as the sound of desks being pushed back and chairs being moved echoed in the background. Terushima should stay for cleaning, but then he remembered about his meeting after school. Fuck.

“Oi! Class Rep Izumi!” a brown haired teen with thick, black glasses turned around. “Can you do me a favor?”

Izumi sighed, “I already feel myself aging five years…”

“Aw, love nugget. That’s so sweet. I didn’t know I had such an effect on you~”

“What is it that you want, Terushima-san?” Izumi folded his arms and Terushima grinned, all lazy and catlike.

“Will you—?”

“No I’m not taking your cleaning duties.” Izumi shook his head and went back to moving his desk. Terushima whined, getting up from his feet and walking over to Izumi. Izumi yelped as Terushima’s arms wrapped around his middle, his nose pressing into his shoulder.

“Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!”

“Terushima’s begging?” Nico, their other classmate, laughed. “God Terushima where’s your dignity?”

“Um, at home?” he grinned against Izumi’s shoulder, noticing the red that flushed on his neck. Ooo , he blew air against his neck, watching the hair stand up. Izumi’s reaction was priceless! He dropped his desk and turned around, fixing Terushima with a glare. He was shaking, entire face red, and Terushima was cackling , holding his hands by his sides.

“Class Rep, red is such a—such a good color on you—” he wiped at the tears forming in his eyes and went to grab his bag. “So I can leave my clean up duties to you, yeah?”

“What—?”

“—Thanks a million dude!” Terushima patted Izumi’s cheek and bolted out the door before he Izumi had a chance to complain. He snickered, another excellent escape by none other than Terushima! As he darted down the hall people turned to wave at him. Apparently, a day was enough time for people to get used to his change. Good. He waved back at them, his phone buzzing. No doubt getting messages from his group chat with Bobata and Futamata.

“Terushima!” his teacher slid back the door Terushima just ran by, hands on his hips. “Where do you think you are going? We have a meeting right now, remember?”

“Right now?” Terushima jogged in place  at the end of the hallway, “Mmm, maybe tomorrow? Tomorrow works better for me, ya know? Cause time’s a social construct after all and I’ve got plans so, bye!” and he’s off, darting down the hall. He heard footsteps and when he looked over his shoulder he saw his teacher hot on his heels.

Damn, for someone in their mid thirties they can really haul ass.

Terushima ran at full speed down the hallway, cackling all the while. He turned around a corner, jumping onto the railing of the stairs so he could slide down. “And he sticks the landing!” he posed in front of a group of girls who were standing at the bottom of the staircase. Most of them clapped. One just raised her eyebrow at Terushima, unimpressed.

“Were you not amazed the first time? Should I do it again?” he teased, ready to do it again when he heard the teacher’s voice. “Okay another time! Bye girls!” he stumbled a bit before booking it down the hall and outside.

Johzenji’s campus was pretty big. They had two main buildings that connected with an archway. Johzenji looked the best in autumn, when the leaves were changing. There were so many trees that were planted around campus, some people considered it a forest more so than anything else. Johzenji was best known for their academics, above else, which was why they had two buildings dedicated to academics. Terushima couldn’t escape to the western building, where other classes were held. The teachers would rat him out immediately.

So he went for the gym, which was one of the smaller buildings on campus. With any luck, he could hide in there for a few minutes until the coast was clear and then text his friends that he was safe and sound and ready for debauchery. He slipped into the gym, panting and ran for the nearest hiding spot: the storage room. Thankfully, no—luckily—the door was unlocked. So he slipped inside without a hitch. He hid behind one of the jumping boards and waited.

A few minutes passed before he decided to check his phone. “Dammit! No bars,” he couldn’t even send a hey guys the teacher’s got it out for me so if I die Bobata, you get my games and Futamata you get… all my love text. “I’ll just dip then,” he went to stand up when the door opened. Jumping, he’s expecting it to be the teacher who sniffed him out with their greyhound nose.

Instead, it’s some dude with a buzzcut he’s never seen before. And by his side was, probably, one of the prettiest girls Terushima had ever seen. He blinked. They stared back. Terushima immediately assumed they were staring at him because of his appearance, and he bristled. Ready for a fight when Buzzcut spoke up.

“You here for tryouts?” he smiled softly, but there was a hint of excitement mixed with anticipation in his eyes that made Terushima feel… odd. Terushima was not… expecting that.

“Uh—” words, use your words . “No I—” there’s movement outside. He heard voices. The squeaking of sneakers against gymnasium floors. And above them all, he heard the voice of his teacher. He tensed again. Buzzcut and Pretty Brunette shared looks before Terushima heard the teacher’s voice grow closer. He gasped and ducked back down behind his hiding spot.

“Hey you two,” Keiichi wiped the sweat from his brow, fanning himself. “Have you seen, have you seen a student go by here? Blond hair? Piercings?”

Terushima’s heart flew up to his throat. They were gonna rat him out. He felt it in his bones. That soft smile be damned. All they had to do was mention seeing him and he was—

“Nope,” Buzzcut said. “Sorry, sensei.”

“If he comes by we’ll let you know,” Pretty Brunette followed.

The teacher disappeared. Buzzcut turned his gaze back to Terushima who was rising up again now that the coast was clear. Surprise colored Terushima’s face. He didn’t even bother to hide it.

“What? You thought we were going to rat you out or something?” rather than sounding offended, Buzzcut actually looked amused.

“Yes. 100% absolutely definitely,” his response came with little to no hesitation.

Pretty Brunette, God he needed to know her name out of principle, crossed her arms. “Just like you to not leave a stranger in need, Seiji-san.” she sighed, casting a glance over at Terushima. He winked in response and she scowled. “Even if they’re troublesome.”

“Trouble’s the new sexy, haven’t you heard?” Terushima maybe do less?

Buzzcut—no wait, his name was Seiji, laughed. “He’s funny, Hana-san. And he appeared just in time for tryouts. Which you’ll be staying for, right… ah, what’s your name?”

“Terushima Yuuji. And no! I won’t be staying for tryouts. I got a basketball game tomorrow and I’m running late for it so—Thanks for the offer!”

“Wait!” Seiji grabbed Terushima by the arm as he walked by, releasing when Teru shot him a look. “Ah, sorry. I—it would be a waste if you didn’t try out. Since you’re here after all.”

“Me?” Teru raised an eyebrow, “Try out for volleyball? I’ve never played.”

“That’s fine!” Seiji smiled and Hana shot him a look. “Terushima-san, was it? I actually saw you running into our shed. You’re fast, and you look like you’re really athletic. You’d be a great asset to the team if you tried out.”

This was a joke, right? It had to be a joke. Terushima had never joined an organized sport before. But no, the look in Seiji’s eyes said he was very serious. Ah, his phone buzzed again in his pocket. He looked down and there were ten new messages from his group chat and a few messages from Mimi. He should go. He really should but.

He made the mistake of looking over his shoulder. The team was warming up with sets and spikes. He watched in utter fascination as the ball was set and a player ran up by the ride side, jumping in the air, and spiking it down the other side of the net with great force. The sound of the spike resonated with Terushima. He looked at the spikers jumping and suddenly, he wanted to do it to. It looked fun. And it was just for a few hours.

He turned back to Seiji and Hana, and Seiji was looking at him as if he already knew the answer. Terushima shrugged, feigning nonchalance even though the smile on his face was pure giddy excitement. “Yeah sure. Okay. You saved my ass back there so why not.” He’d try out today, at least to repay the favor. He’d also explain to Bobata and Futamata why he bailed, which they’d hopefully understand. And then tomorrow he’d get back into his routine of fuckery incarnate and avoid the gym at all costs so he didn’t have to go back the next day.

Yeah. That’d work.

“Awesome!” wow, Terushima winced from how bright Seiji’s smile was. He had one of those smiles that made you want to trust him with all your secrets and then some. He patted Terushima on the shoulder. “Let’s go get you a penny and a change of clothes.”

[fastcrthanfast]

Bittersweet Symphony; Part 1

It had been 19 years to the day since Monty had decided to marry his friend and help him out. He would have never guessed that this was going to be his life years later. 7 kids and a marriage to one of the best people he’d ever met. He tried to think of this as he sat in the 4th parent-teacher conference of the week. Elise had released the animals from the school lab…again. 

It seemed like every time he was home for the season, the teachers vented their frustrations over the McQueens to him. It made him wonder what Francesco did while he was gone. He apologized once more and promised it would be fixed before picking up Sally and leaving the school. This had gotten out of hand. Since when were his kids so horrible the principal was threatening expulsion? He went through the motions of getting groceries, gas and checking up on Ramone in his garage before driving home. Francesco’s meeting should be over and that meant that Monty had to talk to him. They were probably going to fight. He really hoped not but it was a hard conversation.

“I’m home.” Monty yelled into the house as he put Sally in her playpen and went back to the car for the groceries. Fran was there to take them from his arms and give him a kiss as he walked back in. This domestic bliss was what made it hard to admit that he should be around more. He spent 7 months of the year in races but he spent the weeks in between at home. It wasn’t perfect but it was a balance.

“How was the meeting?” Francesco pulled him out of his thoughts as they walked into the kitchen.

“Why are they so terrible? Are they like this all year round?” Monty couldn’t help the sigh that came with the words.

“They are not terrible.” Francesco snapped. “They do not like limits and are expressing themselves. Should they do it at school the way they do? Maybe not. But my children are not terrible.”

“My? They’re mine too, Fran. I had to bail Carolina on Monday.” Monty felt the annoyance that came with this subject. “They’re not behaving because you let them do whatever they want. I get that they need to express themselves but not by vandalizing and destroying their grades!”

“I know that they are yours.” Francesco’s tone shifted to what Monty called fight mode. “You come home and you yell and you tell them to behave and they do. I tell them to behave and they do not listen. It is not easy being the only parent here.”

Monty sighed and back-tracked. He didn’t want a shouting match. “I know, Fran, and I’m sorry. I try to be here as much as I can. But they should listen to you whether I’m here or not.”

“Why is this family what you try to be here for? Why are we second place to racing? Why does that make sense to you?”

“All I know how to do is race. It’s what I’m good at and what I bring to this family. I’m not good at business, that’s all you, babe.”

“You are more than racing, Monty.” Francesco looked at him with tears in his eyes and it broke his heart. “Why can’t you see that? You are my husband, a father, a friend, and an amazing human. No racing will ever give you that. That is who you are.”

“Why is it always about me? I’m talking about the kids.” Monty didn’t like that subject. He struggled with his importance and he knew it.

“Because you do not help me!” Francesco went from sad to angry quicker than his husband could handle. “I am alone. Here in this house in a town you made me move into while you chase your dreams and do what you love and leave us in second place.”

“I do help! I cut my season, I don’t race all the competitions just the big ones. I call every night and I yell and I try so hard to be the father they need me to be. I’m here for you, Fran. This is all I ever wanted.”

“It does not seem like it.” They both sighed and glared at each other. It hurt that they had come to this.

“You never tell me this, you know that? You tell me everything is fine and that you’re okay but you miss me. You tell me to retire because you miss me but you don’t tell me that you’re drowning. How the fuck am I supposed to help you when you don’t tell me you need help!”

“If you were here, Lightning McQueen, you’d know.” Francesco glared at him one last time before leaving the kitchen.

Lightning McQueen. That stung. He wasn’t Lightning at home. He was Monty. He was Dad. He was Cara Mia. Right now he was just an asshole.

The day went on and it wasn’t until they were in their bedroom that night that Monty looked at his husband. Really look at him. He watched him undress as he got ready for bed and saw the angry scars that ran across his back from his accident years ago. The accident that took racing away from Francesco because Monty hadn’t been able to face his abuser. Guilt weighed on him as it always had. Had he been a good husband to the man who saved him? Had he been a good father to his children?

He was standing behind his husband now. They were in front of the closet mirror and Fran was giving him a weird look through his reflection. Monty smiled and wrapped his arms around his husband before pressing a kiss to his shoulder. Fran’s breath caught before he turned to place a kiss on Monty’s forehead. They never stayed angry long and it was in each other’s arms that they were most at peace. That at least hadn’t changed.

“What are we going to do, Mon Cher? What do you want me to do?” Monty whispered into Francesco’s shoulder.

“We are going to be happy. You must do what you think is best. I do not want to take your happiness. I am not a terrible husband.”

“You’re still mad at me.”

“Furious, Cara Mia.”

Monty couldn’t help but chuckle as he let go of his husband. He pressed a kiss to his cheek before walking back towards the bed.

“We’re sending the kids to Walt. Maybe if they get structure and plenty of rules, they’ll fall in line.”

“Sending them away from us will fix them? Is that really what you think?”

“No. I think they’ve had it easy in a town that loves them and spoils them rotten. I think they need different points of view and that maybe we hid them too well.”

“Fine but you will tell them. I do not want to be the ‘bad guy’.” Monty nodded before crawling into the bed next to his husband, “I’ll tell them in the morning.”

“Right before we leave for Italy. How nice.”

“I can’t win, can I?”

“I am not a race, McQueen.”

The next morning, Monty made a huge breakfast in preparation for their long flight and the bomb he was about to drop on them.

“I think he wants something.” Bonnie whispered loudly to Carolina as they shuffled into the dining room.

Monty had set up a buffet of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hash browns. Maddie and Nina weren’t too behind the younger girls. The twins were the last to come in with Francesco and the baby. Everyone except Elise began to eat immediately. She had her own meal due to her allergies but she preferred to take a nap on her brother’s shoulder apparently.

“Alright. Before you all go, I need to tell you something important.” He watched as his kids quieted down to listen and Dante nudged his sister awake.

“I’ve been going crazy going to meeting after meeting due to your behavior.” His kids had the decency to look ashamed. Francesco was quietly feeding Sally next to him. “So I decided that you will all be attending Walt in the Fall.”

Monty cringed as he watched their faces fall and they all began talking at once. 

“How is that fair?” shouted Bonnie.

“A uniform? Really?” Nina complained.

“You said that place was for delinquents?” Maddie raised her voice for once.

They all quieted as Dante stood up, “I think that’s fine.”

“Wait, what?” Elise looked at her twin in disbelief.

“I think Dad’s right. We’ve been horrible and we’ve taken advantage of Papa.” 

Dante looked around to his sisters. He was very good at getting them to listen. 

It warmed Monty’s heart to know that his children were so close that they trusted each other with just a look.

“You’re right.” Nina spoke up after a moment.

Francesco had tears in his eyes but a warm smile on his face as he looked up to his husband. Monty smiled back before turning to his children. “This isn’t a lack of love. We’ve done you a disservice…no I have done you a disservice. I want you to be the best you can be at whatever it is you want from life but you won’t get it here. You need a new horizon and you need to find your own paths. Maybe you’re bored here and maybe I’ve been a terrible father but I’m doing what I think is best for you. I need you all to get your shit together and take the steps you need to be happy. That’s all I want. I want you to be happy.”

The drive to the airport was lively as usual. It was hard having all 7 of them in the van they borrowed from Fillmore. Francesco was still angry with him as they said their goodbyes at the gate. His daughters hugged him and kissed him before they left. Dante would stay with him for the race tomorrow before they met them there next week.

“I love you.” Monty whispered to his husband before pressing a kiss to his lips. Francesco gave him a smile before returning the kiss, “I love you but that doesn’t mean I can’t be angry or that it’s enough.”

“I’m sorry that it’s not enough.” 

“Sorry will not fix anything, Cara Mia.”

Monty nodded as his husband walked away from him with his daughters. He decided at that moment that this would be his last season. He’d retire and give Francesco what he wanted. He would do anything to keep his husband and his family happy.

[iswearonmarcuskane]

Kickin’ & Screamin’ // Chapter 8

Title: Kickin’ & Screamin’ Fandom: The 100 Pairing: Kabby Tag/Warnings: Modern AU Setting, Kicking and Screaming AU, Kid!Delinquents Chapter(s): 8/22 Read earlier chapters on: AO3

Chapter Summary: place your bets ladies and gents !!!!

Chapter 8: Unity is strength, division is weakness

Today was the first practice since the shit sh- game last weekend. This upcoming weekend, they had game #2. They were going to verse Ice Nation. They were the second top team in the league.

Again, Marcus didn’t want to start practice off with sharks and minnows. He wanted to start off with possession again.

Abby pointed out, “Last time we did, we got our ass kicked.”

He didn’t argue after that, throwing his stack of cones at her, while mumbling as he mocked her statement. She may have gotten hit in the fact with the cones, but it didn’t stop her smile of triumph.

Clarke came running over as the cones fell to the ground in a mess, helping her mother pick them up. She asked as they did, “Are we playing sharks and minnows?”

Abby collected the cones from Clarke that she had gathered. She smiled at her, nodding. She told her, “Yep,” she winked, “finally got through that thick skull of his.”

“My thick what?”

Both heads turned to see Marcus standing behind them, his arms crossed with a raised eyebrow in question. Abby stood up with Clarke and hit him beside the head with the stack of cones and said, “That.”

He glared at her as he held the side of his head, fixing the hair she had slightly set askew. She jutted her lower lip out in a pout, distorting her voice to a baby one asking, “Did I mess up your hair?”

Clarke immediately burst into giggles, attracting the attention of Octavia and Raven who were nearby. The duo walked over to her as Abby walked away from a glaring Marcus to set up the grid.

Raven crossed her arms as she watched the two. Clarke’s laughter finally died down as Marcus ran his fingers through his hair to make sure the strands weren’t askew anymore. He soon followed after her to make sure she set the grid up correctly.

“Hmmm,” Raven wondered aloud.

The other two girls looked to her, seeing her in deep concentration. Octavia asked her, “What’s on the mind, Reyes?”

“Them,” Raven answer, nodding to their coaches.

The two looked to where she was watching them. Abby was setting up the grid for warm ups and Marcus kept moving the cones she had laid down. She had yet to realize it.

“What about them?” Clarke asked, watching as Abby turned around to check out her line and froze when she realized what Marcus had done. She threw her hands up in frustration while he stood there with his hands in his pockets and he wore his signature smirk.

“What do you think they’re doing?” Raven asked.

“Um,” Octavia answered, “setting up practice?”

“Mhmmm,” Raven acknowledged and continued to watch them.

Abby had stormed over to Marcus was standing, guilty by the cone line he had moved. She started to accuse him of sabotaging her warm up. He just took the hit and told her he was helping her improve it. She told him if he wanted to help, he would sit still and not interfere.

He didn’t respond after that, just looked at her with that smirk. She got annoyed and hit him with the cones she was holding. She proceeded to build the grid off his cone line. He didn’t move from his spot.

Raven suddenly told them, “Flirting.”

The two looked from the coaches to her again. Clarke asked, “Flirting?” Raven nodded. “My mom and Coach Kane?” She nodded again. Clarke frowned and told her, grossed out, “Never! My mom hates him.”

“And,” Octavia added in, “my dad hates her.”

“For now,” Raven said matter-of-factly. She shrugged, telling them, “You both have read enough books to know how the enemy to lover trope works out.”

The two looked at each other and then to their respective parent. Abby had finally set the grid up, going back over to Marcus. She handed him the cones and he grabbed the cones, but Abby didn’t let go. He went to pull them but Abby tightened her grip on them.

They had a glare off for a few before Marcus yanked hard on the cones, however, Abby let go as he did. The cones came flying at him, hitting him and falling to the floor in a mess. Marcus blinked in shock for a moment before looking to the cones and then to Abby.

The girls heard Abby say something along the lines of, “That’s for fucking my cones up.” She walked away before he could respond.

Raven looked at the two girls and raised an eyebrow at them. The two looked to each other again before looking to Raven. “Well?” Raven asked.

Octavia made a gagging sound. “That’s disgusting to think about! That’s my dad!”

“And my mom!”

Raven shrugged and looked around, making sure Abby and Marcus weren’t close by. They were now arguing over whose pennies to use. Raven was praying Abby would win that argument.

She asked, “And what about the other times? All those times your mom comments on his hair? All those times your dad brings up her mom when she has nothing to do with the conversation? And don’t forget the other countless moments of teasing between them.”

The two stayed quiet as they took her words in, remembering the events. Octavia spoke up, “I do remember hearing Coach Griffin say something about him not using so much hair gel and then he didn’t use any the day of the party. He asked Bell and I if it looked okay.”

Clarke nodded and said, “I always see Mom staring at his hair. She also touches his face a lot whenever she gets the chance.”

“Bingo,” Raven concluded. She smirked a little, getting closer to them. She whispered, “Wanna make a bet?”

“A bet?” Clarke asked.

Raven nodded and Octavia asked, “On what?”

Raven nodded towards the two coaches who were getting blue pennies out of Abby’s bag (which Raven was thanking the Lord that Abby had won the argument over whose pennies to use). “Them,” she answered. “Let’s bet on who makes the first move.”

The other two girls watched their parents and then looked back to Raven. “Let’s do it,” they said together.

Raven grinned and told them, “Place your bets ladies!”

Octavia looked back at the parents for a good while. She finally looked back to Raven saying, “My dad acts like a hardass but he’s an actual softie. He’ll cave first.”

“Octavia is betting Marcus,” Raven stated, looking to Clarke. “Who are you betting on?”

Clarke was watching her mother and Coach Kane. Marcus said something that earned a probably well-deserved glare from her mom. Clarke looked back to Raven saying, “I’m betting on Marcus, only because I think he’ll try too hard to make my mom cave, but end up doing it himself.”

“Interesting,” Raven commented.

“Who are you betting on?” Clarke asked her.

She looked to the coaches and told her, “Your mom.”

“My mom?”

She nodded and looked back to Clarke, saying, “I’ve had your mom has a coach for five years now. I know when she wants something, she goes after it and doesn’t stop till she gets it.”

“Solid point,” Clarke commented.

“What’s the winner get?” Octavia asked, very interested in the bet.

“I hadn’t thought of that yet,” Raven admitted.

“How about the losers have to do the others’ homework in whatever subject they want for a week?” Octavia offered.

“You just don’t want to do your algebra,” Clarke retorted.

Octavia wasn’t ashamed, Clarke’s assumption was correct. “Maybe,” she agreed, “but then you wouldn’t have to worry about history.”

“And I wouldn’t have to worry about English,” Raven admitted. “I’m down for that being the prize.”

The two looked to Clarke for confirmation. Clarke examined the option and nodded and said, “Fine. Sounds good. But the winner also gets ice cream from the losers.”

“Fine by me,” Octavia complied.

“It’s settled then,” Raven concluded. She threw her arms in the air, saying, “It’s official! It’s on.”

“What’s on?”

The three girls turned to face their coaches, Abby being the one to have asked the question. Raven smiled innocently, replying, “Practice is!”

“Yeah!” Octavia added on, smiling big. “We’re excited for practice!”

“Are you?” Marcus questioned. He really doubted it.

“Totally!” Clarke pitched in. She had a big grin on her face. “Especially since we’re playing shark and minnows!”

“Shark and minnows?” Octavia asked.

“You’ve never played shark and minnows?” Raven asked, dumbfounded.

“No…” Octavia replied, feeling a bit awkward.

“That’s because I hear you never had fun at your practices with Kane. Lucky for you, I’m your coach now too!” Abby told her.

“Ain’t nothing lucky about it,” Marcus mumbled. He got a face full of a blue penny as Abby tossed it in his face in response to his mumble. The three girls laughed.

Abby grinned and told Octavia, “It’s a fun game we used to play every practice for warm up. You’ll love it!”

Octavia grinned as Clarke grabbed her wrist, telling her, “Come on! We’ll give you a short run down of the instructions.”

“Okay!” Octavia said and ran away with the two girls down to the end of the grid where everyone else was lined up, except Murphy who stood in the middle of the grid in a penny.

Marcus watched Octavia run down to the end of the grid. He felt himself smiling a tad, happy to see her finally having fun at soccer. She had never smiled like that at one of his practice before. There was a sad twist in his heart at that realization but he was happy she was happy now.

“Ready for the best warm up you’ve ever seen, Kane?”

He looked from his daughter to Abby. She was smirking up to him, confidence oozing off her. He smirked his signature smirk, telling her, “I’ve already seen it. We performed it last week.”

She titled her head in thought and her eyes drifted up to where his hair was. It was once again slicked back. It was instinct she swore. No way in hell would she have done what she did consciously, she decided as she felt her hand reach up.

Her hand found its way in his hair, surprising them both. His eyes were widened a bit as he made eye contact with her. She was yelling at herself to not freak out or acknowledge how soft his hair was. She kept the same facial expression as before, cocky, and told him, “You sure these locks aren’t gelled back too tightly?”

He didn’t have a response right away. All he could think about was her hands in his hair and how good it felt. He didn’t want her to stop. By the look breaking through her composure, he guessed she didn’t want to either.

He got ahold of himself enough to respond, “I don’t know, you tell me.”

The response caught her off guard. She should’ve expected such an answer. It was Marcus she was dealing with. So, she’d be Abby back.

She slightly tugged at his hair. She saw the fire erupt in his eyes and his jaw twitch the slightest. She had control in this situation and she loved knowing it. She tilted her head to the other side, saying, “I think so.”

He smirked more, telling her, “Really? I can’t feel it.”

She tugged a bit harder, smirking as she saw him close his eyes for a split second. He made eye contact with her again, the fire burning ice cold now. She smiled sweetly, telling him, “Want to know how to fix it?”

“Do tell,” his voice was a little husky, rough on the edges. There were a million ways Abby could think of to free his hair, but none of them were appropriate to name in front of a bunch of kids.

She swallowed, feeling her control of the situation slipping a little. She responded, keeping eye contact, “Use less hair gel.”

“Noted,” he responded, his eyes never leaving hers. They kept eye contact for a while, her hand still in his hair.

A cough broke their trance. They both looked behind Abby to see Murphy standing there, arms crossed and foot tapping against the ground. “Do you two need a room?” He asked.

Both flushed with embarrassment. Abby yanked her hair from his hair and spun around to face Murphy. Marcus began furiously running a hand through his hair, trying to get rid of the burn she left where her hand had been.

“Pay attention, Murphy,” Marcus snapped back at him.

“Yeah, whatever,” Murphy responded as he turned to face the others at the other end.

Abby yelled for them to start the drill. Murphy was the “shark” and everyone else were “minnows”. Murphy didn’t have a ball but the others did. They had to dribble past him and reach the other end of the grid without him kicking it out. If he kicked their ball out, they became a shark and joined him. The process continued until one minnow was left standing. They were then the winner and the shark the next round.

All the “minnows” ran forward and the “shark” charged forward. Octavia was behind the rest, watching on a bit as she dribbled forward. Murphy threw him into a tackle with Miller, easily knocking his ball out.

Murphy then went after Raven, both colliding into a tackle. Murphy over powered her and kicked her ball out of the grid. Bellamy was already over on the other side of the grid, along with Jasper, Monty, Wells, and Harper.

Murphy turned to find Octavia dribbling on the other side of the grid. Clarke wasn’t far in front of her. He sprinted over, aiming for Octavia.

Octavia looked up, seeing Murphy coming for her. She froze in her spot, suddenly unsure what to do. Clarke, who was dribbling by her to help her out in the game, noticed and looked to where Murphy was charging at them.

On instinct, Clarke dribbled back and shielded Octavia from Murphy as he reached them. His foot came in contact with Clarke’s ball, not Octavia’s. As he was knocking her ball out, Clarke kicked Octavia’s ball towards the end of the grid. She yelled at her, “Go!”

Octavia took off and gathered her ball, crossing the line into the sideline.

Abby watched the scene with a sense of astonishment. Almost always at their old practices, Clarke was always first over the line and concerned for only herself. She never wanted to be a shark, at least Abby never had her be the shark after she won. If Clarke was a forward, there wasn’t a need for her to be the shark.

“Clarke Griffin sacrificing herself to be a shark?” Murphy voice, surprise lacing his voice, “I never thought I’d see the day.”

She shrugged and grabbed a penny from the pile. She put it on, telling him, “I’ve always wanted to try it. Plus, a real teammate takes one for the team.” At the last sentence, she looked to Octavia who was smiling and talking excitedly to Raven about the game.

“Whatever,” Murphy responded, “Save the leader bullshit talk for Bellamy or someone else.”

“MURPHY!” The two heard Abby yell. They looked to where Coach Griffin was standing, arms crossed. “Watch your mouth!”

Murphy couldn’t care less and you could tell by his face. He didn’t bother responding but looked to Clarke, telling her, “Your mother is a damn hypocrite.”

Clarke laughed a little as Abby started the next round. The minnows charged forward again as the four sharks tried to eliminate them. Clarke got Monty out easily, Harper followed shortly behind by Raven when she paused to see if Monty was okay.

Bellamy, Wells, and Jasper made it over once again. Octavia snuck her way over the other line, no one paying attention to her. The two grabbed pennies of their own, real pennies. Abby relished in the fact she had better pennies than Marcus. She had an upper hand on him finally.

“This isn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Marcus suddenly commented beside her. She looked to him, a smug smile appearing on her lips. He looked back to her and shook his head, adding, “Don’t be fooled. It still has many flaws, like I expected.”

Her smile dropped in an instant. Flaws? It was a game! There were no flaws! “Flaws?” She asked. “What flaws could possibly exist in a game?”

“Plenty,” he stated. “For one, the sharks only seem to be concerned with getting any ball they can. That doesn’t teach proper defense. It’s not organized at all.”

Abby’s mouth dropped open. She had heard the rumors of Marcus killing the fun in everything, making practices like a drill squad for the army, but she didn’t know it was this bad.

He stroked his chin, watching as the three remaining minnows dribbled forward. Bellamy seemed to be avoiding Clarke as he went towards Miller again. He easily beat him and made it over the line once again as no one was behind him to help.

Jasper was corned by Monty and Harper, his ball colliding with the two defenders as he lost control of the ball. It rolled out of bounds.

Wells got stuck in a 1v1 with Murphy. Murphy tilted his head to the side, telling him, “You’re a goalkeeper, do you really think you stand a chance?”

“I can try,” Wells responded, his voice shaking a bit.

“Yeah,” Murphy laughed, “Try and fail.”

Murphy charged forward and Wells cracked under the pressure, not moving. Murphy easily kicked his ball to the side and out of bounds. Murphy laughed again and told his brother, “Stick to standing in goal.”

Octavia was dribbling when Clarke ran in front of her. Octavia froze in place when she saw Clarke in front of her.

Clarke smiled at her and said, “Trust yourself, just go for it.”

Octavia nodded and ran forward with the ball. Clarke got in her defensive stance and went to tackle Octavia when the time was right. Clarke came in contact with the ball, stealing it from Octavia. She kicked it out of the grid.

Octavia looked upset as she watched her ball roll out of the grid. Clarke came over to her and offered her a penny. She told her as she watched Octavia put it on, “Maybe next time. That just wasn’t the right time.”

Octavia fixed her penny once it was on and looked up to Clarke. She smiled big and said, “Next time!”

Bellamy was the only one left, declaring him the winner, but he went forward anyways. He went up to Miller again, easily pulling the ball from him and charging forward. This time, however, Clarke had dropped in behind Miller, giving him coverage.

Abby and Marcus watched as Bellamy abruptly stopped when he saw Clarke there. Abby’s mind went back to their first practice where Marcus had the kids doing the three box drill with one defender in each. Bellamy had gotten past Clarke his first trial, but it wasn’t easy. After that, no one (including Bellamy) passed her box.

Clarke’s eyes were surveying Bellamy and the area around her. She was calculating her decisions and assessing the environment for additional indirect help. They were closer to the side of the grid on her right side. She turned her body so she would be forcing him to dribble into smaller space towards the sideline.

Bellamy didn’t bother assessing his space. He saw the line behind Clarke, the goal, and he knew he just had to make it there, no matter what. With that in his mind, he took off barreling towards Clarke. He would get around her, one way or another.

Abby and Marcus watched as the two clashed together in a tackle. Clarke stayed firm on her feet, hands on Bellamy’s back to keep him from pushing his momentum forward. Bellamy had his body angled slightly so he could put forth more strength into the tackle.

There was a problem with his stance though. Clarke was always surveying the tackle and noticed his back leg was wider than it should be. It also wasn’t supporting any weight of the tackle. Clarke stepped back a bit from the tackle and Bellamy stumbled from the sudden loss of contact, loosening the ball from his foot.

Clarke reached around as best as she could, foot poking out and kicking the ball free. It slowly rolled out of bounds.

Bellamy watched the ball in a bit of disbelief, as well as his father did. Abby screamed, throwing her arms up in the air to celebrate. Was that a bit childish? Abby didn’t give a shit if it was or not. A Lifesaver had just taken down the best player on the Assassins. It was one for the history books in her opinion.

Marcus nodded his approval, telling Abby, “See that? That’s what I mean. Before, Miller had no support to help when Bellamy beat him the first time. This time, they had to work together by providing coverage for each other.”

And Marcus officially killed the vibe.

“It’s a game, Marcus,” she told him. She shook her head, “They’re not supposed to think about tactics for the game. They’re supposed to have fun.”

“You can have fun while learning the tactics,” he shot back. He actually sounded offended. “Then we know we aren’t wasting any time and that we’re using all the time we have to the best of our ability.”

Vibe killed, again. Twice. In less than five minutes. Abby wondered if it was a new record.

“Playing a silly game for ten minutes won’t waste any precious time,” she replied.

“Actually,” he told her, “it will. Or did you forget the bet with Cage already?”

How could she forget? That night wasn’t something you’d forget easily and Abby wasn’t just talking about the cranberry juice all over Cage’s white suit.

The two actually had to pull off a movie or novel miracle with their team. They needed a lucky break because they both knew their teams couldn’t do it on their own. Unless the two found common ground, which was unlikely, winning didn’t seem to be in the near future.

It was a good thing they could lose two more games before they got their shit together.

“Of course I haven’t forgotten,” she shot back, a little annoyed. “All I’m saying is that winning is nice, sure, and yes we need to win to keep our jobs essentially, but a key component of that is having fun. If the kids aren’t enjoying themselves, why bother trying at all?”

Marcus took the question in and didn’t disagree completely. He believed the kids should enjoy the sport but he also believed that winning brought that to them. And to win, they needed to focus and work hard. There wasn’t time to goof off when they had a lot of work to do.

He shrugged telling her, “And winning can bring them that joy.” His eyes travelled to where Octavia stood with Clarke and Raven. She was smiling big as Clarke showed her the nutmeg, demonstrating on Raven. She passed the ball through her legs and ran around Raven to get the ball back. “Trust me on that,” he finished as he looked to her.

“They can have fun without winning, Marcus,” she tried to reason with him. “See with Octavia? She didn’t smile at all the first practice we had or the following one. She just lost, to Clarke specifically, but she’s smiling and enjoying herself.”

Marcus saw that. He saw her laughing as Raven tried to do the same to Clarke but Clarke easily defended it. She never laughed at his practices before with the Assassins. But Abby was wrong. She may have lost to Clarke in her 1v1, but then she joined Clarke’s team in the drill in result of that. After that, Clarke won for the whole team, meaning Octavia had won in the end. She was happy because of that.

He shook his head. “You don’t understand it,” was all he said.

“Oh?” She questioned. He looked to her, seeing the anger burn in her eyes. “Or do you mean to say I can’t understand? Because I’ve never won a game?”

He didn’t mean for it to come off like that, but he saw where she made the connection. If he was being honest with himself, she wasn’t that far off the accusation. Abby didn’t know the feeling that winning brought, he did. He saw the happiness it brought his team.

Instead of trying to explain it all, he just shrugged, replying, “If the shoe fits…”

She shook her head, her anger apparent. She crossed her arms, looking back to the kids. “You still think you’re a better coach than me,” she said.

He looked down to her as she looked to him out of the corner of her eye. “I never said that,” he told her.

“You didn’t have to say it, Marcus,” she spoke, a bitter note in her tone. She could feel herself getting upset. She hated he could make her feel like this. “I can take a hint, believe it or not.”

“Abby-”

“Don’t,” she shook her head. “Don’t try to make up some bullshit to make up for it. I know I suck as a coach, Marcus.” It hurt for her to say the words, to admit them to him after years of arguing against it. But like she said, if they wanted to get anywhere, they had to find common ground. If he was going to be a stubborn ass, maybe her starting the change would encourage him to as well.

“The standings prove that enough,” she shook her head. “I get my ass kicked by you, another terrible team. Now, I have a chance to turn that around but it’s not going to happen unless we somehow, by a miracle, put our differences aside and work together.”

Marcus knew she was right. He didn’t want to admit that though. He had his beliefs on how to run the team and had proof to back up that they worked. Did they work fantastic? Hell no, his own past records have shown that, but they were results. It was a start. If they worked on his tactics and the kids worked harder, then their record would improve.

What bugged him was that Abby was making it seem like her only problem was that she was a terrible coach. When she wasn’t wrong in his opinion, there were many things her coaching tactics could use work on, she herself doesn’t realize her biggest flaw.

While she admitted to being a bad coach, she didn’t do anything to change it. She kept using the same tactics over and over again. She didn’t change up positions of any players or try a new formation. She saw what she brought forward as the only way to do things. If you ever brought up a different way than hers to approach something, you were labeled the bad guy.

Marcus found himself looking to where Clarke now stood with Bellamy. The two were chatting as Clarke showed him her defensive stance. Bellamy copied it and Clarke showed her foot poke. Bellamy again copied it.

That’s why the two clashed mainly. Marcus liked control as much as did Abby. Marcus had his rigid view of working hard and serious would get the wins they needed to enjoy the game. Abby had her rigid view of making sure to have fun along the way, win or lose, and that there was a set way to get there.

Marcus decided to test the theory by nodding and asking, “Fine. My first suggestion as a newly joined unit is why don’t we move Clarke to defense?”

Abby didn’t even have to respond for Marcus to see he was right. Abby got defensive herself and tilted her head to the side. “Why?” She asked. “So Bellamy can get all the credit?”

“No-”

“Clarke plays forward,” Abby interrupted him, looking to where her daughter was chatting with Bellamy still.

“Come on, Abby,” Marcus told her. “You saw how good Clarke was at defense last week and in this,” he moved his hands at the grid, “whatever you call it.”

“Clarke is a leader,” Abby stated. “Leaders are needed in the front.”

“Defense is also a big position for leaders.”

“Clarke,” Abby spoke every syllable with emphasis, “plays forward. That’s where she’s always played and that’s where she’ll continue to play.”

Marcus watched her. He always knew Abby was stubborn. He didn’t know she was this stubborn when it came to her views on her team. He understood she didn’t have much time with her day job at the hospital to sit down and formulate new game plans. He understood change can be scary, but like she told Cage the other day, change is inevitable. However, he didn’t agree that there was only one way to tackle a situation on the field, there has to be another way if the current one isn’t working. He understood changing her tactics meant admitting that she wasn’t a good coach but it needed to happen if the team wanted to get better.

Abby watched Marcus with fire in her eyes. Abby knew what was best for her team, she always had. She just knew they needed to work a little harder with her tactics and then results would come. She understood he wanted control over everything, it’s how he coached. She understood his tactics had given him a result and only one in case he forgot. However, she didn’t agree with erasing the main component of the reason they’re here: to have fun and enjoy the game they love. Abby understood that him having to give up his tight control on the seriousness of practice for the kids to enjoy the process was admitting he was too controlling and harsh as a coach but it needed to happen if the team wanted to get better.

The two stayed silent as they watched each other. Understanding, passion, anger, resentment, and everything else passed from and to each other in that moment. It scared them. Neither knew what it meant.

To break it, Abby joked, “You sure you can’t feel the hair gel pulling your hair back too tightly?”

Marcus was thankful for the banter to be back. It seemed like before in that moment he was out of breath. He smirked, telling her, “I’m not sure. Could you check for me?”

Abby smirked back, hearing the hidden want lacing his voice. He wanted her to run her hand through his hair. “If I remember after practice, I will,” she answered him, not breaking eye contact.

Marcus felt the air crackle with the tension between him. He saw the challenge in her eyes, which he was sure reflected in his own. Abby was playing with fire.

The image of her in his bathroom at the beginning of the year party flashed in his mind. She had grabbed his razor and snuck it in her pocket. He didn’t want to call her out when he had caught her in her obvious lie about the aspirin, as he had no idea why she was stealing his razor. He knew now.

She was trying to throw him off his game.

He thought of all the endless comments on his hair and his shaving habits. He thought of all the times he caught her staring at his hair. He liked to be clean cut for his lawyer job, was that a crime? To her it was.

He remembered her reaction when he didn’t use his hair gel the night of the party. She never did up denying that she liked it. It wouldn’t have mattered if she did, he saw the approval in her eyes and body language. He didn’t understand the shaving comments as much as the hair though.

He remembered her reaction when he placed his hand on her hip to move her away from the drawer that contained the aspirin. He remembered seeing her flustered. He remembered feeling want spread through him at the touch.

The tension between held some sort of attraction. Neither really knew what it was but they were both good looking people who acknowledged that of each other. Marcus knew it felt good to feel her hand in his hair. He knew she knew that. He knew Abby loved the feeling of his hair between her fingers. He also knew she knew that. Whatever it was, it existed.

They both knew it. He figured she was trying to use this, whatever it was, to her advantage and throw him off track. If she could distract him, she could gain more control of the team and run it like how she wanted to. Marcus wasn’t foolish though.

If Abby wanted to play with fire, he wasn’t going to let her play alone. He was going to add fuel to the fire. Fire would meet gasoline.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he finally responded, wearing his signature smirk. He made sure his voice was rough on the edges as he drew the words out, never breaking eye contact.

Her own grew in response. She didn’t respond to him, realizing the same thing he had realized moments ago. So, that’s how things were going to go, huh? Now Abby had to be on top of her game, both on and off the field.

May the best coach win.

[artificialqueens]

: Sinning Never Felt So Good (Pearlet) : Chapter 3 : katyasbingowings

A/N: hope you enjoy!!

The canteen being empty merely exaggerated its truly colossal size, with it’s only inhabitants being two dinners ladies chatting away, and Matt, who had awoke for breakfast at the earliest possible hour to avoid any unnecessary interactions with his succubus of a roommate. Matt had hardly achieved a wink of sleep after last night’s events, so his generous cup of coffee was defiantly deserved, the warm beverage acting as his sole life force. His seven pancakes, however, were not justified.

“I am going to be fat like the Americans soon enough,” Matt shot his head up, immediately recognising the bizarre Russian, whose exaggerated red lips most likely broke some rule, though Matt wasn’t going to rain on the cheerful woman’s parade.

“Morning, I didn’t expect anybody to be up this early,” Matt admitted - voice tired and gruff - wondering how Katya managed to maintain such energetic facade at this unholy hour, while Matt was prepared to peel over any moment.

“In Russia we wake when the suns does too,” Katya explained, accent thick and mouth full of toast, “I did try to wake Adoor, she called me a rotted cunt and punched me in the vagina, so I let her sleep for some more moments.” The interaction didn’t phase Matt, already expecting such oddity, despite knowing the pair for a mere 24 hours. He simply shook his head and began his fifth pancake, not remotely ashamed of his appetite. “Do you want some concealer for your eyes, Matthew, it will make them look less dead”

“No thank you Katya, I’ll be fine,” Matt smiled, not bothering to correct her on his name, knowing it wouldn’t stick in the long run. He monetarily considered the kind-hearted offer, knowing perfectly well that the sizeable bags under his eyes were not attractive in the slightest, before denying politely. Matt once covered his face in his mother’s makeup and he’d never seen his father so enraged, that memory put him off decorating himself with the products completely.

After brief small talk between the two, the canteen soon filled with exhausted students all craving nourishment, one even fell asleep in a bowl of cereal, which Matt seemed to relate to on a personal level. Adore eventually joined them, much more miserable than the previous twosome combined, face clean of her usual exotic makeup and hair unruly. “I actually want to commit. No joke. I’m gonna stab myself with a fork.” Good morning to you too.

“If you do Adoor we cannot have fun with the alcohol on Friday,” Katya quipped, brushing her fingers though the other’s mane in attempt to calm the relentless tangles.

“I’m pretending I didn’t hear that,” Matt stated, not particularly agreeing with the blatant rule breaking, though not wanting to lose his only companions by ruining their form of enjoyment either.

“Matthew you should join us! We made friends with a curly haired boy who had vodka bigger than my head, we are meeting to have fun times when the week comes to an end,” Katya babbled madly, acting out the scenario with exaggerated hand gestures. Adore - face down and lifeless on the table - sounded a grunt of agreement.

“I don’t know,” the boy began, though not a virgin to alcohol (even the most uptight Christians had fun sometimes, okay), was unsure of the whole situation, “I wouldn’t want to be intruding, or to get caught…”

“It’ll be who you know, plus curly and friend, I’ll personally get you a juice box if it’ll make you more comfortable, and take any blame for your delinquency,” Adore piped up, looking up for the first time since joining the table, gently grinning in attempt to sway the sheepish individual.

Matt was prepared to argue his case to the bitter end, before he saw Jason tiredly shuffling towards the table, “yeah, sure, whatever,” Matt rushed without a second thought, not even thinking over what he had agreed too. He stood up and planned his grand escape, “I’m gonna go pee,” he excused himself weakly, speed walking like his life depended on it as Jason took a seat.

“Matt is joining us Friday, isn’t that spectacular!” Katya squealed, squeezing Jason’s hand in a friendly nature, offering the boy a slice of buttered bread.

“That’ll be interesting,” Jason smirked, taking a sizeable bite and watching Matt leave in a rush. How very interesting indeed.

***

“Do these arms look like they do push-ups?” Jason quipped, greatly irritated by the mere concept of PE, especially offended by the physical trials he was being forced into. At his old school Jason’s teachers had learnt that even attempting to convince him to partake was useless, though the message didn’t seem to be getting across as easily as in the past. He sighed overly dramatically, falling to the floor in the most ungraceful way, completed a single push up, before returning to his previous position: sitting in the corner of the room doing absolutely nothing. This was not his gig.

The rest of his classmates were filing in, Jason recognising a few he had briefly passed in the corridors, all while waiting for the one and only Matt, who he knew he shared the lesson with after their discussion yesterday. And Jason was not disappointed when Matt arrived, not at all. Unaware of the fact he was being watched, the brunette sauntered into the gymnasium, shorts clinging complimentary to his plump arse, and vest demonstrating his toned, tan skin. Jason absentmindedly licked his lips, unapologetically checking the fellow boy out from head to toe.

Now Matt was completely oblivious - not realising him stretching caused V-lines to show, having no idea that squats just exaggerated the perfect way his rear end was formed, or that being painted in beads of sweat was borderline erotic. Jason remained shell shocked, never realising Catholic school would be the most homoerotic experience of his entire existence, throughly pleased with the spectacular occurring before his very own eyes. The oblivious Matt continued to take a sizeable gulp of water, a few droplets missing his mouth and dripping artistically down his chilled jaw, leaving Jason’s mouth agape. This is pornographic.

Snapping out of his lustful trance, Jason wolf-whistled loudly at his roommate, causing Matt’s attention to shift to the boy lingering at the sidelines. Matt was thankful for his current hot and sweaty state, as it disguised the prominent blush creeping up his neck and coating his cheeks. “Looking good there Lent!” Matt didn’t know how Jason knew his surname, and he wasn’t going to ask, so he shot the boy a lopsided smile and continued his workout, stationing himself as far away from the other boy as possible.

Jason caught wind of what Matt was hoping to accomplish by relocating further away: to be rid of him, and Jason refused to be brushed off that easily. “Couldn’t even spare me a hello? This after running off this morning? Unacceptable. I thought you were some God sent Christian or something,” Jason mocked, taking a seat in front of Matt. When Matt came up for his first sit-up, he caught Jason’s eyes briefly, pupil’s dilated, before returning to the floor. Breathe, Matt, breathe.

“I told my friend I’d meet him,” Matt spurted out, regretting his words the moment they left his mouth; he had never been a good liar.

“No you didn’t,” Jason called Matt’s bluff, staring at him blankly, “you don’t have any friends.”

“Y-yes I do,” he stuttered, shocked at the blunt tone he was spoken to in, and the fact that his fabrication was shattered immediately.

“What’s his name?”

“I can’t remember.”

“You don’t remember?”

“Nope, I also don’t remember how many sit ups I’ve done, you see! I’m not good at remembering things!”

“23,” Jason revealed, “anyway, me, Kat and Adore are going for a smoke at lunch, and I know you don’t like that kind of stuff, so you’ll be cool to hang out with your friend?”

If Matt disagreed, his bluff would be busted, and he was too far down the rabbit hole to admit defeat. “Yeah, yeah, absolutely fine, I’ll sit with him, have fun,” Matt rushed, now not only a liar, but a lonely liar.

“I just wouldn’t want you to be alone, that’s all.” Jason smiled, sincerely, before wandering away. Matt’s heart was beating erratically, a sensation he had not experienced before, and one which he could not logically explain.

***

“I never thought I’d love Monday mornings, but his butt might have changed that,” Jason admitted, casually perched on the floor and exhaling a cloud of smoke. The group had discovered a reserved location behind the greenhouse to hide while performing any of many generic teenage activity, the area completely hidden away from the main building: a perfect location for escape.

“Well I have this real cute maths teacher, he’s called Roy and has the most adorable dimples,” Adore gushed, “and - of freaking course - I came in late, looking like shit, so my plan on seducing myself to an A is not off to a good start.”

“Men think through their dick, I can assure you that it won’t be difficult,” Jason spoke, passing the cigarette to the celestial being he called a friend, allowing her to take a drag and relax. Katya had decided not to join them, instead tagging along with one of her classmates - it was either Tracy or Trissy, Jason couldn’t quite remember - to ‘save her from the nasty disease of the lungs’.

Adore was happily chatting away, though failing to distract the fair-skinned boy, as Jason’s mind wandered to Matt. He was undyingly curious to what sort of friend Matt had made, probably another God worshiping goody-two-shoes, someone Matt would get on with far better than himself. Jason let out an irritated huff, not understanding why he was growing so sensitive over such a simple event, he himself had even insisted that the other spend time with his new companion over lunch, and now he was wishing he hadn’t.

“I don’t know why I get so worked up over him, he’s just another bloody boy,” Jason eventually burst out, knowing Adore of people wouldn’t judge him, and he really wouldn’t mind some words of wisdom round about now.

“It’s cause you like him, duh,” she’s breathed out, as if it was the most obvious statement in the world, lighting a fresh cigarette with her kitten lighter. Unbelievably thankful for the smoke in his lungs calming his demeanour, Jason took another puff, continuing to ramble his thoughts.

“Im just used to sucking someone’s dick and moving on, I don’t do feelings,” it was true. Jason didn’t date, Jason didn’t fall in love; Jason had sex with no strings attached. The best way to do so, in his opinion anyway; emotions were unnecessary, an utter pain in the arse, and he didn’t have time for such stupidity.

Adore probably didn’t mean for her next piece of advice to be taken literally, to her it being a mockery of an idea, though Jason’s mindset was deluded and had little to zero common sense. “Just suck his dick and get it over with then.”