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myrquez · 7 months ago

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In Motogp there’s so much money involved, performance anxiety dominates and builds up barriers. Everyone retreats into their own pack, nothing is done together anymore. And I just adapt to it, according to the theory that it’s better to be alone than to be in a group full of fake smiles. But relationships among athletes aren’t only the ones made via some direct, classic form of communication. In sport you can actually enter into communication with someone through other ways that are more mediated but, in some cases, even more profound. With Márquez, for example, we aren’t technically friends. We think highly of each other, we respect each other, we smile to each other when one sees the other one, over the past year he’s been very fair to me, often defining me as an ideal opponent. I think it’s because he knows that I can race him very hard, but always within the rules. Which is, even if for many may not seem like it, exactly the same thing he always did while racing against me. Marc may look crazy, but he actually stands out from clichés and defies physics laws in good conscience. Unlike other riders — those reckless ones with no sense of limit, who after a crash often say “I don’t know why I crashed” — Márquez knows very well why he crashes. He often precisely crashes on purpose, just to explore that limit. He does some experiments first, then goes on to elaborate his theory. In a way, he’s an empiricist exactly like my dad was, when he purposely kept taking more and more steps forward on the track to teach me how and where to brake. It’s just that in this case, it’s the rider that does it. I like Marc. And I interpreted our famous duels in 2017 as a means to get to know each other better. In Austria and Japan we indeed were extreme, but not crazy. Adventures-seekers who like to push themselves to the limit, but not insane and neither unfair to each other […] Deep down, he isn’t irresponsible, even if he often looks for some maneuvers that have no rhyme or reason. Theoretically, and practically, they don’t make any sense. Yet I never get angry about it, not even that time in Zeltweg when it looked like I told him to fuck off. It surprises me, instead, to see what he tried to do to get a win, something like “I can’t believe it”, an amazed curiosity to see how he tried to move into this uncharted territory, the same one where, thanks to him, I consequently went into as the well. And it’s so cool. As if we both dug together a whole new vein of gold: we won’t share the prize, of course, because to keep the gold is my goal, but we still dug through it together as if we were pioneers. And this indeed does create a bond, whatever is it.

And it’s even more incredible because I exactly know what Marc is going to do in that last turn in Zeltweg. Theoretically, he doesn’t have any more weapons to attack me: at this point his Honda has less traction, worn-out tyres, less power; generally speaking, Honda is less suited to this track than Ducati. And yet he got this far, in the end […] I well know that to have Marc right behind you while going through the last corner is way too much of a problem, the worst thing it could happen to you: he’s going to try it anyway anywhere. So I’ll be there, waiting for him […] Even if we’re going at 200 km/h, I can feel upon my skin how meters get marked bit by bit. One after another. I force myself to focus on his engine’s sound to understand when and where he will attack. And when the noise is there, almost unbearable, I brake hard and leave him a bit of space on the inside line, to force him to exaggerate a bit and then overtake him in acceleration. It’s almost as if I just accepted his invite, just to deceive him later. It might look like it’s just a technical challenge, or a stunt one, but it’s actually about mind games, an hand in glove tied relationship in which our minds get connected. As in bull and bullfighter kind of way. Or, in a I know that you know that I know kind of way. To get a win in this way is a much more difficult thing to achieve, but it is much more cooler as well. When Marc gets on the inside Iine I just know that I made it, because he’s a champion, but he cannot overcome the laws of psychic. My plan gets fulfilled and the dissolving noise of his bike as he goes wide resonates with liberation. That’s when I make that gesture, automatically. Fuck off, you just got played! Real subtitle is: what did you make me do, you bastard? It’s my third win this year. It’s now clear that I am the one challenging Márquez for the title. But to me this doesn’t matter. Like it doesn’t matter that much how I just won against the one who is recognized as the hand-to-hand duels master […] What matters most is that this race has been a way to get to know each other better. Márquez, with his usual Joker smile, confesses that if he hadn’t tried to surpass me he wouldn’t have slept at all that night. That’s what perfectly defines what he is: as long as he is breathing, he will try to pass you even if he had to go through a wall.

In Motegi it isn’t that different. Here, as well, Márquez is struggling a bit more than me, but I am sure he is going to try it in the last corner. Why shouldn’t he? We’ve been “beating” each other as if there was no tomorrow for the last six laps, in some apocalyptic conditions: heavy rain, curling-like grip, no visibility at all […] Ten minutes ago I wouldn’t have thought we’d get to this point, but as soon as Márquez did a little mistake I got back on track and now we’re here, us again. Ehi, Marc, how are you doing? Our connection in Zeltweg has been restored on the other side of the world. It’s now clear that everything that is going to happen now would not be possible without the other’s collaboration. Like two alpinists in a rope team, we will get ‘till the last meter together. We overtake and we get overtaken. We give and we take. We sting like bees, fly like butterflies, and more than anything we hit like blacksmiths. At Turn 10, I change my trajectory: I’ve been studying Marc for quite a lot from behind and now I imitate him, going a bit wider. This allows me to get into Turn 11 very fast, ready for my strong suit: braking. That’s how I easily overtake him. The Ducati is very stable, everything is under control. I’d be sure to get a win at that point but an alarm goes off in my mind: I won’t give it to you this easily. Exactly. Last corner is on the right. Giving my position it’s obvious that there isn’t any physical space to get on the inside, but imagine if he does really give a damn. When I’m about to lean into the Turn, Marc abruptly arrives out of nowhere as gracefully as Hulk in a china shop. It’s not even a dirty try, more like a circus number: his engine’s noise getting closer echoes into my helmet like the drum rolls that comes just before a trapeze artist jumps. Ladies and gentlemen, Marc Márquez! Where the fuck do you want to go? You’re still sitting straight, I’m already leaning: don’t you see that we’re touching? I don’t know how, but I keep the bike in control. I suspend my maneuver for a millisecond, just enough to let him slide on the outside as I go on riding through the apex. At that point he’s way too wide, he pulls half of a miracle by leaning all on the right to keep his bike on track but has no margin for anything else. Farewell, bye, goodbye. I win today. Again. After the finish line, we stop near the track side by side. Our gloves touch. Contact. Knowledge of the other has deepened. Relationship was preserved. Despite everything, no one cut the rope and we got to the mountaintop together. It’s an awesome feeling. That’s exactly the sport that I would always like. Especially because I won. On TV I eventually admit that to win against Márquez in what he does best really excites me: this is the boost that I need for the climb to the championship, at only 11 points from the lead. Marc showers me with compliments and says that it’s awesome to battle with me for the title, the living proof that professionalism and hard work pay off. He calls me a good guy as well, and I forgive him. Actually, no. Why should I be ashamed [of being a good guy]? To pretend to be a bad guy is something that everybody can do. To actually be one when it’s needed, and to do it with a certain style, it’s something for the few.

— andrea dovizioso talking about his relationship and his duels with marc márquez in asfalto (2018)

#THIS TOOK ME WAY TOO LONG i gave away my sweat tears and blood #andrea made my life SO difficult in just three pages #this is a very (un)serious dovquez masterpost #still speechless. wish i could translate it better. he’s insane #andrea dovizioso #marc marquez #dovquez #asfalto

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delirious-donna · 16 days ago

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an: angst is not usually where my brain goes but this idea… it just consumed by brain (like he has). My first ever foray into Blue Lock so please be kind!! Plus, it’s just a short lil thing. 🥺

pairing: Shoei Barou x female reader

warnings: SFW, a little angst, a little fluff, Barou isn’t great with feelings

It had been months.

Months of consistently subtle interactions that had led to this. This… unfamiliar feeling in his chest.

It was uncomfortable, and it made him grumpy when he couldn’t identify the source. Barou didn’t like to be in the dark about anything, let alone why his body was misbehaving.

Rubbing a palm over the area didn’t help in the slightest, nor did ignoring its existence.

On those nights where he would lie awake and stare at the ceiling, often the nights before an important match, he would poke at the feeling. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Barou would close his eyes and try to figure out what weighed so heavily on his conscious that his skin prickled from the discomfort. It couldn’t be nerves for his upcoming game, he was the king and the king had no worry about his prowess out on the field.

It made him even more grouchy than normal; growling and snarling at his mediocre teammates when they tried to joke with him. He was a bear with a bad head, and everyone was sick of it—most of all, him.

The realisation dawned slowly one Saturday morning.

With the heaviness in his chest following him around like there was a boulder lodged where his heart should be, he made his way to his pre-match sports massage.

There you were.

Sunshine smiles and starry eyed. The complete antithesis of himself. He knew the moment the weight lifted that you were the reason, though he refused to acknowledge it.

The discomfort melted away like ice under a heat lamp, leaving behind a tingly sensation that spread out from his heart to the tips of his fingers and toes. All of it, he ignored.

You were gentle despite how you could bring a grown ass man to his knees with the right combination of pressure points. You were friendly and inquisitive without coming across as nosy. You were soft-spoken but no nonsense at the same time. You were everything he wasn’t, and…

Barou wanted you.

“Right on time, Barou! I do love a punctual man,” you teased with a bright smile that lit up your small office.

“Shoei…” He so desperately wanted to correct you, to hear his given name roll around your mouth and trip off your pretty pink tongue. Instead, he gave a grunt and lay on the table as he had done for the past six months.

If his silence bothered you, you didn’t show it. The determination and skilful expertise of your hands eased onto his body like an old friend. His heart fluttered and his fists clenched.

He would never not be impressed by your ability to remember his every little past twinge and injury. It wasn’t like you were his personal physio, far from it since the whole team graced your office on a regular basis. Barou secretly wondered if he might be special to you, but quickly dismissed that idea with an audible grimace.

“Tender here today? Hm, that’s not normal for you.”

You had taken his reaction as a sign of pain at your manipulation of the area directly behind his left knee. He could kick himself. He was a damn idiot.

Barou grunted, “Nah, my mind was elsewhere.”

With a subtle nod, you hummed and continued to work diligently across his hamstrings which were known to give him problems. They were problems of his own making, as you liked to remind him, since he had a tendency to expect maximum exertion for a full ninety minute game.

“You’re a man not a machine!” You’d scowl him time and again.

You weren’t buying his excuse. He couldn’t blame you. He was a shitty liar. The truth was what he preferred—the blunter the better.

“Turn over,” you asked with a tap at his ankle. “Wanna talk about it? Where your mind is, I mean. It might help.”

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Except, he didn’t say it out loud. He couldn’t. For all his bravado of never shying away from the truth, no matter how painful… he couldn’t face his own.

He looked into your sweet face, ruby eyes bouncing between yours and dared to dream that what he saw was more than professional curiosity. The words burned his throat and turned his mouth to ash. If only he could brave the final hurdle, score the winning goal…

“Don’t go worrying about me. Tell me about your week and let me forget my problems for a bit.”

Barou was no king, not when you were the one wearing the crown.

Placed there by his hand.

His crown.

#delirious writes #shoei barou #barou x reader #barou angst #barou fluff #barou shoei x reader #barou shoei fluff #bllk angst #bllk x reader #bllk fluff #barou shoei

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b14augrana · 9 months ago

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Lacy

Fridolina is perfect in your eyes. Too perfect, actually, and it drives you crazy

Fridolina Rolfö x reader

masterlist

Warnings: jealousy and reader lowkey has issues

A/N: i’m the biggest frido fan on this planet so this sucked to write ily frido 🙁. i wrote this at 12:30 am so it’s not very good + not proofread and i’m very sorry in advance

You grew up loving Spanish football.

The technicality of it was your favourite thing and later on, you tried to incorporate it into your own play style. It set you apart from your teammates and made you stand out… until she came along.

The Swedish talent, incredible defender, the attacking fullback of everyone’s dreams. Fridolina Rolfö. You had played against her a handful of times and she was nothing short of talented; she was probably the first fullback you had seen that dribbled so high up the wing with so much confidence and actually managed to make something out of it.

Your usual position was in the midfield, but when your starting right back got injured, you found yourself shoved into a completely new position. You loved carrying the ball up the field and creating plays or dictating the game, but from the back, you could hardly do that. Due to the lack of real opportunities to let yourself shine, Fridolina got all the attention. The more goals she scored, the more assists she got, the more headlines she made in German sporting media.

The worst part? She was genuinely nice, so you had no proper reason to hate her besides being extremely jealous. She was kind and always complimented you during training and encouraged you during every match.

Your transfer to Barcelona couldn’t have happened at a more convenient time. Just as you were nearing your breaking point with her perfectness, your contract expired and you signed with the Spanish club. You had no intention of renewing with Wolfsburg, not while she was there. You wanted that fresh start, you wanted to thrive in a completely new place and finally learn the Spanish way of football first-hand.

The first season was amazing. You were breaking personal records and putting up performances for your new club, solidifying yourself as a starting player. You made friends and learned many things both on and off the pitch, and on top of that, you won your first couple trophies outside of Germany. You were at the peak of your happiness.

Of course it had to be ruined by a certain Swede arriving at the club only a season later. “(Y/N), it’s such a coincidence! I loved playing with you, so I could never turn down the contract they offered me,” she happily said to you on her first day. You smiled back at her despite wanting to bash your head against a wall, because you couldn’t find it in yourself to be mean.

She stuck with you during her first couple weeks at the club until she got familiar with everyone else; to you, those were the worst weeks of your life as you were forced to confront the reality that she was perfect as ever and you were sickeningly envious of her.

Over the course of the next season, it became harder to understand how she had almost no room for imperfection. Her only flaw was something stupid like not being able to bake which was something you couldn’t do either, so that didn’t make you feel any better.

Everyone in your team loved her. She was a good player, an excellent one even. She was soft spoken and respectful, and a team player who fit right in almost immediately.

She loved cafés and coffee, like Ingrid. She enjoyed kayaking and swimming, like Lucy and Ona. She loved dogs, like Alexia. She liked to travel, like Aitana.

She was everything you wished you could be, and it made you curse her name in the dark emptiness of your bedroom after hours. It made you watch her for a second longer during training, even while you’re on the other side of the pitch. It made you smile at her in the changing room and ask her how she is.

She didn’t even have to try to be adored, whereas it felt like you had been trying to catch anyone’s eye since the beginning of time. She breathed and the media was all over her.

As the season progressed, the envious feeling became a regular thing when you were around Fridolina, so you had gotten used to it. You felt bad for feeling such a way but your heart overpowered your brain and the feelings persisted.

You were having the best season of your career so far, between qualifying for a Champions League semifinal and becoming a league champion once again on top of winning the Copa de La Reina and Supercopa.

During the second leg of the semifinal against Chelsea, you were taken out inside the box, granting your team a penalty. You stepped up to take it with the chance to put you and your team ahead, but before you could even walk up to the spot, blonde hair swished past you and before you could process anything, the ball hit the back of the net and you saw Fridolina running away to celebrate it. You couldn’t even afford to be angry on the surface, because then everyone would know something was wrong and you’d have to come clean and hurt Fridolina and say something that would surely upset her so.. you celebrated with your team. Like anyone in your position would.

That was your breaking point though — her being under the spotlight once again, proving that she’s so magnificent and better than you and perfect.

Perfect, once again.

The worst part was, even as you sat in the changing rooms on your own, fighting back tears, you knew you couldn’t entirely loathe her out of any amount of jealousy. You couldn’t loathe her more than you loathed your own mind, which betrayed you by worshipping her like some sort of idol.

The rude awakening that you worshipped her settled in as you tried to ignore the fact she was the type of person you prayed to be like, to a god you barely believed in.

Fucking perfect angel Fridolina. Damn you.

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coolprettyleo · 10 months ago

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the traffic lights didn't know - begin again au ☆

wc: 1.2k

tw: depression. heartbroken. lmk if theres more

hughes sister x ryan leonard

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

frankie hughes was in a weird place in her life.

she didnt have the feeling of dreading to go to hockey practice anymore, and call her crazy she missed that feeling. not the sport, she wanted the sport dead in a ditch for what it did to her, but she missed the feeling of hating something so much.

she thought about directing her anger towards drew. but she was way to heartbroken to do that. she wanted to erase all her thoughts of drew, but he invaded every inch of her; her heart, hips, body, and love. there wasn't anything he didnt touch or get too.

frankie was starting to get depressed because she felt like her days were on repeat. over and over again. the only light of her day was when she would see ryan, or whenever he texted her back, and depending your overall happiness on a boy was not in any way smart.

she felt like nothing in her life was okay and resorted to asking the traffic lights if it was all going to be okay. news flash! they didn't know.

at the moment though, she was dressing up for a lunch...meeting with ryan. she wanted to say date, but ryan wanted nothing to do with her romantically, till she was fully over drew.

she wasn't but she thought she was. which is why she had been feeling blue. its not like she still wanted drew though. she just felt embarrassed and insecure. and the fact the reason he didnt want her, was because she was dumb?

I mean frankie knew she was ditzy. her family has always said that her blonde was showing, whenever she was being slow. but thats just family teasing. hearing other people talk about how dumb you are makes you want to crumble and die.

she was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a buzz coming from her bed. it was her phone, which had a text from ryan, saying he was outside.

she quickly finished applying her lip combo and sprayed her favorite perfume, and rushed out. her favorite handbag of course coming in tow.

she loved when her and ryan, were able to hangout. he was always busy and his schedule was always jam-packed so days like these were the best because she finally got too go out and enjoy life.

she had been trying to enjoy it on her own though, she's resorted to taking the long way home from class.

"hi ry" frankie said as she got into his car.

"hey, why are you all dressed? you know were only going to chipotle"

"yes i know. i can read! i honestly just dressed to kill my time. a girl just cant get all cute for no reason?"

"no- I mean- you can. you look cute- i mean you look good." Ryan stumbled face red as he drove.

frankie loved how he'd get all flustered.

"you think I look cute" frankie said, she needed that compliment really bad.

"yeah, you always look cute" softly smiling as he looked over at her, at the red light.

this is why she loved to see ryan. he always put her in the best moods. he made her want to break through the windows she had boarded up and see the love the world was capable of giving. he had the goofiest, cutest smile and freckles that made her want to kiss everyone of them.

she hadn't realized they were starring at each other, till the car behind them honked and cut them out of their trance. both of them turning away with red faces.

"are gabe, will, and jacob coming today?" frankie asked as they pulled into the parking lot. she liked to hang around them, they were all so funny and in a way reminded her of her brothers.

"uhm no, I thought it could be just me and you today. if thats okay- I can call them to come. but lowkey will and gabe are busy with class, but I can make jacob, if that would make you feel bette-"

"ryan! im okay with just us two" she said laughing at his rambling.

"sorry" he cringed.

he opened the door for her, as they walked into chipotle.

and load and behold, drew was in there. laughing with aram in all his glory. she felt like she saw drew everywhere, and the only thing they shared was this damn campus.

she looked back at ryan with a glare.

"did you know?" frankie asked as he followed her sight too drew and aram.

"I swear I didn't. I wouldn't do that to you. we can go somewhere else" he said hoping he didn't just ruin all his chances with her.

as much as frankie wanted to run away and get drunk, she knew the morning would be right around the corner and it wasn't going to change anything. he still wouldn't be hers; not that she wanted him to be.

"no, its fine" she said still walking in. ryan following after her like a puppy. they both ordered and as she was paying she heard ryan dabbing them up.

"you guys wanna sit with us?" drew said motioning over to frankie. he honestly didnt think there was a problem within them.

"uhm-" ryan looked back at her.

"we already planned on going to the park" ryan said as he waved goodbye to them and met frankie whereas she had been filling her water cup, that was full of sprite. she refused to pay for a drink.

"where we sitting" she smiled at him.

"I actually thought we could go to centennial park" he said as he guided her out.

"what- I was fine with sitting in there" frankie said feeling her heart drop because maybe ryan was embarrassed to be seen with her in front of drew.

"drew asked me if we wanted to sit with him"

"oh."

"yeah, I didnt think you wanted too"

"I could of sucked it up"

"you dont have to though"

"no- I want too. I need you to know and see that im over him"

ryan sighed. he knew she wasn't, and he wanted believe her, but he knew her all too well.

"okay" ryan said to frankie.

"okay?" frankie asked confused.

"your over drew"

"I've been saying that"

"then go on a date with me?" ryan asked.

frankie hesiated. did she really want to start this relationship with ryan on a bad foot? it was all going to go bad if it was doomed from the start. she didnt have any romantic feelings left over for drew, but every time she saw him, she had to act like everything was okay; when it wasn't.

"see I knew it! theres my answer" ryan said pulling frankie out of her thoughts.

"ryan" she sighed. if the story was over why was she still writing pages?

"its okay frankie. i already told you i'd wait for you, however long it takes" ryan said looking at her seriously.

her heart fluttered at that, and she softly smiled at him.

"i won't make you wait long leonard" she said pholding out her pinky.

"and I'll hold you too that" he said locking it around hers.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

this idea came from @crazy4minty !! she ate with this lol. i had never made the connection... im seriously thinking about renaming the au to death by a thousand cuts. anyways I have a really bad fever right now, so im probably done with writing for today! <3

#nhl imagine #nhl imagines #ryan leonard #gabe perreault #hockey fic #will smith hockey #bc hockey #frankie x ryan #quinn hughes #jack hughes x reader #luke hughes x reader #ryan leonard x reader #ryan leonard imagine

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gentrychild · 1 year ago

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Au where a bystander recorded and uploaded the Deku vs Overhaul fight and the villains are now even more terrified of him than they were of All Might

1 - After AFO being put in Tartarus and All Might's retirement, the criminal world was kinda holding its breath, trying to see which new player would come out of top. Of course, Shigaraki, as AFO's student, and Overhaul, with his neat anti quirk drug, were strong contenders but the green menace recorded for everyone to see made everyone realize that there was a new symbol around and while they do not agree on what kind of symbol he is, the criminal community of Japan does not want to mess with them.

2 - For some strange reason (fear, that's fear), most people at first assume that the one who wiped the floor with Overhaul was a villain. Fearing for Izuku's reputation, some well meaning hero says that no, that's a hero student, the bone breaking quirk from the Sport Festival.

3 - This Has Consequences.

4 - For the villains, the only thing they hear is "That is the kid who beat the crap out of Muscular with his bare hands". For the civilians and pro heroes, they hear "This is kid who went from breaking his own bones to breaking whole neighborhoods in barely a couple of month" and they are... not fearful but kinda wondering how this is possible, only to reach the only logical conclusion; this is All Might's secret lovechild.

5 - This leads both to the criminality dropping to 0 overnight and people kinda side-eying All Might for apparently discovering he had a kid only recently.

#5 headcanons game

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starhvney · 6 months ago

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𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟑 | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟎: 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐓

𝐂𝐖: very crude language and shit talk from ivy, paranoia, threats of violence, reader nearly spirals into an anxiety attack, implications that reader has anxious attachment tendencies

𝐀/𝐍: hey guys! meant to get this chapter out earlier today but i had too much caffeine and made myself sick oopsies! anyways i hope you guys enjoy this one! we're getting back to that good old drama

𝐖𝐂: 6,000+

𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑: @arienic (thank you nics!)

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒

“this is so exciting!” teony grins, clapping her hands from where she stood next to you and katelyn. “i care more about academics than athletics, but i honestly love the sports festival! it’s so much fun!”

you hum happily in agreement, eyes drifting around at the school’s outdoor scenery. honestly, it's insane how beautiful of a spot it was placed in, with phoenix drop’s mountain range and tall forest trees spanning right from the school’s backyard. the whole student body is packed in the area from the soccer field all the way over to the baseball field, everyone in their athletic uniforms and the colorful wristbands that indicated which class they were in.

glancing behind you to check on aph and nana as the little freshman chat away, you catch a glimpse of ivy’s minions and aaron, who is a short way away, talking by the stairs. the tall junior seemed like trouble just from his looks alone—and you were pretty opposed to him already just from aphmau’s complaints of the boy all year—but his seeming compliance with lily’s flirtatious giggling set your opinion in stone.

your attention shifts back to your friends next to you, a sense of comfort relaxing the tenseness that had begun to build just from the glimpse of those people. after talking about everything with aphmau, you both had decided to come clean to all of your friends about the issues you’d had since day one with both ivy and gene.

you’d almost felt silly for hesitating so long to tell them, especially with how defensive and fired up they had gotten. lucinda’s reaction was definitely the funniest, the redhead immediately offering to slip a potion that would make someone throw up slugs into all of their lunches. you’d denied the offer through your laughter, as tempting as it was, and you have to stop yourself from giggling again at the thought of gene or ivy pale in the face and spitting out snail slime.

katelyn snorts, pausing in her warm-up of one-legged squats—an impressive feat you had unashamedly been staring at her do for the past five minutes—to look over to the academia queen herself.

“of course it’s fun!” she energetically hops in place with a fiery and determined look on her face. “i’m gonna own the juniors in volleyball this year.”

teony raises an eyebrow and tosses her hair over her shoulder as she looks at you, lips pursed in amusement. “our class lost to that class when they were sophomores last year.”

you nod in understanding, giggling when katelyn pumps her fist angrily into the air.

“and the only reason we lost to them was because i had won all the events prior,” she defends. “i was completely exhausted from the heat.”

teony’s hands are on her hips, eyebrows raised, and expression like a scolding mother. “so then i hope you learned your lesson for this year, right?”

she scoffs. “oh, i definitely have!”

“good, i’m glad. now you know—”

“i’ve been training all year to carry the team completely on my back.”

teony groans, leaning against you as she rolls her eyes. “kate, sweetie, that is not the lesson! it’s teamwork.”

“uh-huh, yeah that too, whatever,” katelyn responds, and from her distracted expression you’re not even sure she truly heard what had been said. instead, she grabs onto one of your arms and one of teony’s, dragging you both off into the track field. “now let’s go crush some classes!”

“wh-hold on!” teony laughs, turning back to wave at aphmau and nana as they stare at the three of you like abandoned puppies—or in nana’s place, a kitten. “good luck my darlings!”

“i’ll catch you both later! good luck!” you call after the two, sparing a wave as katelyn bulldozes her way through the grass.

she at least also spares one last look over her shoulder, though instead of a shout of encouragement, it’s a competitive laugh and grin. “pray you two don’t have us as an opponent this year. i won't go easy just cause we’re friends!”

teony sighs as the three of you make it closer to your classmates, lolling her head over to give kate an unimpressed stare. “i get your competitive and all, but i don’t think intimidating those two cuties was necessary.”

grabbing a stray volleyball from the ground, she scoffs and rolls her eyes, walking a ways from you both and tossing it up to start preparing. “oh, whatever. they know it’s tough love.”

teony looks to you with a disbelieved shake of her head, giggling at the blue haired girl’s antics.

“you know, you—woah!” she stumbles back, barely receiving the ball that kate had spiked down at her and sending it straight past her legs.

there’s a thunk of ball meeting shoulder and a familiar yelp of pain, before you see travis crumpling down to the grass and dante sprinting off while cackling.

“what the—?! why were you sitting right behind me, dude?!” katelyn questions, seeming more bewildered than anything.

teony’s eyes drift from the scene ahead to you from the corner of her eye.

“were they…?”

“…i think so…”

“uh, sorry!” travis quickly stutters, stumbling up to his feet and waving his hands with an awkward braced smile. “i was just—dante, don’t leave me!" his voice comically cracks at the end as he sprints after his friend, the two looking like clowns as they run away.

“uh, what’s going on here?” a smooth voice breaks your stunned silence.

“oh, hey garroth. i don’t know, actually.”

the baseball captain is standing right next to you, blinking in confusion between the two boys as they run away and the three of you. he breaks out in an amused little grin at your deadpanned words, scratching the side of his head.

“well, okay then. are you excited to compete?”

you shrug with a nod, looking up at the boy. “sure! gets us out of class, so that’s enough for me. are you?”

“yeah… but i still can’t believe they haven’t set up a baseball portion for this competition.” he sighs. “like, we have kickball, but no baseball? not cool.”

you can’t help but giggle at the dejected look on his face, his love for the sport honestly endearing.

“well, baseball is a hard sport for normies like us to play, you know? gotta leave it up to the professionals like you,” you muse, nudging his side with your elbow.

a cheeky grin forms on his face, and you swear you see the tips of his ears turn a bit red in color. he opens his mouth to reply to your compliment before another loud thud–this time off in the distance–catches both of your attention. a soccer ball is rolling away from aaron, while aph seems to be telling him off with clenched fists.

“hm?” garroth frowns, and you’re already walking over to the scene.

he catches up just a second after, tilting his head in concern as you both speed-walk over to the girl. you make it to nana first, raising an eyebrow in confusion to the pink-haired meif’wa who stood awkwardly distant from the two. she shrugs at the both of you with a pout on her face before you can even ask, golden irises darting at the taller boy as he seems to mockingly laugh at aphmau while walking away.

garroth shrugs at you before walking forward first, while aph continues to huff with clenched fists and muttering under her breath.

“how dare he just… ugh!”

“aphmau, are you okay?” the blonde asks in concern, and the girl whips herself around, eyes a bit wide in surprise.

“oh, it’s you two, hey,” she says, clearing her throat and fixing her hair with a flustered expression. “um, i’m fine, it’s just…”

“you should stay away from that guy,” garroth says suddenly. “i’ve heard he’s nothing but trouble.”

your eyes stay narrowly trained on the delinquent in question, as he walks through the field towards the concession stand with his hands shoved in his pockets.

“oh trust me, you don’t need to tell me that twice.” aphmau crosses her arms with a scoff. “he’s in my werewolf class with me, and he’s nothing but a huge jerk.”

garroth nods with an understanding hum, before his eyebrows snot up on his forehead. “wait, you’re a werewolf?!”

aphmau and you glance over to him, before bursting out in giggles.

“oh! no, i’m not! i thought i told you what happened, garroth.”

“huh, laurance reacted just about the same, now that i remember,” you recall, covering your mouth as you recover from the small laughing fit.

garroth sighs, his deep voice bordering on a whiny tone. “how come you guys always tell laurance everything but never me?”

aphmau’s eyebrows raise, and she quickly waves her hands. “it’s not that i didn’t want to tell you! it just never came up!”

“yeah, garroth,” you coo, leaning over to wrap an arm around his side and pat him soothingly on the back. “laurance just knows more 'cause he yaps more and asks more questions.”

garroth snorts.

“…don’t tell him i said that.”

“oh, i definitely will.”

aphmau chuckles drily. “so to make a long story short, garroth, my registration was all messed up and i couldn’t change out of the werewolf class even though i didn’t sign up for it and i’m not a werewolf. and i’ve been stuck with sitting next to that aaron jerk all semester.”

he hums, eyebrows furrowed. “oh, i see. well i’m sorry you have to deal with tha—”

“garrith, there you are!” a high-pitched, nasally voice pierces right into your ear from behind you, making you flinch away from the friendly side hug you still had the blonde in.

aphmau stares at you with a tense half smile, eyes darting behind you before you turn yourself. carmine hair bounces against ivy’s shoulders as she tilts her head, giving an—in your opinion—eerily forced smile up at garroth.

oh, nah. it is 9:30 in the morning.

garroth offers a smile in return, taking a small step back from how close she had bounded up to him. “oh, ivy! it’s good to see you.”

so laurance clearly has not told him yet.

ivy tilts her head in seemingly innocent wonder. “what’re you doing talking to this freshman?”

and apparently you’re not here. cool.

garroth turns to the two of us, the unaware “prince” gesturing to the girl as she burns holes into our figures with her bright eyes. “have you two met ivy? she’s a friend of mine.”

she quickly latches onto his words, quickly adding on before you or aphmau can open your mouths. “yes, i’ve been his friend since we were freshmen.”

you resist the urge to side-eye aphmau, instead keeping your composure as she speaks up first.

“oh, i see… so you've been friends for a long time, then.”

“yes, we have,” she preens, her smile sharp as she looks between you two with a satisfied twinkle in her eyes.

garroth nods politely. “yeah, ivy’s really sweet.” he looks over to her while gesturing to you. “i’ve been friends with these two since we were little kids.”

it takes everything in you to not smile in your own satisfaction when her eyes just about bulge out of her head for a split second, her smile tensing. “oh, really…! that’s so… cute!”

garroth chuckles. “isn’t it?”

“yeah, isn’t it?” you can’t help but chime in, and ivy’s eyes flock to you with a flare of barely veiled annoyance.

“it sure… is…” she says through gritted teeth.

man, she’s losing it. you’d almost feel second hand embarrassment for her if you weren’t reeling in the satisfaction of it.

“so! i meant to ask,” aphmau chirps, doing a very good job of ignoring her history with ivy’s wrath. “where’s laurance at?”

“he’s already playing a soccer match. his team went first against… the junior class, i think…”

she blows her bangs away from her face. “oh, so the competition has already started, huh?”

“speaking of which, garrith, we should go warm up! our team is next!” she glances over at you, eyes darting down your figure and back up to your face. “you’re not on our team… are you?”

“…nope.”

“ah, unfortunate. she’s pretty good at sports,” garroth says, throwing a small smile your way.

“thanks, garroth. i’m sure you guys will do great.”

“okay, come on garrith!”

garroth’s smile falters as he awkwardly looks over to her. “oh, right. but, uh… ivy? it’s pronounced gar-roth.”

“i know, garrith, but we really should go!” she insists, grabbing onto his wrist and tugging him along with her.

he keeps his smile though it falters into an uncomfortable and slightly forced one. letting her guide him along, he looks back at you two with a wave.

“see you both later. good luck.”

“yep! you too!” aphmau grins, and you wave back with a smile yourself.

the two walk off toward the sophomore class’s flag football group.

you look at aphmau.

she looks at you.

“...a mess.”

“for real.” aphmau agrees, sighing and rolling her eyes.

“well, i’m gonna go to the restroom. you up to play?”

“yep, i’m on the team for soccer. what about you?”

“ooh, i bet you’ll crush it. kate’s having me play for the volleyball team. good luck!”

aphmau smiles, waving excitedly. “you too!”

thankfully the school has some restrooms outside, making your walk much shorter. by instinct you walk down to the furthest stall, clicking the door shut. before you could even turn around the door swings open again, ivy’s shrill voice bouncing off the concrete and tiled room.

“who the fuck do those two think they are?!” she snips, her tennis shoes clicking against the floor as she pushes on each stall door to check inside.

“they think they’re hot shit,” a more mellowed voice says. was that lily? or the alex girl that rarely talked…?

ivy’s feet stop just before your stall, spinning around to pace over to the sinks. “i thought i saw her come in here… whatever. i came in here to fix my hair anyways. ugh. i thought i told them to stay away from him! those… whores!”

you suppress the urge to scoff.

“well… you did tell them, and then she gave you a black eye.”

ivy makes a seething noise. “that bitch! she didn’t even show anything! i know i broke her nose!”

“whatever. if gene still has those pictures like he says he does then it doesn’t matter. we can ruin their reputation within a day.”

shit.

this seems to calm her rage. just slightly.

“yeah, that’ll get them away from him. plus if we circulate the other rumors around like we talked about then garrith won’t even want to be near them.”

“oh, yeah. that reminds me… i heard that those two were hanging out with garroth at the fall festival a couple of weekends ago.”

“what?! from who?!”

“gene.”

“there's no way! that's just gene trying to get under my skin! i thought he was on our side!”

“whatever. we just need him to be enough on our side to get those pictures out. and even if he doesn’t, we can still spread rumors.”

“yeah! yeah… i’m sure they sleep around anyways. with how they beg for garrith and that laurance’s attention it’s pretty obvious they want that kind of attention. they’re so pathetic, especially aphmau. that little cunt is just begging for one of them to—”

hell no.

your hand races forward to click open the lock, and you throw open the stall door against the wall. it clangs before creaking and wobbling in the now pin-dropping silence of the bathroom as you slowly walk out of the cubicle. the three girls are standing there, looking a bit shocked and surprised at your appearance.

well, ivy and lily, at least. alex looks as blank-faced as usual.

without a word you walk to the door, eyes glued to ivy’s while you resist the urge to punch out her other eye. cracking open the door you pause, looking back to the girl once again and taking in a rageful breath.

“you better fucking hope i don’t catch you alone, ivy.”

you turn out of the bathroom and slam the door shut, teeth clacking together and fists clenched as you walk towards the temporary volleyball court set up near the soccer field.

damn. you forgot you had to pee.

“woah, you look pissed.”

travis appears by your side, looking genuinely concerned with raised brows and curious eyes.

“kinda hot.” dante appears on your other side, biting his lip and waggling his brows.

the brace-faced boy sends a scorning glare to his friend. “dude, not her!”

“chill! i’m just messing around… sort of. besides, gene’s mentioned her a few times, so i know she’s cool. can’t blame me for shooting my shot.”

you sigh and shake your head, some of the tension leaving your shoulders as you fall victim to the goofy antics of the dorks next to you.

“gene’s mentioned me, huh?” you ask, glancing at dante. “i forgot he’s your brother.”

you press your lips together. that’s right, maria. guess she still thinks you’re “friends” with gene.

he grins. “yeah, he’s pretty cool. he talks about you to my mom sometimes. you both hang out often?”

your eyes dart to travis, who is looking at you nervously.

“…we haven’t lately.”

“oh, that’s too bad, i guess,” dante hums.

“you’re sure you’re not mad? it’s not at me from earlier, right?!” travis worries, cutting off the topic of gene to your relief.

“huh? no, why would i be?”

he deflates in relief. “uh, nothing! never mind, never mind.”

“…alright. well, what sport are you two heading to?” you ask, rolling your shoulders back.

“well… we actually are the refs for the volleyball match.”

you raise an eyebrow. “both of you are? how’d you manage to get out of having to compete?”

“we both signed up as volunteers, just like some kids are doing the concessions,” dante says rather smugly, lifting up a candy bar and waving it in the air.

“great… you two wouldn’t have any ulterior motives here, would you?” you narrow your eyes, looking over to travis. “perhaps with a certain captain in mind?”

“what?” travis stutters. “you’re the second one to accuse me of that! i’d never purposefully screw up the scorecard to get her to yell at me!”

“…uh-huh…”

the principal’s voice cuts through the stadium speakers. “our 3rd round of events today is soccer and volleyball! for soccer, we’ll have the freshmen versus our juniors, and for volleyball, we have sophomores versus seniors! good luck out there!”

you spin on your heels, walking backward onto the sand court and motioning towards the two boys with your fingers in an 'i’m watching you' motion. katelyn—to no one's surprise—is already there and fired up, hyping up teony to do her best as she stretches her arms. her head whips to you when she catches your figure from the corner of her eye, rushing forward to grab you.

“dude, where were you? come on, the game’s gonna start. you’re the outside hitter, okay?” she says, and you simply nod along as your previous anger seems to bubble up and surface again.

this should be a good way to release some steam.

teony gives you a strange look before getting in position at the back of the court. you must not have been hiding your expression as well as you thought you were.

the match went pretty well, and once katelyn realized you were putting your full force into your spikes she consistently set the ball towards you, leaving your dominant arm sore and chest heaving.

“hey! good job!” laurance calls from the sidelines, grinning brightly. his face was sheened with a layer of sweat, strands of his caramel hair stuck to his cheeks and forehead.

garroth stands next to him, looking out of breath like he had just sprinted across the campus field. he grins, holding up two big thumbs up at your team.

“um, that wasn’t game point,” travis pipes up, making all of you turn your heads to the boy.

immediately he looks nervous, tapping his fingers together and waving the flimsy score board in his hand. oh, travis. that’s one way to get your crush’s attention… that’s for sure.

“what?! there’s no way! let me see that!”

deciding to stay out of…whatever was going to go down there, you jog over to the boys with a smile.

“hey! how’d you guys do?”

“decent. i’m not too into football, and my teammates didn’t seem as into the game, either.” garroth shrugs.

“not too bad for me, either. you know i love soccer, so it was just like a fun practice for me.” laurance says, glancing over to the field. “the game aphmau was playing just ended, she did pretty good too—especially against that aaron guy. it was kinda funny seeing her zip around him.”

you chuckle at the thought. “yeah, i bet.”

“what a close call for that soccer game! but the winner of the soccer match is the freshman class! the mvps of this match are aaron from the junior class and aphmau from the freshman class! man, i can't wait to see what else goes on in this tournament today! it is such a heated rivalry!”

you look over to the field, watching as little aph herself shoots a sassy look to aaron and walks off with attitude in her steps.

“there she goes!” garroth muses.

“baby’s first medal?” laurance adds, and you whip your head to him with a wide smile.

“baby’s first medal!”

“baby?” garroth questions, looking lost as ever as he looks between you two.

katelyn’s shout and a loud thud meets your ears.

“this judge is bogus! he’s clearly blind!”

“katelyn! you can’t just hit people with volleyballs when you’re upset! i’m pretty sure you’ve hit travis alone on three different occasions!”

“i don’t care, this is stupid!”

travis groans from the ground, and teony sighs as she helps him to his feet. “…i’ll take you to the nurse. kate, go… walk it off while they figure it out.”

“…that’s katelyn for you,” garroth murmurs as she stomps over to you three. “you alright?”

“yeah.” she puffs out her lips in annoyance. “i kinda feel bad for blowing up on him, but it’s like he was keeping the wrong score on purpose!”

“well, it’ll be fine. you did really good regardless, kate!” you say, very carefully choosing not to say a word about travis’s intentions.

“yeah, both of you did,” laurance chimes, eyebrows raised with an impressed stare. “i just kinda was able to catch the end of the game, but you didn't look like you were holding back on those spikes at all.”

katelyn nods, crossing her arms.

“yeah, i’m for sure forcing her to join the team next year. she’s good.” she glances over to you. “but you did seem a little off. you good?”

shrugging, you awkwardly cross your arms. “uh… about that…”

“did something happen?” garroth frowns.

“i had a run-in with ivy in the bathrooms.” you admit. “she was saying really nasty stuff about me and aph… and i think she’s planning on spreading some rumors around about us.”

“…what? are you sure?” his frown deepens. “ivy wouldn’t do that, would she?”

kate and laurance look over at him with blank stares.

“did you not tell him, laurance?” katelyn scoffs.

“tell me what?” garroth asks impatiently.

“not yet… ugh…” the brunet groans, grabbing onto garroth’s arm and beginning to drag him away. “let’s talk, man.”

“okay?” he stumbles along, the lost look in his eyes still highly apparent.

“great, now i’m even more mad!” kate seethes. “where is she?!”

“woah, woah!” you wave your hands before steadying them on her shoulders. “just chill for a second. i already threatened her today, let’s not get into any trouble.”

she sighs. “fine. but if i catch her by herself it’s not gonna be pretty.”

“that’s what i said.”

“oh!” she suddenly yanks your arm, pulling you along like a woman on a mission towards the track. “there’s lucinda! we’re telling her right now!”

☆

“are you serious?” lucinda scoffs, legs crossed as you all sit at the top of the bleachers. “look, i know you rejected the potion in the food idea, but an overdose on laxatives is an option, too.”

you rub your eyes, glancing down to the track where aphmau was warming up for her race. “as tempting as it is, i want to let her destroy herself. she thinks because she’s more popular than we are that everyone will have to believe her. but as long as you guys and the rest of our friends know the truth, her rumors won’t mean anything and she’ll destroy her own reputation.”

“leaving it up to karma, huh? that’s fair.” lucinda sighs, leaning back on her arms. “i guess. still wanna make her shit her pants, but to each their own.”

“lucy!” you laugh, leaning into her shoulder.

“no, no, she has a good point,” katelyn says, before leaning forward. “oh, there’s prince charming.”

you glance down, garroth’s golden curls coming into view as he hops his way up the bleachers stairs to your direction. his eyebrows are pulled together as he keeps his eyes trained on the metal steps.

kate stands with a sigh, pulling lucinda up with her. “come on. i think they need to talk alone for a second. plus, i want some chips from the concessions before my next game.”

“fine, i could go for a snack, too.” the redhead sighs, waving her fingers at you and squeezing your hands. “bye, my love!”

you wave the two girls off, before shooting over and patting the seat next to you for garroth to sit. he slinks down into the spot, sighing and leaning forward on his elbows while staring out at the track.

“hi.”

“hey.”

he straightens up with a deep breath, turning to you with a troubled expression. “i didn’t mean to sound like i didn’t believe you earlier, i was just surprised.”

you smile at the genuine guilt in his eyes. sweet garroth.

“i know. sorry i didn’t tell you about everything sooner.”

“it’s… okay. laurance explained it all.” he frowns. “i just feel bad.”

you intake a breath to reply, but he cuts you off, raising his hands up.

“not because i think it’s my fault. trust me, laurance lectured my ear off about that.” he leans back, sighing. “just… i feel like i could’ve, like, protected you a bit from all of that if i had known.”

“garroth…”

“promise you’ll tell me if you’re having trouble from now on?” he grabs onto your wrist, looking pleadingly into your eyes with his own. “please promise me. you’re one of my best friends.”

“i promise.”

“good. i promise i’ll tell you everything, too.” he leans forward, pulling you into a hug. “i know we don’t remember much from our childhood, but we’ve been friends for a long time, right? i promise i care way more about you than whatever anyone else at this school has to say about you.”

“…thank you,” you whisper. something about his genuine care has you blinking back the urge to cry, gulping from the surge of emotions that gathered in the base of your throat.

you both pull back from the hug, and garroth smiles that stupidly dazzling smile. “of course.”

the track’s starter gun startles you from the heartfelt moment, making you both jump in place as you look down at the relay race below.

“wait… is aphmau going against aaron at the end? who the heck thought that was a good idea?” garroth blinks, staring at the two in bewilderment. “the guy’s over a foot taller than her!”

you hum in equal confusion, slowly standing and making your way to the stairs. “yeah, that is weird… c’mon. let’s get closer.”

the teams are already on their third hand off by the time you’re both at the bottom of the bleachers, the two runners making their way to aphmau and aaron before handing off the batons. instead of the taller boy completely leaning aph in the dust, he surprisingly keeps her pace before seeing to a stop in the middle of the track.

“huh?” garroth murmurs, and it seems aphmau carries the same sentiment as she slows, turning to aaron with a baffled look of her own.

they’re too far from you to hear what they were saying, but based on his smug look and her peeved expression, his act of stopping seemed more like a taunt than an act of sportsmanship.

aphmau sends a sassy remark to aaron and that seems to stop their strange standstill, as the six-foot-something junior takes off sprinting towards the finish line. she turns, amber eyes wide and mouth agape in shock as she stands in place and watches as he passes the finish line in seconds.

“i can’t believe you fell for that,” he snickers, seeming to deeply relish the look on her face before turning and waltzing away with a smug look on his face.

aphmau’s face contorts from one of bafflement to one of absolute infuriation, and she takes a few steps forward like she was about to go try and tackle the guy herself.

“wh—you! i’m gonna—!” she fumes, unable to even get a sentence out in her frustration.

“woah, aphmau! stop, it’s over!” garroth calls out, trying to calm her as he waves his hands while you both jog over to her.

“he tricked me!” she insists, nose wrinkled like she’d swallowed something bitter.

“...i'm not sure what happened there, but you both ran a good match.” he rubs the back of his neck, chuckling. “well, until the end, that is.”

aphmau deflates, tensely laughing away the rest of her frustration. “yeah… thanks garroth.”

he nods proudly, crossing his arms. “you’re welcome.”

the rest of the festival flies by, with thankfully not many more appearances from ivy’s group or even sightings of the shadow knights. after freshening up in the locker room, you’d waited thirty minutes on the bench, occasionally sending aph a few texts.

you: are you coming to the locker room before walking home?

delivered, 3:42

you: hello?

delivered, 3:55

you: are you okay??

delivered, 4:00

when ten more minutes had passed with no response, you’d felt the anxiety you’d been suppressing come in full force. with hands jittering and head a bit dizzy, you pushed through the girls locker room doors, beginning your search of the now empty school.

from each of the classrooms you knew she had classes in, to all of the bathrooms, and even the cafeteria, she wasn’t anywhere in any rooms of the school you searched. you even ran back outside, searching the outdoor bathrooms—and even briefly looking in the boy’s restroom in your desperation—to no avail.

calm down. you’re on campus, there’s no way something awful happened to her on campus.

hands shaking, you pull your phone out again, attempting to call her phone one last time. staring at a spot in the grass, you listen to the dial of the phone ringing while a faint buzzing in your ears blocked out any other ambient noise.

“your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. at the tone, please recor—”

ripping the phone away from your face, you hang up and catch your breath that you didn’t realize you were holding.

it’s okay. it’s okay. she probably walked home and her phone died or something. you can walk to her house and check with sylvanna, and if she isn’t there… then you can panic.

quickly you find yourself super walking down the sidewalk to your house, eyes drifting to each black vehicle that passed on the road and steps stuttering anytime one of them seemed to slow.

you hate this feeling. the one you felt anytime you went anywhere back in your old town. the weak shakiness of prey stuck in a hunter's trap desperately trying to escape it but unable to find the strength, and unknowing of when the hunter was going to come find you. it was a sick, nearly paralyzing rush through your nervous system, crowding your head and making you both aware of everything and too dizzy to focus on one thing.

did they find you again?

were you risking your friends’ lives by being around them?

did they get aph?

did you kill her when you chose to be her friend?

“wait for me!”

you almost faint from how quickly you turn around, eyes wide as you focus in on aphmau clumsily running after you—face red and hair frazzled.

“o-m-g, that was so embarrassing!” she heaves, stopping in front of you. “sorry i didn’t respond to your text! you won’t believe what just happened to—oh—!”

you reach forward, pulling aphmau into a tight hug. suddenly you hear the birdsong in the trees again. the rushing of cars on the street next to you. your blood is suddenly swirling in your head.

“woah… are you okay? you’re shaking, like, really bad…”

a second passes before you pull away, taking in a gulp of air. “yeah, i’m fine.”

“and you’re really pale,” aphmau says, thin eyebrows pinched together before she gasps. “oh, did i worry you? i’m so, so sorry! i can explain what happened on the way, okay?”

her eyes are full of a worry you hadn’t quite seen before. did you look that upset?

“okay, yeah. i’m fine. i’m fine.” you reassure, wiping away the cold sweat from the back of your neck with a grimace.

aphmau hums, the noise shaky and unsure, before reaching out to take your free hand. “okay. maybe you can come have dinner with me and my mom tonight! i think she said she was going to make empanadas tonight. you know what those are, right?”

“yeah…”

“great! well, my mom’s empanadas are the best, so you can try them! oh yeah, i was gonna tell you what happened, right? so…”

you don’t mean to, but your focus drifts from aphmau’s actual words to just the sound of her voice, eyes drifting to the sidewalk ahead. the feeling of her smaller hand holding yours was somehow comforting despite how it gently and barely seemed to even squeeze yours.

you still feel high-strung, but as the initial adrenaline finally leaves your body you feel a wave of exhaustion and… a bit of embarrassment. it seems a bit dramatic, what you just did. after all, aph is perfectly fine right here. you were acting like an overly anxious parent or older sister, and the two of you aren’t even related to each other.

“…and she shoved me in the locker! can you believe that? what kind of girl fake cries in the boys' locker room and then traps another girl in there?! i thought she was really in trouble!”

“wait, what?” you blink, whipping your head over to her as you process her words. “who did?”

“ivy! she shoved me in the locker! and i didn’t have my phone 'cause it was still in my bag, so i just had to wait there until—guess who?!—aaron let me out! she stuck me in aaron lycan’s locker!”

a wave of anger resurfaces, sending black spots into your vision. once again, another problem caused by that insufferable prick.

“i’m gonna fucking kill her.”

“what!” aphmau laughs, squeezing your hand. “woah, your face is scaring me! calm down!”

she swerves you off the sidewalk and into her yard, pulling you closer to her front door. “let’s think about empanadas instead! mhm, mhm! and pepsi… and ice cream… and we can watch a movie or episode of something before we have a very calm and peaceful rest for school tomorrow.”

“…okay.” you sigh, pulling in a tense breath. “okay. that sounds nice… let’s do it.”

“yay!”

tag list: @orinlin @pain-in-the-ashe @youmake1mistake @arienic @wasting-away-on-the-internet @angelhyperfixates @remiechu

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 7 months ago

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I know you’ve been receiving a lot of Malleus asks lately, but do you think Malleus’s overblot will really play with the idea of overblots being dangerous to the overblotter’s health? Having him suffer from health complications after his massive magic expenditure would help take him down a notch in preparation for whatever follows in Book 8. We can’t have him solving everything with his ridiculous magical might after all.

I don't really think they'll "really play with the idea of OBs being dangerous to the OBer's health" beyond making Malleus conveniently incapacitated for a short enough of a time to not defeat Grim in a single flick of his pinkie finger. (I also want to point out we don't have confirmation for a book 8 with OB Grim quite yet, so I'd rather not make assumptions on what's to come.)

The reason why I think this is because none of the other boys seem to have suffered the physical consequences following their own incidents. Not a single one as far as I'm aware, at least not in a significant way. It's also odd when you consider that both Riddle and Vil's books highlight that they are seemingly back to full health again "a few days later", implying that it only takes a few days to totally recover from the exertion and anguish that they were just under. The worst of it was Vil mentioning his group did not perform as well as they could have since they were all exhausted.

More damning, however, is Leona's circumstances. He actually recovers almost immediately after the defeat of his OB form (barring a trip to the school infirmary; this is more explicitly shown in the Episode of Octavinelle manga) and even has enough magic to spare to rejoin the interdorm tournament that's going on that same day. And, mind you, they are playing a sport which requires the use of magic… meaning Leona still pushes himself and uses magic when he just overblotted a few minutes ago??? Trey and Jamil even talk about how since the Savanaclaw students took such a beating, it'll be easier for the rest of them to have their revenge on them for playing dirty before the tournament's start. Is… Is no one concerned Leona might OB again from playing?? No?? Just me?? Okay…

Now of course Malleus is on a completely different power level than his peers. We can’t be sure how his body would react post-OB compared to everyone else, same as how Idia notes in book 6 that the memory wiping technology STYX has on hand may affect fae differently. Solely basing my thoughts on what we already know of other characters though, the mage’s health is not treated like a huge concern in the aftermath. We don’t observe devastating side effects either.

I think we can assume they’ll be fine granted enough rest and food, with maybe the one notable exception being physical hindrance/tiredness in the period right after. That’ll probably be long enough for Malleus to not Save The Day Instantly whenever it is that Grim loses it and rampages, thus giving the other boys a chance to team up and help out. Again, really plot convenient (*stares at the feats Leona was able to pull off in his “tired” state*) but whatever makes the story move forward, I guess 🤷‍♀️

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lxmelle · 6 months ago

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I love the idea of mutuality that is deeply rooted in the relationship between Gojo and Geto.

I read a tweet that expressed the opinion over Geto’s apparent “selfishness” for being jealous over Sukuna in ch236. It got me thinking that it wasn’t the first time this was mentioned regarding the scene. I’ve read that sentiments along the lines of: “Geto! Ah, how dare you? After you left him and went onto create a family... how dare you be jealous!” etc. (it was meant to be a bit humorous).

I generally disagree with these kinda takes if they’re not in jest. Because I believe that Geto was never the “selfish” type and, imho, Geto left for primarily “good” reasons that prioritised Gojo / others - and the sorcerers he took under his wing, were people in the fringes of the conservative Japanese society), but the notion of jealousy and selfishness makes sense to me. In a positive way.

So, on the topic of mutuality: I think they learnt from each other. They have always been counterparts. Complementary beings. Black and white. Yin and Yang. Wisdom and Compassion. Strength and Weakness. Repel and Absorb.

They have a bit of both in each of them. One shouldn’t really exist without the other. They needed one another for absolute balance. Together, they really could have been the strongest, because being strong wasn’t just about absolute strength.

So, lessons. I think one of Geto’s main contributions to Gojo was for him to learn to love others, and be a little less selfish. This goes along with the take about him having been born with the capacity to have been rather monstrous if his humanity wasn’t nurtured.

If you like, it is a bit like the KFC breakup. Gojo suddenly realised he wanted Geto to be with him/wanted to be with Geto. It wasn’t enough to just be strong on his own. It was kind of pointless to be selfish.

Geto left him behind as if to say, “don’t only consider me as precious”. And the draft almost depicted Geto saying, “be careful not to kill anyone other than me,” which is unlike someone who has a hatred for non-sorcerers - as if to say, “other people’s lives should be precious to you too.”

This is where Gojo, probably for the first time on a mission, hesitated to kill. He realised, through his own experience, the preciousness of life. He learnt about love. This was what Geto wanted him to retain: humanity. And we saw him change and mature as/after he realised this.

Geto, who loved everyone too much, needed to learn from Gojo and be a little bit more selfish. Gojo believed being a sorcerer was “an individual sport”. But Geto was a bit more like Megumi... willing to concede/yield too easily for the gain of the collective force. (So we can see also why Gojo wanted Megumi to learn what he thought could’ve contributed to Geto’s defection).

So one of Gojo’s main contributions to Geto was for him to learn to love himself more and be a little more selfish.

Geto cared too much and sacrificed his own happiness, leading to his own downfall and demise.

And at their ends… When Geto said, “妬けるね” (I’m envious) in 236, that was really something. To many native readers, this was quite a confession... Geto was expressing envy towards Sukuna who was the recipient of what Gojo was expressing. Geto, for the first time, expressing to Gojo what he felt. (Even then, he still said “if you’re satisfied, I’m glad.”) This was Geto being selfish.

The words uttered just moments before, we saw Gojo say, he loved everyone and wasn’t lonely. This was Gojo with humanity. Gojo had internalised humanity, so much so, that he even wanted to reach out to Sukuna as a fellow monster and connect, somehow, as a human being. And he had fun.

Of course, it wouldn’t be satosugu indulgent if Gege (the original stsg shipper) didn’t make Gojo express his selfishness in return and say, “if you were there I might’ve been satisfied”. (Yes, you’re a sulky boy. You have a right to take a jab at Geto ⬅️ pure headcanon 😂).

And thus, Gojo had learned from Geto and Geto also learned from Gojo (i think the latter has something to do with the last words imparted in jjk0. The message seemed very personal and it was something shared only between them, but significant enough for Geto to feel…happy & at peace).

Gojo in HI wouldn’t have cared about other people to his own detriment (e.g. meaning is “for the weak”, wasn’t interested in Riko until the meaning was made evident by Geto, went to kill Toji out of ? revenge? an experiment? ? & might’ve committed mass murder if Geto didn’t stop him), He never did until Geto guided him back on the path of humanity. Geto’s downfall was carrying the weight of caring for everyone that it broke him into pieces.

It’s... really nice that they complemented each other. I’m not saying their were perfect, but they were products of many circumstances and factors, including a twisted jujutsu world. It would’ve been nice to see them sharing the burden and creating a better future together.

Anyhow, I’m aware that not everyone will agree with my interpretation but it just seems to flow and make sense to me.

The subtlety in Gege’s touch can make you miss it, or even second-guess yourself, but once you know, you can’t unsee it. It all seems intentional?

Or it is also entirely possible that I see it with heavily-satosugu-tinted glasses.

Oh well.

#just my interpretation #jujutsu kaisen ramblings #satosugu brainrot #jjk satosugu #satosugu #jujutsu kaisen #gojo satoru #geto suguru #stsg #jjk analysis #jjk spoilers #jjk meta #jujutsu kaisen satosugu #jjk chapter 236 #jjk hidden inventory #satosugu angst #satosugu meta #satosugu analysis #jjk satosugu analysis

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ultimate-chickennougat · 11 months ago

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| Your Salaryman Husband | (Vol 6)

Vol 1 Vol 2 Vol 3 Vol 4 Vol 5 (Not Required) Vol 7 Vol 8 Vol 9

Salaryman!Kento x Housewife!Reader

Having lunch with Satoru Gojo...

Word Count: 1.6k

CW: SFW, domestic fluff, fem!Reader, Nanami's a bit rude, Gojo...

A/n: I hope I didn't fail Gojo's dialogue too bad, this volume has a bit more plot in it than usual. I'll keep it light next one.

Nanami, your perfect husband, never ceased to surprise you. You couldn’t imagine that a man like him, so perfect and loving, could not have friends. There was Ijichi, a former coworker that he checked in with on occasion, and Ieiri, another coworker that he insisted on be your doctor, but in general he was never one to stay out late to drink with his friends after work, or watch a sports game like other married men his age. He always reasoned, that there was no one he would rather spend time with than you, which was true of course. But still, it didn’t make sense.

Now a salaryman, a senior manager at an investment company, you had met him when he was a Jujutsu Sorcerer, though he didn’t stay that way for long. Once the two of you started courting, he quickly decided to go back to his former position, something he was already considering before meeting you. For the longest time, you hadn’t met anyone from his past, though he never shied away from telling you anything you asked about.

Now what you didn’t know, was that there were other reasons for his reclusiveness. A great scar on his heart, you could say. Something that could never be healed, for it was formed by a monster.

That monster, was none other than Satoru Gojo, Nanami’s former upperclassman and fellow Jujutsu sorcerer.

The sheer amount of pain inflicted upon Nanami every time he had to go within a kilometer radius of that man was something most people couldn’t imagine, who was so incredibly annoying that his own brain cells suffered substantially at the sound of his voice. The living being that just might have been his main reason for leaving Jujutsu High way back then.

And that was the man you two were set to have lunch with, that afternoon. You hadn’t seen him since your wedding, where he was sitting in the front row, making sure to give Nanami a pat on the back before saying “I do.” He was happy to introduce himself, of course curious about the new Mrs. Nanami who had been kept far, far away from him, but the way Nanami was, he quickly hurried the bother away and swept you off your feet as soon as he could to enjoy the rest of the night.

Your husband, Nanami, tried his hardest to be respectful to just about everyone, preferring to get work done and pay attention to more important things than those who bothered him. However when it came to Gojo, only the bitter honesty remained. He had no problem insulting that pest that called himself “the strongest”, which sadly he couldn’t deny. This was true when you tried to bring him up, asking about the man at the wedding while writing thank you notes to the guests.

“Don’t mind him,” he said sternly, trying to avoid the topic - as the great perk of getting out of the Jujutsu world might just have been being done with Satoru Gojo, after all. A lifetime long break from that man. “In fact, I don’t think he even needs a card,” He smiled, holding up the envelope, about to rip it into shreds.

“Of course he does, he gave us such a nice gift,” you muttered, snatching the envelope back from his hands. That was about as far as you got when trying to bring him up. Nanami would always tell you everything you wanted to know, about his work and past life, and the same was true with Gojo. But something about the way that he scowled just at the thought of him had you wishing you hadn’t mentioned it at all.

You were running around at home waiting for Nanami to get back, as per usual, though this time your struggle was quickly sweeping and vacuuming up a dropped glass. Reaching into the high cabinets in the kitchen, your apron had gotten snagged on a handle as you stepped down from the stepping stool. If only it had been a small spill, but the large glass jar flew out of your hands as you tried to not fall yourself, and landed, smashing into a million pieces directly in the middle of the kitchen floor. Glass pieces tucked into every nook and cranny of the kitchen and surrounding rooms. Then you heard the phone ring. Rushing to grab it, the unknown number didn’t phase you. Nanami’s work often sent calls to the home phone, after all.

“Hello? This is the Nanami residence,” you spoke, holding the phone to your ear. “Good, I got the right number,” the voice sighed. “This is Satoru Gojo, Nanami’s coworker?” The voice who you now knew as Gojo waited for your reply. “Ah Mr. Gojo…” you took a few breaths, “Kento isn’t here right now, but he’ll be back in a few minutes.” “Oh he isn’t? That’s great… I mean fine, that’s fine. I don’t need him here.” Gojo let out a few laughs under his breath. “Actually, I was wondering if you two would like to meet up for lunch tomorrow. Theres this great new restaurant that opened up, and I haven’t seen either of you in a while. How does that sound?” He asked. “I’ll have to ask Nanami, though I doubt he’d be busy. I’m sure he would enjoy seeing you…” You let out a few giggles yourself, thinking about your stoic husband. Of course you didn’t want to upset him, but maybe he would enjoy meeting up with a coworker - and of course, you were awfully curious.

“If you two have any conflicts, just let me know. I’ll make us a reservation anyways.” Gojo leafed through the menu, the sound audible through the phone. “Oh and they have mochi, that’ll be great,” he laughed, “It was good to talk to you, Y/n, I’ll see you later.” “Goodbye, Mr. Gojo,” you responded back, and the call was ended.

In perfect timing, of course, the moment you got back to work, bending down to sweep up the glass mess on the floor, your husband walked up the front steps. You ran over to greet him, fixing your hair and removing your apron. “Welcome home darling,” you smiled as he opened the door. You took his briefcase and set it to the side of the door for him. “I… I broke some glass in the kitchen, I’ll go clean it up in a minute,” you started, as he looked you in the eyes. “And…” he stared, curious as to what you were so nervous about. “I received a phone call, from a coworker of yours, or should I say former coworker?” part of you wanted to change the subject. “I see… and does this coworker have a name?” he asked, taking a seat on the couch.

“Mr. Gojo gave a call, actually.” Nanami’s hands clenched, the veins showing down from his knuckles. “He invited us to lunch tomorrow, isn’t that nice?”

And that is how you ended up in the car, with a very bothered husband on a nice Saturday afternoon. The restaurant was in a nice quiet part of the city, just a few miles away. Threading your fingers together as you sat in the passengers seat, the annoyance was clear on Nanami’s face. “I’m sorry, Kento, but he already made the reservation… I would feel bad to cancel,” he let out a small grunt, gripping the steering wheel. “I’m not mad at you, Y/n, it’s that stupid-” he moved his hand to hold onto yours as he breathed. “Please don’t take anything he says seriously, my love,” you smiled, glad to know he wasn’t mad at you, his humor still coming through.

After checking in with the waiter, the two of you were led to an outdoor table. “I’m surprised you didn’t show up in a t-shirt,” the two of you sat down as Nanami glared at the man before him. “Of course not, I am meeting with my favorite couple, you know.” Gojo sneered back. “I don’t see why you always ignore me nowadays, Nanami, are we not friends?” he sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Y/n, look at the menu, it has some great sandwich options,” Nanami pointed to the paper in front of him, as Gojo whined, being ignored.

“To be honest I’ve moved on from all of that,” the food was getting served as Nanami and Gojo continued their conversation. “That kind of work isn’t for everyone,” Nanami explained, eying the ham and cheese sandwich before him. “And Y/n, is he treating you well?” Gojo asked, giving a look to Nanami. “Yes, of course, he’s wonderful,” you responded shyly, the question catching you off guard. “I don’t know how you got that number anyway, but I know Y/n was quite interested in meeting you,” he smirked at you, his nerves having calmed down quite a bit. “Has he met your expectations?” you thought about it for a moment. “Yes, any friend of yours is a friend of mine. By the way, thank you so much for the gift Mr. Gojo,” he smiled back at you. “That toaster is top of the line, it’s got a ton of extra settings so you can use it on more than sliced bread,” you laughed, taking a sip of water from your glass.

“Anyways, I hope we can do this again, hmm?” Gojo asked, having paid the bill. Nanami looked at you, rolling his eyes. “If we must, then sure,” he responded, grabbing your hand to walk out of the building. “By the way, how is it that my upperclassman is so far behind? I’d think you’d at least have some prospects…” Nanami pretended to ponder, watching Gojo’s face turn into a frown. Thus concluded your first real meeting with one of Nanami’s friends, an interesting experience forever ingrained into your mind.

#nanami x reader #jjk #Jujutsu Kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x you #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x you #jjk x reader #jjk x y/n #nanami x you #kento nanami x reader #nanami kento x reader #kento x reader #nanami kento x you #nanami kento #jjk nanami #kento nanami #kento #nanami

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lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks · 10 months ago

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fic idea I'll never write because it has too many fight scenes and I'm bad at those soooooo

quirkless Izuku Midoriya in the support class, approaching every hero student before the sports festival, offering his skills as a quirk analyst to help them prepare, starting everyone off with a free sample of advice to entice them into the deal

with a caveat

he is going to be fighting in the sports festival too, so if they agree to let him coach them, they will be giving him a leg up on them as he will know all their strengths and weaknesses, but coaching them in private means that none of the other students will be aware of their new moves

his talent as an analyst and strategist are already well known at the school, to the point that teachers sometimes even consult him, and he takes tea with Nedzu twice a week, he's scary smart

but he's quirkless,

the hero students think giving him an advantage is just going to even the playing field right? it's only fair to give him a fighting chance, some students agree just for that reason alone, he's so passionate, it would be such a shame to see him crash and burn right at the start

they mean well, they truly do

there are only two and half hero students who don't take him up on his offer

one being Bakugo, because Midoriya knew better than to even bother offering, partly due to his pride and ego, partly because Midoriya was already extremely familiar with Bakugo's quirk, but also because Bakugo knows damn well it's a fool's deal and he's already told off everyone in his class for being dumb enough to accept it

one being Monoma, who took one look at the situation at hand and laughed in Midoriya's face, surprisingly this wasn't due to any amount of pride, quite the opposite, Monoma did not underestimate him for being quirkless, as someone who had to spend half his time fighting quirkless himself he was well aware that Midoriya was just as much a threat as everyone else and Monoma would treat him as such

the half being Todoroki, who in the process of taking Midoriya's advice on how to exert more fine control over his ice, and then realising he's doing the same for almost every other student in his class, realised exactly how much of a threat this quirkless boy actually imposed, and then realised that if he wanted to have any chance of taking him unawares he might be forced to use his fire, as it's the only part of his quirk Midoriya had absolutely zero knowledge of, in fact it was one of the few quirks left in the whole hero course that Midoriya had no knowledge of

at the sports festival Midoriya shows up carrying several cases of support gear, he's been cleared by the teachers to be allowed one support item in each match on the condition that it was made by a support student in his yeargroup and that he was at least somewhat involved in its design and creation (powerloader was in charge of observing this process to ensure he met the guidelines and grew a few new grey hairs because of course their most terrifying analyst teamed up with his most terrifying engineer)

Midoriya chooses not to use any of his support gear in the team challenges, he wants to show that he belongs here on his own merits, to prove that he can make it using nothing but his own hard work and ingenuity

it's the one on one fights he utilises his support gear

Midoriya calculated which students were most likely to make it into the 1v1 rounds and prepared a customised support item to fight each of them, taking full advantage of every weakness he'd unearthed during his coaching sessions

he doesn't use any gear in his fight with Shinsou however, he wasn't from the hero course so Midoriya didn't offer to train him (Shinsou had as much to prove as Midoriya did and he had no intentions of getting in the way of that, and Shinsou would have turned him down regardless) but he had a vague enough idea of what his quirk was so their fight would essentially be nothing more than a quirkless brawl

it's a close call but where Shinsou's attention was split between fighting and trying to get a reaction from his shit talking, Midoriya was focused 100% on nothing but the fight, despite it being easy low hanging fruit Shinsou never uses Midoriya's quirklessness to bait him into responding, not wanting to stoop that low

his fight with Todoroki is intense, but with heat based support gear he's able to get through Todoroki's defences

Midoriya didn't get the Todoroki Family Traumadump in this universe so instead of a 'your quirk not his' speech we get a 'don't hold back on me they will jump at any opportunity to blame my success on someone else because I'm quirkless, I want everyone to know I won because I worked the hardest for it' speech

Todoroki ends up backed into a corner and forced to use his fire, unfortunately for him Midoriya was not only prepared to go up against his fire, he also built an entire strategy around Todoroki's poor control over it, it's close but in the end he's able to manoeuvre Todoroki out of bounds by using the fire to obscure the boundary line, and he wins the fight

Midoriya ends up facing Bakugo in the final round, to start with Bakugo is absolutely fuming at the fact that Midoriya made it this far, he is even extra pissed off when Midoriya states the only support gear he'll be using in this fight is leg gear to help him manoeuvre around, not even using an offensive weapon

Midoriya uses every little piece of knowledge he has on Bakugo to predict his movements and attacks, but Bakugo had been training privately specifically to avoid Midoriya seeing his progress (as much as he shit talked Midoriya for being quirkless he knew damn well that he was a genuine threat, even if he wouldn't admit it), but Bakugo had never seen Midoriya fight before today, with no edge over him strategically other than what he had learned from watching the previous fights, which helped little due to Midoriya's fighting style shifting with each opponent

it's a brutal, long drawn out battle, but Midoriya's close familiarity with Bakugo's quirk gives him an advantage Bakugo just can't catch up with, Midoriya mostly uses Bakugo's own quirk against him, eventually baiting him into pulling off a bigger than necessary blast with enough kickback to throw him in the air and then takes advantage of the uncontrolled momentum to throw him out of bounds, taking a risk and falling close to losing his own footing on the boundary line in the process

Midoriya wins the sports festival by a hair, securing a future seat into the hero course

Bakugo is actually really humbled by the experience, he has to go through a whole process of rebooting his brain to figure out how to feel about the whole thing, he wants to be pissed off but Midoriya had fought him with every ounce of strength and tenacity he had, it was more of a challenge than any of his own classmates had given him, he'd done everything in his power to beat this kid down their whole lives and instead Midoriya had taken that and turned it into fuel to prove him and everyone else wrong

Bakugo stops calling him Deku after that, saying the name just doesn't suit him anymore, Midoriya says that it never suited him, but it's nice that Bakugo is finally catching on

when Midoriya is eventually moved into the class, a couple of the students are a little pissed about the underhanded way he went about the whole thing, feeling as though he had kinda misled them and taken advantage of them trying to be nice to him by giving him an extra edge in the competition

Midoriya points out that he had been very transparent from the start, and that if they had taken him seriously and respected him as an opponent then they never would have taken his deal in the first place, he wasn't taking advantage of their kindness, he was taking advantage of their quirk bias

Aizawa backs Midoriya up by stating that Midoriya had actually cleared this strategy with the teachers to ensure it wasn't breaking any rules, and he was exceptionally disappointed that a majority of his class had fallen for the bait, and that they should take this as a lesson in not underestimating their opponents regardless of their quirks

Midoriya and Bakugo end up working together for more cohesively and make a terrifying duo, eventually even going with matching themed hero names Arsenall and Dynamight (lifting DIRECTLY from this tiktok because it's absolutely fucking genius, except in this universe the name is in reference to the vast variety of support gear he uses rather than the multiple quirks he has)

anyway I made this whole thing as a side effect of an idea where canon Midoriya gets hit by a quirk that pulls alternate timeline versions of himself into his world and Arsenall was one of them, there was also a guerilla journalist/vigilante Midoriya called Rabbit who I might also make a post of because I actually had the outline of an entire fic about him mentally noted down at one point so he is way more fleshed out

the other two versions didn't have super fleshed out stories but mostly because one was just quirkless Midoriya if he joined the support class but didn't enter the sports festival, and the other was villain Midoriya who is already basically an existing fanon character so I didn't feel the need to flesh him out so much

#lula's mha brainrot #mha #lula's aus #izuku midoriya #quirkless izuku midoriya #anyway if someone has written a fic like this please lemme at it

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black-amortentia · 1 year ago

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Such a Fall of Snow | Frost - Snolidays 2023

Severus Snape x Professor!Reader | Warnings: Secret relationship, just fluff, barely proofread so please excuse mistakes!

This is my story for week one "Frost" of Snolidays 2023! I decided to take all the prompts together and use them to inspire one little story.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Anticipation for Christmas buzzed in the air of the Three Broomsticks, and the Hogwarts faculty were falling under the spell of merriment. Even the unsettling presence of Severus Snape couldn't dull the smiles of the teachers gathered for drinks. His presence earned a few surprised glances. No one expected Snape, of all people, to attend. They would never guess the real reason.

He was here for you.

Severus sat at the end of the table. Easy to slip away when the time came, and he could only have one person sit beside him. The only person he wanted beside him.

Minerva looked at you a few times, almost as if she was sorry you sat next to the most miserable man in Hogwarts. She didn't know you were exactly where you wanted to be. You and Severus were masters of discretion, after all.

You practically ignored Severus as you joked with your fellow professors. But underneath the table, your knees touched. That little shared warmth, the bit of intimacy that was your well-kept secret.

Three butterbeers in, you were happily enjoying the festive air. Severus had been nursing the same glass of wine since he'd arrived, sporting the same unamused look. He could never admit to the joy your smile conjured within him.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Severus tip the wine glass back, draining it. He set it down quietly. Severus's warm hand found your thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. Firm. Lingering. His signal that he was about to make his escape.

Then he was gone. You tried not to shiver at the absence of his warmth at your side. No one else noticed that he’d left, his preference, of course, and you didn’t call attention to it.

Quite some time passed, you weren’t sure how much, while you enjoyed making merry with your fellow professors. Soon, you had enough of their company. There was someone else you were eager to spend time with.

After making your own excuses, you rose from the table, rosy-cheeked and cheerful. Outside, the buildings lining the streets of Hogsmeade cast a warm glow onto the frost-covered lanes. The door shut behind you, muffling the hum of noise from the pub. The hush of cold, quiet darkness filled your ears.

"You took your sweet time," drawled a voice behind you.

With a little gasp of surprise, you turned to see Severus standing in the shadow of the pub. His pale face was the only thing you could see at first, his black cloak blending in with the darkness.

"I was having fun. Just because you loathe the company of everyone around you…"

"Not everyone."

Severus fell into step beside you as the two of you set off for Hogwarts. His cape billowed, a shield against any prying eyes who might look this way. He walked close to you, the back of his hand nudging yours but making no move to grasp it.

Always holding back.

"Not that anyone would know," you commented.

There was this side to Severus, a side he let no one but you see. You couldn't pinpoint what you'd done to earn the privilege, suspecting it was a dozen little things since you'd become colleagues. “Severus ‘Humbug’ Snape has a reputation to uphold.”

You blamed the playful words on the butterbeer.

His eyes flashed at your jest. “I prefer to keep my business private. That is not a crime.”

You watched him from the corner of your eye. You knew there was more to it than that. Severus kept a tight leash of control over his emotions at all times, even moments like this when it was just the two of you. You respected him too much to question him, which he appreciated. It was one aspect that made this thing brewing between you work so well.

“Come on, let's take the long way back. By the Forbidden Forest.”

The path was dark, seldom used, unlit. Private. By now, you knew it like the back of your hand, the number of times you and Severus had used it.

The flush of the drinks you had in the pub was wearing off, the chill of the dark night raising shivers over the bare skin of your neck. Few high collars in your wardrobe, something you were coming to regret.

“You’re cold,” Severus commented, noticing the slight change in the way you stood.

He unwound his black scarf from his neck and wrapped it around yours. Severus's hands lingered over your skin as he moved, the brush of his fingertips sending a different kind of shiver through you. The dark woolen fabric, still warm from Severus’s own body heat, settled comfortably against your skin. His scent wafted from it, tickling your nose.

Even though Severus finished wrapping the scarf around your exposed neck, he wasn’t ready for his hands to leave you. They made a home on your shoulders, light and ready to flee at any moment.

Your voice was soft when you thanked him, meeting his dark gaze as it bore into yours. You knew what you wanted. You guessed he wanted the same. Your lips parted as you looked up at him, your subtle invitation. Severus accepted.

His lips came down on yours, gentle yet fervent, knowing what he wanted and somehow afraid to take it. Your mouth moved against his, drawing him deeper into the kiss, hand clutching the front of his robes. His control slipped just enough, and he let himself claim you. A soft nibble on your lower lip made you gasp, and the resulting exploration of his tongue made your knees tremble.

In the shadow of the Forbidden Forest, your only witnesses were the creatures that dwelt within. None of them bothered you, and your kiss with Severus intensified, his hands finding your waist and hip, pulling you flush against him.

You run out of breath first and lean back, but Severus’s kiss simply moves down your neck. After he elicited some delicious noises from you, nibbled a small mark on you that you’d have to hide later, he finally came up for air. Severus cupped your face in his hand, staring into your eyes. The only sound you heard was that of your racing heart and Severus’s labored breaths.

“I wonder if anyone has noticed we’re missing.” Your words broke the silence, and Severus bristled slightly. “Should we head back?”

“We could stay a little longer.” Severus’s voice was barely audible, almost as if he didn’t want to admit that he wasn’t ready to let you go.

Wrapping your arms around Severus, you laid your head against his shoulder. He stiffened at first, and then you felt him relax under your touch. His arms tightened around you, cradling your head, stroking your hair. He exhaled, a seldom heard sound of contentment, his breath ruffling a stray lock by your forehead.

Even as white dusted your clothes, stark against the black robes and black scarf; even as the fresh snowfall covered the tracks you made earlier, Severus did not let you go.

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