#fits idiots squad

[minteayoongimakesmewoozi]

de-aged idiots squad would be..... something

imagine if they all de-aged ten years. 6yo ayame, tanjirou and inosuke with 7yo zenitsu my beloveds

ayame and inosuke can and would fight anyone and everyone. tanjirou has to keep them in check. zenitsu has been crying for twelve hours straight.

not to mention. not to mention! ayame and tanjirou who aren't as close-knit as the rest of the kisatsutai are used to. tanyame might give off the vibes that they're childhood friends, but they're really more childhood acquaintances. tanjirou would still probably look out for ayame more than ayame looks out for him

also just imagine baby!ayame clinging to giyuu bc he has black hair and blue eyes and giyuu is o_o at this miniature ayame

[a-ginger-from]

I saw the Leicester score and it must be said I am so happy for winksy

[itsbeeble]

Cheerleaders and Stereotypes

SUMMARY: Choi San isn't an idiot. He's also very patient. How long will it take for you to let him admit that he bagged the hottest cheerleader in the world?

GENRE: fluff, angst, smut

PAIRING: Choi San x afab!reader

WC: ~4.7k

ATEEZ MASTERLIST

PERM TAGLIST: @winterchimez @juyeonszn @flwoie

18+ MDNI AGELESS BLOGS WILL BE BLOCKED

WARNINGS: reader is dumb, relationship is actually a little toxic I won't even lie, san tries to make reader jealous and it works, p in v sex, fingering, size kink, SIZE. KINK., softdom!san, big dick!san, um reader struggles to ride san idk, bulge kink, san lowkey mocks the reader a bit, insecurities, arguing, san lowkey is way too patient for reader, idk i think that's it

A/N: h-heyyyyy *chuckles nervously* Everyone say welcome back tumblr user itsbeeble! Everyone say thank you @from-izzy and @sanaxo-o for distracting me while I was writing and to ally for supporting me through a very very very very long writers block hahahahhahahhahhahha....haha...ha

Choi San, despite popular belief, was not an idiot. Not really at least. Unfortunately for him, he seemed to fit most of the stereotypes of a college athlete.

He was fit, that was without a doubt and he would not deny it. Six days a week in the gym after football practice did him good. Toned arms that hardly fit any of his shirts, the fabric stretching and nearly tearing every time he got dressed. Thick thighs that bulged against every pair of jeans or sweatpants, noticeable from the stands on game day and having girls swooning as he walked. Not to mention his ass. Had he not built up a brick wall called “confidence” the comments made about his ass would have had him blushing and covering his cheeks rather than smirking. 

God, that smirk. He flashed it casually to anyone who looked at him— students, professors, the crowd, the opposing team, the cheerleaders. It was a near unfortunate bonus that he was just as hot as he was fit. That stupid chiselled jaw, the dimples, and his tall frame. It’s irritating. 

At least, it’s irritating for you. 

See, being the supposedly stupid captain of the football team came with many stereotypes. 

Dating the captain of the cheerleading squad was just one more, even if no one knew. 

No one important, that is.

“Sannie,” Yewon was practically hanging off San’s arm, her manicured nails lightly scratching the tan skin. The sing-song tone of her voice made you cringe, the noise scraping at your eardrums and creating a dull throb in your already aching skull. Your back was turned to the pair, but San could tell you were likely trying to grow eyes in the back of your skull to watch the interaction. That stupid, casual smirk of his was trained on the newer cheerleader, her eyes big and filled with faux innocence. “How did you get so big?”

A poorly stifled snort from another girl on the squad, Sihyeon. A good friend of yours who knows exactly what goes on between you and San behind closed doors, and knows exactly what he’s planning. That little snort has you turning the daggers you call eyes onto her, the girls around her shifting uncomfortably at the now tense energy around you. 

Jealousy. That’s what San’s goal is and you know it. He’s pulled this trick several times before, trying to egg you on and expose the relationship that you’d chosen to hide. So he’d play stupid, that same act that everyone believes is a poor reality. The dumb, hot captain of the football team who can’t seem to get a girlfriend despite the girls falling at his feet for a moment of his attention. All he wants is for you to finally get jealous enough to rip that girl off his arm and finally stake your claim publicly. 

Unfortunately, you’re patient. 

Fortunately, so is he.

He smirks down at her, his arm grazing the skin of her lower back that her top doesn’t cover. You can practically hear her breathing stutter, and your grip on your pom poms tightens.

“Never skip a day at the gym, never skip practice, throw a good party on the weekends.” His answer is…lackluster at best. Your nose wrinkles, knowing he did it on purpose. The idiotic responses are for you, in hopes that you’ll turn around and yell at him for pretending to be a moron even though he’s one of the best students in the Kinesiology department. 

“You’ll have to coach me through a workout one day,” Yewon grabs San’s arm tighter when she sees you turn to face the pair. 

“Maybe I should take you up on that.” San isn’t looking at her, not even a brief glance down to acknowledge that she’s there. No, his eyes are trained on you. Daring you to say something, anything. 

Do it.

You know you want to.

Stake the claim.

You know I’m yours. Why not let everyone else know?

You open your mouth to speak, and he quirks an eyebrow at you. Do it, do it, do it.

“Kim Yewon,” the words are laced with venom and she goes rigid. “Break ended ten minutes ago.”

“I was talking to Sannie!” She glared at you, and you almost laughed. 

“Sannie,” you mocked, watching a pout form on your boyfriend’s lips, “has his own practice to get to.”

“Our practice ended half an hour ago.” He argued, toeing the limits of how far he can push you before you finally break. 

“Then leave.” 

“I don’t want to. I wanna stay and talk with Yewon.” He challenged. Sihyeon grimaces behind you, watching as San digs himself a grave not even he can climb out of. 

The two of you stare each other down for a few moments, a mix of emotions running through you. You know that he’s challenging you and trying to get a rise out of you, but you know better. You know you can’t challenge him like that without exposing your relationship— the one thing in your life that you want to keep to yourself for just a little while longer. 

You’re the first to cave, your shoulders slumping just enough to be noticed by San, and his eyebrows knit together. 

“Do what you want. Practice is done for the day.”

The two-story rental house you share with Sihyeon and a few other girls from the squad is eerily silent. The air conditioning and the sound of you quietly walking around your room are the only things keeping you from the thoughts in your head. 

Did San take Yewon up on the ‘offer’?

Did you take it too far?

Should you have just caved for him?

What if he’s sick of this? Of the secret meet-ups and the acting?

Something hits the window as you’re walking past it, and a loud squeak escapes you. You whip your head around just as, what you now realize is, a rock hits the window. Not a large rock. Small, just enough to be noticeable and visible to the naked eye as it tumbles back down to the front lawn. Another rock as you take the two steps you need in order to peer down and see San with a pile of rocks on the ground next to him, a fourth in his hand ready to be thrown if needed. He grins when he sees you, tossing the rock up and down a couple of times before taking aim.

You fling your window open, scowling down at him before he winds his hand back. 

“Don’t you fucking dare, Choi San.” He pouts up at you, but all you do is glare. 

“How else was I supposed to get your attention?”

“Ring the doorbell, dumbass. Like a normal person.” 

Much to your annoyance, San just grins and drops the rock. “Where’s the fun in that?”

You lean against the window frame, arms folded as you run your tongue over your lip in thought. “Shouldn’t you be with Yewon?” 

You can see San’s nose wrinkle at the thought, but he doesn’t respond. Instead, he makes his way to the tree he’d been using as a sort of ladder to get into your room. He’d been doing that since you met, since the first time you ever slept together. He’d never been a fan of the whole…front door tactic. Your father would probably hate him. He’d think San was no good, a troublemaker if anything. You would disagree. 

Maybe your relationship was more stereotypical than you were willing to believe. 

San’s shoes are louder than either of you had expected as he jumps down from the tree, grimacing at the noise he makes.

“If my neighbors didn’t know any better, the police would’ve been here by now.” You shuffle back as your boyfriend tucks awkwardly through your window. His large frame pushes against the frame, the vinyl creaking against him as it struggles to stay in one piece. His neck cranes to look up at you, his feet hitting the ground with another loud thump.

“Glad they know better then.” He pushes a hand through his hair, the silky black strands falling loosely over his forehead in spite of his best efforts. 

A moment of silence falls between you, and you take this time to sit at your dresser. Makeup wipes and cleansers are scattered in front of you from when you’d made a weak attempt at distracting yourself from, well, the problem you’d created. 

San sits on your bed behind you, watching every move you make. He sits quietly, like a child in a timeout chair. He waits, letting you make the calls. You never knew why he started doing that— started letting you take the lead in every argument, even the petty nonsensical ones.

“You never answered my question,” your eyes are trained on him through the mirror. He presses his lips together, loosely folding his legs.

“Are you really that upset?” The question is innocent enough, but it brings back the previous irritation from the field. 

“Why wouldn’t I be? My boyfriend is openly flirting with other people knowing that I’ll get pissed off. You flaunt that knowledge like it’s your fucking birthright or whatever. Do you really think I’m not gonna get upset about it?” You put your moisteurizer down with more force than you’d wanted to, shaking your dresser a bit. San flinches at the sudden noise, gnawing at his lip in thought. 

“I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“Are you, though?” Your eyes are narrowed as you turn around in your chair. A momentary pause as San lets the words sink in. He’s patient. So patient with you, even when you feel you don’t deserve it. “You act like you don’t give two shits about our relationship, and then show up at my fucking window acting like nothing is wrong and that the world is all sunshine and fucking rainbows. You go out of your way to piss me off, make me angry at my own squad, just for what? So you can get a good fuck at the end of the day?” 

Sometimes you forget that, while Choi San is patient, that patience runs thin. 

He isn’t stupid. He knows that this outburst, this frustration, isn’t just at him, but the more you spit your venom at him, taking your anger and misdirecting it, the more his patience begins to run out. You can see it in the clenching of his fists, the ticking of his jaw, and the glare in his eyes. 

Unfortunately, you’re far too lost in your mind that you can’t see the way San rises from his seat on your bed and takes a step toward you. Then another, and another, and suddenly he’s right in front of you. 

“Sometimes I think that the idiotic front that you put on isn’t exactly a front at all—” You spin around, expecting him to still be on your bed. A loud yelp escapes you when you come face-to-face with his well-built frame. “Jesus Christ, San! Why the fuck are you right behi—”

“Shut up,” he says it so simply, so calmly that you almost think he’s not being serious. 

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do!” You snarl, and San scoffs. 

“Do you even realize why we’re in this situation to begin with?”

“Yeah, you were flirting with my fucking—”

“Don’t blame me for your fucking problems,” San spits out. Your eyes widen and you take a step back. “I’ve been going along with this stupid fucking secret relationship for who knows how long, and all I’ve gotten in return is you bitching about me wanting you to just come out with it!” 

“You know I want to keep—”

“You want to keep your love life private,” San interrupts and flings his hands into the air. “I get it. I understand, Y/N. That doesn’t make it suck any less.” 

“It isn’t just—” you huff, pressing your hand to your forehead in a poor attempt at calming yourself down. “It isn’t just the fact that I want to keep us private, Sannie. I just— I don’t—” 

Your eyes are welling up with tears, and you blink a few times to force them back. San pulls you toward him, his hand practically engulfing yours as he tugs you onto his lap. Your legs are on either side of his, and he laces his fingers with yours, resting them between the two of you. 

“I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong, sweetheart.” He murmurs, rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb. “Let me help you.”

You shake your head, and his chest rises and falls with a quiet sigh. “I’m just— I’m just so sick of— of everything.” 

San presses a little kiss to your forehead, tugging one of his hands free from yours and lacing it through the strand of hair on the back of your head. He doesn’t move for a few moments, placing another kiss on your forehead and then another. He waits for you to calm yourself and gather your thoughts. 

“Can—” your voice is quieter, a bit more shaky than it was just moments ago. “Can you kiss me?” San smiles, his lips still just millimeters from your forehead.

“Tell me what’s wrong first.” Your hips shift against his, and you drop your head against the column of his neck. Your breath is warm against his skin, and the scent of your shampoo begins to flood his senses. His hand tugs at your hair, drawing your attention back to him. “You’re absolutely insatiable, you know that? Tell me what’s wrong or I’m leaving.”

You can’t fight the little whine that’s pulled out of you. Not that you wanted to. You wanted him. You wanted Choi San so badly that it hurt.

“I was— I was mad because I didn’t want…” You can hardly form a sentence, too distracted by the gentle tugs at your hair and the way San’s other hand has drifted to your hip, drawing circles underneath the fabric of your sleep shorts. 

“What didn’t you want, sweetheart? Tell me.” San pulls your head away from his neck, holding back a grin at the near-glazed look in your eyes. 

“I didn’t want to be part of anymore…stereotypes. We already fit so many, I just—I just wanted to hold that one back for a bit longer.” You whine, your lips falling into a pout that San just wants to kiss away. Instead, he smiles. 

“Was that so hard, pretty girl? So much fighting just for a silly little reason like that?” Your pout deepens, and he sighs. “You know I love you, right?”

“Yeah…”

“And nothing is gonna change that, no matter how many stereotypes we fall under. You understand?”

“Yes,” San smiles, stroking your hip and squeezing it.

“‘Yes’ what, baby?” Your eyes are glossy now, your lips parted slightly in your daze.

“Yes sir.”

Despite San’s patience running thin, he always recovers it with ease. Patience is what he’s known for in class, on the field, in your relationship, and in your bedroom. 

He can edge you for hours, cooing at the way you beg for him, beg for that sweet release, for just one more finger, please just one more.

“Pretty girl,” he strokes your cheek, letting his hand slide down your spine to rest against the small of your back. You’re writhing beneath him, trying desperately to bring your hips up just enough for him to hit that sweet spot inside of you but failing miserably. “I don’t think you can handle anymore.” 

Only two of his fingers sit inside you, but it’s more than enough to stretch you out, to provide you with the stimulation you need to go right over the edge—

“San—sir, please.” Your hands grip the pillow beneath your head tightly, nails digging into the fabric so tight you’re afraid it might tear. “Pl—Please lemme cum, I prom—promise I’ll b—be good. Please,” You’re nearly hysterical, fat tears rolling down your cheeks as he plunges his fingers in and out of you, his thumb dancing over your clit but not quite giving you that extra stimulation. Not that you need it with the way he grinds the tips of his fingers into the spongy spot just within his reach. 

“You wanna cum that bad?” San leans down, his chest pressed against your back and his lips right up against your ear. “You’re gonna have to work harder than that. Beg for it. Scream. I want everyone to know that you’re mine.” 

Patience is a virtue you haven’t quite learned yet. What you have learned? You’re extraordinarily good at making Choi San cave for you. 

“Sir,” you plead, pushing your hips back against his hand just enough. There’s a burning feeling in your stomach, the knot winding tighter and tighter until you almost can’t take it. “Please. I’m so so—sorry for yelling. Please I’ve been so good for you. I can take it. Please let me take it. Want you s—so bad. Want you to ma—make me cum. Want you, Sannie! Please, please make me cum. Want you to fuck me so bad, ple—please!” 

For a moment, San’s hand stills inside you. For a moment all you can hear is your desperate whining and your boyfriend attempting to steady his breathing. 

Then he’s ripping his fingers out of your sopping cunt and rolling you onto your back. His frame looms over you in a way that has your body quivering with anticipation, eyes searching yours for…something that you can’t figure out in your lust-filled haze. 

“Such a pretty girl,” San murmurs, pressing his palm at the base of your stomach, one hand nearly covering the expanse of it. “So small, so good for me. So good for Sannie, hm?”

“Yes!” You grab his wrist, nails digging so tightly you’re afraid you might draw blood. “Please, wanna be so good for you Sannie!” 

He sighs, prying your hand away from his wrist and pinning it to the mattress. “You say that, but I don’t know if I believe you.” 

A sob pushes out of you, your back arching into him. He catches you before you can lower back down to the bed, his arm looping around you to keep you pressed against his chest while he sits back. You’re right where you started— on the bed, straddling him with tears running down your cheeks— but this time you’re both completely undressed. You can feel his cock pressing against your thigh, little twitches being the only indication of any impatience. You try to roll your hips against him, trying anything to get that friction back. San clicks his tongue and shakes his head. 

“Naughty girl,” he murmurs, stilling your hips with one hand. “Thought you said you’d be good for me.”

“I—I will!” You grab his shoulders, leaning your face up to his, trying desperately to kiss him— to do anything that might sway his decision. “I’m sorry, sir! I promise I just— I just wanted—”

“I know,” he kisses you gently, smiling softly, deceptively. “I know you just wanted to cum all over your Sannie’s lap. Been edgin’ you for so long, haven’t I? You deserve to cum for being so…patient.” You let out a relieved sob as San releases your hip and grabs his cock. He guides it through your folds briefly, soaking it in your arousal and pumping his hand up and down his shaft to thoroughly lubricate it. “You’re gonna prove to me that you can be good, baby. Okay?”

“Yes, yes Sannie!” You lift your hips just enough for him to align his tip with your entrance, almost starting to cry again at the feeling. He helps you sink, knowing that two fingers weren’t enough for you. It never is. No matter how much he fucks you, it’s always a tight fit for you, not that you ever complain. You never complain about how big San is compared to you. He’s caught you drooling over this size of his dick more times than he can count, usually trying to talk you out of riding him out of fear of hurting you. But not today. No, today he’s giving you exactly what you wanted. 

“Go ahead, sweetheart.” He encourages. “Fuck yourself dumb on Sannie’s cock.”

The look in your eyes becomes almost animalistic. You shift your body a bit, steadying your hands on his shoulders, and lift your hips until just his tip remains inside of you. San can feel the way you’re clenching around his tip, knows you’re doing it intentionally, and he lets his head fall back. 

When you sink intohim for the first time, you emit a strangled gasp, your eyes rolling into the back of your head and your nails digging into your lover’s shoulders.

“F—Fuck Sannie!” You bite down on your lip, lifting your hips again and dropping back down. “Mmph—fuck you’re too big!”

“You wanted this, sweetheart,” San tells you, rolling his head to the side and groaning as you continue to struggle with riding him. You try so, so hard to build a steady rhythm, but your legs are shaking and your breath is already gone. “I thought cheerleaders were supposed to have good stamina.”

“No—Not when their boyfriend has a f—fucking huge dick!” You cry out, giving up and grinding your hips against his. The steady rolling of your hips relieves the burn just a bit, and you moan as the tip of his cock grinds into that spot with more strength than his fingers did just minutes ago. “Fuck, I can fe—feel you in my stomach!” 

San lifts his head at that, a new hunger in his eyes and he leans you back. You slow your hips at the sudden movement, furrowing your brows while you watch him. He kisses his teeth and places a firm slap on the side of your hip. 

“I didn’t tell you to stop, did I?” He grips your hip tightly in both hands, forcing you to keep riding him. “Keep going, sweetheart. Keep going until I tell you to stop.” 

You do, your hips picking up a steady pace with the help of one of his hands to guide you along. His other hand presses against your stomach, and you hear his breathing hitch.

“Baby,” he takes your hand from his shoulder, squeezing it gently as he guides it to where his hand was previously. “Feel right here.” 

You hesitate just a moment, and he looks down at you, smiling encouragingly. 

Then you feel it. 

The bulge in your stomach where the tip of his cock reaches as far as it can possibly go. 

“You feel that, baby?” San presses your hand down and you both let out a simultaneous moan at the feeling. The white-hot pleasure builds back up in the pit of your stomach, the loosened knot returning with renewed fervor and you know San can tell. You know that he’s close too, his hips thrusting up to meet yours halfway. “God, you feel so good. How did I get so fucking lucky, huh?”

You don’t respond. You can’t respond. The pleasure is blinding. All you can feel, see, hear, and smell is San. He clouds your thoughts, your senses, your very being. The pleasure is winding up, drawing that knot tighter and tighter and tighter—

“C—Cumming, San!” You arch into him, and he holds your hip to keep you moving. “Fuck, fuck I’m cumming!”

“I know, pretty girl,” he grunts, his thrusts stuttering. “Fuck, I’m close. Keep going baby, wanna cum with you.”

Your hips are moving slower, your muscles burning and you can’t stop yourself from forcing San back until he’s laying against the bed. Your hands find purchase on his chest, sweat beading on your forehead with the effort to keep moving, to keep riding him until you’re both forced over the edge you’d been begging for. 

San’s thumb drifts across your hip, finding purchase on your swollen clit and rubbing sloppy circles into it until you’re sobbing again, sobbing his name and begging for that sweet release. 

When it hits you, it’s blinding. Stars spark behind your eyes, your head tossed back and sweet cries pulled from the depths of your chest. His hips thrust into yours one more time, his eyes trained on how you arch your back and twitch with your release, and then he’s cumming. Thick globs of cum fill you up to the brim, seeping out from the seams of your cunt and mixing with your release. You let yourself collapse against his chest, practically gasping for air and shaking from the effort of riding him.

“You finally got what you wanted,” San murmurs, resting one of his hands on the small of your back as his cock softens in you. “You finally got to ride me.”

“Never…never doing that again,” you mutter back, placing a kiss on the base of his neck. “Absolutely…not.”

“I can’t believe you’re actually letting this happen.” San is grinning ear to ear as he drives you to campus, his free hand holding yours tightly. You purse your lips, refusing to admit defeat.

“This doesn’t mean I want everyone knowing—”

“Bullshit,” San interrupts with a grin. “You want everyone to know that I bagged the hottest cheerleader in the world.”

“You didn’t bag shit, Choi San. And if you say that you ‘bagged’ me to anyone on the football team,” your eyes turn to daggers as you jab a finger into his shoulder, “I will end your bloodline where it stands. Your mom can say ‘bye’ to any chances of a grandchild from us.”

San grimaces, but it’s replaced by a radiant smile as he pulls into the parking garage closest to your building. “You can make as many threats as you want, sweetheart, but you and I both know you won’t risk that. You love getting fucked after dealing with Yewon every day.” 

He opens your door for you, beaming as he helps you out of his car. 

“I’ll make you a deal, sweetheart.”

“Will you now?” Your response is sarcastic but San ignores it.

“You let me show you off as much as I want, and I bitch out Yewon today.”

You don’t even have to think about your response, a grin replacing your scowl.

“That sounds like a damn good deal, Choi San.”

“Sannie!” 

Yewon’s grating voice has never sounded so fucking heavenly in your ears, knowing exactly what’s going to happen next. San is already at your side, rifling through your bag for the extra granola bar he knows you have. He grimaces at the sound, his eyes almost begging you to help him, but you shake your head.

“You dug your own grave, Sannie.” A quick pat on his shoulder and his fate is decided for him.

“Yewon,” he greets the girl, continuing to rifle through the bag. “Can I help you?” 

The disinterest in his voice didn’t deter her, not that anyone was surprised. The cheer squad watched the younger, newer, dumber member as she stumbled through her flirtations, complimenting him on things he didn’t need nor want to be complimented on while searching for a fucking granola bar. 

“Yewon,” San finally interrupts the girl, rising with the snack in his hand and glaring down at her. “I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m not interested.” 

The shock on her face made you smile. Maybe it was cruel. Maybe it was a bitch named Karma. Or, maybe, you were sick of the shitty stereotypes that you always seemed to fall victim to. 

“But you—you always—”

“I was trying to make my girlfriend jealous of me, as shitty as that is,” San pinches the bridge of his nose and scoffs. “But I’ve already got myself a cheerleader, Kim Yewon. And she’s the best girlfriend I could ever ask for. Plus, she’s hot as fuck,” San grins at you, but you can only roll your eyes.

“I said no—”

“You said I couldn’t tell people I bagged you,” it takes him three steps to reach your side and grab your chin. “Not that I couldn’t call you the hottest cheerleader in the world. No offense, Sihyeon.”

“None taken,” your best friend waves her hand dismissively. “I’m just glad you two finally got your heads out of your asses.” 

“Shut up, Sihyeon.” You scowl, but San is quick to bend down, hunching at the shoulders to reach your height and kiss you firmly on the mouth. It’s a searing kiss, more than he said he would do in front of the squad, but you let him have his moment. 

You’d made him wait long enough.

© itsbeeble. do not steal, claim, or repost.

[meowzfordayz]

when you’re laughing nonstop

Author’s Note: humor isn’t exactly my selling point, so pls and ty enjoy my attempt(s) @ #funny. 🙃

when you’re laughing nonstop

Hashira x Reader, Kamaboko x Reader

Word Count: ~800

CW: explicit language

Emergency Request Fulfilled: If by any chance could you do the Hashira or the the kamboko squad, without trying to, makes the reader laugh like so hard they're crying, and any time they talk the reader just laughs more? (Idk if youve ever had those moments but those are the best laughs lol) How would they react?

~faqs~

When you’re laughing nonstop…

… Zenitsu panics, because he thinks you’re laughing at him?! It doesn’t help that after literally anything he says or does, you burst into giggles… and your inability to explain that you’re laughing with him rather than at him (albeit, he isn’t exactly laughing — more so pouting) due to the constant onslaught of giggles only exacerbates his panic and confusion.

… Inosuke thinks it’s a competition. “DID YOU REALLY BELIEVE YOU COULD OUT LAUGH ME?!” *cue maniacal laughing fit*  Meanwhile, you’re clutching your stomach, gasping for air, and entirely unable to inform him that: It isn’t a competition, idiot!

… Gyomei, the poor man, is just trying to meditate, but it’s hard for him to focus when you’re snorting every other second, your efforts to conceal your laughter less than successful. He doesn’t have the heart to ask you to leave, but he does gently (and sternly) cradle your head to his chest (he’s hoping his pulse’ll calm you), exasperated smile tugging at the corner of his mouth when you instead dampen his happi with your tears (from laughing so hard).

… Obanai tries to act irritated, but the twinkle in your eyes as you cling hopelessly to his haori’s sleeve, body shaking with laughter, is too endearing for him to maintain his facade. “Are you done?” he asks, indifference nearly giving way to a fond smile. “N-no!” you manage to gasp, promptly dissolving into another round of laughter, “Not even c-close!”

… Tanjirou waits for you to get it out of your system, smiling brightly the entire time. He doesn’t quite understand what’s so funny—all of his attempts to ask you result in half finished sentences interrupted by more laughter—but he does know you’re happy, and if you’re happy, then he’s happy! 

… your tears initially worry Mitsuri, but once she’s confident that they’re happy tears, and after observing that she seems to be the reason behind them, she brings you a handkerchief and does her best to prolong your laughter (facepalm worthy puns are her specialty).

… Shinobu clucks her tongue, already knowing you’re eventually going to end up with the hiccups. “W-where are you *hiccup* g-oing?” you whine, eyes narrow with suspicion, “Don’t leave meee!” Rolling her eyes, she lightly flicks your forehead, voice wry with amusement, “I’m getting you a glass of water,” raising an eyebrow as you hiccup again, “You’re clearly going to need it,” pressing a soft kiss to your shoulder, “I’m not leaving you.”

… Kyojuro watches you with great interest, and mild concern. It only happened once, but once was enough. (it being you choking on your own spit from laughing too hard, and almost passing out because he didn’t realize you were actually choking versus laughing)

… Sanemi swears you’ve been possessed by the devil. “Nothing in this world is that funny,” he grumbles, swatting away your fingers as you attempt to pinch his cheeks, “Stop it.” Of course, his petulant grimace only makes you giggle harder, and you know he isn’t really mad when he finally acquiesces and allows you to wield his hand: “Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself?” as you playfully smack his face with his palm, your delighted, triumphant grin soothing the glower in his stare. #the man is whipped #the man is in love

… Muichiro smiles ruefully, toe throbbing as you laugh and point at his misfortune. “A-are you o-okay?” you gasp between chuckles, “That chair really did a number on you!” What’s important to him is knowing that, were it a serious injury, you’d help first, laugh later… right?

… Giyuu prays it’ll end soon. Don’t get him wrong! He adores your smile, wishes he could bottle up your laughter for a rainy day, and overall cherishes your happiness… but he simply doesn’t know what to do when the giggles strike. Should I stand here and wait? Would now be an inappropriate time to go do laundry? Uh oh… they’re getting closer… if they get ahold of you, then you’ll have to stand here and wait… shit! *insert Giyuu awkwardly patting your head as you sob-laugh-sniffle into his chest*

… Tengen swells with pride, muscles subconsciously flexing, hair subtly shining, eyes glimmering. Who cares if you’re laughing at him? Either way, he’s the reason you’re laughing so hard, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get the credit for making you so happy. That being said, if the laughter shows signs of spreading to Hina… to Makio… to Suma… #Uzui Tengen is now running away #legend says he’s still running to this day (“What do you mean I’m running? Pfft! I can handle four hysterical spouses! Absolutely! 100%!”)

[satans-codpiece]

8 with screamer pls

8) oops, we were just hiding in this closet, but then the close proximity get us too turned on not to fuck

(Implicitly TFP Starscream, post-Partners. Him sneaking around the Nemesis is so good for this.)

----

You thought you were dying; that someone's finally come to kill the High Command's pet human in an idiotic power play-

Until he was shushing you.

"What are you doing here?"

You hadn't seen him in weeks, months-- you still didn't see him as talons had curled together in a protective cup. Until your demand registered in his audials and each towering rod of metal sprung apart.

"ME???" He hisses, optics wide, lighting up the room in scarlet. All around you, his thin digits twitch with indignation. He holds you at chest height, but even here he makes you look up to see him. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm running on fumes out there and-" Starscream's head whips towards the door. All at once the red light that had been bathing you is gone, illuminating dark metal. It takes another several seconds before you hear what had drawn his attention. Footsteps- several in succession. A squad of Vehicons. Were they there for him? You turn back towards him and truly take in his appearance. As bright as his lights are in the pitch black room, they're dim- dim for how blinding they should be with him keyed up, ready to fight whatever came through the door. Worse, him looking away gives you the perfect view of the horrid scratch just below his right optic.

He holds you so close, so precariously folding his limbs to fit into the closet anyway- you stretch up onto your tip toes and reach for him. "Starscream..."

Your fingertips barely brush metal. His face snaps back towards you.

In an instant you can see it, plain as though he'd told you himself. He didn't come back for you-- not that you would have expected him to, he was hardly the most dedicated of them-- but now that he has you in his servos again... The apertures of his optics spin, watching you, betraying more than he would ever want to say. Outside, the footsteps recede.

"I was worried about you." You say, "I missed you." and it's true. When you reach for him again, he lets you touch, your tiny palm against his massive, cool cheek.

"Of course you did." Starscream says on instinct. But the waver of his optics, of his derma means there's something else. Starscream quiets as he struggles to say something with sincerity. Evidently, he doesn't quite get there. "I can't mass displace." It's not what he really means to say, replaces his first-line defense of sarcasm and self-aggrandizement with second-line allusion. It's enough to give you pause- "Have to be quick." and that's enough for you to push it aside.

You nod, instantly breathless. You don't know what quick means to him right now, so you skip the formalities and kick your pants off the edge of his servo. His optics darken at the sight of you adjusting, settling back against the quickly warming plates.

And when you part your legs for him- his engine hums, spooling up despite his attempts to suppress the sound- and his glossa spills from his intake. Slick, smooth metal joints trace up your thigh- and that's all the warm-up you get before he's sliding between your lips.

A gasp rips its way from your mouth- and you quickly cover it with your hand, sinking your teeth into your fingers just to keep quiet. From the heat in Starscream's gaze and the momentary flick of his wings, you think he'd wish you wouldn't- regardless of how tactically sound that impulse is.

He drags his glossa up nice and slow, lets his optics shutter, rerouting processing power to the chemical sensors on his glossa. It's been a quartex- no, two- since he last tasted you and your strange little organic lubricant. It's sweet and so strangely inert, his drained tanks aching for energy-dense fuel, not the delicious strings of proteins you leak so obligingly onto his glossa.

His faceplate is cool when he draws his servo even closer, your thighs pressing up to rough-worn metal. You sigh for the contact, squirm in his palm as his languid licks turn intentional, the tapered tip prodding at your entrance while the base rubs teasingly across your clit.

"Star," You sigh into your fist. He must hear it- because his engine gives a stuttering, half-aborted purr and his glossa pushes in.

With so little effort, he fills you- and your warmth, your softness, your taste surrounds him. This time, his engine's spooling goes unchecked, a deep rumble that rises in pitch- and yet does nothing to hide the distinctive shnk of his panel opening.

You wish you had the time, that he had the energy to fuck you properly. It's been so long, and as nice as his glossa feels pumping into you, squirming deliciously against your walls, it's not the same.

Around you, his talons twitch again- and now you watch his arm move and stroke himself with a pace that shuns the very concept of patience. Heat bursts from his vents, fans clicking ever higher in vain. It's been too long- too long without him, too long worrying. There's no room for the nice, slow reunion fuck you each deserved.

"Close," You gasp, but he already knows. He's felt how your soft, squishing walls keep trying to clamp down on his glossa, as though you could trap him inside that soft, wet little frame-

"Yes, yes," He purrs- voice rumbling unimpeded from his vox. Red light washes over your tiny body as he re-engages his optics, watches as you squirm in his servo-

And when you cry out, "Star!" body going rigid because of him- for him- Starscream's engine stutters, skips a cycle and he moans against your skin. His arm trembles, struggles to work himself through his own overload.

He leans away, his vents hot like desert air on your skin. The light of his optics has dimmed, lowered in the wake of his spent charge- but still coat your body in a garnet gleam, every inch of you painted red for him.

You rub your hand along his, feel the grooves between plates. "Do you have to go?" You murmur, staring up him.

"I'll be back." Starscream promises, stroking your body so carefully with one long, sharp talon. "I'll find you."

[wreckingtickles]

Ruffling Their Feathers

Bakugo and Todoroki are captured by the double-crossing Hawks, and they happen to have the second half of a code he and Dabi want. Hawks has a very... unconventional idea on how to get them to talk.

Characters: Lees Baku + Todo, ler Hawks (minor ler Dabi)

Words: 7,312

Couldn't find a similar picture for Todoroki (I need an archive of MHA characters looking might ticklish), so Bakugo's footer will have to do.

That frown's going away real soon.

Very intense and barely SFW foot tickles below the cut!

“It’s your fault!”

“It’s no one’s fault. We couldn’t have known that there was a traitor in the squad.”

Bakugo and Todoroki’s latest one-sided argument, a staple of their relationship since the provisional license course, was caused by their capture at the hands of the League of Villains.

It had all begun with a typo. They were supposed to be at the agency by 15:15, but the message they received instructed them to be there at 14:15. So they’d arrived just in time to see Hawks download the codes to the heroes’ secret communications channel, only half of which was given to each team.

They didn’t remember much else prior to waking up in that square, empty room, seated side by side facing the door that would usher in who knew what horrors.

The irritation at being taken out so easily was compounded by their inability to access their Quirks, which had them more than a little worried, as did their restraints: their wrists were fitted through two holes in the middle of a set of stocks that also held their ankles, one at either side of their hands, so they were hunched forward with their knees bent. The most concerning part, however, was the fact that on top of every part of their costumes that could be used as a weapon or contain hidden gadgets, their boots had also been removed and each of their toes pulled back and restrained individually, just barely out of reach of their fingers. It didn’t need a genius to surmise that if they couldn’t break out soon, they would be tortured.

Bakugo badly needed someone to blame, and Todoroki was the perfect anvil to his hammer. But the half-and-half hero wouldn’t need to wait for his crabby companion to run out of steam as Dabi and Hawks walked into the room.

“Hello, boys!” said Hawks cheerfully, greeting them as if they’d just come across each other in a shopping center.

“Fuck you, you disgusting two-faced piece of shit!”

“Traitor,” greeted Todoroki.

“I appreciate you’re angry and disappointed, but understand that, from my perspective, your good intentions are getting in the way of true justice,” explained Hawks, mostly to Todoroki, as Bakugo’s barrage of epithets made conversation with him impossible.

Dabi leaned against the wall next to the door, both glaring at Todoroki.

“Now, let me reassure you that your Quirks aren’t gone forever. We only take drastic measures if they’re strictly necessary,” explained the feathered villain.

“Your father will still have a use for you,” uttered Dabi with a venomous grin. “That is, unless we choose to ruin you for good.”

“Come on, Dabi, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!”

“And you kill more moths with fire.” A blue flame appeared in his palm, the sight of which finally silenced Bakugo. “So?”

“If my methods don’t work, you’re free to have your way with them,” conceded Hawks. “But I know it will. I tested them. Leave this to me.”

“Forget it. You’re an idiot and you’re wasting everybody’s time. The only reason we’re doing it your way for now is that Shigaraki put you in charge of their interrogation, and that’s only because he doesn’t know about your ridiculous plan.”

“Shouldn’t you have had this discussion before coming in here?” interjected Todoroki.

Dabi glared, taking a step towards Todoroki, who gave a start.

Bakugo gave him the side eye. He shouldn’t be showing fear. But Dabi had stopped his advance, a nonplussed look on his face, while Todoroki kept fidgeting next to Bakugo.

Before Bakugo could wonder what was happening, his head whipped forward with alarm as he felt something on his right foot. A light, insistent pressure moving up his sole, heel to toes, then back down. He hafted in place, but no matter how much he stretched his fingers, he couldn’t even reach his toes.

What was that?!

“As I was saying,” resumed Hawks, stepping closer to the captives, wings beginning to unfurl, “I need the second half of the code for the agency’s comms, and you guys will give it to us.”

“Or?” spat Bakugo, Todoroki growing more restless next to him. He saw a red feather detach itself from the top of Hawks’s left wing and fly through the air towards him, specifically towards his left foot, where it began to move erratically, dragging its plumes across his arch. But even though Bakugo now understood what the pressure on both of his soles was, it didn’t click for him until Hawks said, “I’ll tickle it out of you.”

Bakugo should have been relieved. They weren’t going to hurt them, at least for the time being. But all he could feel was outraged, outraged that Hawks seriously thought that they’d sell out the pros over something so childish, so insignificant. “Are you fucking kidding me?! Just because it’s so easy for you to sell out, do you really think--"

And then he heard it. A chuckle. Not from Hawks, not even from Dabi. From Todoroki. To his left, Todoroki was jerking his legs, his face scrunched in an attempt to stifle an obvious smile and the sounds of mirth that were trying to spill out of his mouth.

Bakugo felt betrayed for the second time that day. “You gotta be shitting me.” 

Todoroki could feel every plume, every tiny barb on the tip of each of those two feathers as it bent to fit the curve of his sole, dozens, hundreds of them being dragged up and down the bottom of his straight, slim feet.

Hawks smirked while Dabi looked transfixed, almost as speechless as Bakugo. “Well, well, look at Endeavor’s prized spawn now,” he commented as he allowed the corner of his lip to curl up ever so slightly.

“Dude, for real?!” whined Bakugo, but Todoroki couldn’t answer, as he kept squirming and whipping his head side to side, his eyes scrunched shut.

“I, I cahan’t h-hehelp it!” whine the half-and-half hero, instantly regretting trying to speak as he had to double his efforts to prevent any even more embarrassing sounds from coming out. Having grown up with a criminally abusive father and having been separated from his siblings, the only person who had tickled him for most of his life was his mother, and a long time had gone by since the last time. Then, when he began attending UA, first Deku and then Kirishima allowed Todoroki to discover that he was, in fact, still ticklish, and very much so, as if he had never been inured to it, which also led to another crucial difference between him and Bakugo: while the latter wouldn’t allow himself to laugh unless his very worst spots were targeted (though his poker face was terrible), Todoroki was completely unable to cope with the sensation and stifle his reactions.

And the two feathers were barely trying at all.

“Your ‘method’ doesn’t seem to be working on the other one,” observed Dabi. Sure, watching Endeavor’s son squirm from something so silly was entertaining, but they were supposed to move out as soon as Shigaraki called them, and to have the information by then.

“Of course it doesn’t fucking work, who do you think you’re dealing with?!”

Hawks shrugged. “I can also do this.”

“Like this stupid fucking thing is going to work oHOn--!” 

Bakugo bit his tongue when the plume ends of the feathers were replaced by their sharp quills.

“That silenced him? Good,” remarked Dabi.

“D-Don’t be an idiot, t-this is nothing!!” protested Bakugo, wincing when the feathers scratched at the ball of his foot.

Next to him, Todoroki went on eeping with his eyes scrunched shut. He didn’t have so strong an opinion as Bakugo on which method was worse yet, but both were proving quite effective, especially when the feathers trailed up and down his arches.

“I think you heard him,” Dabi told Hawks, suddenly appearing a lot more into it than before.

“I sure did,” claimed Hawks as he grinned at Bakugo a moment before a flock of feathers flew off his wings and swarmed the captives’ soles.

“TCH!!” escaped Bakugo’s lips, his cheeks puffed up and becoming a deeper shade of red every second.

Todoroki skipped the giggling phase entirely. “Noahahahahahahahahahahahahhaaha!!!! Iihihihhihit tihihihicklehehehehehsss!!!!” he protested, a surprisingly innocent expression of mirthful suffering on his face that would have melted anyone’s heart. Anyone’s, but his current tickler’s.

“You really should have kept your mouth shut,” commented Dabi as he shot the beet-red, thrashing Bakugo an amused grin, voicing Todoroki’s thoughts while the trainee was too busy failing to cope with the onslaught of sensation.

Hawks was thorough. There was a feather sawing between the heroes’ toes and swiping at the stems, while the tip of another ran left and right across their base. There was a quill scratching at the center of the ball and spiraling outward and another outlining the underside. Plumes teased the inner part of the instep while another feather ran up and down the arch, and two more focused on the heel and its conjunction with the arch.

The feathers on Bakugo’s feet all used their quill end, save for the ones sawing between his toes, while the ones working Todoroki over mixed and matched approaches. It was the weirdest and most humiliating display of masterful control over one’s Quirk that either trainee had ever experienced.

Unbridled laughter spilled forth from Todoroki, the variety of methods and the multiplicity of spots under fire subjecting him to a sensation that he’d only started to reacquaint himself with a few months prior thanks to his classmates, who’d been delighted to discover that the serious golden child was super ticklish and didn’t know how to handle it in the slightest. 

His left foot was proving to be once again more sensitive than the right, though even just the latter would have been enough to turn him into a hysterical mess. The colder sole was not as vulnerable to the plumes as the left, upon which plumes and quills wreaked twinned havoc.

Seeing the trainee writhe like he was experiencing actual torture sparked a miasma of disgust in the pit of Dabi’s stomach. “Endeavor’s son just gave up, uh,” he mocked. “I’m kind of disappointed.” Yet the amused twinkle in his eye gave the lie to his bored tone.

“He really laughs like he’s never been tickled before,” chuckled Hawks, effortlessly multitasking while putting the two aspiring heroes through their paces. “Guess his home life wasn’t the best. Well, we’re going to make him real happy unless he fesses up.”

The miasma began to lift as Dabi contemplated Todoroki’s helplessness in the face of the ridiculous torment. But if his laughter sparked conflicting feelings of contempt and morbid fascination in the villain, Bakugo was far less ambivalent about how he felt about it.

He loathed it. He truly did. He wanted to punch the hero for letting those degenerates think that… that preposterous, humiliating method would work. Todoroki’s hilarity was peer-pressuring him into giving in as well, surrendering to the overpowering invitation of the over a dozen quills searing his nerves, loosening the locks on his lungs and lips from which a cacophony of grunts, snorts, and even embarrassing yelps slipped out, but no laughter, no, no laughter, it if was the last thing he did!!

What Dabi and Hawks saw was an extremely ticklish guy bellowing and writhing like he was being electrocuted.

“He really hates it,” deadpanned Dabi.

Having an already solid grasp on what made the short-fused trainee tic despite having known him for a few days only, Hawks took that chance to say, “I don’t know if I should be impressed that he’s not laughing his head off despite being so ticklish, or pity him for thinking that he’s fooling anyone.”

“KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! GHHHHHHHH!!! SH-SHHUUUUUUUTTT-- NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Nope, no talking.

Hawks’s smirk grew a little wider. It’d be so easy to crack him. But… “It would be healthier if you let it out, you look like you’re about to pop a vein,” he recommended as he had his feathers move slightly faster. Dabi didn’t notice the shift except through the rise in pitch in Todoroki’s laughter and Bakugo’s pointless struggling growing even more desperate.

If only they could reach their feet, shield them from the pesky feathers, they were right there, just out of reach!!

Suddenly, the tickling slowed down. None of the feathers left their post, but they eased up enough that the terribly ticklish captives would be able to understand Hawks’s next words.

“M-Motherf--" Bakugo tried to say while catching his breath, allowing some of his contracted muscles to relax, but he couldn’t risk getting the entire word out.

Todoroki’s laughter decreased to a steady stream of breathless giggles. The tears at the corners of his half-closed eyes, the blush on his cheeks, the forced yet carefree-looking smile… Hawks had to admit that he looked precious.

“Now, let’s practice loosening your tongues a little,” Hawks started, pacing around them like a drill sergeant. “I assume neither of you wants to spill the beans yet?”

Bakugo lunged at him with a bite, but Hawks was out of reach.

“Baby steps. So I’ll make you an offer. If you tell me where it tickles the most I promise I will be nice…r.”

Dabi quirked an eyebrow. Really?

Hawks nodded back confidently, stopping in front of the two trainees. “You don’t want me to find out on my own.”

Bakugo and Todoroki glared as well as they could under their present circumstances.

“Any takers?” Hawks asked nonchalantly.

Even Todoroki made a show of clenching his jaw, although sputtering giggles soon leaked out.

“Too bad,” sighed Hawks. “For you, I mean.”

Without warning, the eight feathers tormenting each foot converged on the heel, scribbling madly at and all around the mound.

“Nohohoht agahahahahaahhaahinnn!!!” giggled Todoroki, his shoulders rising and falling as he tried and failed to pull his feet back through the stocks, scrunch up his soles, cover them with his hands, anything.

“TCH! F-Fuhuck t-thihis!!!” snarled Bakugo, his restlessness mirroring Todoroki’s but with a more irate tinge.

“Hey Dabi, wanna compare and contrast?” asked Hawks.

“Leave me out of it.”

“I thought Todoroki was the most ticklish of the two, but I’m not so sure anymore,” said Hawks, knowing how to push Bakugo’s buttons.

“GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!”

“I can’t really tell. Let’s try the arch.”

The avian congregation climbed a little higher, up the slope of the arch. About half of the feathers harassing Todoroki switched to sawing their plumes up and down his arch, left and right, while Bakugo, whom Hawks knew to be less responsive to this method, got the full sixteen quills.

“Ohohohohohoh nohohoOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHA!!! NOOOOHAHHAHAHAAT THEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEREEEEE!!!”

Todoroki’s giggling once again morphed into full-blown laughter, the loudest as of yet. Though the strength behind his attempts to break free seemed to have waned before, he redoubled his futile efforts, pulling at his wrists and ankles as if it would save him, or somehow make the sensation more bearable.

“Looks like I’ve found a sweet spot,” gloated Hawks, but he wasn’t content with that apparent victory. He carefully observed Todoroki’s body language, noticing that every few seconds, he would lean to the right, until his energy ebbed and he slumped forward again, only to repeat the maneuver moments later as the feathers completed another pass. He didn’t seem to be trying to lean closer to Bakugo, no, there was something else… afoot. And Hawks thought he knew exactly what that was.

But that wasn’t all that he noticed. Bakugo had lowered his head, no doubt to prevent the villains from seeing his expression - as if his body wasn't eloquent enough. That position would only hinder his breathing, depleting his stamina faster and making it even harder to endure a prolonged attack. Hawks wondered if he was even aware of the high-pitched whine, like the wind-up to a scream, that he was emitting as he desperately tried to keep his mouth closed. But the most interesting part was how Bakugo would occasionally freeze up for a moment when the quills hit the very top of the arch, only for him to kick with both legs an instant later.

Hawks tested his theory by having the feathers linger on that spot a couple of seconds longer than they did during previous passes. Sure enough, Bakugo’s purple face shot up for a moment, the curses he wanted to utter dying into a defeated growl.

Hawks knew he could have broken him simply by staying there, but he had a flair for the dramatic. So he moved the feathers to the center of the arch, renewing Todoroki’s hysterical fit, before abruptly moving all the feathers to the balls of the heroes’ feet.

Bakugo’s head shot up again, this time to hurl a fiery glare at Hawks, equal parts incredulity and betrayal, but really, a recognition that breaking had always been inevitable.

“Three…” chanted Hawks, smiling at Bakugo, whose face looked like it was about to burst open.

“Tw--"

“FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!! IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLL KIIIIIHIHIHIILLLL YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUHUHUHUHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAA!!”

“Oh wow. When he breaks, he breaks hard,” remarked Hawks, pretending to cover one of his ears. Dabi ignored him, though he caught him sneaking glances at Todoroki, whose hysteria was eclipsed by the violence with which Bakugo’s damn had burst, but ever-present nonetheless.

There was no overselling the all-encompassing loathing that Bakugo felt at that moment, having fallen short of his own self-serving standards. It simply did not compute that a traitor who had everything Bakugo wanted would torture them in such a childish way, and that Bakugo would be unable to shrug it off.

The quills pricked and scratched at the sensitive pads, with a special regards for the very center as Hawks had immediately figured out it was one of the most sensitive parts, lavishing plenty of attention on the underside too, the perfect recipe to keep the resentful laughter flowing.

“FUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHCCKKK!!! YOHOHOUUHUHUHU BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASTAHAHAHAHARD!!! ILL KIIIIII-- STOOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAPPPP THAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHATTTT!!!”

“This is great,” chuckled Hawks.

“You’re weird.”

Hawks shrugged. “Eh, it’s just fun to take them down a peg. Especially that one. Hey, are you laughing too hard to hear me? ‘Cause later, we’re spending plenty of time on that spot that you seem to like so much.”

Sadly, Bakugo could hear him, but any retort he tried to cook up got swallowed by the involuntary gales that those tiny, harmless feathers kept pumping out of him.

Though the journey from the ball of his foot to the toes was a very short one, Bakugo could tell Hawks was trying to drag it out as much as possible, slowly dragging the quills as well. There was an understanding that he wasn’t done.

The feathers then began sawing between and across the trainees’ toes. This method proved especially effective on Todoroki, the obvious jolt running through him confirming that that was a more sensitive spot than the ball, so Hawk kept five feathers per foot swishing between and along his toes while three more scratched at the base, occasionally poking the tips too.

But Hawks knew that he could do better with Bakugo, so he kept one quill poking and scribbling under the base of each toe, with the plume end of just one feather swishing across the stems, one quill planted firmly in the center of his big toe, and one more poking each of the other tips in turn.

The trainees didn’t have the chance to marvel at Hawks’s unmatched coordination, the combination of precision and effectiveness he was unleashing on them, but they certainly did feel its effects.

“Hahahaha HAHAHAAHAH!!! Nohohohohhoho moHOHOHohohahahahahaharrEHEHEHEHE!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahaahahahahahahhaahahahahahahahaha!!!” pleaded Todoroki, ticklish tears pouring down his cheeks and collecting on his seat between his legs. He felt as if he’d been abducted by aliens, unable to comprehend what was happening to him or why. Part of him probably felt embarrassed, but the shock, the absurdity of it all, removed his ego from the equation, leaving him alone before a sensation he’d only experienced a handful of times through his classmates, and through his mother so many years prior.

Bakugo wasn’t faring that much better. He was naturally louder than Todoroki, but for the first time in his life, he was trying to keep it down, and failing. Hawks couldn’t have devised a better method to tickle that area.

“HAHAHahahaahahahahaha!!! FIHIHIHIHght mehehEHEHEHE liiiihihihiKEEEHEHEH AAHAHAHA maaaahahahahahahahAAAAAHAHAHAHANNN!! OHOHOHO hahahahahahaha!!!”

“You want to fight me?” Hawks snickered. “I don’t fight widdle tickly babies.”

“SHHUUUUUUHAHAHAHAHAT!! UUHUHUUHAHAHAHAHAHHAPPP!!!!”

Oh, the sheer frustration Bakugo felt at his own ticklishness preventing him from discharging his anger was immense, but the imposed hilarity sapped even that.

Hawks walked around to his side. “It tickles less than before, right? I’m sure you can stop laughing if you really try. Come on!”

Bakugo was trying, he was trying so hard, and Hawks’s mockery messed even more with his concentration. But the genie was out of the bottle.

“HaahahahaHAHAHAHAHAH!!! ………….PPPPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! HAHAHAahaahahahahahaha!!! NNNNNNNNGGGggggghhhhhh…………. ggggghAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Hawks began to circle around them, removing his black leather gloves as he did so. “Remember that this all will stop if you give me the code.”

He stopped in front of the stocks, throwing his gloves to Dabi, who reflexively caught them in mid-air and then dropped them.

He wiggled his fingers mere inches away from their feet. He waited long enough for them to see it, his left hand approaching Bakugo’s left sole, his right nearing Todoroki’s right, only to drift further to the side, to the left sole he’d determined to be more sensitive.

 “Don’t forget, this hawk has talons too.” And he struck.

Dabi nearly gave a start as the room got a lot louder than he’d expected.

“NOOOAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHAAAAAAA!!! IHIHIHIHIHITT TIHIHIHHICKLEHEHEHESSSS!!! DOOOHOHOHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHN’T!!!”

“SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIHIHIHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHTTT!!! KEEHEHEHP YOUHUR FUHUHUHUHCKING HAHAHAHAHANDS… NAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!”

True to his word, Hawks had chosen violence. His short, dull nails scratched expertly at the ball of Bakugo’s foot and at the arch of Todoroki’s, having identified them as their weakest spots.

The volume and desperation of their laughter was all the confirmation he needed.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH!!! STAAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHPPP!!! YOUHUHUHHUHU CAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHANNN’T!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“BWAHAHAHWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IHIHIHHILL KIHIHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! CUHUHUT THAHAHAHAHAT OOOOOHUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHA!!! I SAHAHAHAHD-- NAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!”

The feathers didn’t remain idle either. He left five on Todoroki’s right foot to complement the motions of his fingers, so they’d target his toes when he was busy with the arch, and the arch when he was busy with his toes, while the eleven on the left flitted back and forth between those two spots, skidding up and down the ball as well as they changed posts.

Hawks was no kinder to Bakugo, his wiggling fingers focusing on the ball and the base of his toes together with three feathers. The remaining fifteen ravaged the same two spots on his right foot, especially the center and underside of the pad. Naturally, all used their quill end.

It was pinpoint torment neither trainee knew how to deal with, Hawks’s dexterous touches appearing to raise the temperature and depleting their stamina and sanity alike while they felt their dignity slowly but sonorously leak out in the form of laughter they couldn’t control, the traitor having completely hijacked their ability to express themselves.

“As you can see, I’m a man of my word,” began Hawks. “Am I not?”

“EHEHEHHNOHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHGH!!! PLEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHASEEE!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! GHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHHA!!! FUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHCK!!!”

“You gotta say it if you want me to stop. I’m a man of my word, am I not?”

Todoroki wasn’t completely opposed to indulging villains in case it made them complacent, while Bakugo’s ego was bound to get in the way of any concession. However, Todoroki’s reply was not the result of a calculation, but mere reflex.

“HAHAHAHAHHAHA!!! YEEEHAHAHAHAHAHHASSSS!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAA!!!”

“He needs to say it too,” hummed Hawks, nodding his head toward Bakugo while his fingers picked up the pace.

Bakugo too was operating on reflex alone, and his instincts were inimical to their predicament.

“GHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!! EHEHEHEHHAT SHHAHHAHAHAAHHAAHT!!! FUUHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAAHHAHHAHAHAHACCCK!!!!”

“You hear that, Todoroki? My hands are tied. Well, yours are. And your feet too. Which makes it so easy for me to do this,” he explained as the feathers also began to move faster and the motions of his hands grew more unpredictable.

Todoroki all but howled. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! BAHAHAHAHAHAAHKUUUUGOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! PLEAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHASEEE!!!”

“SHIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAATTTTT!!! FUHAHAHAHAHAHAHCKIHIHING TRAHAHAHAHAHITAHAHAHAHHAAR!!! STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAPPP!!!”

“Listen to your friend. Help him help you.” His nails moved to the ball of Bakugo’s right foot, the feathers instantly moving to compensate. 

Bakugo arched his back with such force the stocks creaked. “GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAH!!! SHIHIHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHTTT!!!! STAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAPP! YOOOHUHU GOOHAHAHAHAHAHTTTTAAAAA STOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAPPP!!”

“I don’t gotta do anything. Say it. I’m a man of my word.”

“NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!”

“Suit yourself. I’ll try again in 10 more minutes.”

The horror in their teary eyes and strained laughter was instantly apparent.

“SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAT!!! YEEEEEEAHAHAHAHAHAHAHSSSS!!! YOHAHAHAHAH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAAHHAHHAHAREEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! GHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! STAHAHAHAHHAHAHAP STAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAPPP!!!”

And Hawks did. He stepped away from them while the feathers floated to a safer distance.

The trainees heaved and panted, their lungs burning and their throats parched, Bakugo slumped backwards, Todoroki forward as if he was collapsing in on himself.

“This is pathetic. The whole thing,” remarked Dabi.

Hawks shrugged. “I don’t enjoy needless violence. And pathetic or not, it seems to be working wonders.”

“If - no, when you fail and Shigaraki hears this is how you’ve been wasting our time…”

“I won't fail. Just look at them,” claimed Hawks, though one corner of his smile was frozen. He clapped his hands, addressing the flushed heroes again. “Now, listen close. I’m going to start tickling you again soon.”

Bakugo winced and shot a feeble glare at hawks, a pitiful attempt to disguise fear as intimidation, while Todoroki’s shoulders slumped as he prepared himself for the inevitable.

“That’s the stick. Now, here’s the carrot. I’ll stop tickling whichever of you gives me the code. The other gets these,” he announced as he began to rummage in his costume, a ruse to give both trainees time to focus on him once again and grew more apprehensive.

He then pulled out two mundane items: a fork, and Bakugo’s orange hairbrush.

“I got these while I was waiting for Dabi,” he said, moving the two items slightly, the trainees’ eyes following them with wariness. Too easy.

“The one who spills the beans doesn’t have to find out how much they tickle. The other…”

He put the two tools back inside his utility belt.

“Anyone got anything to say?”

Bakugo and Todoroki looked at each other. Todoroki looked like he’d been running for an hour, endurance having never been his strong suit, but Bakugo begin to wonder whether he would actually cave. There was something in the half-and-half hero’s stare, some kind of request maybe. He couldn’t be about to come clean, could he? Or… was he trying to encourage him to resist?

The thought made Bakugo’s blood boil even though a rivulet of sweat already drenched the back of his costume. Did Todoroki really think that he might call it quits? That he was that weak?

But Bakugo didn’t have the energy to fight, so he just averted his gaze, fixing it on the stocks on the other side of which were his all too tender feet and useless hands.

Hawks tutted. “Too bad. Hawks, would you set a 10-minute timer? We’re getting serious now.”

He didn’t give the trainees time to brace themselves before striking.

His fingers got to work on the same spots as before, though he targeted Todoroki’s right foot rather than his left, and the sixteen feathers he’d been using on each trainee struck at every vulnerable part of that same foot as two horrifying new implements joined the interrogation: Hawks’s wings.

Todoroki shrieked. The amalgamation of feathers which Hawks could animate at will was an ebullient blanket of ticklishness, the plumes coming alive to tease the entirety of Todoroki’s sole in an all-encompassing attack that effortlessly reached between his toes and the sides and even the top of his foot as well. Hundreds or thousands of feathers, exponentially more barbs, and Todoroki could feel them all.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Hawks had threatened the trainees with the hairbrush and fork, but he knew his wing would be just as if not more devastating to the criminal No. 1’s son. He also stiffened the feathers of his left wing since Bakugo was not as sensitive to light touches, and he lacked the bandwidth to remotely control any more feathers without sacrificing accuracy…

Which is why, not even a minute in, the hawk turned 90° and swished at Todoroki’s soles with both wings, while both of his talons pounced on the balls of Bakugo’s feet.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! YOU FUHAHAHAHAHHAHACKHEHEHHEHR THAHAHAHAT’S UNFAAFAFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Bakugo’s unprecedented cackling was met with Todoroki falling into a choked silence. Sensory overload.

Not even that was able to shut Bakugo up, but the dedicated fingers, accompanied by the sixteen that had been hounding him for a while plus the extra sixteen that migrated over from Todoroki, melted his protests into desperate incoherence, about half the quills matching the movements of Hawks’s fingers to crowd his weakest spots as much as possible.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOOOOOOOHUHUHUHUHU!!!! SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-- I CAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! HAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Despite what he’d told Dabi, Hawks couldn’t believe how well the two trainees were responding. He was relieved that this harmless method might actually buy him enough time. He just hoped--

Todoroki’s own laughter returned as a whine, which only served to remind Hawks to divide his attention more equally between the two of them. Though by virtue of being the only one he could see from his position, Bakugo was bound to get the shorter end of the stick. He could stand to be taken down a peg, Hawks told himself as he looked into the young hero’s bulging, tear-filled eyes, fractured babble interspersing the hysterical peals.

Those eternal ten minutes weren’t simply meant to break them, no. Hawks’s Quirk wasn’t merely about moving his feathers: he could feel through them. He noticed that Todoroki’s left foot was warmer than usual, and his right colder, which gave him an idea; and he also noticed that Bakugo’s feet were getting damper and slicker the more he tickled him, which gave him another. He’d keep them safe from Dabi even if he had to tickle them into unconsciousness to do it.

“Time’s up,” muttered Dabi, more invested than he’d ever admit.

“Is it? Eh, I’ll just keep going,” yelled Hawks to give the trainees a chance to hear him. Todoroki let out something that vaguely sounded like a sob, while Bakugo was too preoccupied with the fingers and feathers to respond.

But when he noticed Dabi getting more impatient, Hawks did finally take a step back and allowed the trainees to breathe. Their chests heaving, their hair weighed down by perspiration, the fight had been tickled out of Bakugo, while Todoroki looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion.

“You know, I’ve gone about this all wrong,” he announced. “Dabi, I’m going to need your help.”

“Forget it.”

“I need your Quirk.” He pointed his thumb at Bakugo, who made an effort to listen and was rewarded with a shiver. “I need you to keep his feet close to the fire.”

“Finally,” huffed Dabi as he began to stride toward Bakugo, who recoiled in horror.

“You aren’t hurting him. There’s one last thing I want to try,” explained Hawks. “See, I remember that his Quirk is based around sweat, and he seems to keep getting more ticklish over time. So I just need a little bit of heat.”

“You’re joking.”

“They’re about to cave, and I’ll give you all the credit. By the way, I suspect your Quirk would also do wonders on his right side,” he added, pointing at Todoroki this time.

“Unbelievable,” scoffed Dabi. Yet, sure enough, two small blue flames appeared in his palms. Bakugo winced.

“Farther,” commanded Hawks. Dabi rolled his eyes, but complied again. 

It was warm, very warm, but not painful. Bakugo had followed a word in three, but he knew he shouldn’t be too happy about the heat displacing the phantom tickles that still tormented his soles.

“Now, where was I? Right. I’ve gone about this all wrong, because there’s two of you, and one code. I’ve been splitting my attention, but I only need to break one of you. So…”

He rested a hand on the top of Todoroki’s shoulder, the exhausted hero regarding him with… Bakugo hadn’t expected it, but there were embers of defiance left in Todoroki’s alarmed scowl.

“I’m going to focus on you, and only you, until one of you fesses up or, frankly, you pass out. Would be a first, but I kind of want to see that. And if that happens, luckily we have a spare.”

“You’re not… going to get… away with this,” panted Todoroki. Bakugo had definitely underestimated him.

Hawks gave him an empty smile. “You’d better hope I do, ‘cause if I don’t, Dabi gets to have fun with you, and he likes his meat well done.”

He clapped a hand on Todoroki’s back, who recoiled under his touch. “If you’re worried about saving face, maybe your friend will speak up for you. He looks like the empathetic kind,” jested Hawks.

Todoroki glanced at Bakugo, currently in the process of glaring at Dabi. He took a deep breath to brace himself.

Hawks walked around him, a solid half of each wing detaching itself and floating to the other side of the stocks. “Last chance,” he whispered in Todoroki’s ear.

“Drop dead,” spat Todoroki.

So Hawks struck. Not with the feathers, however. No, while Todoroki was distracted by the wings positioning themselves right in front of his feet, the tips of the feathers already grazing his soles, Hawks’s hands slipped under Todoroki’s jacket and find purchase in the skin of his sides underneath.

Bakugo saw a look of utter bewilderment cross Todoroki’s face before hysteria overwrote his features completely.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! THAHAHAHHAHAT’S NOHOHOT… OH MY HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!!! THAHAHAHAHAT’S NOHOHOOOOHOHOT FAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAAIIIRR!!!” he screamed, accidentally echoing Bakugo.

“I thought I remembered this!” said a self-satisfied Hawks. “Two for two, uh? Man, did the doctors just take the two most ticklish halves of you and glued them together?” he teased as his fingers kept kneading into Todoroki’s swimmer-like flanks, the thumb pressing deep into the soft tissue and discovering the muscle underneath that stretched all the way to his toned stomach.

“GHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHPPP!!! EHEHEHEHENOOOOOOOOOOOOOAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHGHHH!!!”

He squirmed in his seat with newfound vigor, though he wasn’t getting away from Hawks’s prying fingers, sometimes digging hard into his sides, sometimes gently brushing his nails up and down. He leaned so hard to the left that for a moment Bakugo worried he might dislodge his shoulder.

“Look at you trying to squirm away,” cooed Hawks. “Is it because your right side is more sensitive? I think it is. Let’s see if I can find another jackpot up here on the left side,” he continued as he began clawing at the left side of Todoroki’s stomach ,who sucked it in and remained breathless for a moment, but just a moment before laughter poured out again.

“Umh, maybe a bit better, but not a homerun… How about here?”

He spidered his fingers up and down the trainee’s ribcage, a view that despite being partially concealed by Todoroki’s jacket, which rode up to show the lower part of his stomach, caused Bakugo to instinctively lean forward to shield his own ribs with his elbows.

Todoroki’s laughter was still positively frantic as Hawks’s other hand never left his right side, but he didn’t seem satisfied. “Maybe here?” he ventured as he pushed his fingers further up, squeezing his way into Todoroki’s damp underarm.

The trainee recoiled.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHAAHAHHAHAAHT THHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHEHEHHEHEHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHRRREEEEE!!! TOOOOOOHOHOHOH!!! GHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAH!!!”

“And here it is!” gloated Hawks, Todoroki trying to clamp down his arms and only succeeding in trapping the offending fingers where he really didn’t want them.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHAAHAHHAAHHAHAHAAHA!!!”

“That’s close enough, I’d say!”

“You’ll pay for this,” hissed Bakugo, undeterred by the heat that lapped at his soles, making them more sensitive by the minute.

Without looking away from his handiwork, Hawks retorted, “You should worry about you, because I think he’s about to get smart.”

“NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!! IIIIIIIIIIII WOOOHOHOHOHN’T TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHEHEHHEHEHEHLLL!!! STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHSEEEE!!!”

“What use is begging? You know what I want. Or maybe you’re asking for more?”

“GHAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH PLEEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHSE PLEEEEHAHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE!!!”

“I have been neglecting your feet, that’s true. I think they’re feeling lonely.”

“NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!! NOOOOOOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHT THEHEHEHEHEHEHRE TOOOOOOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!”

“Well, they shall cry no longer! Here I gooo!” exclaimed Hawks as his severed wings fully enveloped Todoroki’s feet.

Bakugo saw Todoroki whip his head to the sky, a lunatic grin frozen on his face, eyes bulging and dripping with tears, and gently swaying back and forth in that position without even being able to make a single sound.

Insane. He looked insane. Driven to insanity by fingers and a bunch of feathers. Bakugo couldn’t believe it. He even considered giving them the code for a fleeting moment out of concern for his… classmate. But he couldn’t, Todoroki wouldn’t have wanted him to either.

But even deeper at the back of his mind, there was a reminder, a reminder that if Todoroki passed out, or that if he confessed, then Bakugo would be next.

Dabi was also staring unabashedly. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. Something that childish, tearing down Endeavor’s heir like that. His fingers itched.

Todoroki wasn’t even aware of the fingers tormenting his upper body or the feathers that had taken total hold of his feet. It was as if the sensation had seeped deep into his core, and from there had radiated outward, breaking down his sense of self and severing his mind from his body to keep it afloat in an ocean of overwhelming giddiness. Later, he wouldn’t even recall whether he’d laughed in the end or not.

He just remembered his consciousness resurfacing at one point, and uttering the six fabled digits as if in a dream.

“NO!!” screeched a costernated Bakugo.

“Thank you kindly,” said Hawks as he stepped away from Todoroki and called back his feathers. “Way to confirm the code, by the way,” he told Bakugo.

But as he was making his way toward the exit…

“Wait.”

Dabi was holding up his burner phone. “It’s not time for our meet-up yet. And I seem to recall you’re a man of his word,” he said, eyeing Bakugo.

Hawks stopped. “I am,” he conceded as he walked towards Bakugo, whose heart was sinking into his stomach for an additional reason now.

“Don’t you fucking get any closer!” warned Bakugo without anything to back up his threat, his implicit plea.

“Won’t you get bored?” Hawks asked Dabi, ignoring his cursing target.

“I’ll manage. His right side is the ice one, right?” he asked as Dabi stopped between Todoroki and Bakugo, reaching one hand on the other side of the stocks. “I want to see fire and ice mix,” he stated before making his fingers slightly warmer and jolting Todoroki out of his stupor.

But Bakugo was unable to pay him any mind, transfixed by Hawks’s single finger inching closer and closer to his left sole. It curled gently.

“FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFU--” exploded out of Bakugo, any hope of rebuilding his façade thanks to the break flying out of the window as that one finger made him acutely aware of how much more impossibly sensitive the heat had made him.

Hawks went on scratching delicately, bringing the finger to the center of the ball as Bakugo flailed left and right. He only stopped long enough to retrieve the brush and the fork. “I love being right.”

“GGGGGGGGGHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHA!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!”

No, it couldn’t tickle that much, it just couldn’t. The fork traveled from the bottom of his arch all the way to the base of his toes, then down, then up again. The hairbrush was large enough to perfectly scrub the upper half of Bakugo’s foot, the part that Hawks was naturally focusing on, the two tools gliding harmlessly on the impossibly tender surface thanks to the offshoot of Bakugo’s Quirk.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHA!!! SSSSSSSSSSSSSSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!! STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHA!! STASTATSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHA!!!”

“Nah, you had your chance,” said Hawks as he switched the two torture instruments.

Bakugo whipped his head back and forth, if he could he might have banged it on the stocks just to feel something else. And Hawks was unrelenting. Skilled, and unrelenting.

“Weren’t you going to kill me? How are you going to do that? By giggling yourself to death?”

The hard bristles and tines would have scrubbed Bakugo raw if not for his Quirk, but his nerves weren’t any less on fire for it, every ounce of pain having been traded for a different sensation that Bakugo despised even more. But he had no ego left to be bruised, as his entire self was concentrated in his superhumanly sensitive feet, tenderized by the Quirk he was so proud of.

“Now this is an explosion! Oh, you think I’m moving away from the ball? Right where it tickles the most? Oh no no no! I’ll just tickle everywhere else to!”

The part of Bakugo that realized what was about to happen clawed its way to the surface. “NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAH! NONONONONOHHHHHH!!!! PLEASESTOPPLEAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHSEE!!!”

But the myriad quills that descended on every part of his soles not ravaged by the hellish tools didn’t heed his final plea.

With one last boom of maddened laughter, Bakugo was thrust into the same pit that he’d watched Todoroki sink into, utterly, thoroughly destroyed, drooling, crying, but unable to string enough sounds together to grovel.

Humiliation, embarrassment, disappointment were fictions that had been shattered, as the tickling cut to something primal, genuine within him. Who knew that tickling his feet really hard was the key.

“GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!! GGGGGGHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHA!!!”

At some point, Bakugo felt himself float up toward the harsh neon light overhead, gurgling nonsense as the room faded back into focus.

“...ease… nno… moohore…”

But Hawks was already on the threshold, with Dabi having already left the room. Bakugo’s head lolled to the side, allowing him to encounter Todoroki’s dim, concerned gaze.

“Thank you boys!” said Hawks cheerfully. “Someone will come pick you up soon. Pleasure doing business with you!”

He slammed the door behind him, leaving the two tickle-drunk trainees in the room alone. 

As his circumstances flooded back to the forefront, Todoroki’s concern pissed him off. “How–” his voice cracked. Water. “How could you?!” He wasn’t quite sure if he was referring to the code, or to what Hawks had put him through after.

Todoroki didn’t respond, but looked at the door. “Ssh.”

He’d… shushed him? That guy had shushed him–

Bakugo’s eyes bulged out of his sockets when he saw Todoroki lift the upper portion of the stocks and slide his sore wrists and ankles out. To safety, to freedom.

Bakugo forgot everything he wanted to yell. “How… When…?!”

“Hawks did it,” whispered Todoroki as he stretched his sore limbs. Bakugo tried to lift his own stocks, and lo and behold, they opened. There was a feather in the lock, which Todoroki grabbed.

Bakugo’s shock was plain on his expression, his smile muscles stiff.

“Didn’t you notice… what Hawks was writing… with his feathers?” asked Todoroki. He took a deep breath as he shuffled towards the door. “He’s on our side. He wants… us to escape and… tell the agency… to change the code.”

Bakugo was still incredulous as the hallway opened up before him.

“Come on,” said Todoroki as he started out of the room.

Bakugo followed him, to be sure. But he was thinking. He hadn’t noticed anything. And if Todoroki knew all along, how much of it had been an act? And if he had put up a show for their captors, so he could convincingly give up the code later… did he think that Bakugo was weak?

Bakugo grunted. Todoroki shot him a puzzled look, but didn’t stop.

He couldn’t allow the half and half bastard to think of him that way. To feel superior. He had to show him who was really the most ticklish.

[recurring-polynya]

My kid asked me to explain blood types to her today, which made me remember the odd little fact that in the character profiles that appeared at the ends of the earliest Bleach volumes, there are blood types listed for the human characters, but not for the shinigami characters. Shinigami obviously have blood, we've all seen it, we've seen so much of it, honestly, but is it like blood blood? Is blood transfusion a thing they do?

I did not have any particular recollection of anyone ever receiving a blood transfusion in Bleach, but I looked up all the hospital scenes I could think of off the top of my head. Both Byakuya nor Hinamori have sort of a notable absence of things sticking out of them. I'm no expert and I don't even particular like doctor shows, but this is a situation where I would expect both of them to have IVs for hydration, if nothing else. Hinamori's got a respirator and some mysterious carts off to her far side, at least, and maybe Byakuya's just far enough on the upswing that he doesn't need it anymore.

Next shot was the famous Rukia and Renji sharing a hospital room scene.

Renji's respirator goes...under his blanket? Is this right? This doesn't seem right. Rukia doesn't seem particularly attached to anything, although there's kind of a bundle of wires? tubes? coming out of her right shoulder area. You can see them better in this shot:

That sure doesn't look like medical grade tubing, the lower one looks kinda like Hihiou Zabimaru, tbh. IVs usually work by gravity, no? Also those tubes are way too big to be going into someone's veins.

Finally, here's Kira, getting his dubious Squad 12 medical procedure.

More shady, giant, intestine-ass looking tubes that... go into him? wtf. They're attached to a computer. Maybe these are data cables?

The upshot of all of this is that I don't think shinigami have blood transfusions. I can't imagine that they don't know about them, so I imagine it's more of a case of their blood is just part of their soul, like, all of them is just soul all the way down, and it would be nearly impossible to accept a transfusion that was made of someone else's soul (soulmate-enjoying fanfic writers, take note). They do like sticking tubes in people, tho.

This sucks because when I was originally thinking about this, of course I was thinking about all the blood Renji has in his body and whether or not he's a universal donor, because, frankly, if he is, I think they would have a special framed painting of him at Squad 4 and let him have as much donuts and apple juice as he wants.

I think the main reason manga list characters' bloodtypes anyway is because Japanese people use it as a personality test, similar to horoscopes. For the record, here are the characters whose blood types we know:

Ichigo - AO Orihime - BO Chad - AO Tatsuki - AO Isshin - AB Uryuu - AB Don Kanonji (????) - BO

When I was trying to look up what they meant, I found this hilarious graphic, thank you verywellmind dot com

Looks to me like these blood types were definitely chosen to tie into personality at least to some degree (I'm not sure about Isshin, but he probably has fake Urahara Shouten-brand gigai blood-substitute anyway, so I am choosing not to read too deeply into that). Anyway, along those lines, judging from this chart, if we wanted to bootstrap Renji's blood type from his personality, I think he would, in fact, clearly fit into the idiot-on-a-skateboard quadrant. So he is a universal donor! (or at least he would be, if he were filled with blood instead of high-concentration ghost juice.)

[yuri-is-online]

Ok but how did ace even get a girlfriend in the first place? Did she confess and he just went along with it? Did he think having a girlfriend would make him seem cooler? Was it a dare or something? Cause for someone like ace to just go ghost on her and not have an actual talk, kind of makes me feel like these two were not friends before they were partners.

So then, fast forward to nrc, ace is trying so hard to lose the feelings he has for his best friend. Because that's all they are: friends, homies, if you (duece) will. Yuu has the cream of the crop to pick from, he's kind of at a disadvantage here.

Plus, whose to say their entire dynamic won't change the second they get together? He doesn't want to get bored and start to hate one of his dearest friends by proxy, so might as well just play it safe and suffer a little than take that risk and the both of you suffer a lot 🤷‍♂️.

Meanwhile yuu, who still has their old phone/mp3 player, has been playing Jenny by Studiokillers on repeat. Lying in their bed, just down horrendous for this absolute ball of boyish mischief. How dare he, honestly?

Well. At least he gives them a lot of openings to flirt with him?

*disclaimer, I was home schooled so my actual knowledge about middle school dating is beyond non-existent so take what I say with a grain of salt

The information we get about Ace's girlfriend comes from his suitor suit vignette and he does not mention how they actually got together, just some of the things that they did and how boring Ace thought all of them were. And I agree! The way they broke up does not make it sound like they were friends before dating, though they could have been casual acquaintances. The way Ace likes to goof around makes me think he was probably pretty popular, and had a lot of those types of relationships. His description of the relationship makes me think he probably went out with her because he thought she was cute and that it would be fun to have a girlfriend, but didn't actually stop to think about who she was as a person or what dating actually means. And hey, he was in middle school. He was going to be a bit stupid about those sort of things. The experience seems to have made him think a lot about what he wants in a partner, and we know from Ortho he was telling the truth when he's forced to spell it out:

His voice lines flesh out what he wants a bit more; he says he thinks it's important to find someone you have fun with and that he wants to get married later in life. So Ace knows what he wants... he just gets really embarrassed when called out on it and refuses to talk honestly about his feelings (though he kind of does that in general hehe)

So flashing forward to NRC. Ace knows what he wants and Yuu is such a perfect fit it hurts. Best friends to lovers is a popular trope in fiction sure, but in real life? At a school? Yeah right, Ace still has to see them every day if they break up, and not to mention... I feel like Ace, Deuce, Grim, and Yuu sort of fell into their dynamic almost immediately after the mine adventure and didn't ever stop to think about it because of how natural the friendship felt. And Ace knows if things end badly he's losing the whole squad, so yeah. Better to just swallow this and stay where he is. He's still in school! He doesn't need to think about dating! He's got a housewarden to surpass, upperclassmen he admires, and a bunch of idiots to take care of. He can worry about dating later. Besides, these feelings will go away after graduation he's delusional sure of it!!!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch Ramshackle Yuu is literally in a living hell. Maybe they're a bit more emotionally mature than Ace and they just know this could work out but THEY CAN'T TELL IF HE LIKES THEM BACK BECAUSE HE KEEPS GETTING SHY AND MAKING JOKES FML!!!! But like he also lets them steal his gym shirt :ccc and he gets pouty when someone else makes an offer :ccc and really smug when Yuu says no ccc: so like maaaybe? Or maybe not and this meaningless flirting is all they'll ever have and they just. Try to be ok with it and they sort of hate themselves for it.

until Sebek properly joins the friend group and looses his fucking shit

[my-my-my]

KINKTOBER DAY 4 - Aphrodisiacs: Mayuri Kurotsuchi x Gender Neutral Reader

Summary: Captain Kurotsuchi needs bodies for his new inventions, and a random old shopkeeper in District 53 has clients to serve. Distribution of illicit drugs seems to transcend the World of the Living, with shinigami and regular souls alike, flocking to the market, but how does Captain Kurotsuchi test his products in the first place?

TW: MDNI! Abuse of power, Mayuri having no sense of ethical obligations as a researcher, what I think drug dealing/trafficking would look like in Soul Society, fictional recreational drugs, dubious consent, fondling, non-consensual drug use.

Word count: 2516

Read on AO3 here.

 “Kurotsuchi-san, thank you for the products last month. It was quite the hit with my customers.” The elderly woman prattled on as she hobbled around her store. Dried plants, herbs and bottles containing questionable liquid filled every nook and cranny of the shop.

“Did any of them report side-effects?” He asked, inspecting her wares, taking fistfuls of items into his haori’s pockets. He continued to rummage through the store, as the old lady watched in amusement.

“Aside from what you told me before hand, no, none did. They remarked they all felt refreshed.” To which Mayuri looked at her, then immediately grabbed something off the shelf behind her. “If you could make that batch again, it will be hit. I can find the ingredients that you need.”

“You will sell what I make.” Mayuri sneered, looking down at the old woman, “I don’t take orders.” But he continued to take things off her shelves.

The woman laughed, “yes, yes. Of course.” She walked over to where she kept her money and pulled out a small, yet heavy pouch, “this was the share from last month.” Mayuri held the pouch in his hand, opening it up and nodding at the money inside. “And of course, everything is on the house for you.” She smiled as he walked out of her store without as much as a goodbye.

Mayuri reviewed the notes he made about the different products he invented under the guise of “research” for the Gotei 13. A few members across the 13 squads knew of his backdoor research, but none dared to report him to the Head Captain.

For all intents and purposes, the Head Captain believed that Mayuri was conducting research for the betterment of Soul Society…

And it just so happens that some of his products fit in line with that thinking.

Technologies, therapies, interventions, Mayuri has done it all, but only a few of them ever see the light of day. Which is how he aligned himself with the herbalist on the outskirts of Rukongai District 53. She would distribute his products to the masses that travelled through her shop, and he would have a willing patient population to test his inventions. They would both profit off the success.

Last month’s product was some type of pain-relief liquid. This month he wanted to try something different.

Taking out all the items he had taken from the woman’s shop, Mayuri inspected each item carefully. Nemu and Akon approached him but left immediately as he shrieked at them to leave.

He trusted Nemu and Akon more than any of the other seated members of his squad, but this process was for him alone. No one was to interrupt him. And so, Mayuri continued his inspection, scrapping off bits of each item, suspending liquids in other liquids. He analyzed and tested different formulas, noting down each one.

Hours had passed, then days, and later weeks. Mayuri would only leave his lab if “the idiots” needed him for something. To which Nemu and Akon translated it as “anyone” outside the two of them that needed his attention.

But at last, his product was complete. Now he needed test subjects.

Mayuri walked along the corridors of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, disregarding all the fuss and commotion they brought when they noticed him around. He paid no attention to them; they weren’t the test subjects he was looking for.

Instead he made his way to the connected, yet distinct, Squad 12 barracks. Not all his members were involved in the SRDI’s mandate, nor did he want them too, “that would be too boring.” He coldly explained the other captains, not knowing he just wanted soldiers to experiment on that weren’t working in the SRDI as well. That would make things complicated if an invention of his backfired.

You on the other hand, didn’t notice your captain immediately, as you were preoccupied bringing in large manuals of some chemicals for the institute. You dropped the heavy load when you heard Captain Kurotsuchi shriek your name.

Turning around, you bowed your head immediately to the man, “good morning, Captain!” You yelled. You didn’t want to admit it to you friends in other squads, but your own captain terrified you.

“What are your duties today?” Mayuri asked, peering at you as you remained bowed to him.

“I’m delivering these manuals to Lieutenant Akon, then picking up chemicals for Hiyosu, sir!” You answered, anxiety crawling through your body as you felt Captain Kurotsuchi stare at you intensely.

“Deliver these to Akon, then meet me in my lab, immediately. Ignore Hiyosu’s request.” “Yes, sir!” You yelled, watching him walk away, while you struggled to carry the manuals to Akon.

You fidgeted in front of the heavy, locked door to the captain’s personal lab. You weren’t sure if you should knock, announce yourself, or maybe the captain had a secret camera somewhere and didn’t see you there.

But without warning, the door immediately jolted open, scaring you. But you pushed through your fear and entered the lab.

There were numerous devices thrown around, with open bottles, of what you assumed were chemicals, covering several tables and lab benches. The lab smelt bizarre, but it wasn’t necessarily off-putting, yet it wasn’t sterile like you imagined it to be.

You saw Captain Kurotsuchi type something away, scoffing and typing faster. He glanced at you and then resumed typing. You stood there, waiting for him, as he continued to type. You tried to stifle a yawn as you looked around the lab again, “Sir, how long do I have to wait? Lieutenant Akon gave me some additional duties to attend to.” You politely asked.

“And when does Akon’s orders supersede mine?” Mayuri coldly said, the atmosphere of the room getting chilly as your anxiety was going into overtime.

“It doesn’t! I just wanted to be mindful, that’s all.” You nervously explained. You noticed you were sweating and tried to calm yourself.

“Are you nervous?” Captain Kurotsuchi asked, as he moved away from his computer. He stared at you intensely, his golden eyes scanning over your body, as if he was dissecting you.

“No! I’m not.” You lied, hoping your voice came across as confident.

The captain grabbed your hand and forced your wrist open, shoving an innocuous blue pill into your palm. “Take this, it’ll help with the sweat.”

You wanted to die. Your captain noticed you profusely sweating and commented on it. You stared at the pill, your hand slightly shaking, while anxiety filled you up again. Your gut began to turn as you brought the pill to your lips. A part of you doubted the pill would do anything but calm you down.

“Well on with it!” Captain Kurotsuchi yelled, “you said you didn’t have all day!”

“Y-Yes sir!” You stuttered, shoving the pill into your mouth. You struggled to swallow it, noticing your mouth was incredibly dry, but managed to get it down.

It was then Captain Kurotsuchi pushed you on to a chair, and wrist and ankle shackles were thrust on to you. “S-sir?” You asked, eyes bulging. Your anxiety was rampant. “What is this for?”

“It’s a test.” Captain Kurotsuchi said, watching you.

A test?! Your mind screamed. “Why am I being tested?” You pleaded, shaking in your seat.

Captain Kurotsuchi rolled his eyes, “not a test for you, fool. A test for the medication.”

“But you said it would help with my nerves!” You panicked, shaking even harder in your seat.

“In theory, yes, but it hasn’t been tested until now.” You began to hyperventilate at what you were hearing. Until… your brain felt like everything was going by slowly.

Huh? What’s going on? It was as if your anxiety melted away and you were faced with something… pleasant? You stared at your captain but were unable to say anything.

You heard him say something, you saw his lips move, but you weren’t processing what was said.

Captain Kurotsuchi approached you and inspected your body. He poked your face, prodded your chest and flicked your wrists. He took samples of your blood and saliva, while checking your dilated eyes.

Little did he realize; his touch was doing something to you.

You sighed, happily, “sir that feels so good” as you leaned into your seat. Your body felt sensitive, but not in pain. You didn’t notice the vials of blood he had taken from you already.

The captain looked at you in curiosity, and this time undid a portion of your uniform, leaving your chest bare. Another blissful sigh escaped your lips as Captain Kurotsuchi lightly touched your chest.

“Does this feel good?” The captain asked, grabbing your face. You grinned and nodded your head.

“It feels really good.” You mumbled, drool dribbling down your lips. You felt the familiar pangs of arousal flaring across your body, causing you to squirm.

Captain Kurotsuchi stepped back and watched you writhe, taking note of all the physical symptoms you were displaying. “What else do you feel right now?” He asked, staring at you.

But you didn’t respond, eyes glazed over as your hips moved within the confines of the seat. The motion you made felt good, too good you thought, and you needed more of that.

And so you proceeded to rock your hips back and forth, the friction from the seat rubbing against your growing arousal. You moaned loudly and threw your head back and continued on, your hips moving faster as you orgasm came closer. Captain Kurotsuchi sighed, approaching you once more. He slapped your face, to which you gave another loud moan. Your pace didn’t slack

You saw the captain’s lips move and felt something bind and secure your hips. You whined at the sudden loss; you were so close! Until you felt the cold hand of your captain down your pants. Your legs were already spread apart from the ankle shackles, leaving Captain Kurotsuchi with easy access. You groaned again as you felt him touch you.

Captain Kurotsuchi’s touch was merciless though, as he aggressively touched you, feeling your arousal spread against his fingers and in your pants. You then realized you didn’t feel the hip bindings anymore, and let your hips slam up and down the seat, his hand still touching you vigorously.

You bit your lip, and wondered if you tasted blood? You couldn’t tell, but everything felt amazing, yet surreal. It was then you felt the captain push his palm against you, rubbing more vigorously than before. The intensity was too much to bear, and you cried, your orgasm ripping through.

A scream erupted in the lab and Mayuri watched you slump into the seat, unconscious.

Captain Kurotsuchi removed his hand from your pants, inspecting the remnants of your arousal covering his fingers and palm. He pulled your hair, forcing your head up to his level, but you were out cold. He slapped your face again, but no response.

He scoffed at you, rubbing his hands on your uniform as if to clean them. Not satisfied, he washed his hands in the nearby sink. He watched you in the corner of his eye to track how long it would take you to wake up. Once he was clean, he undid the shackles and left you in your seat.

He proceeded to type away today’s event in his product diary. Roughly two hours had passed, and you awoke, which he noted. Your clothes were still on your body, albeit barely, but before you could register what just happened, the captain handed you another pill and you forgot what had even happened.

“I’m sorry about that Captain Kurotsuchi. Did you need me for something?” You asked, confused as to why you were sitting in a seat, and he was staring at you intensely.

“How’s your anxiety?” He asked, his eyes focusing on you.

My anxiety? You thought, “well, I don’t feel anxious right now.”

“Anything else?”

“Um…” you hesitated, trying to think, “my body feels relaxed, like I got a massage?” You tried to explain.

“Nothing else?”

“Not really. I feel fine.” You remarked, checking your body. You remembered taking a pill, then waking up.

“The pill you gave me…” you asked, as you fidgeted in your seat, “does it make you fall asleep after?”

“Yes.” Captain Kurotsuchi lied. “Now get out. You’re done here for the day.” He turned around and went back to his computer, typing away once again.

“Yes, sir!” You squealed, bolting out of his lab. “These soldiers today are a bunch of noisy imbeciles.” Mayuri muttered under his breath, as his lab doors shut close once again.

It was a rare moment to have a day off from your squad duties. Months had passed since the incident with Captain Kurotsuchi, and the memories of it fading from your mind. But you remained grateful to not have done any further direct work for him. Your friends, from other squads, had decided to visit District 53, as they heard rumours of an herbalist with unique concoctions that would heal the body, mind and soul. One of your friends admitted they were struggling with some intimacy issues and Squad 4’s treatment options weren’t working. Your friend had heard that this herbalist would have something to cure that.

You and your friends browsed through the shop, taking stock of what was there, when your friend spoke to the shopkeeper. Although they were quiet, you could hear whispers of “trouble” and “hard to orgasm.” The old lady smiled at them, “I have just the remedy for that, my dear.” You went over and saw her pack in a small bottle of familiar blue pills.

“I’ve had these before!” You exclaimed, “they work wonders. I felt amazing afterwards.”

Your friend stared at you in shock, but the shopkeeper gave you a wide grin, “is that so? I’ve been selling them for a while now.” The old lady rambled, “they’re quite popular with you Shinigami folk.” She cackled, packing the bottle into a pouch. “I’ll pass that along to the creator” she kept laughing, “I’m sure he’ll be ecstatic.”

“When did you take these?” Your friend asked, “you never mentioned it.”

You thought about it, but you couldn’t remember when exactly, but the vivid colour of the pill was seared in your memory, as well as the pleasant association you had with it. “I’m not sure, but I think I took it when I had a really bad anxiety spell. I don’t even remember where I got it from.” You said, trying to recall when and where you took it.

But nothing came up, and strangely enough, you couldn’t recall an blanks or gaps in your memory.

“Or maybe I dreamt it.” You laughed, “I can’t even describe the feeling anymore, I just remember feeling good when I took it.”

“Well if it’s good enough for you, then I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Your friend joked, paying the shopkeeper. Soon night was approaching, and you escorted your friend back to their barracks. Once you made it to the Squad 12 barracks, you made a mental note to ask Captain Kurotsuchi if he knew about the little blue pill.

Thanks for reading!! Mayuri is definitely an interesting character to write for, so I'm not completely sure I nailed it. Either way, I hope you guys enjoy it!

[iwritefandomimagines]

NEW YEAR’S KISS — JAMIE TARTT

masterlist

pairing: jamie tartt x reader

description: last time you saw jamie tartt, he’d laughed off your confession of feelings. now it’s new year’s eve, you’re at a richmond party, and he looks so fucking good in a suit.

warnings: swearing, bit of angst, bit of fluff, alcohol consumption, light sex references but no smut

author’s note: eeeek happy new year’s eve and happy new year for tomorrow all !!! sending lots of love n good vibes <3

———

You couldn’t even believe it yourself that you had agreed to attend the New Year’s Eve party that Dani had decided to host.

Sure, you loved any opportunity to hang out with the men you’d grown close to in your time working with the club, but given the way things went the last time you saw a certain Mr Jamie Tartt… You were regretting your agreement to come immensely.

Even worse, the last time you’d seen him was also at a squad event where one too many shots had been to blame for your actions, and you feared this would be repeated.

You’d stupidly let your guard down when he was flirting with you nonchalantly again, and confessed that you had feelings for him.

He’d laughed it off — assuming that alcohol and clouded your judgement instead of just instilling you with the boldness you needed to be honest.

Since then, you’d avoided him like the plague and turned down all of Keeley’s invitations to places you knew he’d be.

Given that you were only working with the club on a temporary basis anyway, avoiding him had been relatively easy.

But now here you were, because you had no other plans anyway and Keeley insisted that you couldn’t avoid Richmond forever — even if she didn’t know the real reason for it and believed you’d just been busy.

“Oh my God Y/N, you look well fit!” Keeley screamed when she saw you, eyes flitting over your frame before she yanked you into a tight hug, “I’ve missed you, babe!”

“I’ve missed you too,” you hummed, trying to quell the anxiety bubbling in your stomach as you felt all eyes on you, “Sorry I’ve not been around. Lots going on.”

“Too busy for us now, yeah?” Jamie sidled up to your side, a smirk on his face that you couldn’t quite tell the root cause of. Was he just pissing about or was he trying to be snide?

When you looked over at him, you felt your heart race even faster at the sight of him in a gorgeous, well-fitted, and frankly uncharacteristically smart goddamn suit.

Somehow, it made him look even more incredible than usual and only made the feelings you’d fought to deny since you last saw him become impossible to ignore.

You bit your lip, looking down for a minute and not catching the way his eyes scanned over you hungrily.

Your dress was certainly doing wonders for your figure, and he’d have been an idiot not to appreciate it, “Kiddin’, love. You look stunning. We’ve missed ya.”

You nodded for a moment, taken aback by his compliment even though they’d never been rare when you were around him more often, “Uh— thanks, Jamie. You still scrub up well, too. I’ve missed you all.”

Jamie’s smile softened now, reaching out his arm to link it with yours, “Wanna go get a drink, milady?l

You caught Keeley widening her eyes at him with a grin, as if encouraging him.

Oh fuck — did she know what had happened? Were they all laughing behind your back?

“I, uh, yeah sure,” you obliged, almost melting back into being comfortable with him like you used to, “Guess it is nearly midnight, I should probably catch up.”

And catch up you did — champagne glass after champagne glass being knocked back, while you tried your hardest to pretend that Jamie’s hand lingering on the base of your back every once in a while wasn’t driving you crazy.

It also didn’t help that there was a woman hanging around who you didn’t know — a woman who seemed very fond of Jamie, and spent much of her evening gracing him with lingering touches of her own.

He never complained, just smiled and continued about his evening like it was only natural that he was getting female attention.

Well, you supposed, it was.

It was somewhat nice to feel back to normal, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone else was in the loop about something you weren’t.

It was five minutes to midnight now, and you decided that it was best you excused yourself for the countdown and got a little fresh air.

You were overwhelmed by suddenly being back around the Richmond squad — one man in particular — and weren’t sure you could stomach seeing Jamie’s inevitable new year’s kiss with a girl whose name you’d not even bothered to ask.

“What’re ya doing out here, love?”

God, try as you might, you would never get over the sound of him calling you love.

He was stood just behind you, the warmth of his breath fanning over your neck in the winter chill, “‘S nearly midnight.”

“I know,” was all you could muster up as you turned to face him, eyes avoiding meeting his as you took your bottom lip between your teeth.

His eyebrows furrowed as he watched how shy you were, and his hands left his pockets to tilt your chin up to look at him.

“All that time you spent away from us was ‘cos of me, wasn’t it?” his voice was quiet, almost inaudible, but it made your heart race all the same.

You gulped, “I was embarrassed. Didn’t want to see you again and be ridiculed.”

“Ridiculed? Y/N, I wasn’t gonna ridicule ya,” he shook his head, “I shut you down ‘cos I’m trying to be better. Been working on meself and I didn’t want you to do anything you’d regret with me.”

You’d met this Jamie before — this sincere, gentle, kind Jamie who was reserved only for those he held dearest. But it still startled you to hear him tell you all of this.

“I just—,”

“I wanted to kiss you, love, honest,” when did he get so close all of a sudden? “Just didn’t want you to hate me in the morning, or take back what you’d said or nothing.”

You swallowed thickly, “Jamie, I told you I liked you. I didn’t just throw myself at you and say I wanted to fuck you, or-or— anything like that. I was putting my heart out there and you just—you just laughed it off.”

“You were drunk, babe,” he sighed, “I didn’t know if you’d mean it all in the mornin’, that’s all.”

“Well, I did. Although more regretfully, after that.”

His eyes were sad now, almost glassy, as he watched you carefully to see what you’d do or say next.

You stepped back, your own eyes brimming with tears as your back met the fence of Dani’s balcony.

“I never meant to hurt ya, Y/N,” Jamie whispered, once again stepping closer, “I like you too, I just left you alone ‘cos I had some shit to get sorted before I could be good enough for you. ‘Nd I’ve been really trying.”

You finally gave in to the desire to make eye contact again, and felt your whole body crumble at the sound of his words, “You were always good enough, Jamie. I just— I thought I just wasn’t enough for you.”

He scoffed, his hand returning to your chin and his fingers caressing your cheekbones, “You’re too good for me, Y/N. Too good even for Jamie fucking Tartt.”

You let out a giggle at that, followed by a small sob, “What’re you saying here, Jamie?”

He looked down at his watch, “What I’m sayin’ is, it’s 15 seconds to midnight and I’d like to be your new year’s kiss. And, like, not to get ahead of meself… But I’d like to keep kissing you after that. Like, a lot.”

You nodded profusely, wiping away your few stray tears as you heard your friends calling out the final countdown inside, “3, 2, 1!”

He pulled you in close by your face, lips meeting yours with a furious passion as your arms enveloped the back of his neck.

It was everything you could have ever wanted… Even if you did feel fucking ridiculous for never just talking to him about it sooner.

“Happy new year, love,” Jamie smiled into the kiss.

You matched his smile, pulling back for a moment, “Happy new year, Tartt.”

You were silent for a moment as you just gazed at each other longingly, before a realisation hit you, “What about that girl in there, though? She was all over you.”

“Babe, I’m Jamie Tartt,” he shrugged, smiling smugly, “Just ‘cos the girls love me, doesn’t mean me mind hasn’t been focused on one girl in particular, even if she didn’t want to see me.”

“Oi, I wanted to see you, I was just scared to,” you stuck your tongue out as he grinned, “I’m so glad I came tonight.”

“Me fuckin’ too,” he licked his lips, “And in that dress… God, if you could see inside me head right now.”

“Down, boy,” you joked, fully conscious of the fluttering in your own stomach now, “If you’re good, you can take it off me later, yeah?”

Your lips met again hungrily now, your body pressed against the fence as you heard a round of whooping and clapping from your friends who’d found their way to the balcony now.

“A happy fucking new year indeed,” Roy showed the slightest hint of a smile as you and Jamie pulled apart again, blushing crimson, and interlocked your hands.

“Fucking finally.”

———

ok so i may have rushed to get this finish so i could post on nye — sorry if the ending is shit but i hope you enjoyed! pleaaase feel free to request more jamie if you’d like, obsessed again so i’d love that. meanwhile, here’s my masterlist!

[minteayoongimakesmewoozi]

Since you said any AUs... what about a 'nothing bad happens' Pokemon AU? I'm unsure if you did one of these already. People don't die/murdered, sure there might not be 'perfect' lives (Like Zenitsu still being an orphan/adopted, Inosuke growing up in the wild, etc) but Tanjiro and Ayame do still have their families. Still in the same professions, but their families want them to be happy and go on a ~adventure~ Cue Pokemon shenanigans, meet the Gym leaders(hashiras), and fight evil organizations(demons).

A sadder one... Tokyo Ghoul AU. Who would be a ghoul, is someone a 'half-ghoul'? Are they all human... or is someone lying?

;3c

a pokemon au!!!!! much like anyone my age, i too have had my pokemon phase. that being said, the only pokemon game i ever played extensively was pokemon red, and i haven't watched a pokemon episode in over a decade. so...... the pokemon i assign everyone will most likely be first gen. bc that's who i am as a person.

Pokemon!AU

- i love the idea that ayame and tanjirou still remain as blacksmith and charcoal burner ngl

- u would expect both kids to choose charmander as their starter pokemon but nope! well, tanjirou does end up with a charmander, but ayame surprisingly chooses a squirtle

- or maybe not so surprising. akihiko had chosen the same.

- but ayame finds a vulpix all alone not far from okutama and ends up catching it. she has both of them out of their pokeballs, so she kinda has two companions that accompany her on the journey

- do gym leaders take apprentices? probably not, but ayame ends up taking a shine to kyoujurou anyway and he has a ninetales, so he helps her with training her vulpix a lot. she jokingly calls him shishou at first, but then it kinda stuck

- ayame and tanjirou set off on their journey at different times but end up meeting in asakusa anyway

- i can totally see zenitsu with a pikachu, but like ash's where they don't really get along at first. eventually their relationship kinda evolves into a "i'm the only one allowed to bully them" kind of thing.

- yes, zenitsu has an all electric team. his adoptive grandfather is a former gym leader after all!

- does nezuko end up joining tanjirou on his journey? yeah sure why not. she loves fighting pokemon, although her starter pokemon is actually a poliwag. keep working hard with ur poliwag, nezuko-chan!

- much like nezuko, inosuke also prefers fighting pokemon, although his best friend is actually a cubone that he didn't fight. they just found each other in the mountains and decided to stick together. i guess because they both have masks????

- tanjirou... hm. it's hard to say what his team configuration is. there is, of course, charmander. but he also has a dratini, a pidgeotto that he evolved from a pidgey, and a growlithe. he caught an eevee in asakusa with ayame and his evolved into a vaporeon

- ayame's evolved into a flareon. she loves her flareon, but she was kinda hoping for a vaporeon too... not that she would ever admit it outloud.

- ayame's team configuration is very obviously water/fire. she wanted it to be more water, but fire pokemon are drawn to her. tanjirou always jokes it's because she's a blacksmith's daughter. she has a seel, a vulpix, a squirtle, and a ponyta. the only pokemon she has that comes as a total surprise is her gastly.

- kanao has a clefairy!!! and also an oddish that kanae helped her find. i can see her team configuration as a fairy/poison type.

- genya...... genya and a mankey. his mankey is the sweetest mankey ever and it's even funnier when genya has resting bitch face. he also has a slowpoke and a staryu, and it was both those pokemon that caught ayame's attention when they met

- who would be team rocket for these kids????? like... i know akaza and douma for sure. oh i guess that would fit. maybe they're just obsessed with tanyame's eevees turned flareon/vaporeon

Tokyo Ghoul!AU

- fjwndkwnwowk how did u know i was obsessed with tokyo ghoul once upon a time???? kaneki ken one of my og fave charas.........

- i can see nezuko as a man-made half ghoul the way kaneki was turned, which still leads to tanjirou being very concerned and overprotective of her

- the higuchis... ghouls. yeah. akihiko joins aogiri tree and ayame has her loyalties with anteiku. obviously their parents die at the hands of the ccg and it's all very tragic. she has four younger siblings to look after and it's very stressful for her

- ayame and tanjirou used to be neighbours, until her parents were killed and she was moved with her siblings under the protection of anteiku

- that being said, i guess the rengokus would be ghouls too, bc of course kyoujurou needs to look after ayame. and hey!!!! free younger sisters!!!!!! (that's not how it works, kyoujurou - )

- it does mean that tanjirou has to work very hard with the ccg, bc it's the only way he can keep up with his half ghoul sister and his full ghoul kinda childhood friend

- maybe there's some sort of trainee program for ccg hopefuls and that's where he meets zenitsu and inosuke

- inosuke... could be half ghoul ig. but like the way the quinx squad are half ghouls

- (i'm very behind on tokyo ghoul: re i'm sorry)

- i think most of the hashiras would be ghouls actually. the only exceptions would be sanemi and obanai

- genya is also a half ghoul though, but bc of experimentation bullshit that killed the rest of his siblings. that just means that sanemi is even more protective of genya - almost like a guard dog

- listen i could go on forever abt a tokyo ghoul au u have no idea

- anyway! kagune! the higuchis are ukaku-types, while nezuko has a bikaku type. inosuke is koukaku-type, and he can make two jagged blades from his forearms - they're shorter than most that will fully wrap around the arm, but that also means he can move faster because of it.

- the kochou sisters are rinkaku-types, although kanao's is actually an ukaku-type like the higuchis. the rengokus are bikaku-types, although their ideal form - so to speak - is a nine-tailed form (i'm pushing the rengoku nine-tails agenda idc). himejima is koukaku-type, same as genya, which is why genya trains with himejima almost exclusively. muichirou is rinkaku-type as well, same as giyuu. they work terribly together though. it's mostly personality incompatibility issues. tengen is ukaku-type, which means ayame also trains with him a lot - and neither of them are happy about it. mitsuri is a koukaku-type! and bc of her muscle density, she's also faster than most koukaku-types (obanai thinks that's so cool of her)

- i can see the idiots squad coming together c of a rogue ghoul that's making it seem like the attacks are from anteiku. very very dangerous for her sisters, and tanjirou just ends up coming along bc nezuko insists that they help her. also bc that's kinda his first case in the ccg training program, so zenitsu and inosuke stumble along the investigation as well.

- okay i have to stop now or i will end up writing a whole fic about this and now i want to aaaahhhh

- wait does this mean the twelve kizuki and muzan are actually the ccg...?

- (wait what if the ccg training program gives them quinques and tanjirou's somehow ends up with hanabi's.........)

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

Hi, I loved your Npc s/o fic! Can you please tell us more about Cheren, Ibadat and Raven?

Once again I am very surprised it was well liked wowow. Ultimately it's up to the readers interpretations on how they are but here was some minor stuff to consider.

Cheren is based off of Shere Khan (hence Cher-en, get it??), Ibadat is based on Iago (tried to find an Arab name that sorta fit), and then Raven was the most complicated. I was thinking about descendants/ EAH but also just the movie raven (who has a name but I couldn't find it.. )

Cheren is just classic himbo. A good guy. Will always fall for Yuu's Deez Nuts jokes because he loves them. He's just a jock on his way to do American Football and decorate his locker.

Though he's not academically the best, he has a buncha odd skills coming from the jungle and all. Yeah he can cook and clean, but wanna see him make a fish trap? Probably lived through many near death experiences without realizing. "Yeah bro I remember strangling a giant snake that was trying to hypnotize me into being its meal when I was 11."

I can see him being very intuitive tho. Clocks people immediately. He probably can tell half the OB squads issues just by standing around them and is like "Hey bro if you ever need to talk man I'm here" "Yo man idk if that's healthy I think you should take if yourself" "don't let people here define who you are man." Type thing. It baffles everyone that the dude who takes everything at face value is just so perceptive. How he bagged Yuu. Ride or die homie. The jock from Paranorman even.

Ibadat is Iago. Cocky, loud, dramatic, and bratty. Heavy on the last two. Dies without any attention. Very much "when my spouse (s/o) leaves to war (is showering) and I won't see them for 5 years (15 minutes)." Exaggerates a lot. Melodramatic and will talk so much about anything and everything. Fidgety.

Can absolutely get under people's skin and get away with it esp with the smugness. Squawks for sure. Much smarter than people think but is often his own worst enemy. That being said his schemes are pure evil genius...

With you, he's so kind. He will do anything for his friends and is very much loyal and stands up for the homies. Never let's Yuu doubt themselves. You will say your affirmations with him and believe them. Also, here's some matching gold earrings he found. Cmon, be shiny with him. Boasts so much about dating THEE Ramshackle Prefect... now can you tell him you love him...? H-He's not insecure or anything okay?!

Raven is an enigma. Very dark academia and very gender. They're so private it led to a lot of rumors of even their gender. Some say they're broody, cold hearted. They know so much about the most peculiar things and are very well versed in extremely unorthodox and obscure alchemical experiments. Always good at troubleshooting chemistry issues (chitosan their beloved)

"They're so focused on their studies because of some dark past or for some evil goal with their magic..." If that's what people want to believe, so be it. No point in trying to deal with idiots. Their silent confidence is well backed with their competence. It pisses some off to see everyone fail and then some brid comes up and aces it quietly

They just don't see the point in appealing to everybody and want to focus on their own growth is that so wrong? They're just a little book nerd okay? They want to study medical alchemy with a concentration in treating curses... they don't mention their folks much but they love them...

[leafa-blog]

“DAY 1 REGENCY”

"Hearts in High Society"

— And I tell you no!-

— Could you stop being so irrational? — I speak with total parsimony.

— Irrational me?! Ha! Please- he was angry, his face showed it — Didn't you just hear that they are saying that I am not fit to take care of my kingdom! And you tell me that I am being irrational with that!-

— Prince, you know better than anyone that you are still a minor and the council cannot let you lead the kingdom just by your own good will, you must earn the merit of being a good sovereign - he tried to make the young man lower the fury that was trying to emerge inside him.

— hahahahahaha apparently cousin I think they saw that you are a chick so you can manage your kingdom as you wish! hahahaha-

— You better shut up Grimmjow!! If you don't want to!-

— If I don't want to, what?! Aha - he began to tease him - come on if you dare, you know very well that you still can't beat me even if you want to! You're a kid who still has a long way to go to defeat me! - he smiled arrogantly.

— Damn you!! How the hell did you end up being my relative!! You'll see!-

— Prince, that's enough - he raised his voice - now you understand why the council gave the instruction…-

— Damn if I know! Until I come of age you will be the Regent!!! Tsk! - he said, clicking his tongue trying to calm down as much as he could — it's just that I'm very upset, my father has died, the king is three meters underground! And they talk about who will lead the kingdom while we are still in mourning!! That's what has me pissed off, you'll see these old men of the Council! They are even looking for me already engaged to have offspring in the kingdom, shit! Don't they know that I have already chosen the princess of the Ice Kingdom?! She is the one I will marry, not another woman from God knows what kingdom it will be! -

— Prince Kurosaki, Princess Rukia is a good choice, and if you ask me I did not ask to be the regent, but you know well that I have served your father for many years, who trusted in my skills as a strategist and my knowledge despite my young age at that time, if I can argue it is likely that those are the reasons why I was chosen; regarding your relationship with Princess Rukia, you cannot choose until you turn twenty-one, and there are only two years left for that to happen, the princess you have chosen thinks that you could perhaps be the right choice, if you do not like the idea then you can simply dismiss him when he comes of age-

—For who you are Ulquiorra, are you talking a lot today? Is there something you're hiding from me?-

— Of course not, it's just that he's looking for answers and I'm trying to make him see reason and calm down, he can't keep acting like a little boy and fighting while arguing with Duke Grimmjow -

— Ulquiorra, why are you wasting your time with this idiot Ichigo? You know very well that if he is not suitable, the kingdom becomes mine! Hahahaha - he laughed loudly, while the orange-haired boy sharpened his gaze — Come on, don't look at me like that Ichigo, you know I'm joking, but seriously, your advisor is right, you won't achieve anything if you keep getting angry like you do-

— bu…-

— But nothing! before you continue, do you want me to list the reasons why you have not been taken into account and have been relegated while you reach the age to assume the throne? - he looked at the hazel-eyed boy who was frowning once again - One, that face you are putting on right now is the main factor, as the future king nothing should bother you! Two, you make a scandal with little things, I screw you over every five minutes and you are trying to hit me or say something, three you scream for every idiocy that happens around you, four despite your age you have not shown that you have merits of honor, come on, you are not going to rule if you have not even gone hunting with Kaien, commanding the squad of knights that he has, at this point at least one conquest or help to your people you should have made, I could continue listing, your infatuation with the Ice Princess is not the problem, it is her kingdom, if you marry her, you must open the policies between both kingdoms, and you well know that Byakuya Kuchiki He is not someone who is easily bent, you must start getting along with your brother-in-law if you want to open an improvement in politics and trade in both kingdoms- After listing each point with his fingers in front of the boy, he looked at his friend.

— You must accept that leaving Ulquiorra as regent is a good idea, maybe you will learn a thing or two about how to rule the kingdom with a cool head, it does not always have to be heart, you know well that reason is what must prevail, you have my support, but you must EARN IT, and that of all the old geezers on the council too–

— Duke Grimmjow is right, if he doesn't prove that he is capable of running the kingdom, then I'm afraid they will look for someone else who can do it-

— But there's no one else with royal blood, apart from me, Grimmjow and even Kaien!, and as far as I know, both of them won't do it, they respected my father too much to do something like that? Who the hell could take my place then?!- he snapped angrily again.

—The fact that you don't know beyond these two doesn't mean that there aren't more legitimate heirs to the throne, even if they marry one of your sisters and a boy is born, he would be the future heir while a regent other than me governs - his advisor sighed, thinking that he was getting nowhere with all this.

— Look Ichigo, you must understand that you must learn to behave, the kingdom is not a toy and you know it, sometimes you must rule with an iron fist, sometimes you must be impartial and other times you must think of strategies that achieve the best benefit, do not think that everything is rosy, you are almost an adult, you know what wars are and what happens in them, not in vain I have scars all over my body to tell you how raw they are, we are 10 years older than you, that is why we are speaking to you this way, understand once and for all that you more than anyone must learn to use every aspect that makes a king great!-

— Sometimes I'm surprised at how much Grand Duke Grimmjow has matured, it seems like it was just yesterday that I pulled him out of the mud when he fell while playing with his dog -

The blue-haired boy looked at him in astonishment as a blush of embarrassment rose across his face. "Shut up, idiot! Don't talk nonsense!"

— It's okay, I understand - he let out a sigh - it's just that I thought I could... that they would have more confidence in me, but I see that it wasn't like that... I feel like I've disappointed my father - he said a little melancholically.

— King Ishin would be proud of how he's taking all this pressure, trust me-

— Thank you Ulquiorra, you and Grimmjow have been the closest thing to brothers I've ever had, I'm grateful that you're here supporting me despite everything- he smiled at both of them.

Grimmjow with a smug smile and Ulquiorra the hint of a ghost smile that appeared on his face, showed the trust and friendship they had for each other despite not saying it very often, between them there was respect and affection in their own way.

— Well, then, Mr. Regent, what should I do to learn from you? — he said, smiling.

— Believe me, this is an honor, but a great responsibility, and I hope that the two years will pass soon so that the true heir can be returned to his rightful place.

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— Father, is this necessary?

—What's bothering you, my dear? — he looked at his daughter as she paced around the large throne room.

— It's just that... I thought... well... actually... - she tried to speak coherently but she was afraid of making her father angry, he was a very good man, he always was with her, but he was also a king and as such he was ruthless and powerful when he wanted to be.

— Come on, sit next to me, calm down and tell me what's wrong. — Although her voice sounded authoritative, it was tinged with affection.

— I'm sorry, father, but is it necessary for us to go to that kingdom? To… to meet my fiancé? - a blush rose on her cheeks — I… I don't think that… it's a good idea- her voice was getting lower and lower.

— I understand, but the kingdom of Soul Society sent me a letter, I know that the king recently passed away and that the heir cannot rule his kingdom yet, but they have chosen a Regent and from what I know he is someone very capable even for his age, I would like to know the truth and exchange some ideas with him, but you are right a union is very hasty, you are barely seventeen, although if you ask me I married your mother when she was your age and you look like her when I met her-

That made the young woman feel very good, as she was having many doubts about her future. Would she marry without love? Honestly, it was not in her plans to do so, but that is why she needed to know who the young man was that they wanted to marry her in the future.

— But still, father, you and mom got married in love, didn't you?

— Well, if you're right- he put his hands on his daughter's- let's do something, let's take the invitation, meet the young man and if it seems good to you and you approve it, you go ahead, if not, then we'll see what we can do with that kingdom, in any case we have trade to offer and political ties without the need for a real union, although if that were the case, it could strengthen our kingdoms further- he mentioned calmly.

— Okay, I think we can go and I'll give Prince Kurosaki a chance… if he's not what I want… then I won't continue with this - she looked at her father - thank you for always being so understanding - she hugged him tenderly while he returned the hug and kissed her head.

— Your mother would be proud of how much you have grown and matured — she said in the middle of the hug.

— Thank you…- he moved away a little, looking into his father's deep brown eyes - and when do we leave? -

— In three months, the regent appointed by the council has been in power for six months, but it seems that there are still things that he is handling and it will take that long for them to be able to attend to us, even though the invitation arrived much earlier -

— I understand, I imagine it must be hard for him, if you say he is still young, how old will he be? -

— From what I know of some of the emissaries, it seems that he is a young man of about twenty-seven years old, also that he is someone who has a particular face and also has a cold and distant appearance - he laughed quietly when he remembered something - it even seems that they call him Empty Prince or something like that -

His daughter also laughed when she heard what her father said. "For someone so young, he shouldn't be like this." She put her hand on his lips. "Maybe it would be good if we could invite him here sometime, maybe we could show him that there is nothing good inside the Void. I would even ask Nelliel for help for that."

— Daughter, stop the mischief, okay? -

— Okay, dad, whatever you say -

They both laughed complicitly, they loved each other and that was what was important, they were always there for each other, understanding every aspect that their status as royalty allowed them, before their kingdom "Las Noches" they were very loved, the king's implacability, his intelligence and his power as a sovereign was greatly admired, and his loving and big-hearted daughter was the perfect combination to reign over them, it is because of them that no other kingdom had faced them before or ever, because King Sousuke Aizen had been the best king that had arrived in a long time.

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— Welcome to our lands, King Aizen and Princess Orihime — he greeted politely and bowed appropriately to the greeting before royalty.

— The pleasure is our Regent Ulquiorra Cifer - he greeted politely giving a small smile, he looked around and when his daughter was at his side he took her hand.

— A pleasure, Mr. Cifer - the princess's greeting was not long in coming, lifting the hem of her dress slightly and bowing slightly.

— The honor is ours, princess - he looked directly into the young woman's hazel eyes - comments do not do justice to your beauty, without a doubt, not even the most beautiful paintings and poems of the hills facing the cliffs with the ocean as a muse could match your true beauty -

The young woman in question could not hide the blush that settled on her cheeks, she had met many young men as part of the etiquette of royalty, some who even at this point were still pretending to get her to marry, but no one had spoken to her with such subtlety, without ignoring the deep voice of the young man in front of her, not to mention matching his beautiful appearance, his hair as black as night and those eyes, with an incredible tone as green as the thick forests in front of his kingdom, without a doubt she was also amazed by his presence, so much so that she could not even articulate a response to the young man's flattery.

— My dear? - the king looked at his daughter, one did not have to be wise to be able to observe the impact that the Regent had in front of her, internally he knew how to appreciate that the young man had a very good education and even good taste - he raised his hand in front of his lips and cleared his throat - this to bring his daughter out of her reverie.

— Eh?! Oh I'm… I'm sorry! - she said sadly, hiding her face behind the fan she was holding. Her father chuckled.

— Don't worry...- the black-haired man tried to sound friendly, he was about to continue but the trumpets were heard announcing the next visitor. Everyone looked in the direction where a large white carriage with golden lines was stopping, right where King Aizen's carriage had been before.

— What? - he asked quietly without showing it, he was confused.

Announcing the kingdom's crier, he mentioned the names of the other visitors

—His Royal Highness of the Ice Kingdom, the Heir to the Throne Kuchiki Byakuya and Princess Rukia have arrived!!- was heard, while those mentioned got off the carriage.

Both wearing matching white outfits, with some black lines on their suits, they looked imposing, elegant and overly refined.

— I didn't know we wouldn't be the only guests, the letter we received didn't mention that this was a party - said the King, looking from the corner of his eye at the Regent who returned his gaze.

— A thousand apologies, Your Majesty— he bowed deeply— I'm afraid I wasn't careful and put both dates together, but don't worry, believe me, you're more than welcome— he clenched his fist without anyone noticing how upset he was, because he knew very well that he had been very meticulous, and the fact that they were here only meant one thing, and that was that the crown prince had put his hands in this matter.

The good thing about his face not showing much of the emotions was good, so no one would know that he was about to explode in anger, never but never would he make an affront of that type to any king! I mean, everyone deserves respect and sending sovereigns an invitation to hospitality for several days at the same time was not what should be done, each sovereign deserved time and dedication, as he said, it was only done that way at parties, events where several rulers could meet with the characteristic of first seeing how the kingdoms were composed and making sure firsthand the magnitude of power they possessed in each of them, of course it was also the perfect moments to exchange sons and daughters in exchange for ties with themselves, and clearly as in this case, it was not precisely that, but it was a way to try to open relations with the Kingdom of Nights, but now with this mess how to show the King that they are a serious nation that seeks the best alternatives to cooperate and unite their ties in terms of politics and trade.

King Aizen stepped closer to the nobility who had arrived right in front of them.

— Prince Byakuya -

— King Aizen -

They looked at each other intensely, some knew that there was a kind of rivalry between the two kingdoms, but not to the point of war at least.

— It's a pleasure to see you in good health, the Crown Prince said.

— I say the same, and how is your father? I have heard that he no longer travels because of his health, that he is a little delicate - I speak slowly - I will ask the gods for his speedy recovery-

— I appreciate it, you're right, you're no longer up for these long trips, so I'm taking on these roles that apparently will soon be my complete responsibility-

— Your Highness Byakuya Kuchiki, it is a pleasure to have you with us, I regret this inconvenience, that both sovereigns are in our empire at the same time- he intervened.

— Regent Ulquiorra Cifer - the prince quickly looked the young man up and down - I see that you have done very well, congratulations on your mention - he looked away as he searched for his younger sister.

— Rukia -

— Nii-sama - he spoke quietly - it is a pleasure King Sousuke Aizen - he made a very proper and elegant bow before the brown-haired boy.

— Princess Rukia, the pleasure is mine, you are a very beautiful young woman, compared to the immaculate glamour of snowflakes- said the King.

— I appreciate your compliments, and…- he looked to the side, and saw the young woman who was with the older man — I think you must be Princess Orihime, isn't that true? - he spoke subtly

— Oh yes... I'm sorry, Prince Byakuya - she looked at the aforementioned - Princess Rukia - she bowed, she looked nervous, and how could she not be, if she rarely attended formal events, her father always indicated that she could miss it, because she always felt a little self-conscious with a lot of people around especially if there were etiquette involved, she would prefer to be free running in the field barefoot if the crown were allowed to perform such actions.

— Apologies again sovereigns, please let us go to the living room, I will send for the prince to accompany us - he walked forward a little, not leaving aside that he took a small look at the young woman with orange hair, he sighed internally knowing the reason for the change in the Kuchiki royalty's schedule.

— Hinamori - I said and a small young girl quickly approached

— Yes sir - he bowed.

— Please go prepare the hall and… - he came a little closer so that only she could hear him - prepare more food, the prince was up to his old tricks again, send for him and have him get to the great hall as soon as he can, let me know before he arrives, I must speak to him seriously - he said the last thing harshly.

— Okay sir - he couldn't help but recoil in fear, he knew the young man was kind but when he got angry, that was another story.

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— Well? I'm still waiting for your coherent and justifiable explanation for this uncomfortable and irreverent situation - the black-haired man spoke harshly.

— Oh come on Ulquiorra, don't get angry... this is just part of the plan - the boy in front of him mentioned without any regret.

— What plan, if I may ask? -

— I'm just trying to let everyone know who my future wife will be, you said it yourself, I must improve my relations with Byakuya and what better way to invite them, I wasn't going to wait another six months to see Rukia -

He let all the air out of his lungs, he was furious but he wouldn't show it, not like that, not in that way, he really wondered sometimes if Ichigo understood the concept of maturity and responsibility before what it meant to become King. He looked at the shine in his eyes, even though he didn't handle the issue of feelings like the rest of the people did, he knew that the boy was deeply in love, but precisely for that reason he was doing crazy things that would only bring problems to the kingdom.

— Listen… - I try to start.

— What the hell did you do today Kurosaki Ichigo!! - he came in raising his voice.

— Grimmjow? What the hell is wrong with you? Don't go screaming like a madman, don't you see that we have guests?! - he reproaches his cousin.

A vein could be seen with the naked eye, he was holding back right at that moment for whatever his subconscious was thinking — What did you say? -

— I said stop shouting, we have guests - he mentioned again - are you deaf? Did you forget that important visitors were arriving to the kingdom today? -

— Ulquiorra please tell me that you did not agree with this immense idiocy that my brainless cousin committed in the name of God knows what! -

The green-eyed man just watched him, he was quiet even for his own good, if he opened his mouth, he would probably later regret what he said, he didn't act on impulse, he thought and looked for the best possible alternatives to solve problems, only this time, it was beyond his sentimental knowledge the idiocies that people in love committed.

— For the love of the gods, what's wrong with you two? Isn't it a good idea to start showing my relationship with Rukia in public? —

— And you're a complete idiot! You still ask? This is honestly the main reason Ulquiorra is the Regent! How the hell did you think of having both kingdoms that don't get along so well in the first place, showing your intentions to marry another princess when the main one chosen by the council came to visit to approve or not the engagement! You're humiliating King Aizen and his nation you piece of animal!

And it was at that very moment that he realized the magnitude of his actions. He looked worriedly at Ulquiorra, who only shook his head and sighed imperceptibly.

– For God's sake, what did I do? I don't want to start a war… what do I do? -

—And now you ask? Seriously, you're an idiot. — His cousin looked at him irritated.

— Well, we can't do anything now, we already have everyone here, so what we have to do is avoid making this bigger and, above all, turning it into a public humiliation - he looked at the young man and narrowed his eyes - as for you, I thought you had learned something from the lessons I was giving all this time, let me tell you that this does not add any merit for you, in fact, I feel disappointed -

The prince felt very bad, he did not believe that his actions could be interpreted like that, first he wanted to make it clear that the only woman for him was Princess Rukia, but it was not right for the other kingdom to feel ignored and offended by his such motives.

— For now, everyone is in the great Hall, we must attend to them and you - he called the young man - will be polite and will not commit any more nonsense during the three weeks that they will be here -

— Okay - he said, his head down - and Ulquiorra… I… I'm sorry -

The older ones looked at him and then at the young man. Maybe something good could come out of this. After all, the only way a boy can measure the value of each decision he makes is by making mistakes and bearing the consequences of them.

— Okay, let's go, they are waiting for us -

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— A thousand apologies for the delay, I was attending to an emergency, but it has already been resolved, dear guests, some of you already know him and others don't, I present to you the crown prince Kurosaki Ichigo -

— It is a great pleasure to have such distinguished nobility as guests, Your Majesty King Aizen — he bowed to the elder — Crown Prince Byakuya — now he bowed again to the aforementioned young man.

He moved to where the princesses were sitting on either side of the table. "Princess Orihime, it is a pleasure to have you with us, illuminating us with your beauty." He placed a chaste kiss on the back of the maid's hand.

Then he moved to the other end and approached with great delicacy - Princess Rukia, not even the most beautiful rosebush along with the peonies could compete with your resplendent beauty - he placed a chaste kiss even with the slower action than with the other young woman, he looked intensely into the violet eyes a perceptible shine in both was noticeable from a distance, even making both young people sigh quietly, not going unnoticed by anyone.

The young woman with hair like the sunset couldn't help but look away, what was she doing there anyway? Wasn't it obvious that the young prince had already chosen a wife? She didn't even want to guess what her father was thinking at that moment, she looked this time at the Regent, a tall, gallant young adult and even noticed the half-curve of his lips, right, he was upset, why? Was it because of the prince's action? She continued to watch him even when he cleared his throat a little.

— I'm sorry, excuse my boldness, Princess Rukia — the orange-haired man spoke quietly.

She slightly moved her hand away, and placed it at the height of her chest hoping with that to calm the beating of her heart, a blush appearing on her white cheeks — do not worry, Prince Ichigo -

— Once again, I appreciate you being with us and my most sincere apologies for having brought both visits together, it is not our intention that you might feel a little uncomfortable, I will be at your complete disposal if you have any comments on this matter and the best dispositions to rectify this situation - said the black-haired man with a bow.

— Don't worry, young Ulquiorra, I think we can get something out of this meeting, isn't that right? Prince Byakuya? I've wanted to meet with your father for a long time, but given the situation it would be good if we could both talk, what do you think, Young Ulquiorra? - the brown-haired boy mentioned.

— You are certainly right, there is no reason to wait for the conversations, we can take advantage of the fact that we are here - said Crown Prince Byakuya

— I really appreciate the trust you are placing in us, we will make you feel as comfortable as possible -

Everyone nodded at the young man's words.

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A few days passed since they arrived, the hospitality of the Soul Society kingdom was impeccable worthy of royalty as they were, there was no complaint beyond both guests being there at the same time, but the young Regent had managed to get everyone comfortable and satisfied with the treatment, even trade ties were achieved, among other points that the three kingdoms could complement each other, there were treaty signings and they were looking forward to collaborating with each other for any situation that might happen to any of them. This while the young crown prince Ichigo was tasked with accompanying both princesses on all their outings, although he would have to be learning about alliances with the kingdoms, he could not just leave the young women who had arrived precisely for him, for the purpose of marriage, or at least for some who came to idealize them that way.

The orange-haired girl, when she saw the prince, did not hesitate to admit that the young man was handsome, but even so, butterflies in her stomach as her mother said, she did not feel them; in fact, for some strange reason they looked alike physically, orange hair, hazel eyes, anyone could pass them off as simple siblings, but they did not know how far from reality they were if they were to even think about it.

How many days had it been now? About eight maybe, and she had to admit it, she was bored, she walked through the garden corridors behind Prince Ichigo and Princess Rukia, she had taken the young man's arm, they were chatting pleasantly, they seemed happy but she was bored, honestly this was not the idea she had in her plans, at least she thought she could meet the prince and see his qualities and if he was a good prospect, but looking at them again she admitted that there was already a winner, and that was the brunette, so why fight for someone who had already made her choice? she would be a fool if she did, as to end up unhappy, with a broken heart at the expense of him even being able to take a look at her as a woman. She regretted having told her lady-in-waiting to stay at her father's castle, as she thought she would be with the prince all the time. How wrong she was. At this point, she honestly didn't like the idea of being a bad third, as she had once heard from the young ladies in her castle.

As she listened to the rhythmic laughter of the two young men in front of her, she looked away at the garden, that was more interesting to observe, she was distracted while walking that she didn't notice that the princes had retreated down another corridor and she continued in a straight line until she collided with someone.

— Oh... I'm sorry - she said the moment she felt some arms holding her, preventing her from slipping, since she was right on the curb of the hallway.

— Don't worry, are you okay?

— Re… Regent Ulquiorra - she stared at him - I… I'm so sorry - she immediately moved away from the touch of his hands, she felt a tickling precisely where he was touching her.

— Excuse my boldness, he hastened to say.

— No… no, it’s my fault, I wasn’t paying attention -

The young man nodded to avoid disturbing the maid, looked around and noticed that she was alone — May I ask, and Prince Ichigo? -

Hearing this, she also looked to her sides. She didn't realize when she lost sight of them. She sighed in defeat. She had gotten lost. "I think I lost them," she said, embarrassed.

The Regent mentally shook his head, the prince was not keeping his part of the deal and that was to take care of the princess as well.

— Don't worry, I'll escort you to your room and send for you to come and get you.

— Oh no! Please no…-

— You are right, how bold of me, I will send a lady to take her -

— No! I mean, it's not necessary… - she lowered her head a little embarrassed.

Ulquiorra watched her, that innocent and sweet look, a pang came, he instinctively brought his hand to his heart, what had that been? Ignoring the feeling he continued talking to her.

— Princess, I can't leave you alone, even though we're in the castle, it could be dangerous for you -

She shook her head again. “May I make a request?”

— Uh? -

— I don't want to be a bother, but can I accompany you? -

— What? - I ask, bewildered. — I don't understand, what do you mean by "come with me?"

— Regent Ulquiorra…-

— Ulquiorra -

— Huh? -

— Just call me Ulquiorra, princess -

— Ul… Ulquiorra? - without knowing why, her heart began to beat fast, a small blush appearing on her cheeks — … okay, but if I have to call you only by your name, you do the same too -

— A fair deal, I don't see why not, if that's what you want - I look at her - now, explain to me what you're trying to ask me? Orihime -

Even though she became even more nervous hearing her name under that deep, masculine voice, she tried to compose herself and continue her conversation. "I want to accompany you, because I'm bored," she finally said. "Please don't send me to the prince." She lowered her gaze and continued. "I understand the circumstances of my arrival here, but you, more than anyone, know that it's a waste of time for me to stay here."

— Prin… -

— Let me finish… please… - the young man nodded - Prince Kurosaki and Princess Kuchiki understand each other very well, I just don't want to keep accompanying them, I get very bored, but I have been able to observe you a few times - a pink tint of shame settled on his face - I won't apologize for that, but yes, I would like to be able to help you -

— It is an unusual request, I am sorry that you are being insulted, believe me, it is not our intention - she bowed deeply - and on behalf of the prince I also apologize, but I do not know if I can let you accompany me - she tried to dissuade the young woman from her idea.

— Please, I know you think I won't be of any help, but believe me, my father has been my tutor in many of the duties of royalty, as well as how important decisions are when thinking about what's best for the kingdom, believe me, I would feel more useful if you let me help you -

- But -

— The king left yesterday for an emergency, if you remember, and he asked you to take care of me and not hesitate to ask for my help if necessary, do you remember? -

— Of course princess, I remember, but even so, putting you in a situation with such commitment, I wouldn't feel very comfortable, you are our guest anyway -

— Oh please, believe me, I'll be of help to you! - I look at him - please don't send me to spend the rest of my time here with Prince Ichigo and Princess Rukia, I don't want to bother them anyway... - in her own way she was begging to be of help to the young Regent.

He couldn't help but let out an imperceptible sigh, this young woman truly left him speechless, there were few occasions like today when they could talk, she was determined and very persistent, very good qualities in a ruler.

— Okay — he said as he turned around, the maid gave him a wide smile, she was able to achieve what she had been thinking about doing for days — please follow me this way, right now I'm heading to the throne room, I have some business to take care of —

- Yes of course -

The princess showed him a radiant smile, one that he didn't think he had seen since he arrived, so internally he felt good, and why not, in the end it was part of making his guests comfortable and at ease, or was there another reason why he thought that way?

Once in the Hall, Regent Ulquiorra attended to many matters, being a ruler is an exhausting and very delicate task to handle, since you must act as a judge, fair and impartial, so that both parties or each person feels that their problem has been resolved in a good way, without harming them in the process.

Mostly they were villagers who asked for audiences, they came to argue about land, cattle and other goods with their neighbors, as well as merchants who wanted the same working conditions as those who had years of having their businesses, as well as some problems between villagers looking for solutions to their problems of shortages or at least charity to get ahead while they look for the best alternative to be able to survive on their own, some cases should not even be reaching a resolution by the Regent, but apparently the elders of the council loved to put the young man in a complex situation whenever they could.

At one of the hearings a foreign merchant arrived offering a good deal, he came from another kingdom and explained the way to make riches in the lands of Soul Society, if the young man was not so calculating and thought very well the whole proposal would have been easy to deceive him, but for him it was not the case, even so, he had to admit that Prince Ichigo if he were in charge at that moment, would have fallen for the merchant's trick. The young man had to do something about the matter, but how to check the actions of the man who had arrived, if he wanted to prevent others from falling for his tricks he had to think of a way to arrest him and sentence his actions, without showing that he was using his sovereign influences for it.

— Uh? - he coughed under his breath. — Regent Ulquiorra - the young woman called.

— Oh, Princess, excuse me, I think you must have gotten bored with this. If you like, I can ask them to take you to your bedroom so you can rest — the boy said in a low voice so that only she could hear him.

She frowned and looked at him. Annoyed? Maybe it was her imagination what she saw, so she asked him to speak.

— Please let me handle this — he pointed at the situation.

- As? -

— Let me talk, I think I know what you're thinking, let me handle it, I promise I'll help you -

Not very convinced, he let him take charge - okay -

— Thank you - he smiled, then stood up and stood in front of the merchant, putting on a stern and serious look - How are you Mr. Jerome Guizbatt -

— Eh? Excuse me, Your Royal Highness, I think I didn't hear your name. It's a pleasure to be in front of such beauty in this kingdom. — The man said, bowing.

— Don't you recognize me? -

— A thousand pardons your royal highness, my mind is a bit foolish and this servant has forgotten where I may have met you on some of my travels, if you have gone outside these borders, perhaps it was in the kingdom of King Jugram, or in the plains of the Karakura Crystal Kingdom - he bowed in front of her as an apology - again forgive this foolish servant who does not remember you -

— Okay, I'll refresh your memory Mr. Jerome -

Ulquiorra didn't understand much but one thing he was sure of, was that the princess's attitude at that moment was extremely incredible, such rigidity and authority when speaking, was not only disturbing but an exquisiteness seen in the front row, she was cold and calculating just like her father Aizen.

— Remember visiting the kingdom of Hueco Mundo six months ago, you requested an audience with King Sousuke Aizen, offering the same business that you are showing here today - he made a gesture with his hand - at that time you were denied such an offer, but you no longer insisted to the king, but instead went directly to some villagers -

— What? - the merchant looked at me in astonishment. — I… -

— I'm not finished, so I ask you not to speak - he mentioned coldly, his inquisitive eyes towards the man - The villagers believed in his words, they offered their cattle, lands and others had to sell much of what they had, he offered heaven and earth with his business, but in the end he just left leaving them penniless - he spoke with disdain.

— Your Royal Highness, allow me to speak, that was not entirely true... who told you about that? ... believe me, in that kingdom there are only hypocrites and slanderers, of course I helped them and gave them what they deserved, I have not left them with anything - he began to speak desperately, what he heard did not go according to his plan, and all that was left was to lie so that he could at least get out of there and find another place where he could steal with his lies.

— You dare say that in MY KINGDOM we are all liars! – she said angrily.

Ulquiorra, who was watching everything, decided to get up the moment the princess raised her voice. She looked back at him and asked him with her eyes to let her continue.

— Your… your kingdom? … it’s… you’re Princess Orihime?! … but… but how? As far as I know, you haven’t married the prince of this kingdom yet, and there was no way you could be here?! — he spoke hastily without thinking about what he was saying.

— Then accept that he went to My Kingdom and did what I just expressed -

The merchant's face fell when he realized what he had said, his plan was being ruined, he had to find a way out of this and quickly to flee from that kingdom immediately, he would even have to figure out how to change his appearance and his name again.

— Princess, please listen to me, I'm not saying that in your kingdom all people are like that, but you must understand that those who came to accuse me were only slanderers, I spoke to them about the risks when doing business, and they all agreed to take them, the market was bad on that occasion and I tried not to leave them on the street, I gave them what would be their share and even out of my good will I gave them a little more - she tried to lessen the situation, from one moment to the next her expression changed from one of astonishment to a gloomy expression.

— Don't try to fool me, Mr. Jerome! - she remained impassive - I knew many of those you are mentioning who were hypocrites, several were peasants who brought food to the palace, do you think my father would not have noticed if they had deceived him, also as you say, there are risks in their business, just as you described to Regent Ulquiorra - she took the length of her skirt, carefully and began to walk down the steps until she stood in front of the merchant - now say again in front of my face that everything I have said has been pure slander - her expression returned from a smile of self-sufficiency, she knew she had him cornered, from the moment she arrived and began the story of the business, she remembered what happened in her kingdom, even with pain she found out that one of the elders who participated in the "business of the foreign merchant" when left with nothing with the last cents bought a lasso and ended his life, knowing that someone came to cause harm and pain to humble people who only wanted to get something to leave to their families children or grandchildren, but having lost everything, they took with them even the desire to continue existing, remembering the suffering they were leaving their families.

She couldn't help but clench her hands, burying her nails in her palms, she was furious, she always said that if she found the culprit she would make him pay for the pain and tears he left in her domain.

The man in front of her didn't avoid putting himself in a hostile posture, if in the end he was going to fall for his actions at least let him do it taking something with him, he just got furious when he heard the last thing and more when she stood in front of him, he was already fed up! — Very well princess! Not very brave! Ha! always the same all the damned ones of the crown believing themselves better, that's why I started to cheat and steal, IF NO ONE GIVES ME ANYTHING I'D BETTER TAKE IT! - he roughly took the young woman by the arm.

It was seconds, but the Regent did not know when he reached him, he could only watch as he pushed the man away with a blow to the face, his face of disgust could not be hidden, without any other expression he only looked to the sides and with his gaze asked the guards to take the man, several placed their swords at the height of the merchant's neck, in a threatening manner, in case he tried something else.

— Damn it! — The man held his face but felt a liquid dripping from his nose, he looked at his hand and realized, blood?! — Damn imbecile! You broke my nose! What the hell are you protecting? That bitch?! In this kingdom I haven't done anything so you can't touch me! Believe me, I'll go to every empire and put this damn place in the worst shape, you'll see! —

— Guards! Capture this man - he stood in front of the princess and raised his arm preventing him from approaching again - You are wrong about one thing - he spoke coldly, his voice more pronounced and serious - we have treaties with the Kingdom of Hueco Mundo, what you did there, you can also pay for it here, and not to mention that you dared to harm the Princess, in a deliberate act against the crown, your sentence is already given -

— What?! - he said, trembling with fear upon hearing everything. —No... it can't be - he instinctively brought his hand to his neck.

— Correct, your sentence… is Death - Ulquiorra looked back at the princess who still had her face down and taking his arm, he narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze to the man - believe me, you will pay dearly for this, take him away! -

And as the guards took the man away, screams and shouts could be heard throughout the hallway until he was taken to the cell.

He immediately went to the princess and gently took her arm. The young woman looked at him again with a resigned smile, her eyes wet with the tears she was holding back. "I told her..."

— I'm sorry! - she apologized - I thought I could handle it like my father, but I think... I think I still lack character - a couple of tears came out of her eyes - sorry -

— Princess, you have nothing to apologize for, thanks to you justice was given to those who were affected by that man, but if there is one thing I must call your attention to, it is that you put yourself at risk, I don't want to know what your father will say when he finds out -

— Don't tell him! Just say what is necessary, don't tell him more, I know him too well and I don't want to cause them any trouble -

— Princess….- he looked at her frown — Orihime is fine, I won't say anything, but promise me you won't do another stupid thing like this -

— I promise! — His eyes sparkled and he smiled widely. How she could be smiling at what had just happened was quite an enigma to him.

— Come on, let's get her checked out. I won't let your father return with any damage. I gently took her hand and guided her. — Do you always do these things hastily? — I asked without looking away.

The princess just laughed under her breath — Do you want me to tell you Ulquiorra? -

And yet he knew that from that moment on, since he started treating her that way, things would go in another direction, not expected by either of them.

.

.

.

.

Another week and things had changed, no one believed what they saw with their eyes, firstly Princess Orihime spent more time with Regent Ulquiorra, he for his part seemed not to be bothered at all by her presence, even those who had the opportunity could notice how well they worked as a team, with audiences, and quick solutions for the kingdom, that too after the black-haired man gave Prince Ichigo a good lesson because in the first place he would have to be taking care of the princess, which was why now the position had fallen mainly to the Regent.

— Well, tomorrow we have the hunt, and now I ask you to be careful with both of them - she looked accusingly at the young man.

— I've already told you a thousand times that I'm sorry! - he gestured dramatically. — Please Ulquiorra, we can't just forget about it. - the aforementioned only narrowed his eyes skeptically, but still let the boy continue. — Okay, okay, fine, I'll keep an eye on both of them. Happy? - He crossed his arms with a pout on his face.

Imperceptible sigh — Prince, you know better than anyone that this is important, you have already chosen a perfect maid, there is no problem but even so, there is little more than a year left until you take the throne, I am only asking you to be more responsible, stop playing around, be grateful that the princess has been very cautious and immediately understood what was happening between you and Princess Rukia, but stop making her the talk of the town, she does not deserve to be spoken ill of when she has been mainly the one who has helped us the most in many decisions -

— Ulquiorra, can I ask you something? — the orange-haired man looked at him seriously — I know you'll say I'm immature and whatever you want, but I think I have a lot more experience in this than you —

- Hmm? -

— What I'm trying to tell you is, do you like Princess Orihime? - he spoke bluntly.

— What nonsense are you talking about? - he replied.

— I told you, I'm more of an expert on this subject than you, why don't you admit that you like the Princess? Or rather, why don't you ask for her hand in marriage? -

— You know that my patience has a limit, and this includes that limit, please how do you think he could claim Princess Orihime? - internally he is in a mess, like her? claim her? how to even think about that, well, it is true she was not indifferent to him, she was good company and she was not noisy as some thought, she was quiet, attentive, cheerful, curious and she achieved what she proposed, it could ... it could be that if he really liked the princess? ... - he mentally denied - but even if it were like that, what would she think of him? she could not even feel the same, plus there was the fact that she was Crown Princess to the throne but what about him ... Who was Ulquiorra Cifer?, now a Regent but what about after? simply an advisor to the king, yes good position, but after all he had no royal blood, and without a dowry to offer or a kingdom to grant ... then how does he even have the nerve to imagine something like that.

— Oh come on Ulquiorra just admit it -

— What stupidity -

— Because you refuse to accept reality -

— Because there are none to accept, so if you'll excuse me -

— Damn it Ulquiorra! Come on, don't be so apathetic about this! -

— Prince, I ask you please… not to meddle in my affairs — he spoke coldly.

— What? But Ulquiorra - I try to make him understand.

"I said that this is it," he left without listening to the young man's reply.

As he walked to the garden, he was thinking about the matter. Feeling? Loving? In terms of feelings, he was like a child, he didn't know anything about that. He had read some books, but beyond that feeling, which didn't exist even in his adolescence. He came to consider that at some point he would marry a woman who was a good candidate to have genes that would leave good offspring, even though it wasn't even in his plans to have that kind of ideas at the moment.

Once he reached the garden, he observed the princess, near Princess Rukia and Prince Ichigo approaching them, even with the reason of the young man with orange hair, he had to discard the idea as soon as possible, he would not even think what King Aizen would say if he were to propose such madness in his eyes.

— How ridiculous - I say quietly, it was better to continue with the current plan, finish this remaining year well and try to teach the prince to be a good ruler for his people.

— Princess Orihime? Are you okay? - the young man with orange hair asked worriedly, he looked at Princess Rukia who had a worried look and turned his gaze to the young woman with hair the same color as his.

— Prince Ichigo, yes... excuse me - without looking into her eyes, she answered. If someone observed closely, they could notice at a glance the young woman's strange gesture, somewhere between embarrassed, sad and nervous.

Not very convinced, he nodded. "Okay, it's about to begin. Let's go look for our horses. This day will be exciting and fun," he said happily. He took Princess Rukia's hand. When he offered his arm to the other young woman, she denied it and just followed them.

Once everyone was on their horses, they were about to start the hunt. They would go with some soldiers for protection but mostly it was just about hunting a wild boar or a fox. Their dogs were already ready. The Princesses did not enjoy those distractions but as part of the protocol they had to accompany the prince to said event.

Inside the forest everyone followed the hunting dogs, attentive to any movement, all except one, a young woman with hair like the sunset, - Please, how do you think I can claim Princess Orihime? - Her thoughts were fixed on what she heard, she was looking for Ulquiorra so they could go hunting together, but she didn't forget what she heard, she closed her eyes tightly even listening to the echo of that conversation.

— Why don't you admit that you like the Princess? Or rather, why don't you ask for her hand in marriage?

— You know that my patience has a limit, and this includes that limit, please how do you think I can pursue Princess Orihime? -

— Oh come on Ulquiorra just admit it -

— What stupidity -

— Because you refuse to accept reality -

— Because there are none to accept, so if you'll excuse me -

— Damn it Ulquiorra! Come on, don't be so apathetic about this! -

— Prince, I ask you please… not to meddle in my affairs — he spoke coldly.

— What? But Ulquiorra - I try to make him understand.

"I said that this is it," he left without listening to the young man's reply.

— I... What do I feel for him? - she whispered to herself, she knew they had gotten along, in their own way but they did, love? She didn't know yet, but if there was one thing she was sure of it was that her heart beat strongly every time she saw him, and without mentioning his voice, hearing his name under that manly and deep voice created sensations that she never thought she could even feel... but when she heard the conversation he had with Prince Ichigo, the only thing she achieved was that her heart hurt, did she want to cry? Of course she wanted to, she wanted to get out of there, get to her palace and throw herself on her bed and cry for days if possible until she got rid of the pain she was having, it was hard for her to breathe, is that why books describe love like that? A sweet but agonizing feeling?

— Princess Orihime! — the orange-haired boy shouted — Don't go so far away! —

— Princess! - the young Kuchiki also said -

— Huh? - she grabbed her horse's straps, and without realizing it, her horse's leg stepped on a snake that was hidden in the undergrowth. It immediately rushed to bite the animal's thigh, which began to neigh uncontrollably in pain. — No... I can't control it... please calm down - she said, scared, but the horse, due to the pain, began to run uncontrollably.

— PRINCESS!!! - shouted Prince Ichigo.

— What do we do Ichigo? - said the young black-haired girl scared.

— Damn, please get help, I'll try to reach her, please be careful -

— You too, please, come back safely — she said with tearful eyes.

He held his horse's straps tightly and made a movement to indicate to the animal that it should run with strength.

— HELP!!! PLEASE HELP ME! - the young woman screamed, her tears coming out, she was scared, she almost never rode and that was the main reason, she was afraid that the horses would lose control, and just today because she was distracted, she didn't notice the danger around her — HELP!! ULQUIORRA PLEASE SAVE ME!!!- she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Ulquiorra, who was up ahead watching the activity, heard screams. He paid a little attention and managed to hear her voice and her name. He didn't hesitate for a minute to move his horse in the direction of the screams. He managed to see Prince Ichigo. Upon seeing him, he only said enough for him to understand.

—His horse was bitten by a snake, he's out of control!

— I didn't ask you to take care of her! -

— Damn! I know, it was just a second, damn we couldn't catch her! -

Both of them were hitting their horses with their whips, trying to catch up with him, but the animal was running so desperately that not even branches or bushes could slow down his pace.

— PLEASE STOP! PLEASE! HELP ME! ULQUIORRA PLEASE HELP ME! - despite the tears that blurred his vision, scrapes from the bushes, cuts from the branches, he continued trying to stop his horse.

— ORIHIME! - the black-haired man shouted without hesitation.

Upon hearing his voice, she looked back and saw him, they were coming with Prince Ichigo, with all their horses galloping, her face lit up with hope — ULQUIORRA!! -

— We must try to reach her, remember that there is a cliff ahead - said the orange-haired man

— Shit! You're right - while trying to catch up with her, he was thinking about how to prevent her from falling into the cliff, it was more than fifty meters high, if she fell there, it was impossible for her to survive. Then he saw a group of bushes — That's it! -

— ORIHIME PLEASE LISTEN TO ME! - I screamed — I NEED YOU TO JUMP! -

— WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ASKING THEM FOR?! HAVE YOU GONE MAD?! - the prince shouted.

— Shut up! - ORIHIME, NEXT TURN ON YOUR LEFT SIDE, JUST JUMP THERE ARE SOME BUSHES -

- I'M SCARED! - she replied, holding the animal's neck uncontrollably.

She had doubts, but also fear inside her, and did not know what to do…

— TRUST ME! DO NOT BE AFRAID! -

That was enough to give him a little confidence - OK! - and when he saw the turn, and a clearing up ahead he understood! It was now or never, so with all the strength his legs could give him, he managed to get on one side of the horse and when he saw the bushes he launched himself!

She fell into them and rolled a few meters still, at least the flight of her dress managed to cushion the fall a little, when she looked ahead terrified she saw that her horse fell down the cliff, she only heard the neighing of the animal moving away, she closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands, she began to cry uncontrollably.

Ulquiorra when he arrived, jumped off his horse and ran to where the young woman was — ORIHIME! - he found her crying inconsolably, her clothes torn, her arms scratched, her hair tangled - God! God! Please God! - he came right to her, took her hands off her face and hugged her tightly — I'm here! I'm here! It's over... it's over... calm down... - she continued crying uncontrollably but now on the young man's chest, she did not stop shaking, she was still scared.

— Princess! Prince Ichigo has arrived, are you okay? — Ulquiorra saw him and shook his head, it was better to let him calm down.

— Leave us, I will take her to the castle when she calms down, please ask the doctor to come, he must check -

— Okay — without waiting any longer, he went straight to the castle.

—Shhh… calm down, it's over… I'm here now - I caress her hair.

— I was so scared... I didn't know what to do... - she continued crying on the young man's chest.

— Calm down, I'm here, I won't leave... - he hugged her tightly again - God, I didn't know what would happen if I lost you... I can't... Orihime... listen... I... I don't want to lose you, just thinking about it terrifies me... -

- That? -

— Please listen, only at this moment do I have the courage to say it… I like you, I love you… I know I have nothing to offer you but if you accept me… I will be your humble servant for the rest of my life, I had never known feelings for anyone but now that I have them clear… For this heart… I want you all to myself -

The young woman was stunned, she didn't know what to say, more tears came out of her eyes, this time from happiness, she also felt the same — Me too... I love you too! And I don't want to go away from you... - she hugged the young man now — Please stay with me! Don't leave me... -

He took the young woman's face, her red cheeks as well as her nose, crying and fear had left her with that appearance, but despite that, for him she was still beautiful, he brought his face closer to the maiden, their breaths collided, their gazes intense and longing, their lips ended up joining in a chaste kiss, sweet and delicate, full of devotion...

They didn't know what the future held for them, there would be consequences to this perhaps, he was aware of the world that separated them, but one thing he was sure of and that was that he wanted to be with her, he didn't have to offer her, but probably his father could take it into account with the knowledge he possessed, a Regent pretending to a princess, at least until the Crown Prince took the throne, now it was only a matter of time before both of them had to fight for their feelings.

Hueco Mundo could have a Regent in the future, or it is possible that if the King allows it, he could be the next ruler in such an empire, it is something that time will be in charge of deciding.

END

[umgeorge]

Russell: Hamilton A Role Model Until the End After Lifting Team In Abu Dhabi

George Russell opens up on his overriding memories from working with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

George Russell says his firsthand experience of Lewis Hamilton being a role model will be the overriding memory of his partnership with the Formula 1 great, right down to Hamilton picking up the team after a disappointing Abu Dhabi qualifying session. Mercedes was keen to give Hamilton a fitting send-off as the seven-time world champion departs the team he represented for twelve years with unprecedented success to move to Ferrari. While the squad had a range of festivities planned, which will continue this week, Hamilton's Mercedes farewell tour looked to be derailed on track by being eliminated in Q1 after hitting a loose bollard thrown into the track by Kevin Magnussen. The team still took responsibility for leaving Hamilton in such a vulnerable position in the first place, with an angry Toto Wolff saying it was an "inexcusable, idiotic mistake of not going earlier." But with his crew left dejected, the 39 year old made sure to lift morale in his debrief, and he was rewarded for that attitude with a flawless comeback drive from P16 to P4 that ensured he went out on a high. It is that never-say-die attitude, right until his final race of a rollercoaster 2024 campaign, that Russell felt so inspiring about his illustrious teammate. "It's been great, to be honest. As painful as these three years have been, seeing all of these memories reminds the team that we can do it," said Russell. "We have the same team that was there during Lewis' glory years. Lewis even said after the debrief... Everyone had their head in their hands after what happened to him in qualifying, but he said, 'Look, let's stand tall and let's not forget all these pole positions and wins that they've had together.'" When asked what his overriding memories of working with his childhood idol will be, Russell said, "I think just actually seeing first-hand what a role model he is. I sort of recognise from Lewis that we've all got this platform and we have to use it correctly, and that's become even more apparent to me when my young niece and nephews are watching TikTok and YouTube and Netflix," he said. How you deal with the victories, how you deal with the losses – you inspire the young kids. Also this weekend, when I look back to that photo I had of Lewis and I when I was a kid, I looked up at him the same way as all these kids look up to us. So I think that's been probably the biggest life lesson that I've learned from him: Sometimes, even if you want to really express something that's got hundreds of millions of people watching, the way you do it is super important. It's been a very nice way to finish this season."

[sgiandubh]

Human nature

We don't have to agree with everything I do believe and regularly post on Tumblr, as far as SC are concerned. And, for your information, I strive to bring every day something new or different, based on either facts or my personal life experience (it's often informing, I think). Not an easy task, but it should explain why I do not reblog very often and if I do, that means the reblog perfectly expresses my thoughts on the matter.

I can even take a disagreement, calmly and almost flatly exposed with facts, not whimsical twists to fit an agenda. Yet, I find it extraordinary that the worst liars in here will tell you everything they say is based on precisely that: FACTS. As for all propaganda, I find their interpretation both ethically wanting and intellectually insulting.

Anti blogs never impressed me (is that a sin? perhaps) with their depth, knowledge or morality. I found only power games, trolling, stalking, smirk, insults piled upon injury and parroting. Not a pretty sight. That Spanish woman opened the fire squad immediately upon my landing in here, with such preposterous assumptions about who I was (surprise, bitch), that all dialogue perspective was cut from the start. Her prerogative to be openly idiotic. My prerogative to despise her and others of her ilk. She was, however, instrumental in my not giving a rat's ass about whatever they would have to say on the Big Issue at stake. Ever.

The more and more it goes and the more I do believe what you think of Their Story is very telling about who you really are, the life that you chose to live and the values you hold near and dear. Or lack thereof.

I chose my side after a very long, tedious pondering and I am not going anywhere else. Whether you like it or not. Also, the Antis' assumption that all shippers believe the same things is a lame, very cheap fallacy. Despair and grasping at straws: mark me.

[latexb0n3z]

Alright yall… this might be the most vulgar fic I’ve written thus far. It’s dirty and weird. Here’s a little snippet. You can read the rest on Ao3 if you like it.

Double Claimed

Wade had no business being here.

He knew it, the brass knew it, and every mutant in the unit sure as hell knew it. But none of that stopped the military from sticking him—plain ol’ human Wade Wilson—in the middle of a mutant special ops squad. “Resource integration,” they called it. A real bright idea to slap someone without claws, fangs, or superhuman anything into the middle of a unit bred for war.

His mouth, though? That was a weapon all its own.

He hadn’t started out in special ops. Hell, he’d barely passed basic training, scraped by with a mixture of charm, luck, and an unsettling knack for violence when the situation called for it. A few successful black ops missions later, someone decided he’d be a good fit for the mutants. Maybe it was his ability to keep his cool when things went south. Maybe it was his penchant for making enemies want to throttle him instead of finishing the job. Or maybe they’d just run out of better options.

Whatever the case, he was here. Here, with six mutants who could crush him in a heartbeat if they decided he wasn’t worth the trouble. And judging by the way Victor Creed looked at him half the time, that wasn’t entirely off the table.

The mission was simple, but simple didn’t mean easy: a long recon op deep in the kind of terrain that turned men feral. Weeks with no end in sight, no backup, and nothing to do but sit in the dirt and wait. No bars, no women, no distractions. Just the squad, their gear, and an ever-mounting tension that seemed to thrum in the air like an unspoken challenge.

Victor was the worst of them all. Not just because he was built like a freight train—towering a full head taller than Wade with arms like tree trunks and a grin that promised nothing good—but because he was bored. And a bored Victor Creed was a dangerous Victor Creed.

Wade wasn’t exactly tiny himself, standing at a respectable six-foot-one and built solid, but next to Victor? He felt like a damn paperweight. The guy looked like he’d been carved out of a mountain, and every movement was slow, deliberate, like he was conserving energy for the moment he decided to break something—or someone.

And Wade, ever the idiot, couldn’t stop poking at him.

The camp was quiet tonight, the fire reduced to glowing embers. Most of the squad had turned in, leaving Wade alone with his thoughts—or so he thought until a shadow moved in the corner of his vision.

“Out here all by yourself?” Victor’s voice rumbled through the stillness, a low, lazy drawl that made the hairs on the back of Wade’s neck stand up.

Wade turned to see the man leaning against the flagpole, arms crossed, a faint smirk playing at his lips.

“Can’t sleep,” Wade said, shrugging as casually as he could manage. “Figured I’d enjoy the peace and quiet. Didn’t realize it was so popular.”

Victor chuckled, the sound deep and rough. “Peace and quiet, huh? Doesn’t seem like your thing.”

“What can I say? I’m full of surprises.” Wade grinned, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Victor pushed off the pole and sauntered closer, his sheer size becoming more apparent with every step. Wade stayed where he was, tilting his head back slightly to meet the man’s gaze.

“You’re a cocky little thing,” Victor said, his tone almost amused. “But I guess you’ve gotta be. No other way a guy like you survives in a squad like this.”

“Yeah, well, charm and good looks go a long way,” Wade shot back.

Victor laughed again, this time louder, and Wade felt his pulse quicken. The sound wasn’t threatening, exactly, but there was something about it—something that made him feel like prey.

“Good looks, huh?” Victor leaned down slightly, his grin widening to show just a hint of fang. “You sure you’re not compensating for something?”

Wade snorted, his bravado kicking in. “Please. I’ve got nothing to compensate for. If anything, I’m probably overqualified for this gig.”

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly, the smirk never leaving his face. “Is that so?”

The air between them shifted, heavy with unspoken tension. Wade wasn’t sure if it was the lack of sleep, the weeks of isolation, or just plain stupidity, but he didn’t back down.

“Yeah,” Wade said, his grin sharpening. “And you’re not exactly subtle, are you, big guy? All that muscle, all those claws. I bet you’re just dying for a reason to use them.”

Victor tilted his head, his expression unreadable now. “Careful, Wilson. You don’t want to see what happens when I do.”

Wade’s heart was pounding, but he refused to let it show. “Maybe I do.”

For a moment, neither of them moved. The fire crackled softly in the background, the only sound breaking the silence. Then, Victor straightened, his grin turning wolfish.

“You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that,” he said, stepping back. “But don’t push your luck, kid.”

“Who’s compensating now?” Wade muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

Whatever game Victor was playing, Wade was more than willing to see how far it went.

Victor paused as he stepped away, his broad back cutting a shadow against the dim glow of the fire. For a moment, Wade thought that was it—that whatever tension had coiled between them was just another unresolved standoff in the desert night.

But then Victor glanced over his shoulder, his yellow eyes gleaming with something feral and sharp. He didn’t say a word. Didn’t need to. The faint twitch of his lips—half smirk, half snarl—was invitation enough. He was courting him, inviting Wade to do this little primal dance of his.

Wade hesitated, his usual bravado faltering under the weight of that look. It wasn’t just a glance; it was a command. One that promised danger and something Wade couldn’t quite name but found himself craving anyway.

Victor turned and walked into the dark, disappearing further outside camp, behind an outcrop of rocks without another word. Wade let out a slow breath, his pulse already hammering in his chest.

“Yeah, this seems like a smart idea,” he muttered to himself, though his feet were already moving. He knew Victor wouldn’t kill him… whatever it was he had in mind.

The firelight faded behind him as he followed Victor’s path into the shadows, the sounds of the camp falling away until it was just him, the crunch of his boots, and the faint, predatory stillness ahead.

He found Victor leaning casually against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest, but there was nothing casual about the way his eyes locked onto Wade.

“You always this obedient?” Victor asked, his voice low and rough.

“Obedient?” Wade snorted, forcing himself to keep it light even as his heart tried to beat its way out of his ribcage. “I am a lot of things, obedient is definitely not one of them. Ironic right?— considering the point of this whole military thing is obedience.”

Victor came closer, his movements deliberate and unhurried, like a predator stalking its prey. Wade stayed rooted in place, though every instinct screamed at him to move.

“You’ve got a big mouth,” Victor said, closing the distance between them. “Maybe too big for your own good.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told.” Wade’s voice wavered slightly, and he hated himself for it.

Victor stopped just inches away, towering over Wade like a goddamn mountain. His hand came up, claws glinting faintly in the light, and for a split second, Wade thought he was about to regret every decision that had brought him here.