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anyarose011 · 2 months ago

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"There Must Be Something in the Water" {Aemond x Reader}

Summary: Many men with one eye have followed you home before...but never one with silver hair. What could he possibly want with you?

Part 1 of 3 (Masterlist)

Warning(s): Swearing, vulgar jokes, talk of sex, prostitution, and spice (but not smut)

I jumped on the HOTD bandwagon, and even worse (I don't know how it happened, seriously, I don't), I started loving Aemond "Mommy Issues" Targaryen. I came up with this lovely little mini series, and I hope you enjoy it! If you know where the song in this chapter is from, 100 points to *insert your Hogwarts House*! Also, please don't try and keep a timeline of events (the show for sure doesn't), and if you need help on the Westeros money system, use this.

Word Count: 4.2k

You knew a man was following you one lonesome night. It was like clockwork though; you walking through the empty, darkened streets of King’s Landing, a hollow water jug on your hip as if it were a babe.

It didn’t matter if it was the same one who’d been following you all week; what mattered, was what he had. You hadn’t caught sight of him yet, so perhaps he was a different man. Still, if it wasn’t, then simply from how his eyes must traced over you, he’d plan on coming closer that night.

Wearing only your sandals and a thin dress, you continued down the narrow path. It must’ve been…oh, perhaps three hours before sunrise? If you’d gone any sooner or any later, than members of the City Watch would surely be out.

Whether they wanted to aid or hurt you, it would all be the same.

As faint torches began to appear alongside the walls you walked, and you knew you grew closer to the well, you began to hum lightly at first. Then, you sung even softer; no words, just your voice in its purest form. It was only when you finally made it to the well, and after you sat atop the stones, did you finally add a story to your song.

“Father’s hunting in the forest, Mother’s cooking in the home. I must go to fetch the water, ‘til the day that I am grown.”

You cranked the bucket down into the well, still singing.

“’Til I’m grown, ‘Til I’m grown. I must go to fetch the water, ‘til the day that I am grown.”

You glanced up and saw the shadow of the man who had been following you. He was still peeking out from behind an alley, but once he saw your head move, he stepped out. Yet, you merely kept your back to him, cranking the handle on the well to bring the bucket up.

“Then I will have a handsome husband, and a daughter of my own. Then I’ll send her to fetch the water, I’ll be cooking in the home.”

Taking the bucket off its hook, you poured it carefully into the jug. Setting the bucket back, you then stood up, taking the full jug of water into your arms. Slowly, you began to walk uphill and out of the area of the well, singing quietly.

“My own home, My own home. Then, I’ll send her to fetch the water, I’ll be cooking in my home. My own home, My own-.”

You’d gotten better at making it look like an accident when dropping your jug of water. The first time you’d done it, you glanced back to make sure your unsuspecting victim was watching and let go of it. Needless to say, he was the one that robbed you that night.

The jug rolled down the cobbled hill, and ricocheted off the well, spinning in place. Soon, the silhouette of a man became visible as he came closer to the jug. Your eyes drifted up from the ground. When you saw his face, the first thing you noticed was only one eye; the other, his left eye, covered by a humble patch.

Then, the one thing that frightened you: Long hair that was almost the shade of the sun, it was so light.

This wasn’t a drunken man wandering alone at night, this wasn’t a Kingsguard who had an itch to scratch.

No…no, this was Aemond Targaryen, a prince. A prince who could do anything to you, and you wouldn’t be able to resist; even if you fought.

And he was staring at you from the foot of the hill. You weren’t even at the top, only halfway. In actuality, this wasn’t the most afraid you’d ever been in a situation like this. Still, the way he bent down to pick up the jug without his smile wavering, or his eye never leaving yours, greatly unnerved you.

Then, he turned away from you, approaching the well. Setting down the jug, he began to turn the crank of the well, lowering the bucket back down into the water. This wasn’t the first time a man had done this…yet from a prince?

“Come down now,” he beckoned, not looking at you. “I won’t cause any harm. You look ridiculous.”

You hadn’t any idea at the time what words he would say…but those weren’t what you expected at all. Making a sour face, you slowly trailed down the rocky hill until you were at level with him. Aemond stopped cranking, and finally looked at you.

“I know you aren’t a mute.” He taunted. “You wouldn’t sing so sweetly if you were.”

Still, you refused to speak. Instead, you folded your hands, standing tall as if you were an equal to him. This only widened the smile upon his face. He sat atop the rocks of the well, leaving a space for you.

You approached him, but did not sit. Even as his eyes trailed over your figure (and how little of your curves the dress hid), you remained stoic; at least, as best as you could. It certainly wasn’t the first time a man looked upon you with lust…but it felt stranger now.

“Don’t tell me I have to pay coin solely to have a conversation with you?” He laughed.

“No.” You finally spoke. “But you are the second Targaryen I have witnessed to take comfort in brothels whilst mourning his line in succession.”

…If you were going to die at any point in life, you at least thought you would die in a fight. This wasn’t the one you were imagining, but it would do.

He nodded, his voice returning to what you assumed to be normal; a natural edge to it that one would find difficult to discern if he was angry at them. “I assume my brother was the first to receive your comfort then?”

“He has never laid eyes on me.”

“I have heard the stories of you.” Aemond hissed. “A living siren, luring those thinking with the head between their legs, only to rob them of all they have. How is it possible he has not seen you?”

“Perhaps you underestimate the King’s intelligence.”

“You followed me.” You wanted to say, but only did so in your mind.

He sighed, standing up to be almost toe to toe with you. “If you are not a whore, then how did you come to know I have visited the Street of Silk?”

Dropping your eyes to the ground, they were soon brought back up by Aemond’s hand cupping your jaw. You did not know if it was shock or stupidity, but you weren’t the least bit afraid. He wanted answers, and he wasn’t so pigheaded to kill you before you gave them.

You backed out of his grip, sighing as if he was an inconvenience (he was, but you couldn’t tell him that). “For years I have made deals with the ladies of the night. I come to them in the evening, they tell me what men are still sick with lust, I lure those men, rob them, maim them, kill them if I have to, and share whatever I have taken.”

A smile lurked in the corner of his mouth. “You’ve killed men before?”

You crossed your arms. “Yes.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“It doesn’t matter to me what you believe.”

“Did the women tell you to lure me?”

“They did not tell me it was you.”

“But you knew I was in their attendance.”

“Are you going to fill my jug of water or not?”

Aemond turned back to the well, your empty water jug still resting on the stones. “Answer my question.” He gritted his teeth, yet still brought his hands to the crank and turned it.

You leaned against the basin, watching him and debating your words. “Have you spoken to any women outside your house?”

He snickered (to your surprise and your delight). “You’re very strange.”

“Answer my question.” You teased gently.

“Yes, I have.” The bucket resurfaced, and he took it off the hook. “If my frequent visitations to the Street of Silk haven’t made you aware, then I would say that the gods have cursed you with selective attention.”

“Then you must know that women like to talk.” You sat upon the rocks. “That it would be impossible for them to keep quiet about a silver-haired prince with one eye.”

Aemond said not a word as he poured the water into the jug. When it was filled, he set the bucket back on the hook and walked to stand in front of you. His hands resting on the stones outside of your thighs, caging you.

“Do you favor talking?”

“Only when it brings me favor.”

He brought one of his hands up to your thigh, dancing dangerously close to the inside of it. You sucked in a breath as he asked. “This is what it takes to grant you favor? Dressing yourself up like a doll, singing like a bird for men?”

“Why did you follow me?” You brought your face just a little closer for him to hear your whisper.

“I thought I already told you.” He held your face in his other hand, shutting his eye and hovering his nose above yours. “I have heard the stories; I wanted to see if you were real, and as beautiful as many have claimed.”

You brought your hand to grip onto the wood of the well, steadying yourself as you felt his breath upon your skin. “And what are your thoughts?”

He opened his eye, wearing that same smile. “You’re not…unpleasing to look at.” Pinching your cheek, he drew himself away from you to see the state you contorted your body in. He scoffed. “Seven Hells, you thought I’d push you, didn’t you?”

Relaxing, you hopped down from where you sat, cradling the heavy jug of water into your arms. “You can never be careful around men.”

He hummed. “Especially those who look like the monsters mothers tell their children hide that under their beds.”

“I would’ve thought that if I hadn’t spoken to you.” You tried to pass by him.

His hand came to rest on your bare shoulder; his fingers playing with the thin strap. “And now that you have?”

You felt bold that night (if it wasn’t obvious prior). So, holding the jug on your hip, you brought your other hand over his; softly caressing his knuckles as you smiled. “You’re funny.”

He didn’t laugh, not even smiled. Instead, for a moment, you saw his eye grow. You pulled away from him, your stomach churning at what you had just said and done. You offended him, you must have.

“Goodnight,” your curtsied. “your grace-.”

“-Aemond.”

Now it was your turn for your eyes to enlarge.

“You may call me Aemond.”

He said it as if you would surely see him again. Taking a crisp breath, you smiled shyly. “And what if I were to call you ‘Little Prince’?”

“Perhaps when I hear you sing again, I might allow it.”

“Then I bid you goodnight, Aemond.” You curtsied playfully, quickly turning on your heel to walk away from him.

You heard his footsteps behind you. “You have not told me your name.”

“Perhaps when you hear me sing again,” you repeated his words. “I shall give it to you.”

You expected him to follow you for the second time that night. To maybe pull you into a dark alleyway and make you tell him your name in the most pleasant way possible. Yet, you did not hear a retort as you walked back up the cobbled hill and turned on the first right to where your home was.

The sound of life soon flooded your ears as you walked through the main part of the city. Even with it being almost sunrise, there were still enough people out and about. It was only when you were nearing close to home, did the events of the night truly dawn on you.

You ran into the prince, and not only had you come out of it unharmed but also liked by him. It couldn’t possibly have been anything more than him wanting to wet his cock again (wet his cock with a girl his own age to put it more accurately, but you could never say that aloud). Despite how much the interaction thrilled and entertained you, you hoped to any gods above you wouldn’t see him again for that very reason.

Whilst turning another corner, a hooded man had tried to do the same, causing the two of you to collide. The jug fell out of your arms and crashed onto the road, the water spilling out.

“Cocksucker!” You cursed, falling to your knees.

You glanced up at the man who caused this, but he quickly pushed past you. For a moment, you thought you saw silver hair.

It was an open secret amongst the Smallfolk how…peculiar the Targaryens were.

Sighing heavily, you pulled yourself up along with the jug. When you began to walk though, you heard soft clinging from the jug. Stopping soon as you started, you glanced into the empty jug, and a faint shining momentarily blinded you. You reached in and pulled out five silver coins.

Stags…they were Stag coins.

You could pay half a years’ worth of food, a somewhat nicer place to live, clothes that were your own…but it wasn’t enough for passage on a ship, none the less, a new life.

Sliding the coins back into the jug, you continued on your way home as if nothing had happened. All the while, pondering if running into the little prince again would do more harm than good.

Not the day after you ran into Aemond, but the day after that, you were in the streets with the other smallfolk, weeping with his sister and his mother.

The same night you first met him was the same night Prince Jaeherys was beheaded. You hadn’t an idea how old he was until you watched his little body wheeled through King’s Landing. There had never been a procession like this, and the whole event made you feel ill.

It felt strange to call it an event; to have the same word used for festivals and celebrations describe a funeral.

As you attempted to escape the crowds that were reaching out to Queen Halaena, a daunting thought dawned on you: Was it Daemon Targaryen, the traitor to the Crown, uncle and husband to Rhaenyra, that you saw the previous night?

Swallowing down the sickness that stirred within you, you decided to cauterize your doubt with work.

“You know,” one of the brothel workers, Valda, smirked. “a certain, silver-haired dragon keeps asking about you.”

Scowling, you looked at her in the mirror while sitting at the vanity, one of the other girls doing your hair. “And what have you told him?”

“I’ve told him nothing. Chansey though-.”

“-You said you wouldn’t tattle!” Chansey, after running a comb through your hair, threw it at her.

It was dinner for most of the girls, and every one of them laughed as they ate in one of the sitting rooms.

“What did you tell him?” You interrogated.

She sighed. “When he came last night, he asked for ‘The Woman at the Well’, and if I knew your name. I said you’d have to tell him yourself, and that you left an hour before he arrived.”

“So now he knows I’m here right now.”

Valda rolled her eyes, kneeling to your height and wrapping her arms around you. “If he cared so much for you, why isn’t he here right now?”

“I don’t want to know.”

He was more than likely fucking Sylvi as you spoke.

“What did you do to the Kinslayer to make him act like this?” She jested.

There was that name people were calling him. He killed Lucerys Velaryon, son of Rhanerya and probably the reason there would be a war in the coming month. People said that the boy fell from his dragon, others said Aemond’s dragon ate him, you didn’t know at the time. All you knew was that you wanted the conversation to end.

But, Valda persisted.

“I know you’ve never lain with anyone, but I didn’t know you sucked cock like a goddess.”

“What?!” You shrieked, and the girls howled with laughter. “I did nothing of the sort!”

Chansey giggled. “Don’t tell us you let him nurse on your tits like a newborn babe.”

“…Huh?”

More giggles followed as she said. “That’s what he does to Sylvi-!”

“-Who does what to me?”

Four little words silenced the room quicker than a drawn sword would have. All eyes darted to the opened door, and Sylvi entering. She only looked at Chansey.

She swallowed thickly. “No one, Madame Sylvi.”

“I hope you aren’t shaming the activities that I or other girls have done in this house; considering you have spread your legs and filled your mouth for far longer than half of the women in this room alone.”

“I didn’t intend any harm, Madame.” She dropped her head solemnly. “Please, forgive me.”

Sylvi approached her, caressing her cheek. “All is forgiven unless I hear those ugly words from you again. That goes for the rest of you, understood?”

They nodded and mumbled their agreement. Sighing, Sylvi announced. “Take the rest of your dinner in your quarters. If any men request you, tell him to wait, you still have fifteen minutes left. I need to speak with our ‘Woman at the Well’, as the title has been given to her by the prince himself.”

The girls chuckled, offering sincere goodbyes as they passed by you before exiting. When it was only you and Sylvi, she sat down on the long couch just behind where you were sitting. She looked at you through the mirror and tilted her head. You got up and sat beside her.

“Did you get anything from last night?” She first asked.

Nodding, you took out a small pouch from your boot. “It was the man visiting from Essos.”

“The rich one or his pageboy?” She opened it, revealing two copper Star coins, and one Groat. That answered her question.

“Apparently,” you relaxed further into the couch, leaning against her. “the rich one grew a conscience and decided to go back to his wife instead of fucking Valda. Did she tell you that?”

“You know her.” She stretched her arm to hang behind you. “She doesn’t like being left dry.”

“Does anyone?” You giggled.

Sylvi lightly tugged a piece of your hair. “Don’t slouch, you’ll mess up Chansey’s hard work.”

Playfully rolling your eyes, you sat up. “It’s already dark, is there someone waiting for an innocent woman at a well?”

She shook her head. “No, not that I’ve heard of now, but tonight, perhaps. There’s so much talk of war, I’m feeling ill already thinking of it. Still, it will bring fortune for the both of us.”

“I suppose so.” You sighed, leaning forward.

Her hand came up to stroke your back, her finger trailing your spine. “Is it true you still haven’t fucked anyone?”

“Sylvi!” You laughed.

“Is it wrong I find it hard to believe?!” She shoved you playfully. “You’ve done so much good for us throughout the years; I’m confident there isn’t one handsome fella who wouldn’t want to bed you. Or one of the ladies, if you prefer.”

“I’m alright.” You had told her that a hundred times prior, and you felt as if you would tell her a hundred times more.

She sighed. “Suit yourself. Come back in an hour or two, we should have someone drunk on cunt for you to sedate.”

“Of course.”

You dusted yourself off and stood, heading to the door. Sylvi called your name, and you turned.

“I don’t want you speaking with the prince.” Her face was sullen. “You shouldn’t have to deal with his burdens.”

Nodding, you opened the door. “Tell him to leave me be if he asks again; I don’t want to deal with him either.”

You had decided on not wanting to see him again; even if he gave you a hundred Dragons (…that’s a lie, you would).

So, after wandering around King’s Landing for another hour, sticking close to the well-lit parts of the city and almost enjoying the merry crowds, you went back to the brothel, changed into your thin dress, and applied a light coat of makeup. Valda had been with a boy who turned two and twenty that night; friendless, wanted to do something extraordinary to celebrate his name day, and she had been the first person who made him cum. He didn’t even get to slip his cock in her, he was so overwhelmed.

She said he was sweet; you almost felt bad as you spotted him whilst preparing around the corner.

You began to sing the same song you sang every other night, carrying the jug on your hip. You were bolder that night knowing he was more innocent than you, so you glanced over your shoulder and beckoned him closer.

As you sat on the well, letting the bucket lower, you could feel the boy’s presence grow stronger. When you finished your song, you finally looked at him, grinning from ear to ear. Then, your eyes fell to a figure in the alleyway behind him.

“Does your mother know you’re here, boy?”

Said boy turned to look over his shoulder and was met with the face of a hooded one-eyed man, grinning like the devil. The boy’s jaw quivered and only stammers escaped. Aemond walked closer to him.

“What did you think would happen tonight?” He taunted. “You’d come up behind her and fuck her senseless?”

“N-no, I-I-!”

“-Leave us.”

The trembling boy said nothing more; only kept his head down and walked quickly away from the well. Rolling your eyes, you drew them away from the prince once it was only the two of you.

“You’re welcome.”

‘You’re welcome’ he said.

You looked back at him, your face falling into disgust. “What do I have to be thankful for?”

“I assumed you didn’t take pleasure luring little boys night after night.” He sat beside you. “Seems like a chore.”

“It’s worse.” You sighed, cranking the water bucket up. “It’s a job; something us smallfolk need.”

He snickered. “You believe I’ve never worked a day in my life.”

“For coin? Yes.”

“Is there anything else you do for work? Or are you just a siren?”

You looked at him, halting yourself. “Why did you pay me that night?”

He shrugged. “You gave me a service.”

“Someone to talk to?”

“Entertainment.”

Leaning against the wooden post of the well, you asked. “So will you pay me in gold this time? Considering you entertained yourself so much I lost a quarry?”

“We’ll see.” He stood up and placed his hand on the crank.

Humming, you stood as well, turning your whole body to him. “And no, I don’t just do this.”

“What do you do?”

“I usually tailor, sometimes look after children; many odd jobs.”

“Where do you tailor?”

You smirked. “Try asking me later.”

He took the bucket off its hook once it appeared. “I won’t, if you tell me your name.”

“How much coin do you have for that?”

“You didn’t have to pay for my name.”

“I already knew who you were.”

“Well, then you didn’t have to pay for the privilege to use it.” He poured the water into your jug.

You shrugged. “You made me lose a quarry, so…”

Aemond rolled his eye, but you could still see a smirk playing on his lips as he reached into his pocket and took out three silver coins; Moons. Your own eyes grew, and like a greedy child, you instantly stretched your hand out to grasp them. He was quicker, holding them closer to his chest.

“Ah, ah, ah, your name, and something else…”

That’s what made you lose interest. You forced yourself to stand taller, but your heart was trying to beat itself out of your chest and run away in terror.

“I’m not going to…to…”

He tilted his head, mimicking you. “To…to do what?”

“How plainly am I allowed to speak to you?”

“As if you were my own brother.”

“I’m not going to fuck you.” You forced out. “And I won’t let you do that to me either.”

Aemond chuckled, shaking his head. “Is there a difference?”

“Out of the both of us, you’re the only one who’s been in a pleasure house for its intended purpose. I thought you would know.”

“And you have thought correctly.” He pocketed the coins. “I don’t wish for that; only a walk.”

You furrowed your brow. “To where?”

“Nowhere, just around King’s Landing.”

This was stranger than the first night. The coins were meant to be found after you left, but now there he was, paying you directly for a service. He more than likely had his fill with Sylvi earlier, and after you first mentioned him to the girls, one of them let it slip that Madame Sylvi was the only woman he pleasured himself with.

So, despite how much he would deny it, Prince Aemond Targaryen was paying you to be a friend.

And damn it all, even though you had a feeling it would all end in tears, you couldn’t stop yourself from giving him your name.

#aemond targaryen #aemond x reader #hotd #hotd season 2 #aemond targaryen x reader #hotd imagine #game of thrones #aemond targaryen imagine #aemond one eye #prince aemond

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a-small-writer-in-a-big-world · 1 year ago

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Your Friendly Neighbor

Pairing: John “Soap” Mactavish x introvert!reader

Warnings: slight angst, fluff, horrible Scottish (I tried), Soap mainly goes by John

Words: 3k

Synopsis: Soap comes home from leave and realizes he has a new neighbor…

Based off this post by @fortunatelyuniquepeach check it out. basically just Soap with an introverted/shy/maybe social anxiety reader

You are currently reading part one

Soap didn’t particularly like going back home when he was on leave.

Nothing was wrong with the neighborhood he lived in, in fact, it was picture perfect compared to the shit he’s seen in the countries he’s been deployed to. The neighbors were nice to him whenever he was home, especially since it was a very small neighborhood with only a handful of people living in it, rent was affordable and the place wasn’t falling apart, and the neighborhood was quite beautiful as well as quiet.

For most people, this was their dream place of living. A good neighborhood to bring up a family and perhaps get away from the everyday stress that was life; being surrounded by kind people and the ability to walk to a few local pubs without issue, sounded like it was straight out of a fairytale. A lot of people would kill to live in a place like this.

Soap hated it.

He didn’t hate the people who lived around him, don’t mistake him, but the lack of movement and noise cut through him more than any bullet could. He was used to the chaos of a battlefield, used to the violence of war that killed men without mercy and the constant bloodshed that surrounded him.

The apple pie life just wasn’t who he was anymore.

He always told himself that he didn’t belong in the calm and quiet life of normalcy and believed that it wasn’t for him either, not after what he’s seen. He belonged on the battlefield, covered in someone else’s blood.

“John, you’ve been working out here all morning!” Ms. Brown, one of Soap’s elderly neighbors who watched his flat for him when he was gone, scolded him as she stepped out on her porch. “You just got back.”

“I’m almost done.” Soap smiled up at her as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

He was dirty from the sweat and grass covering him from having mowed her entire lawn the moment he had put his things down in his flat. He had been too worked up and wired from work still but her lawn needed to be done, so instead of taking the rest he needed, he went to work.

“I’ll get your money.” Ms. Brown said and he quickly shook his head.

“S’alright-”

Ms. Brown was gone before he could even finish his sentence and he couldn’t help but frown as he realized that he was going to be forced to accept money he didn’t want. He could never try to justify “stealing” money from an old woman even after he decided to become an impromptu landscaper.

He sighed, wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt before he pulled the lawnmower into the garage. He tried his hardest to clean himself up while sweeping the grass off the pathway, but the cut blades stuck to him like glue no matter how many times he tried to shake off his clothes or smack it off his hands.

Soap would’ve used the hose to wash himself, and nearly did, if he hadn’t been distracted by a car driving by. Normally he wouldn’t have thought anything of it but the car turned into the driveway of the flat that was right next to his, the one that hadn’t had anyone living in it the entire time he's lived in his flat.

He had a new neighbor.

He was expecting someone much older than you, since almost the entire neighborhood was made up of the elderly, but when you stepped out of the car he couldn’t help but stare at you with wide eyes.

You were young, probably the same age as him, and quite good looking, though he was just more focused on the fact that someone had moved in beside him and he didn’t even know.

You were oblivious to him as you walked to the back of your car and opened the trunk. You began to pull out groceries, stacking as many of them on your arms as you can, and dropped them on your doorstep. You were trying to make it one trip, but there were just too many and before Soap had even realized it, he was crossing the street. Before he knew it he was standing behind you.

“When’d ye move in?” He greeted you a little loudly.

You nearly dropped the groceries in your hands as you stared at him with wide eyes. You took him in, looking at the sweat and grease stains covering his clothes along with the mass amounts of grass stuck to him, including in the shaggy mohawk that sat on top of his head.

You looked uncertain and caught off guard especially as he leaned closer to you.

He couldn’t help it. He was too curious for his own good and up this close he could see how beautiful you really were. He tried not to stare, he could see you glancing away from him awkwardly as if you were trying to find a way out of the sudden conversation you were put in, but he was strangely enamored by you.

You opened your mouth a few times trying to find the right words to say as he waited patiently for you to say something.

“...Last week?” You answered in a soft tone as you stared at him.

“Oh, well I’m yer neighbor right next to ya.” He gestured to the other flat. “We share a wall, I just got back this mornin’, must’ve been after you left.”

You nodded as he continued to explain how he could’ve missed you this morning, though you weren’t catching most of it. In fact, you were having a hard time understanding what exactly he was saying and you could only catch a few words here and there, making it so you had to piece together what he was saying.

You stood there and shifted on your feet as you glanced at your flat a few times.

The more he spoke, the more confused you looked but Soap was too caught up in talking to you that he didn’t notice. What he did notice however, was that you were starting to struggle to hold the groceries in your hands so he immediately turned his attention to it.

“Need help?” He offered, gesturing to the groceries in your hands. “Here.”

Before you could really even protest, he took the groceries in your hands, and the rest in your car, and walked towards your front door without struggle. He picked up the ones that you had placed down by the door as well, not at all bothered by the weight of the straps against his skin as he waited for you to let him.

“Do ya like the neighborhood?” He wondered as you came up and unlocked the front door to your flat.

“It’s nice.” You stepped inside your apartment. “Everyone’s friendly.”

You went to take the groceries back from him but Soap instead stepped inside with a flash of a smile, leaving you staring at him completely dumbfounded. You weren’t particularly looking for a chat, especially when you were still in the moving process.

Soap glanced at all of the boxes still stacked in your flat and the disarray of items strewn across every surface. He didn’t really pay much attention to it as he wandered into the kitchen and set the groceries down on the counters, waiting for you as he took in your flat.

Standing inside your kitchen gave him a strange feeling, a better strange feeling, than his entire flat ever could. Maybe it was because he hadn’t really stepped inside his flat or maybe it was because yours looked far more lived in than his. There was personality, your personality, everywhere and he could just imagine you piddling around making a lot more noise than he ever could by himself.

You’d make lunch and maybe sit in the living room, maybe even put something on the telly while you do it, filling up the empty space with life. How often would you do laundry and does your washer squeak the same way his does when he puts a load in it?

He wasn’t sure why the thought of you doing normal things in your own flat made him feel warm on the inside but he quickly pushed it away when you stepped into the kitchen.

“I’m sorry about the mess…” You trailed off as you gestured to the many boxes stacked in the kitchen.

“Movin’s a hassle.” He dismissed you, completely unbothered and in fact feeling more happy about it than anything else.

Soap expected you to say something but you didn’t. He watched as you stood in front of him while you fidgeted with your keys between your fingers while you awkwardly avoided eye contact with him. The silence dragged on and expected you to do something about it, to start unloading your groceries to where they needed to be but you shifted on your feet as if you were debating on doing it.

He watched you for a moment, not really understanding why you were being so quiet when he finally came to his senses.

The fact that Ms. Brown had failed to mention to him this morning that you had moved in, said enough about how much you spoke to the neighbors so of course you were going to be a little awkward when he had basically barged inside you home to help you, in good faith, when you most likely had just wanted to be alone.

He couldn’t help the slight burning feeling he felt across the back of his neck before he ran a hand through his shaggy mohawk.

“I’m John, by the way.” He outstretched his hand for you to take with a warm smile. “Forgot to introduce myself when I was helping ya.”

You introduced yourself and very hesitantly took his hand to shake. He didn’t squeeze or shake very hard despite the fact that having your softer hand against his making him involuntarily smile as a shiver nearly ran up his spine.

He definitely didn’t want to scare you off now or make things worse between the two of you when you were going to be neighbors for the foreseeable future. He wasn’t too worried however, if he could make Ghost forgive him for the many times he did the same thing, then he could make it up to you.

“I got excited, ya know? Seeing that I had a new neighbor and forgot that not everyone’s as chatty as me.”

“It’s okay…thank you for helping with the groceries.”

Soap nodded and stopped himself from saying anything else so he could give you the peace you wanted. He went to make his way out of the kitchen, about to give you a goodbye, when his boot connected with a bucket full of water that sat in front of the sink.

His eyebrows knitted together when he looked down to see that there were a bunch of damp towels also sitting on the floor by the sink as well. He crouched down to see that the pipe was in fact broken with a large crack in it.

“I’ve been meaning to call somebody.” You said but Soap tutted and shook his head.

“Ah, no, let me. I’ll pop over, get my tools and fix ya up.” He turned to look at you with a grin without even thinking about it. “Free of charge.”

You chewed on your lip and looked as if you wanted to protest but you didn’t, which made him smile even more.

He rushed over to his flat in no time, unsure of why he was really this eager to help you out, and grabbed his tools. Before you knew it, he was underneath your sink fixing the pipe as if this was his job rather than the heinous shit he has done over the years.

There was a smile stuck on his face as you put your groceries away while he worked. He wasn’t sure why, even as he chatted your ear off about the neighborhood, not expecting you to reply but not wanting to end the conversation with you.

The little hums of interest and short replies from you were enough for him to keep him going. He couldn’t help but be reminded of Ghost but you were much different, a lot warmer and less rough around the edges which was more inviting than his lieutenant but not any less interesting to speak to. There was so much he wanted to know about you, so much he wanted to ask but he stopped himself because he didn’t want to overwhelm you.

“Got any friends here yet?” He wondered and peered at you from under the sink.

“I haven’t really had the time.” You looked a little unsure, maybe even embarrassed as you avoided looking at him.

“Well I’ll be around for a little while, so we’ve got plenty of time.”

You stared at him with knitted eyebrows and opened your mouth to say something as he checked to make sure the patch job held up even though he was confident it would. He ran the water in the sink and frowned when it was ice cold against his fingers, sending you a quick disapproving glance as if you had neglected to tell him about it.

“Gonna freeze yourself to death with that.” He shook his head and made his way to the water heater.

“You really don’t have to-”

“You’re off your head for thinking I’ll leave you without hot water.”

Soap was quick with fixing up your water heater and made sure to make it as hot as possible without racking up your bills. Seeing the grateful and relieved look in your eyes when tested the water made his chest warm with pride.

He would’ve stayed to chat your ear off more, he didn’t want this to be the only time he saw you or got to speak with you. He hoped that you wouldn’t close yourself off in your flat or only give him short polite answers if he ever caught you outside, he didn’t want that.

He wanted much more from you, a lot more than just being neighbors who occasionally waved at each other and that was it.

“My work here’s done.” He hid his disappointment behind a wink that made you swallow hard. “For now.”

“Thank you so much.” You gave him a small, but genuine smile that had him staring at your lips for a little longer than he should. “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothin’.”

“I can’t not pay you.”

Soap chuckled and shook his head. There was no way in hell he would ever think to take your money, no matter how pretty you looked when you gave him a pleading look as if you wanted to burn your hard earned cash on something like this. He could tell that you weren’t going to take no as an answer but he was prepared for something like that.

He hummed and asked for a piece of paper and a pen. When you gave him something, he quickly scribbled his number down on it and gave it to you, stifling a laugh when you looked up at him surprised.

“If ya really want to pay me, call me when ya need help or when ya want to chat.” He offered and you stared intensely at the piece of paper. “No sense in keeping yourself lonely ‘specially here, Ms. Brown won’t let ya.”

“Thank you, John.” You smiled again.

Soap wasn’t sure why hearing his name come out of your mouth made him feel…different. He didn’t throw his call sign around in this neighborhood, that’s what everyone here knew him as, and yet the moment the name slipped off your tongue it was like he had been pulled back into reality.

Suddenly he was all too aware of the fact that he hadn’t given himself a break since he got back. Exhaustion pulled on his muscles and on his mind, there was nothing buzzing inside of his mind that told him he had to keep working.

It made him tense up. He didn’t like that, he didn’t want to stop moving, he had to do something or else he was sure he would fall apart at the seams.

“I’ll see you around, hen.” He kept a smile on his face, hiding the knots in his stomach.

Before long he was standing in the middle of his living room, unsure of what to do.

There was too much quiet in his flat that the noise inside of his head completely took over his senses. It was consuming him every second he stared at the floor while he fidgeted with his fingers as if the stimulation would provide some sort of comfort.

It choked him, making it harder to breathe as he found himself stuck frozen in his own flat as if something had locked him there to torture him until he would eventually find himself too exhausted to even think anymore. He couldn’t even go into his room to get his journal to write down the endless thoughts running through his mind, the dark and disgusting thoughts that made him feel like a wolf among sheep.

He needed something, anything to keep him from spiraling and yet-

A crash from the other side of the wall and the sound of you cursing to yourself abruptly brought him out of his head.

He blinked a few times, the tension leaving his body as he left out a few deep breaths which filled his lungs with air that seemed to go into his veins and cleanse him of whatever dirtiness that had filled them.

You made another noise and he looked at your shared wall, imagining that you were most likely unpacking again. You must’ve dropped something and he hoped that it was nothing valuable but he couldn’t have been more grateful for the fact that you had made some kind of noise.

In fact, the more you moved around in your flat, your footsteps muffled as you walked around, the more at ease he felt because it filled up that dreaded quiet he had come to hate so much.

He’s not sure how long he stayed there just listening to you, but he was sure he looked like an idiot with the soft smile he had on his face.

Being home didn’t seem too bad anymore.

Link to part 2

A/N: Not my best work but that's okay. This might turn into a mini series? Might make it a three parter who knows. First time really writing for Soap so I'm sorry if he seems a little off character, hopefully I'll get better at him <3

Tags: @cathnoneofyourbusiness @lillianastuff @sofasoap

#john soap mactavish x reader #soap mactavish x you #soap mactavish x reader #soap x you #soap x reader #john soap mactavish #soap mactavish #soap mw2 #mw2 soap #cod soap #soap cod #john soap mctavish x you #john soap mctavish #john soap mctavish x reader

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cockslutpadalecki · 8 months ago

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Hello

Summary: You’ve given up on love. That is until a stranger walks up to you in a bar, and starts off a chain of events even you couldn’t dream up.

Characters: Steve x F!Reader.

Words: 1.2K.

Warnings: some angst, pregnancy/giving birth, mostly tooth-rotting fluff.

A/N: Formerly a Patreon exclusive. Based off of song of same name by Allie X. Definitely give it a listen. Beta: @princessmisery666 but all the general bullshit is entirely mine. While likes are gold, feedback is golden. Please support our content creators by sharing our work.

It all started with a hello.

In the corner of a bar, you hurriedly swallow down the last of your now room-temperature rosè. Your date had stood you up. Again.

Last week, you’d made arrangements to go out for sushi, and he failed to show— coming up with some lame excuse about work commitments, forcing him to remain at his office. Then he called last night out of the blue asking if you were free, that he wanted to make it up to you. You gave him the benefit of the doubt, and agreed.

But of course, two hours have gone by without a word. After the first forty five minutes, you convince yourself that he’s still just running late— hoping he’s just caught up in traffic and can’t get to his phone. But once the big hand has surpassed ninety minutes, you’re adamant he’s done it again.

What is it with you always attracting these pathetic jockstraps? They either arrive and end up being the most pretentious, sexist creeps known to man, or they just don’t bother to show up in the first place. And that isn’t even counting the string of failed relationships that follow you like a bad smell. Men who, after only a couple of months, realize that commitment isn’t for them. Or maybe you weren't.

This is your last ditch attempt to find someone, in the hopes he wouldn’t turn out to be a complete jerk. After all, he had reached out to you for a reason— maybe he felt something more, a flicker of attraction you hadn’t picked up on yet? But the longer you sit alone, the more it becomes apparent that you’re destined to sit by yourself forever.

That’s how you ended up here, hidden away in the corner of the room, nursing a large glass of alcohol— or five. You don’t pay attention to anyone coming or going after a while, too preoccupied with your own sorrow to notice him enter.

He notices you though. Shielding yourself from the crowd, melancholy fraught in your features. He wonders what your story is— how you put yourself in full view of people, but still managed to remain so closed off.

He studies you as he sits at the bar, choosing the perfect spot to watch you without looking too conspicuous. Every woman that sidles up against him, batting their long eyelashes and flashing him a little too much cleavage, he politely turns down— nothing about them intrigues him. They have everything on show, thus the mystery he seeks is already gone.

Eventually, when he thinks you are getting ready to leave, he takes a chance and approaches you.

You’re unaware of the man’s presence until he’s stepping up to the table, clutching a full measure of amber liquid. And even through the dim light, his sapphire eyes sparkle, and his wide genuine smile almost blindsides you completely.

You half-expect him to ask if someone is sitting in the empty chair opposite you— ready to watch him walk away with it to the gaggle of women eyeing him up at the next table.

Whatever you imagine he’ll say, or what his voice would sound like in the few brief seconds are nothing compared to the deep husk, or the singular word that falls from his parted lips.

“Hello.”

Smoothing out the satin skirt of your dress, you glance at yourself in the mirror— taking in the intricate way your hair has been styled, and the subtle tones of natural make-up framing your eyes.

This is it. The moment you’ve dreamt of since you were a little girl. You should feel terrified that something could still go wrong— he could still walk away, but somehow the reassurance that’s been forged into your skull over the years reminds you, in his voice, that this is forever. Fate has prepared you for this. Fate has led you to him.

You suck in a huge breath before releasing it through your pursed lips, formed into the shape of an O. You can hear your mom on the other side of the door, her voice muffled but raised slightly as she talks to somebody in the corridor.

“You can’t go in there,” the older woman chastises. You don’t hear the response, if any, but a soft knock at the door gives you a pretty good idea of what it would’ve been.

Slowly, you glide over, pulling the door towards you as your heart hammers away inside your chest. For a moment you’re fearful you might throw up on your gown, but the second you catch sight of Steve’s azure gaze, the feeling subsides as quickly as it came.

He temporarily stands awestruck, before muttering, “Hello,” with the same wide grin that had you smitten the moment he approached you in that bar.

“Hello to you too,” you reply, matching his smile with your own.

“So, I was wondering,” he starts, taking a slow step towards you and holds his arm out for you to take, “if you fancied getting married today?”

You reach forward, hooking your arm through his. “Thought you’d never ask.”

He slowly escorts you back the way he’d come, and you catch sight of your mom tearing up as she steps back to allow you to pass, giving you a proud smile.

As you reach the stairs to take you down to the ceremony, you begin to loosen your grip around Steve’s elbow, but he places his spare hand on top of yours, giving you a light chuckle. “Don’t you let me go now.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

You’re certain the sound of that first tiny cry will stay with you forever— no matter how much time passes or how your memories may dwindle. You’ll hold onto it like the world’s most precious pearl, protecting it with every fibre in your being.

Laying your head against the mountain of pillows behind you, you let your eyes flutter closed for a second, somehow oddly comforted by the muted sound of nurses out in the corridor and beyond, before a deeper, more familiar voice floats amongst them.

“Can I see them now?”

You can hear the anguish in his tone, knowing how desperate he is to make sure you’re both okay after you were whisked away to recovery.

“Yes, of course Mr. Rogers, she’s right in there,” comes a light, friendly reply.

Steve suddenly appears from behind the blacked out door, the worried look etched into his features instantly melting away as his eyes catch yours.

“Hello.”

“Hello Daddy,” you whisper, casting your gaze down at the tiny bundle laid on your chest. Steve moves to stand beside you, and rests his hand gently on your forehead, stroking your temple with the side of his thumb— just like he always does.

“She’s perfect,” he sighs happily.

You glance up, flashing Steve a soft smile, before gazing lovingly back down at the little girl— your precious Pearl— noticing she’s inherited the same beautiful, cerulean eyes from him. “Yes, she is.”

Five years ago, you never would’ve dreamt this is where you’d be.

Steve may have found you sitting alone that night, but there hasn’t been a moment since that he ever left a chair beside you empty.

It’s finally real. I found my fantasy. Remember the day when I heard you say…

***

ALL CE: @buckymydarlingangel @broadwaybabe18 @captain-asguard @dreamlessinparis @deanwinchesterswitch @fandom-princess-forevermore @hurricanerin @kellhems @ladybug05 @mugi-chwan95 @navybrat817 @otomefromtheheart @oneoftheprettynerds @patzammit @rebel-stardust @sammykb1994 @syrenavenger @saiyanprincessswanie @sunwardsss @selfsun @vicmc624 @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @wintasssoldier @xoxonotme

4EVS: @amirra88 @andreasworlsboring101 @cheesyclaire @chibijusstuff @callsignrambam @dangertoozmanykids101 @daughterofthenight117 @doozywoozy @foxyjwls007 @geekofmanyforms @heyyouwiththeassbutt @ilovefanfic86 @kind-of-crazy-butthatsokay @letsby @letsdisneythings @labella420 @mogaruke @maliburenee @notyourtypicalrose @obsessivelycapricious @patrick-hockslutter @princessmisery666 @phildunphyisadilf @sage-writing @sea040561 @sweeterthanthis @slutformarvelmen @smokeandnailz @stoneyggirl @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @thegirlnextdoorssister @wayward-dreamer @warriorqueen1991 @xoxabs88xox

#steve rogers #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fanfiction #chris evans fanfiction #marvel fanfiction

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st4rwon · 9 months ago

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enhypen followed you !

3) not you hypnotizing yourself - wc: 0.6k

synopsis - jake, being the clumsy guy he is, accidentally follows you from the official enhypen account on twitter. this leads to your life taking a full 180 and having to deal with being in the public eye.

you carefully walked up to the receptionist’s desk, your steps were shaky since you were beyond anxious.

“you must be yn, you can sit in the lobby, there will be someone to escort you shortly” said the receptionist kindly.

you took a seat in one of the chairs and looked around, damn this building was huge. as you were gazing you felt someone staring at you. as you turned around you noticed two men quickly hiding behind a pillar. you couldn’t help but be a bit weirded out, but decided it was best to just let it go.

you scrolled on your phone, trying to calm your nerves, but it didn’t work well. you were still nervous as hell. the amount of attention you had been getting online hadn’t really hit you yet, but you’ve been steering clear from looking at tweets, apart from your friends.

you were satisfied with the outcome of the meeting and truly were feeling a lot better. though you were still a bit confused as to how this all happened in the first place, as it was never explained. the team you were talking to allowed for you to just private the account and remove all your followers instead of getting rid of it completely, which had you overjoyed that your memories wouldn’t be gone.

you were about to leave the building, but suddenly you felt someone tapping your shoulder. you looked over and noticed a tall man, dressed quite fashionably. it took a second for you to register who it was, but once you looked at his face your jaw dropped. he noticed how your eyes widened and before you could speak he made a shushing gesture. he motioned you to follow him into one of the rooms, and you hesitantly did.

the second the door closed you couldn’t help but blurt out, “niki?!”

“sorry for scaring you earlier. you’re probably a bit shocked, but i just need a moment of your time.” he spoke, oddly gently.

you just nodded your head, not being able to utter another word. the next thing you know another man pokes out from behind, and you are about to lose it. it was sim fucking jake. your mouth quickly formed an o, and it took a second for you to snap out of it.

“hi…you must be yn, i hope im pronouncing I that right.” jake said, nervously.

“yeah, that’s right” you replied, blushing slightly.

“i heard you were coming here and just wanted to apologize for causing all of this. i bet this has made your daily life more complicated than it usually is, so sorry for causing the inconvenience.”

even after listening to jake’s apology, you just stood there taking it all in. your bias, the person who you admired ever so greatly, was apologizing to you?! this had to be a dream.

jake notices the way you were just staring, eyes wide and mouth still parted a bit. he smiled to himself for a second before asking, “yn…? you good?”

“oh sorry! im just still a bit surprised. its not everyday you see members of your favorite group. i admire you so much and now you’re right in front of me! sorry for rambling…”

jake smiled at the girl, she sure was cute as hell. he couldn’t help but stare into her beautiful eyes, but then riki kicked him. jake quickly shot him a stare, but realized he shouldn’t make the poor girl more uncomfortable than she already was.

“haha you’re fine! i hope you can forgive me though”

“of course! it hasn’t made my life too much more challenging than it already is” you said lying through your teeth. though things hadn’t been horrible, this new attention had definitely raised your anxiety levels to the max.

there was a bit of silence as you both just stared at each other. jake was surprised to see how pretty you were in real life, and you were amazed that jake and niki were standing right in front of you.

“ahem, hate to break this up, but we have a scheduled to get to, and im sure yn has plans as well.” riki said, bringing you both back to the moment.

“yeah, ill be on my way. i forgive you, by the way. not saying there was much to forgive in the first place, but-“

“yn, you’re fine. seriously. and thanks for accepting my apology. ill hopefully see you around, maybe at a concert or event of some sort?”

“hopefully! bye jake. bye niki.”

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please don’t spam like posts, repost, translate, or use my work without my permission. all work is fictional and only used for entertainment purposes. © st4rwon 2024

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marvelfanfn2187a113 · 1 year ago

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Just A Girl

Sam Winchester x little sister!reader, Dean Winchester x little sister!reader

Synopsis: Y/N starts getting into interests other than hunting, but what happens when her brothers find out?

Author's Note: another Supernatural fic? Yup, my hyperfixation knows no bounds. Enjoy!

You were a daddy’s girl through-and-through. No question. Without a doubt.

Not that you had much choice in the matter. Your mother had died before you had even gotten the chance to form good memories of her, and your father, John Winchester, had taken you in as soon as he heard the news. So, that’s how you had grown up, looking up to your father and two big brothers. Needless to say, there was very little feminine influence in your life.

For the first many years, you had been fine with that. Overjoyed, even. You took on the role of tomboy with great ease, and you devoted all your energy to making the men in your life proud. You studied with Sam, trained with Dean, and compiled monster-killing information with John.

But things didn’t–couldn’t–remain the same. The older you got, the harder you found it to relate to your brothers. Of course, you still enjoyed your training and the occasional hunt–they only allowed you to go on the “safest” ones–but you found yourself pulling away from your family more and more mentally, although you wouldn’t allow your inner-alienation to show to your brothers. You didn’t have to worry about hiding it from your father, since he was barely around.

When Sam left for college, things only got worse. Dean doubled-down on your training, convinced that now that Sam was gone, you needed to be able to fend for yourself. If he needed backup on a hunt, he couldn’t turn to Sam anymore. You didn’t mind the work, but the long hours of training and the few hours of anything else was beginning to wear on you, both physically and mentally. The older you got, the more you felt like you needed your own space, to explore your own interests. You couldn’t tell that to Dean, though, not after he lost Sam to his own interests.

Your hesitance about training wasn’t the only thing that was changing for you. You were also beginning to notice how emotionally distant your family was. It hadn’t affected you as much as a little girl, because when you were little, displays of affection from the men who raised you had been more common. But now that you were older, they seemed to think that you had outgrown such things. You could tell that you were being expected to “grow up”, maybe even “man up”, something you most certainly could not do.

But it was more than that. When you were little, all you ever wanted was to be like your family. You wanted to be strong like dad, protective like Dean, and smart like Sam. But you couldn’t do that anymore. You couldn’t look up to them like heroes, because you had long outgrown that notion. Of course, you still looked up to them in some aspects, but it was different now. Dad was always gone, Dean wouldn’t know how to deal with feelings if they danced around blowing trumpets in front of him, and Sam…well, Sam had left. Not that you blamed him, of course, he had his own life that he wanted to live. But it was hard to look up to something that you never saw.

All that to say, this wasn’t exactly an ideal environment for a teenage girl. You were far too reserved to take out your feelings the way the rest of the men did–bottling them up and then letting them out by screaming at each other. You had times when you wanted to, of course–you had been disagreeing with them, especially John, more and more as you got older–but you found yourself more and more afraid of conflict as you matured. Before Sam had left, he and dad had been yelling at each other almost constantly, and it was pure torture on your anxiety. You hated raised voices, you hated hurt feelings, you hated conflict of any kind really. Your brothers and father never backed down from a fight, be it physical or familial, but you couldn’t do that. You found yourself walking on eggshells, making sure not to even say–much less yell–anything that would set off an argument.

You were stuck at a sort of impasse–your desperate desire to please your family versus your personal inclinations to just be yourself.

The only solution you had was to try and live both worlds; you trained with Dean whenever duty called, but afterwards you would retreat to your room, letting him work on whatever hunt he was preoccupied with, and you explored your own world.

You got into books, some tv shows the men in your life wouldn’t be caught dead watching (and would certainly make fun of you for watching), you tried out makeup and let your hair grow longer (you had always cut it short to keep it out of the way during training or hunting). You found that the more “feminine” things that you would’ve scoffed at a few years ago were suddenly looking much more interesting. You used one of those scammed credit cards Dean gave you to buy some ballet shoes, which you hid in your duffel under all your other belongings unless Dean and dad were on a hunt, at which time you would pull them out and teach yourself using some books you’d found.

It took you a long time to get over your embarrassment at wanting to try “girly” things out, but once you did you never looked back. You still played the part that dad and Dean expected, the young tomboy following in the men’s footsteps, but when you were alone, you didn’t see any harm in trying out some hobbies that felt more like you.

Like right now, for example. Dad was missing, Sam was finally back, and he and Dean were off hunting some monster. You enjoyed your isolation by first finishing off a tv show that they would’ve hated, then by reading some more of a new book you had gotten that they would’ve scoffed at. After that, it was time to pull out the ballet shoes and practice that new move that you couldn’t quite perfect.

You were so concentrated on figuring out the move, that you hadn’t noticed that you’d been practicing for hours, or that it was getting dark outside. You were also so intent on the music that you’d downloaded to go along with your dancing, that you didn’t hear the Impala pull up to the front of the motel room. In fact, you were so engrossed, that you completed the entire move–perfect for the first time!--and you were jumping around in excitement when you finally saw them. Your brothers. Standing at the door, mouths dropped open in shock, confusion contorting their features.

You froze on the spot, unable to move. You tried to speak, but no words would make it past your dry throat. You snatched up your phone and quickly killed the music, but there was no covering up the shoes you were wearing, and certainly no erasing the boys’ memory of what they’d seen.

The three of you stood in silence for several moments, before Sam finally got the words–or perhaps the guts–to speak.

“What was that?”

You answer was immediate.

“Nothing.”

“What are those?” Dean was staring down at your pastel-pink ballet shoes, his mouth still hanging open–which would have been comical if your heart wasn’t pounding in your ears.

“Nothing, just-” your lip started to quiver, and you were so shocked and appalled by this that you bit it so hard, blood started to dribble down your chin. Winchesters did not cry. “Just forget about it.”

“Jeez, Y/N,” Sam exclaimed, snatching up a towel and wiping the blood off of your mouth. As soon as he was done, you pulled away and sat on your bed, removing your ballet shoes as quickly as possible and depositing them back in their spot–the bottom of your duffel.

There was silence again for several seconds, but this time it was Dean who broke it.

“So…we’re not gonna talk about that?”

“Talk about what?” you muttered, your eyes downcast as you shifted on your feet.

Both brothers scoffed in unison.

“C’mon Y/N,” Sam insisted, putting his giant hand on your shoulder, “why didn’t you tell us you were into ballet?”

“And pretty darn good at it too,” Dean chimed in, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

You stared at them, confused.

“You’re not…mad?”

“Mad?” Dean frowned, “I don’t know why you think we’re mad, I’m just confused. I mean you never seemed into…this kinda thing.”

“I…wasn’t,” you picked at your fingers, trying to find ways to ease the awkwardness of the conversation. “But lately…I don’t know, I just wanted to try it out.”

“Dancing?”

“Not just ballet, I guess. Just…girl stuff,” you looked up, trying to gauge your brothers’ reactions.

Sam just shrugged, “Ok.”

You were shocked.

“Ok? Just, ok?”

Dean smirked, “You may be a bit of a tomboy, but we haven’t forgotten that you’re a girl, baby.”

"Yeah, but," you sighed, "you don't think this stuff is stupid?"

"Well, you're not exactly gonna find me in those shoes," Dean shrugged, "But you do you, kid."

A relieved smile broke out on your face.

“You’re seriously ok with this?” Dean laughed, “Tell you what. I’ll be one hundred percent ok with this, on three conditions.

Both you and Sam frowned.

“What are they?” you questioned.

“Ok, one: never ask me to watch a chick flick with you.”

You giggled, relieved, “Ok.”

“Two: never play Taylor Swift in Baby. Never. I don’t care if I'm dead, that does not happen, understand?”

You giggled harder, “Ok, ok.”

Dean was frowning now, “Hey now, no giggling, I’m serious!” he snatched you up and threw you onto his bed, leaning over you and poking your sides, “This is a very serious conversation N/N, and I-” Dean dodged your desperate attempt to kick him away, smirking as you squealed under his ticklish assault. “Hey, that wasn’t nice. I can’t have this serious conversation with you giggling like that!” He poked at your ribs, laughing as you struggled.

“Wha-hat’s number three-hee?” you squealed, still trying and failing to get away from him.

“Oh yeah!” Dean suddenly pulled his hands away, once again regaining his serious composure. “I want front row tickets when you’re on Dancing with the Stars.”

You rolled your eyes and smacked his arm, “Dean, it’s just a hobby, I’m not gonna get famous for it.” “Hey now, you don’t know that, anything is possible. Now do we have a deal or not?”

You giggled, sitting up and wrapping your arms around your big brother.

“Deal.”

#dean winchester #dean winchester x you #dean winchester x female!reader #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x sister!reader #sam winchester x you #sam winchester x sister!reader #sam winchester x reader #sam winchester x y/n #dean and sam #sam winchester #supernatural #supernatural dean #supernatural sam #winchesters x reader #the winchesters #the winchester brothers

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crow-aeris · 6 months ago

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Hubris was the downfall of many men.

He remembers indulging in one of Jason’s many long-winded rants about literature, hearing his brother ramble on and on about how pride was the thing that killed John Proctor. Sure, Abigail made have been the leading cause of all those deaths, but John could have lived- could have seen his sons grow up- had he went through with the plan and lied… and yet, it was only because of a man’s pride did he leave behind his wife and sons.

And now as he lays alone and dying far, far away from family and friends… Tim couldn’t help but think hubris was what led him to… this.

His independence, once a blessing- now a curse, had him set out by himself with no foreword or warning to any hero or civilian whatsoever.

He feels… cold? Empty… Irritated. Oh what a time to be irritated, though Tim wasn’t all too sure who exactly his irritation was directed towards…

Bruce? Sure, he hadn’t been the best of fathers, but… he was all time had. Bruce hadn’t known Tim was going on this stupid trip, so he couldn’t be blamed.

Dick? Tim’s own personal hero? No, never. Dick might’ve hurt him before, but Tim couldn’t force himself to hold that grief even if he tried. Dick was spending the weekend with his friends, so Tim doubts he’ll find out about this until much later.

Jason? Despite being a grade a asshole, Jason cared. He had vehemently opposed Tim’s trip, and now he could see how it came back to bite him in the ass.

He laughs shrilly, tone nearing hysterical as Tim feels himself stop shivering… That wasn’t good, right? He read somewhere before that the moment you stop shivering, is the most dangerous.

Tim forces himself tighter into a ball, fighting to stay awake as he clung desperately onto his fleeing thoughts.

What about Stephanie? She got on his nerves occasionally, but those moments were few and far between.

Damian? Well, despite… everything, Tim has been trying to repair their relationship with what little scraps existed prior.

Cass? God, no. Tim could never be angry at her. She does her best, and honestly? Tim commends her for it.

Duke was a sweetheart. Kind, determined, and optimistic even after everything he’s gone through. he was the embodiment of sunshine through and through.

…

……

………

…………What was he thinking about?

He was… sleepy. Tired….

…Where was Bernard? Where was Kon? He was… numb. Was he supposed to feel this numb?

Taking a little nap wouldn’t hurt, right? It wouldn’t hurt at all….

“Oh, Detective, look what mess have you gotten yourself into? This is why you never should have left my side”

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bigtreefest · 6 months ago

Text

Chapter 7: Have a Cow

From: You Catch More Bees With Honey Series

Pairing: Mob! Bucky x Farmer! Reader

Summary: You and Bucky are finding your stride until a surprise shows up on the porch

Word count: 2,750

Content/warnings: Light mob themes, farming, kissing, lap sitting, fluffy fluff

Author’s Note: It’s been a minute! Hopefully this kickstarts me to get a couple more chapters out soon. Please enjoy, be sure to drop any feedback, I love hearing from you!!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

< Prev | Series Masterlist | Next >

You sighed as you walked into one of your barns tucked toward the back of the property, recently transformed into what looked almost looked like a city loft apartment to accommodate for Bucky’s workers on the farm. You were carrying produce crates and one of Bucky’s henchmen, Peter, came to take them from your hands.

Ever since Bucky’s construction crew has been working in the mines, most of the food that you would normally be selling at the farmer’s market has been going to them. That makes it easy for you, though. A few of them have even been around the fields helping out to pick it themselves, too, giving you a little more time to sort through documents, contracts, and future plans, without having to stay up late like your normally would to fit in all the work.

All the men had been a great help, and exceptionally respectful, which surprised you. Sure, you expected them to be formal and well-behaved, but their actions seemed almost rehearsed, like they had been told exactly what to do. Peter, probably the one kid who you had taken a liking to, was the only one who would really hold conversations with you, though. You assumed part of it was due to his status in Bucky’s organization. He was young, but extremely smart, earning him a spot of minor authority. Although every time he opened his mouth, you were never quite sure what would come out. It could either be something honest and profound, or a weird nervous babble. Sweet kid, though, so no harm done. He was like the best parts of Jake and Curtis at that age.

As you handed the crate over, you looked around at the high ceilings, now lined with bulb lights and the cool tones that decorated the previously wood-heavy space. “I’ve always wanted a barndiminium, just never had an excuse to make it.”

Peter added your box to the stack in what appeared to be a makeshift kitchenette. No way they had time to hook up appliances and water lines already, right? “I know our men seem pretty gruff, but if there’s one thing they like, it’s comfort and luxury where they lay their heads.”

You laughed and nodded your head. Just like their boss, although he didn’t seem to complain as much anymore, laying on sheets that were probably about as old as him.

Peter continued shifting crates around, unloading certain items likely for whatever meal they had planned next once the next round of workers got off their shift. “And of course, boss wouldn’t want anything less than the best when it comes to you. Says this’ll increase the property value. And it’s all yours to enjoy as you please when we’re gone.”

Ah, there it was. The kinda thing Bucky wouldn’t say to your face, but Peter’s lips let slip like it was nothing. Like it was obvious. You tried to change the subject, unsure if you could confront those types of feelings to Peter when you hadn’t even built up the courage to discuss them with Bucky yet. You knew Bucky cared about quality, and had a little understanding of the extent he was willing to go for you. But you didn’t even want to think about a time when Bucky could be gone.

“Don’t you need permits for this stuff?”

He winked. “I won’t tell if you won’t. Plus, I’m sure the higher ups worked their smooth talking magic and their connections. They’re amazing with things like that.”

You hummed in agreement. You had seen and heard first-hand how effortlessly Bucky could have something done for him. The world was at his fingertips. Surely that rule stood true for most people around him.

“Don’t I know, Peter. But I’m sure you’ve got your own charms. Some of your own connections that Buck doesn’t.”

He gave you a sheepish smile and shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess, sort of. But I’m not sure how much they’d really put me in charge of that stuff. Sometimes I just freeze up when I have to tell them things instead of them telling me what to do…I just get so flustered around Mr. Barnes.”

You nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. “Well, I’d say they trust you a lot for you to be in control of as much as you are right now. They definitely see through your nervousness. You’re doing a great job and I really appreciate you discretion and assistance around here.”

He gave you a soft smile. “Oh..wow, thanks.”

You nodded and turned on the newly laid floor, ready to head back to the house to continue your paperwork.

The mid-morning sun was at your back as you made your way inside towards the office. You were almost never inside at this time of day, so it was a wonderful pocket of time to be productive. You were greeted by Bucky sitting in your chair, shuffling though papers while he was on a phone call. He drew his gaze from the fan of parchment in front of him, smiling when he saw your face.

“Yeah, just keep an eye on her and increase security all around. Overlap shifts and monitor cameras 24/7. Thanks, Steve. Bye.”

You smiled as Bucky set the phone down. You had never heard him thank anyone before. As you took another step closer, though, you saw which papers he was looking through. Your own smile fell to see the contract from Cole for the hundredth time. Why was Bucky able to be so happy when this attempt at a forceful ‘offer’ was in front of him?

“C’mere, Honey.” Bucky gestured for you to come sit with him on your chair, but instead, you opted to take a seat opposite him, in front of your desk. There was work to be done and you couldn’t let yourself get distracted, even if he seemed oddly at ease.

You watched as his previously carefree gaze scrunched in on itself, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and lips in a slight pout. As you plopped down in the old cushion, you crossed your arms and legs.

“Bucket, I’m doing this for the good of both of us. Talk business with me first, then we can discuss…accessory ventures.”

You nodded in gesture to the papers, hoping he’d explain why this all needed to be looked over again. Was it not enough that it was constantly running through your mind? You had the power to just say ‘no,’ as long as Cole didn’t keep pushing or have anything over your head, but things were never that easy, so what was really going on?

“Honey, come on. We’ve got a little time to be close. This way we don’t have to flip papers back and forth to read them.” His voice had softened from his phone call, nearly reaching a whine.

“James…” oh, you weren’t messing around. You were taking this seriously. “I can read upside down. It’s fine. Just talk me through what’s going through your head.”

He sighed and his chin met his chest in defeat. “Ever since Curtis messaged me that Cole tried to get into the bar and Lloyd had been with him, I just want to be extra cautious, which is why I’m going through these. Again. I’ve already sent them to my lawyer in the city, so he’ll confirm for me.”

You nodded and stood up, finally walking over to him. “So is this what you’re really worried about? What’s not in the contracts, but real-life threats?”

You walked around your desk, hips swerving to miss the corners as you finally stood in front of Bucky. He swiveled the chair so you stood between his legs and threw his forehead against your stomach. You held him close and stroked his hair before he moved to look up at you, resting his chin on your sternum and wrapping his arms around your waist. “Yeah. I’m worried about you. And what’ll come when I have to leave. And just how involved Lloyd may be. I know I already told you about him, but I don’t think words can describe how much he truly doesn’t subscribe to caring for the well-being of others when they stand in his way. I know this is all that Cole has sent so far, but if Lloyd has anything to say about it, this won’t be the last push, but it’ll certainly be the nicest.”

You nodded down to him before gesturing for him to sit up so you could straddle his lap in the oversized leather chair. You held the sides of his face before leaning your forehead against his. You did your best to speak in a firm, yet placating tone.

“Jamie. I promise, I’m going to be fine. I was fine before you and I can take care of myself when you’re gone.”

He closed his eyes and sighed again. “I know, I know. But I just made the command to keep Peter here with you. He’s an extra precaution. You’ll barely notice him, and I’m sure having the help will be nice.”

You pulled away to smile and roll your eyes. “Bucky, he’s a kid. What’s he gonna do that I can’t? Plus, you know I like him. The last thing I would want is him putting himself in harm’s way for my sake.”

Bucky shook his head. “No, you know how capable he is. If I can see it, I know you sensed it from a mile away. He stays at least until it all blows over. Everyone is willing to do what is necessary to protect you. It’s what they signed on for.”

You knew that Bucky wasn’t going to take no for an answer, so instead, you simply kissed his temple and wrapped your arms around him, nestling against his neck. “Okay, fine. But he’s gonna become the buffest farmer you’ve ever seen when he comes back to you. I’m burning all his little suits. You’ll only ever see him in strictly flannel.”

Bucky let out a light chuckle as he rubbed your back, sitting in the chair and enjoying the moment with you before you mumbled against his neck in question.

“So you wanna tell me what Jake was really doing here? And what you did to make him into the same guy he used to be?”

Bucky hummed in thought at your question. He wasn’t quite sure if honesty was the best way to go here. Sure, you knew that everyone who knew about the mines had to come into town, but why have Jake help? And why didn’t Bucky hate him as much as you’d anticipated?

Bucky clicked his tongue before deciding on the diplomatic answer. “I just reminded him of his place and how valuable you are. Not much more than that. He’s smart if you direct the way he needs to think. I mean, he’s half the reason you’re in this mess, but he could help us get out if we do it right.”

“Yeah, okay Mr. Politician. Whatever you say. Just make sure you restock my duct tape. I’ve been running low lately and I’m not sure how that happened.” Bucky froze as you laughed at the reaction. Dang, he should’ve told the truth. You wouldn’t have asked if you didn’t already know, you were just giving him the opportunity to let you in. Noted.

The rest of the week on the farm was fairly easy as you and Bucky worked in tandem, sporadically getting updates on the mine reinforcements and spells of assistance from his men.

But otherwise, you got along well. Bucky was truly learning the farm chores and operations, catching on quicker than you had anticipated. He only ran the tractor into one ditch and his boots hadn’t gotten stuck in mud at all. Now you were helping, or at least trying to help, him reach mastery in what you thought he would’ve caught onto easily: barking orders.

The two of you were out in the pasture, as you finally taught him how to use your sheep and cattle dogs. Sure, they were practically self-sufficient, but sneaky little things sometimes with their own agendas. Bucky, in an attempt to boast about all the independent work he had done the previous week, revealed himself for the actual issues he had experienced with them, obviously not unbeknownst to you.

After a long day of running around and nearly a week since hearing anything from Cole, you and Bucky were spent, walking back up to your house to have a nice night in, just sitting on the porch and enjoying the peace. As you got closer, though, you could hardly make out a small brown blob waiting there next to one of the posts. Was it a package? You hadn’t ordered any new equipment lately….and then it moved.

You threw an arm out in front of Bucky, both of you stopping stark in your tracks.

“Wait. Hold on. You see that?”

Bucky grabbed your arm close to his chest when you stopped, leaning over it and squinting until it became clear. What was that doing on your porch?

The two of you cautiously kept walking towards it, finally deciphering what you were looking at: a brown, fluffy, baby… highland cow?

You could hear it moo more and more the closer you got, eventually seeing it tied to one of the porch posts with a rope and a ribbon around its neck: both Turner’s blue.

You walked up to the calf cautiously, holding out a hand and cooing at it to ease its evidently nervous state.

“Shhh, shhhh, hey there little thing. What are you doing up here?” Sure, you owned a plethora of livestock, but none of these. This was, for lack of a better term, a house cow. Something Decks had begged you to get for years, but you never had the need or the time for.

You pet the tuft of hair on top of its head as you squatted down, grabbing the piece of card stock attached to the ribbon before looking up over your shoulder at Bucky. You could already see the anger rising in his eyes and seeping through the rest of his demeanor, fists clenched and body rigid as he nodded for you to read.

“Peach, take a taste of what success could be. Here, have a cow. -Cole. P.S. all in good faith”

Oh, Bucky was gonna have a cow, alright. You rolled your eyes at another ridiculous note. This was very evidently not a dairy cow from his stock, so you weren’t sure why Cole was trying to pull one over on you by claiming it was. And he didn’t even leave it with any feed or water for who knows how long it had been there up until this point. The main question was: why didn’t Bucky’s men intercept? You guessed they were probably under specific instructions not to, as to keep a low profile.

When you looked back up at him, Bucky was already on the phone. Even before you had gotten to the porch, he had sent a message to Peter to check the cams and make sure no one had lingered on the property after the delivery. This new development instantly put him on high alert.

He held the phone to his ear now, though, as it rang only twice before you heard someone on the other side pick up. “Hey Barber, I know you’re busy with that other stuff I sent you, but what do you know about corporate gifting policies?”

Meanwhile, you had untied the poor baby from the post and scooped it up, carrying it inside and to the kitchen while Bucky slumped into the couch. You gave the calf—at least it was a girl capable of producing milk and not a boy-which you definitely would’ve roasted Cole for—some water before taking her over to the couch and setting her down next to Bucky. You ran your knuckles against his temple in a soothing stroke before petting through his hair and giving him a kiss on his hairline. When you pulled away, thumb moving to stroke his cheek, you mouthed ‘it’ll be okay,’ only seeing his jaw unclench slightly at the reassurance. You moved to sit on the couch on the other side of the calf and criss-crossed your legs, petting her and listening to Bucky’s lawyer walking him through corporate gifting laws, now on speaker.

Next >

Bonus A/N: highland cows are so cute. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sent a video of one getting a little spa day🥰

Series Taglist: @scuzmunkie @openup-yourmind @vicmc624 @hawkeyes-queen @blackhawkfanatic @morgthemagpie @buckybarnessimpp @calwitch

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winchesterwild78 · 5 months ago

Text

Curvy

I’ve got requests- ignore them if you want, but I had to try.

If you could I’d like (all plus sized/curvy reader):

Soldier boy- something about him being a softie but only for her. And emphasis on how he loves her being curvy

*This is for you 😁 I hope I bring your vision to life. Thank you for trusting me with a request!!*

Characters:Soldier Boy (Ben) x Plus Size Reader

Warnings: Language, SMUT, insecurities, Fluff, unprotected sex (cover it up guys)

A/N: This is my first ever request and I’m so excited to write it. I wrote it fast so please forgive any mistakes. This does not follow The Boys story line.

All work is my own, don’t take it!!

Minors DNI 18+

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

You were sitting at your desk at Vought Tower. You hadn’t been on the job long but you were excited to be there. You had a masters degree in public relations and were an absolute beast at your job. Vought fought hard for you to work for them. Working for them, with supes and the pay was great. Since you were a kid you were envious of the supes. You loathed Homelander though. He was a complete dick.

For as long as you could remember you were on the heavier side. You weren’t terribly overweight, but you had more curves and weight than the average woman. Your teenage years were filled with memories of teasing and being the target of some sick jokes.

As an adult you thought that would have changed, but you were wrong. Most men were either repulsed by you or thought you’d be an easy lay. When you wouldn’t give them what they wanted it was the same song and dance “Nobody is going to want you.” “You should be on your knees thanking me for even considering fucking you.”

The worst however came when you thought you found the one. You dated Thomas for a few years and he asked you to marry him. You were thrilled. The plans were made, the dress picked out and the day arrived. You were so happy and in love. As you’re in the bridal suite waiting for the ceremony to start your mom comes in with a look on her face.

She handed you a letter and you knew it was his handwriting. You opened the letter with shaking hands and read it.

Y/N,

I can’t marry you. I wish I could say I’m sorry but I’m not. I’ve met someone else and she’s a 10. I’m in love with her and her amazing body. Good luck in life and maybe try to lose some weight. It will help.

Thomas

Your legs gave out under you and you collapsed to the floor. Sobbing you couldn’t talk. Your mother took the note and read it. She shook her head and left the room. Leaving you on the floor in your wedding dress sobbing.

When you finally got yourself together you packed your bags and left your hometown for good. That’s how you ended up at Vought. They needed someone who essentially had no life that they could work to the bone. You figured you’d throw yourself into your work. It’s not like you had anyone or anything at home to go to.

There was a buzz around the office about some long lost supe coming back after years of being gone. You tried to focus on your latest project but the buzz kept ringing. You left your desk to go grab a coffee, your 4th for the morning. When you turned the corner and ran right smack into what felt like a wall.

Only it wasn’t a wall it was the most gorgeous man you’d ever seen. That’s when you realized it was Soldier Boy. He grabbed your arms to help steady you and oh lord did his grip turn you on. “Hey, be careful Doll face” his smooth voice said. “Oh I’m so sorry I wasn’t paying attention.” You stumbled through your words. He smirked “no problem. Where are you headed in such a hurry? Getting coffee for the boss man.” Oh that pissed you off. “Excuse me?! It’s not the 1930s anymore. Women contribute more to society than coffee and babies. Now excuse me.” You seethed as you pushed past him.

Your heart rate was up so high you could hear it pounding in your ears.

Ben stood there smirking. Admiring your feisty nature and your beautiful curvy body as you walked away. He’d always had a thing for curvy women. He knew they could handle more and he didn’t have to worry too much about breaking them. He ran his gloved hand through his hair and kept walking.

You returned to your desk and got back to work. However, you were more distracted by the encounter with him than you cared to admit. You found yourself fantasizing about his strong arms around you and touching your body. The way his soft lips would feel on your skin. Damn. You shook your head trying to rid it of the thoughts plaguing your brain.

It was late night when you finally called it a day. This was your life though. Work all day long and go home to an empty apartment. You grabbed your things and headed down to the parking garage. When you stepped off the elevator you felt a little uneasy. Like someone was watching you. You had almost made it to your car when you realized you were right. Standing leaning against your car was Soldier Boy. His arms folded over his chest and his legs crossed at his ankles. He was the picture of perfection.

“Hey doll face.” He smirked. “Soldier boy” you nodded as you fumbled for your keys. He was right up next to you and whispered “Ben, call me Ben.” Your heart raced and heat filled your cheeks. “Ben, what can I do for you” you asked. He got a wide smile on his face “there’s a lot you can do for me, but for now let me take you to dinner to apologize for being a dick.”

“What makes you think I want to go to dinner with you, Ben” you seethed. “Well your heart rate for one, and I can smell your arousal.” Ben smirked. You rolled your eyes. Deep down you knew he was right. Your body responded to his in ways it never had before, even with Thomas. You couldn’t control it.

“Ben, you don’t have to apologize. It’s not your fault you were born when you were. Things have changed and you need to adjust to it. I appreciate your apology but you really don’t want to be seen in public with all this” you waved your hands over your body.

Then you saw Ben’s eyes soften. “Oh sweetheart you have no idea what you’re doing to me and how your body is making me feel.” He whispered in your ear. Your breath hitched. You swallowed hard and before you could process what you were saying it came out in a seductive tone “Then show me.”

Ben took your head in his hands and kissed you. Leaning you up against your car you could feel his arousal through his suit. Damn he felt big and really hard. Your mind was racing and your lungs screamed for air. You didn’t care. You’d die right here to keep this kiss going.

You two finally parted and you were breathing hard. His lips were soft but strong and his hands were so firm. You wanted more. Ben smiled at you softly. You were so confused by the softness you saw in him. You had read his file and knew what he was capable of. Being soft was not in the realm of his ability. He was a badass supe, probably the strongest one and he was a bit of an asshole. This man in front of you was anything but an asshole.

“Y/N, let’s go grab something to eat and talk” Ben said taking your arm. “Okay, Ben. I’m driving myself though.” You said firmly. He threw his hands up in surrender and agreed. He chuckled and told you he’d meet you there. You got in your car, took a deep breath and drove to the restaurant.

When you arrived at the restaurant you got out of your car and looked for Ben. You didn’t see him at first and when you finally found him your breath caught in your throat. Ben had changed out of his suit and into a nice shirt and pair of slacks. You’d never seen a supe dress like a “regular” person. He looked even more handsome than he had before.

Ben walked up to you and took your hand in his. “Ready darling” he asked. You nodded yes and smiled. You felt the heat raise in your cheeks and they turned red. When the two of you were seated Ben ordered a whiskey right away, you ordered a water. He chuckled.

The waitress came over and she was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, thin, long legs. She had long blonde hair and was very busty. You couldn’t help but be envious of her and her beauty. You knew Ben was going to flirt. You braced yourself for it.

When she realized who he was she flirted. “Oh my goodness it’s you, Soldier Boy. Oh wow I’m a huge fan. What can I get for you.” She gushed. He pointed to you “she’ll go first” he said it looking at her. She turned to you and her eyes went wide. You’d seen this look before. It’s the “what is she doing with a guy like this” look.

You plastered on a smile and began to order. “I’ll take the steak medium, loaded baked potato and side salad with ranch dressing please.” She scoffed and wrote down your order. She turned to Ben “what can I get for you. I’ll give you anything you want Soldier Boy.” He didn’t bat an eye. You were shocked. This gorgeous woman was practically throwing herself at him and he seems uninterested. “I’ll take the same as her.” He replied without looking up.

You sat in awe and silent. When she walked away you expected him to watch her but his piercing green eyes settled on you. You blushed a little. He grabbed your hand “Fuck you’re absolute perfection. You get me so hard.” You smirked. “What about her, Ben. I bet you she’s in the back trying to figure out how to get you to fuck her in the bathroom right now.” “Sweetheart I don’t want her. I want YOU!” His tone sent a chill down your spine.

“Me? Why would you want me when you could have women like her? She’s beautiful and skinny. I love food and I’m curvy.” You hung your head. Ben stood and lifted your chin. “You’re fucking perfect. From these lips (he kissed them), this neck (kissed again), these hands (kissed again), these gorgeous breasts, to every single curve. I’ll spend all night getting to know every single detail of your beautiful body if you let me.”

Your head was spinning. You never have sex on the first date. Wait is that what this is? Are you on a date with him? “Ben, people are staring” you whispered. “Let them” he said as he kissed you. Your legs felt like jelly. He was doing something to your body and you were okay with it.

When the food came out Ben asked for it to be boxed up. “We’re going home for dessert first” he wiggled his eyebrows. You blushed and giggled. The waitress was in shock. “You’d give up this to be with that” she hissed as she pointed to you. “I’d give up being a supe to be with her darlin” he said.

You saw the softness in his eyes and you knew he meant it. Your heart beat wildly and you pulled him in for a kiss. “Let’s go to my place, Ben” you said seductively.

By the time the two of you got inside your apartment clothes were all ready coming off. Ben lifted you up and you squealed. You’d never been picked up and manhandled before and it turned you on. He tossed you on the bed and you yelped and giggled. He pulled your pants and panties off leaving you naked in front of him. You tried to grab the sheet to cover up but he stopped you. “No, let me see how beautiful you are.” He said as he looked you over.

Your cheeks turned red and you had to fight hard not to cover yourself up. No man has ever wanted to see your body and here this god of a man was and he wanted to actually see it. He removed the rest of his clothes and his long, thick cock sprang free. You bit your lip and he growled.

Ben dropped to his knees and slung your legs over his shoulders and started to eat your pussy like a man starved. Your hands went in his hair and you pulled him closer. You felt him smirk and he moved faster. You were close to your release really quickly. You’d never felt like that or gotten to your release so quickly. He definitely knew what he was doing.

“Ben I’m going to cum. Oh god!” He leaned up and said “you can call me Ben”. You came hard and he lapped up your juices. As he stood you saw your arousal on his beard. He leaned forward and kissed your lips. You could feel his hardness on your leg. “Ready sweetheart” he asked. You nodded “yes I am. Please Ben I need you” you said.

He pumped himself a few times and lined himself up. Ben pushed himself in slowly and as he entered you he stretched you. “Relax baby. I’ll be gentle” he said. You relaxed and it felt amazing.

You wrapped your legs around his hips and pulled him. He grinned and pushed himself in the rest of the way. You both moaned and grunted as he bottomed out. He set a good pace. Not too fast and not too slow. Each thrust was amazing. You felt your bodies connecting in ways you never imagined.

“Ben please. I’m not going to break. Please fuck me” you begged. Ben growled and flipped you over on your knees. He pushed back in and began thrusting hard. The sounds of grunts, moans, and flesh hitting flesh filled the room. Ben grabbed your hair and pulled your body up and back flush to his. His lips on your neck. He smacked your ass and you yelled in pleasure.

“Fuck you feel so good. I don’t want to cum like this. Get on me baby girl. Ride me.” He groaned in your ear. He released you and laid down. You climbed on top of him and put one leg on either side of his body. You used one hand to steady you and the other to guide him in. As soon as he was in you slid down and he thrusted up. Ben thrusted up as you bounced up and down on him. He kept looking at your body and his hands roamed over every inch. He grabbed your breasts and leaned up sucking on them.

You felt yourself getting close to a second release. “Ben I’m close again” you breathed out. “Me too. I want to cum inside you. Fuck a baby into this perfect body. Make you mine” he said. “Yes Ben. Fuck a baby into me. Please” you begged. As you started to cum your walls clenched around his cock causing him to cum too. He grunted and thrusted deep inside you. Coating your walls with his hot seed.

When he was ready you climbed off and laid beside him. He kissed your forehead and moved a piece of hair out of your face. Ben got up and went into your bathroom. He cleaned himself up and came back with a warm washcloth. He parted your legs and carefully cleaned you up.

As he walked away to put the washcloth in the bathroom your heart twinged. You’d never had anyone take care of you like that. He was amazing.

Ben climbed back in the bed with you and held you in his arms. He drew delicate patterns on your arm as he held you. “You okay sweetheart. I didn’t hurt you did I” he asked softly. “No Ben. You didn’t hurt me. I’m perfect.” You leaned up and kissed him.

“I meant what I said. I do want to put a baby inside you. If you want me to.” Ben was so sincere. “I’d like that Ben. Very much” you whispered.

From that day forward you and Ben were inseparable. You never thought you’d ever find anyone who loved all of you. Especially your body. Ben worshipped your body. Any chance he got his hands were on you. He could be a jackass and a big scary supe, but not with you. To the world he was Soldier Boy, but to you he was your Ben. Soft, kind, and loving. He was your home and you were his. Curves and all.

Tags: @nescaveckdaily @kr804573 @k-slla @jackles010378 @jawritter @xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx @roseblue373 @cheynovak @jassackles @chriszgirl92 @suckitands33 @arcannaa @n-o-p-e-never @ladysparkles78 @smoothdogsgirl @hobby27 @manicjk

#hes gorgeous #jensen ackles #so damn sexy #jensen ackles x plus size reader #soldier boy #soldier boy x plus size reader #jackles

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alwaysonf1 · 1 year ago

Text

beauty and brains?

Pairing: Charles LeClerc x Hamilton!OC

Genre: Slice of Life; Fluff

Word Count: 3.6k

Warning: Mild Language.

Rating: PG-13

Author's Note: N/A

Though the game the night before had them arriving at their hotels late production had them up at what felt like the ass crack of dawn.

Charles fought for his life to wake up and was happy he’d thought through pre-ordering room service because it arrived not long after his shower. He ate his food in silence, sleep still clinging to him and the coffee they sent not doing much to help bring him back to life. A late night didn’t usually do this to him, but he thought maybe despite his early arrival to Louisiana the jet lag may still have gotten to him.

He tosses the covering for his breakfast back onto the plate and sits back on the couch. His phone vibrates and though he’s half asleep and wanting to stay that way he picks it up, barely noticing it’s a call before he puts the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” he asks, voice cracking.

“Hello?” Daniel mimics. “Open your door.”

If Charles had it in him, he’d roll his eyes, but he hangs up and pulls himself off the couch with a groan. He undoes the locks and the door swings open, nearly knocking him over as the three men walk into his room like it’s their own space.

Daniel takes his spot on the couch while Carlos and Alex take the other two. Charles gives them all a look, but besides Alex, who looks sheepish, they look as if they’ve done nothing wrong at all. It’s a losing battle, so he sighs and plops down into the love seat perpendicular to the couch.

“What are you doing here?” he asks.

Carlos shrugs. “We were up and restless, thought we’d come here and wake you up if you weren’t.”

“Well, I’m awake.”

“And we’re bored,” Alex says.

A second eye roll in what has been less than two minutes. He enjoys spending time with these guys, more so with how much closer they’ve become due to filming. But they were also annoying in the way friends could be.

“You cannot entertain yourselves?”

“We can, but we were talking, and we know you’re still as mind blown by this as the rest of us. Who knew Lewis had a secret sibling,” Daniel says.

Carlos nods. “And that she’s American.”

All of them nod in agreement, because even if that isn’t at the forefront of Charles’ mind it is something that they couldn’t have seen coming. They got to speak to her a little after the game before she was whisked off elsewhere and her accent threw him off. It wasn’t the one you default to for Americans, but it was clear that it belonged to some section of this country. Her mother’s was the same, which is why it was a little silly that they weren’t prepared to hear it come out of her.

To be fair to them there was a lot to keep up with this.

“Yeah, that shouldn’t have been a shock. But hey, there was a lot going on. That dancing though, it’s like things I’ve seen before, but not. Ya know? I asked Lewis and he said they’re called majorettes. I looked it up last night and it’s almost always this good. Especially since little Hamilton became captain, people sing her praises. There’s one that has millions of views on twitter alone. I’ll send it later.”

The others speak amongst themselves, and Charles feels his mind wander off. He thinks about how confusing and brilliant last night was. Every part of it. He’d never watched American football on a college level, and it was as entertaining as at a professional level. Then the band was in peak form. It got his brain working on music again in a way it hadn’t in a while. And of course, the dancing. If that was what the majorettes had to offer, then he was eager to see what else they had going on.

“I’m a little surprised that’s how they decided to let us meet her. Lewis seems to be the protective type and that could have gone either way,” Carlos says.

“He trusts us not to be weirdos, even if he didn’t, we wouldn’t have been stupid enough to say anything on camera for everyone to see. You know F1 will put out anything, even if they have to apologize for it later,” Charles says.

Daniel snatches a bottle of water from the table and nods. “Plus, I’ve seen that man win multiple championships and I have never seen him prouder and happier than that. He clearly supports her and would want to showcase her talent.”

“True, but I wonder what that means for today. I’m guessing it’ll be something school related. If they have me do school work under pressure,” Alex says.

“Like Carlos when he forgot that he should be able to drive an F2 car.”

“Hey!”

They all descend into laughter, while Carlos glares at them, arms crossed, and eyes clearly showing he’s not here. Probably imagining how he panicked himself so much it was like someone asked him to drive Nascar.

A knock on the door puts a stop to the laughter and without a word they all gather their stuff and head toward it. Their main producer, Anne, is there and she looks worried. Then she notices the number of people and Charles watches her relax.

“Time to load into the van, everyone.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Daniel says.

They head out of the room, and with the weird speed of the elevator, are in the lobby in less than a minute. Lewis and Lance are huddled together laughing and some of the production crew linger around talking in groups. When everyone sees them, they head out to the vans awaiting them.

When they get in Daniel and Lewis take the first row of seats while Alex takes the front and the other three in the back. The moment the seat belts click the cars are moving and Charles watches Daniel lean over to Lewis with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Any clues?”

Lewis looks contemplative and then he laughs.

“Hm… prepare to feel dumb.”

Daniel laughs. “So regular day at work?”

“You have no idea.”

From there it’s silence, but the kind where you can tell everyone is still a little tired. All their starter energy exerted, so now they need a moment.

It’s being tired and wanting to prepare himself for Charles. He went in yesterday with so little and he knows it showed, but he wants it to be a little different this time. There can be shock, but he doesn’t want to seem like anything they do and what she’s there to show them is something he didn’t expect of her. He’d hate to seem like he has any preconceived ideas of who she is. People who don’t like him would latch onto that and misinterpret, and there’s a possibility Lewis might too, but mostly he doesn’t want to offend.

After twenty minutes of mindless scrolling, they pull up to a building. From their surroundings it’s clear that this isn’t where they should park, but it’s clearly been made so that if one needs to it can.

Everyone piles out of the vehicle. And despite being the one who should get up first of the three, his friends are children who push him down and get out before him. Charles is on his third eye roll of the morning and the last to get out. And just as he does Iman emerges from the building and stands at the top of the steps with a smile. Today she’s in utility pants and a shirt that has a familiar emblem on it.

“You're late,” she shouts.

“You told me eight, it's seven forty-five,” Lewis yells back.

“True, but I’ve had a man in here squealing about meeting a seven time champion and multiple F1 drivers. Have mercy on a girl who was forced to take an eight a.m. in her last semester will you?”

Everyone laughs at that, and they walk up the stairs toward her. She waits and then turns toward the building, but she pauses and turns around to face them.

“Where are my manners?” she asks, then points at Lewis, “And yours.”

“What did I do?”

She rolls her eyes and turns toward the other five drivers with a smile that makes Charles give her one of his.

“I know all of you know my name and I yours, plus we kind of met last night, but let me properly introduce myself. I’m Iman Hamilton, little sister of this dweeb, captain of the SU Dancing Dolls, and a college student on her last semester close to losing her mind.”

She steps toward Carlos, hand out, and she shakes his. He gives a small greeting, and she goes down the line to each of them doing that. As Charles takes her hand, he notes her hands are soft, but the shake is firm.

“I’m Charles, it’s wonderful to meet you.”

“You as well.”

She also greets all the staff individually and then retakes her position in front of the door.

“Are y’all prepared for the horrors and wonders of an eight a.m. hands on class?” Her voice is fake cheery, and it makes Charles and Daniel laugh.

“Speaking of what would this class be?”

Iman throws her head back and laughs, then glances toward Lewis. “He is smooth.”

“Don’t let him get you.”

“Ooh, they talked about me,” Daniel jokes.

That sends laughter through everyone, and it lifts a weight that Charles didn’t realize was there. He was a little nervous, but he couldn’t understand why. But at least he could feel with the shift in everyone that it was a mutual feeling.

Without another word Iman turns and pulls the door open. Charles ensures he’s in after Lewis and catches a glimpse of someone rocketing back into a classroom. It must be the man that Iman was talking about. The excitement is flattering.

As they walk down everyone, especially the cameras, take in the space. There are pictures and many didn’t contraptions lining the walls. Probably as a representation of what goes on in this building. There was a sign on top of it, but it was too high to see where they parked. So, Charles looks up at the wall at the end of the hall and there he sees: School of Mechanical Engineering.

His eyes go wide unintentionally, but he reins it in and nudges Carlos. It takes a moment before the Spaniard sees what he does, and his reaction is very much the same. The others have already seen the sign and they look from the sign to the woman leading them and back.

The smile that forms on Charles’ face reflects the pride he feels. Of course, he knows what it’s like to be happy and proud of his siblings' success in their fields, but in that moment, he understands why Lewis feels it. He understood last night, but when his mechanics and friends spoke about how engineering as a degree takes a lot out of you, he was sure. They spoke of sometimes struggling with it and normal life, so he couldn’t imagine an extracurricular that was probably as consuming.

The feeling dumb was definitely already starting.

When they reach the door to her class it’s wide open and in the center of the only space without tables stands a man old enough to be a teacher and students in similar clothing to Iman. Most seem giddy, some seem mildly interested, and there are one or two that look like they don’t care at all. Good for the ego.

Iman leads them to the center, standing directly across from her class and the drivers so she’s facing neither. Her hands go wide, gesturing to either group.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet drivers currently a part of the F1 grid. F1 drivers, welcome to Advanced Internal Combustion Engines. We’ll be here for three hours, so I’ll leave the more personal introductions to you.”

She pauses and there’s a chorus of greetings that come from both sides. Charles watches as her lips part to presumably say something else, but then the man who is obviously the instructor takes center stage with a giddy smile. It’s a little amusing, but mostly nice to see him so excited about this. Worry about how roping siblings in this would disrupt their lives, even for a short time, has been a thing since the beginning. Especially when they may not have people to work for or with that would love this kind of thing.

“It’s nice to meet all of you. My name is Dr. Malcolm Johsnon. I’m a big enjoyer of F1 and racing in general, just as many of the students in this class are. My industry background is predominantly in IndyCar, which is why this class focuses a lot on the types of engines used in those kinds of race vehicles. Today as much as you’ll be getting a peak at Iman’s life, you’ll see what the students learn here and a glimpse at the parts that make your cars go. I’m open to any questions you might have at any time.

Alex raises his hand. “Oh, if you worked or work for IndyCar, how did you end up teaching? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t mind at all.” He hitches a thumb in Iman’s direction, “Her mother can be very persuasive. She’d also taken a stint teaching as a break from working with IndyCar teams, so she had much to rave about. Plus, she wanted me here to make sure they taught her child right.”

That earns a few laughs, but Charles sees the odd look from a few students who are displeased but already knew this knowledge. Though it doesn’t feel like they’re displeased with their instructor, just Iman. An expected response to someone who uses the connections she has or in this case the connection just stepped in for her.

Which makes Charles pause. Wait, did he say Sherri?

“Your mother works in IndyCar?” he asks, his eyes on Iman.

“Has since before I was born. Racing is a family affair. Though more of us are on the engineering side than in the driver seat.”

When she says it, a fist extends out toward her from the corner of Charles’ eye and she bumps her fist against Lewis, smiling wide and winking at her older brother.

“But enough of that, though we’ve all agreed to this we still have a project to work on. And surprisingly multiple three hour classes aren’t enough time.”

There are several mutters in agreement and with that students disperse to the tables scattered throughout the massive room. Iman goes to one in the back with three other people. They get to work without a word and production and Dr. Johnson step closer to the drivers, forming a circle.

“Our focus is Iman and her life and what she does, but we don’t want all of you to just crowd her. As much as we want shots of what she’s doing and your interaction, we want this to be a learning experience just like the other times were. Engage with the other students without crossing any boundaries and maybe even see if any of that knowledge you get from your own mechanics is familiar here, okay? We’ll move you guys if we feel you linger here or there too long, but just go where you feel pulled. Also, there are some students who have little flags attached to their tables to signal they are most comfortable with questions, so look out for those but don’t shy away too much from the others. Got it?” Anne asks.

Everyone nods. She then gestures for Dr. Johnson to take the floor.

“And things get a little hectic, so over there is some PPE for y’all to use. I want this to be safe for them and for you. Cool?”

“Yes, sir,” Lewis says, and identical sentiments follow.

“Then let’s get started!”

Lewis is the first to break off and head toward the table. He grabs the goggles, a dingy rag, some sort of apron, and a pair of gloves and then makes a beeline for Iman’s table. Lance follows suit and that makes the first decision for everyone else. Charles sticks with Carlos as they grab their PPE and then head toward the closest table. There is a flag over it, but neither of the men say anything. They watch as one of the students takes apart their engine. It looks around the size of the ones inside of their cars, but something is different about it. Something off.

“Wait, did you grab the wrong piece?” A man, whose shirt has the name Stephen on it, asks.

Everyone pauses and looks to him and then to the engine.

“Uh, I don’t think s… Oh for fuck’s sake,” says the woman, Jennifer.

The curse is said so softly that almost all of them have to stop themselves from laughing, Charles has to cover his mouth and Carlos turns away, but you can see his body vibrating with silent laughter. Jennifer catches all of them and glares before walking off toward what looks like a storage space at the back of the room.

When shes out of sight they all laugh out loud. It takes a minute to pull it together, but they manage it.

Stephen turns to Charles. “You noticed it too? I saw you looking at it weird.”

This isn’t really his wheelhouse, so Charles feels himself get a little unsure of how to answer, but he reminds himself that these are students, and they expect some sort of failure when learning so even if he sounded silly it wasn’t like they’d look at him too harshly. At least he hopes.

“Um, yes. It looks like the one we use, I’ve seen it a few times and though it may not be the same, something about it didn’t seem right. Though I’m not fully sure what.”

Stephen nods.

“It’s definitely something that would stand out if you’ve seen them enough. It’s why she’s mad, she’ll usually catch it when we do it. But if ya want we can walk y’all through it. This is just us kind of playing around with ideas at this point, so we have the time.”

Charles finds himself excited again and he takes a few steps closer to the table.

“We’d love that. It’ll impress and confuse our mechanics if we come back knowing more than we did before,” Carlos says.

All the others introduce themselves and when Jennifer returns, they dive deep into what they’re trying to do. Though they only planned to half take it apart they disassemble it completely and get Carlos and Charles in on putting it back together. How they explain it is half dumbed down and half with the understanding that the pilots would have some knowledge of what they’re doing. Though everyone else has rotated, an hour passes before a producer pulls them away from the table. It’s with a little grumbling from both of them, but they get why.

The rest of their adventure is much the same, though for shorter bursts. Even the tables without the flags are more than open to answering questions they may have and as time goes by Charles realizes that with each table, he’s able to understand what the hell they’re talking about. And it makes him think back to all the times he’s been confused listening to his mechanics about a million things. It’s all clicking for him.

“Hey Sharl!”

The voice startles him, and he turns toward it to see Lewis back at his sister’s table. The man is waving him over so Charles excuses himself and walks over. Daniel is making the table he’s at laugh at something and it’s probably some off the wall joke that sometimes has Charles looking at him like he’s lost it.

“Hi,” he says once he reaches the table.

“Hey. Saw you haven’t been here yet,” Lewis says.

“It was the next stop.”

“Mhm.” When Lewis says that there’s a look in his eyes that Charles can’t quite decipher so he doesn’t try to. He’s used to him keeping things a little close to the chest.

“Are you harassing that poor man, Lew?” Iman asks, without looking up.

“I’m not doing anything?”

“Mhm, sure you’re not.”

“I’m not! Tell her I’m not harassing you, Sharl.”

Charles finds himself laughing at the two. It’s like something he and his brother’s would do. High pitched voice while defending themselves and all.

“He’s not harassing me. I promise,” he says.

Iman finally looks up, a mischievous grin playing on her lips.

“You sure you’re not just taking up for him, Charles? He’s not that big and bad, I promise.”

“I’m sure.”

“Let me know if he does, I’ll deal with him.”

She winks at Charles and then gets back to her work, explaining why she felt the need to lubricate a piece more than is usually called for. Her partners look unsure, but they go with it. As she does it, she explains out loud what it should do to the two pilots and Charles is having a hard time splitting between Lewis’ pouting - which is losing steam by the second - what she’s explaining and watching her. She’s so focused and even when the piece gives her problems she keeps going, barely getting frustrated.

And when she works, her smile is genuine and bright.

#charles leclerc x black reader #charles leclerc x reader #f1 x reader #f1 x black!reader #formula one x black reader #formula one x reader #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 x black!reader #formula 1 fanfiction #formula 1 fanfic #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc fan fiction #f1 fanfic #f1 fan fiction #f1 imagine #formula one x oc #formula 1 x oc #charles leclerc x oc

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ltghosty · 1 year ago

Text

If only you would have trusted me (Simon "Ghost" Riley ﾒ Female "Cobra" Sergeant)

A/N: MW 3 broke me, don't talk to me

Summary: Makarov blackmailed you into joining his army and Task Force 141 thinks you betrayed them without hesitation. Once Ghost and Soap find Milena and you, Ghost finally confronts you about letting him down.

Warnings: curse, angst, guilt, fight, betrayal,

Wordcount: 4.7k

”I thought I was someone whom you could trust because you can be sure as hell that I still trust you with my life. Whether you like it or not."

You knew this moment was coming once Laswell had let you know that Makarov escaped the gulag and was on the move.

You didn’t want it to happen but your job wasn’t famous for making guarantees. Especially with crazy terrorists who wouldn’t stop until the world fell to its knees in front of them.

And Makarov was just like that.

Ruthless, smart, cruel and unpredictable.

While running from location to location, you started to feel getting lost. There were too many dead ends while Makarov was playing with Task Force 141 as he’d wished.

Ghost noticed how much you’d changed since Makarov broke out and wasted no time in getting his hands dirty.

You’d heard stories of him before Price and Soap managed to capture him once 4 years ago which ended in agony and cost a lot of innocent lives. You’d dealt with all kinds of criminals who wanted to build their throne out of corpses but Makarov was by far the worst and most dangerous one.

With each mission you’d went to with the others, the less your voice could be heard. You were silent and kept checking every corner while wondering how could you finally make a step forward.

There were times when you were seated with Ghost and his favorite sniper to watch the others’ back, and while laying on the ground for hours, the lieutenant tried to get you to talk but you weren’t too bulged.

You hadn’t noticed because you were too focused on your task but Ghost always kept an eye on you when you were in his sight. He’d seen this kind of dedication before, so he understood where your change of heart had come from but he didn’t want you to completely forget who you truly were before.

He’d hated to admit but he would have done anything to bring you back to the surface. It’s been too long since he had heard your laugh or seen your beautiful smile. Hell, he even started to miss those moments when you’d happily join Soap and push his buttons while making fun of Brits.

Ghost couldn’t stand your silence, he liked listening to your voice even while you were only making small chats with him through the coms.

What Ghost had never expected – or anyone else for that matter – was you suddenly disappearing without a word and hearing from a source that you’ve been seen on Makarov’s side.

At first, he was confused and kept denying it but when Price told him that it wasn’t some sort of plan for you to get involved with the Russians, Ghost felt like someone punched him in the chest.

You’d left willingly without a word, and the next thing he knew, you were working under the hands of the enemy.

He was overwhelmed with your betrayal, he was sad, furious, and desperate to find an explanation for your treachery.

What Ghost and the others didn’t know was that Makarov had his eye on you since he escaped from the gulag. Firmly, because you knew Milena from before, and she knew that you were an unstoppable sergeant.

Makarov wanted to break Task Force 141 from the inside before he would grab a gun to put a bullet into everyone’s head, so he ordered his men to do their research on you.

It didn’t take them too long to find your family, even though you tried your best over the years to make it seem like you didn’t have them. You’d never once talked to anyone about your sister and mother who always waited for you to go home, who were always worried about you whenever you departed and had been gone for months while fighting terrorists.

For the first time in your life you didn’t know what to do, you wanted to tell Price and the others that Makarov had captured your family and gave you no choice but the Russian’s intentions were crystal clear. If you’d told anyone about this, he’d kill your family and would blame it all on Task Force 141.

You even thought about telling Ghost that Makarov had found you and backed you in the corner but you knew if the lieutenant would have found out about any of this, he’d never let you go.

Ever since you joined Makarov, the guilt has been eating you from inside, especially whenever your friends’ name was thrown around as Makarov was planning his next move.

Makarov has been calling you ’Rynda’ ever since you gave yourself up to him which you absolutely despised. Since you were his only living connection to Task Force 141, he’d given you the task of always letting him know what the special forces’s next move might be.

”Like the bell ringing when danger is around the corner,” Makarov had said back then with a wicked smile on his lips. ”I don’t want you to disappoint me, Rynda.”

”I won’t.”

Your words might have caused satisfaction in the man but your tongue was burning with the forced promise you’d had to make to him. Your skin was crawling each time he touched you and his voice crept through your ears like venom.

You hated being Milena’s present. Makarov didn’t want any women on the battlefield but he admired your strength and skills, so he ordered you to always stick to Milena and watch her back. Without his financial support, he would have had some problems getting into this whole capture-or-kill scenario.

Milena always made a sound of her whines about how she hated that you were practically babysitting her. Don’t worry, I hate it too, you’d thought.

Whenever you were alone you missed the guys, missed Price being a father figure to you, missed Gaz making fun of your looks after a horribly executed plan, missed Soap teaching you Scottish, and missed Ghost for… for being himself and keeping you under his wing.

”I admire your dedication, really,” Milena called from the other side of the room.

”Do you?”

Milena glanced up from her papers and searched your face.

”Yes, I’m surprised you betrayed your people right away and did everything Vladimir ordered you to.”

”He didn’t give me much of a choice, did he?” you asked and crossed your arms. You hated that she was able to think that you betrayed your second family easily while in reality, it was wearing you down in every way possible.

You were sure you’d never be able to look into their eyes if you saw them again.

”He knows how to win people over.”

You cleared your throat and narrowed your eyes.

”Or to force them to do something that would benefit him.”

Milena was one delusional woman, you were sure of that. You hated how spineless she was and how easily she could get under your skin within seconds.

If Makarov wasn’t so intimidating then you would have already punched her whenever she said a bad word to you. You would have enjoyed it for sure.

Gunshots and shouting emerged from the other side of the building which made you tense right away.

”What the hell?” Milena asked as she stood up and walked to the wall where the security cameras were shown.

You took a few steps, examining the figures that appeared, and felt the color drain from your face.

You wished you would have mistook them for someone else but after serving with them for years, there was no way you wouldn’t recognize them.

It was Soap and Ghost.

Your heart was hammering in your chest, and your stomach turned when you saw Soap getting closer and closer to the door that stood behind you.

With trembling hands, you grabbed your gun and spun on your heel just when the Scots opened the door.

”Special forces, show your hands!”

Raising your guns at the same time, you faced your best friend whose eyes softened the second they found you.

”Cobra…”

It’s been so long since anyone called you that, you almost dropped your gun.

Then you forced yourself to remember your family whose life was on you and how you act now, so you tightened your grip on the cold metal.

”I’d advise you to turn around and leave, Soap.”

Soap lowered his gun while his face dropped in sadness. Your voice was cold and distant, something you’d never used toward him before. You’d only given this treatment to your enemies.

”That’s not going to happen, you know it.”

”I’ll shoot you,” you said, trying to hide your nervousness as he kept your stare.

”You won’t.”

Gritting your teeth, you took a step forward, keeping the gun at him as Milena looked at you in fury.

”What are you waiting for? Shoot him for fuck’s sake!”

No matter how hard you tried, your finger couldn’t touch the trigger. Your heart didn’t let that happen.

Memories flooded and invaded your mind as you looked at John MacTavish who was your favorite partner in crime. Moments of him making you laugh and calming you down after losing a battle made your hands shake in defeat.

You didn’t want to do any of this but you had no choice.

When Soap realized you were not going to shoot him, he let out a small sigh, grabbed one of the chairs, and pushed it forward, his eyes finding Milena.

”Sit.”

You didn’t want to admit but you missed the way Soap could talk coldly to those who were on the other side.

”Fuck you.” Milena spat in hatred.

Soap kept his gaze and gun firmly, his voice leaving no room for argument.

”Sit down, Milena.”

Milena gave you a deadly glare before dropping her hands and taking a seat. You couldn’t say a word, it seemed like your voice ceased to exist.

”Where is your boss?” Soap asked sharply.

”I don’t have a boss. No one tells me what to do.” Milena said and you almost scoffed. Only if her words were true.

Soap glared at her for a while before turning around when heavy footsteps broke the silence. You lowered your hands, sweat appearing on your skin as you noticed a familiar tall figure moving in the shadows.

Soap turned around when Ghost walked through the door with a laptop in his hand.

”She’s not talking.”

As Ghost’s familiar dark eyes met yours, he stopped walking and you felt your heart skip a beat. Just like every other time he’d looked at you, you felt exposed and small.

Ghost’s eyes never left you as you tried to catch your breath. His eyes held many emotions, such as surprise, melancholy, and distance.

You hated the way he was looking at you like you were someone else. Like you weren’t someone who was close to him like you weren’t the sergeant who was never afraid to be honest and open with him.

Before you could realize that there was nowhere to run from him, he blinked and walked over to the table.

”She’s about to,” he grunted and put the laptop down on the table, and walked to the other side of the room.

Not wanting to look into his eyes again, you focused on Soap who opened the white laptop and extended his hand to Milena who was sitting still like a rock.

”Give me your hand.”

”Why? Or else you’ll cut it off?” Milena asked.

”Your friend over there knows that it’s true when I say to you that it’s not my style,” Soap said glancing at you from the corner of his eyes. Then tilted his head in Ghost’s direction. ”He might.”

Milena seemed to lose her patience with each second that passed by.

”Why the mask?” she snapped.

You almost rolled your eyes at the question you seemed to hear a million times.

”To hide my face.” Ghost answered with cold eyes.

You were surprised he answered even though it was an obvious and useless response.

You felt Ghost’s eyes finding you again, making your skin burn as you dropped your gaze. You were intimidated by his presence and not because you were afraid of him but because you knew for sure that you hurt his feelings when you left.

You wished you weren’t here to live through this unwanted confrontation. A part of you was happy to see them but your heart was aching by the disappointed and hurtful looks you received from them.

”Cobra.” Ghost called after you as you turned your head away. His voice reached your bones immediately and you hated how much you missed your callsign falling off his lips.

”Don’t call me that,” you said dryly, turning back to him.

Ghost gave you a challenging look as he pushed himself away from the wall and closed the distance between you two. With each step he took, you felt your chest tighten with anticipation and guilt. You wanted to look somewhere else but he firmly held your gaze.

He always did and that hasn’t changed.

”How about we give these two birds a few minutes to find a way to cooperate with each other?” Ghost asked and you felt your eyes widen.

”I’m not leaving Milena.”

Ghost gave you a meaningful look and took the gun from your hand with such ease that wasn’t surprising to either of you.

”Yes, you are.”

Remembering that you weren’t supposed to leave Milena’s sight for even a second, you felt panic and annoyance wash over you.

”You can’t just order me around. Not anymore.” You said in a cold tone that made Ghost shift in his place.

Without saying a word, he grabbed your elbow and pulled you with him as he made his way to the other door that led to another empty room.

”Hey! Get your fucking hand off of me!” You shouted in frustration and tried to free yourself from his grasp but Ghost easily dragged you with him through the door and kicked it shut with his foot.

You let out a desperate groan as you grabbed his wrist, trying to pry it off of your arm which seemed tiny compared to his.

You bit into your lower lip as you tried your best to move his fingers but he wasn’t moving an inch.

”Cobra…” his voice was calmer and more thoughtful now that you were alone with him.

You didn’t look at him, only let out a defeated sigh and stopped fighting, your skin slightly aching.

”This hurts.”

Ghost glanced down at his hand still holding onto you and let go of you the second you’d admitted your physical pain. Hurting you was something he never intended to do.

Hissing, you brought your arm to your chest and touched it with your other hand, and turned away from him. You didn’t trust yourself when he was alone with you.

”What are you doing, Cobra?” Ghost asked from behind you and you closed your eyes. Hearing confusion and disappointment hiding in his voice made you feel guiltier than before.

”That’s none of your concern anymore, Ghost.” You replied still facing the wall.

Taking deep breaths you tried your best to collect your thoughts as you heard him walk closer to you, dropping your gun to the table standing next to you.

”It is.”

His voice circled around you like clouds darkening the sky before the storm.

”Why did you leave?”

You pressed your lips against each other and turned around. You got used to his menacing presence coming firstly from his height. You felt small and weak because you knew he could see right through you.

”People change, Lieutenant. You better get used to it.”

”People change that’s for sure. But don’t betray and stab others in the back just like that. A decision like this never comes from a single thought.”

You hated how much he tried to get into your mind, still trying to find answers to his questions that have probably been burning in him since the day you left.

”I refuse to believe that after everything that happened, you’d willingly just switch sides, I know you. And I know how much you despise traitors,” his eyes never left you as he was speaking.

You didn’t say a word, not when you were on the edge of breaking down.

”Talk to me, Cobra.” Ghost said, his voice quiet.

”I can’t,” you shook your head. ”Why don’t you just do your job and get out of here?”

”I’m not leaving until you say something to me.”

”There is nothing for me to say, especially to you.”

Ghost felt his chest tighten at your coldness. He would have never expected you to speak to him this way. Not after how long it took for you two to finally let your guard down around each other.

”Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

”I do, Ghost. Believe it or not, I’m not part of the special forces anymore, so either shoot me or get out of my face.”

”You really think I’d hurt you?” he asked, his voice low and sad.

”You eliminate targets and now I’m one too,” you crossed your arms, trying to look confident.

”I know why you’re pushing me,” he narrowed his eyes. ”And I know for sure that you didn’t betray us because you felt like you could. I know there is something behind all of this that you refuse to tell me.”

You didn’t answer and that was more than enough for him to confirm his theory about you.

”What happened, Cobra?”

”I left and now I’m one of Makarov’s people, that’s what happened!”

You were desperate to try to get him out of here because your heart was breaking with each word that was exchanged between you two.

”No, don’t even say that. I know who you are.”

”You don’t, Simon. Just get over it and let me go,” you snapped and his gaze dropped for a brief second. You didn’t even realize at first that you called him by his real name until you saw the change in his eyes.

It seemed like your words had made a final straw in Simon’s heart. You hated yourself for talking to him like that and you wished you could go back to them, to him, and forget about this nightmare you’d fallen into.

”I thought I was someone whom you could trust because you can be sure as hell that I still trust you with my life. Whether you like it or not."

His words made more impact on you than they should have. They meant the world to you and knowing that even after turning your back on him, he still trusted you and wanted you to go back.

”I trusted you.”

Trusted you. Past tense which didn’t go unnoticed by him.

”You didn’t if you could leave me like I was nothing to you.” Ghost confronted you with raw honesty, not even hiding the fact of how much your decision had pained him.

”It wasn’t easy,” you admitted, hugging your stomach and your eyes filling with unwanted tears. You hated if someone saw the vulnerable side of you, you hated being vulnerable but around Ghost, you knew he wouldn’t use your pain against you. Never.

Ghost stepped closer to you, making it impossible to look at anything else but him. When he heard your voice tremble and saw your eyes become glossy, he knew he meant something to you after all.

Lifting his hand, he put his index finger under your jaw and made you look at him. His eyes mirrored his emotions as he watched you slowly letting go of the invisible mask you’d hidden behind.

”You don’t need to keep anything from me, Cobra. Have I ever broken your trust and let you down?”

You swallowed the lump in your throat as a lonely tear escaped and rolled down on your hot skin.

When you slowly shook your head, he dipped his to your level.

”Then tell me. Please.”

Swallowing your doubts, you took a shaky breath, his hand still on you.

”He’ll kill me.”

”I won’t let that happen,” Ghost promised it without a second thought.

The words were on the tip of your tongue, almost jumping down. You hated to keep secrets from anyone, especially from Simon who had proven himself worthy of your trust more than once.

”Cobra, I can’t help if you don’t let me,” he continued with sad eyes and wiped your face.

It surprised you how a tall giant like him who had a name for his ruthless methods and interrogation scenes, could act so soft and careful with you.

It was hard to believe that the hand that was confronting you and wiping away your tears had killed so many people before.

With your lower lip quivering, you felt your fear taking over you, making your knees shake. Ghost watched you with worried eyes as you let out a sob you couldn’t hold back anymore and jumped into his arms, hiding your face into his neck.

As you wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders, you felt the heat coming off of his body, his tenseness slowly fading away once he’d realized what you were doing.

Ghost embraced your hug, his big arms wrapping around you like a shield, silently promising to keep you safe. He felt your scent filling his nose and his heart slowing down as your bodies pressed against each other’s.

”He has my family, Simon. He’ll kill them if I don’t obey his orders,” you sobbed in pure panic, your small hands holding onto him.

Ghost exhaled and tightened his grip around you, his head dropping onto yours with ease.

”Shh… I’m here,” he scooted you as you let your tears fall onto his gear.

”I couldn’t tell anyone and he made me swear to leave you or else…”

Ghost didn’t say it was okay or that it would be all right. Because he wasn’t sure if he could keep his promise if he’d told you something you wanted to hear at the moment.

So, he just kept you in his arms and rubbed your back while his heart came to peace now that he knew the real reason why you left them.

”I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

”Hey, hey…” Ghost pulled you away slightly so that he could look into your eyes.

When you glanced up at him, his eyes didn’t make you feel anxious like a few minutes ago, they made you realize you weren’t alone and that he wasn’t blaming you for anything.

”Don’t be sorry, family comes first.” Ghost answered. ”You did what you have to, I understand.”

”But you’re also my family,” you whispered in a defeated tone and his eyes softened.

”It’s okay, Cobra. I’m not mad, I could never be mad at you,” he admitted and pulled you into his chest, his hand caressing your hair.

You sniffed and hid your face in his chest, wishing you could wake up from this nightmare.

But unfortunately, you were awake. You have been this whole time and there was no turning back from now.

”I wish you would have told me without running away,” he said quietly. ”I understand why you did it, I just wish you would have told me.”

”I wanted to,” you admitted, your voice small and vulnerable.

”Why didn’t you then?” he asked, still holding you against his chest.

You sighed and wiped your flushed face, your other hand still around his waist.

”I was afraid you wouldn’t have let me leave.”

”You’re fucking right I wouldn’t have let you do that,” he agreed immediately, causing you to giggle.

Ghost felt warmness fill his chest at your almost laugh, making it easier for him to breathe now that you were in his arms and let yourself smile.

He missed you, a lot.

”I trust you, Simon. You know, I do.”

He hummed as he let his fingertips dance on your skin a little.

”It was hard to believe otherwise when I woke up to you missing one day.”

The familiar feeling of guilt made your expression drop and your brows furrow. You really wished things would have been different.

You hated yourself for making Ghost feel like he didn’t mean anything to you. You hated yourself for making him almost lose his faith in you.

”I’d tell you that you’re coming back with us but something tells me you won’t.”

You stepped away from him, letting go of his torso with defeated eyes.

”He’ll kill them, I can’t go with you,” you said sadly. You’d never felt so lost and desperate before and Simon could see that in your eyes.

”So, what…” his voice trailed off. ”You’re just going to stay by his side and do whatever the fuck he wants you to?”

”It’s not like I want to work for him, Simon. But I have no choice.”

”We’ll figure something out,” he replied.

You sighed and ran your fingers through your hair in frustration.

”You can’t, you know it.”

Ghost shook his head. ”No, there has to be a way… We have to do something before he kills you.”

”I appreciate your concern but there’s nothing you can do for me,” you whispered in a hoarse voice.

Ghost stared at you while hundreds of thoughts had run through his mind, wondering if there was a way he could help you. Hoping he could say or do something that would make you feel better.

”I have to do something… I can’t lose you again, I won’t.”

His words made your heart almost jump out of your chest while he massaged the back of his neck. You felt physically weak at the plea of his voice while he was trying to find a solution.

But there was none.

Not when Makarov had his chains on you like on a dog.

”I’ll be fine, just go.”

Ghost looked at you with hesitation.

”I can’t, Cobra. What if I won’t see you again?”

Wiping your eyes, you took a shaky breath. Him trying to get you out of this just made the whole situation more unbearable.

”We knew what we were signing up for when we joined the special forces, Lt.”

Ghost felt his heart starting to ache in sadness as he took your defeated and exhausted sight in. You weren’t the woman who once made a race with him about getting more kills on a mission or not.

You were only a shadow of yourself and he hated to see you this way.

He would have done anything to be able to take you back with him to the base and never let you go.

It terrified him how lost he’d felt when you left the team, he could still remember how he’d stare at the ceiling of his room, wondering if he’d ever see you again.

”Don’t talk like that, Cobra.” Ghost scolded you. ”Now is not the time.”

”You know I might end up getting killed after all.”

”Don’t.” Ghost said in a stern voice, his body tensing at your words. ”Nobody is dying. Not on my watch and I’m going to keep my word.”

It made you feel better to know that Ghost didn’t hold anything against you. Your soul found peace now that he knew the why behind your decisions and betrayal. It killed you that you couldn’t go home with him and Soap.

Ghost stepped closer to you and waited for you to look into his dark eyes that led you directly to his soul.

”I’m going to get you out of this, Cobra. I promise. I’m not leaving anyone behind, especially you.”

His promise made you forget the danger that was around the corner and just for a brief second you were happy to let yourself believe what Ghost was saying.

”You better not to, lieutenant.”

Ghost huffed and touched the side of your face, his thumb softly caressing your skin. Closing your eyes, you leaned into his touch and forgot how to breathe for a moment.

Simon Riley was famous for a lot of things and keeping his promise was one of them. That was the only thing that helped you come to peace with the things you were forced to do in order to protect your family.

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little-emerald-snake · 1 year ago

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Kinktober Day 19

Double Penetration - Sebastian Sallow X Ominis Gaunt X F!MC

🔥NSFW 🔞 MDNI

1.7k words

Sebastian was hot on her heels as she quickly made her way from the quidditch pitch toward the castle. Her face was red with shame as Seb tried to calm her nerves and get a grip on her robes to slow her down. “Hey! Would you slow down love! Seriously, it's no big deal! I’m just surprised is all! Look, I’m sorry for embarrassing you! Slow down so we can talk about this.”

They’d been hidden away under the quidditch stands alternating between kissing and telling each other fantasies when Sebastian had coaxed a rather juicy one out of his girlfriend.

She’d admitted to liking the idea of having two men fill her at the same time. She’d wanted to try two in one hole but said she wasn’t sure if she would be able to take it and would settle for one in her pussy and one in her ass.

Sebastian had admitted it would be rather hot and immediately went to teasing her about which friend he’d ask to help fulfill her fantasy. She’d gone bright red and bolted, leaving Seb trailing behind, trying to apologize for scandalizing her.

Once he’d caught up to her, finally snagging a hold of her robes, he pulled her around to a part of the castle wall where they could talk without being overheard. “Love, please. I’m sorry for teasing you. But I really do want to do this with you if you’d really be interested.”

She was quiet for a moment, milling over who they would possibly choose and what that person would say about their ‘extra curricular activities’. She finally grasped his sleeve anxiously and nodded. “F-fine. But only if we find someone to agree…someone who won’t out us to the whole school preferably.”

Sebastian chuckled, pulling her close and rubbing her back gently. “Love, you do realize half of this school's population would kill to shag you, right?”

She pulled back, playfully punching his arm. He only laughed, pulling her close for a hug before taking her hand and leading her inside and castle. “Would you like to hear my first idea?”

She was toying with the hem of her sleeve nervously as they walked. She was clearly anxious but she nodded, looking up at him with a question in her eyes. “I think Ominis would…he definitely wouldn’t say a damn word about it if he didn’t want to at the very least.”

She thought for a moment and had to agree that she could never see Ominis doing something like that to her or Seb, even if he was totally scandalized by the idea. “I-if you’re sure. Would you mind asking him by yourself? L-like I’m just nervous to hear the conversation…in case he is shocked.”

Sebastian nodded and assured her that he would take care of it. He was fairly confident that Ominis would be game for it. They’d never shared a girl before but in a drunk conversation one night he hadn’t been opposed to the idea Sebastian had brought forth randomly.

He made his way to his dorm room where he knew his best friend would be at this time, slowly knocking and entering to see the blonde leaned back in his bed against his pillows with a book in one hand and his wand in the other, tip pressed to the page as he looked up towards the door. “Sebastian?”

Sebastian stepped inside and shut the door behind him before walking to sit on the side of Ominis’ bed. “Hey, Om. I actually have a pretty personal question. Do you have a minute?”

Ominis’ brows lifted but he closed his book and placed it to the side, sitting himself up and looking in Seb’s direction. “Of course. Is this something that’ll make me want to hit you or will we be okay?”

Sebastian chuckled a bit, running a hand through his brown curls. “Ha, about that. You may want to hit me but I don’t think it’ll be for the reason you’re expecting. It does involve my girlfriend though so don’t be too mad.”

Ominis inhaled and nodded. He wasn’t sure what to expect but he was preparing for anything. After all, it was Sebastian.

Sebastian nervously picked at the hem of his robes and sighed. “Well, me and her were talking…about things we’d like to explore. One we both landed on was…a threesome…or more specifically double penetration…”

Ominis’ brows raised again but he said nothing, giving a curious look. “Are you asking for advice? An opinion? I don’t exactly see how I’m invol…oh! Oh shit! You thought of me?!”

Sebastian swallowed hard, plucking the fuzz from the blanket beneath him anxiously. “Yea. Figured we both agreed on you and even if you weren’t down for it you wouldn’t air out everything for the whole school.”

Ominis was surprised but nodded, looking down and contemplating how that would go. “Well, you are correct. I won’t tell anyone, that’s for sure. I guess you both don’t have a second option picked out do you?”

Sebastian shook his head even though he knew his friend wouldn’t see it. “No. You were our first and only choice really. I honestly thought you’d be kinda into it…since I know you had a crush on her before we started dating and all.”

Ominis nodded again, a grim expression on his face. “Yes. That’s true. Well I suppose I’ll agree. If nothing else it could be some fun to take my mind off of the increasingly hard school work as of late. Plus it’ll satisfy a craving for all of us. I can hardly see the harm.”

Sebastian cleared his throat and blew a relieved breath before they made a plan. This Friday after classes they’d take a bottle of firewhiskey to the Undercroft and fulfill their little fantasy for her.

~~~

By the end of the week she was anxious, hugging her books to her chest as she peered around, making sure none of her classmates spotted her heading to the Undercroft.

But after just a bit of teasing and two shots of firewhiskey they had her undressed on the large bed Sebastian had conjured, big enough for all their group activities.

Ominis was fully undressed, laid out on the sheets as Sebastian laid his girlfriend across his best friend's chest, using his fingers to tease her open and get her ready.

Once he was satisfied he helped her straddle Ominis and sink her hips down onto his pale girth before climbing behind her, between his best friend's legs and using a lubrication charm to begin stretching her other hole.

She lightly rocked her hips on Ominis, driving strained groans from the man below her as Sebastian’s fingers stretched her. “Fuck, Seb��just want you now. Feels so good, need to be fucked…”

Sebastian growled, eager to give into his pretty girlfriend's cries. He pulled his fingers out, lined up to carefully slide into her. She whimpered and moaned at the stretch. One felt good but two were intense. She’d never had any feeling like it before but it excited her and she could hardly wait till they both moved inside of her.

After allowing her to adjust a but, Sebastian wasted no time in slowly sliding her hips forward and back onto them. Both men groaned as she molded perfectly around them. Holes tightening as she experienced the new feeling of being so incredibly full.

Sebastian gripped her hips and rutted gently into her, eliciting a pleasured sigh to fall from her lips. Ominis pulled her down with a hand on the back of her neck and swallowed the whimpers she made as Sebastian’s thrusts continued, rocking her back and forth so that both men were sliding in and out of her at the same time.

Before long she was hyper fixated on the small space between their cocks, how incredibly full she felt between her legs. She clenched and tensed around them in utter bliss as her holes swallowed both cocks greedily.

Ominis had taken to holding her hips in place and thrusting up inside of her while Sebastian took advantage of the position and fucked into her with fervour. She was a moaning, soaking mess between them.

She was absolutely on cloud nine. Both holes spasming around them. She cried out loud when she finally caved to the delicious friction of them and came hard, tightening impossibly so around them both.

It had been the most intense orgasm she’d ever felt but neither man slowed their pace which only drove her further into a frenzy. She was spasming so intensely around both of them that Ominis fell apart next, cum flooding her tightness as she came once again around him.

Sebastian wasn’t far behind, grinding out his pleasure as long as he could before he finally groaned with release, hips stuttering against her round ass as he collapsed over his girlfriend, still mounted on his spent best friend. “Oh, fuck…”

She laid across Ominis chest, hair in her face and tits pressed against his pale chest as Sebastian finally sat up and gently slid out of her perfect body with a sigh, toppling over to one side of the bed and reaching for his wand to clean up.

Ominis wiggled to the side and gently rolled her off to lay between him and Seb. She whimpered when he slid out but made no other protests. Ominis kissed her temple gently and pushed her hair out of her face with care.

She let a sweet smile across her lips as Sebastian leaned up on his elbow on her other side with a blissed out smile. “Damn, you guys are hot. Was it as good as you thought it would be, love?”

She turned to look at Seb and smiled, giving a small nod. He could tell by the glow of her cheeks that she had thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He gave a wolfish grin, leaning in close to her ear. “What if we convinced Ominis to make this a more…permanent arrangement?”

Her eyes widened and so did Ominis’ from her other side. Seb smiled at the reaction from them both as he leaned back and took in the moment of himself, his beautiful girlfriend and his beautiful best friend together in bed. “Yea. I think this is something I could get used to.”

Kinktober Prompt List

#hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy smut #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #kinktober #kinktober 2023 #writing challenge #ominis gaunt #ominis gaunt fanfiction #ominis gaunt smut #sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow fanfiction #sebastian sallow smut

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crimsonstonetranslations · 8 months ago

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Shinrei Tantei Yakumo Another Files - The Dead’s Wish - file 03

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo novel translation

Another Files - The Dead’s Wish

( file 01 | file 02 ) file 03 - the spirit's wish

- 1

- With full concentration, Sakamoto Eiji stared intently at his editing work across the computer screen.

He was in the movie circle’s room at the clubroom building. It had been a tradition of the movie circle Eiji was in to showcase the film they made in the campus festival.

This time, Eiji as a fourth year student had been appointed as the director and was producing a horror film. The story told of a group of men and women—four people in total—who had gone to an abandoned hospital for a test of courage and had accidentally encountered something not of this world. It had been filmed through a camera held by one of the cast members to give the composition a documentary feel.

Although some had mockingly pointed out that similar works had existed before, Eiji didn’t think that was the case. This was his own original work. He too acknowledged that there had been films with a similar format. However, Eiji hadn’t come up with his idea from watching those. Hence, those people had no reason to mock or complain about it. Besides, Eiji felt very confident about his work this time.

He hadn’t secured a job and would likely end up unemployed once he graduated from the university. His friends would have been panicking in such a situation, but Eiji was different. He was confident that his work would win if showcased at the student film festival. If that were the case, surely film companies wouldn’t turn their backs on Eiji. He would be entrusted to direct a major film and his name would rise to fame.

Afterwards, it wouldn’t be so bad if he were to get caught in a romantic encounter with a popular actress. As Eiji was smiling to himself, his junior, Daichi, who was assisting his editing said, “Feels like something strange got caught on camera just now.”

Daichi was a third year student, but he hadn’t joined the movie circle right as he entered the university. He had only become a member roughly half a year prior. Apparently he had been aiming for film-related jobs, so he wanted to obtain some kind of award or achievement in the movie circle.

No new students had joined the circle this year, so Daichi became the target of being ordered around. “What something?” Eiji asked back as he glanced behind at Daichi.

“I think I saw some kind of noise...” “It’s just your imagination.”

A mere dogsbody like you shouldn’t talk so much, Eiji swore in silence before resuming his editing. The monitor flashed a scene of four people—the men and women as they arrived at the hospital—walking as they gleefully conversed with one another.

Even so, only three people had been captured by the camera. The other person had been holding the camera to record his friends. A warm scene unfitting for a horror film, but this would only add to the richness of the film.

It would help intensify the terrors that they were about to experience. Ssshhh.

Noise suddenly appeared on the monitor. Eiji rewound the video slightly to examine the scene once again.

A noise was indeed present. “What is this?”

Clicking his tongue, Eiji momentarily paused the video. The footage was now unusable because of this noise. He had no choice but to do a retake. But if he were to do that now, the film wouldn’t make it in time for the campus festival.

“So there was noise after all,” said Daichi arrogantly. “You weren’t talking about this scene earlier, though?”

“Well, that’s true...” ”Geez.”

Eiji grew annoyed, but a brilliant idea suddenly appeared in his mind. He didn’t have to retake the scene. Simply treat this noise as intentional. Pretend that the camera hadn’t functioned properly due to a spiritual presence.

“This isn’t so bad,” said Eiji. Daichi tilted his head dumbfoundedly. “What isn’t?”

“So, it’s as if we purposely added the noise to add to the film’s atmosphere,” Eiji explained. The presence of the noise would make the film more real, adding to its terrifying feel. He could add more noise into other scenes as well.

Who would’ve thought he could come up with something like this. He really was a genius after all. Yet after hearing his explanation, Daichi still didn’t fully understand and his dumbfounded look remained.

That was just the person he was. After all, he had joined the circle solely to get achievements. He couldn’t see the potential like Eiji could. If people like him grew in numbers, perhaps the term Yutori Seidai[1] would be used more commonly.

Eiji gave up elaborating any further and went back to editing. However, as he watched the subsequent footage, Eiji couldn’t believe his eyes.

His monitor became pitch black, before repeatedly playing a scene he didn’t remember shooting. It wasn’t shot at a hospital either, but instead showed a railway crossing that seemed to be one near the campus.

“W-what is this…?” said Eiji unknowingly. “I wonder what...” asked Daichi, tilting his head.

“I don’t recall shooting any footage like this. What’s the scene after this?” urged Eiji. “E-even if you ask me, I don’t know,” said Daichi fearfully.

Had someone shot this footage and overwritten his own? What a horrible joke. All his hard work had turned to dust. “Hey, do something!” Eiji yelled, when the lights suddenly went out.

“What? What happened?” Even the computer monitor was shut off. Perhaps the fuse had gone out.

“Daichi, go check it out.” What awful timing at a crucial time like this. How incredibly annoying.

“Y-yes,” answered Daichi before tripping on something with an ‘ouch’ as he walked away. Amidst the darkness, the phone on the table began to vibrate from an incoming call.

The screen displayed ‘restricted’. Although suspicious, Eiji answered the call.

“Hello?” Clanging sounds could be heard from the other side of the call, together with the alarm sound signifying a train crossing.

“Hello? Who is this?” called Eiji. Suddenly, the sounds of the train crossing stopped.

<H…help me…> The terrifying voice that came out of nowhere made Eiji reflexively throw his phone away.

It had been a woman’s whimper. Eiji held his breath and looked at his phone that had fallen on the floor. He had no intention in the slightest to pick it up.

He hoped the lights would come back soon, but there was no sign of that happening. As time passed, his anxiety grew ever increasingly, and his heart wouldn’t calm down.

Eiji put all his concentration into his trembling throat and yelled, “Oi! Daichi! How is it?” Yet there was no answer.

What is he doing? Eiji converted his fear into anger towards Daichi to hold himself together.

But—the next second, something touched his nape. Something cold.

I mustn’t look—he should’ve thought, but for some reason, Eiji turned his head as if drawn by something. An eerily pale hand with prominent, dark veins.

It was that of a woman. The hand curled around his neck.

“Stop! S-stop it!” Eiji screamed through tears. The hand violently strangled his neck with no mercy. Until Eiji finally couldn’t let out a sound anymore.

His vision blurred— Between his wavering consciousness, Eiji could hear the voice of a woman.

Help me. -

2 -

“A cursed video?” said Haruka in surprise. She thought it was some kind of joke as the choice of words made it sound like the title of a horror film. However, Fujimoto Asami, who sat across from her, didn’t look like she was joking.

Her widened eyes signified the terrified look on her face. Haruka was swallowed by the intensity of it, the chatter of the bustling cafeteria as lunch hour approached felt like they were drifting away.

“That’s right. It has to be a cursed video,” said Asami again, gritting her teeth. Asami, a student from the same seminar as Haruka, had reached out to her to discuss something.

As the campus festival drew near, Haruka had thought it was probably to discuss romance or the like, so she had casually agreed. Yet, the words that had come out of Asami’s mouth had been entirely unexpected to her.

“I’m saying, it has to be a cursed video. Right?” said Asami, turning to the female student sitting beside her. It was Haruka’s first time meeting her. She was Asami’s friend, Natsuki. Since earlier, Natsuki had kept looking down and had a gloomy aura completely opposite of Asami.

In confusion, Natsuki responded, “Y-yes. I think so as well.” The two seemed convinced, but Haruka still didn’t understand.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Haruka. “This—”

Asami took out a transparent plastic box from her bag. Inside was some kind of DVD or Blu-ray disc. “What’s this?”

“I'm telling you, this is the cursed video,” said Asami, annoyed. “Ah, I see,” replied Haruka vaguely.

“What’s with that anticlimactic reaction?” said Asami with an exasperated tone, but it couldn’t be helped that Haruka reacted that way. She couldn’t immediately believe the existence of a cursed video, and besides, she didn’t understand what Asami was trying to get across.

Even so, Asami was normally a composed person. To become impatient and irritable like this, something serious had to have happened. “Could you please explain what’s actually going on?” Haruka asked Asami in a pleading tone.

Asami seemed to have realised that she had jumped into things. She then drew a long breath and said, “Actually, there’s an upperclassman in my circle called Sakamoto-san…” “What circle are you in?”

“The movie circle.” “Eh?” blurted Haruka in surprise.

“Do you really have to be that surprised?” asked Asami, and Haruka hurriedly shook her head. Haruka had misunderstood for a second. Asami was a member of the movie circle. While Yakumo was a member of the Movie Research Circle.

The university was filled with circles and associations that shared similar names. She had heard before that there were even five different snowboarding circles. “Sorry. So, what does the movie circle do?”

“We produce films.” “I see.”

If their activities were producing films instead of watching and critiquing them, then their circle was vastly different from the Movie Research Circle where Yakumo was. Well, Haruka wasn’t certain whether Yakumo even watched films, let alone critiqued them. “Then, recently we’ve been shooting a film to be showcased at the campus festival.”

“Amazing. Is Asami directing?” “No. The director is the upperclassman I mentioned earlier, Sakamoto-san. I merely helped with the audio recording and made some appearances in the film.”

“You’re in the film!?” “There’s no need to talk about that,” Asami immediately responded, sounding irritated.

Indeed, Haruka was getting sidetracked. “Apologies, please continue.” “Anyway, when we examined the footage we shot, something strange was captured on camera.”

“Something strange?” “Yes. I can’t put it into words very well, but it was really terrifying...”

“Terrifying?” “From what I heard, Sakamoto-san first saw it while editing. Afterwards, the lights suddenly went out and a female ghost appeared...”

Listening to the story thus far, Haruka finally understood what Asami wanted to discuss. For some reason, rumours had gone around that Haruka was knowledgeable about the supernatural.

Thanks to that, people had often approached her to consult about anything spiritual. Asami had to be one of them as well. It was true that Haruka had experienced a number of spiritual phenomena and had been a witness to the closure of those incidents. However, that was about as far as her involvement had gone.

The true person behind the closure of said cases was Saitou Yakumo. She had tried to clarify many times, but in the end they would always say, “In that case, Haruka, please ask for that person’s help.”

She could simply refuse them, but Haruka was weak to being pleaded to and it had become a bad habit of hers. In the end, she’d easily make promises to them. “Sakamoto-san became terrified and stopped coming to the circle ever since. Other members had mixed reactions, but the other day we decided to actually watch this DVD—” Asami continued her story with no regard for Haruka’s feelings.

“Uh-huh.” “Then—strange images that were never recorded appeared. That wouldn’t be a problem by itself, but the lights suddenly went out and everything became pitch black…and afterwards...” said Asami, giving a pause.

While it was mere seconds in reality, Haruka felt like it lasted for eternity. “In the room, a female ghost...” said Asami, covering her face with both hands.

She must be recalling that very scene. In that position, what sounded like sobs could be heard from Asami. The weather wasn’t cold, yet her body was shivering slightly.

It must’ve been a terrifying experience for her. “Are you alright?” consoled Haruka, placing a hand on Asami’s shoulder.

“This has to be a cursed video. I’m begging…please help me...” Asami lowered her hands and gazed towards Haruka.

Her eyes were wet from the tears that welled out of fear. Haruka turned to look at Natsuki. She looked terrified as well.

Yakumo wouldn’t be pleased, but Haruka wouldn’t be so cruel as to abandon them, having been met with such expressions. -

3 -

“Yakumo-kun, this is terrible, terrible—” Haruka roughly opened the door to the Movie Research Circle clubroom.

“What are you, Hachibee?” said Yakumo. He sat on his usual spot with a displeased look and stared at Haruka with languid eyes, as if freshly awakened. “Hachibee?” Haruka asked in return.

Yakumo ran a hand through his tangled hair and let out a long sigh. “The character that appeared in the period drama Mitokoumon. One that made a ruckus saying ‘terrible, terrible’ whilst bringing about trouble.” “Aah.”

Having mentioned that, such a character probably did exist. “You bring nothing but trouble and are good for nothing; truly just like Hachibee.”

“Ugh,” Haruka groaned. Though annoyed, it was true that she was good for nothing, so she couldn’t deny that fact.

“Stop getting into unnecessary trouble, quickly get rid of it,” said Yakumo, swaying his hand as if shooing her away. “Even if you say that…”

Lethargically, Haruka sat on the chair in front of Yakumo. She couldn't simply ignore Asami and her friend just like that.

“Besides, you’re getting in too much trouble recently.” “It’s not like I enjoy getting myself involved in trouble.”

“I don’t think that was the case.” “Eh?”

“This is the third time this week, you know. Impossible for this much trouble to come on its own if it wasn’t for you gathering them.” Yakumo lifted three of his fingers and aimed it at Haruka.

It was true that Haruka had brought in quite the amount of trouble recently. If Yakumo were to run a business as a detective specialising in spiritual cases, then she would have become a reliable assistant bringing in new cases. Unfortunately, Yakumo was merely a university student.

His displeasure over being brought two, three cases a week was perfectly understandable. Haruka understood that, but it was in her character not to sit still and ignore others in struggle.

“At least listen to the story first, can’t you?” Haruka observed Yakumo’s face.

Yakumo withdrew his body backwards as if evading her and clicked his tongue. While a little forceful, Haruka took that as an agreement and began explaining.

“There’s a cursed video—” said Haruka. Yakumo instantly shook his head from disbelief. “Are you stupid?”

“Why am I suddenly getting called stupid?” “This isn’t a horror movie, do you really think something as suspicious as a cursed video truly existed?”

Yakumo’s reaction couldn’t be helped. Haruka didn’t believe it at first either. But— “This is true. Watching this video would make a ghost appear. My friend became terrified at the thought that something might happen after...” Haruka placed the encased DVD lent by Asami on the table.

After glaring at the aforementioned DVD as if spotting a cockroach, Yakumo threw a condescending look at Haruka. “Have you watched the contents of this DVD?”

“Not yet,” Haruka shook her head. She came here right after hearing Asami’s story, so there was no way she had already watched it.

“So it isn’t confirmed whether a ghost would truly appear upon watching this.” “That is true…”

“If you haven’t confirmed it, then you shouldn’t have been able to conclude its certainty.” “Well, I guess so...”

“Even if the ghost were to appear as we watched it, we don’t know what kind of curse it is.” “What do you mean?” Haruka tilted her head.

“You don’t even know such a thing?” “Yeah.”

“Turns out the word stupid isn’t even enough to describe you,” Propping his chin with one hand, Yakumo threw a condescending gaze at Haruka. Even being looked at in such a manner wouldn’t make her understand what she did not.

“What are you trying to say?” “Has anyone who saw the ghost met with any danger?”

“That…” Apparently the upperclassman named Sakamoto had stopped coming to the circle, but that was all. She hadn’t heard of anything else.

“Nothing happened, yet they believed this video was cursed? Don’t you think they were rushing to that conclusion?” Yakumo was right.

The ghost had merely appeared and nothing else had happened. “But, if we waited for something to actually happen, wouldn’t it be too late?”

Putting off handling certain issues may only cause the situation to become more serious. Such an example would be stalker murder cases that happened as of late.

Haruka often heard of devastating cases in which the victim had already made a report to the police, yet the police had taken no action, getting the victim killed in the end. As Haruka made that argument, Yakumo’s expression grew visibly displeased.

“You’re trying to say this ghost might curse someone to death, is that it?” said Yakumo, his tone full of hostility. “Perhaps something like that will happen.”

“All this time, what have you seen?” asked Yakumo, clicking his tongue. “What do you mean?”

“Ghosts cursing humans to death? It’s impossible,” Yakumo firmly denied. That was true.

Panic had made Haruka forget an important point. Although currently concealed with a black contact lens, Yakumo’s left eye was actually a bright shade of red.

It wasn’t just red in colour, the eye allowed him to see the spirits of the dead—in other words, ghosts. Yakumo had solved a myriad of spiritual cases by putting that ability into use. Yakumo, who had always been able to see ghosts, defined them as clusters of feelings of people who had passed, according to his own experience.

Because of that, he didn’t think ghosts were capable of exerting physical influence. Ghosts cursing humans to their deaths was something that could never possibly happen.

Even though Haruka had witnessed that fact firsthand, she had gotten shaken from having seen Asami so deeply frightened. “So this isn’t a cursed video?”

“It would be right to think that way.” Yakumo folded his arms and nodded firmly.

He must’ve been trying to say not to overreact just because a ghost had appeared. Coming from Yakumo’s perspective who had always been able to see ghosts, it wasn’t hard to see why he would think so. “But…in that case, what should be done?”

Judging from Asami’s terrified state, she probably wouldn’t be convinced even if Haruka tried to explain. “That isn’t my problem,” said Yakumo without a care.

Against such indifference, Haruka had nothing to reply. She wasn’t confident about it, but there seemed to be no other option than to explain things to Asami. -

4 -

Having been kicked from Yakumo’s room, Haruka tried to contact Asami. However, only the dialling tone could be heard; no one was picking up, nor was there any reply from the answering machine.

She had no choice but to leave a message with the subject of wanting to discuss the spiritual phenomenon. After sending the message, a thought came to her mind.

She might not be Yakumo, but she wouldn’t be able to explain things to Asami without knowing the contents of this DVD. Haruka decided to pay a visit to the campus library.

In the library there were booths with DVD players in them. She planned to watch it there. Haruka could’ve just watched it at home, but Asami might get in touch with her, so it would be better for her to stay around the campus area. Furthermore, while Yakumo had said there wasn’t any curse, she still didn’t want to watch it alone in an enclosed room.

There had to be other people in the library, so she didn’t need to be scared. Luckily, a booth in the corner was unoccupied.

Haruka sat on the chair within the booth. The monitor was a mere seventeen inches, but that shouldn’t be a problem as she just wanted to check the contents. Haruka plugged the earphones into her ears and placed the DVD on the tray before pressing the play button.

The first image displayed was of the students preparing for their shoot in the vicinity of an abandoned building. A man who appeared to be the director spewed out instructions one after another with an arrogant tone. This person had to be the movie circle’s upperclassman, Sakamoto.

Haruka spotted Asami’s figure in the middle of reading the script. Moments later, the scene changed.

This one captured a man and two women, one Asami and the other Natsuki. “Ready, action!” said a man’s voice who was probably Sakamoto’s.

Along with that, Asami, Natsuki, and the man began to walk whilst conversing. The hand holding the camera followed after them. The image was shaky and difficult to watch, to the point that it made Haruka feel nauseous.

“W-what on earth?!” shouted Asami in surprise as she pointed at the stained walls of the hospital. Her acting couldn’t remotely be considered good, even if to put it nicely.

“What? What is it?!” The man holding the camera responded, and ran towards the spot Asami had pointed to zoom in closer. A cursed straw doll laid there, its body punctured with a long nail.

The group screamed in unison. Haruka was merely watching the footage, yet her head hurt for some reason.

Apparently the concept of the story had been that one of the four people happened to be filming with a camera on his hand. However, their acting had been way too obvious, rendering it unentertaining to watch. On top of that, the zoom in had been too intentional and over exaggerated that Haruka ended up laughing.

Perhaps the footage had been shaken on purpose to make it feel more realistic. Even so, the shaking had been over the top as if shot whilst riding a jet coaster, that any viewer would be nauseous. Haruka was relieved at the fact that she was watching with a small monitor. If it had been a large one, she might not be able to stand watching it.

More importantly, she felt like she had watched a similar film before. A horror film with a documentary style just like this one had gained popularity a while back, and it was as if this film was trying to copy it.

Haruka wanted to click the pause button, but she shook her head and reconsidered. She wasn’t watching to enjoy the film’s content. Rather, she did so to confirm the spiritual phenomenon.

Afterwards, Haruka regained her focus and a few scenes continued with a similar pattern. As she began to think the film was going to end just like that, noise suddenly appeared on the monitor.

Straightening her back, Haruka intently watched the monitor. The noise gradually spread larger, until the monitor eventually hissed like a sandstorm.

Moments as she thought the display would remain in that state, the noise vanished. A railway crossing appeared on the monitor.

Clang, clang— Sounds of the railway crossing echoed through.

The flashing red light warning the incoming train stirred up her anxiety. The railway crossing scene continued for some time before the monitor suddenly went black.

Haruka thought the film was over, but that wasn’t it. The blackness slowly thinned out over time.

Not long after, something emerged amidst the darkness. A human figure.

It seemed to be a woman dressed in white. The woman laid in a place that looked like a coffin.

She had a youthful appearance. Her eyes were closed, unmoving. While she had a thin layer of makeup on, one could tell she was extremely pale underneath.

Is she dead? As Haruka questioned that fact, the scene changed once more.

This time it depicted a street. People came and went throughout the nighttime crowd. What is this?

The scene switched yet again, now displaying the same railway crossing as earlier. Clang, clang—sounded the alarm.

Alongside the flashing warning light, a woman’s face appeared on and off across the entire monitor. The monitor returned to black.

Is it over? Haruka thought before a voice could be heard. “Help me...”

At the sound of a woman’s hoarse voice, something cold ran through Haruka’s back. “Hyaa!” yelped Haruka as she stood up. The earphones on her ears slipped out and fell.

Her heartbeat went through the roof. Sweat dribbled on her forehead, and she struggled to breathe.

Haruka understood then. It wasn’t surprising that Asami had declared this to be a cursed video upon watching, as it was indeed that terrifying. Even so—

No ghost had appeared as Asami had claimed. Maybe they had been mistaken after all?

As Haruka was about to take the DVD out of the tray, something cold touched her nape. It was different from the wind. Almost like something was actually touching her.

Haruka wanted to turn around when a voice could be heard in her ear. “Please...stop it already...”

Haruka briefly thought the voice came from the DVD. However, her earphones had come off when she had stood up earlier. She glanced at her surroundings, but there was no one in sight.

Was that a ghost just now? Confused and scared, Haruka could only stand still in place.

- 5

- Haruka returned home with a heavy heart.

She couldn’t get the video she had just watched out of her thoughts. Its contents were incomprehensible, but that only made it plague her mind further.

After seeing the video, she had tried to contact Yakumo, yet her call hadn’t gone through. She had also tried to visit the Movie Research Circle clubroom, but Yakumo hadn’t been there. Even if they had met, chances were she’d only be treated as a troublemaker and chased away. Despite that, Haruka was certain her fears would’ve diminished by speaking to Yakumo.

By hearing a logical explanation, her thoughts would become organised, and just by talking to Yakumo, her feelings would grow lighter. How miraculous, even though she was convinced she would only be mocked upon.

There was no use having those thoughts now. She would visit Yakumo again tomorrow and ask him to watch this video footage. If Yakumo were to declare that she had been mistaken, she would be relieved.

Haruka headed for the bathroom for a change of atmosphere. After taking a shower and a hot bath, that scene would surely leave her mind. Unfortunately, her expectations were entirely wrong.

While washing her hair, she felt a hand reaching for her from behind. Even whilst submerged in the tub, she ended up sensing a person’s reflection on the mirror.

Being inside a cramped, closed area while defenceless made her anxious. In the end, Haruka escaped and ran out of the bathroom.

And even as she was drying her hair after a change of clothes, she was constantly worrying about her back. Asami must have felt the same.

Haruka turned the television to a louder volume than usual. She had just sat down on the bed when her phone rang. It was from Asami—

“Hello?” As soon as she picked up the call, Haruka could hear Asami’s gut-wrenching cries. <Help me!>

“What’s wrong?” <It really was a curse after all. Haruka, please do something!>

Asami’s voice was clearly trembling from fear. “Hold on. Keep yourself together. What happened?”

<Sakamoto-san...he...> “What about him?”

<H-he disappeared!> said Asami between sobs. “Disappeared? What do you mean?”

If Haruka were to panic herself, she wouldn’t be able to grasp the situation. She tried her best to question her calmly. <I’m telling you, Sakamoto-san disappeared,> said Asami restlessly.

“He wasn’t locking himself in his room out of fear of ghosts?” Asami had explained so at first.

<That was what I thought. But I was wrong. We went to his place together earlier, yet his house was unlocked...then, we couldn’t find him anywhere...> “Maybe he was just away for the moment?”

<His wallet and phone were left inside the room!> If that were the case, rather than being away, people would be led to believe that he had disappeared.

Not only had his door been unlocked, his phone and wallet had been left inside the room; however clumsy a person could be, it was abnormal. Despite that, it felt exaggerated to claim that he had disappeared due to a curse solely based on this much information.

“Perhaps he was only out for a short while and would come back soon?” suggested Haruka, but even she felt she was pushing that theory. Unsurprisingly, Asami denied in an instant. <That’s not it!>

“But…” <We waited for an hour in his room, but he never returned!>

Things were only getting stranger. “Then, police...”

<I had the same thought initially, that’s why I went home first. But it’s right there!> “What is?”

<That ghost. It stood in front of my house and stared intently across my window. Sakamoto-san must’ve been dragged by that ghost as well,> said Asami hurriedly. It appeared that Asami had panicked because the ghost had appeared in front of her house after Sakamoto’s disappearance.

She must’ve thought that she was about to be taken away next. “Anyway, contact the police first. I’ll quickly head over there too,” Haruka briefly said before she ended the call, put a jacket on, and left the house.

She knew she couldn’t do much even by going there. Nevertheless, she could at least calm Asami down. Besides, rather than trembling by herself at a time like this, her feelings should improve with the company of another.

The last time Haruka had visited Asami’s place had nearly been a year ago. Even so, she still roughly remembered the location. Her body shivered from the cold night air as she rushed towards Asami’s place.

Asami’s apartment was situated in the inner parts of a quiet road. The structure was rather old and while it used an automatic lock, the building had no security cameras. Haruka pressed the doorbell to Asami’s place through the intercom at the building’s entrance.

Yet there was no answer. Strange.

Haruka contacted Asami with her phone. Somehow, a cell phone ring could be heard from within the bushes in front of the apartment. What’s the meaning of this?

Haruka approached the bushes to find that a phone was dropped there. Once Haruka ended her call, the ringing of the phone within the bushes stopped as well. This is Asami’s phone.

Haruka crouched to pick it up. She recognised the model. There was no mistaking it, it belonged to Asami.

That meant something had happened to Asami. Haruka stood dumbfounded when something suddenly touched her nape. The cold sensation froze her back.

I mustn’t look. She repeated that sentence over and over in her mind, yet her body moved on her own.

Slowly, she turned to see the face of a deathly pale woman standing there. The same woman from the cursed video. “Aaah!” Haruka screamed as she fell to a sitting position, and the woman disappeared as if melting into the darkness.

There was no mistaking it anymore, the video was indeed cursed. Haruka gathered all her concentration on her trembling hands to contact Yakumo on her phone.

The dialling tone felt like an eternity. <What business do you have calling this late into the night?>

His tone was annoyed and displeased, yet tears of relief welled in Haruka’s eyes. “Yakumo-kun. Please, help me—” said Haruka, forcing out her voice.

- 6

- Haruka stood in front of the apartment entrance and stared emptily in the direction of Asami's room.

Afterwards, Yakumo had asked her to contact Gotou. Gotou was a police detective from the Unsolved Cases Special Investigations Division. One of the few people who knew about Yakumo’s ability, his assistance had contributed to the resolution of many cases.

Right now, Gotou and his partner Ishii were in the middle of investigating Asami’s room. Haruka hoped she had gotten worried over nothing and Asami would come out whilst saying, “What is it?”

However, the phone that had fallen in the bushes made that outcome unlikely. “Are you alright?” a voice suddenly spoke.

Haruka turned to find Yakumo there. Yakumo ran a hand through his messy head of hair with an annoyed look on his face, yet Haruka felt relieved from the bottom of her heart simply by seeing the face of the approaching man.

So much, that she felt like hugging Yakumo and sobbing to her heart’s content. Yet if she were to do that, she felt that Yakumo would mock her relentlessly, calling her ‘disgusting’ among other insults, so Haruka simply nodded. “Yes,”

“Tell me what happened,” said Yakumo with an unusually serious expression. Could it be that he regretted not properly listening to Haruka’s story earlier that day?

Truthfully, Haruka felt remorseful as well. She hadn’t fully believed Asami when she had all that talk about a cursed video. As a result, she hadn’t been too insistent in asking Yakumo for help.

Either way, there was no point to continue wallowing in regret. Haruka explained in detail all that she knew, including the contents of the DVD.

When she was finished, Yakumo reached for his chin and mumbled, “I see.” “Did you get anything?” asked Haruka.

Yakumo immediately frowned. “You keep saying that as your second sentence.” “Because...”

“Didn’t I always tell you not to rush into conclusions?” Precisely as he said.

Yakumo had emphasised that countless times. Haruka reflected on herself as well, but having little understanding of the situation had always made her anxious. “Could this really be the curse of the video…?” said Haruka without realising.

Oh no—Haruka thought as soon as the words left her mouth. Yakumo had just said not to rush into conclusions. And yet, Yakumo’s words weren’t what she expected.

“In a way, perhaps it could be considered a curse.” “What do you mean?” replied Haruka when Gotou and Ishii emerged from the apartment building entrance.

“Hey,” greeted Gotou as he casually waved his hand. Meanwhile, Ishii ran towards them like an excited puppy whilst calling out, “Haruka-chan—”

And then fell. “What are you even doing?” said Gotou, lightly bumping Ishii’s head before approaching.

Ishii patted his knees before following his superior. “So, how was it?” asked Yakumo.

��It was nothing.” “That doesn’t answer my question.”

“You’re noisy.” “Isn’t Gotou-san the one being noisy?”

“What did you say?!” As Yakumo and Gotou began their usual bickering, Ishii hurriedly mediated to stop them.

“You should just be quiet,” cursed Gotou, letting out his emotions on Ishii by landing a punch on his head. This too had been a routine for them.

Haruka felt relieved, but they wouldn’t make any progress by quarrelling here. “What about Asami?” asked Haruka again.

“About that...” said Gotou, stroking the thin layer of beard on his face. “She wasn’t in the room.” “N-no way…”

It took everything from Haruka not to break down at that moment. “Were there any signs of her room being ransacked?” Yakumo asked Gotou.

“None. Her room was neat. Furthermore, the door was unlocked and the lights were still on.” “Is that so...” murmured Yakumo, his gaze trailing into the air.

“Was Asami perhaps taken away by someone?” The situation was overly strange for her to have simply gone outside. Harika didn’t want to believe it either, but she presented it as a possibility.

“The circumstances are unusual, but I think that possibility is unlikely,” interrupted Ishii. “How so?”

“Haruka-chan, from your story earlier, she was terrified, right?” “Yes.”

“If that were the case, she should’ve locked the door.” “Maybe the culprit has a duplicate of the key.”

“Even so, if she was terrified, she should’ve had the door chain lock attached as well.” “Fair point.”

“There were no signs of damage on the chain lock, so we can conclude that she had opened the door out of her own will,” Ishii seamlessly explained as he adjusted his silver framed glasses with the tip of his finger. Haruka understood what Ishii was trying to say. Despite that, she still couldn’t accept it.

“But wouldn’t it be strange for Asami to leave without locking the door? The lights were on too, right?” “Well, yes. That was the case...”

“Besides, her phone fell in the bushes. That is clearly strange,” Ishii began to panic. “That’s true...”

He made a gesture of wiping his sweat. “Could this be the work of a ghost?” asked Haruka.

Ishii’s face instantly grew tense. “G-ghost?” “Yes. Maybe the ghost took away Asa—”

“That’s impossible,” Yakumo denied before Haruka could finish her sentence. Haruka knew what Yakumo was about to say.

Yakumo defined ghosts as clusters of emotions of the dead, incapable of exerting physical influence on the living. From Yakumo’s perspective, there was no way a ghost could have abducted a human.

Even so, Haruka hadn’t brought up that idea without consideration. She had suspected a certain possibility.

“But it’s possible that the ghost could’ve possessed Asami and led her somewhere outside of her own will, right?” So far, Haruka had witnessed a number of people getting possessed by ghosts.

Whilst possessed, their bodies would be manipulated beyond their will and they might act in unexpected ways. If this phenomenon had been a possession, it would explain the strangeness of the current situation.

What does Yakumo-kun think about this? Haruka turned towards Yakumo.

“I can’t deny that as a possibility,” said Yakumo, showing his approval for the time being. And yet, he seemed to be considering something else in his mind— -

7 -

“Would it really be alright for us to watch it?” asked Haruka reluctantly. The next day, Yakumo told Haruka that he wanted to see the cursed video. Hence, they went to the booth at the library together.

“Why are you asking that?” Yakumo gave his usual unenergetic look towards Haruka.

Why? Well, that’s— “Because, you might get cursed from watching it…”

“You’re still saying that nonsense?” “Nonsense...”

“This isn’t a horror film, there’s no way we’d be cursed just by watching a video.” “But, Asami’s whereabouts are still unknown...”

To this point, Asami was yet to be found. Apparently Gotou and Ishii were conducting a search, so she could only wait and leave it in their hands. Even so, if Asami’s disappearance had something to do with this video’s curse, they would likely have a hard time finding Asami.

“As for that, you yourself stated a different possibility last night, didn’t you. Have you forgotten?” He was referring to Asami going someplace else beyond her will due to being possessed.

Of course Haruka remembered. However— “That’s just one possibility...”

“I know. That’s why I need to watch the video to confirm a few things,” said Yakumo, ending their conversation. He popped open the DVD player tray and placed the disc there. The sight of the DVD being swallowed by the tray accompanied by mechanical noises felt terrifying to Haruka.

The play button was pressed and the video began. “This is utterly terrible...” said Yakumo, mixed in between sighs as soon as the scene started.

“Terrible in what way?” Haruka tried to ask casually. “The composition’s all over the place. They intended to make it feel like a documentary, but the footage was shaking excessively.”

“That’s true.” “Not to mention despite being university students, their acting was pathetic. The dialogue was hopeless. Like this, you’d be better off watching a broadcast test footage.”

Yakumo’s opinion was harsh, but Haruka had no intention of blaming him. That was because Haruka shared more or less the same opinion.

The monitor momentarily displayed some noise before the problematic scene appeared. An image of the railway crossing, the warning light that flashed red in unison with the clanging sound.

The scene then transitioned to the corpse-like woman’s face, then the bustling city at night, before returning to the railway crossing scene. As the monitor turned to black, a woman’s voice saying “Help me...” could be heard.

The video was undoubtedly terrifying no matter how many times one watched it. Once, Haruka had watched a French short film titled An Andalusian Dog.

The film had no clear storyline, mainly displaying a series of shocking, mysterious imagery. Ants crowding on the palm of one’s hand, an eyeball being sliced with a straight razor, a severed hand being poked around with a stick. Similar to when she had watched that film, her entire body felt uncomfortable right now.

After watching it once, Haruka thought they were finally done with, yet Yakumo replayed the same part over and over again instead. Perhaps he had discovered something.

“I see—” muttered Yakumo after they had finished watching the video. He placed a hand on his pointed chin. His face remained composed as usual.

“How is it?” asked Haruka, expressing the mysterious feeling wallowing within her. “A decent video.”

“Yes?” Yakumo’s reply was far beyond what Haruka had expected, throwing her off in confusion.

“I’m saying, it looked significantly more polished than the one made by the movie circle members.” “Polished?”

“That’s right. The composition was great, even the colours were well put together. Whoever produced it had a keen sense for this sort of thing. Most importantly, the video had a powerful message.” Yakumo repeatedly nodded in approval.

His manner of speech was as if appraising a work of art. From Haruka’s perspective, the composition and colours of the film had been extremely terrifying.

Even so, if the intention was to make the audience feel that way, then the video had succeeded in that regard. At the very least, the array of footage carried more appeal than ones Sakamoto and the rest had taken.

However— “There was a message?”

To Haruka, the video merely seemed like putting pieces of different scenes together. “There was. A very powerful one at that.”

“I don’t think there was though…” “That’s because you didn’t watch it properly.”

“I watched it properly, though,” replied Haruka in annoyance. When she had watched it for the first time, there were parts that had left her shocked, but this time around she had been watching more closely.

“If you did, you should’ve known, right?” “I’m asking because I don’t,” Haruka kicked the floor out of frustration.

“To think that you’d gotten accepted in this university with that level of concentration.” “Thank you for the wonderful praise. Rather than that, tell me then, what sort of message was in that video?”

“See it for yourself,” said Yakumo curtly, before removing the DVD from the tray and handing it over to Haruka. Yakumo must have implied for Haruka to keep rewatching the film until she finally understood.

Obviously, Haruka didn’t dare to do that. “No way,” Haruka firmly refused despite accepting the DVD handed over by Yakumo.

“To think you could be my assistant, being like that.” “I never intended to be your assistant. Besides, if I’m your assistant, I should be getting my share as well,” highlighted Haruka.

Yakumo flashed a smile. “What kind of reason is that?” “What do you mean?”

Haruka didn’t feel like she had said anything strange. “You wanted a share, but how much was the reward for this request in the first place?”

“That’s...” “Thanks to you, I’m practically forced to work all the time. Save the talk about rewards and the like for when you’ve managed to find a request that actually pays.”

Precisely. The majority of requests Haruka brought over to Yakumo had no compensation in return.

“Isn’t it fine? After all, it’s not like you’re running a business as a private detective.” “Exactly. I’m merely a university student. That’s why you’re only troubling me by bringing in problems like this.“

“S-sorry...” Haruka could only apologise. Yakumo had a point. Continuously bringing in requests that gave nothing in return wasn’t an example to be followed.

“Well, anyway. Rather than that, let’s go—” said Yakumo as he stood up and ruffled his dishevelled hair. “Go? Where to?”

“To investigate, obviously.” Eyes filled with mockery, Yakumo’s gaze stung.

Haruka questioned what she had done to deserve such a condescending look. Haruka knew they were going to investigate, but where? In the end, she didn’t complain.

Yakumo was finally willing to take action. There was no benefit in ruining his mood. -

8 -

Haruka and Yakumo went to the campus cafeteria. Earlier, they had visited the movie circle and asked Natsuki’s help to gather the people who had watched the video at the cafeteria.

Aside from Natsuki, two guys called Seiichi and Daichi came to attend the meeting. Seiichi was the other person who had appeared in the video alongside Asami and Natsuki. Meanwhile, Daichi was the assistant director who had been with Sakamoto when Sakamoto had been editing the video.

The person who had been recording with the camera was someone named Kentarou, but they hadn’t been able to contact him. Normally they wouldn’t have been bothered, but with the current situation, that fact turned increasingly worrisome.

“Apologies for troubling you all to come over.” As everyone else sat around the table, Yakumo was the sole person standing, speaking as he cast a gaze across everyone.

All eyes on the table were directed towards Yakumo. Who are you? That same question repeatedly surfaced and subsided. Yakumo, as if sensing that fact, smiled before he continued. “The truth is, I have ties with people from the temple, so I’m fairly knowledgeable about supernatural related incidents. Perhaps I could be of help to all of you for this case,” he said politely.

To Haruka, who was more familiar with Yakumo, that mannerism was clearly unnatural. Yet with it he seemed to have gained the trust of those who had only just met him. “Is it true that Sakamoto and Fujimoto’s whereabouts are unknown?” Seiichi was the first to open his mouth.

“Indeed. It is true that the two are unreachable as of now,” answered Yakumo carefully. “That’s why I’ve been saying I hated the idea,” added Seiichi, sounding fed up.

“About what exactly?” Yakumo continued the question without breaking his smile.

“The hospital that was our shooting location. There have always been rumours that there’s something there.” “By something, were you referring to ghosts?”

“Yes. Apparently the hospital director there used to be a maniac who performed human experimentation. The entire thing had been exposed and the hospital went bankrupt in the end.” “Is that so,” Yakumo responded in agreement, but Haruka knew for certain—deep inside, Yakumo didn’t believe it.

Haruka too felt suspicious about Seiichi’s story. Secretly performed human experimentation was a downright ridiculous story. Even if that had been true, then it should’ve become a major news story, yet she didn’t recall hearing such kind of news.

It was more likely an urban legend one would often find in a city or area. “Such a terrifying scene even appeared in the footage we shot; truly awful.”

Seiichi’s face was as if implying this was the end of the world. “Who chose the shooting location?” asked Yakumo, and Daichi raised his hand slightly.

“You were the one who chose it?” Seiichi threw a blaming look at Daichi. “No, not like that. Sakamoto-san asked me to look for places for the shooting location, so I gave him several options. And that place was among the options I proposed—” Daichi explained before dropping his gaze.

Perhaps he felt responsible. However, if Sakamoto had been the one who made the final decision, he shouldn’t have to feel so guilty. Piecing their stories together so far—putting aside the part about human experimentation—the problem seemed to lie on the abandoned hospital that had been chosen as the shooting location, and thus the cursed video had emerged.

Even without human experimentation in the equation, hospitals were places where many people had passed away. It wouldn’t be strange for spiritual phenomena to occur while shooting footage in such a location.

“Was there nothing strange during the shooting?” asked Yakumo. The three exchanged glances and nodded.

Haruka sensed something was off here. Such a video had emerged as a result. It would be strange for nothing to have happened during the shoot.

“By the way, who was the first to review the resulting footage?” asked Yakumo. Daichi raised his hand once again. “I was present when Sakamoto-san was editing, and I suppose that was the first time that we saw the footage.”

“From what I heard, Sakamoto-san had seen a ghost then. Did you see one as well?” “No. The lights had gone out, so I went outside as I thought the fuse had blown. That was when I heard Sakamoto-san scream…”

“That means, you didn’t see it?” “I didn’t see it very clearly. But...I think there was a woman standing there when I returned to the clubroom.”

He didn’t firmly state that he had seen one, but he had seen something that could possibly be a ghost. “I see. Then, did you see one?” said Yakumo, facing Seiichi.

“I didn’t…” Seiichi frowned. “Did you watch the video alone?”

“No. Sakamoto told me that he wanted me to watch it. So I watched it with Sakamoto.” “Did the ghost appear then?”

“No. The video was terrifying, but that was all.” Seiichi didn’t look too scared, but it might have been because he hadn’t seen the ghost.

“How about you?” asked Yakumo, this time turning towards Natsuki. “I also…didn’t see any ghosts.”

“You watched the footage, right?” “Yes.”

“Who did you watch it with?” “With Asami, just the two of us,” replied Natsuki, and Yakumo made a face as if surprised by it.

Rather than a spontaneous reaction, Yakumo seemed to have displayed that look on purpose to add emphasis. “Didn’t Asami-san see a ghost?” said Yakumo, asking Haruka for clarification.

“That was what I heard,” replied Haruka. Yakumo nodded in satisfaction at Haruka’s reply and faced Natsuki once more. “Why was Asami the only one who saw a ghost?”

“About that...Asami had watched it ahead of me. Sakamoto-san had passed the video to her…Then, because there had been a strange scene, Asami had said she wanted to watch it with me.” In other words, it was possible that the ghost had appeared while Asami was watching alone, yet when she had watched it with Natsuki afterwards, nothing had appeared. Asami had seen a ghost, yet Natsuki hadn’t.

The story made sense, but— Natsuki was clearly behaving strangely.

She was tense, as if afraid of something. “Was your story the truth?” asked Yakumo, folding his arms while narrowing his eyes.

“Yes,” replied Natsuki before lowering her head. Haruka thought Yakumo would pressure Natsuki with more questions, yet unexpectedly, Yakumo easily backed off and simply responded, “I see.”

Was Natsuki’s unnatural behaviour merely Haruka’s own misconception? While Haruka was deep in her thoughts, Yakumo spoke. “The information you all gave is incredibly helpful—” before directly walking out of the cafeteria.

Even though he had claimed he might be of help. The people he had left behind after his half baked effort became dumbfounded. Haruka intended to leave after giving a polite thank you in Yakumo’s stead, but Seiichi called out to her.

“So, what should we do now?” Well, it was natural for them to think that way.

“If we manage to discover something, I’ll reach out to you all.” “Do you know how to contact us?”

That… “Ah, right. Natsuki-san, could we exchange phone numbers?” said Haruka to Natsuki, and once they had exchanged their contact information, Haruka then chased after Yakumo.

- 9

- “So, have you found something?”

Haruka expressed her question as she finally managed to catch up to Yakumo after having left the cafeteria. Yakumo glanced at Haruka. “The big picture, pretty much,” said Yakumo nonchalantly.

“What do you know so far?” “I can’t say for now.”

Yakumo often responded like this. It wasn’t to purposely mess around nor to appear cool. Yakumo merely didn’t want to say anything unnecessary before acquiring concrete evidence.

That way, he tried not to create assumptions. “Just a hint wouldn’t hurt, right?”

“This isn’t a quiz show.” “Well, that’s true.”

“Even if this was a quiz, I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t be able to solve it with your abilities.” A ruthless comment, as usual.

“Yes, yes, I’m dumb after all.” “So you are aware.”

“Ugh!” Haruka felt her anger boiling, yet she would only be reciprocated a hundred times over if she tried to get back at him.

“Well, if you listened to their stories, you’d understand that there were certain rules in place,” said Yakumo, spreading his arms jokingly. “Rules...”

“Yes. All of them watched that cursed video. Yet some saw a ghost and some didn’t. Think about why that was the case. You should arrive at the answer.” Sakamoto and Asami had seen a ghost. While Daichi had seen something that had seemed like a ghost—his response had been vague.

On the other hand, Seiichi and Natsuki hadn’t seen a ghost. Then, Sakamoto and Asami, who had seen a ghost, had gone missing.

As Yakumo had pointed out, there appeared to be some sort of rule. Even so, Haruka couldn’t grasp what that rule was no matter how hard she tried to think. Before long, they had reached the Movie Research Circle clubroom where Yakumo stayed.

They opened the door to find Gotou and Ishii inside. “Gotou-san. Ishii-san. What’s the matter?” Haruka exclaimed.

Gotou, who had been chewing on his cigarette, asked back. “You’re asking what’s the matter?” Hearing that, Haruka realised the stupidity of her question.

Last night, she had contacted Gotou and Ishii and had requested their assistance to investigate Asami and Sakamoto. “Sorry. I reflexively...”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m happy just being able to meet Haruka-chan like this,” said Ishii to Haruka, puffing his chest. Gotou jabbed him immediately. “Stop grinning.”

”Whatever you say, but could you stop trespassing into people’s rooms without permission? Not exactly the sort of thing the police should have done,” said Yakumo lazily as he sat down on his usual chair. “Ha? We’re investigating your request, you know! Besides, what trespassing? The one who didn’t lock the door was at fault!” stressed Gotou, slamming his fists on the table with every emphasis of his words.

“What a messed up reason. Gotou-san’s thought process has become like a criminal’s.” “What did you say?!” Gotou stood up while raising his shoulders.

“Now, now,” Ishii tried to calm him down, only to get hit on the head. “Also, smoking is prohibited on these premises,” said Yakumo, pointing at Gotou’s cigarette.

After all it took for Ishii to stop Gotou, Yakumo nonchalantly said something that could raise Gotou’s anger all over again. Well, that sort of thing was typical of Yakumo. Gotou clicked his tongue. “I didn’t light it up,” he said, putting away his cigarette.

“So—did you two find out anything?” Yakumo spoke after everyone was seated and the situation had settled down. Haruka thought Gotou would explain, but apparently he felt it was troublesome and gave a sign towards Ishii with a gesture from his chin. Ishii responded, “Y-yes,” and hurriedly took out his notes before he began.

“Sakamoto Eiji-san and Fujimoto Asami-san’s status are still unknown. We’ve explained the situation to their parents and requested them to fill up a missing person report to be handed over to us,” Ishii said lightly. Haruka’s feelings grew heavy upon hearing the words ’missing person report’.

Those words were proof that the situation had gotten serious. “Are there any leads?”

“As of now, we don’t have any notable information from witnesses. If only there were security cameras, we could have investigated from there. Unfortunately, neither Sakamoto-san and Fujimoto-san’s premises had any security cameras installed.” “Is that so...” said Haruka in disappointment.

If they had footage from security cameras, perhaps they would have an easier time finding leads to Asami and Sakamoto’s whereabouts. “What about fingerprints?” asked Yakumo, propping his chin on one hand.

“We’ve gathered those, but the two seemed to have friends over frequently, so it was difficult to identify ones belonging to them...” Ishii adjusted his silver-framed glasses with the tip of his finger.

Even if they had lived alone, if their friends had gone in and out often, it wouldn’t be surprising for fingerprints not belonging to the resident to be discovered. “Did the two of them ever get into some kind of trouble?” Yakumo asked a completely different question.

“We’ve questioned a number of people, but there’s still little information, so we haven’t discovered anything of the sorts...” “In the end, you didn’t manage to find anything, huh,” said Yakumo, stretching his body.

Ishii lowered his head and spoke. “Apologies.” To Haruka, it wasn’t necessary for Ishii to apologise over that. But it couldn't be helped as Ishii had a habit of apologising.

“Then, what about your end?” Gotou asked Yakumo whilst leaning over. Yakumo grinned boldly in return. “Well, I more or less know the overall picture,” he said calmly.

“What did you say? Explain at once!” Gotou exclaimed, his voice loud as if urging Yakumo. “I can hear you without you yelling like that,” Yakumo plugged his ears with his fingers, signalling that Gotou was noisy.

“Enough nonsense, quickly say it.” “I refuse.”

“W-What?” “I’m saying I don’t want to.”

“You little—what kind of attitude is that? After all we did because you asked for our help!” An infuriated Gotou grasped onto Yakumo’s shirt collar.

Despite that, Yakumo’s eyes remain composed and unfaltering. “Ishii-san, please arrest this person for charges of threat and violence.”

The conversation was suddenly thrown at Ishii, leaving him dumbfounded. “No, that...” he uttered in confusion. “Just try me if you dare!” yelled Gotou.

“Why are you being so arrogant?” “What?”

“Besides, it’s the police’s duty to maintain public safety. Yet you were acting like I owe you by asking for help?” “Ugh...”

Gotou seemed to have run out of words against Yakumo’s logically sound argument. And yet, refusing to admit defeat, he cursed, “Shut up,” and released Yakumo. Irritated, Gotou reflexively reached out for his box of cigarettes, but Yakumo immediately said, “No smoking,” and he halted his movement.

“Enough with the banter. Let’s get to the main topic,” said Yakumo, clapping his hand together. Haruka felt the atmosphere in the room tense up immediately. Gotou and Ishii seemed to feel the same way; the two stared at Yakumo with a stiffened expression.

After a pause, Yakumo turned to Haruka, “Take that out—” “That is what?”

Even if suddenly told like that, she didn’t know what it meant. “You really are an imbecile.”

“What does that mean?” “Go look it up in a dictionary if you want to know.”

“Ugh.” “I’m talking about the cursed video.” said Yakumo in disbelief.

Why can’t you just mention the item directly in the first place—thought Haruka in displeasure whilst taking out the DVD from her bag. “What is this?” asked Gotou.

“I told you about it yesterday, right? This is the aforementioned cursed video.” As soon as Yakumo said that, Ishii instantly screamed, “Eeek!” jumping out of his chair.

The next second, Gotou jabbed him and yelled, “Shut up!” causing Ishii to return to his chair dejectedly. “What did you say this was?” asked Gotou, picking up said DVD and observing it closely.

“A woman’s face appeared around the second half of this video. She might have passed away from an accident or the like. I’d like for you to try and identify that woman.” So that was how it was.

If they managed to discover the ghost’s identity, they’d be able to crack the mystery of this case. “Easy for you to say. How long do you think it takes to identify a person based on face alone?”

Gotou’s argument was spot on. To identify a person just by their face was extremely difficult to do.

“There is other information as well. It’s likely that she died near a railway crossing.” “Railway crossing?”

Gotou, who hadn’t watched the video, didn’t understand. Meanwhile, Haruka knew what he meant. In that video, the scene of a railway crossing repeatedly played. It appeared that the woman had tried to hint at the location of her death through that scene.

“Also, that woman’s name is Kana.” “Eh?” Haruka stood up in surprise.

How could Yakumo have known the name of the woman in that video? Her name shouldn’t have appeared anywhere. Haruka questioned that fact, yet Yakumo simply gave her a vague answer, “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Perhaps Yakumo had seen through the whole truth at this point, yet on the other hand, Haruka felt the mystery had only gone deeper. “What are we going to do after this?” Haruka asked Yakumo after Gotou and Ishii had gone home.

Sakamoto and Asami’s whereabouts were still unknown, and Haruka couldn’t even see any lead towards solving the case. Were the video truly imbued by a power of some sort, then Haruka who had watched it could fall into harm as well.

She had only just realised the fact and the thought made her shiver. “Actually, I intended to do this after further investigation, but we don’t have time.”

“What do you mean?” “Exactly as said. If things are left as they are, the two missing people might die.”

Haruka held her breath at the unexpected words coming from Yakumo. “C-can’t we prevent that from happening?”

“We’re making a move to prevent it, aren’t we?” “Ah, right...”

“That’s why, there’s something I want you to do,” said Yakumo, his lips forming a smile. Yet his eyes weren’t laughing at all.

Haruka felt an awfully terrible premonition— -

10 -

Haruka returned to the campus cafeteria. As she sat on one table, a woman approached her with hesitant steps.

It was Natsuki. Their meeting was no coincidence.

More precisely, Haruka had contacted her asking to meet. “Sorry for the suddenness,” said Haruka as she stood up.

“Not at all,” Natsuki replied weakly. Since their first meeting, Haruka had the impression that Natsuki was an incredibly fragile and seemingly unhappy woman.

Haruka ushered Natsuki to take a seat before returning to her own. “So, what do you want to talk about?” said Natsuki.

She appeared anxious, glancing at her surroundings several times. As if she didn’t want to be seen together with Haruka. “Truth is, I wanted to ask you about the cursed video.”

“I’ve told you what I know.” Natsuki’s voice became weaker than before.

Yakumo had requested Haruka to hear the story from Natsuki one more time. And it appeared that Yakumo’s calculation in choosing Natsuki as a target hadn’t been mistaken. “It’s nothing serious. I just wanted to confirm something,” said Haruka in a fabricated cheerful tone.

“About what?” said Natsuki, staring at Haruka. Natsuki gave her approval, but Haruka could clearly tell that she didn’t want Haruka to ask questions that pry too deeply.

Haruka felt sorry for her, but she couldn’t back down. “Natsuki-san, could it be that you actually know the identity of the woman in the video?”

As soon as Haruka said that, Natsuki’s face turned glum. Bingo!

So Yakumo’s prediction was right. “I don’t know,” Natsuki shook her head.

“Really?” “Yes.”

“That woman’s name is Kana-san. So? Do you remember now?” Haruka observed Natsuki’s face.

“How did you know Kana’s name?” Natsuki’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out. As it turned out, she wasn’t very good at lying. Her words just now were the same as admitting that she knew about her.

“So you do know her. Right?” Haruka emphasised the fact. Natsuki lowered her head without answering and went silent for some time.

She seemed to be putting her thoughts together as to how she should respond. Or she could be firming her resolve to say what she knew. Natsuki lifted her face and firmly said, “I don’t know.”

Her expression was filled with determination, as if her weak impression from earlier had been a mere illusion. “Eh?”

“I’m saying, I don’t know,” said Natsuki once more. “But you know her name.”

“My friend has the same name, so I thought you were talking about that friend of mine earlier, but I was mistaken.” Haruka didn’t know what had changed Natsuki, but her resolve was unwavering to the point that there was no room to break through.

“But...” “Is that all you wanted to talk about?” asked Natsuki.

“Ah, that...” Natsuki’s reaction had been utterly unexpected, Haruka had trouble answering.

“In that case, I’m going now,” said Natsuki firmly before she stood up and walked away. Haruka could only watch her in silence.

Just what sort of transformation had occurred within Natsuki? Why did she act hardened all of a sudden? Haruka tried to find a reason, but she couldn’t find one. As if something that she had nearly managed to grasp had slipped through the cracks of her hand.

Amidst her confusion, her phone rang. It was Yakumo—

“Hello?” <How was it?> asked Yakumo directly.

“It didn’t work out...” said Haruka, disappointed. <Did she say she didn’t know?>

“Yes. But there’s no mistaking that she knows something. I tried to pry further, but she immediately rejected it...” Haruka thought she was about to get scolded by Yakumo for failing to gain information.

To her surprise, Yakumo said, <I thought as much,> as if he had known the outcome from the start. Haruka felt dissatisfied as it was like she was being played with on the palm of Yakumo’s hands.

“Hey, did you know from the start that Natsuki-san would refuse to answer the question?” <I had thought that such an outcome was a possibility.>

To Haruka, Yakumo seemed to be making excuses to evade the question. Yakumo must be the type that wouldn’t get discovered even if he were to cheat. Well, not that Haruka knew whether Yakumo was the type to cheat—

“So, what now?” <I’d like for you to contact someone. Afterwards, we’ll meet up.>

The person he wanted to contact must be Makoto, a newspaper journalist. During the previous case, intel from Makoto had been the key to resolve the mystery. This time too, that had to be the case. “Who should I contact, and for what?” asked Haruka, and Yakumo elaborated his plan.

“Why do we have to do something like that?” said Haruka, unable to hide her surprise upon hearing Yakumo’s explanation. Even so, Yakumo dodged it with his favourite line, <You’ll find out soon enough—>

Haruka felt dissatisfied over a number of things, but Yakumo wouldn’t say a word even if Haruka cornered him with questions. Haruka could only respond with, “Understood.”

Yakumo hung up the call after briefly stating the location and timing of their meetup. Haruka’s back grew heavy.

As the person who brought this problem in the first place, she was in no position to complain. Still, she didn’t like being toyed around like this. However, would they be able to find Sakamoto and Asami’s whereabouts with this? While questioning that fact, Haruka stood up from her chair.

- 11

- “Woah...” Haruka reflexively exclaimed at the sight of the building.

This was the abandoned hospital that had become the shooting location. It was situated at the base of a small mountain, with no other buildings surrounding it. The building had four stories, with a portion of the walls already crumbled down, and the window panes broken. Its condition was comparable to buildings in war torn locations that she had seen in the news.

Could it be that the cursed video had something to do with what had unfolded in this place—if one were to think that, the building would appear like it was emanating a dark aura. According to Seiichi, there had long since been rumours about this place being haunted.

Putting aside whether the whole thing about human experimentation had been true, something had to have happened here. This was a place no human should enter. And yet, they had made this place their shooting location. As a result, the cursed video was born; it made sense to think about it that way. Why did Yakumo ask them to gather at a place like this? Not to mention after contacting that person—

“Yakumo-kun,” Haruka called out as she set foot in an area covered by weeds. However, there was no reply.

Has he not reached yet? Yakumo was logical when it came to solving the mystery of a case, yet for all else, he was rather lenient, including when it came to time. Well, that was typical of Yakumo, you could even say it was part of his charm.

Even so, Haruka felt uncomfortable having to wait alone at a place like this. Haruka continued walking and as she arrived at the hospital entrance, she shouted once more, “Hey! Yakumo-kun! You’re not here yet?”

As she thought, still no reply. I have no choice but to wait.

Just as she had that thought, she felt like she saw something move behind the entrance door. That wasn’t all, she also sensed that someone was watching her. Haruka then peered inside.

No light shone through and it was pitch black. Almost as if the opposite end was connected to another world. She briefly tried to adjust her eyes, yet nothing but darkness could be seen.

Perhaps I was mistaken. Haruka exhaled and turned her back to the entrance door.

The cursed video seemed to have caused her to overreact. She needed to calm herself down a little. Haruka tried to take long, deep breaths, but it didn’t help rid her of her restlessness.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard on the ground. Haruka’s shoulders jolted and she wanted to turn. Unfortunately for her, something was pulled over her head at that instant.

It appeared to be some kind of cloth bag. What?

She wanted to take it off, yet her hands were already restrained behind her back. “L-let go!” Haruka yelled with all her might. Mind-numbing fear invaded her, destroying her sense of reasoning. With great struggle, she twisted her body in an attempt to escape the hands that had captured her.

However, it was futile. Her opponent was much stronger and just like that, she was dragged away.

“Help me! Yakumo-kun!” Haruka screamed in desperation. Perhaps she was already dragged all the way into the hospital building. If this continued, she would get dragged somewhere where her screams wouldn’t be heard.

Haruka resisted once again, but the more she did, her muscles grew exhausted and she ran out of strength. Her legs could no longer hold and she ended up being carried while dragged away. Something dark gradually spread within Haruka’s heart. It was probably despair.

Please! Yakumo-kun! Haruka could only pray.

Unfortunately, her prayers weren’t answered. As they descended something that felt like a ramp, she finally felt the hand that had been restraining her release.

Just as she thought that she was freed at last, Haruka was shoved, falling towards the concrete floor reeking of dust. With great difficulty, Haruka tried to crawl to her escape, but her hair was yanked and she was dragged once again.

Her hands were pulled behind her, tied with something that seemed to be a rope. At this stage, she couldn’t make an escape anymore.

It’s impossible now, she thought. Instinctively, her tear glands came loose and tears began to fall.

Never would she have dreamed that one day she’d be tied up like this without knowing anything. Am I going to be killed? If only I had known, I would’ve done many more things. There are people I wanted to see. Things I wanted to talk about.

Yakumo-kun. Haruka called out to that name in her heart.

“That’s enough.” The voice of salvation.

The voice Haruka had been waiting for from the depths of her heart. Yakumo’s voice.

The person who had tied Haruka up went and ran. “Gotou-san! Ishii-san! Don’t let that person escape!” yelled Yakumo.

“Wait!” “Let go! Damn it!”

“Stop resisting!” Groans and brawling noises could be heard.

Haruka, whose face was covered by a cloth bag, had no clue on what was going on. Moments later, with the sound of Gotou screaming, “Take this!” the atmosphere went silent.

“Are you alright?” Yakumo’s voice whispered.

Slowly, Haruka straightened her body and nodded. Then, the bag covering her face was removed. What came to her sight was Yakumo’s face.

“This isn’t a dream, right…?” said Haruka with a sob. Yakumo’s lips formed a little smile and replied, “Yes.”

If only she wasn’t tied up, perhaps Haruka would already be hugging Yakumo by now. “I wanted to come earlier, but ended up being rather late. I’m sorry.” Yakumo said in an unusually gentle voice as he placed a hand on Haruka’s head.

That gesture made Haruka’s heart, once closed up and frozen from fear, overtaken with relief that her tears began to flow once more. I was able to meet Yakumo.

“I’m going to untie the rope now,” said Yakumo before turning to Haruka’s back and removing the rope. Once her hands were freed, Haruka immediately felt fatigue all over her body. She finally had a chance to examine her surroundings.

Haruka turned to find people she recognised, Gotou and Ishii. They were standing at a distance from each other. On the bottom of their feet, a man was lying down with a bleeding nose. He must have gotten punched by Gotou.

There was no mistaking it, that person had to be the one who had assaulted Haruka. Haruka recognised the man’s face. He was—

“That’s right. He’s the mastermind behind this case,” said Yakumo, as if reading Haruka’s thoughts. -

12 -

“What’s the meaning of this?” Haruka approached Yakumo as she stood up.

Lying there was Daichi, a member of the movie circle that they had met at the campus cafeteria. Truth to be told, Haruka didn’t know much about him. Hence, she didn’t understand why he had attacked her at all. On top of that, Yakumo had said he was the mastermind of this case. In other words, not just the cursed video, he also had an involvement in Sakamoto and Asami’s disappearance.

“To explain that, we first need to clarify who the person in the cursed video was.” Yakumo slowly walked and stopped in front of Daichi.

Looking at Daichi from above, his gaze was incredibly cold that it scared Haruka, who was merely a witness. “Who?” asked Haruka.

Yakumo turned towards Ishii and said in a low voice, “Please.” Ishii nodded firmly before turning to Haruka.

“The woman in that video was Sawaki Kana-san.” Hearing the name, Haruka turned in Yakumo’s direction.

Kana had been the name of the woman Yakumo had requested for Ishii and Gotou to investigate. The question that had been on her mind back then resurfaced. “How did you know her name?”

“I told you, didn’t I? The video had a powerful message,” said Yakumo as if the answer was obvious, yet Haruka didn’t understand at all. Haruka emphasised that fact, and Yakumo sighed with an exaggerated gesture of disbelief before saying, “There was a noise that frequently appeared in that video, right?”

“Yes.” “You wouldn’t be able to tell from watching it casually, but with closer inspection, whenever the noise appeared, a set of letters briefly flashed on screen.”

Haruka didn’t realise that at all. Now that she thought about it, Yakumo had inspected the video several times. As it turned out, he had done so to confirm the letters that had flashed on screen.

“So the letters that appeared spelled Kana?” “Yes. Simply put, it was subliminal stimuli capable of engaging with one’s subconsciousness.”

“Is that so…” Yakumo must have felt something was off after watching it once. Hence, he had it replayed several times and had managed to discover the hidden letters.

“Kana-san passed away in the fall of last year,” interrupted Ishii. “Passed away...”

Haruka could imagine that was the case from the flow of the conversation, but upon being presented by the reality of it, her head began to hurt. Ishii took out his memo and began reading, “The cause of death was alcohol poisoning. Someone made a report of a woman lying on the street, but when the ambulance came she was pronounced dead on the scene.”

“How could that be…?” “That day, Kana-san attended her campus circle meeting and drank. Afterwards, the other circle members wanted to go for a second round, but Kana-san chose to go home. However, she collapsed on the way,” said Ishii with a pensive look on his face.

“Is that so...” “She collapsed alone on an empty street, so she wasn’t discovered in time. A really tragic accident.”

“I’ve said this many times, but the video had a powerful message—” said Yakumo calmly. “The railway crossing, alarm sounds, red warning lights. All of these indicated the location where Kana-san had passed.” “I see...”

“Besides that, Kana-san’s name was embedded through subliminal stimuli, and an image of her body was displayed. These carried a message: remember her death.” So that was how it was.

When Haruka had seen it for the first time, she merely thought it had been a series of terrifying images, but the video turned out to have a clear message. She understood that now, yet at the same time, something didn’t make sense to her.

“Don’t tell me, the video wasn’t cursed, but deliberately made by someone?” asked Haruka, to which Yakumo responded with a nod. “That’s right. The person who made it was none other than—him.”

Yakumo pointed at Daichi who was lying on the ground. “Why?” Haruka couldn’t understand why Daichi would do such a thing.

“Out of revenge,” said Yakumo, closing his eyes solemnly. “Revenge?”

“Yes. It’s a possibility that he and Kana-san were lovers.” Yakumo looked at Daichi once again.

“How do you know that?” “I said it was a possibility. Nothing more than my own assumption. Well, not that I don’t have any basis for it. According to Gotou-san’s investigation, they both came from the same high school. Perhaps they had been in a relationship since way back.”

“But, just based on that…” “Of course, I couldn’t draw a conclusion just based on that. However, if their relationship weren’t that close, he wouldn’t have gone as far as planning an entire act of revenge, right?” said Yakumo smoothly.

He had a look on his face as if he had known everything, yet Haruka still didn’t understand. “How could making that video become an act of revenge?”

“Not just the video. He was also the one who abducted Sakamoto-san and Fujimoto-san.” “Why did he abduct them?” asked Haruka.

Yakumo shuffled his hair in annoyance. “I think it’s about time that you speak for yourself. You’ve woken up, right?” said Yakumo, and Daichi slowly stood up. He didn’t try to run nor resist.

Perhaps he had already given up. “What…tragic accident….?” Daichi spoke, forcing his voice out.

The hoarseness in his voice, as if at the edge between life and death, carried with them an intense feeling of vengeance. “Eh?”

“Kana was murdered,” Daichi opened his eyes wide and stared at Haruka. His eyes glinted like that of a ferocious beast intimidating its opponent.

“But, just now...” As Haruka said that, Daichi immediately cut her off, “Wrong! Kana couldn’t drink alcohol. Yet Sakamoto and the others forced Kana to drink during the campus festival afterparty. In the end, they went for a second round and abandoned Kana, so heavily drunk that she couldn’t walk by herself, all alone.”

“T-that’s…” Haruka reflexively covered her mouth with her hand. She had often heard stories of university students getting drunk and even developing alcohol poisoning.

If those involved had drank out of their own volition, they had it coming for themselves. But it would be a much bigger problem if it had happened out of being forced to drink. New regulations have been made recently, and establishments also began having signs recommending not to drink too much in a short period of time and not to force oneself to drink.

Despite those efforts, it didn’t mean that instances of people drinking excessive amounts of alcohol become completely eradicated. Had Kana been one such victim?

Besides, if she really had been abandoned after being forced to drink, that would have been the same as murder, as Daichi had claimed. By law, the offenders should have been prosecuted for charges of causing death by negligence in duty of care.

“Kana was passionate about film and wanted to work in the film industry later on. And those people...took her dream away…” said Daichi. Tears dripped from his eyes. Judging from his reaction, Yakumo’s prediction seemed to be on the mark. Daichi and Kana had a special relationship going on.

Regardless of what sort of relationship, the two must have thought that their time together would continue on forever. Yet one day, their dreams were destroyed without warning—

“That night, amidst her drifting consciousness, Kana called me. I couldn’t decipher what she was saying at all because the railway crossing sounds were incredibly noisy. I asked her where she was, but she didn’t answer…Carrying my phone with me, I frantically searched everywhere I could. But I couldn’t find her...all the while I could hear Kana’s breaths getting weaker and weaker. Do you know how helpless I felt, unable to do anything as I listened to Kana’s final moments before she died?” spilled Daichi as he wailed. Sobbing, shoulders trembling, he wept without wiping away his tears.

Haruka was at a loss for words. She couldn’t find anything to say to Daichi.

“Please tell me one thing,” said Yakumo, watching the crying Daichi from above. Daichi looked up with tear filled eyes.

“What made you choose to go on such a roundabout method like this?“ Yakumo’s question made sense.

Why had Daichi gone about shooting a cursed video with a message, then had it shown to Sakamoto and the rest? “I wanted them to remember Kana, reflect on themselves, and suffer because of it...” Daichi dropped his shoulders listlessly.

So that was how it was. Daichi’s goal was to make them feel remorse by reminding them of their actions through that video.

And yet— “If so, why did you abduct Sakamoto-san and Asami?” asked Haruka.

Daichi’s actions contradicted his words. “Those people still didn’t remember anything even after watching that video. They acted as if those things never happened. So...” Daichi curled his fists tightly.

Hearing his words, Haruka recalled the time when Asami had first approached her to discuss this case. Asami had been terrified and had felt creeped out, but she hadn’t realised the hidden message within the video.

If she had realised it, then she shouldn’t have discussed it with Haruka. While the problem lied in Daichi who wanted to seek revenge, when thinking about Sakamoto and Asami who refused to look back even though someone had died because of their actions…Haruka grew chills until her back froze.

Could humans really become so indifferent towards other people as to reach such a point? Haruka felt like she would never be able to comprehend it.

Even so— “Even if that were the case, I still think it’s wrong for you to kill them,” stressed Haruka.

Yakumo shook his head in disbelief. “Don’t go on killing them on your own,” he said. However, from the flow of the conversation, Haruka felt it was understandable for her to interpret things that way.

“So, where are they?” asked Yakumo. Daichi pointed at a metal door across the corridor.

“Gotou-san,” called Yakumo, and Gotou replied, “On it,” before moving to remove the plank holding the door and forcefully opening it. Lying there were Sakamoto and Asami.

The two were in a state of being restrained; both were tied up with ropes with their mouths gagged up. Their bodies weren’t moving and their condition appeared concerning. Gotou quickly came closer to check on them.

“It’s alright. They’re merely passed out,” said Gotou, lifting his thumb. Haruka felt relieved, but on the other hand, she didn’t understand.

“Why did you lock them up in a place like this?” “You wanted them to understand—don’t you?” Yakumo glanced at Daichi, and Daichi nodded.

“Wanted them to understand?” “Yes. He wanted them to know how it feels like awaiting death in the darkness, all alone, unable to move their bodies.”

“Is that so—” Haruka bit her lips and hung her head.

Daichi’s actions were unforgivable, but that didn’t mean Haruka couldn’t understand his feelings of wanting the two to experience Kana’s suffering even if just a bit. “There is one thing I have to tell you,” said Yakumo to Daichi in a formal tone.

“Eh?” With a surprised look on his face, Daichi turned towards Yakumo. “Ishii-san,” Yakumo gave a sign to Ishii to take something out, and Ishii took out an IC recorder from his pocket.

Yakumo took the IC recorder from Ishii and handed it to Daichi. Daichi was left dumbfounded.

Yakumo began to explain, “There was a strange audio interweaving with the noise in that video. This is the result of extracting that audio with the help of a mixer.” Confused, Daichi pressed the play button on the IC recorder.

Amidst the static noise akin to pouring rain, a woman’s voice could be heard. <Daichi. Please...stop it already.>

Haruka remembered that voice. The same voice she had heard when she had watched the cursed video in the library.

“This is Kana-san’s wish.” “I…” Daichi’s voice choked.

“There’s one more message from Kana-san. Don’t forget about me, okay?—was what she said.” As soon as Yakumo finished his sentence, Daichi wept as he clutched the IC recorder. The sound of his cries felt like they could chip at the spirits of anyone who heard it.

- 13

- Haruka stood in front of the abandoned hospital, watching as a patrol car and an ambulance drove away.

The patrol car took Daichi with them. While the ambulance carried Sakamoto and Asami who had been rescued. Luckily, while their conditions were weakened, their lives weren’t threatened.

With this, it’s all over, Haruka thought, before realising there were more things left unanswered. “Hey, how did you know to suspect Daichi-san?”

She had no idea since when had Yakumo begun suspecting Daichi. “Simple enough. When Sakamoto-san and Fujimoto-san were abducted, their doors were unlocked. Why was that so?”

“Why?” “Because they had opened it willingly. Someone they knew came to visit, so they opened the door and invited the person inside.”

“What do you mean?” “When Fujimoto-san called you that night, she was shaken because of the ghost problem and Sakamoto-san’s disappearance. She must have had her guard up, so strangers or other people unaware of the situation wouldn’t be allowed inside.”

“I see. Meanwhile, Daichi-san was in the same circle and knew about the spiritual phenomenon.” “Pretty much. Well, not that I had known from the start that he was the culprit, but I had already suspected that the culprit had to be someone from within the circle. That was the reason why I had them gathered at that time.”

He must have been referring to their gathering in the campus cafeteria. “So, Daichi-san was acting suspicious by then?”

“That’s right. When talking about whether he had seen a ghost or not, his answer was vague. Said answer was only told after he had deliberated what kind of answer would be able to fool us.” So that was how it was.

Haruka was nearly convinced, but there was something else she didn’t understand. “So the ghost was Kana-san after all?”

“No.” “But Sakamoto-san and Asami saw a ghost.”

“Someone else was pretending to be a ghost.” “Pretending to be a ghost?”

“Don’t you know?” “I don’t know at all,” said Haruka firmly.

“Don’t boast about something like that,” scolded Yakumo. “Who did I ask you to deliver a message to?” “Natsuki-san.”

Before going to the abandoned hospital, she had sent a message to Natsuki per Yakumo’s instructions, saying, <We found a clue that may lead to Sakamoto-san and Asami’s whereabouts, so we’re heading to the location where the video was shot.> “As a result, he attacked you.”

“By that, you mean…” “Yes. He and Natsuki-san were working together.”

“Why?” “We better ask the person directly. You’re there, right?” Yakumo called.

Natsuki slowly walked out from behind the hospital building. Her face was pale and she looked exhausted. “We were friends...” said Natsuki weakly.

“Natsuki-san.” “Kana was my closest friend. I too attended the same event that night. Sakamoto-san and Asami forced Kana to drink sake…I saw it happen, yet I couldn’t stop them...”

Natsuki closed her eyes shut in frustration. The anger building up within her seemed to be directed at herself.

“Even when we were about to go for a second round, I wanted to go home with Kana because I saw that she couldn’t stand properly anymore, yet Sakamoto-san insisted on leaving her be, and we left her...” “Don’t blame yourself like that,” said Haruka, placing her hand on Natsuki’s shoulder.

“How can I not blame myself? That was why, to redeem myself, I told Daichi-kun the truth.” “Afterwards, the two of you orchestrated this plan,” said Yakumo, and Natsuki nodded in return.

Haruka understood the gist of the events that had followed without further explanation. The ghost that had shown itself to Sakamoto and Asami had been Natsuki pretending to be one. With those methods, they had tried to remind Sakamoto and Asami about their mistakes.

Natsuki, who had panicked after seeing the message from Haruka, had discussed it with Daichi. Daichi had then attacked Haruka to prevent their plans from getting discovered. They hadn’t intended to kill, but perhaps they had wanted to lock Haruka in the same place until Sakamoto and Asami repented.

“What are you going to do after this?” asked Yakumo. Natsuki lifted her face. She had a refreshing expression, as if all her doubts had vanished.

“I was wrong. This method will never be able to redeem my mistake. Of course, I’m going to confess about what I have done, and about the events of that day to the police.” “If that’s the conclusion you’ve reached—” said Yakumo.

Natsuki bowed deeply to Yakumo before walking away. This time, everything is truly over—or so Haruka thought, but she reconsidered.

To Daichi nor Natsuki, nothing was over yet. Haruka, too, as someone who had been involved, needed to witness this case to the end. That was how she felt. Yakumo slowly walked away.

Haruka followed after him when a question suddenly appeared in her mind. “Hey. Why did Kana-san call Daichi-san on the brink of her death?”

Her life had been in danger. Why hadn’t she thought of calling an ambulance? “When humans realise they’re at death’s door, they may have the desire to be rescued, but at the same time, they wish to rely on those dear to them.”

“I suppose you’re right...” Even when she had been attacked by Daichi, within her heart, Haruka hadn’t been thinking about contacting the police nor an ambulance, instead seeking help from someone else.

Her face heated up at the memory. “What are you spacing out for? Come on, let’s go.”

Disregarding Haruka’s feelings, Yakumo briskly walked away. “Wait for me!”

Haruka could only bury her feelings and ran after Yakumo. -

Translation Notes [1] Yutori Seidai (ゆとり世代）’Laid back generation’, a term to describe the Japanese people who went to elementary and middle school between the 1980s and early 2000s, in which the education at that time focused on creative development and self learning, such that the generation was claimed to be less competitive.

#shinrei tantei yakumo #psychic detective yakumo #shinrei tantei yakumo translation #psychic detective yakumo translation #yakumo saitou #saitou yakumo #manabu kaminaga

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justagalwhowrites · 1 year ago

Text

Lavender - Ch. 39

You, Joel and Ellie find a familiar face. A continuation of Lavender Ch. 1-38 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: Allusion to SA (not described.) No use of Y/N. Minors DNI, 18+ only.

Length: 4.5k

“Why can’t your nose be 12 inches long?”

Ellie was walking backwards, her small hands looped through the straps of her backpack, looking very pleased with herself.

“Please no,” Joel sighed.

“I don’t know,” you smiled. “Why can’t your nose be 12 inches long?”

“Because then it would be a foot!”

Joel groaned, you laughed, Ellie damn near cackled.

“Surprised you even know how many inches are in a foot after goin’ through FEDRA school,” Joel muttered, but he smiled a bit.

“Hey!” You said. “I resent that!”

“Yeah, Doc, we all know you were the only teacher there who gave a shit,” Ellie smirked. “You’re the only reason any of us know there are 12 inches in a foot.”

“Good thing you were my favorite student or you still wouldn’t know,” you teased. “I kept that information pretty close to the chest…”

You thought you were getting close to the radio tower. Or at least, where you thought the radio tower was, anyway. It was pretty hard to tell.

You hadn’t been on a road in a while, just walking in the general direction you needed to go. There hadn’t been another person since you’d had to stabbed a raider in the leg and Joel had killed him.

The thought still made your stomach turn. You’d stabbed multiple people now. Not that you’d had much choice in the matter - one was trying to choke you to death, the other made it clear that he wasn’t going to let you pass without what he saw as fair payment. It certainly hadn’t been payment you wanted to give and it definitely wasn’t something Joel would have allowed. And who knows if it would have stopped with you. With Ellie there, you couldn’t risk it. The men had to die. You just hated being a part of it.

But Ellie made it worthwhile. Killing for her, you could justify that. You could justify a lot for that kid. The next night, when you’d found a place to camp and Joel had gone to gather firewood while you and Ellie got things set for the night, she stood beside you, staring at your feet.

“What’s up, Gremlin?” You asked as you set out your sleeping bag.

“Yesterday,” she said, pausing for a moment.

“What about it?” You asked when she didn’t continue, trying to sound normal even though your stomach was clenched tight.

“I didn’t really get the pill thing until yesterday,” she glanced up at you before looking back at your feet. “And… Well thanks. For getting them for me and making sure I haven’t needed them…”

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” you brushed her hair back, your thumb against her temple. “But we’re going to do everything we can to make sure you never need them. OK?”

“OK,” she turned to go back to her pack before turning to you again. “Something like that happened to you before, didn’t it?”

You looked at her for a moment.

“That’s not something you need to worry about,” you said, going into your bag for jerky. She frowned. “I mean it. That’s not what needs to be on your mind. OK?”

She looked at you a second longer before nodding once, going back to her own pack.

She didn’t talk about it again.

“That’s OK, Doc,” Ellie said, turning around and facing forward again. You caught a glimpse of her smug smile as she did. “It doesn’t matter how much you push the envelope. It will always be stationary.”

You laughed and Joel groaned before stopping, frowning at something on the horizon. You tried to follow where he was looking.

“Is that…” You frowned, too.

“Smoke,” he finished for you. “We head that way, see if we can’t find someone who knows where the fuck we are.” He looked to you and Ellie. “You two are gonna hang back until I figure out who we’re dealin’ with. Got it?”

“Ugh, you never let me do anything fun,” Ellie sighed dramatically, throwing her head back to look at the sky.

“Let you say all the puns you want,” Joel replied. “Haven’t strangled you yet, seems like enough fun to me…”

“That is pretty fun,” she agreed. Joel adjusted your path and you and Ellie followed him.

“Hey Joel?” Ellie asked. “Why did the scarecrow get an award?”

Joel sighed. She leaned toward him eagerly, waiting for him to give in.

“Because he was outstanding in his field?” Joel asked wryly.

Ellie gaped at him.

“Are you shitting me!” She ran around to the front of him and started walking backwards again. “Did you read the book? How did you know that?”

“You’re gonna hurt yourself, walkin’ like that,” he smiled a little as he said it, voice gruff.

“Such a dick,” Ellie muttered, going to walk next to you, shaking her head and smiling as she did.

The smoke was coming from a small cabin, all on its own. Joel drew his pistol, putting his arm out as you approached, not letting you leave the tree line.

“Stay out here,” he ordered, looking at both of you. “I mean it.”

“Fine,” Ellie sighed. “You get to do all the cool stuff….”

Joel just shook his head, ignoring her, before heading down to the cabin.

You were happy to obey for a while, until you saw a man approaching the cabin with an animal carcass over one shoulder and a gun over the other.

“Shit,” you said, glancing at Ellie, who had nestled herself into some tree roots with a comic book from her pack. “If I tell you that you have to stay here, will you actually stay here?”

“No,” she closed the comic and stood up, getting her pack on.

You sighed.

“Of course not. Alright,” you said. “Let’s go.”

You crept down the hill to the cabin and peered in through a window to see Joel, talking to an older couple. His gun was drawn. You rolled your eyes. Because of course he has them at gun point. You fell back.

“He’s fine,” you whispered, nudging Ellie back toward the fence.

“Aw man!” She said. “Let’s just go inside…”

“No.”

You started back toward the fence but she ducked around you and threw open the door.

“Ellie!” You followed behind her, Joel glaring at the both of you as you burst into the small living space. “Hi.”

“Told you to wait outside,” he growled.

“Didn’t want to leave you outnumbered,” Ellie said, standing up straight, chin high. “In case one of these fuckers tried something.”

“Ho-ly,” the man laughed. “Didn’t know you were traveling with a little firecracker. With these two, you really just want to go back east. Don’t want to risk it.”

“Don’t want to risk what?” She asked.

“Ellie,” Joel shot her a look.

“The folks on the other side of the river,” the man said. “Haven’t met them, just seen what they leave behind. It’s nothing good.”

You frowned, glancing at Joel. He looked almost sick.

“They might just be protecting something,” you said, looking at him. “Think about it, about Tommy…”

“Go that way and you won’t come back,” the man said.

“You can’t scare us,” Ellie rolled her eyes. “We’ve been through worse than whatever’s out there…”

“Scared him plenty,” the man nodded at Joel.

“Let’s go,” Joel said, heading for the door and stomping out into the snow. You watched him leave for a second.

“I’m sorry for…” you looked at the door again and back to the couple. “All of that. He’s… we’ve been on the road a bit. He’s stressed.”

“Don’t go past the river,” the man said. “Or stressed will be the least of your problems.”

You followed Joel out of the house, pulling Ellie along behind you, only to find him holding onto a fence post outside. You frowned, slipping a hand up his back. He startled for a second.

“Woah,” Ellie, frowned, coming up the other side of him. “Are you having a heart attack? You can’t die on us, Joel, because we’re not going to make it across the river of fucking death if you’re dead…”

You pulled a glove off and pressed your fingers to the base of his neck, taking his pulse.

“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “Just shock of the cold air….”

You looked him over for a moment.

“Real quick, Joel,” you said, fingers still at his pulse point. “Tell me the textures of five things you can see…” He looked at you like you were insane. “Come on, textures, five things.”

He winced for a second before looking out at the snow, taking a shaky breath.

“Snow is wet,” he muttered. “Fence is rough. You’re soft…”

His heart rate was easing.

“Give me two more,” you said, glancing around. “That deer skin there, what about it?”

“That’s coarse,” he said standing up a little straighter.

“Ellie’s boots?” You asked. He looked down at the rubber coated snow boots.

“Smooth,” he said.

Your fingers were still on his pulse point. It has eased quite a bit.

“Good,” you took your fingers away.

“So he’s not having a fucking heart attack?” Ellie asked.

“Nope,” you replied. “No heart attack.”

“Thank fuck,” Ellie muttered, starting up the hill. “Because still have to get through the river of fucking death and hope that we don’t end up as some of the death.”

***

Joel wasn’t sure what the fuck made him feel like he was about to drop dead but he was ready to make sure he never felt it again.

He let Ellie get a bit ahead of them before he looked at you, walking beside him.

“What…” he paused, not liking that he needed to ask you questions like this. “What was that?”

“That was a panic attack,” you replied.

“Jesus,” He muttered. “Felt like I was fuckin’ dying…”

“Yeah, they do that,” you replied.

He glanced down at you before looking forward again.

“They feel like that for you?” He asked.

“Pretty much,” you shrugged. “You came down from it pretty quick, which is good. I can teach you some ways to pull yourself out of them.”

“They work?” He asked.

You shrugged again.

“Usually,” you said. “I haven’t had a bad one in a while.”

He nodded slowly.

“It’ll be OK, Joel,” you said, your hand on his back, grounding him. “It’ll be OK.”

He tried not to think about it. About the way his head had decided to just cripple him. He hadn’t been able to fucking move, hadn’t been able to fucking think. What if someone tried to attack you then? If the man inside had decided to start shooting? What if it happened when there were infected or raiders or even just a goddamn bear? You’d be stuck trying to protect him and Ellie. He’d get you killed. He’d get you all fucking killed.

His chest got tight.

“Getting late,” he said as the three of you came up on a vantage point, looking down at the valley below. “Should wait for tomorrow to cross, make sure we have light.”

There were caves not far from the river - ones that, thankfully, didn’t look to be regularly visited by people. Something Joel was on the lookout for even more now after the cabin.

“Have to set watches tonight,” his jaw was set. “Especially with a fire…”

“I’ll take first,” you said. He went to argue but you cut him off. “Joel, trust me. I’ll take first.”

He nodded, looking back into the fire, trying not to think about the fact that you were trying to protect him when he should be protecting you.

“So,” Ellie said, her arms looped around her knees. “We’re getting close to where we think these firefly guys are…” She looked between the two of you for a moment. “What do we do after that? You know, once they take all my blood and do whatever shit Doc is going to make them do with it. Then what?”

Joel looked at you for a moment. You shrugged.

“I’ll probably be stuck with them for a bit,” you said. “Helping to do research, see if what I learned so far is applicable to anything with your blood…”

“OK but if you don’t have to do that,” Ellie said. “What would you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” you frowned a little. “I haven’t thought about life that way in… well 20 years, at least. If the sky was the limit, I always wanted to live in France…”

“Don’t they speak fucking French in France?” Ellie frowned.

“Oui,” you smiled. “Et je parle Français aussi.”

“Oh shit,” Ellie nodded. “Look at Doc!”

“Pretty moot point now,” you shrugged. “Can’t exactly make it to Paris. And not a lot of French speakers here, so it ended up being a pretty useless skill but… I like to think there’s a version of me out there in the universe who’s drinking coffee at a cafe in France right now.”

“Well there’s that Eiffel Tower in Vegas that’s probably still standing,” Joel shrugged. “Could head there.”

You laughed a little.

“Something tells me it lacks the allure that it had before the world ended.”

“What about you?” Ellie looked to Joel.

“I’m goin’ wherever she’s goin’,” he shrugged.

“Ugh, that’s so lame,” Ellie rolled her eyes. You smiled. He shrugged again. “OK if she’s going wherever you’re going, where are you going?”

Joel sighed, thinking for a moment.

Like you, he hadn’t thought about life this way in years. Even longer than 20 years. He’d put all his wants and needs on the back burner some 33 years ago and what he wanted then was very different than what he wanted now. After 20 years of hell, he just wanted peace. Quiet. Something to call his own.

“Probably a farm,” he shrugged. “Some land somewhere. Some place no one is going to bother me.”

“Farming what?” She asked.

He sighed.

“I don’t know, never thought about it.”

She kept looking at him, expecting an answer. He sighed again.

“Sheep.”

“Sheep?” She giggled.

“Sheep,” he replied. “They’re quiet. Don’t say bad puns all the time…”

“You love my puns,” she smirked.

“What about you?” You asked. “I mean obviously I’m just going to drag you along with me wherever I go until you’re old enough to fight me off but…”

Ellie smiled at that.

“Anywhere?” She asked. You nodded. “I’d go up.”

You smiled and nodded but Joel frowned.

“Up.”

“Up,” Ellie repeated. He raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t have many other places to want to go from inside the QZ, it was all walls and water and it’s not like I got to see anywhere else so I just looked up. It’s why I got to know Doc, I read everything in the school library and it wasn’t enough and my friend… She told me to see Doc about it, said she’d find stuff for me.”

“Did she?” Joel looked at you. You were looking at your lap, embarrassed, but smiling a little.

“Oh yeah,” Ellie smiled. “I read about fucking everything. There’s a probe that’s out past Pluto now, did you know that? We sent something outside of the fucking solar system. It’s probably still trying to send signals back to NASA because it’s a billion miles away and doesn’t know about fucking infected.

“But the astronauts were the best. People who left the planet? So fucking cool. They were all fucking cool but know who the best one was?”

“Sally Ride?” Joel smiled a little.

“Sally fuckin’ Ride,” Ellie nodded. “Coolest astronaut name ever. So yeah. I just… I’ll go up.”

Joel looked up at the stars as he tried to settle enough to sleep, trying not to think of you keeping watch, looking out for him because he needed protection. Because he seemed bound and fucking determined to find new ways to fail you.

It was daylight when he woke up, you asleep at his side, Ellie standing with the gun. He shot up.

“I insisted,” she smiled, a little proud. “Woke up right when Doc was about to get you up and talked her into it.”

“Should have let her,” he growled. “You can’t just…”

“Oh but I did,” she said. “And no one died. Look at that.”

He ground his teeth.

The three of you made it over the river without incident, Ellie thoroughly unimpressed with the “river of death.”

“Haven’t seen any people,” she said. “Not even an infected to try to use for target practice. It’s kind of a let down, I was expecting better…”

“You’re going to jinx us, Gremlin,” you warned.

“Jinx sminx,” she said cheerfully.

The walk was almost too easy. It set Joel on edge, his eyes constantly scanning the horizon and watching for the inevitable. It couldn’t be this fucking easy.

“You know, I was stayed up all night wondering where the sun went,” Ellie said. “And then it dawned on me.”

You laughed and Joel sighed. You smiled at him and he couldn’t help but smile a little back. When you were happy, it seemed to spill out of you and he wanted to devour it. He wasn’t sure how to get there on his own anymore, he couldn’t remember the last time he was happy on his own. But you were there. You could guide him to it, surround him in it, crack him open so he could soak it up. That was the way of you.

“Dam,” Ellie smirked a little, standing and looking down at the water below.

Joel smiled a little.

“You’re no Will Livingston,” he said.

“Well who is?” She replied. “So that made electricity?”

“Yeah,” he said. She opened her mouth and he cut her off. “Ask the science teacher, kid, not me.”

“OK Doc,” she said. “Science for us!”

You laughed a little.

“Basically, water moves through the dam and pushes a turbine that generates energy,” you said. “But I’d like to remind you both that I’m a biologist, not a physicist. You want me putting your organs back in your body, not making a building.”

“Or running a dam?” Ellie teased.

“Or running a dam,” you replied before you frowned. “It looks like it’s in really good shape, though. I’m surprised it held up that well, especially with the temperature swings you get in this part of the country… It looks like it’s still running…”

Your frown deepened, stepping closer to the edge of the overlook the three of you were standing on. Joel reached out and took your wrist, instinctively holding you back.

“How would it still be running,” you said, almost to yourself.

“Guys?” Ellie said. “What if this is the river of death?”

You looked at Joel.

“We should move,” he said.

You didn’t make it far.

He heard them before he saw them, about a dozen riders on horseback, cresting a hill and running for you.

“Behind me!” Joel grabbed you and Ellie, putting you both behind him, looking over his shoulder. You were behind Ellie, your back against hers as the riders circled you, your arms looped through hers. Joel’s hands went up.

“Joel,” you looked back at him. Your eyes were wide.

“I’ll talk,” he said. “Just stay back…”

You were fully circled now. But no one was shooting yet. No one was even pointing a gun at you yet. A good enough sign.

“Ain’t lookin’ for trouble,” Joel said. “Just passin’ through, headed west…”

“Drop the gun,” one of the riders ordered. “Anything the girls are carryin’ too.”

Joel looked back at you and gave you a nod. You took your gun from its holster and dropped it on the ground, keeping your arms back around Ellie as much as you could. Joel slid the rifle from over his arm and put it down.

“You two,” the man who spoke before said. “The girls. Take five steps back, in opposite directions…”

Joel looked back to you and you looked at him before you crossed to his right, Ellie to his left. Your hands were up and you glanced his way, eyes wide and pleading. He knew what you wanted to do. He gave you a look, one that he was sure you were about to fucking ignore.

“We can talk this through,” Joel began.

“No, we can’t,” the man snapped.

“Yes we can,” you said quickly. Joel groaned. Of course you were going to fucking ignore him. “I’m a doctor, I have some medications with me. I can provide medical care for you or any of your people…”

“Won’t do us any good if you’re infected, will it?” The man said. “Been near any infected?”

“Ain’t any out here,” Joel said.

“The hell there ain’t,” the man replied before whistling. A dog - big, at least part German Shepherd by the looks of it - came forward. “You’re infected? He’ll smell it. Rip you to pieces. Last chance to go with some dignity.”

Joel looked to Ellie. Her eyes were wide. The man whistled again.

The dog went for him first, smelling him and moving on to you. You were looking at him, panic in your eyes. You didn’t know what the fuck to do either. Joel tried to think, come up with some kind of plan, something to at least get you and Ellie out of there in one piece. If he could get to the gun he could maybe shoot the dog but that’d likely just get all three of you killed. He could try taking down as many of the riders as possible while the two of you ran for it but there was no way in hell you could out run people on horseback.

The dog was satisfied with you and trotted to Ellie. He was out of time. His heart was pounding, his stomach in knots and he could only watch as… the dog started licking Ellie. She giggled and got down on the ground with it, scratching behind its ears.

“Hi there!” She let it lick her face. Joel looked at you and saw you relax.

“So what the fuck is a doctor doing all the way out here?” The man snapped.

“Lookin’ for my brother,” Joel said. “That’s all.”

“I’m happy to take a look at anyone who needs it,” you said, glancing at Joel again. “Then we will move on, we don’t want any trouble, we’re just looking for his brother.”

A woman came forward, her eyes narrowed at Joel over the handkerchief covering most of her face.

“What’s your name?” She asked, voice sharp.

He looked at you before he answered.

“Joel.”

***

“Why’s Joel get his own horse?” Ellie muttered.

“Because you’ve never ridden a horse,” you replied.

“Can’t be that hard,” she said.

You smiled.

“Just sit tight,” you said. “I think we’re almost there.”

There was a wall, looming on the horizon and it seemed like you were being led right for it.

The woman hadn’t given you much of any context but you were trying to not get your hopes up. You hoped she reacted that way because she knew Tommy and that Tommy had talked about Joel. They looked enough alike, Joel was an unusual enough name, that might be all it took to get her to want to bring you into town.

You hoped that meant he was still alive.

You weren’t sure what to do about Tommy if he was there. Your mind had been plenty happy to not really think about it, putting it off until it would actually be an issue.

Tommy had been one of your best friends before he left. He was the person you were closest to outside of Andrew and Jess. But he’d set a bomb. He’d killed dozens of people. He’d almost killed you.

But it was Tommy.

And that was before considering the fact that, the last time you’d seen Tommy you’d been sleeping with him and now you were back together with Joel.

“Think they know Tommy?” Ellie asked quietly.

“Not sure,” you replied.

“Do you think Joel will be OK if they don’t?” She looked back at you over her shoulder from her place tucked against your torso. You gave her a little squeeze with your arms, keeping your grip on the reins.

“We’ll make sure he is,” you said.

The front gate loomed and creaked open as you approached, at least 25 feet tall. Whatever this was, it was well protected.

Behind the gates was a small western town. It was almost painfully charming, small storefronts with front porches, no building taller than two stories. But the strangest thing about it was the fact that there was no sign of decay, no indication of a looming power ready to crack down and crush the life out of everything. You nudged your horse along side Joel’s now that you were safely within the walls of the town.

“You OK?” You asked. He just gave you a nod, searching the town as you rode through it, eyes never stopping.

You knew the second Joel did that Tommy was here. You didn’t see him, you just saw Joel. The way his eyes went wide, the way his face softened, the way a tension left his body.

“Tommy!” He yelled, raising an arm, flagging him down. You followed his gaze and saw him, clambering down from some structure he was building. Joel jumped from his horse and ran, meeting him in the middle, both men holding each other tight.

For half a second, the worries you had about what to do if you saw Tommy again were gone. It was Tommy. You wouldn’t ever be OK with what he did. You’d have to talk to him about it at some point but it was Tommy. Tommy, the guy who taught you how to light a grill. Tommy, the guy who made you laugh so hard that you shot Shiner out of your nose. Tommy, the man who had made it so you felt like you could do more than just survive without Joel.

“Want to come with or stick with the horse?” You asked Ellie.

“Think I’ll keep out of the family reunion,” she said, sounding a little wounded.

“I’ll be right back,” you said. “OK?”

She nodded and you dismounted, coming up alongside Joel just as the two men broke apart.

“Holy shit, Kid!” Tommy grabbed you and hugged you next, holding you close and tight. He still felt the same, even after years apart, he still felt like Tommy.

“Hey Miller,” you laughed, choking up a bit. “You sure are a hard man to find.”

“Yeah well, that’s kind of on purpose,” he laughed, releasing you. You stepped back and Joel put his arm around your waist. Tommy looked between you for a moment and smiled. “So you two finally got your shit together, eh?”

“Somethin’ like that,” Joel smiled, tugging you close.

“Took you long enough,” Tommy shook his head a little, smiling at Joel. “About fuckin’ time.”

A/N: TOMMY'S BACK! Yayayayayayayayayaya!

I'm excited to dive into some of these family dynamics in Jackson for the short time we're here - and dig into Joel and his growing anxieties.

Now that we're back into canon, please let me know how you're feeling about how canon integration is feeling (if you want to obvs, no pressure!) It's still an area I feel shaky on so notes are welcome :)

I have a taglist! If you'd like to be added, please comment below.

Thank you for reading! I hope you're still enjoying it as we come in on the tail end of the story here. I'm really excited for how things are going to go now that we're into this part of the canon and how it builds to the end of the story. Thanks for being here, for reading, for sharing, for commenting, for everything. Love you!

Taglist: @paleidiot @ayamenimthiriel @ginger-swag-rapunzel @drewharrisonwriter @flugazi @pedropascalsbbg @taoyuji @starstruckmusiciansartghost @splendsay @bigboiseason123 @jpbplvr @ashleyandring @mrsyixingunicorn10 @sloanexx @ninaminaromina @lady-bellyn @hufflepuffriver @sarap-77 @storyarcscribe @mellymbee @jasminedragoon @lemonmeli @reds-ramblings @arizonadaydreamer @mumma-moonchild @blackroseguzzi @candypeaches16 @kittenlittle24 @wrappedinfiction @oatmeaiboy @pedritosdarling @winchestergypsy90 @imnotdatboii @lalalalemonade11 @maknimuk1 @mrsdarcyinlovewithbuckybarnes @pedrosaidsheispunk @commanderawkward @n7cje @elliesgirlll @tsunamistorm123 @spookyxsam @leeeesahhh @anoverwhelmingdin @untamedheart81 @pedropascalfan221 @pedr0swh0r3 @pedrobae @fifia-writes @fatima-marisa @acf2023 @1soff

#fanfic #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #smut fic #slow burn

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