#funny after I start taking pole classes I look at people on a pole like this and know exactly how they're doing it

[sibillascribbles08]

Off Colors Donnie knows how to do various pole climbs and sits for vantage points. Not something I've been able to use just yet, but a recent pose ref gave me the itch to draw it.

ID in alt text.

[obsessedwrhys]

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ HER FURY

ᯓ★ Reader has EXTREME emotional detachment/anger issues, enemies to lovers trope (?), John loves to rile up reader, angst (mention of r-word but it doesnt happen dw), slight gore?, lots of funny shi tho, intense smooching but nothing crazy 🤯, reader is fem!!! (Literally writing this instead of doing my assignment, didnt proof read I rushed)

ᯓ★

Pairing you and John up for any mission was a recipe for disaster. Yet Dutch doesn't seem to catch the memo about the chemistry between you both. You HATED John and he? He enjoys that you hate him. As a matter of fact, he gets the thrill out of pissing you off. Because everybody and I mean EVERYBODY at camp knows you have a bad temper. It's just some of them happen to value their life instead of testing your limits.

Nonetheless Dutch had asked of you and John to confront a company man in Saint Denis. The details were that he had a contract that you needed to steal from him. You didn't know much but all you knew was that he played the chief into giving up all his property to the him and with the crew needing help from the chief, this was the only way to do it.

You're never a complainer when it comes to being assigned a mission but since you're being paired up with John and not to mention being told to do it this early in the morning.

You were pissed.

"Can't believe I'm doing this in the morning... Out of everyone Dutch should know I'm not a morning person" You cursed before riding off with John matching your pace on his horse.

Hearing your muttered curses, he can't help but smirk.

"Ain't that the truth. I don’t think anyone in this gang is a mornin’ person" He said.

"Oh shut up" You simply replied.

John doesn't say anything but chuckle at your annoyance. Eventually you two made it to the city, you both dismounted your horses and tied them to a nearby hitching pole. Even in the early morning, the city of Saint Denis was already bustling with activity, horse-drawn wagons passed by, and people hustled and bustled about their business.

John and you made your way through the city, eyeing the people around you and listening for any clues about the man Dutch sent you to hunt down. As you made your way down the sidewalk, you couldn't help but glare at every businessman your eyes laid upon. The way they speak and act just manages to tick you off. This however caught John's attention.

"Ain't you just a ray of sunshine" He sarcastically said and it made you look at him with your brows narrowed.

"What?"

"What? You're scarin' the city folks, that's what"

You scoff.

"All these rich folks just make me all pissed off. Actin' all high and mighty like their lives are worth more than the poor. It's all about class 'til you're talking to someone beneath you"

John chuckled, his eyes following your gaze as you glared at the next businessman walking past you.

"I don’t blame ya. Most of these fools wouldn’t last a day out there tryin’ to survive. They ain’t got any idea what it’s really like" He said and you somehow found yourself nodding to his words.

Suddenly your eyes stopped at a figure hurrying outside a tailor shop. His appearance fitting the very description Dutch had provided you. You nudged John with your elbow and you jerked your head towards the target. John followed your gaze, his eyes landing on the man you pointed at. He studied him for a moment, taking in his features and behaviour.

"I think that's him" You said.

"Seems like it" he answered in a serious tone.

"He’s in a pretty big hurry to get somewhere, ain't he?" He pointed out the obvious.

"Well let's make sure he doesn't get there" Before you even finished talking you were already going after the man.

The two of you started following the man while making sure to keep some distance as to not raise any suspicion. Eventually, the man's route lead the two of you to a quieter part of the city, away from most of the people. John shot a glance your way, a silent question in his eyes of what to do next.

You don't say anything but the mischief on your face somehow answered that question in his head.

"Hey!!" You called out to the guy who's body tenses at your voice. Despite you trying to plaster on a smile, it just made you come off scary.

"What do you want? Money?" he asked gruffly, his hand reaching for something inside his pocket discreetly.

"Money? Is that what you think what my kind is always after?" You approached him slowly and John simply watched from a feet away, his arms crossed with a glimpse of amusement on his face.

He had to admit, this is always the best part of being paired up with you.

"I heard from a birdy that you've done something terrible... you wouldn't happen to be familiar with the chief now would you?" You placed a hand on his shoulder and from how the man's eyes widened slightly at your question and the hint of nervousness displayed on his face.

You knew this was the right guy.

"And who might you be? A-And why should I tell you anything about my business with the chief?" He asked, his tone guarded and wary with suspicion.

When your hands came down to smooth out the wrinkled fabric of his suit, he yelps at the sudden tuck of his tie. You laugh it off.

"I'm simply a nobody but I know damn well you tricked the chief into giving up half his property to your company. Now I don't care what you need it for but there's nothing more that I hate than a lying scum" You flash him a smile before grabbing him forcefully by the jaw. Your action causing him to panic.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! Let me go!!" He stammered, his mask now slipping away to reveal his true self.

"Give me the contract sir and you won't be leaving here with a broken nose" You casually spoke and John stepped a feet closer to the scene.

"Just do what she says sir" John added and the man looks between the two of you before finally nodding quickly.

"O-Okay!! It's in my pocket!!" He said and you gave him a warning look before releasing your grip on him.

He took a few deep breaths to steady himself before taking out a crumpled piece of paper. You raise your eyebrow as you took it from him, then unfolding it to read the words written on it properly. Once you were sure it was the real thing, you turn to face John who has a small smirk on his face from observing the confrontation.

"Well, well... that was quite the performance darlin" He said, taking the contract from you the second you handed it to him.

"I ain't your darlin" You said as you walked past him and back onto the city streets. He chuckles softly while following you from behind.

"Oh, that's right. You ain’t my darlin’, you're just someone extremely stubborn and bossy who I gotta follow around all day" He said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Glad we've got that cleared out"

Suddenly the sound of a whistle pierced through the air. John's expression darkened at the sight of the lawmen headed at the direction of the two of you.

"Great, now the law is after us. Figures" He remarked at the turns of events but you were already halfway getting onto your horse.

"Are you plannin' on staying?!" You shouted and he didn't need to be told twice as he quickly got on his horse.

The two of you quickly rode off and you checked over your shoulder to see several lawmen hot on your trail. Their guns firing as they tried to stop you from escaping. John, too, was firing his pistol as he rode, his aim steady and focused. You let out an annoyed groan before taking out your rifle and began shooting at the reinforcements coming from the left.

"Now I'm thinking if I should have killed the guy!" You shouted before shooting one square in the face.

John chuckled grimly as he watched you take out another lawman, his focus still on the ones from behind.

"Maybe you should've done us all a favor and put him out of his misery. Would've saved us a whole lot of trouble" He said and with half of them taken out and some on their way. You quickly looked around for an escape route.

"There!! The trees!!" You pointed.

John followed your lead, steering his horse into the trees as you both hid together. The two of you waited silently, the only sound the rapid beating of your hearts as the lawmen rode past, their horses' hooves thundering against the ground. Once they were out of sight, John let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Well, that was a close call" he muttered, his voice a little out of breath.

"I suppose I should be thanking you for getting us into this mess in the first place, then?" He manages to say even after barely making it out. You shoot him a death glare.

"Now I'm wishing Dutch had picked Javier to come with me" You said before galloping the way back to camp.

John raises his brows out of shock at your sudden confession. Quickly and almost desperately, he catches up to you and rode alongside you.

"Oh, come on, I ain't that bad" he countered, his tone feigning offense.

"You're worse" You said and like always, you rode off in a haste, leaving him completely behind. He sighs as he watches you go.

-

Once you made it back to camp, John arrived right after you. He got off his horse and he watches as you hand Dutch the contract before heading to your tent. When he tries to say something to you, you gave him a middle finger with your back facing him. Clearly noticing you're not in a good mood, he shrugs and walked away.

John had an amused look on his face as he stood beside Arthur, the two of them watching you practically storming inside your tent.

"She's quite the firecracker, ain't she?" John said and it had Arthur chuckle, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Oh, that she does" he agreed with a smirk on his face.

"Although I gotta say, it's rather entertaining to see her riled up" He added.

Just then they see Uncle headed towards your tent. Clearly looking to ask you for something.

"This can go wrong in so many ways" Arthur observed.

The second Uncle made contact with your tent, that was it.

"GET OUT!!! GET THE FUCK OUT!!" You shouted and threw a candle that merely missed him by the head.

John and Arthur couldn't help but burst out laughing as they watched Uncle trip and fall on his way from your tent. Everybody knows that you hate getting your alone time interrupted, especially when you're tired or had just came back from a rough mission so anyone who tried to talk to you was practically asking for it.

"That poor bastard" John said, wiping a tear from his eye while Arthur's laughter was subsiding slowly.

"I gotta give him credit for trying though. He's either really brave or really stupid to approach when she's in a mood like that" Arthur chuckled.

Soon Javier joined the conversation, confusion and curiosity shown on his face.

"Well speak of the devil. Just in time to witness (Y/N) in all her glory" John said and Javier raised his brows in surprise.

"Ah, is she in a mood again? I thought I heard her yelling from all the way over there" Javier said and mirrored the other two who were standing and facing your tent.

"You heard right and apparently Uncle was unfortunate enough to be the first one to try and talk to her" John said with a slight smirk on his face.

"Poor bastard probably got an earful" Javier shaked his head with a chuckle.

"But I wonder why she's always so angry, there has to be a reason to her anger" Javier spoke and it sparked something inside John's mind.

He always figured it was something apart of your character so he never thought to view things like that.

"Who knows? Dutch found her in the woods alone, starved to bone and yet she still had the energy to fight. She was only 9 and she never told us why she was out there all alone" Arthur answered.

"Poor girl"

"Yeah"

As the two kept on talking. John was standing there with his arms crossed as he's completely lost in his mind. The one question he never thought he should pay more attention to.

Why were you angry?

-

The evening came fast. Everybody was busy doing their own thing and John was simply relaxing by the chair until he heard sounds of giggles. The voice was awfully familiar so he got up to follow the source of the sound. To his surprise he found you playing with Jack by the grass a bit further from camp. You were teaching him how to make a flower crown and John couldn't help but notice the one on top of Jack's head.

"Well, I'll be damned" John muttered.

"She's a natural isn't she?" He jumps slightly at Hosea who pretty much came out of nowhere.

"Looks like she's got a soft spot for the kid" He added as the two watch you laugh when Jack began stressing over the steps.

"More like a natural pain in my ass" John said and Hosea snorts. The sound catching your attention almost immediately, the second your neck snapped towards their direction. The two knew what was coming.

"THE HELL ARE YOU TWO LOOKIN' AT?!" You cursed while amusingly at the same time were covering Jack's ears.

The sight was enough to have John grin.

"I didn't know you were a real softie for the kid!" He said while Hosea decided to leave for the sake of his safety.

"I bet you even read bedtime stories to the boy"

"She does!!" Jack said and you couldn't contain the betrayal on your face when you turned to look at him. Seeing your face, John laughs.

"Can I get a piggyback ride auntie (Y/N)?" Jack asked so innocently that you couldn't stay mad at him. You simply nodded and he giggled with excitement as he settled onto your back.

"Say the thing!!" Jack said and you awkwardly looked at John from the corner of your eyes to see him looking all curious.

Ah... this is so embarrassing...

"All abroad the (Y/N) express..." You said with less energy than you usually do but regardless Jack was having the time of his life.

This just made John burst out into laughter. If he thought he hadn't seen it all, he does now.

"Damn kids got a good grip on you" He said, following you as you carried Jack around the camp. Your expression stoic while Jack was acting as though he was flying.

"Good I wouldn't want him to fall" Hearing you say that, John couldn't help but let a genuine smile slip.

"Of course you wouldn't" He said, his tone more softer and now less teasing.

The second it was night time, it was your turn to patrol the grounds. You walked around, rifle in hand as you were on high alert and watching for any potential dangers. It was peaceful you had to admit, just you and the sounds of the trees rustling through the wind.

You continued on your patrol until your ears perked up at the sound of footsteps approaching. You turned around almost in a blink of an eye, rifle drawn at the figure nearing towards you... only to see it was none other than John.

Of course it's John.

Why wouldn't it be John?

"Can't you just leave me alone?" You asked while he had both his hands raised up.

"Wow now, I just wanted to keep you company"

"God you're like a poodle. Wouldn't leave me alone" You said as you lowered your rifle and continued on the path of your patrol. He snickers at your words.

"A poodle? That's a new one"

You simply ignored him hoping that he'll go away but instead he followed you. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up, his tone a little softer than usual.

"So, what made you suddenly decide to take Jack on your back and act all motherly-like?" He asked and you were hoping he would drop that topic by now.

"What do you mean? I'm always like that" You response made John raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his expression.

"You? Always motherly?" he chuckled, his skepticism evident.

"That's not the impression you usually give off, darlin"

"Oh please I can be nice. It's just some people don't deserve that from me"

"And who exactly doesn't deserve your so-called kindness?" he inquired, knowing very well that the list was probably long.

"People who just keeps on pissing me off" You look over at him for a quick second that if he wasn't looking at you from the start, he would have missed it.

"You mean, like me?"

"Oh you just happen to be at the top of my list" John chuckled, clearly enjoying your blunt honesty.

"I'm honored. It's good to know that I'm holding the top spot on your list of people you hate most" He said with a sarcastic voice.

After what felt like minutes of walking around, you let out a yawn as you decided to rest by a log. John stood by where you're sitting, his arms crossed as he tilts his head at you.

"Exhausted?" He asks.

"Of your shit? Yeah, just about"

He rolls his eyes at your reply before making himself sit down beside you. You stare off into the distance, at the brightly litted camp. He stared at the emotionless look on your face. Almost like all joy was sucked out of you. Sensing this might the best time and the only time he'll get, he decided to ask something.

"I heard that Dutch found you alone in the woods when you were 9. How'd that come to be?" He asks and you were still for a second before your eyes turned to look at him. With the way you were staring at him so coldly, he was wondering if he had pissed you off.

"... how would you understand?" You asked and he paused for a moment, his expression hardening slightly.

He understood your hint that you didn't think he would understand how you felt, which rubbed him the wrong way. He let out a scoff, his irritation growing.

"I ain't some damn fool, darlin'. Don't assume I can't empathize with you just cause I ain't the most sensitive person in this gang" He said and you stared at him a little longer before letting out a defeated sigh.

"I grew up in a poor family. Everyday it was a struggle to even put food on our plate. So one day my deadbeat father thought it would better off selling me and my sisters to some rich perverts. I fought like hell to run away. In a way I thought it would be better having my body torn apart by the wolves than to have a man touch me inappropriately" You said and every word that came out of you made John's mouth go dry.

It's no stranger that majority of everyone in the gang had their troubling past but to hear it from the very person who barely ever expressed themselves. It was different.

"I hated my dad. Fuck. I hated my mom more for not doing anything. The more I grew up, the more I grew to hate everybody. This ain't even the life I wanna live so what's the point of loving it" You cursed, your hands now clenching into a fist.

"So you hate everyone because of what your parents did to ya? Don't get me wrong, they sure can rot in hell for what they did but for you to keep everyone at arm's length? Don't you think it's a bit lonely? Living like that?" He said and you looked at him.

"You're the one telling me this?"

"I'm just sayin', pushing everyone away ain't gonna fill that loneliness inside you, darlin'." He said.

You stared at him, contemplating a bit while John held your gaze, his dark eyes studying your face intently. He could see the conflict in your expression, the internal struggle you were having with yourself. He shifted slightly, leaning closer towards you. His voice was low and earnest as he spoke.

"You can't keep running from your feelings, darlin'. Sooner or later, they'll catch up to you" He said.

"And what if they hurt me again?" You said and guilty enough your eyes trailed down to his lips which made John's breath hitch as he felt his pulse quicken for a brief moment before he quickly composed himself.

"What if they don't, darlin'? What if you're just letting your fears control you? Letting you miss out on something great? On moments that could possibly make you feel alive again?" He said, forcing his voice to remain even and steady.

Alive...

You looked at him and he swore he has never seen you this vulnerable before. So when you leaned in towards him, John's heart skipped a beat. Your lips inches apart that for a brief moment he thought you were going to do something unexpected... but then you pulled back, quickly standing up and breaking the closeness between you two. John felt a pang of disappointment in his chest, though he quickly masked it with a neutral expression.

"Where you going?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

"To sleep" You said, rifle held by your side as you went. He doesn't say anything as he remained seated on the log. He let out a sigh and turned his gaze towards the ground, his thoughts a tangled mess in his head.

-

For the next few days, John had noticed the subtle changes in your behavior. He realized that you were deliberately avoiding him. You would steer clear of him whenever he was around, finding tasks or conversations to distract yourself elsewhere.

He couldn't help but feel confused and slightly hurt by your distant attitude. He hadn't done anything to warrant such coldness from you, and the only interaction you'd had was that brief exchange in the woods. So he figured it was because of that night that your behaviour have changed towards him.

John's irritation began to grow as your subtle avoidance continued. He couldn't understand why you were suddenly treating him like he didn't exist. He was used to your usual hostility, sure, but this was a different kind of cold shoulder. So there's no other solution but to confront you.

One evening, after the camp had quieted down for the night, John approached you while you were sitting alone, sharpening your knife. The second you became aware of his presence, you quickly got up and tried to leave however this time he stood in your way blocking your path.

"Now hold on a moment, we need to talk" He said firmly.

"There's nothing to talk about" You said and John grew annoyed at your dismissive response.

"Oh, there's plenty to talk about... You've been avoiding me like the plague for days now. Can you at least tell me what the hell I did to deserve this silent treatment?" He said and you couldn't help swallow anxiously.

"Maybe have you thought that it isn't about you?" You said and once again tried to walk past him but as predicted, he stood in your way. His body almost towering over yours.

"Don't give me that horseshit, I ain't blind. You've been avoiding me like the plague. And every time I try to talk to you, you practically bolt in the other direction" He said, clearly growing more infuriated.

"I'm a busy girl!"

"A busy girl, huh?" he repeated sarcastically, his tone laced with thinly veiled anger.

"I ain't buying it. You've always found time to be a pain in my ass, and now suddenly you're too damn busy to even look at me?"

""What the hell do you want from me John?! You just looking for someone to put your anger out on?!" You raised your voice and John wasn't afraid to match your tone.

"Maybe I am! Maybe I'm sick of your goddamn attitude, your constant need to push everyone away. You ain't fooling anyone with your coldness. You're scared!"

"I'm scared?!"

"Yeah, you're scared. You're scared of letting anyone in, scared of letting your guard down. You act tough and distant 'cause you think it'll keep you safe. But it's all just a—"

Before he could continue on talking, you suddenly grabbed him by the collar to kiss him on the lips. The action clearly caught John off guard, his surprise evident on his face. But his body responded to you despite his confusion, his own anger fueling his reaction.

He returned the kiss passionately, his arms wrapping around your waist and pulling you against him in a tight embrace. The kiss was fierce and consuming, both of you releasing all the pent up frustration and tension between you two.

John's hands ran over your body, his touch greedy and possessive. He pressed himself hard against you, his body molding to yours as if he couldn't get close enough.

He broke the kiss for a brief moment, his breathing ragged and his eyes dark with desire. He captured your lips again, his tongue seeking entry into your mouth as his hands roamed under your shirt, exploring the bare skin of your waist.

That was until the sound of someone talking from nearby that made the both of you snap out of the moment. John's attention snapped away from you for a brief moment, his eyes darting towards the source of the noise.

He then took a step back, creating a small space between you now. Both of you were breathing heavily, trying to catch your breaths after the intense moment you had just shared. Surprisingly you were the first to speak up.

"I... I didn't mean to avoid you... I was just scared of these feelings I felt around you... I thought ignoring it— ignoring you was the better idea" You said. After all, you weren't ever good at understanding your emotions.

John watched you, taking in the mixture of emotions that played across your face. He knew exactly what you were feeling because he knew what that feeling was. He took a step closer to you again, his expression now more serious.

"Sometimes we can't control how we feel, darlin'. And trust me, ain't nothing wrong with what we just did" He said, gently caressing the side of your face.

"... I'm fucking scared John... in this life I'm used to losing people, if I let myself feel things then I don't think I'll be able to survive the thought of losing you" You said, the fear in your confession made John frown a bit but there was this sweetness in his gaze when he cupped your face to look at him.

"I ain't going anywhere, darlin'. You ain't gonna lose me, I promise you that"

"You can't be sure" You said, your hands rested on top of his.

"You're right, I can't guarantee anything in this life... but I can promise you I'll do everything in my power to stay by your side. I ain't leaving you, no matter what. You got my word on that" He said, his eyes never leaving yours. You stared at him for a while before resting your head on his chest.

"God I hate you" You sighed but your lips formed a small smile. Seeing that, John couldn't help but chuckled, a warm, genuine smile spreading across his face as he wrapped his arms around you.

"You don't hate me. You can't stand me, though, I know that. But you definitely don't hate me. Otherwise, you wouldn't be leaning on me like this" He teased.

"Stop pushing your luck"

"Oh, come on, darlin'. You know you love me really" he said continuing his tease with a smirk on his face.

"Ugh..." You groaned and it had John chuckled again, enjoying the playful banter between the two of you. He tightened his arms around you while holding you close to him, his face nuzzling into your hair and his voice lowering to a husky, teasing tone.

"You don't have to admit it right now... but I know you do..."

[meggiesposts]

i love your monoma posts they give me reason to live 😭 if u get the time, i think a funny premise would be if the reader was thristing over monoma (to like… an unhealthy extent), and he just can’t pick up on it?? like he’s calling them and their friends 1-A losers n shit and the reader is giddy over the fact that he’s just talking to them lol. maybe kendo can break the news that the reader has a giant crush on him and he like… doesn’t know how to act at all. he can’t tell if he should give them mercy and be nicer to them or call them out and be a little bitch about it 🤭

WARNINGS ⚠️ : reader thirsting, Monoma (kidding I love him), kendo being done w Monoma, reader being kind of a pervert, tried to make reader gender-neutral, a kiss, delusional Monoma

DONE

They are done.

Class 1-A is officially DONE.

Done with your bullshit.

Every time he comes around you go insane. So insane that you’ve said to his face that you would take him out on a date if he would let you.

His response? “Why would anyone go out on a date with a 1-A loser?”

They were done with listening to you thirst over the man that hates their guts. Mina was done listening to you choke over yourself with how much you want him.

Honestly she can’t listen to it anymore- listen… she loves you. More than anything in the world. But if you don’t stop- she’s going to burn your tongue off. She can’t hear your reasoning anymore either-

“But Mina- his arms-”

“I swEAR TO GO-”

She’s done.

She’s tried to talk to you about it too. What do you actually see in him, Ya’know? To be fair, you gave some valid reasons.

His eyes being the color of the ocean and his hair in line with the sand. His smile- taunting or not- was indeed- maybe, on some molecular level- attractive.

He also had potential to become a great hero! Seriously, he did! But oh- oh god his mouth. Every time he opened his mouth- all she saw was thousands of reasons why you shouldn’t like him.

Hell- Aizawa had to tell you to knock it off a couple times- and god forbid that one time you got put in a sparing match with him. The collective number of groans that rang throughout class 1-A was comical.

You rode that high for weeks. Let alone the fact that you used it as a chance to get your hands on him. With the strength of your quirk that- unfortunately for him he could not copy- you sometimes just held him.

He of course didn’t notice- using bakugou’s quirk to fill the air with dust from exploded cement.

You even got to straddle him- to which you told him to yield. He didn’t.

But that knowledge was just for you.

Yet he remained oblivious.

The class can’t count how many times they had straight up watched you say he was hot and how many times you had asked him out- to his face- which he didn’t understand.

The people of UA didn’t know what was worse. Your blatant thirst for the man- of the fact that the man was such an idiot he didn’t see.

It was clearly starting to piss even you off.

So finally, Kendo had to take it into her own hands.

It was gruesome.

“Y/n likes you-”

“Of course they do- the 1-A’s should bow to us.”

“No- Monoma- y/n likes you like-”

“A god? I am one.”

*smack*

She looked deep into the eyes of the disgruntled man as he rubbed the back of his head. The intensity of her silent stare man his shiver as he cowered back.

“Listen to me Monoma. I am being serious. Y/n likes you. Like a married couple. Like a significant other. They want you to be their boyfriend.”

…

“You serious?”

She’s done.

Now Monoma is hit with new information as he dwells in his dorm lair. He laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling as he was stuck in his thoughts.

On one hand. Your pretty. Like- really pretty. Like walk into a pole on the street because he was starting at you busy. Your strong, fast, really smart… aaannnndddd you like him. A major plus if you will.

But- you were in class 1-A. Could he even date someone in class 1-A after trashing on them so much?

He couldn’t decide yet. So he let it sit.

Unfortunately for him, due to his new knowledge of you, he became hyper-aware of everything you did.

The comments, the touching, asking him out point blank.

Everyone saw the change in him too.

The way he suddenly got tongue tied when he stepped up to class 1-A and you made a comment on how he looked hot when he smirked.

How when paired together he was suddenly stiff and stopped communicating.

He was flustered.

Something that you realized. Something you were going to have fun with.

Oh and you did.

Any chance you got you touched him. Your hand flat on his chest or wrapping your arm around his waist, you did everything.

It builds and builds and builds of course. So the next time he sees you- he snaps.

You were just trying to get a drink after going to the bathroom. It was pure coincidence that he was out too.

To say you were shocked when you were suddenly body slammed into the corner was an understatement.

You stared, wide eyed at the boy in front of you at he fumed.

You stayed quiet, waiting for him to say something- anything really. But he doesn’t. Just holding you in place- breathing heavily with anger swirling in his eyes.

You couldn’t complain- no.

His face was so close to yours. His breath fanning your lips and his body continuously brushing against yours.

You finally broke.

“If you wanted me like this so bad, you could’ve just said so-”

Lips cut you off. Soft, warm- and you melt. Your arms instantly forcing him against you as you eagerly push against him. Your head is fuzzy, filled with him, everything is him.

His warmth, how soft he feels, his hair under your fingertips.

It’s driving him crazy how easily he drives you crazy.

When he finally manages to pull away, he’s disoriented. His hair is a mess, his eyes trained on your love-stuck eyes and your swollen lips.

It takes him a minute of the close proximity to get his head clear. He suddenly shoves you back against the wall again as he pulls a few steps back.

He swallows thickly as he tries to get his barring together. Straightening his uniform shirt he quickly points at you.

God that love-sick smile your wearing, it makes him sick. Sick in love- sick with vile he doesn’t know.

So he points at you and he says-

“Keep quiet about this. I-I can’t be seen with a 1-A loser.”

He doesn’t mean it. Not really.

But that’s okay.

You’ll steal these flustering moment alone where he moans into your mouth and clutches so tightly onto your hips while he lives in his beautiful delusion.

You’ll keep openly pining after him while he continues to hate on class 1-A.

It’s okay though. You know where you stand. So you’ll let him continue to loose his own mind figuring you out, not fully realizing the extent in which your all his.

OKAY THIS WAS RUSHED AND IM 50-50 WITH LIKING AND HATING IT BUT I LIKED THE ENDING SO IMA KEEP IT

[butwhyduh]

For me it was the fashion catastrophy of the 90s batboy clothing called shirts of Tim and Dick ✨

They are true fashion disasters. And I have more thoughts on the batboys clothes so here are headcanons you never asked for.

Their workout clothing:

Jason

He wears what’s comfortable while doing a workout that has a ton of weight lifting followed by a couple of miles of cardio that finishes in some light acrobatics to stay flexible. Spars with partner in whatever style he’s fancying and shooting practice multiple times a week. He gets hot easily so sleeveless and shorts or plain sweatpants are pretty normal. Colors are usually darker but he might show up in a Wonder Woman shirt. On the rare chance he hit a normal gym rather than his own equipment, Jason is completely oblivious to how hot people think he is. Does not realize he’s putting on a full gun show.

Dick

He’s going to wear pretty colors and stuff that lets him stretch so he’s a big fan of short shorts and leggings. Often shirtless or in the tightest tank tops known to man. His workout is a heavy flexibility circuit he’s done forever followed by a couple mile run or weight lifting. Spars or shooting accuracy on alternating days. Will take a class if it looks fun. Like pole dancing. Sometimes teaches classes. Knows people think he’s hot but it’s no big deal. Everyone is hot at the gym! (no we aren’t!- Tim)

Tim

Dresses like a track team after a 3 day track meet. Often has leggings under regular shorts but funny enough wears a hoodie without a shirt half the time. Black or grey like everything else he wears. He usually starts out with a couple mile run, some weight lifting, and sparing hopefully everyday. Weapon accuracy every couple days. Gets talked into aerobics classes with Dick sometimes. Is deeply confused when people think he looks hot at the gym because he’s all sweaty and stinky and his face is all red.

Bruce

Either works out looking like a middle aged father of 4 or the biggest thirst trap in grey sweatpants. He has the most ridiculously planned workout of all time with certain things on certain days. Cardio, weightlifting, flexibility, shooting, sparring, and mediation all are part of his workouts. He’s anti-partner workouts unless you enjoy joining him to spar and then leave. Will stop for a romp if you join him but will go right back to his workout afterwards. “Of course working out is sexually arousing due to increased blood flow and pheromone secretion.” STFU Bruce

Damian

Do y’all think he went thru this phase?

Or just straight to this?

This little shit tried to follow his father’s workout and threw up 8 times the first time. So he instead follows Dick’s workout because Damian rationalizes it was made for a child fighting someone larger than them. So it’s absolutely hilarious to Dick that this child that threw his best friend off the roof for hugging him is the same one that will join Dick’s classes and is wonderful at aerial silks. Dick thinks every time that Damian is perfect size to be thrown in the air. Also adds practicing with a blade and spars with Bruce, Tim, or Dick often.

[hauntedbythefanficsofmypast]

Spiderbug Siblings

Peter sighed to himself struggling not to pout as he sat through the meeting. He was continuously reminding himself that he was the one that begged his father to bring him along, but he didn't think it was going to be this boring. Usually he was more than happy to take over different things at SI to give his father a break, such as paper work and meetings his dad really-really didn't want to go to. However this meeting had sucked his soul out ten minutes in. He missed the glances he was getting from said father, who had noticed his son's complete and utter boredom. 

Tony struggled not to smirk as his son deflated. He had warned him that this meeting was the worst one he'd ever been to. Tony discreetly moved his hands under the table, flicking his right wrist causing a holographic keyboard to appear on his forearm. He quickly typed out a message before sending it to Peter.

Peter's wristwatch vibrated softly, alerting him to the message. He moved his left arm under the table before flicking it allowing the message to appear across his arm. 

'Kiddo, go ahead and stand up saying this in french. "Ladies, Gentlemen, I hate to cut this short but unfortunately I have another meeting to get to. My father however will be remaining behind, I sincerely hope our business deal goes through." Then go have some fun, I know you're dying inside right now so go.' 

Peter closed his eyes smiling softly before giving his father a barely noticeable nod, standing up and apologizing in French. He shook a few people's hands before giving them a bright smile and a nod to his dad, turning and leaving the room.

"Je me suis demandé quand il allait enfin s'ennuyer.(1)" One of the women said, turning to Tony with a teasing smile, causing him to burst into laughter. 

Peter was more than happy to strip out of the suit and into a pair of jeans, a t-shirt with a silly science meme, his black converse and a green hoodie. He had planned to go check out the young man that applied to MIT and the Stark Industries Internship Program after the meeting, however he thought now would be better than ever. Peter knew that after a quick talk with the Principal he'd be allowed to sit in on the class in the back unannounced to see Max Kanté in action. He ran a hand through his hair before checking his phone's battery life, satisfied that it was at seventy-eight percent. His Stark watch was at sixty-five percent as well, so he knew that he'd only have to charge them once he got back to Le Grand Paris. Pulling out the file on Max, he decided that walking to Lycée Françoise Dupont would be rather relaxing and give him the time to stretch his legs. Plus if his calculations were right, which they usually always were, he'd be there by lunch time. Giving him enough time to talk with the Principal and the man's teacher, then find a place to sit in the back. While leaving the luxury hotel he put on his Edith sunglasses watching as directions to the school popped up, then pulled his hood up, and placed his Stark buds in. He left giving little more than a glance to the paparazzi planted firm outside, he knew they'd be waiting to get pictures of his father or him, after all their pictures sold for big bucks. He fidgeted nervously with his sunglasses until he was finally out of the paparazzi's sight. Letting out a breath he took out his phone hitting play on his album filled with Ella Fitzgerald music. He relaxed listening to it allowing the glasses to guide him through Paris. 'I really need to convince dad to market these. After the failure that Google created people would be skeptical, but having the Stark logo on it would cause many to trust them.' Peter thought about it drawing up blueprints in his head as he walked not paying attention to the outside world. Definitely not noticing the car heading towards him as he crossed the street heading to the school, until his senses started screaming at him.

"Monsieur, soyez prudent!(2)" Marinette cried out as she ran towards Peter tackling him back onto the sidewalk, his hood dropping and his sunglasses flying off his face. The car honked loudly as it skidded to a stop. Both teens turned to it wide eyed and apologizing profusely, in near panic attack states which ended up with the driver worried for them. They waved him on both stating that they were fine and just in a little bit of shock as they sat side by side on the sidewalk.

"Thank you." Peter said after a few moments of them just taking deep breaths together. Marinette looked up at him, blue-grey eyes meeting toffee brown eyes, before she glanced away. She picked up his sunglasses holding them out to him with a tired smile.

"English, yes? You're quite far from home are you not Mister? After all your accent is clearly not British so I'm assuming the States, not the south though I'm thinking from the north maybe the east?" Peter blinked in surprise, finally taking in the young woman that had saved him. Marinette was side sitting leaning against the light pole next to her. Midnight black hair was pulled into a long fishtail braid that went past her waist, Peter knew that once out of the braid her hair would be even longer. Her clothes were designer, M.D. specifically, something that would cause his dad slight annoyance since the designer still hadn't gotten back to him. She wore a soft pink cold shoulder tunic sweater, with black jeans that were loose enough for full mobility but tight enough not to sag or get caught on anything. She had a black and pink backpack on and a small matching purse, both clearly made by M.D. as well. He smiled politely, taking his sunglasses back and carefully sliding them into his pocket. 

"Yes I'm from the States. New York to be specific but I've traveled all over. You speak English?" He asked before adjusting his position sitting criss-cross in front of her. Marinette laughed softly nodding.

"I have learned a few languages, French is obviously my first, English was my fourth and hardest to learn!" She exclaimed, rolling her eyes and throwing her arms up in exasperation. Peter laughed loudly nodding his head with a slight smirk.

"Ah yes, English is hard and weird. For instance read and lead rhyme, and read and lead rhyme. But read and lead don't rhyme, and neither do read and lead!" Peter said his smirk grew when Marinette groaned glaring at him before punching him softly in the arm. "Sorry, sorry I had to do it." Peter said rubbing his arm as they settled down. Marinette simply rolled her eyes shaking her head. "But seriously thank you, not many people would risk themselves to save another. You're amazing Miss." Marinette gave him a sad smile not meeting his eyes anymore.

"Well, I'm afraid not many people think that about me. Besides it was the right thing to do, I couldn't just let you get hit when I could do something." Suddenly her purse shifted slightly almost like something inside was moving to press closer to the girl. Peter just barely noticed it, but could tell the girl took note of it right away. She stood up brushing the dirt off her pants, and Peter followed her up. "I'm afraid I must go, we've already spent quite a bit of time sitting here and if I want something to eat before my next class I must go. Au revoir Monsieur." Marinette turned heading down the street to a cafe, Peter turned watching her go but not moving.

"Wait!" He called out quickly shocking himself and the girl as she turned around curiously. "What's your name?" He asked, blinking when a mischievous smile covered the girls face.

"My name is Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, and I'll see you around." Peter's eyes widened and a burst of laughter left him causing the girls eyes to alight with mischief. "I'll see you around Monsieur." She said before continuing on, Peter watching her as she leaves. He resisted jumping when Karen talked to him over his Stark buds.

"That was a meme was it not? Searching the web for it, oh. I understand that, that was very funny, yes? After all I believe this is what one would call a 'crack' fic." Peter held back his laughter as he crossed the street continuing to the school. He really hoped he'd see the girl again, he knew his dad would love her. He himself already felt a connection to the girl that had saved his life. He walked into the school heading to the office. He greeted the office secretary explaining why he was there and asking to talk with the Principal Damocles and Mr. Kanté's teacher Ms. Bustier. The secretary was quick to let him in and summon Bustier to the office. Peter took the time to explain to Principal Damocles that he simply wished to sit in the back of the class and observe the young man. Damocles was quick to please Peter, and it didn't escape his notice causing his opinion of the Principal to drop. He was quick to introduce himself when Bustier arrived, but allowed Damocles to explain what was going on. Ms. Bustier quickly agreed before escorting Peter back to her class room, telling him all about her class. He barely paid attention however once he realized that she was attempting to take complete credit for her students accomplishments. That was until she mentioned her 'bad egg' at least in her opinion.

"I just don't know what happened, Marinette used to be such a good student. She was the class role model, and everyone would go to her when they needed help. Then out of nowhere she just started bullying this girl that joined my class! She told me the girl was faking everything no matter how much I told her that the girl's condition was no excuse to treat her like that. I kept trying to get her on the right path but couldn't. Now she just sits in the back of the class and no one will talk to her. I've even had to exclude her from class outings because she still won't leave the girl alone! Honestly I always told her that no one will get better if you don't give them chances. Lila won't become a better person if Marinette continues to target and try to expose her. I'm just glad that Adrien is on my side and agrees." Peter frowned, giving the teacher's back a dirty look as he took in what she said, piecing a few things together. 'So this student is a pathological liar, but they're covering for her with some lying condition. Marinette, who was the designated role model, caught on and tried to expose her. However, Bustier and Adrien don't agree so they allow her to be excluded. Wow, I really hope Mr. Kanté does not fall for the lies. I'd hate for his intelligence to go to waste. After all not everyone can create a highly-functional robot, that manages to develop emotions on its own. Falling for lies is something that would hurt him incredibly in the eyes of SI.' Peter smiled politely when the teacher turned to him once they arrived at the door.

"Would you like a seat at the front Mr. Stark?" Bustier asked as she opened the door walking in with him behind her, Peter shook his head as he took in the room. "We only have two seats open one in the front and one in the back." Bustier finished turning and watching Peter look around the room.

"No," he said, not missing as she tensed up slightly. "I need to be able to observe Mr. Kanté. If I sit in the front everyone will notice me turned to look at him. I'll take the back seat, where does he sit now?" Bustier glanced at the spot at the front where Chloe Bourgeois used to sit, and then the one in back by Marinette.

"Are you sure Mr. Stark? Unfortunately the one in the back is by my problem student and I'd rather you not get a bad impression of the class because of her." Peter gave her a tight smile as she rambled on about why it would be better for him to sit in the front. He let out a sigh as she continued on, and wished his father was with him. Knowing Tony wouldn't care about being rude to the women, where Peter himself couldn't pull the courage up.

"Yes Ms. Bustier I am positive. I will take the seat in the back, now please tell me where Mr. Kanté sits and then where my seat will be." Bustier sighed knowing that she wouldn't win this one, she had hoped she could convince him to sit there. That way he could see the entirety of the class and they would see him, the class would also know to behave themselves. They won't pay much attention to him when they walk in and he is sitting in the back. 

"Very well, Max sits on the left side, third row and closest to the window. Your seat will be on the right side, last row and next to the wall. Peter nodded before thanking her and walking up to his temporary seat, sitting down and pulling out his phone. "Lunch ends in twenty minutes so the classroom will slowly start filling up." He gave her a smile showing that he heard her before returning to his phone. He pulled up his group chat with Shuri, MJ, and Ned, knowing that it was almost seven am in New York, and that Shuri only slept when forced to. He smiled reading the argument between Ned and MJ.

Guy in the Chair- I don't want to eat at Veselka after school today! I want to eat at Lil' Frankie's!

MJ- I can almost hear you whining through my phone screen. Send me a picture of the face you're making, I want to add it to my sketch book.

Guy in the Chair- Seriously MJ?

Guy in the Chair-  I'm not sending you a picture of my face.

Princess Memes a lot- You Americans are so silly. Here MJ.

Image.pn

Guy in the Chair-...

Guy in the Chair- Seriously?

Guy in the Chair- Did you seriously hack my phone to send her a picture of me?

Princess Memes a lot- Hack is such a strong word, I simply introduced my computer to your phone's systems.

Guy in the Chair- I hate this. I can't do anything in retaliation, chemistry is what I'm good at not technology. I can't get revenge. Peter help me bro!

Peter-man- Sorry Ned, I'm not going up against Shuri. She is scary smart, and I'd rather live to see Captain America and his group of runaways finally realize all the changes we've made to the Accords.

Princess Memes a lot- Listen to my favorite colonizer Nedy-boy.

Peter-man- Awe, I'm your favorite colonizer? I thought for sure it would be my Dad.

Princess Memes a lot- Oh no, I do love you father. You and him are some of the only people that can give me a challenge. On top of that he got so excited when he discovered I was smarter than him, I thought for sure he'd want to adopt me.

Peter-man- Oh dad did, however you're a Princess and dad knows his money would get him nowhere in Wakanda. Instead he has settled for us being friends, that way he can subtly drop hints to invite you over for some science time.

Peter-man- I'll talk with you all later have a good day in classes MJ, Ned. And Shuri please get some sleep, I'd rather your brother not blame us for keeping you up again.

Guy in the Chair- Bye Peter!

MJ-middle finger emoji*

Princess Memes a lot- He can't force me to sleep if he can't find me!!

Peter- Love you too MJ and good luck with that Shuri.

Peter placed his phone down as people slowly made their way into the classroom. It was obvious to him that none even noticed him as they talked together excitedly. The volume of the class got louder until four people walked in, everyone was zeroing in on the girl hanging off the blonde's arm. Peter grimaced at her terrible hair style and decided that MJ would love to draw this girl, so he held up his phone taking a picture of her. He noticed a girl slip in behind them but his attention was stolen by the girl once again as she continued her story.

"Oh Alya! You would absolutely love New York city!! I'll have to see if Tony will allow you to come with me next time!" The girl said fairly loud her smile was bright but Peter could spot a fake smile from miles away. He'd learned that skill rather fast as he grew up, after all he needed to when his father was in one of his spirals. "Oh! I suppose I should let you know since I trust you so much! By Tony I mean Tony Stark!" She said giggling behind her hand as everyone gasped in surprise. "You see he is like a father to me! Him and his son Parker love me! We're like this!" She crossed her fingers winking at her classmates. Peter tensed fisting his hands trying to control his anger as he looked at Ms. Bustier who wouldn't not even turn around when the lie left her students lips. He watched as the students all sat down in their seats but they were all turned to the liar listening intensely. 

"Wow you're that close to Tony Stark? I just applied for his internship program a few weeks ago, I haven't heard anything yet though." Max said excitedly as he pulled out his things for class. Lila immediately zeroed in on him, her eyes gleaming.

"Oh Max! I'll send Parker a message right away and tell him all about you! You know he runs the Internship Program there! Tony asked me to but I told him I just couldn't leave Paris for good until after school! I also told him he really needs to give Parker a chance!" She glanced around worriedly before turning to Alya. "You can post this if you want, but you didn't hear it from me okay? You see guys Parker had a rough time these past couple years. He fell into the wrong group of people and started bullying, drinking, and doing drugs! It was terrible and Tony was just heartbroken! I could barely console him, he almost kicked Parker out! I convinced him to give Parker a second chance though, and he is getting better, unlike someone we know...but Tony still doesn't trust him fully, so I thought Parker would be able to prove himself if he did good with the program. Unfortunately he does struggle so I have to help him a lot, but Tony cannot know that! Their relationship is finally fixing!" Peter's anger grew even more and it took all his control not to stand up and fight the girl right there. That is when he noticed Marinette sitting besides him tense as well but glaring at the desk and not Lila. "Well hello there Ebony." He said softly startling her slightly, Marinette looked up at him in slight shock as he smiled mischievously at her. "I must say, you look very different from the Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way that I've read about." Marinette blushed embarrassed before she let out a soft giggle covering her face with her hands.

"Oh my gooood," she said, dragging out the word. "I said that thinking I would probably never see you again, and now you're sitting next to me. God I don't know if you're there, but please kill me." Peter snorted softly but both of their eyes were on Lila again as she began talking about Tony and his son 'Parker' once again. 

"Lying little squirrel." Peter mumbled glaring at the girl. "Parker Stark? Really did she even do her research? It's Peter Stark and the fact that Kanté is falling for her lies and trying to get in the easy way. This makes my decision easier." He opened the folder turning to Marinette holding out a hand. "May I borrow a pen Ms. Ebony." Marinette snorted, shaking her head and handing him a pen. He wrote denied across the paper and took a picture with his phone sending it to his dad before closing the folder and returning her pen.

"My name isn't Ebony obviously, I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng." She said politely holding her hand out to shake, he shook it gently as she spoke again. "Are you a new student?" Peter chuckled smiling a little awkwardly as he shook his head.

"No I was here to observe Mr. Kanté in the classroom, ah let me introduce myself. Peter Stark, or from what the liar is calling me, Parker Stark." He rolled his eyes in exasperation, his smile still awkward. Marinette's eyes widened in slight shock as she started rambling to herself about how she tackled Tony Stark's son to the ground. Peter watched for a moment slightly amused at the woman's ramblings before squeezing her hand gently. "Listen, don't worry about it. If anything my dad would be thanking you profusely for saving me there. He wouldn't be upset, however once he hears about that little squirrel's lies. He will be more than pissed." Marinette snorted softly at his nickname for Lila; shel smirked, shaking her head. "Which by the way, can I get her full name? I want to have my lawyers here and ready with paperwork before I return to the states in five days." Her smirk grew as she pulled out a notebook and quickly wrote Lila's full name down before pausing and thinking a sadistic gleam in her eyes. Marinette turned to Peter tilting her head to the side innocently. "Tell me Parker Stark," she said using Lila's mess up causing him to laugh under his breath. "Do you happen to know Bruce Wayne or his kids?" Peter quirked an eyebrow before nodding and telling her that he was very close with Bruce's eldest son. "Well you see the little squirrel, as you call her has also lied about him and a few others." She turned back to the paper steadily making a list of all the people.

Tony and Peter Stark

The Wayne family

Lois Lane and Clark Kent

Jagged Stone

Clara Nightingale 

The Justice League

The Avengers

M.D. Clothing

The sadistic glint didn't leave her eyes as a plan formed in her head. "You see, I can get in contact with Jagged, Clara, and M.D. if you can get a hold of the others. We could sue her all at once for slander and defamation of character. If you do this I'll convince M.D. to finally take your dad on as clientele." Peter grinned at her and held out his hand, shaking hers once she grabbed his. 

"Well, my father would strangle me if I passed on an opportunity for him to finally get a M.D. suit and dress combo for him and mom. So you've got yourself a deal Miss Dupain-Cheng. If you can get Jagged, Clara, and M.D. on video chat, I can get the others. Do you think you could meet dad and me at Le Grand Paris tonight?" Marinette smirked a twinkle in her eye as Bustier called for the class's attention. Marinette rolled her, before turning to the front of the class.

"Since I am currently living at Le Grand Paris I can definitely meet you. Oh, Jagged and M.D. will be there in person. They live in Paris, Clara however is currently in Africa helping build houses, so we may be able to get her on a phone call but not video chat." Peter slumped in the chair and leaned over towards her slightly. "How about I give you a ride back then since we'll be going to the same place?" Marinette quirked an eyebrow before smiling and leaning against him getting comfortable in her seat.

"Very well Parker, I'll tell my driver I have a ride. Now don't move, you're quite comfortable." Peter snorted softly nodding before turning his eyes back on Max.

'It's a shame I was rather hopeful about him. I thought he'd be a great addition, if only he hadn't fallen for the squirrel.' He turned his gaze away and zeroed in on Bustier who was looking up at them. He could already tell that she wanted to reprimand Marinette for leaning against him. As she opened her mouth Peter sent her a sharp glare, staring her down until she looked away nervously. He sighed looking out the window in annoyance.

'Great, now I'm stuck here. At least I have Mari to keep me entertained judging by her eyes she is clearly zoned out. Something tells me she already knows what this sham of a teacher is going to be teaching today. She is smart, that is obvious, perhaps not as smart as Dad and me. Definitely not as smart as Shuri, but I'm pretty sure no one has her intelligence. She has connections too which is surprising at her age while being relatively unknown.' Peter wiggled slightly before settling down leaning against Marinette as well before closing his eyes.

Marinette waited until everyone had filed out of the class before waking Peter up. She gently shook him snorting as he looked around in confusion. His eyes finally landed on Marinette and a warm smile covered his face. She snorted again, as she packed up her stuff. 

"Maybe you should call up your driver that way we won't wait for long." Marinette said, pulling her backpack on as Peter sent out a quick message.

"Mr. Stark, before you go! I'd like to talk with you about what my student Lila said." Bustier said at the front of the classroom, flinching when Peter glared at her.

"Oh, you mean how she decided to lie about my father and me. Or maybe about how she didn't even know my name, but decided to tell everyone that I was a bullying, drunk, drug addict? Is that what you want to talk about? Or do you want to talk about how throughout her entire speech you said nothing knowing damn well that I was sitting in the back." Peter walked down the stairs, Marinette following behind him. When Bustier stepped in front of Peter stopping him from leaving Marinette grabbed his upper arm squeezing it gently. 

"Mr. Stark Lila has a condition that causes her to lie. The Principal and I decided not to inform the class because she'd never have friends if we did." Peter shook his head stepping to the side and walking around her Marinette following.

"That is no excuse Bustier. If that Alya woman posts anything that she said today. Well, lets just say it will not be pretty. Come on Marinette, as my dad says often, this person isn't worth our time." Marinette held back a laugh before nodding and walking out the door still holding his arm. She pulled out her phone with her left hand and typed out a few quick texts. Smiling gently when she got responses, she leaned her head on his shoulder before slipping her phone into her purse. Waiting until Tikki tugged it gently signaling that Marinette could safely release her phone. They stood together at the entrance to the school until a Mercedes Benz pulled up and the driver got out opening the door for them. Peter helped Marinette in before climbing in himself, he laughed grinning at her shocked face. She glared slightly before turning her attention back on to the tablets built into the driver and passenger seats.

"Did you buy them like this?" She asked curiously, slipping her backpack off and putting it down by her feet, buckling up afterwards. Peter shook his head, grin not leaving his face as he buckled up.

"Nope, Dad and I tore it apart and built it together. It's fun bonding time ya know." Marinette smiled sadly glancing out the window looking at the now closed bakery. Her thoughts drifted to before everything happened, when her parents were happy and in love, and still wanted her. Her gaze left the building as the driver pulled into traffic.

"I used to bake with my parents all the time. We ran a bakery, Maman would spend time cooking with me, and Papa and I always played video games together. Every night until, we played every night." Peter's eyes widened and he reached out taking her hand and squeezing it. Marinette blinked looking down at his hand before turning hers and squeezing his hand back. They just sat silently for a while enjoying being together with the other. Neither teen knew why they were inexplicably drawn to each other. In the span of a few hours they were closer than normal, and barely knew each other. This didn't scare either of them though, it felt so natural for them to seek slight comfort with the other. To just be able to sit together and feel like nothing could go wrong. Marinette leaned against him resting her head on his shoulder closing her eyes.

"What happened to your parents?" Peter asked after a while moving to rest his head on top of hers when she tensed up. "You don't have to talk about it? I've just found that it's better to get things off your chest and out instead of letting it linger." Marinette huffed a slight smile taking over her face before disappearing.

"My parents got a divorce two months ago. They had been acting for so long that they were still in love, but had grown to hate each other. In turn that meant they started to hate me, I reminded them too much of the other. So neither of them wanted me, my mother left Paris returning to China. My father decided to go to Italy to stay with his extended family. I was left behind, my honorary Uncle took me in till I turned seventeen." Marinette used her free hand to gently wipe her tears away. She squeezed his hand taking a deep breath. "They left me with nothing but 'good luck'. I stayed with my Godmother for a while but I couldn't sleep on the couch. Then my Uncle offered to stay in Paris with me until my seventeenth birthday. After that I'm technically on my own, I have some money saved up so I could get a small apartment, not in Paris though."  Peter brushed his thumb against her knuckles thinking to himself.

"So you're only sixteen? I'm seventeen." He said attempting to change the conversation, and from the giggle Marinette let out, she knew what he was trying to do. "What do you want to do when you graduate? I mean I'm just curious is all you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Like most people like talking about it but I know some don't, but uh, I'm going to be working at SI. Oh and I am already taking college classes online from MIT!" Peter rambled on causing Marinette to laugh and his driver to cough in an attempt to hide his own chuckles.

"I want to go into fashion. I've always been in love with it, and want to have it in my future." Marinette smiled, patting his arm to calm him down. "I've even won a few design competitions, although thanks to Gabriel being unmasked as a supervillain my most distinguished one is gonna be crossed off." Peter raised an eyebrow before connecting the dots with Hawkmoth and the Agreste companies fall. 

"I have to ask this after sitting through that god awful class. Do you even like that school?" Marinette groaned, shaking her head slightly. "Because I did notice you zone out in the class." Marinette snorted before nodding.

"See I finished everything online and my plan was to graduate early. However Bustier and Damocles wouldn't allow it, they told me I need my parents signature not my temporary guardian's. So I am stuck there until the end of the year. Especially since I don't have parents, so no one can sign. Child Services won't let my uncle adopt me, apparently he isn't a good role model. Which is kind of funny since he took me in when my parents just abandoned me." She was silent for a while thinking about her situation and Peter did not like silence on the girl. 

"Is that how you know M.D. through design competitions?" Peter asked, causing Marinette to laugh softly, wondering how to tell him that she was M.D. "I mean I just noticed that your entire outfit, plus backpack and purse are both M.D. and obviously exclusives." Marinette shook her head as they pulled up outside the luxury hotel, both unbuckling and getting out when the driver opened the door. Marinette adjusted her back back walking up the steps.

"No actually, I've known M.D. my entire life. Now what's your hotel room? Jagged needs to know to meet us there, come on Parker don't leave me hanging." Peter glared playfully at Marinette before telling her their room number. She texted it to Jagged, nodding to the receptionist that greeted her, welcoming her back. "Mister Franco is always so nice, he has worked here for years now. To be honest I'm pretty sure he never takes a day off, he really loves his job." Peter nodded smiling at Franco, before stepping into the elevator with Marinette pressing the button to his floor. "Have you alerted the others to the video chat?" She asked looking up from her phone, meeting Peter's amused eyes. He nodded watching as she slipped her phone into her purse, he noted her pause before letting it drop completely. At first he chalked it up to her making sure the phone was actually in the purse, but then he remembered watching it move earlier in the afternoon. 'Is she keeping a pet in her purse?' He pondered silently as they stepped off the elevator onto his floor. He pulled out his card and opened the door, to be greeted with the amusing sight of his father and Jagged opposite ends of the couch. Tony had his feet pulled up and he stared down at the crocodile lazing on the floor in front of Jagged.

"Ah, Petey, Peter, my son, my first born, my rock when your mothers not around, please-please, explain why we are having a video conference with Bruce Wayne, our favorite reporters Lois and Clark, a Justice League representative, Carol as an Avengers representative, and Jagged Stone and his 'rock 'n roll' crocodile pet?" Tony said, not looking away from Fang for a second. Marinette snorted and walked in further dropping her bag on the floor by the couch, then kneeling down and starting to scratch Fang in his favorite places. Making him roll onto his back, tail waving like an excited puppy. Tony blinked, watching Marinette turn Fang into a cuddly puppy in seconds before turning to look at Peter with a raised eyebrow. "Alright, tell me what this is about." Peter rolled his eyes, slipping off his jacket and kicking his shoes off walking over to stand behind Marinette. Looking down at the crocodile in puzzlement.

"I can do you one better. Karen please play the audio from the class today, starting when Miss Rossi entered the classroom. Oh and Friday can you drag up as much dirt on Lila Rossi as possible." Both AI gave confirmation causing Peter to smile as he stepped around Marinette and Fang sitting down on the couch. He introduced himself to Jagged briefly before turning back to Marinette. "Think you can type up every little lie, while I get incontact with my lawyers." Marinette nodded, the gleam back in her eyes as she pulled her laptop out of her backpack. She waited till Fang rolled back onto his stomach before leaning against him and placing her laptop on her bent legs. The next couple minutes were filled with Tony raging over what the girl said. While Peter clung to his back in an attempt to stop him from suiting up and hunting the girl down. Jagged watched the scene amused sipping on a juice box he pulled from Marinette's bag. Fang was also greatly amused and wanted to join in with the two newcomers to his family but he knew his girl was busy, so moving wasn't an option for him. Marinette ignored them the entire time up until she finished. Then she starred, amused at Tony laying on his side, a grumpy pout on his face as Peter was still wrapped around him. 

"Calm now?" She asked, her lips quirking up into a smirk as he leveled a grumpy glare at her. "Because I told Clara to call at five and it's almost time." Tony continued to be grumpy for a while before letting out a loud sigh and nodding.

"Let's get this show on the road, pinky." Marinette sent him a dry look raising an eyebrow before looking at Peter who grinned.

"That's his way of saying he likes you!" Marinette snorted before pulling out her phone before glancing back at Jagged, her eyes narrowing.

"Jagged, is that my juice box?" She asked already knowing that he was drinking the juice box from her backpack. Jagged glanced down at the juice in his hand before grinning at her.

"Well you see, I was thirsty and our hosts were obviously having a moment, and I'll buy you two more twelve packs of the juice boxes." Marinette nodded before turning her gaze off him, giving Tony her signature sunshine smile.

"Hello Mr. Stark, I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I am unfortunately part of Lila Rossi's class, though at this point I'm the only one that seems to see through lies." She held her laptop out to Peter, who took it with a smile plopping down on the couch. He scrolled through the long list, Marinette had composed. "I'll be the one helping compile all the lies, you may want to make sure everything on the Ladyblog is documented. It used to be a reliable source about Paris's heros, but the reporter, um, correction tabloid writer now fell for Lila's lies." Tony nodded before telling Friday to look into the Ladyblog. A few minutes later Marinette received Clara's call, the two talked together in French until Tony had video connection with Bruce, Lois, Clark, Wonder Woman, and Carol. Everyone wondered what was going on until Peter sent them all the list of lies. Marinette placed Clara on speaker before speaking up to everyone. "A few years ago when I was still in college-ah, middle school for you American's. A girl named Lila Rossi transferred to my school, she spread lies throughout the class about famous people. I was able to see through her lies because she decided to lie about Jagged Stone. " She gestured to Jagged who waved at everyone from his spot. "She claimed that she saved his cat from getting hit by a plane and developed tinnitus from it. She also stated that Jagged Stone wrote a song about her, at the time she was thirteen. Then she claimed to be best friends with Parisian superhero, Ladybug. The hero in question shot those claims down very fast, however the girl twisted it telling everyone Ladybug was only saying that to protect her. The creator of Bugout did not believe the girl, and that is why Ladybug heavily backs her. The list Parker here sent you is every lie she has told about you, Clara I texted you the list." Peter gave Marinette a playful dirty look as Clara took over the conversation.

"Oh my, all these lies I can't believe my eyes!" Everyone looked confused at Clara's rhyming.  "I can't believe her claims, all the people she is trying to deceive, and all the names." Clara gasped on her side causing many to wish they could see here. "Oh dear! She could have ruined your careers!" Marinette smiled softly when Clara said that. "She even mentioned your alternate ID, and this simply can't go unmentioned." Everyone looked at Marinette in slight confusion causing Marinette to give them an awkward smile.

"I'm sure all of you can see that she has mentioned that she knows M.D. the new famous designer who has kept out of the public eye. Well you all are lucky enough to meet M.D. before everyone else. It's a pleasure to meet you all, I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I run M.D. Clothing." Everyone stared at her in shock for a bit before the Stark lawyers joined the video chat. At the time they began making plans to take Lila down, and Marinette was at the center of the plans. "Tony and Peter leave in five days. His lawyers will be delivering her chargers, I want this to happen all at once." Everyone noted the determined glean in Marinette's eye, it reminded Tony of Pepper and he found himself about what his wife would think of this young woman. "If everyone has at least one of their lawyers to deliver them at the same time it will destroy her. That is why I suggest we do this during the school day, right before we are set to get out." Everyone agreed with doing it in front of the entire class. It was decided that Tony's lawyers wouldn't enter first, then Bruce's,  followed by the Justice League's and the Avenger's, Jagged and Clara's would enter soon after, and then Marinette's lawyer would hand Lila her final lawsuit. After the video chats Marinette gave Peter a big hug smiling brightly as Jagged picked up her backpack and Fang's leash. "Thank you for all the help Peter!" She let go before shaking Tony's hand, her smile not slipping. "As promised, get me yours and Mrs. Stark's measurements and I will make you a M.D. suit and dress combo. I think royal blue with ivory accents will suit you both. Peter has my number, so that you can get me the information." She walked to the door Jagged and Fang following her. "Goodnight you two!" Marinette said as they stepped outside. Peter and Tony stood at the door wishing them goodnight before closing it. Tony immediately turned to Peter once it was closed, wanting an explanation for everything. Peter sat down explaining what all had happened after he left the meeting. Tony listened intently while also thinking to himself about Marinette.

"So Max Kanté is rejected for the Internship program, damn. At least we caught this girl before more lies could be spread. I can't believe she dared to claim that I would give up on my own son." Peter nodded before picking the remote on and turning on Star Wars, he placed his legs across Tony’s lap and leaned again his side for comfort.

“Ya, she is pretty stupid. Did she think no one would ever hear her lives now she has multiple people coming down on her in less than 5 days.”

“Also that Marinette girl, think I can adopt her? Like joint custody? Pep would love her, seriously together they could rule the world.”

“Well with a little money you might be able to. Her parents gave up custody of her and the government refused to let Jagged adopt her.”

Tony looked at Peter silent for a moment before nodding to himself. 

“Friday-“

“Already drawing up adoption papers Boss. Pepper has been informed and she had this to say, ‘I give up, let him adopt the girl, I’ll have her registered for online schooling.’ Shall I bribe the person that receives the papers.”

“Yes but remember, I never said yes.”

That caused Peter to burst into laughter as he pulled out his phone, sending a text to his group chat.

Peter-man- New sister on the way guys. You’re gonna love her, dad just has to bride Child services.

Princess Memes a lot- Another science genius??

Peter-man- Nope, ever heard of M.D. Clothing?

Guy in the Chair- You’re joking.

MJ- Why am I not surprised by this.

Princess Memes a lot- You met M.D. and your Father is adopting her.

Princess Memes a lot- That’s it I’m taking a vacation to Paris, I’ll be there by tomorrow Peter. Ayo will be with me, and you will introduce the two of us to your new sister.

Peter-man- Understood Princess, although don’t mention the adoption to her just yet. I think I’m going to ease her into the family dynamic with us. 

Princess Memes a lot- Very well Ayo and I will not mention a thing. I will make sure we are both dressed discreetly as well. That way we don’t have to explain why the Princess of Wakanda is in Paris.

Peter chuckled resting his head on Tony’s shoulder curling into his dad's side. Tony smiled, his eyes never wavering from the tv screen as he rubbed his son’s leg gently.

Marinette let out a content sigh as she dried her hair with a towel. She sat on a plush chair in front of a grand dollhouse that was opened so all the rooms could be seen. The Kwami say inside all talking happily, making sure that Duusu and Nooroo were comfortable. Marinette smiled down at them wrapping his hair in her towel before leaning back and looking out the window. Tikki and Plagg flew up to her causing the young woman to laugh softly. She held her hand out allowing them to sit down. “In a few days Lila will be drowning in lawsuits. I really can’t find it in myself to feel bad for her.” Plagg snorted leaning back against her fingers, while Tikki gave him a disapproving look.

“Honestly kid, all you had to do was say the word and I would’ve taken care of the brat.”

“Plagg!” Tikki said, glaring at him, causing the other Kwami to laugh softly with Marinette.

“What?! I didn’t mean kill her! I meant that I’d cut her hair into something that doesn’t look awful! Always jumping to conclusions aren’t you Sugarcube.” Tikki swatted the back of his head causing the cat goddess to fly away laughing hysterically.

“Oh leave him be Tikki. He wouldn’t dare do anything in fear of repercussions from you.” Marinette said softly, bringing Tikki closer to her face. “A few days left Tikki, I am so excited.” Tikki smiled, rubbing her thumb gently as she looked up at her chosen human, her creation soul. Tikki felt her power rise a few days ago and now she knew why. Instead of having just one and a half creation souls around her, she had three. Marinette will always be the soul that resonates with her the most but Peter is a pure creation soul. Then Jagged and Tony combined made the third, it was their pasts that caused half their souls to be that of destruction. Yet it was the fact that they still held half a creation soul that got her, yes they had a reason to be bad, yet they wouldn’t allow it. She was happy that they still held that half tightly, the only for once a human’s, that was not meant to hold Plagg, soul becomes full destruction they become the worst of the worse. Which is why Tikki was happy Lila was going down, her soul was so close to destruction it sickened Tikki. She knew that once that little bit of creation left, there would only be a monster, because she was definitely not suited to be a cat. Tikki looked over at her other half with a gentle smile knowing that they’d find Plagg’s true destruction soul soon as well.

“Princess, why are we going to Paris?” Ayo asked as she followed Shuri onto the jet. The servants following with their bags, placing them onto the plane.

“Stark is adopting a young woman.” Shuri said trying on her phone. She looked up meeting Ayo’s eyes with a slight smirk. “The girl is the M.D. herself, I simply must meet her. According to Peter they only just met her and Tony is already adopting her. Peter also seems to have formed a connection with the woman. So I must meet her, and out of all the Dora Milaje you are able to be perfectly discrete. Anyone seeing us will believe you are simply my older sister, which is what I need. Miss Marinette does not know about the adoption yet and Peter wishes to edge her in. So I will simply be seen as Peter’s friend that decided to visit, and this will keep us out of the news.” Ayo nodded moving to sit down and relax knowing that they had an hour before reaching Paris.

“Very well, I shall enjoy meeting the new Stark child.” She said, causing Shuri to grin at her with a twinkle in her eyes. “I will not enjoy keeping you and Peter out of trouble however.” She finished teasingly causing Shuri to burst into laughter, Ayo only let a slight grin cover her face.

“Oh no oh no oh no.” Marinette muttered as she ran around her room getting ready. “I can’t believe I forgot this! Oh Miss Mendeleiev is going to be so upset! She went out of her way to have me come to her class’s party instead and I’m going to be late! Tikki, Plagg! Grab the pastries please!” The two Kwami lifted one try floating it over to the table by the door before taking the other over as well.

“My bug you must calm down. You have ten minutes before the party starts, yes, but Mendeleiev said to show up at any time.” Tikki flew up with Pollen the two gently fixing the French braid Marinette had begun putting her hair into. “There is no set time you need to be there so you are fine.” A knock on the door startled the human and Kwami slightly, Marinette ushered them into hiding spots before answering the door.

“Hello? Oh Peter! Do you need something?” Peter smiled brightly fidgeting with his sunglasses, he held up two bags filled with snacks.

“I was hoping we could hang out? Dad is in a really boring meeting and if I go it’ll suck my soul out.” He said dramatics causing Marinette to laugh.

“Normally I’d love to, but I have a class party today.” She gestured to the two large trays of pastries.

“Oh, that’s fine! I’ll just help you carry the trays then go find something to do.” Peter said, picking up one of the plates. “And before you say anything, shut up, I want to help.” Marinette glared at him before picking up her purse and folding her jacket over her arm. She picked up the other tray before checking her purse making sure Tikki and Plagg were in it. “Soooo,” Peter said, dragging out the word as he waited for Marinette to lock the door. “Where am I escorting you today fair Goddess?” Peter teased causing Marinette to quirk an eyebrow as they walked toward the elevator.

“Goddess? That's a new one. Care to explain?” She asked, stepping into the elevator pressing the button for the lobby. She reached over pulling his hood up gently with one hand before grabbing his sunglasses and slipping them onto his face. “There you go Mr.Famous.” She teased softly before fixing the strap of her purse. Peter smiled shifting the bag in his hand.

“Well my first thought was princess, but it just doesn’t suit you. Queen had popped in too but that didn’t feel right either. Trust me I know princesses and Queens, and they’d definitely love you but you have an air of difference compared to them. Something that makes you stand out something kind of magical-as silly as it sounds.” Marinette shifted slightly at the mention of magical glancing down at the purse that contained the most powerful beings in existence. Something that did not go unnoticed by Peter. “So when I settled on Goddess it just felt right, of course I tried other names but none compared to Goddess. So that is your new Stark patented nickname! Property of Stark & Co., nobody else can use it without express consent from Stark CEO, Head of R&D, and CEO in training!” Marinette snorted softly stepping out of the elevator Peter followed behind her as she began to giggle.

“Alright I suppose I shall let it slip this time! Besides it is definitely better than Princess, I hate that stupid nickname.” She turned to look at him, eyes twinkling slightly. “Now make sure to stay close, don’t want to have to save you from a car accident again.” Peter laughed rolling his eyes before calling out that it only happened once.  Causing Marinette to laugh again as they started the walk to Marinette’s school.

“Oh Marinette! You’re here!!” Aurore  called out as she, Mireille, and Jean hurried to meet both her and Peter as they entered the school courtyard. “And you brought a friend!” She said hugging Marinette once Jean took the tray from her. Marinette chuckled nervously hugging the girl back before hugging Mireille as well. “Pleasure to meet you I’m Aurore, that is Mireille, the man that took Marinette’s tray is Jean. Oh and of course you’ll meet the rest of our little family in a bit!” Peter smiled at the girl pushing his sunglasses up.

“I’m Peter, it’s nice to meet you. I am not staying though I was only helping Marinette carry the trays.” He said as Claude bounced over taking the tray from him and passing it off to his sister Allegra. He grabbed Peter’s shoulder directing him towards the rest of their class, smiling goofily. Marinette rolled her eyes smiling as Allan wrapped an arm around her shoulder following behind the two. He was telling her about his most recent audition calmly but excitement was clear in his voice.

“Nonsense! My new friend!!” Claude said smiling brightly leading him to the snack table. “If you’re a friend of Marinette’s then you are more than welcome to our party! I’m Claude Renou, the blonde that took the tray is my sister Allegra Dimont! You already saw Jean, Aurore, and Mireille. Kagami is over there teaching Ondine how to hold a saber, Kagami is wearing the red and black Cheongsam,” He paused turning to Marinette with a hopeful look. “Did I say it correctly?” He beamed when Marinette nodded before turning back to Peter. “And Ondine is the young woman who is completely out of her element on land!” He teased causing Ondine to glare at him playfully before waving politely to Peter. Over there controlling the music is Marc-pretty sure his mom, like runs France’s known yet unknown mafia but he won’t tell us.” Marc shot them a playful look before turning to and beginning to eat Marinette’s cookies. “And behind us is Allan Duval! Better known as Coté Spanghero, a rising actor! Then there is our teacher the wonderful and sometimes cruel Ms. Mendeleiev.” Anne-Claire Mendeleiev turned and stared down Claude who simply grinned at her. She sighed, shaking her head before looking over at Peter.

“Ignore him, of course you are more than welcome to join us. This is our little graduation party, these kids have been my students since middle school, except for Marinette unfortunately. Though I tried to get her multiple times.” She gave him a polite smile before patting his shoulder. “Oh and please call me Anne-Claire, all my students do when they remember they are almost out of school.” Marinette pulled away from Allan with a soft smile before linking arms with Peter. Peter grinned at her leaning closer to her.

“Looks like you don’t need to find something to do.” She said laughing with him. “Now come on, Jean knows some pretty cool magic tricks!” She pulled him over and they stood watching Jean perform different card tricks. They stood together, arms still locked while Peter watched Jean and Marinette talked with Allegra both women laughing together. Peter’s attention was stolen a few minutes later by his phone going off.

Princess Memes a lot- Stark where are you and your new sister?

Princess Memes a lot-Hello? Spiderboy?

Princess Memes a lot- Very well I have already found your location, Ayo and ai are on our way.

“Ah? Will Anne-Claire be upset if my friend and her older sister crash this party?” Anne-Claire raised an eyebrow as she took a sip from her cup looking over. 

“Depends Mister Stark, are the delinquents?” Peter was surprised that she knew him and even more surprised when he noticed none of her students were surprised.

“Ah, no not at all. Since you know who I am I’ll be honest. One is royalty and the other her bodyguard acting as sister.” Anne-Claire looked slightly excited at the prospect score nodding. 

“As long as they don’t cause trouble they’re welcome here.” Peter nodded smiling brightly before responding to Shuri that they were more than welcome to join. 

“My friend will be here soon, they may be a little stand off-ish at first.” Claude laughed, shaking his head, giving Kagami a teasing smile causing the woman to raise her eyebrow, faking an unimpressed look.

“Worry not Peter! We managed to break through Kagami’s Ice Queen persona!” Allan smirked rolling his eyes before handing his drink to Allegra. He stood behind Claude mining all of his actions. This caused them all to burst into laughter while Claude simply grinned looking at them. “Well besides that! Peter I have to ask, are you following in your Dad’s footsteps as head of R&D, or will you be taking up CEO. Oh perhaps I should start with my plans. I want to work in Public Relations, I actually have an internship with Wayne Enterprises. Cool right? Everyone here is going on to amazing things actually!” Peter smiled looking at them.”Why don’t we tell him? I’m sure Marinette has already told you her plans. We might as well tell him the rest!” Allegra shook her head smiling softly.

“I’ll tell him, obviously Allan is continuing his acting career, I am going to Harvard to study Law. Kagami is taking over her family business, Ondine is already an Olympic swimmer. Aurore and Mireille are continuing their weather girl careers, Marc is on his way to becoming a famous author and Jean is continuing his figure skating career.” Peter nodded looking at all of them., rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well I am actually already working at Stark Industries, I run the Internship program. Paid and Unpaid, I decide if you are given a chance in our company. I am however in training for both CEO and head of R&D, my parents told me that it is my choice. Although neither plan to retire for quite some time!” The class plus two continued to talk happily never noticing the girl glaring at them from Ms. Bustier’s classroom. Lila knew something was up, ever since she had laid eyes on the man sitting next to Marinette. It was something about him, something that made him stand out. She looked over at her sheep all of who were too engrossed with final plans for the last class trip. These were her sheep, the people that fell in line just to stop her crocodile tears. She sat high and powerful atop her kingdom and Marinette was in her rightful place, alone and ostracized. Something told her though, that the man out there with Mendeleiev’s class was going to ruin her. She sniffed looking away again giving her sheep a fake smile. She’d simply have to destroy him first.

“This is the place.” Shuri said looking up from her phone as Ayo and her walked through the school. “Peter said the teacher they were with is fine with us being here. Apparently they are having a party. Which sounds like a lot of fun!” They finally walked into the courtyard spotting Peter and the class before walking over when Peter waved excitedly. He introduced them to the class, smiling brightly when Marinette and Shuri hit it off right away.

Over the next couple days Marinette grew closer with Peter, Tony and Shuri. Marinette showed the three around Paris with the help of her friends in Mendeleviev’s class. Tony had even promised them visits to Stark tower the summer after their graduation. Of course it wasn’t known to Marinette that she’d soon be living there. In fact they still had to break it to her that Tony’s adoption request went through. It finally came out during a move night that Tony and Peter were holding with Marinette, Shuri, Ayo, her friends, and Jagged.

“Ya know, I’m going to miss you guys.” She said softly leaning against Peter’s side holding his right hand and carefully painting his nails a navy blue. Peter tensed slightly, sharing a look with Tony. Marinette noticed immediately when Peter tensed looking up at him sharply. “What?” She asked, turning to look at the father and son duo. Peter looked at Tony knowing that his father had to tell her.

“Ah, well you see Pinky, I decided that I didn’t want to lose you. So you’re mine now.” He said not looking her in the face, attempting to hide his nervousness.

“I’m yours now?”

“Yes. Our if you want to be specific and bring Pep into this considering she’s my wife, but mine either way.”

“You do know I’m not something to be owned, correct?”

“Well yes, but you’re still mine. End of story. You’re my daughter now, which means you’re Peter’s sister.”

“You know, I should be upset about this but  honestly I really didn’t want you guys to leave. I’ve grown attached and I think Uncle has too.”

Peter smiled brightly wrapping his arms around Marinette, careful not to mess up his nails.

“We just have one last thing to do.”

“Oh?”

“Change your last name to Stark.”

Tony said, smirking as he ruffled his now daughter’s hair. It wasn’t until after the movie finished that they announced the news to the rest of their group, and the celebration was anything but quiet. The night ended with a big sleepover in the Stark’s current living room and all went to bed knowing that tomorrow was the day they took Lila off her fake throne.

Lila smirked looking at herself in the mirror taking in her makeup. Nasty fake bruises covered her face and lower neck. She looked down at her clothes to make sure they were properly ripped. She nodded before heading out, stopping before she made it to the school before starting to cry. She rushed to the school bursting into Ms. Bustier’s class immediately having attention on her. She hid a smirk before spouting her sob story. Not knowing that Peter and his father were about to walk through that door with multiple lawyers Shuri and Ayo also tagging along. The moment Peter stepped through the door Kim charged at him fire in his eyes. Ayo was quick to move, taking Kim down flawlessly in seconds. “What do you think you’re doing! Get off my student!” Ms. Bustier said standing quickly but not moving towards Ayo and Kim.

“Shut it you banshee.”Ayo growled out standing up but keeping her foot in the middle of Kim’s back. “I shall act as guard for you all.” She said after Shuri gave her a subtle nod of permission. Tony and Peter’s lawyer Ryan was the first to step forward. 

“Thank you warrior.” He said nodding in respect to Ayo before turning to the class. “I am Ryan Wilson and I am Tony and PETER Stark’s lawyer. I am looking for one Lila Rossi.” Lila sat stock still not wanting to draw any attention to her. That failed when Ayla was quick to point her out.

“She is right here! You’re here to help her after that monster attacked her earlier aren’t you? Wow! Stark works fast! Oh can I record this for my blog?” Ryan galred at both girls before walking over and placing papers on the table.

“No, you may not! Lila Rossi you’ve been served! The Stark family is suing you for slander and defamation of character as well as claiming to others that you work with them. I suggest you find a lawyer and soon.” He turned away from them and walked to Bustier’s desk placing papers on her desk. “This is for allowing and even helping your student to lie.” He stepped back ignoring the class crying out in outrage. Lila just sat staring down at the paper in horror. The horror mounting as more and more papers were added to the pile until Marinette’s delicate and manicured hand placed her own papers down. She looked up at Marinette’s blank face, tears streaming down her face as anger slowly built.

“Lila I have let you get away with a lot, all because I was supposed to be the ‘better person’. Well I am done with that flawed idea, it’s time you learned that lies have consequences.” She turned heading back over to Peter smiling brightly until she saw Tony and Peter’s eyes widened as they moved forward. LIla let out a blood curdling scream launching herself at Marinette. Marinette turned quickly but Ayo was faster than both girls and slammed Lila into the ground. She calmly turned to look at Ryan not releasing her grip from Lila. “It may be smart to call for the police.” Officer Raincomprix walked in soon after sending the teacher a disappointed look as he pulled out handcuffs.

“We are already here. Lila Rossi evidence has been discovered proving that you willingly worked with Gabriel Agreste, also known as Hawkmoth. Anything you say can and will be held against you.” He cuffed her ignoring her screams and holding the young women still as she thrashed trying to get to Marinette. Tony wrapped an arm around her shoulder as Peter linked their arms together causing Marinette to smile.

“Ready to head home, daughter of mine?” Tony said with a smirk as Marinette leaned her head against his arm. 

“Ya know, I can’t wait to see my new home. Lets go.”

I wondered when he was finally going to be bored.

Sir, be careful! 

[sincerelystranger]

author: the high school track&field AU that no one asked for

---

Lan Zhan likes to run.

He likes the simplicity of it. He likes the control.

From the depth of his breath to the length of his stride – whether he wins or loses, it’s really up to him and him alone.

Lan Zhan likes that.

He watches the track as he slows down from his cool down.

If pressed, Lan Zhan would admit that he likes the natural terrain of cross country over the strange rubber of the track, but he’s beginning to find that track has certain other appeals.

It’s fun to watch the other athletes, for one.

His brother on the pole vault, for example. The calm focus in his eyes as he runs. The graceful arc of his body as he flies above the bar. The split second of pure ecstasy that Lan Zhan can see on his brother’s face when he knows he’s made the jump – Lan Zhan never knew his brother could make that sort of expression. It makes him wonder what else he doesn’t know about his brother.

It’s fun to watch the sprinters as well. Everyone running on the track are called runners, but the type of running the sprinters do is foreign to Lan Zhan.

For Lan Zhan, running is like water. There’s rhythm – a smoothness – to it. For Lan Zhan, running is something to get lost in.

Not for the sprinters though. There is something violent about the way they run. The way the shoot out from the start and torpedo through the finish. There’s no time to get lost.

If Lan Zhan’s way of running is about holding onto control, sprinting is about losing it.

Lan Zhan watches Jiang Cheng tear down the track.

Jiang Cheng is the fastest sprinter in their school – probably in their entire prefecture actually. He holds the school records in the 100m and 200m and if sprinting if violence, there is no one more destructive than Jiang Cheng.

Lan Zhan’s a bit disgusted by it, really, if he thinks about it. Sometimes, he wonders why Jiang Cheng runs at all. As Lan Zhan sees it, there’s no joy in Jiang Cheng’s running. Even when he wins he seems dissatisfied.

So the mysteries of the track – the joy it brings his brother and the obvious dissatisfaction it brings Jiang Cheng – they are all part of the appeal that Lan Zhan is beginning to find.

The biggest mystery though…

The one Lan Zhan would never admit wondering about, even if pressed…

Lan Zhan squats down and stretches one leg forward. He tilts his head slightly towards his shoulder. From this angle, he can see his biggest mystery from the corner of his eye.

Wei Ying.

The boys’ cross country coach spent all of second year trying to convince Wei Ying to join the cross country team to no avail. Wei Ying said that long runs bore him.

Aside from Jiang Cheng, Wei Ying holds the fastest 100m and 200m times, but anything longer than 200m Jiang Cheng can’t even compete. (Sometimes Lan Zhan thinks that maybe that that’s why Jiang Cheng is always so dissatisfied.)

Lan Zhan knows Wei Ying doesn’t even like the sprints – he won’t run them unless someone is injured.

Wei Ying likes to run the 800m the best, and his time is so fast that the Olympic team recruits often come watch him.

Lan Zhan always likes to watch Wei Ying cross the finish line. He’ll come to the meet hours ahead of his race time just to watch Wei Ying.

Wei Ying sails through the end, the other runners far behind him, and when he crosses the finish, he always lets his arms swing back a little as he glides through.

It’s… beautiful.

If Lan Zhan was a little more stupid, he might admit that Wei Wuxian almost looks like he has wings in that moment. (He might admit that Wei Wuxian looks a little angelic - but he’s not stupid).

Lan Zhan knows more about Wei Wuxian than he’s comfortable admitting to, and it doesn’t help that Wei Wuxian probably only barely knows Lan Zhan even exists.

It doesn’t matter… Lan Zhan wouldn’t know what to do if Wei Wuxian noticed him anyway.  

He brings his leg back in and turns to stretch the other side. He turns his head and keeps looking at Wei Wuxian from the corner of his eye.

Wei Wuxian is laughing brightly. Talking and laughing with the other mid-range runners.

He’s always surrounded by people. Always bright and happy and having fun… and that’s why he’s Lan Zhan’s biggest mystery.

Because the way Wei Wuxian runs is very…

Lonely.

Wei Wuxian’s steps are light and his strides are long and his breathing is always under control. But he doesn’t seem lost like Lan Zhan.

Or…

Maybe he’s lost, but he’s lost in a different way than Lan Zhan.

Running is a quiet place for Lan Zhan. An easy question with an easy answer. The one place Lan Zhan can’t be found lacking in effort or ambition or any other strange standard his uncle’s set for him.

It doesn’t seem to be a quiet place for Wei Ying.

Maybe Lan Zhan doesn’t know as much as he thinks he knows about Wei Ying, or maybe he’s seeing things that aren’t there, but when Lan Zhan watches Wei Ying run…

It looks like he’s searching for something.

(As beautiful as Wei Ying is when he crosses the finish line, he doesn’t smile when he wins either.)

Lan Zhan stands as Wei Ying walks past him.

He knows it’s silly, but he feels himself hold his breath a little – stand a little bit straighter. He does his best not to let his eyes follow Wei Ying as he walks past.

He would be mortified if Wei Ying found out that Lan Zhan paid him any attention at all.

Lan Zhan stays that way for a few seconds as Wei Ying walks farther and farther away from him. The shoulder that Wei Ying walked past feels a little bit hotter than the rest of his body. There’s a strange tingling in his back at the thought that maybe Wei Ying might have looked back at him.

He feels foolish, but also strangely satisfied with himself. It feels like a little achievement that he’s gone another day without letting Wei Ying know that Lan Zhan... knows anything about him at all.

It’s maybe creepy and strange but hiding his creepy and strangeness feels like an achievement so Lan Zhan decides to be satisfied with that.

He starts walking towards the bleachers to wait for his brother to finish practice, when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Lan Zhan!”

Lan Zhan turns, quickly brushing the hand off his shoulder before looking at the face of his assailant.

He knows it’s not possible, but his heart feels like its stopped in his chest.

“Ow,” Wei Ying says shaking the hand that Lan Zhan slapped away. “No – don’t apologize. It’s my fault, I surprised you.”

Lan Zhan hadn’t made any movement or sound close to an apology at all but…

“It’s Lan Zhan, right?” Wei Ying asks, his brows furrowing at Lan Zhan’s continued silence.

“Mn,” Lan Zhan finally says with a nod. He feels a little bit panicked. He feels like maybe Wei Ying read his mind and came to ask him to stop stalking him so much. He feels like if he gives any more information Wei Ying might find out everything and…!!!

“I’m Wei Ying!” Wei Ying says brightly, uselessly - because could there be anyone in the entire school that could possibly not know him? – “We’re actually in the same year, but I’m in class 3.”

Lan Zhan just nods again, because this still feels dangerous and he doesn’t want to give any more information than he has to.

Wei Ying doesn’t seem at all put off by Lan Zhan’s continued silence. “Me and some of the other guys on the team were going to go to the pool hall to hang out after – I just wanted to see if you would want to come with us.”

It’s too much.

It’s really too much.

Wei Ying knowing his name is too much. Wei Ying saying his name is too much. Wei Ying inviting him out is too much.

Lan Zhan really…

Lan Zhan takes a step back. “Mid-term exams are next week and the pool hall is an improper place for runners to… hang out at… there’s too much smoke.”

Wei Ying’s eyes go a little big and round at Lan Zhan’s answer.

Lan Zhan wants to hide in a hole. He feels like the biggest loser in the world and oh gods, Wei Ying is going to think he’s the biggest xueba in the planet. Wei Ying is probably regretting even trying to talk to Lan Zhan. He probably regrets even knowing Lan Zhan’s name. Oh gods…

Wei Ying is quiet for a few seconds…

And then suddenly…

He breaks out in a huge smile and he… laughs…

Lan Zhan feels embarrassment crash over him in waves. He moves to walk past Wei Ying. He doesn’t want to be laughed at – even if the person laughing at him is beautiful and fast and…

“Oh please don’t get it wrong,” Wei Ying says, quickly grabbing Lan Zhan’s wrist so he can’t walk any further. His words are still decorated with laughter. As much as Lan Zhan hates it, he can’t help but find it… charming. “I’m not laughing at you – promise. I’m not!”

Lan Zhan doesn’t move. He doesn’t make any noise. He looks at Wei Ying’s face out from the corner of his eye and he finds that Wei Ying’s face is open and honest…

“I didn’t… say anything funny,” Lan Zhan says.

“Yeah,” Wei Ying agrees warmly, “But it was funnier because I knew you didn’t mean to be funny.”

The waves of embarrassment ebb a bit.

“What was so funny?” Lan Zhan asks.

Wei Ying scrunches his nose a little, as he shrugs his shoulder to one side. “I can’t really explain it,” he says, “It’s just funny to hear someone my age saying that something is improper.”

Lan Zhan tries (and fails) not to stare at the way Wei Ying’s nose scrunches. It’s cuter than Lan Zhan ever imagined and Lan Zhan wants to… save it to his memory…

He shakes his head a little to clear his mind and he pulls his hand away from Wei Ying’s.

“That’s… boring,” Lan Zhan says.

Wei Ying smiles widely again. His eyes are prettier up close, Lan Zhan thinks. “I’ll find something fun next time,” Wei Ying says, “I’ll find a proper place to hang out so you have to hang out with me then, okay?”

He’s off before Lan Zhan can even respond.

Lan Zhan watches him as he runs towards his waiting group of friends. He feels little bit like he might’ve been run over by a truck. He feels more tired from this short interaction than he did from his practice.

He watches Wei Ying runs through the exit and out of the track.

Wei Ying crosses the threshold like it’s a finish line.

Both his arms swing back a little, his head tilts up slightly.

Lan Zhan knows it’s not possible, but his heart stops in his chest.

[nobodyfamousposts]

BURN THE WITCH!   Part 7

Trigger warning for attempted burning, attempted murder due to the aforementioned burning, and talk of stalking.

______________________________

The old pictures of witch burnings and those who conduct them were far from imposing figures. Some nowadays would insist it amounted to people in funny hats, and had difficulty taking them seriously. They certainly didn’t seem scary.

Similarly, Rose Lavillant was far from an imposing figure. She stood shorter than almost everyone in the class and didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She was more likely to break down in tears before she would so much as raise her voice at anyone, regardless of the reason. She was one whom the word “scary” didn’t even seem to be a word in the dictionary for.

But seeing Rose standing there in full Witch Hunting regalia was quite possibly one of the most terrifying things Lila had ever seen.

“Lila Rossi! Welcome to the party!”

Lila drew back—or she tried to, at least, only to end up bumping into Chat. The hero promptly grabbed hold of her wrists, effectively keeping her in place and cutting off any avenue of escape as Witch Hunter continued to approach.

“Chat Noir!” Lila hissed. “You’re supposed to be a hero! So do the ‘hero thing’ and either get me out of here or let me go!”

“So you can try to get Ladybug killed again?” He sneered, looking more disgusted and angry than she’d ever seen him. “Not a chance.”

She gaped.

“You can’t be serious!” He couldn’t be! That buffoon was never serious!

Except the way he was glaring at her looked…very serious indeed.

“You’ve evaded consequences long enough, Lila. And like your lies, these things build up over time.”

“Right you are, Chat Noir!” Witch Hunter exclaimed gleefully as she came to a stop only a couple feet away.

“And eventually, they build up so much that there’s really only one result.” Witch Hunter continued, smirking at Lila.

“…You end up on top?” Lila asked hopefully.

That got a bitter laugh.

“You only win so long, Lila. Then people have enough. And aaaall the people you trampled over on your way up will be there to drag you down.” Witch hunter almost seemed to twirl her closed scroll. “Down, down, down…until your final, well deserved end.” She finished, stepping aside and directing Lila’s attention to the pyre that was waiting for her.

“Tie her up!”

_____________________

Well, the one good thing about finally being alone was that she was able to transform in peace. Despite Tikki’s protests. Which sounded like whining more than anything.

The petty, childish part of her wanted to hold that over Tikki once things returned to normal. Moral Tikki, Kwami of Creation, steadfast voice of goodness and order, whining like a child not getting an extra cookie.

Hey, she’d have to take whatever humor she could get at this point before she would be forced to charge yet again into the insanity.

Since Lila was with Chat Noir and possibly safe for now (though with Lila involved, anything could have happened in the span of a few minutes), Marinette decided to try and locate the akuma. If she could find out where it was, she could plan.

She moved to the rooftops for a better view. There was no smoke yet—always a good sign. And the streets around her were still mostly devoid of people. But she could hear some commotion from a distance away. Following it, she noticed that it was growing louder the closer she got to the Eiffel Tower.

As were lights.

And party streamers.

And people. Whom were acting like they were simply going to a festival.

That was odd. 

If the Tower was being used as a safe area, then why were people setting up this way? This wasn’t safe, it was extravagant and frivolous. It was bound to get the akuma’s attention.

There were kiosks, tents, a pyre, carnival games, food stands—back up, what was that?

…

Sure enough, looking back, she noticed a central area of the festivities specifically arranged in a rather distressing manner to create what was unmistakably a pyre reminiscent of what was used during historical witch burnings.

At least now she knew where Rose probably was. And where they intended to take Lila to.

“So this is where they’re going to try and burn Lila?”

Wait...

Chat had told her to go to the Tower. He’d said it was where everyone would be.

She groaned as realization hit her.

“He’s affected too.”

Because of course he is!

Why else would he direct Marinette there? He probably wanted her to make it to the “show”. He had been trying to be helpful so Marinette wouldn’t miss out. And he had helped…just not the way he probably intended.

Because now Ladybug knew just what her obstacles would be. She would have to deal with Witch Hunter and finding her akuma—as well as the crowds including her own partner that would no doubt not take kindly to her interference—all while trying to protect Lila. The girl who hated Ladybug so much that she would willingly work with a supervillain regularly attacking the city just to ensure that Ladybug is destroyed regardless of whose hands it happens by or what would happen afterwards.

Even if it was in Lila’s own interests and meant the difference between her own life and death, Ladybug couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t do something to sabotage any efforts to save her if it meant that Lila could take Ladybug down as well. So she couldn’t even count on Lila in this instance to simply stay out of the way.

Chat was affected. Master Fu was affected. Most of Paris was affected. Her own kwami was affected. It was down to her.

She was alone.

“Ladybug.”

Well...not completely alone.

At her side, Longg looked up to her.

“Whatever you decide to do, I will aid you.” He promised her.

That…

That really helped to hear. It was nice to be supported in a way that DIDN’T involve allowing murder. Just having one person backing her to do what she knew she should really helped.

She smiled in relief.

“Thank you, Longg.”

_____________________

It was a rather lovely gathering, all things considered. People simply going about festivities without a care, looking at food, playing games, buying souvenirs. The Mayor gave a speech. It was a nice speech, even. Yes, everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun and just a grand old time this beautiful sunny day.

Except for Lila, who was glaring pettily from the pole she was now tied to.

She was rather vexed about the entire matter. Possibly because she couldn’t join them. But more likely because the festival in question was solely dedicated to her humiliation and theoretical demise. Not that they’d follow through with it, of course, because certainly Hawk Moth wouldn’t let Rose actually hurt her, but still! It was the principle of the thing!

She had wanted to be the center of attention, but not like THIS!

“Enjoying yourself, Lila?” Witch Hunter asked sweetly as she secured the final knot.

“Okay, you’ve had your fun.” Lila growled with a glare at the smug akuma. “But don’t you have a job to do?”

Witch Hunter grinned. “I’m already doing it!”

“No!” She shouted, stomping her foot—or at least as much as the ropes would let her. “Your job is to take the Miraculous! Remember? Ladybug and Chat Noir? The heroes? Your enemies?”

The akuma shrugged in response. “Yeah, but who knows where they are or how much time it would take to find them?”

“He’s right there!” Lila exclaimed angrily, nodding her head in the direction of Chat, who was indeed only twenty feet away. “He’s not even doing anything useful!”

Chat Noir, for his part, was cheerfully engaging with a group of children. Unconcerned with Lila now that she was caught, he was instead focused on using his claws to whittle a number of sticks to fine points, much to the awe of his juvenile audience. 

"Marshmallow, marshmallow! How fluffy you could be! So near a flame, let's see how toasted you could be!"

Lila watched the scene in initial confusion until he started poking a large marshmallow on the end of each stick, much to the glee of the children and some sickening realization for Lila.

“Here you go!” He said as he cheerfully handed each stick to one of the kids.

“Yay!”

“Thank you!”

“Mallow!”

“Can I eat it now?” One asked, eyeing the puffy treat hungrily.

“If you do, you won’t be able to toast it.” Chat replied. “We still have to get the fire going. It won’t be long now.” And here he gave a side-eyed smirk to Lila.

…Yep. Realization and dread was setting in.

“You can’t be serious! You’re actually going to burn me?” She demanded of the akuma.

“Well, yeah, that’s the plan.” Witch Hunter responded as she went to grab two containers of lighter fluid. “I haven’t made it a secret, you know.”

“But you can’t!” Lila shouted, horrified.

“Sure, I can! There’s plenty of wood to keep the fire well fed. Plus my torch is magical, so—”

“Hawk Moth wouldn’t allow it! You said it yourself, I’ve been helping him! So that makes us on the same side!”

“Were you on my side when you stole from me? When you lied to me? Used me?” Witch Hunter questioned with a look of disgust. “Tell me, Lila, when did this supposed camaraderie between us suddenly start to matter to you?”

Lila scoffed. “I got you power, didn’t I? Now look at you! All of Paris is under your sway! Even the heroes are willing to follow you into whatever silly good acts you’re interested in. You could just tell them to hand you the Miraculous and they probably would! With that, you could have the power to do any of the goody-goody things you want.”

“I DIDN’T WANT POWER!” Witch Hunter shouted. “I WANTED A FRIEND!”

“And we were friends.” Lila replied, unimpressed. “As you were helping me, adoring me, doing so many favors on my behalf…” She smiled. “That’s just what ‘friends’ do.”

It’s what they were supposed to do.

After all, a “friend” was just a label for people who could do things for you.

And wasn’t she a wonderful person for letting them? For allowing them to be useful?

It was just the way the world worked.

Whose fault was it really if Rose didn’t like her place in it after all?

Witch Hunter looked at Lila in disgust. As did Chat Noir and a number of those nearby. 

“So you just use people? That’s what a friend is to you? Someone to use?”

Lila shrugged. “Everyone uses someone. Even Hawk Moth is using you for the Miraculous.” Her eyes narrowed. “Which are supposed to be your goal”

Of course. Because let’s not forget who was really in charge here. Not the pitiful little akuma in front of her, but the man behind the mask—so to speak.

Lila had done her part. More than done her part by this point given how far this akuma had gotten compared to any other before. He certainly wouldn’t have made an akuma this powerful without her help.

“So Hawk Moth!” Lila hissed. “Hurry up and order your akuma to do its job!”

Witch Hunter appeared to be seething before the glowing mask formed, indicating Hawk Moth communicating to his minion. Good. She was learning her place then. Likely being told to focus on finding Ladybug and to leave Lila be. She finally felt herself relax in relief.

Of course, she wouldn’t mind playing the damsel in distress. Well, she would mind actually, since it would leave her tied to the pole to keep up appearances, but if it meant drawing in and finally crushing Ladybug once and for all, it would be a small price to pay.

There was a long silence. Lila waited, feeling smug. Her confidence only grew when the akuma regained focus and turned to her.

“Ah yes.” Witch Hunter drawled with a dark smile. “Hawk Moth has a message for you.”

A message? Lila frowned. His message should be to his akuma, ordering his minion to let her go! What could he want to say to her?

“Hawk Moth thanks you for your assistance.”

With a smirk, Witch Hunter leaned forward so she was eye to eye with Lila.

“But your services are no longer necessary.”

Lila froze in shock.

“What?”

She tsked at the other girl. “You have a talent for manipulation, sure. But you waste it on big gambles that ultimately have little payoff even if they do work out in your favor. You lack subtlety and you try to reach too far. All too soon, you’ve overreached and now look at you.”

Witch Hunter spoke, and with her candid way of speaking and impassive stare, it was difficult to tell if it was Witch Hunter or Hawk Moth himself speaking. She had a feeling though…the strange sense that she was hearing Hawk Moth’s words as if from him directly.

“Your true nature has been revealed. The heroes have already long since known not to trust you, and now that the entirety of Paris is aware of your actions as well, your ability to influence and manipulate…your one worthwhile trait…is worthless.”

Lila gaped, uncomprehending. Because this…he wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying, was he?

“What did you expect would happen once you were caught? Nobody will trust you now. Everyone knows what you’ve done. What you intended to do. Who will fall for your lies now? And even Hawk Moth isn’t about to go out of his way to help someone who has fallen so far.”

“You can’t do this!” Lila shouted. “We are partners! You need me!”

“It would appear that you have overestimated your value and the nature of this relationship.” Witch Hunter replied, sounding far too old to simply be the akuma speaking. “A partnership requires equal footing, and you appear to have lost yours. Over some extra play money, no less.”

He/she sighed. “And your reveal didn’t even generate enough emotional turmoil for another mass akumatization. Though I suppose you deserve credit for this masterwork of an akuma. But between the two of you…well, it is no contest. And I am not about to risk one tool to try and save another that no longer functions.”

Witch Hunter giggled at Lila’s dumbfounded expression.

She leaned in close, speaking in barely a whisper.

“Don’t look so shocked, Lila? A tool is only useful as long as it can be used. But I’m sure you already know all about that.”

She sneered.

“Friend.”

Hearing that word, said in that way, being used against her for once made her go cold. As her label for “people who were useful to her” was turned around on her, she got a feeling for the first time just what her former “friends” had probably felt.

It was the use of that word which really made the situation hit home. At this moment she realized that this was real. This was happening. And unlike any other situation—whether before, after, or during the akuma attacks—this was one time when her charm would not be able to get her out of it.

The akuma didn’t just want to get rid of her as an obstacle like Oni-chan had. She flat out wanted Lila burned.

The entire city was backing her. Her classmates. Their families. And Chat Noir—one of the city’s heroes had helped to trap her.

Hawk Moth was not going to risk losing such a powerful akuma simply to protect one girl. Especially not one he no longer saw a use in.

This was it.

She was really going to die here.

And this time, no amount of lies, promises, or words would save her.

It was only once Witch Hunter put her torch to the pyre and the sounds and smell of the first bits of wood starting to catch aflame that Lila snapped out of it. Only to be greeted with the cheers of the crowd, all of whom were watching her execution with eager eyes. many were holding up their phones to record the moment for history. And one particularly brazen citizen had chosen to get a head start on the marshmallow roasting and held their treat on a stick over the flames that were starting to catch on the wood around her and creeping ever inward.

“Don’t worry, Lila! The smoke inhalation will kill you before the flames do.” Witch Hunter said with a smile. “That’s not to say you won’t be burned or suffer pain first, of course. But still, small mercies, I guess?”

Lila opened her mouth to respond, but couldn’t speak.

There were no words she could say.

So she simply screamed instead.

Loudly.

Senselessly.

Begging without words for something—anything to help her.

And at that moment, as if by a miracle, it began to rain.

___________________________

By all appearances, it wasn’t a natural rainfall—given the clear skies with nary a cloud in sight. Or the sudden wall of water that washed through the area and took out all torches. Though it could be argued that Longg was the original source of storms and weather to begin with, and thus any rain caused by himself or his power were indeed natural.

But that’s just semantics.

The point was that it WAS raining. On a cloudless day. Conveniently falling solely within the single area around the base of the Eiffel Tower that made up the whole of this “Witch Burning Festival”.

And most importantly, on the pyre that Lila herself was tied to, getting her wet and dousing the flames that threatened to engulf her.

A number among the mob responded as many people do in a flash downpour and immediately sought shelter from the sudden and inexplicable rainstorm. Chat, not being one for water, hissed and bounded away somewhere higher up and out of the splash zone. Alya, ever the reporter, dashed to a barrier to protect herself from the worst of the wave and continued to film the scene, grateful that her phone had a water-proof casing so as to not be damaged.

Witch Hunter, however, stood her ground. After her initial confusion at the unexpected storm, she realized quickly enough what had to be the cause and glared at the sudden accumulating mass of water with clenched fists and gritted teeth. “Ladybug!” She bit out with all the savagery of someone who had just literally had someone rain on their parade.

Because who else could it be?

___________________________

“You know the plan?” She asked her companion a few minutes previously.

“Yes. It should work. The water power will last until you fully reform, and even then you will not lose my power until you have used all three of the elemental abilities.”

Good to know. It seemed rather unfair given that she and Chat could only use one ability one time before their timers started, but for now, she would take it.

“Okay, then I can just wash out the square, douse the fire and any fire-causing sources, and dampen the wood enough that it can’t be lit again. Then focus on Witch Hunter.” She started pacing as she thought.

Longg nodded. “From what you have said, it seems Witch Hunter lacks much else in the way of offensive abilities. The other two elements may be useful, but shouldn’t be necessary.”

That was good to know. Longg was apparently quite the strategist, it seemed. It helped her to relax knowing she had someone on her side to work with.

A pause.

But just in case…

“You’re not going to advocate for her murder, are you?” She asked warily.

Better to make sure, after all.

The kwami tilted his head in curiosity.

“I do not know this Lila Rossi or what would warrant her to be set on fire. We couldn’t hear anything when we were within the box.” He assured her.

Oh. Well, that was a relief.

“But I can encourage you if you want me to.”

“No, thank you!”

___________________________

Lila spluttered as the wall of water splashed her. It was cold. It was wet. And while it did save her from the fire, it just put her back in the state of being drenched after she had already mostly dried off from an hour before.

The water coalesced into a singular form and rapidly regained color and flesh to reveal Dragonbug. She appeared tense and much like Witch Hunter, ready for a fight.

“M’lady! You made it!” Chat cheered before frowning, a bit put off. “Though we could have done without the water show…”

“My marshmallow...” One particularly unhappy civilian mourned.

“Ladybug!” Lila shrieked. Though it was hard to tell if she was actually glad to see her or not. “You did that on purpose!”

Not glad to see her then.

Regardless, Ladybug stayed silent, not denying it.

Okay, it was petty of her. But come on, after everything she had done today, she’d earned this.

“Why are you protecting her?” Witch Hunter shouted, waving her now doused torch in anger. “Do you even know what she’s done?”

“That doesn’t mean she should be lit on fire!” Ladybug countered.

“Sure, it does!” Chat Noir exclaimed from his position. “Like the old rhyme: Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

“That’s right!” Came a shout.

“Burn the witch!” Came another.

“AVENGE MY MARSHMALLOW!”

Ladybug groaned. Right, right. You couldn’t argue with an angry mob. It was a waste of time and only made them angrier.

“Chat!” She groaned. “You’re a hero! This isn’t what heroes do!”

But he remained firm. “Ladybug, I don’t want to fight you. But Lila is only getting what’s coming to her. She’s helped Hawk Moth. She’s hurt my friends. She tried to get you killed!”

He clenched his fists in anger.

She started in surprise. She knew these things, yes. But she hadn’t realized just how much her partner had been affected as well.

It was no wonder he fell to Witch Hunter.

“She fooled me, too.” He growled, bitter in his admission. “I trusted her so many times and only got burned. Even when you warned me, I didn’t listen and people only got hurt because of it. And still I gave her second chance after second chance and I’m tired of it!”

Even under the effects of Witch Hunter’s influence, she could hear the raw hurt and anger. As kind and trusting as Chat could be, he had negative feelings as well—she knew that better than anyone. He hid them, but they were there.

And right now…

She could tell that this was really how he felt.

“Chat…” She started.

“I won’t fight you, my lady.” He told her, backing away. “I just want to see justice done and the removal of a threat.”

Well, she supposed that was the best she could hope for.

“Shouldn’t you be untying me now?” Lila demanded in annoyance as she wiggled at her post.

Unfortunately, Lila had chosen a rather inopportune time to remind everyone she was still there.

If the situation were different and Lila was almost literally ANYONE ELSE, Ladybug may have considered it. But the fire was stopped and Lila was safe, if only for the moment. Attempting to directly rescue the girl would only leave herself vulnerable to the akuma and open to further sabotage from Lila.

She had to focus and deal with the akuma now.

“Rose, this isn’t like you!” It was fruitless and she knew it, but she still had to try to get her friend to see reason.

But it was clear the girl was too angry and the akuma was having none of it.

“She doesn’t deserve protection!” Witch Hunter snapped, holding out her scroll and letting it unfurl.

Realizing what she was about to do, Ladybug charged.

“Lila stole the book from Mr. Agreste and nearly caused Adrien to be taken out of school!”

She knew that, she thought as she ducked a punch.

“Lila was hiding in Paris for months while pretending to have been traveling around the world!”

She knew that as well. Another punch dodged.

“Lila helped Hawk Moth as Volpina on Heroes Day!”

And that. She tried to make a grab for the scroll but missed.

“She manipulated her way into Adrien Agreste’s house!”

That too. She jumped back several feet when the akuma made a counterattack.

“She framed Marinette and got her expelled!”

She was Marinette and she knew that.

At this point, even with the reminders of all of Lila’s past misdeeds being brought up, Ladybug couldn’t find it in herself to be angry. She wasn’t even surprised at any of the claims.

Was there really anything Lila had done that she didn’t already know about? Or that she didn’t already believe Lila to be capable of?

“C’mon, Ladybug!” Chat called out to her imploringly. “You already know how bad Lila is. Can’t we just get rid of her and save Paris the trouble?”

“It’s only justice!” Witch Hunter shouted, pointing to Lila.

Lila, for her part, tried to shrink back as far as the pole and her bindings would allow.

“That’s not justice, Rose. That’s just revenge.” Ladybug replied, in perhaps the first true bit of feeling she’s had since this battle started. “If we let someone suffer just because we didn’t like them, could we really be called heroes?”

“SHE HURT ME!” Witch Hunter shrieked. “She LIED to me! She TRICKED me! SHE USED ME!”

“That makes her a monster. But you’re not one, Rose!”

“Hey!” Lila shouted, indignant. “I’M the victim, here!”

Witch Hunter spun on Lila in a rage. “I have your crimes right here, Lila Rossi! You’re the furthest thing from a victim and any court would agree with me.” She smirked, shaking her scroll. “That’s why MY court is the only one that matters right now! And you’ll see that soon enough!”

She spun back to Ladybug with a dark gleam in her eyes before she looked down to the scroll and began reading again. Much more quickly this time.

“Lila tried to sacrifice Marinette as a distraction to save herself! Lila lied to Chris about inventing Freestyle Crash! Lila made a deal with Oni-chan to get her to try and kill Ladybug!”

Ladybug’s eyes widened.

She hadn’t known about that. It didn’t surprise her that Lila would do that, but it was something she hadn’t known.

Okay, she had to take out that scroll before Witch Hunter could find something that WOULD upset her.

“LUCKY CHARM!”

In a swirl of magic, an item formed and dropped into her hands.

“Lighter fluid?” She gaped.

‘Dammit, Tikki!’

“Looks like even the Lucky Charm agrees, m’lady!” Chat called to her, being absolutely NO help whatsoever!

Ladybug felt her eye twitch.

Though at least he wasn’t trying to fight her either, which was a nice change of pace from the other times he’d been put under an akuma’s influence. But still!

“Lila has been acting as a spy for Gabriel Agreste! She’s been using this connection to try and gain influence over Adrien!”

FOCUS!

Ladybug looked around for anything the Lucky Charm could be used with. Because there had to be SOMETHING she could use it for.

Something that DIDN’T involve lighting Lila on fire!

“She’s kept the school from reaching her mother about her absences!”

Think!

“She’s lied to her mother about the school being closed!”

Think!

“She’s lied to her mother about akuma attacks! She claimed that Ladybug and Chat Noir were too incompetent to deal with them and let them run wild for months!”

She felt a flare of indignation at the lie regarding her capability, but forced herself to squash it quickly with the memory of how Lila had tried to disparage her superhero self to Adrien previously. If she could put down a hero she was supposedly “friends” with to a cute boy to make herself look better, it stood to reason she would insult Ladybug in other ways to other unsuspecting people. So no, Ladybug couldn’t be outraged.

Chat, however, was. “Hey!” He snapped, sending Lila a glare. Lila for her part merely looked away with a dark mutter.

Witch Hunter continued. “She’s lied about being Adrien Agreste’s girlfriend!”

Ladybug’s vision seemed to narrow down on Witch Hunter’s scroll.

…..it couldn’t be that easy, could it?

“She was willingly akumatized! TWICE!”

Screw it.

“She’s a liar! She’s evil! She’s horrible!” Witch Hunter shouted, growing only more frustrated angry. “SO WHY DO YOU KEEP PROTECTING HER?!

Good question. There’s no single clear answer, but it was a good question.

And in the midst of Rose’s growing fury, she was caught up in her own feelings that she had stopped really paying attention to her surroundings.

Taking advantage of the akuma’s distraction, Ladybug threw out her yoyo, wrapping it around her.

“Hey!” Witch Hunter cried out as her arms were pulled towards her body in an awkward angle that left the scroll in easy grabbing range.

Ladybug lunged and within seconds, had grabbed her arm that held the scroll with one hand and pulled the scroll from her grip with the other. She didn’t want to risk splashing Rose, after all. With Witch Hunter tied up and unable to stop her, she poured the lighter fluid on the scroll. And then—

“Lightning Dragon!”

It was only her hand that was covered with electricity. She didn’t need too much power. Just enough to create a few sparks. And when those sparks hit the scroll where the fluid had soaked through…

It only took a couple of seconds

“NO!” The akuma shouted as the scroll caught aflame.

And as the scroll started to burn, a black butterfly escaped.

Ladybug didn’t even bother with her normal catchphrase as she simply caught and purified the akuma. After everything that had happened, she just wanted this day to be OVER.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the butterfly was released—now pure white—and Witch Hunter changed back into a confused Rose.

“MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”

The flash of light and loveliness of ladybugs brought with them a sense of relief to Marinette. All signs of the festival were cleaned away. What few people remained were looking around in confusion, as if unaware of what they had just previously been attempting to do. The stand and pyre Lila had been trapped on vanished. Lila herself was sent sprawling to the ground with a loud “oof!” in an act that may have been just a little petty on the part of the Cure.

Not that Ladybug was going to complain.

The Cure seemed to finish with Ladybug herself, which hopefully meant that Tikki would be back to normal once she detransformed. Though she wasn’t in a position to check just yet. She had a few other things to attend to first.

One of which being the liar herself.

Now free of her bindings and no longer under attack from an akuma or angry mob, Lila seemed much more confident—if not still somewhat shaken. She took to brushing herself off and trying to straighten her still damp and disorderly hair.

Lila sniffed and glared at the heroine.

“Here to lecture me again?”

She wanted to.

Oh, how she wanted to.

There was so much she wanted to say to the lying little witch. And after the day she had, she really wanted nothing more than to just full on RANT at her. As Marinette or Ladybug. Or both. She probably had two or three more good rants in her before Hawk Moth could scrounge up another akuma to target her. She could air some of those well-warranted grievances.

Except…

“No.”

Lila raised an eyebrow at that. “What?”

"No. I'm not going to lecture you. It'd simply be a waste of time at this point. Because if after everything that's happened today none of that has gotten through to you, then there's clearly nothing I could say that would."

She blinked. “So…you’re giving up?”

Ladybug leaned over Lila, looking…much more fearsome than the other girl had ever seen her. More than she had ever appeared to anyone.

“Let’s make something clear, Lila. I know you are a horrible person. I am fully aware that there are no lows you wouldn’t sink to. I know you’ve worked with Hawk Moth of your own free will and the only reason I’m not going to police and having you escorted from the city is simply that I don’t yet have proof you wouldn’t lie your way around and quite frankly, I trust you less out of my sight.”

Lila backed away.

“What…what are you saying?”

The hero clapped her hands together, looking eerily cheerful. “I’m saying that you and I are going to be spending much more time together! I will be watching you every day of your stay here in Paris. I know you’re connected to Hawk Moth, after all, so that’s all the more reason to keep you around.” Ladybug smiled. “Just think about it. I’m going to be aware of you at all times. When an akuma shows up, you’ll be the first person I’m looking for. If anything goes wrong, you will be the one I’ll know to be in the middle of it. Where you go, who you interact with, anything you do…I’m going to be right there.”

Ladybug’s grin was practically feral.

“You, Lila Rossi, are going to be my new. Special. Friend.”

Lila blanched, her eyes wide. “Y-you can’t do that! That’s stalking! I’ll—I’ll tell everyone you’re harassing me!”

Ladybug laughed. “Oh, Lila…”

She leaned forward and wrapped an arm around the liar’s shoulders.

“You said it yourself in your interview, remember? As far as anyone else is concerned, I’m only spending time with my best friend.” She said, poking Lila in the cheek as she reminded her of her own words.

Lila paled.

With her arm still around Lila to keep her from trying to pull away, Ladybug shrugged and gestured with the other arm. “And sure, you could admit to everyone that our friendship was a lie. But that would require you to admit that you DID lie. And which of those stories sound more realistic, do you think? That teen model Lila Rossi is being stalked by a superhero after she lied about being that hero’s best friend? Or that Ladybug is keeping a protective watch over a civilian who was foolish enough to claim a connection to her so that said civilian doesn’t herself get killed by a supervillain?”

She gave Lila a deadpan stare.

“After all, given what happened today, it doesn’t look like you’re Hawk Moth’s favorite accomplice anymore. There’s no telling how much you know…or what he could do to make sure you can’t reveal how much you know.”

Ladybug tried not to take satisfaction in the fact that Lila was starting to tremble.

“But I guess that’s what happens when you work with criminals for petty reasons.” She shrugged before smiling broadly. “That’s why it’s such a good thing that I will be going well out of my way to protect you. From anything. Ever.”

“But—”

She continued to gush. “And if that protection involves hunting you down during every akuma attack—or anything that I even suspect could become an akuma attack to get you out of the way…well, I'm just making sure my DEAR FRIEND Lila is safe. Sure, I tend to be in a rush, so I might be a little rough when I find a good hiding place for you...."

Ladybug tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“How do you feel about closets? Lockers? The sewer? Maybe another dip in the Seine since you seemed to handle it so well this time? Just to make really sure?”

Lila’s look of sheer disgust was all the answer she needed.

“Whether it’s an akuma attack or a squirrel, I promise to keep you safe. Day and night. Anywhere you go. For as long as this threat to you persists.” She swore, admiring Lila’s expression of growing anger.

“How about it, ‘Bestie’?” She finished with a giggle, drawing Lila even closer to her and tapping Lila’s nose. Perhaps she was enjoying this too much?

Still, this finally seemed to be enough for Lila as she slapped Ladybug’s hand away and shoved out of her grip.

“You don’t scare me!” She shouted this, but her voice quivered and her hands were shaking. “I’ll tell everyone! I’ll turn everyone against you! I’ll make you sorry!”

“There are so many reasons that would be a bad idea, the least of which being that you’ll open yourself up to an attack by Hawk Moth. But well, if you want to try it anyway, by all means go ahead!” Ladybug chirped. “I mean, really…”

Her eyes narrowed as she gave a rather evil smile.

“Who’ll even believe you?”

Lila gave a rather high pitched screech before storming off.

Ladybug smiled brightly as she waved. “Ciao! See you later, Lila!” She kept it up for a few more seconds until Lila was well out of earshot, at which point she immediately dropped the facade and glowered at the girl’s retreating back. “And it’ll be all too soon.”

“Ladybug?”

Oh right! She forgot for a moment there were still others.

She turned to see a worried-looking Chat.

“Did we…?”

She shook her head and he seemed to slump in relief.

“Oh. Good. That’s…that’s good.”

Yeah. She didn’t want to consider how Chat or anyone else would react if they learned they had killed someone.

A sniffle drew the attention of both to a particularly upset Rose. She appeared to be a mix of sad and horrified. Tears were spilling and she appeared a mess.

“I’m…so sorry!” She sobbed, rubbing at her eyes helplessly.

“It’s not your fault, Rose.” Ladybug rested a hand on her shoulder. “You were upset and you had every right to be.”

But Rose shook her head insistently. “No! If I hadn’t believed her…if I had just checked with Prince Ali first, none of this would have happened! And now…” She gave a sob. “Ali hates me! And so many people were lied to! They’ll be disappointed and their money was stolen and it’s all my fault!”

“You didn’t know.” Chat told her. “You thought you were doing the right thing.”

Rose sniffed. “But what seemed like the right thing really wasn’t.”

Something about that made Chat wince. “Yeah…”

“You can’t change what happened, but you can take steps from here.” Ladybug told her. She drew back from Rose and tapped her chin, thinking for a moment.

An idea struck and she snapped her fingers. “Since this was for a charity, didn’t you keep a ledger of the funds you received?”

Chat brightened. “Hey, yeah! You can use that log to note how much was stolen and take it to the proper authorities. That way, you can try to get the funds back.”

Rose seemed to calm as she considered the idea. She sniffed and wiped away a few tears.

“It’s worth a try. Thank you.” She gave a weak smile. “It doesn’t fix everything, but it’s at least an option.”

“You’re a wonderful person, Rose. Don’t let this change that.”

Rose smiled back at her. And for a moment, it truly felt like everything would be all right.

Then her earring gave a final beep and her transformation gave out.

Rose squeaked in shock and covered her eyes. Chat, for his part, spun around in an attempt not to see. It was heartwarming that they were so considerate of Ladybug’s privacy. Even Tikki gave a little gasp once she was free and flew to hide behind her. Fortunately, to her relief as she patted herself down in a panic, it was only her Ladybug transformation that had given out. The Dragon Miraculous was still very much activated and in effect.

“I’m okay. Sorry to worry you.”

Chat took a glance over his shoulder and gave a smile. “Perhaps we should cat-ch up another time.”

Talking was indeed not a free action. And while she had dealt with the akuma fairly quickly, she had spent a little too much time dealing with Lila.

….still worth it, though.

“Bug out!” She called as she took off.

_____________________

The Dragon Miraculous was different than what she was used to. The Ladybug Miraculous in combination with it had mitigated some of the differences, but they were still there. And now it was even more pronounced with her other transformation gone. It felt heavier. Her movements seemed more forceful. And there was an undercurrent of some feeling reminiscent of static that seemed to cling to her. Plus, she was without her yoyo, so traveling took a bit longer.

Once she had made it back to the bakery and was sure she was out of sight of everyone, she hopped over to her balcony and back into the safety of her room.

She waited for a minute, listening carefully to make sure no one would catch her. Then she sighed in relief and detransformed, leaving just Marinette with two kwamis in her room.

“Thank you, Longg.”

The Dragon gave a simple bow. “It was my honor.”

“I’ll make sure to return you to Master Fu later.” She promised him as she took off the choker and put it back in his box.

“Then until we meet again…” He said in farewell before disappearing.

Leaving her alone with Tikki.

Dead silence followed. Neither seemed willing to speak. What could she even say after what she did?

‘I’m sorry?’

But she wasn’t. 

‘I was wrong?’

But she had only spoken the truth.

‘I shouldn’t have done that?’

But she…she didn’t regret it.

She should regret it. She knew she should. It was mean and cruel of her and she knew she shouldn’t have let her anger get the best of her…

And yet…

She’d just wanted to air her grievances for once.

…but she’s Ladybug.

Ladybug has to be the bigger person.

Ladybug has to do the right thing.

Always.

She sighed. “Tikki—”

“I’m sorry, Marinette.”

That wasn’t expected.

“Wait—what?” She gaped.

“I’m sorry.” Tikki repeated. She was floating in front of her, but appeared so weighted down. She had never seen the ancient being look so sad.

“What’s going on, Tikki?” Marinette held her hands out in front of her, allowing Tikki a place to perch. The kwami accepted the offer and the comfort that came with it, nuzzling into Marinette’s thumb.

“I meant what I said before.” Tikki told her. Which…was an answer without actually answering anything.

“Before?”

Tikki seemed to slump in on herself. “You have every right to feel angry.”

Wait…wait…wasn’t that…?

Marinette gasped. “You remember?”

Tikki nodded, looking miserable. “It’s blurry at times. I remember being angry. I remember why. I remember some of the things I said…”

Marinette looked away, fumbling for something to say or some way to respond to that revelation. “W-well…I mean…it wasn’t really you—”

“It was.” Tikki admitted.

“I’m sure you didn’t mean it—”

“I did.”

Marinette tensed.

“Please don’t tell me you still want me to light Lila on fire.”

She just couldn’t deal with anything else at this point! She just couldn’t!

Fortunately, Tikki looked horrified at that. “What?! No!”

"Maybe a teensy bit? You know, liar liar pants on fire?"

“NO!”

She sighed in relief. “Oh, good.”

Honestly, she’d had more than enough of that. It was like the world was telling her it was okay when she knew it wasn’t. And with every stunt Lila pulled and each person who tried to reassure her that Lila’s reign was over and she would finally be getting some comeuppance…

It was everything she’d been wanting to hear. Everything she had wanted to have happen. But it was all taken to such an extreme and it was only happening at all because of an akuma, so she couldn’t even feel relieved or vindicated because it didn’t feel real.

It wasn’t fair.

It was hardly simple temptation. It was like the world was trying to tell her to take what she wanted in the worst way she could and that nobody had to know. Or care.

But she would.

And while she certainly wasn’t inclined to go along with it, Marinette was just…tired by the end.

Exhausted, actually.

Not because she was tempted, but because she was just done with having to be the responsible one in the situation where everyone seemed intent on pushing her to do the wrong thing.

“Marinette?”

Tikki’s concern broke her out of her thoughts. The little kwami was looking up at her in worry, her little hands resting on Marinette’s thumb.

“I’m fine, Tikki.”

Tikki, for her part, only gave a small smile.

“I’m really proud of you for how you handled today.”

How could Tikki say that? She let her anger take over. She used the opportunity to truly let loose her feelings against Lila. And yes, she had been needlessly petty in some of her responses. She wasted time yelling at Lila as Marinette, which allowed Chat to find them and take Lila to the mob—not that they had known he was one of them at the time, but still! And then as Ladybug, she had wasted more time with Lila to the point her timer had run out and her transformation had dropped when she finally tried to comfort Rose.

Marinette winced. Those…weren’t really things to be proud of. “I yelled at Lila. Twice.”

“But you helped her more times.” Tikki countered. “Even when you didn’t have to. And Lila getting caught in the end was on her. From the sounds of it, she had multiple chances for safety and ended up losing them all because she kept trying to lie and hurt people instead.”

Well, that wasn’t untrue. How much of this could have been resolved so much faster if Lila had just stayed in the closet where Marinette put her? Or if she hadn’t tried to manipulate Luka and Anarka? Or if she hadn’t tried to betray Marinette to the mob? Or if she just didn’t lie about the charity in the first place?

Yeah, there was a lot of things that Lila had done to kind of bring misfortune upon herself.

“But it’s still my fault Lila was like this in the first place. I called her out as Ladybug the first day I met her because I was angry with her lying about being my friend to get close to people only to turn around and badmouth me to make herself look better.”

Which, looking back, probably hadn’t been that big of a deal. Surely no one would have thought less of Ladybug regardless of what Lila claimed—especially for a supposed “famous hero” like Volpina was supposed to be when she’d never even been heard of before. If anything, maybe this claim would have led a hero-fanatic like Alya to look into things and discover Lila was lying sooner?

Tikki frowned. “What Lila did wasn’t your fault!”

Marinette covered her face with her other hand. “But I embarrassed her in front of Adrien! No wonder she hates me!”

Tikki wasn’t having it though. “She embarrassed herself because she lied and was caught. And it would have been worse and more embarrassing if it had gone on longer.”

“If I had just kept my mouth shut…”

“Would it have really changed anything?” Tikki asked.

That…made her look up in surprise. “Well, she wouldn’t have a grudge against Ladybug.”

“Not calling her out then might have prevented her from considering Ladybug an enemy, but it wouldn’t have stopped her from lying and using people.” Tikki reasoned. “And it wouldn’t have stopped her from helping Hawk Moth if she thought he could give her something she wanted.”

True…Lila had agreed to work with Hawk Moth for revenge against Ladybug. But even if she hadn’t made herself a focus of Lila’s anger, sooner or later, someone was bound to call Lila out on her lies. And once Lila felt slighted, she would no doubt target them as she had Ladybug and Marinette.

She closed her eyes and took a breath as the realization really took hold.

The only one responsible for Lila’s actions was Lila. She chose to lie. She chose to do things that hurt people. And if this entire day should have taught Marinette anything, it’s that doing nothing and letting Lila continue only caused more harm in the long run.

After all, Rose hadn’t done anything but believe in Lila and try to help her. And yet she was still hurt. Even more than Marinette had been as either herself or Ladybug.

“And how long would it have taken, do you think, for Lila to covet the Miraculous for herself regardless?” Tikki asked. “You had something she didn’t. She was already using and trying to undermine Ladybug to promote herself before even meeting you. She was already pretending to have a Miraculous before she even knew what they were or what they could fully do. Do you really think that she wouldn’t have decided to work against you anyway simply because Ladybug had something she didn’t?”

“But…” Marinette seemed to struggle for a moment. Because it couldn’t just not be her fault at all. She had upset Lila and caused her to target her in the first place—on both sides of the mask. “I still could have done better. You always push me for that.”

Even if Lila was in the wrong, that didn’t make what Marinette did right.

Tikki tilted her head, looking up at her human.

“I expect the best from you because I know you’re a wonderful Ladybug. I hold you to higher standards than anyone else because I care about you so much. But sometimes…the expectation and burden can be too much. And I know I haven’t always been the most supportive of you.”

Marinette jumped at that. “What? What are you talking about? Of course you have!”

Tikki shook her head. “There were times when I’d admonish you for doing the wrong thing, but I didn’t really tell you what the right thing was because I expected you to be able to figure it out and do it on your own.” She gave a little bitter laugh. “I somehow expected you to automatically know what I wanted and blamed you when you didn’t meet my expectations…”

Oh come on. Marinette gave a little laugh. Now Tikki was just being silly. “No, you haven’t. When did you ever—”

“Like with the school picture when you tried to help Juleka? Or the lie you told on Heroes Day? What about when you were almost akumatized after being expelled? Marinette, something terrible had just happened to you and you had every right to be upset! But instead of comforting you when you needed it—especially when it seemed like everyone else was against you—all I did was lecture you for how you were feeling!” Tikki wilted at the reminder. “I disapproved, but I didn’t really help you. I didn’t really support you the way you needed.”

She looked up at Marinette, her eyes big and teary. And somehow so old.

“I forget sometimes just how young you are. And that you’re just as capable of making mistakes.”

“But Tikki, I have made some bad choices.” Marinette stammered. “I’ve been selfish and acted rashly. I’ve done things because I was angry or jealous.”

“You’re not blameless for your choices.” Tikki agreed. “But you’re also not responsible for everyone else’s. You’re not wrong for feeling upset when you’re being hurt.”

She hugged Marinette’s thumb.

“And I’m sorry for making you feel like you were.”

It was like a huge weight came crashing down.

No, rather that a weight she was carrying was finally loosened and falling from her shoulders.

It…

Was this…really the first time anyone had supported her like this?

When was the last time someone had validated her feelings?

She had been Ladybug for over a year now. In all that time, it had become ingrained in her that she had to be perfect. That she couldn’t make mistakes. That anything she did could mean the end of the world—literally, in the case of the future she narrowly avoided with Chat Blanc.

People needed her.

Paris needed her.

She couldn’t afford to make mistakes.

That was why any mistake she did make—or even the actions of others seemed to weigh so heavily on her.

She had to be Ladybug. She had to be the final line of defense in facing any akuma. She had to be incorruptible lest she risk irreparable harm. But she also had to be Marinette, who also had to be there for her friends and make them happy and be Class Rep and fix their problems and protect people from Chloe or Lila or akumas. She had to be responsible and fix her mistakes and apologize and make things up to other people regardless of what she did or what they did. But she also had to be the support for Master Fu and learn what he knew as the Guardian in case anything happened to him and…

Wow. That was a lot.

That was…that was more than she’d realized.

She started to feel her eyes well up. But she couldn’t let them free. Because that meant she was…because what if…because Hawk Moth could…?

A tap to her head drew her gaze to her kwami.

“I’ll protect you.” Tikki promised, giving a kiss to Marinette’s forehead.

“So please…be honest with me.”

It wasn’t the first time Marinette had let herself cry.

But it was the first time she truly felt safe to.

[decembersylph-a-t-u]

I mean … Why not?

Vigilante AU - The Siblings Blonde

After a particularly bad day of being abused by his father, Keigo decides to run away. He lives on the streets before being found by Jin.

Jin’s family is lower middle-class, living in the shadier part of town. (Twice is canonically 31 when he first debuts, and Hawks is 22-23, so an 8-9 year difference.)

Jin finds Keigo wandering the streets, an almost feral child, and decides to try talking to him. That doesn’t work out so well as Keigo is mistrustful of people after just escaping an abusive environment, but he is more trustful of kids than he is of adults due to his mind seeing people way older than him as dangerous and not to be trusted. Jin wins his trust by giving him food and meager medical attention through rubbing alcohol and band-aids. Keigo learns about Jin having DID and he shares about how his parents were abusive, his father having been a thief and killed someone. The two bond over their unfair hand in life, eventually becoming as close as brothers.

Tragedy strikes when Jin’s parents die in a house (apartment building) fire due to a pro *cough Endeawhore cough* not being aware of his surroundings while chasing a criminal while patrolling. Jin and Keigo leave the area, deciding it’s not safe to be in the area.

To survive, they pickpocket cash and items off of people, as well as stealing from shipping warehouses. The two kids eventually gain a reputation as hard to catch thieves because one can detach his feathers and use them as distractions and the other can make clones of himself. Heroes and police try catching them to no luck, as even when trying to ambush them, the two are able to escape thanks to their Quirks aiding them in escaping. They gain the names Twice and Hawks from other criminals that have a soft spot for the two and get amused that two kids not yet in their teens are making the pros and police run around like headless chickens trying to catch them.

Some years later, Keigo, at age 15, finds a young kid on the streets. 8 year old Kaminari Denki was abandoned on the streets. His Quirk had been hurting him, affecting his grades, but his teachers didn’t see it. His parents called him a failure, telling him to shape up and not use his Quirk as an excuse for “laziness”. Denki had snapped when his classmates began pushing him around, trying to get him to go into his “dumb mode” for their own amusement, and he gave the ones closest to him electrical burns. His teachers had told his parents he attacked his classmates unprovoked, causing Denki’s parents to become violent with him. He ran away, traumatized by what happened.

Keigo was reminded of his childhood when hearing from Denki why he was out on the streets, and learned just how Denki’s Quirk affected him. He decided to take Denki back to his and Jin’s hiding place, where Jin wasn’t so keen on keeping Denki because he and Keigo were barely able to get by themselves, but eventually caved at the powerful pair of pleading faces.

Jin and Keigo trained Denki in using his Quirk in hand-to-hand, and Denki learned how to cause power outages purposefully without hurting himself. (Some police and even pros actually wept when they learned there was now another “blonde brat” that they had to go after, this one able to cause power outages that could spread to several blocks!)

The three accidentally busted a trafficking ring when they were stealing from a storage warehouse, which had young children captive. The three had only meant to steal some food from there, or valuables they could sell, but upon seeing young kids that were hurt and looking scared, they decided to give the adults a little nasty surprise. The pros and police that arrived on scene learned from the kids that “three blonde kids” had saved them. They immediately knew who saved the kids and news started spreading that there were three young vigilantes on the scene.

Seeing the news, the three have a debate on whether to keep on saving people, before ultimately agreeing it’s a good idea. Thus giving pros and police alike more headaches.

Some years later, when Himiko lashes out at her middle school graduation and runs away, she ends up meeting “the Brothers Blonde” as they’re being called by the media. Himiko had been running on instinct when she attacked them, but got knocked out. She later woke to find blood in a glass ready for her, Jin having been the donor. Himiko learns that the boys had realized she needed blood, and she learns they got mistreated by society one way or another. She quickly becomes part of their team, and so the “Brothers Blonde” become the “Siblings Blonde”, as the media catches wind of her.

Some parts of this AU are:

People wonder if they’re actually related, as the four are all blonde (even if different shades of).

The four like to play pranks when stopping the baddies. (Once, the pros and police called in to collect some criminals found them strung suspended from a telephone pole, covered in yellow paint with their faces covered in funny additions drawn on with permanent markers.)

Twice is the embodiment of the quote from the live action Cat In The Hat: ‘A little voice inside of me is saying, "This is a bad idea." But I can barely hear that little voice, because an even louder little voice is screaming, "Let the twelve-year-old drive."’ He is both the encourager of chaos in his siblings and the one to reel them back when they’re likely to get in over their heads. When he isn’t trying to coral his siblings, he likes to read whatever books he can get his hands on.

Hawks was pretty much an emotionless, quiet child due to his parents’ abuse, so when he became older, he started venting through graffiti and nailing people with paint-filled water balloons. He’s where the Siblings usually get their paint to dump on people, because Keigo has a stock.

Denki learned how to hack from some criminals with computer skills. He has a habit of going into chat room forums and trolling people that deserve it, as well as crashing the computers of hackers in video games that go against the rules to play unfairly.

Himiko is into insects. When she learned about mosquitoes and other bloodsucking insects, she grew a hobby of catching, collecting, and releasing them on her enemies. Her brothers know to stay well out of her room, because she can and will unleash her insects on them if they enter without her permission and it’s not an emergency.

Denki often complains over being the baby of the family, but doesn’t actually mind it since he likes the attention of his siblings.

Keigo will take to ferrying his siblings around when bored, but doesn’t do this as much as he used to with Jin since Jin grew heavier than Keigo as they grew older.

Himiko will often pull her brothers into a night of letting her paint their nails, with Jin sporting alternating black, gray, and sparkly white, Keigo with sky blue, and Denki with sparkly yellow.

Jin will often use his Quirk to make copies of objects, and then have his siblings tell which is real and which is fake, with Denki having the better success rate as he can tell the difference in electromagnetic fields the objects give off.

They all hate Endeavor, have a great respect for Present Mic, Eraserhead, and Ms. Joke, among a few other Pros, and don’t like All Might.

[reaperintheroses]

6 Inch

Jason Todd x pole dancing reader

a/n: So basically this was short and sweet because I’ve been swamped with work and what I’m currently working on wouldn’t be done by Friday so you guys get this instead. As always this is gender neutral so if there is any pronouns other than they/them let me know. Pleasers are the big platform shoes that pole dancers wear. and as always SUPPORT SEX WORKERS. 

Also the fact that Jason is the red hood doesn’t really play in here it’s just more of how he would react relationship wise. 

Warnings: not a ton, talk of sex workers and lingerie and pole dancing (duh)

Jasons had many a partner

Had it be in crime

Fighting against crime

Romantically 

Etc. etc.

So he’s seen some stuff

But a partner who pole dances?

That’s a new one

When he first comes over to your place and sees a pole in your living room he’s….. confused, to say the least

It’s a pretty funny face if you’re not lying to yourself

His eyes quickly dart around your living room from the pole, to the rack of shoes, to the speaker you have on the other side of the room

And he just

Internalizes it

All of this happens in the span of like 3 seconds btw

After that he just kind of shrugs and walks further into your apartment

I feel like he’d be relatively chill with the whole thing

It’s a good full-body workout and it helps promote self-confidence

So in the end it barely crosses his mind

Until

A few weeks later the two of you are just sitting at your dining room table and he looks up from the text he was reading and just blurts out 

“Wait are you a stripper?” 

You don’t even look up from your laptop and just reply “Would you care if I was?”

He fully turns around in his chair and stares at the side of your head

You pause your typing and look at him

Rolling your eyes you answer his unspoken question

“No Jason, I’m not a stripper”

His face scrunches up all confused before letting his eyes dart to the silver pole reflecting sunlight into your living room and back at you

Sighing you turn back to your work and multitask

While you type you explain how not everyone who pole dances is a stripper and that you had just been taking classes for a while

His lips just form an O shape before he goes back to his text

I feel like he would be super involved in everything 

He’s interested in the competing aspect

The different types

The different moves

And most of all the shoes

Oh my god is this boy into the shoes

He just fawns over them

He finds them so interesting 

Especially the one pair of red leather thigh highs 

One time he walked in and you were just practicing with those boots on and he almost lost his mind

On the outside, he looked fine

On the inside though

Dear reader, he felt like he was going to rip at the seams and die of your overwhelming hotness 

Eventually, he does ask what the classes are like

And you explain 

He's even more invested now

He finds it adorable how passionate you are about the whole thing 

If you compete he is your biggest supporter

He’s one of the people who’s yelling whenever you do something impressive

Like seriously he's all over you

He asks you to teach him some basics at one point

Under the ruse that its good for your abs 

He just wants to look like you

He gets pretty advanced

You get him a pair of his own pleasers for his birthday

And he wishes he would never have to take them off 

He gets a pole for his own apartment and starts practicing on his own time

He low key wants to take a class with you 

You guys show up everyone else there

Your hobby becomes Jason's hobby

You start buying each other heels and other stripper apparel 

When he buys you lingerie it's actually for once a gift for you 

Sometimes he buys red one pieces and those he will admire a little longer

You guys occasionally do routines together

You also make playlists for different type of routines

You have one that's entirely beyonce for when y’all really need to feel yourselves 

You also occasionally come up with stripper names just for fun

He’s a huge supporter of sex workers

He always supported them before

But once he got into pole dancing it multiplies 10 fold

Realizing that it’s such a hard job 

His respect for everyone in the sex worker industry is through the roof

Overall he’s very supportive of your hobby

[crystalglassjar]

🦋 Butterfly Baby 🦋

-🦋 Butterfly Baby 🦋-

this isn’t exactly a fanfic but not exactly a list of headcanons either. it’s basically an “I suck at writing but I’ve already planned out an entire story”. is there a beginning, climax, and satisfying ending? no lmao

-📋 story description 📋-

xiao and hu tao get together and have a family. hu tao is 19 at the start of this fic if you’re wondering. I just really needed to get this story out my system...hehe...and reply to this post if you can figure out why the story is called Butterfly Baby

-‼️warnings‼️-

mild spoilers, also this was written on 2/7/2021 so some stuff might seem incorrect after more story quests come out. also major character death if you read the alternate ending

-📜 the actual writing 📜-

• hu tao and xiao start hanging out together (aka hu tao comes to bother xiao and eat almond tofu with him whenever he stops by wangsheng inn)

• xiao eventually grows fond for hu tao but makes many attempts to keep her at an arms distance, all of which were in vain

• xiao and hu tao are both in denial about being in love but obviously xiao takes his denial to a whole other level

• xiao doesn’t visit the inn for 2 weeks but eventually caves and goes back because he missed hu tao the silky texture of almond tofu

• ganyu finds out after overhearing verr goldet (desk lady at wangshu inn) reporting back to ningguang about her observations

• ganyu thinks it’s an exaggeration until she goes to wangshu inn for some business affairs sees xiao and hu tao chatting over some almond tofu and tea

• xiao pretends to not notice ganyu peering from behind a wall

• xiao brings it up during ganyu’s adepti training (ganyu story quest) and she just looks away and apologizes

• xiao knows she wouldn’t tell anyone so he doesn’t bother making her feel even worse than she already does

• xiao and hu tao start actually dating (in secret) but it’s hard to keep at least a few people from noticing an adepti and a funeral parlor director walking near the outskirts of town

• xiao once again tries to distance himself because he feels like he’s not worthy of her love after all the people he’s killed and that an adeptus can’t be with a mortal, hu tao shuts that argument down with “but I don’t care”

• hu tao is a bit hurt that he thinks it matters if she’s a mortal

• she laughs at the rumors that she’s dating an adeptus even if it’s true

• zhong li eventually hears about the rumors and is pretty sure it’s true because hu tao comes to his statue everyday and recently brought up questions about love

• fast forward 10 months of hush hush dating and he finally proposes. no ring or anything fancy, just a simple “do you want to get married?” while they stood at the peak of guyun stone forest

• hu tao says yes without even thinking about it and immediately kisses him and starts excitedly talking about wedding plans that she totally hasn’t been thinking about for the past 3 months

• xiao comes to ganyu to ask for help with wedding planning and ganyu nearly looses her head when she hears him say “so I’m engaged now..”

• hu tao somehow convinced zhong li to help her with planning

• zhong li isn’t too shocked about the engagement but hopes that xiao knows what he’s getting himself into

• hu tao, with a lot of effort, convinces xiao to move into the wangsheng funeral parlor with her

• xiao has a tough time adjusting to mundane life (haha get it because- no? not funny? ok I’ll stop)

• it doesn’t take much negotiation with ningguang to secure a venue at yujing terrace

• xiao would’ve preferred a private wedding at jueyun karst but didn’t know how to ask cloud retainer about it

• one month of planning later and they get married at yujing terrace

• basically everyone in Liyue attends the wedding including traveler

• the adepti got their invites delivered from ganyu and watched the wedding from afar

• I know nothing about Chinese weddings so uhhhh that’s for the reader to dream about

• hu tao throws a flower ball made of silk flowers into the crowd (customs of liyue, volume 1)

• may or may not have forgotten about contraception during their wedding night.....

• too embarrassed to go down to bubu pharmacy get morning after medicine

• hu tao prays to rex lapis that she won’t get pregnant

• zhong li, sipping his tea: I pretend I do not hear

• xiao doesn’t know if he should tell hu tao about zhong li being rex lapis so he just hopes he’ll never have to reveal that secret

• xiao nearly breaks his skull on the wall when he realizes what he’s getting himself into

• people of Liyue are still in shock about an adeptus marrying a mortal (since they were never confirmed to be dating beforehand) and nearly explode with buzz when the funeral parlor director starts growing a baby bump

• “have you seen the wangsheng funeral parlor director? last time I saw her, it looked like her belly was growing a bit. do you think she’s pregnant? oh my archons, a half adeptus baby? I can’t believe it!”

• xiao asks zhong li if he can go out an order a crib, rocking chair, baby clothes, etc for him

• zhong li obviously says yes

• fast forward 9 months and hu tao goes into labor just an hour before the funeral parlor was closing for the day

• zhong li rushes hu tao to her room and tells the undertakers to fetch the midwife

• hu tao calls for xiao and of course xiao is there within 10 seconds

• midwife nearly shits herself when she walks into the bedroom and sees an adeptus

•the midwife nervously asks if xiao was the father

• there was a popular (false) rumor going around that hu tao had an affair with zhong li and the baby was his, mostly because people refused to believe that hu tao was pregnant with a half adeptus baby. these rumors were only fueled further when zhong li was overheard asking a shop keeper if he should order multiple sizes of baby onesies just in case.

• zhong li just nods his head and xiao looks away in shame

• midwife gives helps deliver the baby while thinking “if I fuck this up, this adeptus is going to kill me”

• surprise! the baby is completely fine and healthy

• ganyu asked the qixing if she could take a day off (much to the shock of everyone who knew she wouldn’t even take her yearly vacation leave)

• ganyu has never ran so quickly down Liyue’s streets and nearly kicked down the funeral parlor door

• she’s super excited to know that there’s going to be another half adeptus in Liyue but is also incredibly worried about the idea of a half yaksha child

• I can’t come up with a name for the daughter so ill just call her daughter

• zhong li is named the god father and ganyu is the named god mother

• xiao and hu tao take the baby down to jueyun karst

• ganyu and cloud retainer both think the baby is such an adorable and precious little thing

• the rest of the adeptus are just like “xiao wtf...but ok”

• refer to my posts about xiao as a father if you want some more cute details but I don’t wanna just write a copy paste of my past post

• everyone at Liyue harbor is gossiping about it

• hu tao is a very fun and free mom and teaches the kid to become a tiny ball of chaos with the pyromania of klee and the sneakiness of yaoyao. aka the kid is now unstoppable

• pyro vision because of course

• hu tao teaches her daughter how to master pyro, how to write poetry, and most importantly, how to become a funeral parlor director

• the daughter actually prefers swords over poles and gets classes from the guhua clan, and more specifically,

• zhong li was very eager to give the kid a vision and was managed to get the pyro archons permission

• xiao confronts zhong li about the vision it in secret

• xiao: you gave her a pyro vision. do you know how destructive she will be? 

• zhong li, taking another sip of tea: ✨ I pretend I do not hear ✨

• hu tao overhears the conversation and puts two and two together

• hu tao and xiao have their first ever argument ever since they got married

• “why didn’t you tell me before?”

• “because it was a secret!”

• back and forth until they hear the baby waking up and crying

• they agree that there’s no point in arguing now and go off to calm down the baby

• they end up living a happy life as a family of three, and after hu tao’s death, xiao continues to raise the child as much as he can (with the help of zhong li and ganyu)

• their daughter becomes the 78th director of the wangsheng funeral parlor

~the end~

-↪️ alternate ending ↪️-

• osial somehow wakes up during one lantern rite

• xiao was distracted by a different, much smaller, demon

• the guizhong ballista and jade chamber had been repaired by now and were better than before, and they were able to defeat osial without sacrificing the jade chamber again

• however they didn’t get to the jade chamber fast enough and a small part of Liyue was destroyed

• one place in that part of liyue being the wangsheng funeral parlor

• xiao is overcome by grief because he believe it was his fault that he wasn’t able to protect this family

• he finally succumbs to the corruption

• what he didn’t know what was that hu tao did indeed die in the destruction, but his daughter (currently age 12) was still perfectly well and alive

• ganyu takes in the daughter

• zhong li took over the post as director after hu tao’s death and became the 78th director

• zhong li continued to teach the daughter about how to properly run a business and conduct flawless funerals

• the daughter becomes the 79th director of the wangsheng funeral parlor when she’s 18

• she also becomes the new demonslayer of the adepti, following in her father’s footsteps

• even through the trauma of witnessing her mother’s untimely death and being given the news that her father’s had also died, she made it through and raised a happy family of her own, while wearing the hat that her mom passed down.

~the end~

-📝 author’s note 📝-

ok...so that was longer than expected. let me know what you guys think! see any typos or anything off? please mention it! if you guys have a header for hu tao please do share~

[batarella]

The Odyssey - (Professor!Jason x Professor!Reader)

I SWEAR I’M NOT A FELON. ALL THESE PUBLIC SEX CONTENT IS PURELY JUST FOR THE SAKE OF CONTENT. DON’T CALL THE POLICE.

ALSO, I’d like to thank @offendedfishnoises and @sarcasmismyfirstlove for this idea (those thirsty bitches wanted this a lot) and @idkmanicantenglish for providing me with such amazing suggestions! love you guys but ya’ll are an astronomical level of horny

WORDS: 2461 WARNINGS: ORAL SEX. FUCKING ON A DESK. JEEZ\

Masterlist

Fucking hell, you were so doing this on purpose.

And it didn’t help that you were late. Even if he weren’t at the podium standing in front of almost a hundred people, he could just feel how half his students’ attention had long left him and were almost drenching the floors of their drool. It sickened him. You, with your insanely fitting pencil skirt hugging your curves, a thin button shit that laid so delicately against your skin, high heels on your feet as red as the lipstick you were wearing, and a pencil you used to hold your hair up in a bun, you took the front seat, crossed your leg over the other and pulled out your notes.

Professor Jason Todd stopped with his lecture for the tiniest minute to breathe, and he told himself it was because you, his co-worker, were assigned to observe how he’d deal with such a number of students before sending the report over to human resources. His job was on the line. Of course, he’d be sweating off his pits.

Yeah, it was totally because of that.

“As I was saying,” he said. “The Iliad and the Odyssey are the oldest surviving works of Ancient Greek Literature…”

You started jotting down onto your notebook, not of his lecture, but on how he was speaking, standing, and interacting with the students, your eyes peeking up from your dark-framed glasses and looking directly into his own. Pursing your red lips together, you inched up your seat, and your skirt riding up your thighs caught Jason’s attention more times than he would ever say.

But he managed to continue speaking at a modulated volume as if he weren’t distracted at all.

“We have little reliable information about him other than that he was blind and may have been from island of Chios. He probably made money singing at festivals. Milman Perry in the 1920s speculated that Homer…”

Half an hour passed perhaps. He was doing fine. Great, in fact. You had stopped with your notes for the moment and were leaning back against the chair, the tip of your pencil between your teeth. Dark red lipstick looked so good on you…

“A-and,” he coughed. “About the Greek’s religion…”

Okay. You looked absolutely gorgeous. He never denied that. But the way you were looking at him now? In the middle of a lecture when you were supposed to make sure he doesn’t mess up? Jason wanted to dig himself a hole right in the middle of the concrete floor and die.

You smiled at him.

That’s when he audibly stuttered, cleared his throat, thought back for a few good seconds on what the hell he was saying, before he continued.

He had to stop looking at you.

Look at anyone else. That kid who looked like something was up his nose. A girl who was writing down every word he said without missing a syllable and still had her phone up to record him. A boy with dark eyes who’d fallen asleep on his desk. Another guy three seats away from you, looking over at your chest.

Three knocks on his podium to catch everyone’s attention. Everyone stopped with their whispers and naps and looked back at him again.

But it wasn’t without glancing down at your chest, too. Just to know what that other guy was gawking at. And as if you knew, you breathed in with your chest up and he could see how the buttons of your shirt barely did their job.

He had to look away before he’d be given any more chances at a peek at your dark-colored bra.

Homer. Odyssey. A journey that lasted decades and other shit he’s known since 5th grade. This was exhausting. Trying not to look at you was exhausting. Being ashamed of getting a hard on behind the podium in the middle of a fucking lecture was exhausting. And later tonight, he probably won’t have the energy left in him to go on patrol.

Alright. He can take this. He knew what to do.

“Please take out any paper you have with you and write down a piece of ancient Greek literature you want to do for this week’s paper. I’ll give you five minutes.”

Breathe. Fucking breathe. This was his chance to breathe. He probably hadn’t in the last hour, because it felt like not even the tiniest bit of oxygen was flowing up to his brain.

But the demons in him spoke against his ear. It was telling him to look up at you again. Just a glance.

You were swinging your leg, your back straight as a pole and your teeth around the pencil once again. You smiled at him, this time with your eyes so dark and deep that it sent his blood flow roaring around the vessels in his body. Jason didn’t smile back. Instead, he looked at you with his face all blank, up and down, before turning back to his class. “Pens down. Tomorrow we’ll talk about the Trojan C-“

Then, you had it in you to take the pencil out from your hair, letting it drop and flow down to your back. It was a curled, beautiful mess. And you didn’t straighten it out. Instead, you let it rest over your shoulders and looked straight at Jason with the most subtle smirk.

And your lips had that pout, from a habit he’d noticed when you’d instinctively lick over your teeth. Your lips were what he stared at the most.

As did practically the whole room. They weren’t even waiting for Jason to finish his sentence and pick his mouth back up from the fucking floor.

His stutter made you narrow your eyes, lean over your desk, and take note of his behavior.

-----

You tried to at least hold back your smirk when you heard the knocking on your office door. The same three knocks he used to silence his class.

“Come in.”

Jason stepped in, his laptop bag over his shoulder.

You stopped what you were doing and placed your pen into your holder.

“Mr. Todd-”

“Don’t give me that,” Jason said, rolling his eyes.

You let out a breathy chuckle, spinning in your chair as you leaned back. He looked mad. And insanely hot. Never mind being in a teacher’s suit that was all brown and boring. He looked good in anything. Jason set his bag down, pulled down the blinds of your windows, then walked over to the other side of your desk with a glare that sent you in painfully delicious shivers.

His hands on your desk, he leaned over to you. “That wasn’t funny.”

“That was hilarious.”

“I’ll get fired.”

“Relax. I gave you a perfect score,” you placed your elbows on the table and looked up at him, feeling his breathy growl so near to your lips.

His breath uneven, you reached out to hold his tie, twisting it around your fingers.

“The students are gonna know something’s going on between us. They all had fucking hard-ons in class.”

“And you didn’t?”

Your eyes darted over his lips, then at his crotch. You smiled.

“You are so dead when I observe you tomorrow.”

“Then it’s HR’s fault for letting two professors secretly sleeping with each other have a say on their job performance.”

“It is,” he smirked.

“What are you gonna do? Parade into my class with your shirt off?”

“No, but it’s never been that hard to make you soaking wet for me.”

You pulled on his tie and he hungrily devoured your lips like he’d been long wanting to do that the whole day. You stood up, pushing the chair behind you, then Jason violently cleared out your desk with a strong swipe of his arm, pulling on your waist to let you sit on the table.

“Did you-” you said between kisses. “-lock the door?”

“Mhm.” The table squeaked when he pulled you even closer, letting your legs swing over the edge of the table. His hands were all over your thighs, squeezing and kneading them to tease your pussy. You helped him take off his suit jacket, then you pulled on his dress shirt up from being tucked into his pants so your palms could snake up his abs. Jason tore your shirt open, letting the buttons pop and fall to the ground.

Gasping, Jason started kissing down your breasts and you let him ride your skirt up to your waist. He pulled you closer, and you spread your legs wide open for him to get comfortable between them. Teasing the tip of your heeled shoe against his back, you moaned when he grinded against you.

You weren’t wearing any panties. For fuck’s sake Jason looked like he wanted to murder you after fucking you so violently. “I can’t believe you.”

“Shh,” you gripped on his hair, so tightly it made him wince. Glaring at you, he took your hand off and started to pull his tie off from his neck.

“You don’t get to do anything.”

Gulping, he took a moment to watch your chest heave before taking both your hands, letting his rough finger graze across your wrists. Then you almost came right at that moment when he pulled your arms behind your back, turning you around, then tied your wrists together with his tie.

You could feel your wetness drench the table.

“Get on your knees.”

You did. And you kept looking up at him while he unbuckled his belt and let his awfully hard cock spring out of his pants. “Has that been wanting to see me for the last hour?” you said.

Without an answer, Jason held the side of your face, taking in the sight of you so flawlessly perfect in front of him. He grazed his thumb against your red lips and groaned. “I’ve been wanting these lips around my cock since you walked into the damn room.”

When he started gripping your hair, he pulled you to him and his cock sunk deep into your mouth, past towards your throat which instantly made you gag. It was hot, almost a blur, but Jason kept holding you still until he heard you whimper around his dick. “Hmm?”

Your eyes locked onto him, you let your tongue play with his load inside you, swirling and teasing with your drool trailing down your mouth. He shut his eyes and moaned way too loud. Pulling your head back and forth, you hallowed your mouth the best you can and stared up at him.

“Fuck…” he gasped. “You have no idea how hot you look right now.”

He didn’t give you a chance to answer and pulled his cock deep into your throat to watch you gag.

Pulling your head back just to breathe, he let go of your hair and let you suck him off at the pace you wanted. You couldn’t use your hands, so you did what you could with your lips, your tongue, your teeth so lightly grazing the tip, watching his reactions. His finger brushed against your cheek, and you pulled away to look up at him with your drool dripping down your chin.

You absolutely loved watching him squirm while you sucked his dick. The way he pulls on his own hair, trails his hand down his abs, he watched you with his mouth parted and let his dark hair flow down to his eyes. You licked his tip, sucked it like you would with a lollipop and let your tongue go crazy with the slit at the tip. He bit on his hand, still keeping his eyes on you, then you forced it down the back of your throat the best you can and choked yourself.

“That’s it,” he said. Smoothing your hair over with his hand. You pulled back to look at him, and he put his thumb into your mouth, pulling it off with a loud pop before letting you have it with his cock again. You could tell he held back his cum. He looked like he was just about to internally explode.

You stood back up, kissing him so he could taste himself from you. Jason didn’t wait another moment to forcibly turn you around, then he bent you over the desk to let the cold, breezing air hit your throbbing cunt.

With your hands still tied, you let him hold onto your waist, bruising them with his strong hands, then you hit the table’s surface with your forehead when he started fucking the living daylights out of you. “Oh!” you squealed, but you bit your lips before you could scream anything else. The thrill of getting caught, it was one of the reasons why your relationship with Jason was so hot.

You don’t think he’s ever been this hard before, like it was throbbing and hurting so much that any touch was possibly going to make him cum. Still, he had it in him to hold it back, but a pull on your hair made you wince at the pain, then he pounded into you so skillfully fast, you could only stare at the wall with your tears leaking out of your eyes. It was definitely a blur now. The buzz, the sensation, his moans, you came much too early despite all your forces doing everything to hold it back. But you couldn’t, and with him still pounding relentlessly, you were a twitching mess so sensitive to the core.

The pain was so beautifully mixed with the orgasm, which trailed on and on the more he fucked you. Fuck, the orgasm probably lasted longer than the build up. But with your mouth so wipe open, screaming whatever profanity you knew in your head, Jason kept going until another coil in your stomach built up, and you exploded.

Jason didn’t last any longer. Spilling his hot cum inside you, he hesitated to slow down, wincing at his own sensitivity. You were panting, sweating off your skin, and you laid bent down over the table even with him already zipping up his pants, taking his tie off from your hands.

You pulled yourself up and stretched your skirt back down to cover your cum-covered thighs, still in a daze. You turned around, wrapped your arms around him and kissed him gently, much softer than just a moment ago.

“That ended way too quickly,” he said, his hands on your waist.

“Why don’t you come over tonight and we’ll make it last for all the way until dawn-“

“We should probably go to a hotel,” he smirked. “Can’t risk getting caught in that fucking teacher’s dorm.”

“I’ll book us a night.”

Winking at you, he slapped your ass before pulling away and walking out the door.

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[shihaikuroiro-vantablack]

Humans And Cats

Bakugou disappears! Oh no. Nobody has any idea where he is, and while searching for him, Shinsou finds a cat! He loves cats, so he takes it home and starts to spend time with it, explaining his fears and worries about Bakugou. It seems to understand him more than normal though, which is... strange. Yes, it’s BakuToshi or Bakugou X Shinsou. Fight me.

It’s 3764 words. 

Being the adopted son of the teacher of U.A's 1-A class wasn't the easiest thing in the world. You'd think, wow the teacher would go easier on you, right? Yeah, no. Shinsou sometimes believed that Aizawa went harder on him! He believed that it was because he wasn't in 1-A at first and needs to catch up, but he thought all that special secret training would be good enough! I mean yeah, he was happy that he even was allowed to be switched into 1-A but still. At times he couldn't believe all the stuff that these students had to go through. The training made his bones ache, and his skin felt like it would tear! Also how many times has Midoriya broken his bones? How do you even do that man? Yet even with all that, he kept it to himself. He knew that Aizawa wanted best for them and these guys had quirks that were good for fighting or stuff like that, and Shinsou didn't. Like Aizawa always said 'if you rely on your quirk too much, you're worthless' and with all the training he's been bulking up more! It was something he was happy about; he wasn't as much as a bean pole as he used to be.

Shinsou still liked to go talk to the people in his old class, and he was slowly gaining friends in the new class as well, even if he said he didn't want friends when he first got there. It was annoying at first, if he was to be honest, yet he was now pretty happy he had friends that didn't hate him, or ones that weren't scared of him. He even got along a little with that Ojirou guy! The one he uh... sorta insulted yeah... he felt bad for that still. They were on a better page now though, which Shinsou found shocking at first nerveless, he was happy it worked out well.

Even though Shinsou has been adopted by Aizawa and Yamada, along with Eri, he was still called Shinsou mostly because if he was called Aizawa it would make it hard to tell them apart, and Shinsou liked his name, simple as that. Now, speaking of his friends. He was 'friends' with Deku, Denki, Monoma, and a few others... that Kirishima boy has been hanging out with him more and Mina has been inviting him out shopping and stuff it was honestly a little overwhelming at first however he liked it. There was one student that he loved to fuck with and that was Katsuki Bakugou, the guy with an explosion quirk. They just seemed to rub each other the wrong way, mostly cause Shinsou loves to get on Bakugou's bad side at times just because it was funny yet he knew when to stop, and it seemed like Bakugou liked him too because they both seemed happy afterwards, or at least Shinsou thought, it was a little hard to tell at times if he was to be honest. When did that guy ever smile other than when he's fighting?

Speaking of Bakugou. Nobody had seen him in a few days. Kirishima was panicking along with the rest of the class. Was Bakugou kidnapped again!? It was the second year of U.A who would have gotten him? The school checked all the cameras and it showed him leaving school grounds but never returning and they called his parents who said they didn't know where he was either. With that, some of the pro heroes went out looking for him along with the rest of the Bakusquad and the Dekusquad. Shinsou even went out to look around but he wasn't really sure anything was wrong, Bakugou was good at taking care of himself. He was strong enough to get away from villains.

Thus that is why the enervated boy was out in the world, looking around for his... friend? Acquaintance? Ugh this is bothersome. That is why Shinsou was out looking for this bother of a student. He cups his hands around his mouth, calling out "Bakugou!" His voice rang through the sort of silence, the only sounds being light chatter from the few people around him or cars driving by. He ignored anyone that looked at him, this wasn't about them right now and he could care less for some unnamed extras... he's been spending too much time around Bakugou. He makes a tsh sound and sighs shaking his head, starting to walk again however a sound caught his attention, making his head perk up his eyes shooting around and he proceeded to follow the sound, which sounded like scratching.

When he looked into the alleyway he almost reeled back in shock, his normally half shut eyes opening wide, his lips parted slightly. There was a messy looking blonde, very fluffy, cat that was clawing at a box that had fallen on their tail, most likely trapping them there. There's a random cat? Poor thing! He puffs his cheek out in thought, thinking about what to do but exhaled a slow huff of breath and he slowly creeps closer to not scare the cat who's ear twitches, then it turns its head looking at Shinsou, growling but paused.

"Hey hey" he starts to speak, holding up his hands his voice soft "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you" he slowly walks over, crouching down moving the box off the cats tail and scoops the cat up. The cat makes a sound of worry, looking apprehensive "Don't worry" he continues, smiling faintly "I won't hurt you" he made sure to keep his voice quiet, and calm to not scare the cat and starts to walk "I'll feed you and get you all nice and clean" Damn he loved cats...

If he was to be honest, he was appalled that people would just leave this poor cat all alone! What the hell is that? Eh whatever, guess he got a new cat he would just have to keep them hidden and he would need to name the cat. They walk in silence for a few seconds the cat curled up in his arms, seeming too tired to try to fight against him or maybe it didn't want to fight him? That's pretty shocking, he wondered just how long the cat had been stuck there? It's a little saddening.

Of course Shinsou knew that they should be looking for Bakugou, but he also knew that Bakugou could handle himself. He was strong, and brave he was gonna be a good hero so he was sure that Bakugou would be okay! "You know" Shinsou murmurs "You remind me a bit of Bakugou, mostly the fact that your fur looks like an explosion... heh maybe I'll just name you Baku" he laughed "I'm a little worried about him, we haven't seen him in a while everyone's out searching for him but I feel like it's a waste" as he said that the cat, who he decided to name Baku, looks up growling a little but Shinsou continues, ignoring the cats growl "Bakugou's training to be a hero, he's strong and smarter than most of the others, not like he'd get himself kidnapped or something. Plus, we would know if something like that happened... tsh I feel bad for whoever was a dumbass enough to kidnap him" with those words Baku stares up at him, then curls up more starting to let out a soft purring sound, which caught Shinsou's attention his eyes shooting down and he lets out a soft laugh. Heh, guess this cat was a nice one... that's always a good change.

Finally by the time that he got back to U.A the others seemed to be back from their searches as well. Deku looks over at him, and falters over to him, his own steps seeming shaky most likely from worry or panic "Shinsou!" he starts, making the cat make a sound of annoyance in his arms "did you find kacchan? We looked everywhere unless we're drawing a blank but I don't think so. I don't know where he is, or where he could be. We asked Hawks, the winged hero, to go searching by air but I don't think he'd be able to do a lot, mostly because he's the number 2 hero so he's most likely really busy, and Uraraka can't exactly do the same thing, as she'll start to feel sick because overuse of her quirk. Maybe we could ask mt. Lady to help us search for kacchan. Do you think she'd agree to help us? I think they might be related in someway but he's never told me and I'm a little too nervous to ask though now what if I never get the chance to ask and-" he was rambling a little from the nerves making Shinsou sigh out in slight annoyance just like the cat did.

"Midoriya" Shinsou interrupts "you need to get your act together, we're in the same boat, everyone is. We all want to find Bakugou but panicking won't help it... no, I haven't found him but I did find a cat" he nods his head down to the cat who had opened his eyes by then, seeming to be glaring at everyone.

Uraraka looks over and smiles, putting her hands on her cheeks "aw! He's so fluffy" she steps closer, reaching up to pet the cat who growls swiping at her hand, but didn't take out his nails it seemed, since she just giggled and scratches behind his ears making him start to purr again and Baku squeezes his eyes shut. "I'm not exactly sure if he's a boy, but guess we can just assume" Shinsou says, with a shrug of his shoulders and Deku sighs, going to tell All Might that kacchan wasn't found.

After a little Shinsou was able to be on his way, heading to his dorm room. Once he got in there, he sets the cat down on his lap and pulls out a can of cat food, opening it, putting it in front of the cat he found. Yes, he had cat food. Sometimes he would leave it out for the strays but guess this came in lucky today.

Baku looks down at the can, then smacks it off the bed onto the ground and he walks over laying across Shinsou's pillows. Shinsou blinks looking down at the can and sighs, shaking his head "dick" he grumbles, but starts to clean it up anyway and goes to take a shower leaving the cat alone in his room making sure to shut and lock the door behind him, just to be careful. He didn't want the cat to somehow get out of his room, then he'd have to go searching for two blondes!

[Slight Time Skip]

After Shinsou finished his shower he proceeded to head back inside his room. His room was fairly neat, and pretty empty. His capture weapon was up on a hook along with his voice changer, and there were quite a few posters but nothing way too fancy. There were a lot of fairy lights hanging around, a purple blanket on his bed, and way too many pillows which often would fall off his bed because of how many there was. A lot of stuffed animals too, though that was cause of Denki and Mina.

Still laying on his pillows was that cat, who seemed to be snoozing. What time was it? Shinsou's eyes shoot over to look at the clock, which said around 8:19. It was late... Where was Bakugou? With a sigh Shinsou starts to dry his hair his eyes shut, a pair of loose pajama pants hanging around his hips, almost sliding down but luckily seemed just tight enough to not as long as he didn't move too fast.

After he finished drying his hair, his eyes shot around, looking for his shirt yet before he could do much he heard a warning growl which caused his eyes to drift over to the, used to be, sleeping cat who was now staring at him and growling "why are you growling at me?" He asked in a, very slight, anxious way. Why did the cat not like him all of a sudden? It seemed like the cat was tired of his questions already and moves off the pillows, instead moving under the blanket a little. "It looks like you're trying to tell me to go to sleep, you know" now speaking in an affectionate way, he walks over moving the blanket looking down at the cat with a small beatific grin.

The fluffy blonde cat, which he decided to totally name Baku, looks up at him and curls up the cats eyes shooting down to the bed then up at him wait... was the cat really telling him to sleep? Shinsou sighs rubbing his temples. He really didn't want a brooding cat so... with a flick of his tongue he reaches over, flicking off the lights leaving on the fairy lights and he gets into the bed making sure to be careful with the cat and lies his head down against his arms, shutting his eyes. Okay, time to try to sleep. Hearing a slight purr from the cat, he guessed it was happy he listened.

After maybe two hours he was finally able to fall asleep, the faint light from his fairy lights making it easier for him to fall asleep. How many days has it been since he really slept? Two? Three? He didn't really know, he wasn't counting. Before he fell asleep he could feel the soft fur of the cat pressing against his stomach, making his lips twitch up in a very faint smile and he fell asleep, keeping that smile on his face. This cat seemed pretty nice...

[Time Skip]

Cat wasn't nice.

Yeah, simple as that. The cat wasn't nice. At least, not to the others. To Deku it would claw and hiss at him, the fur of the cat sticking straight up making it look more like a puff ball and it would still growl and hiss at the others but wouldn't claw at them much, even with Shinsou it would still try to hiss or growl, yet not claw as often which was... nice?

Shinsou was sitting in the common room, with Baku on his lap petting him slowly while Baku was curled up on his lap purring softly, relaxed. "You really need to be nicer to the others, they're stressed about Bakugou" he encouraged, his eyes scanning around. It was faint for most, but he's caught Midoriya gazing longingly at Bakugou's desk, like he was scared which, you know, did make a lot of sense. At least three times he's seen a gloss form over his eyes, his eyes flickering with sadness and other emotions that Shinsou couldn't place.

Baku's eyes, which had been closed, open and look up at Shinsou. His eyes burned with a bright red color, looking like they would almost glow then they just shut again the cat letting out a soft sigh "hey, don't take that tone with me"

"Are you arguing with the cat, dude?" a voice interrupted making Shinsou jolt from the shock, and he looks over. Oh, speaking of shock it was Denki! He was grinning a sparkle forming in his eyes most likely of amusement, standing there he was rocking back and fourth he never did seem to be able to stand still or even sit still, it was funny sometimes.

Shinsou nodded his head in approval at the question "I was" he uttered "He's been acting like a brat" he gets a warning growl from Baku who could weirdly seem to understand him, it was a tad strange "Don't act like you weren't" he hisses softly when he felt Baku's nails go into his leg making him huff in annoyance.

Denki couldn't help but laugh, but bristles when Shinsou glared at him, making him nervously chuckle "sorry... but come on, it's a little funny" he walks over, leaning over the back of the couch wrapping his arms around Shinsou's neck, his head rested on top of the taller purple haired Insomniac. "I'm glad you found a cat you liked though"

The other gave a slight nod and was about to say something, when Baku jumps up, landing on Shinsou's shoulder swiping at Denki smacking his cheek with his paw, making Denki reel backwards almost tripping. With that, Baku curls around Shinsou's neck the best he could growling softly.

Shinsou fell silent, looking down at the familiar cat who was still just curled around his neck, then over at the blonde who had his lips parted slightly, seeming shocked until he let out a slight snicker, then laugh covering his mouth with his hand "Aw!" Denki squeals, "that's so cute! He got all jealous I have to go tell the others" then he turned, running out making Shinsou frown and he holds up his hand "no he didn't, he-" he started to object then just sighs, since Denki was already gone and reaches up to lightly scratch behind Baku's ear again, mumbling "don't get jealous, I don't like Kaminari like that... I like a different loud blonde" that seemed to catch Baku's attention, who started to let out a louder purr than Shinsou had ever heard from him so far, which of course made himself pretty happy. Even if Baku wasn't the nicest, he still really liked the cat.

Later that night it was around 9 and Shinsou was chatting with a few of the others, in his pajamas. "Okay listen-" Sero was saying, the corners of his eyes crinkled as he grins "I'm just saying, if you think about it, there are more nipples than there are people in the world" Denki was wheezing with laughter, holding his arms over his stomach tears dripping from his eyes with how hard he was laughing. They were all trying to lighten each others moods, since Bakugou still hasn't been found and it's been three days! Shinsou himself let out a soft laugh, rolling his eyes and he starts to say something himself, but a yowl silences him, his eyes shooting over to see Baku stalking over, then grabs onto his pants leg starting to tug on it growling loudly.

Denki sniffles, wiping at his eyes and looks down at the angry looking cat "Dude" he starts "why is your cat pulling on you like that?" he pondered, his eyes shooting over to look at Shinsou who just let out a sigh.

"I guess it's time for me to sleep" he muttered, and stands up picking Baku up who huffs and curls up in his arms. Sero blinks, looking up at Shinsou asking in a disbelieving way "you let your cat decide when you sleep?"

Shinsou nodded, not waiting for them to answer his nod, heading over to go to his dorm hearing their laughter and he goes to his room putting Baku down onto the bed "there you go" he says, sitting down himself and looks up at the lights frowning "I'm worried, you know? We still don't know where Bakugou is, none of the animals even know where he is that Koda has been asking"

That seemed to make Baku's fur bristle so Shinsou's eyes shoot over and he reaches down, petting the soft fur of the cat "Don't worry, we'll find him and when we do, I guess I'll tell him I like him just to get it off my chest... I know it'll be dramatic and I'm doubtful he'll feel the same but hey, no reason to keep it to myself" he announced, mostly to himself, and lies back on the bed. Baku looks up at him, crawling up to lay on his chest shutting his eyes and Shinsou smiles faintly starting to pet him again until his movements slowly came to a stop when he fell asleep.

[One More Time Skip]

After a few hours Shinsou got woken up by a heavy weight on his chest, making him unable to breathe; it just seemed to appear out of nowhere making him jolt awake. That wasn't Baku, it was a lot heavier so he moves his arms up, pushing the weight off him hearing a bang and he reaches over quickly, turning on the bedside table light, his chest heaving with slight paniced breath.

That panic just doubled when he saw a pair of red eyes glowering at him, looking annoyed, then a thought came in his mind, and it was answered when a familiar voice snaps "what the fuck was that eye bags?! Why did you push me off?"

"Bakugou?" he asked, rubbing one of his eyes, looking sleepily confused. "What... what happened?" Was he asleep still?

Bakugou opens his mouth, but shuts it again, seeming confused himself, his eye lashes fluttering then he looks down at himself his brows drawing together until he finally let out a laugh "fucking finally" he starts, pulling his fingers through his hair "holy shit, that was annoying" he most likely noticed Shinsou's confusion and Bakugou's lips twitch up in a smirk as he continues to talk "Was hit by a quirk few days ago, turned me into a cat" he reaches up, grabbing Shinsou's face holding his cheeks gently pushing them together "So, you have feelings for a loud blonde, eh?" he repeated.

Oh God.

That was the first thought that went through his mind. Loud blonde, huh? "Could have been talking about Monoma, you know, also you were the one that kept clawing and hissing at anyone that got close to me, care to explain that?" Shinsou remarked, his own smirk forming.

Bakugou narrows his eyes then makes a tsh sound, and leans down pressing their lips together for a second "Don't even mention that copy cat bastard, you're mine now, got that? Now scoot over, tomorrows gonna be a pain in my ass with that nerd" most likely he was talking about Midoriya.

The tired males heart skipped a beat when he was kissed, his pale skin getting a pretty nice red tint "A-Ah..." he spluttered, then groans when his mind caught up and he grumbles, scooting over so Bakugou could get into the bed with him and he does, scooting in behind Shinsou, turning off the light then slips his arms around the others waist. Guess he was the big spoon.

…Shinsou didn't think he'd be able to sleep after that. At least he didn't have to explain his feelings?

[lauraluna98]

Bernadette's Photograph [Diakko one shot]

Pairing: Diana Cavendish /Akko Kagari, Bernadette Cavendish/ Laura McLaren (OC), Amanda/ Constanze/ Jasminka, Hannah/ Avery, Barbara/ Lotte

Words: 18K

Laura and Bernadette art made by my friend chek out her awesome stuff: https://www.wattpad.com/user/-Diana_Cavendish

Summary \/

Four years have passed since Akko arrived at Luna Nova. In the previous year, the girls she had befriended graduated from the academy and each one went their separate ways, just like Kagari, who had to go through a lot during her studies, including meeting a girl named Diana Cavendish, whom she began to date. When she graduated and was sure she would return to Japan, she received an invitation from the Scottish girl to live in the family's mansion and an affectionate proposal from the beautiful blonde who asked her to marry her.

Akko spent a long time adapting and experiencing many ups and downs, sometimes having to deal with Daryl and her daughters' disrespect, but this the girl got used to, even more so with the fact that Diana was a lesbian, shocking the entire noble class.

One day like any other Akko was rummaging through Bernadette Cavendish's old bedroom until she found something that had been a huge family secret until then.

Upon discovering this secret Akko, decides that she wants to make a surprise involving the photograph she eventually found, but why is a photograph a secret and why does it get to the point of creating so much?

Read this story and find out.

It was a winter morning in Edinburgh, it had been a few months since the girls' graduation from Luna Nova, the year 2021 had started a few days ago. Akko planned to start her career as Shiny Akko, but she still faced conflicts within the mansion, as well as no from many witches who didn't want to have their reputation linked to something comical and funny, even with Kagari saving everyone, the conservatism in society still remained. Diana was the leader of the Cavendish family, after going through Daryl's proposal for a marriage of interest with James Mark II, the girl was getting colder and sadder, after all she remembered something, starting to ignore little by little Kagari, which was quite strange. Diana used to be cold, but not at that point. Akko was waking up next to Diana and soon noticed that the Cavendish had already gotten up.

POV Akko:

Diana has been very cold lately, colder than this place, holy shit, for the nine witches... I thought it would be wonderful to move here, but we can barely get along... What the fuck? Ever since that James Mark II showed up here, she's been like this... More like she's being forced to marry him... But Diana is the head of the family Ahh... I'm getting up from here.

I get up and go to the bathroom of the huge suite, brush my teeth, take off my crimson robe with "Akko" written on it, put it next to my fiancée's cyan robe, open the shower and start to take a bath, the drops of water washed my body as if they were washing my soul, it was really nice to take a bath in that bathroom, the water was always at the ideal temperature. As soon as I get out of the shower I take a towel, dry my body, wrap myself in it and go into the huge closet of our room, I put on a t-shirt, an overcoat, since it was very cold, "New, as if it wasn't cold every day here in Scotland" and a pair of sweatpants, when I finish getting dressed I put on my bunny slippers and walk through the corridors to the dining room, where I find Anna waiting for me outside the door.

- Good morning Miss Kagari, Miss Cavendish told me to stay here waiting for you to wake up, she is waiting for you in the dining room, let me take you there- Anna said always with her softness of speech, "The handmaids and the butlers were the only nice people in the house.

- Ah, yes thank you Anna, I was just leaving, I appreciate you waiting for me so long... I'm sorry if I overslept," I say, being gentle as always with the sweet lady.

POV Diana:

I woke up that morning down, after another week of having that conversation with Daryl, that snake is still the same, I knew she had only let her guard down since Akko and I saved her from that ritual interference, at least she has no authority at all, I can decide on my own who I marry.... Only that James Mark... He was one of the Appleton students who hang out with Louis Blackwell.... Not to mention he has my father's name on him... Although he was no example of a person, he abandoned me and my mother, since I was a little girl... just because the family was starting to have financial problems. That damned conversation with Daryl... I can't leave Akko... But I have to have heirs or heiresses... Ah Saint Beatrix Lesbian... The Cavendish family only allows to succeed children conceived here by both people.... And how am I going to make one with Akko, being that we are two girls.... Ah... What am I going to do... I can't allow Daryl's lineage to be the dominant one...

While I was in my mental monologue, I was approached by my second cousins, Amalie and Alicia, Merrill's daughters.

- Lesbian cousin! Lesbian cousin! Look what Grandma wrote for you," say the two children handing me the envelope.

- Oh thank you - I say, faking a positive reaction.

"Keep on with your scissors, I don't like your girlfriend, but she guarantees me my lineage ahead, besides teaching a pure lineage, without this talk of turning lesbian witches. Remember that fingers do not reproduce. With love and affection your Aunt Daryl".

Really? It was kind of just sending a message, what's the need to write an envelope, I won't argue any further, let her keep these silly little letters.

I take the letter, crumple it with my hands and throw it into a trash can, using my wand to move the crumpled paper into the container, when I finish throwing the trash out, I notice that my girlfriend had just arrived accompanied by Anna.

POV Akko:

- Good morning my love! - I say all radiant and go towards my girlfriend.

We come close to each other, exchange lips with a seal, soon after we both stare at each other, I as usual am faced with that emotionless and cold face of Diana, colder than Scotland itself I would say. I sit down on the chair facing my girlfriend and start to eat, attacking the pancakes as usual.

- Love Harajuku pancakes! How cute, I love it - I say dipping a pancake and dousing it with maple syrup. I end up remembering my first time with Diana and almost burst out laughing, but I held back as much as I could.

- Akko! What's so funny - said Diana trying to force a refined accent, being that I know how she spoke in a totally different way to me.

- Nothing no my love, I just remembered when I held your breasts that day and said they looked like Harajuku pancakes - I say starting to laugh, while Diana let out a slight laugh, seeing my girlfriend laughing makes me even a little happier, it was rare to see the cute cabbage look like that, even more after that guy came here.

- Akko! Don't talk that kind of dirty talk, someone might hear it - she said with the Scottish accent she used to hear a lot, she thought it was quite cute.

- It's pretty cute cabbage - I say trying to get more laughs out of Diana, but I end up making her blush, but right after that my girlfriend starts to laugh and snort a little, it was cute; she looked like a little pig.

- Akko! Akko! Stop it! I'm not in the moment for this - she said again with her Scottish accent, it was really nice to see Diana giggling a little.

POV Diana:

Oh crap, Akko is getting me, she knows how to lighten my mood... But I have to be careful, she has become very attached to me... What do I do...? Is it worth it...? Daryl wants me not to leave any offspring or else I can make this plan of hers turn against her.... I can do what she wanted to do to me.... But the difference is that Amalie and Alicia will have a kinder upbringing.... I don't know, I have to talk to Akko about this, I can see how she is getting upset about all this.

As I was sinking in my thoughts, I end up coming back with two clicks of a finger, it was Akko, as usual, she kept talking my name, so I decided to answer her.

- Huh? Akko. What is it my love? - I say, coming back to reality, I used to sink too deep into my thoughts.

- Again Diana? Every day you are sinking into these thoughts... What's going on in your head so much? - She said worriedly, trying to find out about me? I think I should open my mouth at once, I don't want to stall her until the last minute like Chariot did to her four years ago...

- Eh... Love... I... I try to say, but... Damn I'm not ready, how can I tell her... - I... We need to talk more... I want to talk about something that ails me... Something that made me like this... - I say as Akko looks at me worriedly, but then puts her hands on my cheek.

- Really? It's okay honey, I was getting agony... You are already cold as Scotland, this way it seems like the North Pole - She said as always talking about Scotland being too cold, this girl never gets used to the normal climate here. As always she reacts this way as if she were a child.

I just nod my head and take Akko with me to one of the offices in the house, where I used to work and study, since I became a leader, I stay there day after day, negotiating about how to deal with the riches, but I have to stop running away from the subject, I will get straight to the point with Akko.

- Ah the office - said Akko inflating her cheeks, she hated the place because I spent too much time there, working and barely paying attention to my love, but what can I do? I have responsibilities, I'm an adult, not like my aunt.

- Love... I... A... Reason - I say with much trepidation, damn Diana, come on girl, where is your stature girl - The reason why I was like this was because of that boy, more specifically about a conversation I had with Daryl, she has been pressuring me, or I would marry this James and save the family financially at once, or else continue with you... Of course I decided what was best for me... That would be to stay with you, even if it didn't give me heirs... - I said almost in tears, but soon Akko comes and starts looking at me confused, as if she thought it was a bit silly, as if I was making a drama.

- Are you dying because you can't be a mother? Is that right? Diana, what about Violet and Sarah? Nothing is impossible for magic, we just have to use the fertility stone," she said shrugging, as always believing that children's story, honestly, my mother used to tell me this a lot, but I'm sure it was just a nice way for her to say that it was okay to be a lesbian. Akko never understands things... I will have to be realistic with her, this is not a joke.

- Akko... This is a children's tale, my mother used to say the same thing when she was alive... The difference is that I was 5 years old... The fertility stone is a metaphor for artificial insemination... Chariot and Croix used it to make their twins... Do you happen to know that Croix is Trans? She froze her sperm before starting the treatment, maybe they said that to cheer you up... - I end up saying it in a too cold way, I shouldn't exaggerate too much, but when Akko believes in something she becomes very attached to it.

- Ah... I forgot this detail, but they told me it was the fertility stone, Chariot even said that in her family's residence there is one of the relics to be made and the other one is in yours... - She said until I finished completing it.

- And the stone of love, which is made with a kiss of love in a cave north of here... I know, I know, I know this story very well my love... No need to repeat it... If there really was such a thing, don't you think it would be full of lesbian witch couples? Or that I wouldn't be in this dilemma right now? Sorry for the words, my love... But I don't want to break your hope... Love even if we used artificial insemination, there is still something that gets in my way, here in the Cavendish family residence only children who are manufactured here and born here can take the place of the family, so even if we had a daughter, or adopted one she and the whole lineage would never take my place... It could even cause a death; she would risk her life love.... So sorry - I say almost in tears, I even put my hand on Akko's shoulder, but she just seemed to ignore all that, as if she didn't give a damn, it didn't even seem that this girl with eyes like rubies, would turn 20 years old?

POV Akko:

Ah, what a drag! Diana is still stubborn and closed-minded and doesn't believe in things! Nothing is impossible for magic, if we even managed to turn even other animals temporarily, saved the world from a missile that was going at a speed that could kill us, went to space and the radiation up there didn't kill us and yet she still thinks it's just a legend... Holy shit.

- Nothing is impossible for magic Diana! Believe it! Stop being so annoying and stubborn! - I said, inflating my cheeks and getting angry.

- The only boring and stubborn one here is you! Akko, honestly stop being so stubborn to think that magic changes everything... If it did, I wouldn't be in this situation... Ah... What the hell... Why... Why are you so Akko, why don't you think a little more realistically? - I said to Cavenboring trying to leave my dreams aside, but you know what, I'm not going to fill the patience of the perfect and correct lady.

- Oh you know what? Fuck it, I don't want to argue over nonsense like that, keep up this lack of belief in things, I still think the fertility stone is real, I won't change your Cavenboring thinking and you won't change mine, um! - I say turning my face and leaving the office, until the boring cabbage opens its mouth again.

- Akko, you can't keep turning your face to the problems like that, you're already 19 years old, how will Shiny Akko be if you keep behaving like a child - said Cavenboring being Cavenboring as always, I just ignored and left the office, as soon as I passed by the door I got a fright with the door, I have no doubt that Diana has used a spell to knock with force and got angry, play nice, but gets angry too.

I inflate my cheeks and lean against the doors with my arms crossed, all I could think about was how boring Diana always was, she wanted to be neat and methodical with everything, it didn't even seem like we saved the world together, it didn't even seem like she really believes that with magic she can do anything, she even seemed like boring Finnelan.

POV Diana:

Oh, what the hell! Because I had to fight with Akko... I didn't want to be so hard on her, but it seems that Akko doesn't mature, this way it's hard to help her with this dream of becoming Shiny Akko, I think I'll try to relax a little, then I'll talk to Akko... I'll try to relax, I can't work with my head like this... I still have to see how I'm going to maintain my savings...

I sit down in my armchair, open my laptop, where I start to open on the bank's website, but I was not in the mood to even think of any smart way to get more money, we were only with enough to maintain the huge mansion and pay the employees... I didn't want to rent it because it is a traditional place and it has a lot of things that can break and are precious... Oh fuck, I'm not in the mood to think about that right now.

On an impulse I decide to procrastinate a little, I open the internet and immediately go to the video site, where on the home page there was a video that interested me a lot on the official channel of the World Broom Racing Championship competition... I remember that as a child I dreamed of one day being a broom racer like Laura McLaren... How ironic to see that there is going to be a replay of the 1991 Irish GP, I think I will watch it to cheer up the nerves, Laura McLaren was amazing in that race, she became champion with 5 races to go.... I don't know why, but every time I talk about her I have good memories... As if she was someone familiar... I don't know, maybe it's just me having memories from when I was a kid, I know my mom liked broom races...

POV Akko:

I had been leaning against that door for a long time, I don't have to waste my time... Diana must have gone to relieve her nerves, if she did that I should do it too... I take a deep breath, look at one of the paintings in the corridor, being one of her mother, and start to talk to myself, I don't know why. I felt like I wanted to talk to the painting as if it was going to answer me.

- Ahh... My mother-in-law... Why is your daughter so complicated like this... So much we learned in Luna Nova, so much we learned, but she doesn't want to believe in the fertility stone... What do I do? Give me some sign - At the moment I say this the picture of Diana's mother disassembles the bottom part and the part that was her picture starts to fly.

It could only be a ghost, not surprising since this mansion is full of them, would this be the one of Diana's mother, I don't know... All I know is that I better get this picture right away or someone will notice that if it's lost I could be in trouble, if someone realizes that the picture of Diana's mother has been damaged... I don't want to go two weeks without loving my wife.... Diana always takes her punishment hard...

I go running after that damn picture, but it kept flying and very fast, sure it was a ghost.... I didn't have my wand in hand, I didn't even learn spells without a wand, I still have things to perfect. Fucking fast picture... I have to get there soon or I will be lost.... Come on Akko take it.

I kept following that fucking picture through the halls of the mansion, I even suspected it might be a prank by Amalie or Alicia, but they barely knew how to use a wand and were two years old, maybe it was her mother or her copy sister? Or even the cow of the grandmother of those two wanting to make me look ridiculous. Whatever it is I feel I have to get this damn picture.

Until the picture makes a turn, and a very strong wind hits a door that opens and through it the picture of Diana's mother comes in, I followed what I could, until I jumped on the bed that was in the room and caught the air, only I didn't realize that I was right in front of a closet, this makes me bump into everything in the closet, and right after that a photo album falls on top of my head and along with it one of the pictures comes out of that album, getting right in front of my face.

When I took that picture of the face, I went into shock, it was Diana's mother, with a redhead and a baby, I think it must be little Cavenchata, I'm sure, the two of them had rings on their fingers, they were similar rings from what I noticed, I was just thinking that it was just bullshit, since Diana's mother had to have only one friend, I remember she already showed a picture of her father? By the way, what a scurvy little fellow... Sorry Diana, but he abandoned his mother when she was sick and depressed, just because the Cavendish family was struggling? A shame, but at the same time no... Who died the following year... He had a daughter and a wife and didn't take care of...

I stopped thinking about Diana's family, since I didn't want to waste my time with this kind of nonsense, so I made sure to look at the back of the picture, since it was quite common for this kind of album picture to have some text, since it was in a place it shouldn't be... Why not take advantage of my curiosity to read and go through these things. Let's hope that nobody catches me at least...

"Goodbye Bernadette... I love you so much my love.... Daryl went too far, she shouldn't have done that.... Save this picture at least for the day we are healed, take good care of our daughter Diana... This will be our last photo before my return... This will never be a goodbye, but a goodbye... With all the love in the world L.M 01/09/2001."

I turned white, I turned a stone, I was in shock, I was without reaction.... L.M.... This redhead must be L.M, it can't be Diana's father, since his name is James and so who would this L.M be? What do you mean daughter? Our daughter on top of that! Does that mean that... Ah Diana... She has a lot of explaining to do now... Wait a minute... That makes Diana the fruit of a couple of women... But was L.M. trans? Just like Croix? Or is the fertility stone real? Ahhh! I don't know... I'm going to believe the second one a lot.... May the second one be real.... I really want to be a mother! I want Diana to come to me and tell me that she was right... But is this L.M. alive? Neither of Diana's parents are alive...

I could even make a surprise for Diana.... If L.M. is alive I might actually get a point out of it... Oh, let's go through this photo album some more while I'm here... Ah... Now that I noticed, it is the room of that hideous carpet that Diana loves, it even looks like it was made by a seven year old child, that unicorn, Beatrix looks beautiful, but that unicorn looks like a skinny horse with one horn... Hahahaha... Let's stop fooling around... I want to see if there are more pictures.

I stay for a few minutes looking at each picture, I didn't even have a notion of time, but I knew that at some point I had to stop, that L.M. is very beautiful, very cute, she is even familiar, I remember that Diana has already watched a very boring broomstick racing documentary movie with her... Bleh, now I remembered, it is just a broomstick race around a track, it doesn't have a maneuver or anything, what's the fun of seeing the same thing you have with a car on a broomstick? What was the name of it again? I don't remember... It was something to do with cars, that I am sure, but I have to say that they are very cute together, I never thought that Diana had another mother, I will believe it, but I really need to know who she is, it can help me with my plan.

I close that album and take a picture using my cell phone, of that picture where the two mothers of Diana and the little Cavenboring were, after taking the picture I put the cell phone in my pocket, besides also putting everything in place, I take out a wand that was in that room and use a spell that repairs all the shelves in the closet, besides also taking the picture of the cabbage mother of my little girlfriend so cute, but as soon as I leave the room, I end up unintentionally running into Diana's aunt's cow, she as always with that slutty look of hers.

- What are you doing here? - said the snake that kept looking at me with disgust.

- Nothing, nothing that is of interest to you... Diana just asked me to come... - I said trying to lie, but that damn thing completes me.

- To my sister's room? What would be in Bernadette's room that would interest Diana? And you have no respect for someone who has died, you don't just walk into the room of a person who has died here, have more respect for... - Said Diana's aunt trying to act saintly and correct, but I quickly retorted that snake.

- Just as you had respect for her when she was alive? Or when you wanted to sell the family's things, without even respecting your sister's memory - I retort in the best way, leaving that snake clenching its fists in anger.

- Listen here, you little brat! Who do you think you are to talk to me like that? Just because you have the protection of my niece, that doesn't give you the right to retort like that. If it weren't for her I'd poison you until you regret saying such things. - Said that cow trying to scare me, I just walked away ignoring her, returning from where I had seen the picture of Diana's mother flying away.

POV Diana:

These minutes watching the 1991 Irish GP really made me feel better, even more seeing how Laura McLaren is an amazing racer, she outdoes herself at every turn, it made me have a nostalgic feeling, when I was a kid and watched it with my mom... She would always put on these races that she liked to watch, and I would watch along because it was always nice to see mom smiling and getting out of bed every once in a while, she would rarely crack a smile or two...

Well, I guess I'll go see Akko, she must have eased her nerves, I just really hope she doesn't come out and talk about that fertility stone thing again, but if she does that's fine, I'll just ignore Akko's childishness.

I get up, close my laptop, go to the door and as soon as I open it, I am faced with Akko putting a picture, I think it was of my mother, back into a frame, I would get angry due to my girlfriend being clumsy, breaking a picture, even more so of my mother, but I will leave it aside, Akko being Akko....

- Ah... Diana! I... A ghost, a ghost knocked over your mother's picture and ended up making it fall - She said trying to invent some excuse, but I believed her a little, after all I know there are ghosts around here, I just don't understand why Akko stayed all the time here in front, poor my love.

- Ah yes a ghost, but I appreciate you trying to tidy up this mess, let's have some lunch love.... Sorry for being a bit thick.... - I said trying to make Akko feel better, who smiled at me and hugged me.

I go with my girlfriend to the dining room where we stayed for lunch, there was my aunt, cousins and the two pests, I mean... Amalie and Alicia... They are not pests; they are just influenced by their mother and grandmother... Poor things... Why do you have such an upbringing... It's a sin, really...

The minutes go by, I was eating normally next to my girlfriend Akko, she always being sweet and giving me food in my mouth, sometimes we even exchanged a few kisses, as always, my aunt being a killjoy, or she stopped the kisses telling us not to do it or she kept covering the faces of the two girls so as not to influence them. I don't understand why this is necessary, we are in new times, she was just being retrograde. This made me nervous, those two are children, they have to be influenced to think in a new way, not like this...

POV Akko:

Lunch was like every other lunch at the mansion, I always tried to be affectionate and cute, sometimes exchanging cuddles with Diana, but that snake of Diana's aunt was always a pain in the ass, getting ahead, stalling any kiss from us... I was getting pretty tired of this, it was every lunch and dinner, I just wish I could slap that old woman in the face, make her swallow that awful green lipstick she wears every hour, even at lunchtime.

When lunch was over, I went with Diana through the hallways, taking her to the office again, I gave my girlfriend a kiss and then went to my room, where I started going through my cell phone, I had the picture of that L.M. in hand, all I needed to do was use the image search. I used an editor cropping that photo, where I left only the redhead and then I used the search.

"Laura McLaren"

"Former Broom Racer"

It was the one, I was already suspicious, the initials and the person in the picture really matched, but how would I find this Laura and talk to her, surely she must be an important person in the world of witches? Four feet ten! How short hahaha, this woman is shorter than Constanze, how did such a short woman make Diana, people, Diana is almost a pole...

"Laura McLaren is a former broom racer, known as the flying irish, shortie, designer racer, the queen, raced from 1991 until 2001 in the World Broom Racing Championship, Eight time champion winning titles in the 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons, she was quite remarkable for how dominant and extremely skilled she was on a broom, she is known to be many times the greatest broom racer in history.... Worldpedia"

"Birth: January 14, 1972 (Age 49), Dublin, Ireland"

"Height: 1.47m"

"Victories: 109"

"Titles: 8 (1991-1995-1996-1997-1998-1999-2000-2001)"

"First race: Brazilian GP 1991"

"Last race: Australian GP 2001"

"See more..."

After a quick read of that information I realized that this was a very important witch, not for nothing that Diana had admiration for her, but how am I going to talk to Laura McLaren if she is such an influential witch? When I was younger I tried to talk to Chariot on the Internet, but I just kept talking to myself. Famous people like that don't use the profile with the most followers to talk to people. Well, let's have a look, maybe this Laura McLaren is not that famous.

I went on Witcher, Laura McLaren's profile had about 4 million followers, and it's still a verified profile, outside that the DM is not open, so you don't even have a chance to get it on the Witcher profile. Let's look at Istagraph... It's also the same thing, she has 800,000 followers on that one and still has the DM blocked... How the fuck am I going to find this woman's personal profile?

Ah! That's it Akko, I'm great! The girls! I'll talk to them and see if they can help me with this! Maybe Constanze will know a way, she is so clever with this kind of thing...

I get my cell phone, go to the Witchsapp application, I keep running my finger through the contact bar, I soon notice that Constanze's contact, was without a profile picture, I assumed it was blocked, I imagine Constanze is not one to talk to me much... Luckily I could talk to one of her girlfriends. I was sure that they would talk to me, especially since they were both closer to me.

"Amanda"

This I will talk to Amanda, she is online as far as I can see, I really hope she will help me, I don't waste any time and immediately take care of sending her a message.

[Akko: Sup].

[Amanda: What’s the matter Akko?]

Akko: Sorry, did I get in the way of something? I need a little help].

[Amanda: Kind of obvious, you wouldn't end up calling me unless it was to ask for a favor. What did you get up to this time?]

[Akko: Gee, you think I call you just to ask for favors?]

[Amanda: Oh fuck, just say what you want].

[Akko: I won't waste time here, but I wanted some help more specifically from Constanze, can you find this woman's personal profile here].

I send the cropped photo of Laura to Amanda, I don't doubt at all that she was in shock, even more so since being a witch, she must have known that woman.

[Amanda: Laura McLaren? Seriously Akko? Hahahahaha! What's so interesting that you want to find the personal profile of a famous witch? I don't know if Cons will make it, but if she blocks you it's not my fault].

[Akko: Ah thank you so much for the strength Amanda].

[Amanda: Ah you're welcome, but tell me, what made you interested in wanting to find Laura McLaren's personal profile?]

[Akko: It's a secret Amanda, a very personal secret].

Amanda: ah so if that's the case I won't ask Cons to help you.

[Akko: Fuck you old man, it's very personal indeed].

[Amanda: Akko, I'm going to ask Cons to invade someone's personal life, it may be a famous person, but it's still a person, did you know that we can even go to jail for giving out someone's personal number? So don't give me that little secret, I promise I'll keep it to myself].

Seeing Amanda's message makes me a little afraid, but I think for a moment, I think I'll trust her this time, I hope she doesn't spread the word to anyone about it.

[Akko: Amanda, that woman is Diana's other mother].

[Amanda: Hahahaha! What? Another mother? What kind of story is this? Where did you get this nonsense from Akko, how ridiculous, do you still believe that fertility stone thing that Professor Chariot said when she had Sarah and Violet? Akko Professor Croix is trans, they used Croix's frozen sperm].

[Akko: This is serious Amanda! Oh fuck you, bitch! I thought I could trust someone with this].

I was bubbling over with anger and all Amanda would answer me was three little dots, but right away she tells me that she will help, no matter how ridiculous I thought this idea was, or what I ended up thinking, I would finally get help for my plan. All that remained was to wait.

After talking to Amanda I decide to start a Live Stream playing Super Mario World, it was a silly challenge to finish the game 100% without dying, but I always failed for one silly thing or another, it was nice to interact with the public, sometimes donations came out and that helped a lot with my project of becoming Shiny Akko, besides guaranteeing a livelihood in case things get tight, it was not because I was dating a noblewoman that I have to be dependent on her money, I do very well on my own.

POV Diana:

The time at work went by, it was a real bore I would say, nothing to do, just trying to find ways to get some extra money, but that Home Office service was spending me a lot, I knew that in the end it would only be enough to pay the salaries of the employees and maybe the food... My aunt doesn't even help, she only lives at the expense of others, thinking that she will still catch a rich man and get money... Her daughters are not much different... Maril already got the rich guy, but for how long? I don't doubt that they will divorce soon, I never really liked that guy...

After an exhausting day of work, it was already eight o'clock in the evening, dinner time arrives, I stop my work for the day as well, I am greeted by two knocks on the door, I soon allow this person to enter.

As usual it was Akko, holding up his cell phone and showing me the time and that it was 8:00 PM.

- I know, Akko, I know, it's time, I have to stop. All that's left is for you to pull me out of this chair. - I say as Akko comes over to me and sits on my lap, it doesn't take long and our lips soon meet, she was all needy and cute, I loved to see my Akko like this, so cute.

- Ah if you stay longer I'll do it anyway, I don't care, you have to pay attention to your little love, if it wasn't for this adult life shit I would want to spend the rest of my days dedicated only to be by your side giving you love - She said giving me affection, I admit I really wanted this, but unfortunately real life is not like that, we have our responsibilities.

- Who wouldn't want love? Obviously we have more important things, if I could stay all day just cuddling next to you, while we watch reruns of Shiny Chariot shows in our pillow fort eating caramel popcorn... - I say, causing Akko to get a gleam in her eye, to think that we actually did that the first few times she visited me, I admit it was pretty cool.

- Love I got nine very large donations today, three of fifty dollars, one of seventy pounds, four of one hundred pounds and one of 250 Euros, today yielded enough, failed well in the world of stars that anger! I even spent the whole Tubular without dying, without blue yoshi, but that damn plant hit right on the edge, I feel like throwing the control to the wall - she said, passing the frustrations of Super Mario, she is still playing this game without dying, it would be funny to get it first time, but I'm not one to lose the whole day playing.

- Oh good baby, soon, you can do it, I believe in you, how about we go to the bedroom, do a little something we haven't done in a long time huh? - I say blushing trying to give an extra mood to Akko.

- Are you going to make a pillow fort and caramelized popcorn? Are we going to watch some cartoons too? Can I choose? - she said, stalling the whole mood and my desire for something more intense. I still wonder how she is 19 and how we did it the other times...

- That's almost it... But it could be too, but let's have dinner before that, Anna must have prepared some delicacy for us - I say trying to make Akko forget that nonsense.

We went to dinner, Anna prepared some macaroni and cheese for us, it was as phenomenal as ever, I love her food... I really hope I can raise enough money to keep her working here, even if it means selling something or other. After dinner I went with Akko to the bedroom, still wanting something more, since I was very much in the mood.

The two of us went into the bathroom together and the next thing really happened, Akko was always very strange, I never knew when she was in the mood for it, but she clearly knew every time she was in the mood for it, after our bath was too hot, we both lay down on the bed and I went to watch some television, luckily there was something that interested me a lot, it was recommended a video about the Top 10 highlights of Laura Mclaren's career, as you can imagine Akko wouldn't want to watch it, so much so that I saw her soon get her cell phone.

Akko POV:

From the looks of it she is going to watch more boring broomstick racing videos, wait a minute.... Laura McLaren... I remember I mentioned her earlier today... Oh yeah! Holy lesbian Beatrix! I can't be that dumb! The fucking plan I made earlier! Did Amanda make it? Well, let's see.

I glance at Diana, she looks back at me and smiles, I return the smile, it looked like she wanted to say she wanted another round of what happened in the shower, I love to use my naivety to make her think I'm silly hehe, she'll never find out. I unlock the cell phone screen, and start to look through the messages.

As usual normal messages, from my mother, Diana... Oh I didn't even do what she asked today, I forgot to get her coffee... It was love... Chariot, Dad, Amanda! That's the one I wanted to know about... Hmmm let's see what she answered me.... It was three hours ago, apparently.

[Amanda: Hey bootleg Shiny Chariot, Constanze got Laura McLaren's personal number, she told me it wasn't that hard, but look, be careful with the messages, she might block you and this idiotic plan of yours go down the drain, I don't know if you know her well, but Laura McLaren was also known for being a little thick, so much so that I used to mirror her a little when I was younger].

[Amanda: +353 01 919 7281]

[Amanda: Remember that it is always good not to risk too much, if she blocks you there is no problem, just ask Cons to give you another chip, I will not charge for this one, since I imagine it is a surprise you have planned for Diana... Enjoy your adventure, then tell me if it worked out. Bye sis].

Fuck, I am even impressed, they got it so fast, if she is that fast to find the number of a famous person, then imagine to get mine, or imagine just to hack our things ... Holy shit, I'll never call Constanze a tampon again, after this I'll think twice even... Well... Come on Akko. The long awaited moment has arrived, Diana is too busy with her boring documentary...

I copy the number and put in Laura McLaren's contact name, as soon as I get this number I notice that there was no picture, but she really did have an account on the app, I take a deep breath, since that would be my moment.

[Akko: Hello]

I have never in my life felt so nervous about sending just a meager "Hello", I don't know why, but it seemed very intimidating, as if I had destroyed the entire Cavendish family mansion and had to explain Diana... I just hope everything works out.... I hope she answers me too, since I'm too far away.... Let's go!

[????? Hello? How the fuck did you get my number? If you are some crazy fan know that I'll give you 2 minutes before I block you, explain if well, surprise me].

Holy lesbian Beatrix, she comes right out with this bucket of cold water on me, I better answer soon if I don't want to throw all this progress in the trash, but what do I do? For the first time in my life I really have to think before I act... I'll explain to her in a quick way.

[Akko: Please, I really need your help Mrs. McLaren, my name is Atsuko Kagari, better known as Akko, I am Diana Cavendish's girlfriend, and I have a very big suspicion about you, I found this picture here and I'm thinking that... You are Diana's mother].

I send the message along with the picture of her next to Diana's mother and also the little cabbage cub, I hope it really works out, because I couldn't think of a better way to respond....

POV Laura:

What the fuck is this? Fuck! I... Fucking hell... For the fucking nine Lesbian Witches... How come a bomb like this comes today? Wait a minute girlfriend? My little girl is a lesbian just like her mother! That's so cute! But wait a minute... How did she find this out? How did she find this picture? By the nine lesbian witches... Does Diana know? Does she come here? Fuck! Now that the house has fallen for me... I've waited years for this moment, but I didn't imagine it would come so fast... I really wanted to keep this secret... Especially since Bernadette died... She would never be accepted in the Cavendish mansion, even with the curse broken and also Diana will never accept a mother who abandoned her for so many years? Better answer this girl soon.

[Laura: I don't know how the fuck you found this picture, I don't know who the fuck you are, I don't know what the fuck you want... But holy shit, you are very smart little girl, yeah... If you are really Diana's girlfriend then send me a picture].

[Akko: Ah you answered me, nice, okay I'll send you a picture, she's on my side now].

The brat takes a picture of her next to Diana, I almost cry when I see my daughter, the girl was big, she was no longer the little baby I used to hold in my arms... Wait a minute... Damn this girl is the same one that was flying with my Diana that day of the missile! I remember it well! It was on TV! Holy shit... She is very cute and cute even, she looks like she is clumsy and silly, I don't know why, I felt that about her.

[Laura: Okay, brat, I'll trust you not to block your number, I just want to know one thing... Are you treating my daughter well, because if not I'm going to come over there and pull your ears. Fuck you if you saved the country with the fucking Claiomh Solais].

[Akko: Hahahah! You are quite funny, but relax; Diana is very well with me, she is very happy by my side.... And I'm honored to see that you know about that].

[Laura: Is quite obvious, how come nobody was seeing two crazy girls on a broomstick flying towards a nuclear missile? Only a fucking person who lives in a fucking cave, which is not my fucking case, so yes, I fucking saw you, I also saw my daughter's psycho beating your fucking ass that day, I already suspected something, but I didn't know you were fucking girlfriends... I am happy for you guys... But answering your theory is... I am Diana's biological mother, just like Bernadette, you want to know how? Simple the fertility stone].

POV Akko:

I started to have a panic of joy, that woman sent right to the can, old cock, I've known this Laura for two minutes and I already consider her my best friend... I love this mother-in-law... Oh shit, I hope Diana hasn't noticed my sudden reaction.

I look to the side and notice that in fact Diana had practically fallen asleep, how cute, I think the day was very exhausting for my love... I cuddle her and, besides making her more comfortable in bed, I give her a little kiss on the forehead, just as I start talking to Laura again. I wanted to know more, who knows also my plan would work out.

[Akko: So the fertility stone is real?]

[Laura: Fucking sure, I know step by step how to do it, I have one now on my necklace, I always treasure it...]

Laura takes a picture and shows me the fertility stone, as well as her face... Holy lesbian Beatrix, she is not 49 years old, she is well preserved... Woah... That's why Diana is so beautiful! The eyes are Laura's... I always knew, Bernadette is the only Cavendish different, she had green eyes... While everyone here has blue eyes... Besides Diana's eyes are the same as hers... They are quite different from the eyes of the others.... I have to say that this Laura and Bernadette made the real divinity... If the fertility stone is real, then it really means that it is not a metaphor for artificial insemination.

[Akko: I don't know what to say Miss McLaren... You killed all my doubts at once, I knew that the fertility stone was real, if Diana is the fruit of the fertility stone and is the current leader of the family... That means that you made her here in the Cavendish family residence].

[Laura: Of course, where do you think I would make out with Bernadette? A girl like you is 19 years old? Forget it, I want to know why you called me, your motivations... And also how you got to this point].

This Laura has a coarse way of being... Like Amanda was mirrored in her, holy shit, she's like Amanda only ten times sharp tongued... She is literally all of Diana's crude side... It makes sense now, but a Diana who cusses ten thousand words a word, I've never seen someone so foul mouthed like that.

[Akko: Miss McLaren... I was this morning arguing with Diana when a wind takes a picture of Diana's mother, so I kind of followed, that picture led to her room, where I bumped into a closet, the picture fell on my face and I was in shock to see that picture, Bernadette, you and Diana together, plus a whole album where the two of you were together.... I also read your entire message that was behind the photo.... It was very cute... But what did Diana's aunt do that was so bad?]

POV Laura:

What a mess... So it was a photo... Bernadette obviously played with this girl, there is no other, but that was not her room, Bern did not keep these things in her room, the room where the tapestry was actually the first room of Diana ... I guess you made those aren't you my love... I have to stop thinking about these things... I'll go crazy, but I'm already crazy... Do I trust to explain to this brat what happened? I don't want to explain this by message... I think I will have to take this measure.

[Laura: Do you want to know what really happened? I'll only tell you if you come here in Ireland, it's something that's better told in person.... Before all this... Does Diana know? Does Daryl know anything?]

[Akko: I haven't told Diana yet, I intended to surprise the lady by revealing myself to you being her mother, plus it would show that the fertility stone was real all along... Daryl only saw me leave Bernadette's room, I managed to disguise it well... No one but a friend of mine knows that you are Diana's mother... And even that friend of mine discredited me, so kind of yes, that secret is safe].

Great! Things will be better this way... So I can really trust this girl... Probably her friend is the person who got my number, I don't doubt it at all, I hope no one expose my number; otherwise I'll be mad as fucking hell...

[Laura: Great, so come to the Mclaren family residence tomorrow morning, don't arrive before 10 o'clock in the morning, otherwise I'll make you swallow your magic, I won't miss my beauty sleep].

[Akko: Okay, I'll come, just send me the address, I'll find a way to go alone, after all I don't want any suspicions to come my way].

I send my address to the little brat, although I don't even need it, all I had to do was look it up on the Internet for the location of my house, since everyone knows where McLaren lives, but I am relieved that the girl is so naïve.

POV Akko:

After this conversation with Laura McLaren I felt relieved, I have to admit that she is very nice and a bit sharp tongued, I could see that a lot, I really hope that everything goes well... Now I'm going to play for a while, maybe sleep... I am one step away from making this surprise real...

I was playing Minecraft until about two o'clock in the morning, I practically lost track of time, playing in a world that I made with Diana, I was kind of mining a little and adventuring, when I least realized I was getting sleepy. So I decided to stop playing, turned off our video game and went to sleep, giving Diana a little kiss on the forehead as usual.

It was nine o'clock in the morning, I got up, this time Diana was beside me, she was getting changed, and I patted her on the butt just to let her know I was awake, hehe.

- A slap on the hotness! Yes baby thank you! - I say after slapping that hottie ass, Diana quickly turns around and puts her hand on her face, a bit flushed.

- Akko! - she said embarrassed.

Soon I stand up and give Diana a hug from behind as she finishes changing, when she finishes changing I get a little kiss on the forehead, after this little kiss I point to my mouth, signaling that she should kiss my lips, which Cavenboring does, after the kiss I go to the closet where I choose an outfit.

A white T-shirt, shorts, an orange overcoat, a scarf and finally a pair of boots, an outfit very similar to the one I wore the day I went to Luna Nova the first time.

- Where are you going so dressed up? - She said, already suspicious that I was going out, while I was thinking of a way to answer Diana, I had to be very spontaneous.

- Ah love I'm going... To Ireland... Yes! I'm going to Ireland to visit someone... - I say, still trying to think of how to wind Diana up, but she stared at me as if I were lying. - I sort of got called to go there, it's a sewing friend of mine from... Luna Nova! - I say this until she completes me.

- Akko, in all those years it doesn't have an Irish student in Luna Nova, if you're going to lie about leaving without me, at least lie properly... Let me see something... Are you going out with your friends to fool around... Or with him? - She said talking as if Andrew was a real criminal, I really don't understand how she has this jealousy of Andrew, he is fucking gay.

- That's it, I'm going out to prepare a surprise for you, but as you always ruin surprises, it's no fun... What a shit - I say inflating my cheeks, fucking Atsuko Kagari, every day you excel in acting, I really deserved an Oscar after this.

- Awwww, don't be like that honey, I know you try these surprises, but you don't have to react like that, try to act better... - She said, caressing me. That's all I needed, Diana believed in my acting, I kind of accidentally made her believe in something else, perfect.

She gives me another little kiss and we go to the kitchen where we go for breakfast, as usual it was pancakes, I love pancakes. We eat for a while until after breakfast I give Diana a kiss and tell her I was leaving, she waved at me and said goodbye.

I take my broom and start to float, saying the spell "Tia Freyre". With the broom floating, I put on the cell phone holder and activate the GPS, setting the destination to the McLaren family's residence, according to the address I entered.

"7h 13 min"

"470 km"

How absurd! This is all by car, but I'm on a broom, so I'd better change the route format here to broom. Yes, the distance has been greatly reduced! Now it's just flying towards Dublin in Ireland.

"350 km"

I think it will take a bit of broom time, I think maybe an hour.... That's the most I can fly going on a broomstick without being scared to death or using up all my magic, so let's go! From Edinburgh to Dublin! Farewell Scotland and hello Ireland!

Diana POV:

Akko left, but said in a very dirty way that she was going to Ireland, I really think she just went to Germany to Constanze's house, maybe to visit Amanda or else she went to visit Lotte in Finland, or maybe she went to Loperèc to visit Chariot and Croix, it's been a while since she visited the two twins... I don't know, I just hope Akko is okay, at least this time she will let me know before she leaves... I have taught this girl well.

Without Akko at least I could work in peace, take advantage of the fact that today is a Friday and I only work until five o'clock, so today is perfect... Well, let's go, today is going to be a day of rest, I really hope Akko doesn't get into any trouble. As soon as I go up to the office I take the opportunity to check my cell phone, to see if anyone has sent me any messages.

[Hannah: Hey Diana, Avery and I are going to Karaoke tonight, do you want to come? Just come down here in England, we'll have some fun, have a cold one, you know... Call Akko, she's funny, even if she doesn't drink, she's a comedian... I have called Barbara and Lotte to come, Amanda, Jasminka and Constanze will also come, even the weird Sucy will come, only you and Akko are missing].

That would be nice, but I'm not really up for it, I want to use this Friday for a more private surprise between me and Akko, you know? I want to do something we haven't done in years, that pillow fort gave me a great idea, it's very childish, but I'm sure my Akko will love it, and I don't know, I won't enjoy it that much. Even more I don't like that Avery girl, I never really did.

[Diana: Ah Hannah, thank you so much, but I don't think it's going to work out, friend, these days are very exhausting for me, also Akko left this morning, I don't know where she went, but it must be some surprise, so I think I'll stay here in Scotland].

[Hannah: Ah Diana, come on stop being such a pain, take advantage that Akko is not here and go out with us, I'll buy drinks for all of us including pizzas as well... So what do you think?].

[Diana: Hannah, you know I don't drink, I will refuse friend, my sincere apologies, but enjoy the day with you guys out there, it's not as if our presence is the most desired thing in the world].

[Hannah: Okay, Diana, okay, but tell me... Do you have the number of that handsome guy, your cousin? It would be interesting to call him here].

[Diana: Hannah, you're engaged to Avery and Andrew is gay, you're not going to get anything out of this, by the way, I don't have his number, you know I don't like that guy, Akko does.]

Hannah after that message just sent me an emote with her thumb sign up, I bet she was a bit mad that I didn't agree to go out with her and the girls, now great, they'll think I'm an asshole because I refused to go out, but I don't care, Hannah has been very annoying lately, she has been since the time she picked on Akko.

After answering Hannah the best way I could think of, I decided to start working for today, I knew I was going to have a full day filling more and more spreadsheets, just thinking about it makes my wrists hurt, but what can I do... This is the way I found to give a little more money to the Cavendish family.

POV Laura:

I was waking up in the morning, got out of bed and looked at myself in the mirror, I was a little bit disheveled, looking at the mirror, my long red hair needed to see a comb, so I tried to really comb it, I imagine I would have a long day, I make sure to check my messages and soon I notice an interesting one.

[Akko: I'm coming to Ireland; I'll be there in an hour].

Oh great, the little brat will be here in half an hour, it seems she didn't obey me much with what I said about not coming here before 10 o'clock in the morning, at least today I woke up a little earlier, but how stubborn this girl is, well come on, I can't go out in a robe with these tits waving around.

I take a T-shirt, pants, and my light blue slippers, as well as my necklace with the fertility stone. If Bernadette hadn't left this would be the stone that would make our second daughter... Hellene... Why... Why did you have to leave my love... I miss you so much... Bern...

I hugged nothing as always, thinking that one day that hug would lead to something... But it always came to nothing... All I wanted most was to be with Bernadette now... But let's keep our posture, after all that girl is going to come, I have to show her that I am strong...

I go downstairs and soon run into my sister Chelsea and my niece Holly, they were both in the kitchen eating waffles, I soon sit down at the table with them...

- Good morning girls! - I say until they both smile at me and answer.

- Good morning sis," Chelsea said.

- Good morning Aunt Laura," Holly said.

- So girls, today we are going to have a visitor - I say while they remain unresponsive - Atsuko Kagari, she is my daughter's girlfriend... Diana... I think you have seen her, that little brunette girl who was on the broom with my daughter with Bernadette." I say until they both stare at me dumbfounded, Holly holding a piece of waffle and Chelsea almost overflowing a cup of coffee, which I had to use magic to keep it from spilling all over the table.

- What is it? What the fuck is this Laura? You're kidding, aren't you? - Said Chelsea as if a truck had run over her. What an honor to finally have the courage to reveal yourself to Diana, I thought I would stay 20 years without doing anything.

- Yes Chelsea, but only Diana's girlfriend is coming.... - I say, answering her.

- Wait a minute, Auntie... You mean the brunette who was on the broom? She is amazing! She's a great friend of mine in Witcher! We always talk about the Shiny Chariot... She's awesome! - Said Holly, as usual that girl was a fan of the little Chariot... Lucky for us we went to her concerts during the beginning of her career, before all those crazy concerts where she was suspected of stealing magic.

- That's her... But yes Chelsea, it is very likely that this girl wants to push me to go to Diana, I don't doubt it at all... - I even say that Chelsea completes me.

- You can't spend your whole life sitting on the couch sucking your tits, Diana will fight with you anyway, your daughter was abandoned for 20 years... There's no use in waiting... What would Bernadette do? Besides, you can save the Cavendish family, I know they are in a bad way financially... That bitch Daryl will have to accept your help or not. Why didn't you have her arrested when she did that nasty shit to you? - She said again, going back to that subject.

- Don't fucking fill me up! I know that, I know I could have done all that.... But I just want to forget it and move on.... - I say trying to make Chelsea stop bringing this up, but she was kind of right, even after 20 years I never stopped thinking about Bernadette for a day... I still have the ring on my finger and always will, my one true love is Bernadette Cavendish...

POV Akko:

I was arriving in Dublin, with only 10 more minutes to go, I was already getting very tired of flying at 350 km/h in a straight line, the icy wind, the pain in my arms... How can a witch who races with brooms stand this, it is much worse to fly a broom when you are at high speed... When I was flying with Diana I always stayed behind and didn't feel all this... Actually this is the first time I have traveled this far alone on a broomstick...

The time went by and I could see the city from far away, after flying so much I was finally close, what a relief... It doesn't take long and soon I am getting closer and closer until I was in Dublin, I follow the GPS to where it was indicating the McLaren family's residence, little by little I get closer and I find myself in a more rural area of the city, also with a wall around it, I pass by it, since my interest was only in the house.

I am even perplexed, the woman was eight times world champion and practically considered a local heroine and lives in a big house, but nothing on the castle level where the Cavendish live, it was a big house with about four or five floors, it looked a lot like big houses in American movies, I soon approach the door and ring the bell, as soon as it rings I wait a little.

Who attends me is a redheaded girl and she was quite short, about Constanze's size I would say, she nods to me smiling, as if she knows me before, so I nod back.

- Hi Akko Kagari! I don't think you know me that way, but you must know me from Witches, I'm Holly Chariot Stan! - she said smiling at me... And wow, she is Holly, I recognize her now, from her profile picture which was a drawing you could tell she drew herself and pretty true to how she is in life I would say.

- Holly? Ah yes! Holly! Girl... Wow! You are amazing Holly, you are one of the few people we can talk about Shiny Chariot without anyone disturbing us, what a coincidence that you live right here. - I say answering her and right after giving her a hug, I wanted so much to hug that girl, I blush a little because I felt her breasts a little, which were not small at all under mine... Wait a second... If Holly is related to Laura McLaren that makes her related to Diana! What a fuck up! Now that I stopped to think about it.

After this hug we looked at each other for a while and soon Holly took me to the kitchen, where when I arrived I found two familiar faces, one was someone I had seen on television before and the other was Laura McLaren... I am in the middle of a family of famous people and I didn't even know it.

- I am Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko - I say, trying to create a good impression.

- Ah hello Akko, I'm Chelsea and this is my sister Laura, I wonder why you came here, I was talking to my sister how she should stop hiding from her daughter and reveal herself, it's been twenty years and this woman is still hiding - Chelsea said.... I have heard that name before... Chelsea McLaren! She is an actress! She plays lesbian characters in all kinds of movies and TV shows! Now that I remembered! I love her performances, especially in Love yourself... How incredible the moments Diana and I were theorizing about how Layla would be with Hannah... Now I am facing Layla herself here. Diana would love to be here.

- Hey there, brat, you finally came. You could have come a little later, couldn't you? Well, let's leave it aside, I'm glad you came, but tell me what are your real intentions? - Laura said with her "gentle" way of being, now I am sure where did Diana's rudeness come from.

- Ah hello Mrs. McLaren... I came here to really talk to you, I want to know what happened to abandon my girlfriend. I am not here to judge you, I am sure you had a reason for that - I tell Laura, I just remembered a little bit about my reaction with Professor Ursula when she revealed all that to me? I really hope that this Laura McLaren has a strong motive, just by talking about Daryl having some involvement makes me more confident, I never liked that snake.

- I will explain everything, but first feel the will brat, do you want to eat some waffles? - Said Laura, as they were waffles I didn't refuse, I found it funny how that house had lower chairs, all of them were so low, I felt like a real pole to be there, I sit in one of the chairs and soon I start to eat.

POV Laura:

Holy shit the brat is here, she could take a little longer, she had to arrive right on time for lunch... Imagine just to explain to her everything that happened... Even more with Chelsea and Holly here... Out of nowhere this little Japanese girl comes and shows up... I am sure that she will make me go to the Cavendish family mansion... I'm sure... I swear that if I go there I don't know what I'm going to do... Whether I'll die of panic or not...

After we eat a little, it doesn't take long and soon my sister decides to open her fucking mouth... I knew that this idiot would want to make me confess, holy shit...

- So Laura, are you going to tell us? Or are you going to stay there without saying anything? - Said my sister as always pressuring me, damn it, here comes the bomb, but also I will not tell anyway, so I will try to show with the best details.

- I will! Come with me to the TV, I think it's something I have to show how everything happened more clearly, using a bit of the crystal balls too - I say, snorting a little already, I get up and go to the living room together with the girls, the day has come apparently? Here we go.

I arrive at the room together with the girls, I begin to use my magic on a crystal ball that soon was showing everything on a television, as I didn't want to show the whole story I decided to summarize it in a clearer way without wrapping it up too much and going straight to the point.

POV Narrator:

Laura begins to show flashbacks of her memories, starting with one from June 1990, just as they were returning from the McLaren family residence after they had both graduated. They first stop by the redhead's house where she passed the family's leadership position to her younger sister Chelsea.

After solving this problem they go to the Cavendish family residence and it was there where things started to get problematic, as soon as they arrive they are welcomed by Clarie Cavendish (Diana's grandmother, Bernadette and Daryl's mother), that is until the time the woman brings up the subject of marriage, telling Bernadette to marry the son of a family friend, this one called Paul Hanbridge.

Bernadette obviously refused, but she could no longer refuse using the age argument, which she had always used with her mother since she was 14 years old, this time the girl was 18 years old, because of even that Cavendish decided to hit the table and assume once and for all. She had been dating Laura McLaren since December 1987 and would never part with that girl for anything in the world.

This causes Clarie to end up slapping the girl and getting disgusted, she even tried to lock her in her room and kick Laura out, but since the authority in the Cavendish family was with Isabella (Diana's great-grandmother, Bernadette and Daryl's maternal grandmother), she did not allow Clarie to do this at all, but in a way Bernadette had to obey her mother's demands, but she did not want to anymore, she needed to do something.

A week later the opportunity arrives, it was the perfect day to perform the ritual to become head of the Cavendish family, Bernadette felt in the mood to perform this ritual, since it had been weeks since she had laid in bed with her girlfriend, it had been days since they could even kiss in peace in the ritual.

POV Laura:

I decide to pause that part, because I had to explain what was going to happen next, as I was not present at the ritual part I would kind of just show myself waiting while listening to some music.

- Why did you stop, sis? And what does something that happened eleven years before Diana was born have to do with her abandonment? - said my sister who still didn't even know that much about what happened.

- So, I don't know very clearly what happened, but according to what Bernadette told me, she was going normally until someone interrupted the ritual in the halls, she was alone and was shot down by Clarie and her grand aunts, Marie and Amelia, after she woke up, she was alone in the middle of all that room. Bern continued on and soon came across three trees, they seemed to be covering the three which was really true, at that time Bern didn't know it was them and just continued on normally, coming to get the title of head of the family - I say until Chelsea again raises her hand.

- Okay, but what does this have to do with what happened 11 years later? - Chelsea says, getting on my nerves, until I answer her.

- Fuck you Chelsea, pay attention to this shit, or I won't explain it to you - I say answering my wonderful sister, wonderful is my ass, fuck you... Laura focus, let's go back to showing what happened.

POV Narrator:

After the ritual Bernadette came back and was realized that she was head of the Cavendish family, but things were not that much better, from the moment they started to miss Clarie, Marie and Amelia, with that disappearance Bernadette called the police two days after she disappeared, in this case the magical police since normal people could end up getting hurt.

When the police arrived where the ritual was being performed, they noticed that there were three lifeless bodies, they were the bodies of Clarie, Maria and Amelia, as soon as Bernadette explained everything she was taken as the main suspect and was almost arrested, when she explained everything that had happened and in the crystal ball it appeared what really happened.

As soon as she returns home, Laura was waiting for her, as was Daryl. Cavendish was cleared and the whole case was closed as a murder, but because of this Daryl ended up placing all the blame for these deaths on Laura.

"It's your fault Laura McLaren! Because of you my mother and my aunts died! You had to show up in my sister's life! You ruined all the family's plans! You damn Irish bitch!"

POV Laura:

- Of course, this was pure falsehood on Daryl Cavendish's part, she had little empathy for her mother and aunts, after all, she herself had told them that Bernadette had gone to perform the ritual to become the leader of the family, she intentionally wanted to make her mother the leader of the family, because then she would manipulate Bernadette into forcing her to marry Paul Hanbridge... Daryl told me this before the fateful day. Clarie's death was not a feeling of daughter losing her mother, but for her it was more because it got in the way of her plans... That woman was never any good - I say until Chelsea answers me again.

- Laura McLaren! You are dumb! Look what you tell me, look what a piece of shit this woman is! Daryl should have been arrested! I will always say that. But instead the big tobacco girl there preferred to keep it quiet! - She said as always insisting on this subject... And fuck, even the other two were agreeing with her.

- That bitch could have killed my girlfriend, she had no qualms about using poison spells on me when I tried to save Diana's life... - Said the brat, causing me to go into shock.

- Wait a minute," I say, pausing the TV, "you mean you tried the ritual and... What part of respecting the traditions, didn't you hear? Anna didn't let me interfere even though I heard some screams and magic shots, and I also felt Bern's magic weakening... - I say until the little brat completes.

- I know, but I kept pushing in every possible way, until I saw Diana on the floor, I tried my best to fight Daryl and their daughters... But there are three of them... When I woke up I found Diana, we were in a laboratory, I tried to make her feel better and encourage her not to give up the ritual, since there was time, we went... Daryl and her clones almost died, but during the ritual, Diana kind of sacrificed being the leader of the family in exchange for being able to save the lives of the three - Akko said, which impressed me, but at the same time I hoped that Daryl had died in this attempt to stop the ritual.

- Daryl doesn't learn his lesson anyway, she lost her mother for that very reason and 27 years later she makes the same mistake, if it wasn't for Diana she could have died... If that's so then it means that Daryl kind of owes one to Diana's side - I say until Chelsea completes me.

- You see Laura, it is your time to move, it is your time to stand up for yourself, Daryl can't do anything, she had her life saved by your daughter, let her dare to touch a finger on you... – Said Chelsea completing me so I just shrug my shoulders and decide to go back to showing what happened, skipping many years on television, since they were the best years of my life next to Bernadette.

POV Narrator:

Laura jumped to the year 2001, more specifically on September 1, 2001, Diana was already 3 months old, she had hair a little bit evident since she was born with hair. On that day Laura is called by Daryl. Where she reveals all her intentions.

"Laura I never blamed you for the fact that killed my mother and made me lose my much loved mother, in fact I hated her, I even appreciate you coming along and making Bernadette's head to continue in this lesbian shit, but I was angry anyway, your person was not supposed to be so influential, Bernadette being a lesbian was fine.... What I didn't want is for her to date someone like you.... An imposing person, a moral person, because of your presence, Bernadette became stronger, she wasn't like that before, she was more submissive... But why am I saying this? I wish my mother had succeeded in becoming the leader, not because I wanted to see her alive? but because I wanted to see Bernadette forced to marry Paul. He is the same one who is my lover today.... Poor little Eleanora who thinks she is in a stable union.... But let's get back to the point... With you ruining my first plan where my mother could possibly trust me more, I had to change the course of things... That's when you made the fertility stone and I discovered a wonderful little book Written by a witch named Margaret Ford, this book was about the curse of the metal spheres.... Do you know it?"

At that moment Laura was just oblivious, but she recognized the name Margaret Ford because of her late great-grandmother's past and how she was a criminal witch accused of killing none other than Diana Cavendish III, the great-great-grandmother of the current Diana Cavendish.

"So, I'll be very direct to the point Laura McLaren, you and Bernadette are under this curse, I put on you yesterday, you have one week to leave this house.... If you don't want you and Bernadette to die... In a week the effect of the metal balls will start to work, if you are close to them... The metal balls will move faster and faster inside your stomach, piercing you both... Look, either you give in, or you and Bernadette die together in a romantic and beautiful way... Poor little Diana who would have to be alone in this cruel world.”

After telling all that Laura had connected the dots, she remembered something her great-grandmother told her years ago, that until then it was a curse with no cure, to the point that Daryl didn't even know the cure either, which causes her to have to change her plans.

Laura and Bernadette talk one last time, take a picture together with little Diana in the middle, using a Polaroid camera, McLaren takes a pen and starts to write a message to leave on the picture, it was not a goodbye, but a goodbye, she believed very much that she could find the cure.

POV Laura:

I started to cry... That moment always broke me... Remembering that I would come back... But that coming back never came.... I paused because I couldn't stand crying, I needed to be trimmed by my sister, niece and Akko, they started to do everything to make me feel as good as possible.

- Mrs. McLaren... It is not your fault... It is that bitch Diana's aunt, now I understand why she did all this... It was not your fault... You don't deserve to be like this... We are going back to the Cavendish family residence and I will make that snake swallow its teeth. Please Mrs. McLaren come to the Cavendish family residence, go back to your daughter, I am sure that there you will make that Cavenboring stay cool - Said the little brat trying to convince me ... But if of one thing, she is right, I think I have to stop staying in the comfort zone.

- You are more than right, brat! I'm going to the Cavendish family mansion! I'll face Daryl head on if I have to and let her hold me back! Because I'm coming back! If she tries anything, I've got what's coming to me. I have the cure for the curse of the metal spheres! I got it at least five years ago... If Bernadette were alive... - I say until Akko trims me again, the little brat is kind of nice, she knows how to motivate someone, now I know why Anna let her go.

- You don't have to worry about whether Diana will accept you or not, because you are my guest and Diana should accept, because I'm sure the Cavenboring will be very angry, since on her side you abandoned her - said the brat, quite rightly, that really was what made me postpone my return year after year.

- Okay Akko, I will go! Wait for me next week! I will come! I'll even come with my car with all my bags! And this time I'm not stalling, I'm really going back to the Cavendish family mansion! - I say with all motivation I'm really going.... No more waiting 20 years for this.

POV Akko:

When I heard Laura saying that I started to jump and celebrate and the other two celebrated together with me, the three of us even lifted the McLaren lady, holy shit she might have been short, but she was a little heavy too, after I let her down, I stayed there a little longer, until the sun was going down. When the sun sets I say goodbye to the McLaren, they are a nice family.

- Bye Laura McLaren, I hope to see you next week - I say hugging my mother-in-law.

- Bye brat, good luck dealing with my girl, let's keep it a surprise shall we? - said Mrs. McLaren.

- Bye Akko - said Mrs. McLaren's sister.

- Bye Akko, take good care of my cousin... Oh and do you have a cousin or sister who is as cute as you? Or does Diana have any single friends? - Holly said, wanting to get some hot chicks. Apparently McLaren is full of lesbian witches.

- Bye girls... Oh and Holly, I don't know, we can talk when I get home, a pretty girl like you can get a girl really fast - I say motivating Diana's cool cousin even more.

After talking to them I take my broom and fly back to Edinburgh, Diana must be waiting for me now...

POV Narrator:

The days went by quickly as Akko went from Dublin to Edinburgh, the Kagari managed to hide very well from Cavendish everything she was planning, no one from the Cavendish family residence suspected, which was great.

After this week passes without much happening, Friday arrives where Laura McLaren and her daughter Diana Cavendish were to meet again after almost 20 years, the long-awaited day has arrived.

It was a Friday morning, Laura had already left Dublin at five o'clock in the morning, possibly arriving at noon in Edinburgh, leaving with the Lotus Carlton 1990 that was one of her cars, this one in particular was McLaren's favorite car. Some of the other cars were bizarrely stored in the Cavendish family residence, so it would also be an opportunity for the redhead to review her old cars.

It was eight o'clock in the morning on a winter Friday, it was -2 degrees Celsius that day, but no snow, just a chilly morning as usual. Akko and Diana were waking up together in the bed of their bedroom.

POV Akko:

You don't have to wake me up together, Diana, just give me five more minutes... Oh yeah... Holy shit today is the day! Diana's mother will be here soon... I really hope Diana doesn't react with anger about finding out the truth.

- Good morning my love... Hmmmm... - I say grumbling as Diana kept moving.

- Good morning love, so... Are you going out today? - she said suspiciously.

- I will, but I have a surprise for you... - I say, already making Diana more suspicious.

- A surprise is, if it's like the surprise you gave me at the pillow fort last week I'd love it, but let's do it after work," she said, already hinting at something else.

- You will know what this is all about," I say in response to her.

I go to change with Diana, we put on matching clothes, she with a cabbage print t-shirt with "I'm her cabbage", and me with a white cabbage print t-shirt with "I have a cabbage girlfriend", I put on a pair of red plaid sweatpants, as Diana also put on a pair of blue plaid sweatpants, I almost go barefoot, but Cavenboring throws me a rabbit slipper that catches my head.

- You can't go out barefoot - said Cavenboring, already starting to get on my nerves.

- All right, all right, Bleh, you Cavenboring - I say holding out my tongue and taking my slippers and putting them on, while the cuddly cabbage put on her kitten slippers and put on a plaid jacket, while I went without a jacket.

- Where are you going without a coat? - Again the Cavenboring implies me, this time throwing an orange coat to me, and it wasn't even cold, inside the room it was even warm.

I put on my coat because I didn't want to see Cavenboring pick on me and as soon as we leave I notice why she gave me the coat, I already feel the icy wind in the halls of the mansion, which were not heated so as not to spend on heating, so only in the bedrooms I leave the heater on.

We went to breakfast, this time I was smiling too much, very excited about the surprise that that cow of Diana's aunt would come across, little does she know what is waiting for her... Since I went to Ireland I have been even more careful that this snake doesn't do anything to Diana and me, because she is not crazy to do anything.

- Why are you smiling so much girl, what's so funny that you would look at me and still find it funny? - said the snake in the creeping way it always used to say... Ew.

- You will know Daryl - I say, leaving a mystery in the air, Diana was also looking at me and was finding my overconfidence strange.

- Why are you so excited about what I'm about to see? May I know? Are you by any chance going to give me some lipstick as a present? Or are you going to get out of this house at once? My niece has been tarnishing the family's reputation for far too long by insisting on this lesbian thing, this is all just a phase. Either she marries James or she remains infertile and unable to have a lineage that will continue the family? Oops, I hesitated, I ended up talking too much,- said the crawling snake, which did not intimidate me a bit, in fact I continued to show confidence, while Diana hit the table and stood up angrily.

POV Diana:

- Atsuko Kagari! Stop picking fights with my aunt! And Aunt Daryl, you're already here with me! If you insist on pushing me around James, I swear I'll make a fuss, I love Akko! I don't care if it makes it impossible for me to be a mother! Love is stronger than any barrier - I say in answer to both of them, "I don't know why Akko invented to create intrigue out of the blue, I was so angry that right away I left the table, I no longer had any appetite.

- Diana! Don't go now! Sorry love! - Said Akko, which I just glanced back signaling that I had forgiven my love, she always understood my body language, so I left there to go towards my office.

Arriving at the office I kept thinking and pondering... What is the surprise that Akko wants to give me so badly? Is it something warmer? Or could it be that the something warm that she gave me last week was actually not the surprise and she has something bigger in store? I don't know... All I know is that this week she asked me several questions about my father... She even came up with an absurd theory about my mother being a lesbian... Not that I think it could be a lie... She clearly felt repulsed by my father... I am sure my mother married just to have me My father James was never a good person Besides saying about a hypothetical situation where the fertility stone is real and I am actually the daughter of two mothers.... I admit I really wish this was all real.... She even made a whole theory involving my aunt casting a curse to stop all this.... I have never seen Akko think this much....

Anyway, let's focus on what to do today... I'm going to have a very full day apparently.

POV Narrator:

The hours went by that morning, Akko was waiting playing some video games, so much so that she opened a live stream, this time playing some Yu Gi Oh Forbidden memories, playing in a challenge she called no Free Duel. Which was much more complicated since she couldn't lose since she was also competing in story mode the whole time.

Laura was arriving in Edinburgh, driving as fast as she could, sometimes slowing down in case there were speed cameras nearby, but that didn't stop her from going as fast as she could to reach the Cavendish family residence.

By the time 11:55 arrived, Laura was already at the door of the Cavendish mansion.

POV Laura:

I arrive at the gate of the Cavendish family residence, press the button of the gate control and soon I notice that they open for me, which already impressed me, it was the same moldy control from 20 years ago... Someone could break into this place if they stole my car. Luckily they didn't try, or they would swallow their teeth. I would go inside, but as soon as I start to drive forward I am interrupted by a security guard. I roll down my window and then lower my glasses.

- Frederich let me through, man! It's impressive that you've been working here since 1995, and please, don't say anything to anyone that I'm here, only to the house staff, I want to surprise them - I say until Frederich recognizes me and then releases me.

- I am sorry Miss Laura McLaren, we have not seen you for 20 years, what happened to your disappearance? I missed you around here, this mansion has a very heavy atmosphere since you and Mrs. Bernadette left this place? - Said Frederich, which I just agree and then climb the car window entering the mansion of the Cavendish family.

I go with my car along the path that led to the garage, surprisingly they still had my other beauties, very well kept and hidden in a cloth, as soon as my car parks I am greeted by Anna, possibly she has been warned of the arrival of a visitor.

- Hello Miss Laura McLaren, what brings you here? - Said Anna accompanied by other maids.

- Hi Anna, I am definitely back this time, I have a few things to take care of here... Have you taken good care of my Diana these years? - I say until Anna nodded her head in agreement.

- Of course, I'll take your things to the former mistress's room... May I? - Anna said.

- Please, Anna - I tell her until she and the maids walk past me, I hand them my car key, just as I take my cell phone.

POV Akko:

Lunchtime was approaching, I took the time to procrastinate a bit on Wticher and have fun with some memes, until I get a message from Mrs. McLaren... She arrived that early? So fast almost at lunch time?

[Laura: Hey brat, I'm home, come here we need to play our plan, I'm in the hallway past the garage, make sure you're not seen by Daryl].

[Akko: Okay Miss McLaren, I'll be right there]

I go quickly through the corridors and come across Miss McLaren, she was taking off her sunglasses and also the jacket that she tied around her waist, that almost made her tits fly, I don't know how that woman doesn't fall down with a thing that size.

- Well, follow my plan, we are going to make a shocking surprise for everyone, but before you make this surprise, take this - Said Laura handing me a bottle.

- What is it? - I say confused.

- This stuff makes you immune to the curse of the metal balls, Daryl can never do anything to you. – Said Laura

- And what is the plan? - I said.

Laura tells me in detail how she would follow the plan and how I should prepare the surprise, with a little bit of magic to make the scenario perfect, then after hearing everything, she pats me on the back and I go towards the dining room, where everyone was there having lunch and waiting for me, apparently.

- You were late love - Cavenboring said only because I had more important things to take care of.

POV Diana:

I wonder if Akko is late because of the "surprise" or if there is another context... What is my girl planning? Well, I don't know, maybe she is just late... I don't know, I only know that she is so cute eating with her full cheeks, my little cheeks, after that discussion earlier Daryl even kept quiet, how nice.

I was eating normally, until a piano song started playing... Oh no I can't believe Akko did that, she made a point of playing the theme song from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure... Why I deserve this woman... Hey smoke, why is there smoke? Shame on me...

Until the music reached its climax, the door opened, but the smoke was still very thick, and the moment the piano started to play again, I came across a person. It was a redhead with long straight hair, a little fat, arms crossed, she had very pale skin, freckles everywhere... Wait a minute, that face is familiar... Laura McLaren? What is she doing here... Eh... A... ghost behind her.... Mom? My mother is appearing behind her...

I was stunned at the time, I looked around and my aunt was in shock, she was a stone, I had never seen her like that... I was also trying to understand why my mother's spirit appeared.

- Hello - Laura said in a way that seemed threatening, but at the same time comforting.

- We got Miss McLaren they are in shock - Akko said... Akko? Who stood up and shake Laura's hand as if they were two friends... What is this thing? What do you mean? They have met before... Akko's surprise was to bring Laura McLaren here? That's why she told me she went to Ireland last week.

- La... Laura... What are you doing here? - Said my aunt who was scared, but soon she changes her expression to a more confident one, why is my aunt reacting like this? - In reality, you arrived late, I would say at least 15 years late, how can you simply arrive here and on top of that have the shamelessness to come here thinking that your Diana is going to come to your arms, that she is going to put her hand on your head? - My aunt kept saying... What? What do you mean "your Diana"? I was startled looking at my aunt - That's right Diana, this girl here is actually - Said Daryl until Laura ended up answering her.

- Nothing more, nothing less than Albert Einstein! - Said Laura as if she didn't care about that situation, while my aunt stared at her in disgust - Look Diana, I am sorry for everything that happened 20 years ago, but I will tell you... Your mother Bernadette was married to me, we used magic and then we had you.... That was long before she married James.... Your aunt may even try to stay on top, but what about Daryl? Why don't you talk about what you did to me? Why don't you confess that you controlled your sister by forcing her to marry James? Why don't you talk about when you left Bernadette to die? Why won't you talk about when you put the curse on the metal balls? - Did you say Laura? Is she my mother? What's going on? It can't be... I'm very confused...

- Wait! What are you saying? What do you mean Laura McLaren is my mother? What do you mean she used magic? What did my Aunt Daryl do? Mom... - I say, starting to get weepy... I had memories of my mother Bernadette and I started to run out of there, it was an impulse I never had in my life.

I ended up doing this trying to get away from that situation, many things were going through my head, Laura McLaren my mother? Curse of the iron balls? That James was not my father I already knew, he already did the DNA test... I just want to be alone... So I ran to the room where my mother was staying, I sat down on the floor and cried, it was the only thing I could think of... Traumatic childhood memories came back... Those days when my mother died... If I could go back in time and heal her.... I would give her all my magic...

POV Laura:

My apologies Diana... I wanted to make a triumphant entrance... But I couldn't, I don't think I should pull this argument the poor thing must be in need of someone to make her feel better.

- Do you see what you have done? You think this is going to be okay? I won't let you come back so easily - said my slutty sister-in-law, while I just walked straight ahead, until the brat tapped me on the shoulder as I was approaching the door.

- Where are you going Mrs. McLaren? Are you going to let Daryl say these things about you? I know the real story, I know what happened, she has to shut up - said the brat, until I took her hand off my shoulder.

- Fuck what is more important is the love and care that I must give my daughter, Daryl of little do I care, I'm shitting and walking to that snake - I say leaving that room while Akko was even quiet to hear me, Daryl kept talking and talking, but only ignored, the brat is very brave to stay in this house with that cow.

POV Diana:

Alone in the room, crying, until I feel something touching my shoulder, I thought it was just Akko, so I just ignored it again, until I hear a voice... I had heard it before... I raise my head and am faced with the ghost of my mother.

- Diana... I understand your pain... It seems that your mother Laura has finally decided to go back to where she should be... Taking care of her daughter... Please... Don't be angry with her. Accept it, Laura. This is my last wish as a mother. Laura has given me so much love and care all these years - Said my mother's spirit.

- Why should I accept her? Laura abandoned her just as I did. She didn't even interfere when you married James - I say until she answers me.

- Your mother Laura had a reason; she would never abandon us... This reason she will explain to you, I'm sure... You have no idea how she waited so many years for this moment. Laura tried to find a cure for what caused her to leave us. But it was too late... Please Diana... If you can't do it for yourself... Do it for your dead mother...- said my mother's spirit, which made me a little touched... This time I really think I should forget about this armagure... I wonder if all that theory Akko told me is true.

I just nod my head and smile at the spirit that starts to disappear, when it disappears completely I see that the door was being opened, as I see the door opening I am faced with my mother Laura.

- Diana - said my mother Laura.

I get up and go running to hug my mother Laura, I was still crying, only this time the crying of sadness was changed to one of comfort, I was kneeling and hugging her, since my mother was a little short, I rest my head on her chest and soon I am caressed.

- I have waited years for this moment, my little Diana," she said as she kept giving me affection, while wiping my tears.

- You called me Mom? - She said, all excited, until I looked at my mother's face and she was crying.

- What else would I be yours? - I say to my mother who starts to hug me tighter to the point of making me sink my face inside her huge breasts... But soon after she lets the hug go lighter.

- Now things will be all right Diana... Your mother Laura is here... I will never leave her... I'll never leave you again I will make up for all the 20 years I spent away - She said until I look at her and start wiping my mother's tears.

- Just in these few seconds the lady is already making up for it... My mother Laura - I say this while Akko was watching everything, she was bursting into tears, my mother immediately looks at her and starts laughing.

- Come here little brat, you're family too - said my mother calling for Akko, who joined in a family hug... Brat? I like that nickname, I guess I'll have to get used to the idea that I have two mothers? It seems that Akko was right all along about the fertility stone... Who knew it would be under my nose all the time.

See you, lesbian witches, someday, somewhere!

[fieryhonesty]

“Talked with a friend about how bad bus drivers are where I live and how many times I landed on somebody or somebody has landed on me. Somehow felt like to write a short fic about it, ended up being more from real life than I dare to admit. N-no! it’s not like that!”

Words: 2714

Genre: fluff, modern AU, gn!reader

"-and that's it for today. Don't forget to review, the exam will mostly contain questions based on this topic. The results will gradually affect your grades." 

With those words the professor has left the room. It was the last class of the day and obviously he didn't want to waste any minute. Hurrying to his car not to get caught in traffic. 

You were idly sitting at your desk, not even paying attention to others packing their stuff and leaving the classroom. You are slowly the last person in the room. You didn't listen most of the time and had no idea what the professor was talking about. Your mind was drifting everywhere, it's too hard to stay focused on classes. Especially when your mind is overflowing with ideas.

Last night you had talked with one of your friends. You two knew since elementary school and despite choosing different schools and paths you remained in contact. She knew everything about you including the passion for writing. It was just a hobby of yours. You had never planned it to be your career.

 In fact not so many knew about it. People around you knew you were writing something in your notebook. But you are a student, probably writing some notes for school or something. And you always hid your writings when somebody was approaching. Even if they asked what you were doing you just said 'rewriting my school notes, hehe.'

Except that one friend nobody has any idea about your passion. Perhaps it's for the best as you are really shy about it. The thought of other people seeing what you write or how you write is kind of terrifying. Publishing your stories never crossed your mind until your friend got fed up one day. Telling you to just go and publish it. There was no room for negotiations.

Your shyness slowly disappeared, at least when it came to publishing your works online. People didn't know you, your name or who you are. They knew you under a nickname and that's it. You felt safe and happy as you got quickly recognized and fans were leaving supportive comments. 

Writing is your way to express yourself and your emotions. Talking to people face to face is quite harder. You don't have the time to think it through and usually say the first thing which comes to your mind. Sometimes ending up saying some weird stuff which embarrasses you. That's why you rather don't initiate talk or talk really rarely. 

You are most talkative around your best friend and family. Everything else is just giving you anxious feelings. You'd love to start talking with others, especially if they are talking about something you are also interested in. But you are simply not that kind of person who would randomly join in and talk. Sometimes you wish all conversations could happen in written form, that way you would be the star.

You wanted to pull out your notebook and write down some of your thoughts but you realized where you are. Looking around the classroom, it's only you. Sighing for yourself. It will have to wait until you arrive at your apartment. Quickly packing all books into your fancy bag and rushing to your locker. 

You were actually sharing the locker with another person but they are sick at the moment. Their half is clean as ever, books neatly folded, cup and coffee hidden in the back part of the locker. They actually made you into the coffee addicted person you are now. At first you didn't like it but eventually fell in love with the bitter flavor. 

Sometimes you fetch some latté on your way home, thinking of where you would be without caffeine. It's probably one of the best things which happened to you during your university days. So many sleepless nights as you were studying for exams or writing until early morning. 

Changing into your comfy shoes, wrapping a scarf around your neck and dressing into the coat you loved so much. It's so warm and cool looking, makes you feel badass whenever you wear it. One last glance over your stuff in the locker in case you had forgotten about something. All set. Time to catch a bus.

Knowing about you had missed all early buses and will probably get stuck in traffic. Which is fine by you, your earbuds and music is ready. Luckily you didn't have to wait for too long at the bus stop. But it was enough for your cheeks to start freezing. As always you stood at your usual spot. Not feeling like sitting as you do it the whole day at school and home. 

Wrapping one arm around the pole, leaning a bit at it. There's not many people with you on the bus and so you can monopolize the pole and the area around it. You put down your bag as it was quite heavy and your shoulder was starting to hurt. Pulling the phone out of your pocket and browsing news. 

Not really paying attention, just mindlessly scrolling through articles. Sometimes reading the first few sentences before you go back and keep scrolling. 

As expected the bus was moving slowly, the delay was getting worse and worse. Checking the time, you had already spent here over ten minutes. If the bus had moved by a few meters, it's a lot, let's say that. Delays are quite normal at this hour so you don't really sweat it. Looking back to your screen, resuming your news browsing.

After a couple of minutes the bus finally got out of the major traffic and quickly catching up with the delay. As expected the ride was faster than usual, hopefully still within the speed limits. However you won't know this, all you know is the roundabout you will reach soon won't be funny. It's quite a steep one and even if the driver will take it very slowly you will have a hard time balancing yourself.

You are prepared, actually holding tight the pole instead of leaning on it. You have a perfect posture to keep yourself stable. Maybe your grip on the pole is a bit too convulsive. As you feel unpleasant pressure in your wrist. The moment you ease the grip a little, feeling how your feet are sliding. Before you tighten your grip again you fly forward. Trying your best not to crash into the person who was sitting there.

Despite all of your efforts you land on them. You are in shock but more than that you are embarrassed. As you tried to pull back and regain your posture. Feeling hands on your shoulders. Apologies are about to roll out of your lips but they are faster.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Up until now you didn't realize it's a guy you fell on. His long crimson locks tied into a ponytail. At first you thought you had landed on a woman. But his hoarse voice assured you he is anything but a female. You are too close to him for your comfort, his scent already entered your nose. Feeling how heat is rising in your cheeks. This is bad. His crimson eyes were darting around your face, looking for any sign of injury.

'This is embarrassing, say something you idiot!'

"Uh, yea. I... I'm terribly sorry!"

Your voice nearly betrayed you. The last word could be barely heard which made you even more wishing to just be able to vanish. Staring at the male unable to think what to say. Feeling relieved when the bus has stopped as he lets go his hold on you. If you could, you could have dug yourself in a ten meters deep hole and never climb up. 

Quickly murmuring out another apology. Grabbing your bag and jumping out of the bus. It doesn't matter if your stop is still far away. You'd rather walk the rest or wait for another bus than stay in that one.

It was already dark outside when you arrived at your place. Freezing and tired. Trying not to think of what happened earlier but you couldn't get the male's scent out of your nose. It was like he is still next to you, the sweet smell of vanilla. 

You let it be as you tossed the bag into a corner in your room. You are too hungry to think about anything. Making some quick cup noodles and eating them while going through another writing and editing session.

Days were passing by. Always the same: school, ride home and then either study or write. You had forgotten about what happened a few days ago, not even mentioning it to your close friend who had been hanging out with you here and now in chat.

It's Friday and you are feeling like chugging one quick latté. Perhaps you will sit there for a while and write a bit. You sure do like the atmosphere in café shops especially with playing jazz. Sitting in your corner, peeking at other customers here and now. Just to be sure nobody is approaching you. 

You ordered your regular and are waiting for the waitress. In the meantime you pull out your small notebook and read through the latest ideas. You usually write short things there, like drabbles which sometimes turn into much longer stories.

When a cup with your favorite drink landed on the table you looked up and shot a quick smile at the waitress. She answered with the same gesture before checking on other customers.

You fished for a pen in your bag. As soon as the tip of the pen touched the paper, a group of guys entered the shop. You didn't look up to check on them. Why would you anyway? You came here to chill after school, enjoy your drink and possibly write a few lines. Well maybe if you did check, then you would have noticed the redhead from before. 

He was dragged here by his friends as they got this stupid idea to look at girls. Starting here at café and moving to other public places. He didn't want to. He is kind of tired after the long week but that's also the reason why he is here. Too tired to search for excuses. And he knew he would need valid ones especially for his little brother whose idea was all of this.

As he sat with them, quite unbothered by their talk about the waitress who just took their order. Pulling out his phone to finish reading something he started during lunch break. He agreed to tag along not join into their jewelry observations as they call it. They could be talking about anything and he wouldn't pay mind to it. 

Only to be brought back to reality when Childe snatched his phone away. Grinning at him.

"C'mon Diluc, your social media can wait. Cute girls won't~"

The scarlet haired male rolled eyes at the ginger.

"For your information, reading stories is not the same as browsing twitter."

"Oh? What I am hearing? I didn't know my big bro is into reading inappropriate stories."

Diluc shot a glare at the bluenette. Reconsidering if it's worth his time to argue about it. If anyone is reading smuts here, it's Kaeya. Why is he hanging out with his brother again? 

Childe waved with his phone in front of his face in a very taunting manner. But didn't evade when Diluc reached for it, sliding it back into his coat. Looking around the café and then he noticed you. He was not sure if it's really you, the person who fell on him on the bus a few days ago. But when you looked up to take a sip of your latté he saw your face.

Something inside of him felt like to get up and go talk to you. But he can't. Or? Can he talk to you? A total stranger whom he met only once and under strange circumstances? For some reason he really wanted to greet you at least. He resisted the urge for long enough, at least until Kaeya didn't notice where he was looking and said something about it. 

Grabbing his cup and slowly approaching you. He didn't know what he was doing or why he was doing it. When he was close enough to your table, clearing his throat, asking if he could join you.

Your eyes shoot up to the not so familiar voice. Widening when you realized it's the same guy from back then. Feeling like your stomach was being squished. Just when you had forgotten about that embarrassing moment. 

All what you managed was a nod, observing how he sat at the chair opposite of you. Nervously smiling at him. What should you say? This is awkward. 

"Um-" 

You both started in unison, exchanging embarrassed looks. You motioned to him to start.

"Hi, uh. Hope I'm not disturbing?"

"No... not at all." 

You put your hand over the notebook instinctively. It's a habit of yours, hiding it from anyone's eyes.

"I'm Diluc and you are-"

"That person who landed on you on the bus, yes that’s me." 

You deadpanned. Can't help it but smile a little, finding it funny. The guy who you fell at, the one who should be mad at you. He is trying to talk to you and what's better he also seems to be nervous while talking. Feeling a bit relieved as it probably won't be only you embarrassing themselves.

He chuckled a little at your words. Kind of wishing to know you more than just a person who fell on him. When you tried to apologize once again he stopped you, saying it's fine. To change the topic he asked for your name and where were you going back then. 

When he found out you are also an university student he felt relieved a bit and more at ease. You had something in common, something you both could relate to. As the talk between you warmed up enough, when the first uneasiness faded. You talked about your hobbies, of course you didn't want to tell him about your big passion and said you are reading.

Which wasn't that much far from reality but unlike him you didn't read from known authors or big titles. In fact most of your reading were stories from other passionate writers, mixed with random novels here and now. 

"Oh, I also happen to read stories posted on the web. Some people are really talented."

He admits and flashes you something that one could describe as a slight smile? But really quick so your brain barely registers it. 

"Hey um, I know this will be strange. But I kind of enjoy our talk, it's much more..." He trailed off as he was thinking how to put  it without saying anything bad about his companions. Who are probably scheming or coming up with various ideas how to use this against him. 

"What I mean is, you act like a person in your age unlike my brother."

You tried not to laugh too much. Giggles escaping your lips. Truth to be told you were also enjoying this little talk between the two of you. This was probably the very first conversation you had with a stranger. And they didn't seem to mind your awkwardness. 

It feels like you two understand each other. Both are interested in literature, have to deal with school troubles and have something unique to each of you.

Looking up into his ruby eyes. "Yeah. I'm enjoying this too. Why didn't I fall on you earlier?!"

Both of you laughed at that remark. 

"If you don't mind, we could do this more often?"

"You mean me falling on you on the bus or drinking coffee?" 

"The latter. If I see you on the same bus I'll make sure you sit."

You two had talked more after this. Way longer than both of you expected. When Diluc checked the table where his companions were sitting before he noticed they are gone. He didn't think of checking his phone. But once he does he will find a message from his brother.

「'Seems like you had found somebody to spent night with, don't worry about your lil bro and enjoy~ 😘 '」

[elena-reina]

Worth It - Draco Malfoy x Reader

Request: (1/3) heyyy, can you do an imagine that draco comforts you for having depression for whatever reason and one day he saw you standing on the roof of hog warts almost leaping off the balcony but he catches you in time (you can create the ending) thank u if you do!! :)) - Anon

(2/3) Can you do a one shot where Draco knows about the readers eating disorder and he helps her overcome it? I hope that makes sense, I love your stories so much, please don't stop writing! - Anon

(3/3) Yay, you’re back! I was wondering if you could do a Draco Malfoy x reader where he finds her self harming? I get it if you aren’t comfortable - Anon

Warnings: Very triggering- read with caution please, depression- suicide related, anorexia, self-harm

A/N: PLEASE READ! These three all fall under the same category for me, so I just combined them. I just want to make it clear that I am not, in any way, romanticizing or making it seem as though I am pro self-harm whatsoever; I purely write whatever requests come in. To those that do, I know you’ve got a lot going on and there is a lot of emotions, trauma, and hurt; believe me I know a lot about it. But it gets better, I promise you. It always gets better. Incase you all haven’t heard it, I love you, I care about you, and I know you’re strong enough to make it through anything. If anyone needs to talk, my messages are always open and again don’t ever think you’re not enough or worth it because you all are golden. You were put on this earth for a reason :)

Just another day on top of another.

Yawning, you lightly scratched your head and stood in front of your mirror in your dorm room; nothing covered you besides your undergarments. Looking up and down your body completely still, you wouldn’t be able to tell there was anything wrong. You lifted your arm and looked at your wrist leading down your forearm; the markings covered the insides of your arms and varied in color, shape, and size. Some of them were old, obvious by how they shined and caught light at just the right angle. Some were bright red and bold, there was no denying it. Most were about a month old, looking like a cat scratched you and drew blood; which would be believeable considering you owned a cat- Pumpkin; some you could also blame on an accident. 

Well, what kind of accident?

Well, you didn’t have that answer. Not as if anyone were to ask anyways due to the fact that you kept them hidden in the first place.

You started at your feet, averting your eyes from your own reflection. Your feet were bony and thin, like the rest of your body. Raising your gaze, you winced at the emaciated figure that stared back at yourself. 

What had you let yourself become? 

To others, you looked sickly. 

Had you come to Hogwarts like this initially? No. It was harder to hide it at home, so your mind never crossed it other than maybe dark thoughts here and there.

Did you have a good life at home? Well, that’s subjective. You had a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in the fridge. All the necessary things to provide as a necessity to live.

But did you have genuine friends, loving parents, and a place to call home? No.

Your once plump and vibrant self, now looked thin to the bone. Once the soul becomes so thin, the body will inevitably follow in its footsteps like a wandering toddler, learning and adapting from the shadows within. Instead of a growing sense of ultimate self-love, self-worth, or self-positivity, the soul doesn’t have the strength to ascend upwards to health anymore. And so it is extremely hard to eat more, even when it is a simple bite at a time; drink more, with a tiny sip of water needed to survive; live more, the simple act of breathing eventually gets difficult from time to time; and ultimately hard to listen to that part of yourself that wants to stay alive and be loved.

Would you still go to the Grand Hall? Well of course, if there was one thing you hated more than yourself was unwanted attention. Part of you belives it’s your fault that you don’t have friends soley because of how introverted you are. And with the friends, well friend, that you do have just so happens to be the person most people don’t get along with; Draco Malfoy.

What’re the odds.

There definitely was more to it than just being “friends” with Draco, but neither of you fully acknowledged it. He knew about your eating disorder, and he tries his best to help you, encouraging you every step of the way- even when you blatantly push him away.

You never asked for help- Not that he cared if you did or didn’t anyway.

Turning away from the mirror, you slipped on your white button up shirt making sure to clip the button around your wrist, taking attention away for your skin. Sliding on your skirt, Y/H tie, and your Y/H robe, you were ready to head down for breakfast. 

Your hand rested on the cold metal door knob, as you stared at the small piece of silver metal on top of your dresser; whom you have a terrible relationship with. You bit your lip, hesitating. You knew you shouldn’t take it. You knew you shouldn’t have it on you because it will only ingite triggers. 

Fuck it.

You quickly walked over to your dresser and picked up the sharp piece to put in your pocket. Spinning on your heel, you headed on out of the room and to the Grand Hall.

You walked through the aisles, and immediately met with Draco’s eyes. He lit up and waved you over to your usual seat right beside him. He scooted over, patting the space next to him as you sat down. He grinned, happy to see you.

“G’morning, Y/N,” he said pulling you into a tight hug. He was always careful when touching you because he felt like he could snap you in half if he were to be too rough on you.

You smiled warmly, breathing in his calming smell. “Good morning, Draco.”

“Alright, I know we’ve been doing baby steps for the longest time, but I think you are just about ready,” he spoke.

You furrowed your eyebrows. “What’re you talking about?”

He leaned over the table and placed food onto your plate, more than he’s put on the last times. Before it would just be pieces of fruit here and there, maybe a piece of sausage; but this time he put a waffle, more fruit, and two slices of bacon.

Your stomach gurgled for the food, desperate to be full off of something. But at the same time, you felt sick to your stomach.

“Draco, this is too much. I’m not even all that hungry. We had a big dinner the night before remember?”

“Nonesense, you literally only ate a handfull of rice and two small pieces of asparagus last night. Even my owl eats more than that,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

You stared at your plate, leaning back. Your tongue felt dry, despite your cup of water being right in front of you. Your throat felt as if someone thrust a handful of itching powder down and it was dying to be coughed out. If possible, you could sit in the chair for fifteen hours straight; you just weren’t in the mood to eat.

“Listen, you don’t have to eat it all, but please try for me.”

You nodded and picked up your fork, stabbing to the orange melon. Bringing it to your lips, you slowly chewed as your stomach was growling in pleasure being finally fed. 

Draco cheered you on with every bite, causing you to laugh. He wanted to distract you so that you focused less on what you’re eating and more on conversing with him so you weren’t as distracted with how much you were eating.

Eventually, you finished about half the waffle, all your fruit, and had no more bacon left. You were surprised at yourself when you looked back at your plate and then to him.

“I’m so proud of you! You ate more than I expected- not that I am complaining, I’m definitely not because I am really happy for you,” he quickly chuckled, “Maybe tomorrow we can put two waffles.” He nudged the side of your bony rib jokinly.

“Ha ha very funny,” you joked, rolling your eyes. 

After some time, you had to go to class. Sadly, you didn’t share many classes with Draco if at all. Walking into potions, you sat in your usual seat in the back of the room. As usual, there were always a few Slytherin’s that would pester you  solely because you were one of the few people in the school who was able to even share the same space as Draco; it was pure jealousy but you didn’t have a say in anything, or even how your friendship blossomed in the first place.

“Y/L/N,” Daphne sneered, leaning close to your face.

You really tried your best to focus on your Potions book but the group of girls that taunt you every single day just so happened to want to be extra annoying and sit around you. And when I say around you, I mean literally in front of you, next to you, on both sides, and even behind you. You lifted your head from your hand to looked at Daphne in front of you, considering she was right in your face. You opened your mouth to speak, but she beat you to it.

“I really don’t understand how us purebloods are forced to associate with people like you rotting mudbloods,” she giggled, making a disgusted expression as she said the last part. Her friends burst out into obnoxious laughter. 

You weren’t even a mudblood. You had friends who weren’t magical, but that only led people to paint you as a mudblood.

"Can’t say anything? Can’t stick up for yourself Y/L/N? My goodness, do you even speak or is that too hard for you?” Sarah on the side of you asks, awaiting your response, “I see the way you have Draco baby you. It’s pathetic really.”

They took your silence as an answer and continued but this time it was Heather behind you. "See, she doesn’t even deny it,” she snickered, "Just look at you. I don’t see what he sees in you. You look like, I don’t even know how to say it, a walking pole-”

“No, a broken twig!” Daphne interjected, laughing.

“Yes a broken twig!” Heather continued, slowly enunciating each word, “Nothing but a pathetic, filthy, mudblood who pretends to be sick just to get the attention from those who actually matter.” 

Each word felt like a stab in an open wound over and over again, being thrusted through your entire body. Tears welled up in your eyes as you blankly stared down at your Potions book, threatening to fall at any given moment. 

“What? Cat’s still got your tongue?” Alicia from the other side of you jerked, shoving on your roughly causing you to bump into Sarah. Sarah let out a disgusted groan and pushed you back off of her.

“Gross! Do not touch me!” she gagged, as Heather joined in and pushed you to the point that you fell out of your seat and roughly onto the floor with a loud smack.

“HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” someone in the classroom, whom you recognized as Justin Finch-Fletchley, spoke loudly finally witnessing what was happening.

Tears silently cascaded down your cheeks. He quickly jogged over to you as the mean girls dispersed to a different part of the classroom snickering together.

“Are you alright?” he asked concerned, extending his arm out towards you. You looked at his hand through blurry eyes and nodded, lightly grabbing onto him. He helped you to your feet. Grabbing onto your book, you turned and rushed out of the room and headed in the direction of the bathroom.

Keeping you head low, you sped walked, and crashed into someone that sent you flying to the floor. Choking over your tears, you didn’t bother to look at who it was and instead rushed to find your Potions book and hurry out of there.

“Y/N?” that familiar voice spoke.

Draco.

You still avoided eyecontact as you kept searching to your book only to find him holding onto it, to give to you. Standing up, you straightened out your skirt. Lightly grabbing it, you whispered a quiet thank you and tried to continue down the hallway. He stopped you grabbing onto your arm, alarmed.

“Woah, wait. What’s going on, what happened, what’s wrong?” he asked all at once as he watched the translucent tears glide down the sides of your face. You stood straight.

“Please, let me go,” you spoke softly, your voice slightly cracking.

“Was someone saying bullshit to you? Did someone hurt you? Because you know I’m always here for you and I’ll make sure they don’t say anything to or about you ever again.” He growls getting angrier by the second.

“I just really want to be left alone, Draco. I’m sorry,” you said snatching your arm back and sped walked down the hallway.

His scowl lightens, worrying for you. He slowly followed you. 

Initially you wanted to go to the bathroom, but changed your mind last minute. Turning a different corner, you kept going up more and more stairs until you inevitably reached the top of the Hogwarts building. Rushing to the edge, you dropped your book onto the floor and stood slightly leaning over the edge to get a good look at the bottom of the building with your hair flowing in the wind. It was a long way down that will ultimately end up in costing you your life. Trying to force yourself out of your thoughts, you looked in your pocket for that piece of metal, grateful that you grabbed it earlier. Frantically unbuttoning the shirt around your wrist, you felt numb as you choked over your tears silently.

“I’m not worth it,” you thought to yourself.

You stood on the brink of something you couldn't describe. The weight of everything seemed to press down on your shoulders and you struggled to take even a single step forward towards anything positive.

You felt worthless. 

A waste of space. A waste of air. A waste of life. 

It was too much. All of it. 

The tingle as the sharp metal glided against your skin provided a senseless, numb feeling. Every step cost you as the darkness in your mind grew darker and darker; the pain grew sharper and stronger; all of it seemed to only swell in strength and you began to wonder if things could ever get better.

You were tired of feeling things. Everyday felt like never ending dread. With an exception of Draco, nothing seemed worth it anymore. Hell, Draco will only end up forgetting about you in the end of it all.

You don’t play that much of a significant role in his life to matter to him in the long run.

Sometimes you wonder if someone ever notices that sad, broken look in your eyes that you see in the mirror that are masked with a smile and fake enthusiasm. 

If they see beauty where you see ugliness. 

You laugh, traveling up your arm going over old scars, a bitter, sarcastic laugh, at yourself. Nobody cares. No one notices. 

They never seem to, do they? You’ve fought for years, all for what.

The crimson liquid dripped down your arm, falling onto the stone floor. The wind pushed and howled against you as though to try and shove you back. Clumsily, you dropped your metal blade.

“No!” you shouted, dropping to your knees and it fell further and further, out of your sight. You choked over your sobs, feeling broken. Your arm stung and you looked at it through blurry tears.

“I can’t take this anymore,” you spoke aloud to yourself and shakily stood up. You inched closer and closed on the edge, as you looked up inhaling the fresh air. With one last breath, you closed your eyes, opened your arms, and took your last step forward and felt the pressure of the wind beat you on the way down. 

The blackness behind your eyes was perfect. It provided a visual silence that gave a respected admiration. With your eyes closed there was the simple sweetness of the longing of existing, of being, of breathing, and how those moments extended with such grace until you are met with the concluding dark abyss.

Prior while had Draco followed you, he could feel the dark and depressive energy emerging out of your presense. He knew you needed your space, but something was off. The higher and higher you went up the stairs, he had enough of following you and simply looked up. Only the worse things plagued his mind as he quickly rushed back down the stairs and sprinted through the halls to hurry and get outside. He had no seconds to waste, because he had a feeling you were going to try and jump.

He could’ve followed you all the way to the top, but if you had jumped he would’ve been to late. At least this way, he had a chance of catching you.

Ignoring the pain in his chest from running, he ran pushing anyone and everyone who got in his way. 

Darting outside, his eyes widened as he saw your body flying down the side of the building. With one last push of exertion, he caught you in his arms just in time. He fell forward into the floor, but was sure to cradle your head so you got the least amount of injury.

Breathing heavily up and down. You opened your eyes and met Draco’s silver, scared ones. You didn’t know what to think. You didn’t think he was going to be there. Your fresh wounds, began to soak up in his white shirt. Draco sees them, the sight of your new scars reveal themselves to him. He sees your arm, not that he’s surprised. Still being held in his arms protectively, he starts to cry. 

“Y/N,” he says your name like you had just broken his heart.

Your throat tightens and you feel yourself on the brink of tears as your eyes stung. You didn’t know what to say. You were broken.

“I’m sorry,” you apologize, not knowing what else to say or do. “I’m sorry. I–”

He interrupts you. “Why...” he stammers gazing down at your arm, “How many times?” He rang a soft finger down your arm, wincing at every raw wound.

“I don’t know,” you mumbles. 

“For fuck’s sake,” he cried out, his tears dripping off his chin. “I’m sorry I wasn’t…I wasn’t there for you enough.”

You shake your head, “No, Draco, it wasn’t your fault–”

Draco looked down at you with confusion and anger before he smashed his desperate lips onto yours.

Suddenly, the anger, the self-hatred, the loathing, the rage left your body for a split moment. It diminished as soon as his lips pressed against yours in a long over-due, intense passion. It was as if he was taking all away all your pain and misery and threw it away.

You kissed him back with burning amount of fiery love he was kissing you with. Your lips worked hungrily against his as his hands snaked their way to your waist and pulled your shaking body closer to his to kiss you deeper.

Your cold hands grabbed his face and pulled it closer to yours, if that was even possible. His calming scent flowed through your nostils, making your eyes water under your closed eyes.

Too many emotions were going through your brain and you couldn’t handle it. Deep down,  you had always dreamt of being with Draco. Although, you wish that it could have happened under very different and happier circumstances. Nonetheless, you were grateful.

Pulling away, he gazed into your eyes. “Y/N, can you answer me why? Why didn’t you come and talk to me.”

You tried diverting your gaze, but he grabbed your chin with his hand lightly to keep his eyes locked with yours. “Please.”

“I can’t take it anymore. I hate myself and everything I stand for,” you began to cry, “I just... I just thought it would make it easier for everyone else if I were to end everything and erase myself from existence.”

“I would miss you and I don’t know what I would do without you. What if I had just offed myself and left you there to wonder where you went wrong.”

You broke down into sobs, burying your face into his neck as he embraced you in a tight hug.

You shook. “I... I know, but I’m nothing special. I’m just–”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” he snapped harshly. “You are so fucking perfect, it drives me insane. I love you so goddamn much, do you know that? Do you? I love you too much to let you keep doing this to yourself. You are worth it. You are loved. You are my everything. I want you to remember that feeling you had right now at the thought of me ending my life, because that’s what you’re doing to me whenever you cut me out of your life like I’m nothing.”

“I’m sorry,” you cried lifting your head sniffing, “Draco, I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I swear. I was just…I was just..” but you didn’t have any excuse, so you collapsed back into his warm embrace.

“I know,” he murmurs against your hair. “I know. I love you. I love you so much.”

[bakugotrashpanda]

Netflix and Zone Out

Shinsou x Reader

Word Count: 760

Who thought taking an 8 AM class was a good idea?

◾ This isn’t your first choice in a class, but as a freshman, you’re low on the totem pole for selecting classes

◾ A 300-person class held at 8am is not ideal, but you still show up – even if you’re half asleep. Everyone around you looks just as lively as you, and who could blame them? It’s an intro to anthropology class. The most common class used to fill a graduation requirement.

◾ The subject isn’t that boring, but being stuffed in a stuffy auditorium early in the morning with a professor who monotonously mumbles into the microphone on his lapel isn’t exciting in the least. Everyone who wants to learn about anthropology seriously is in the front row, scribbling down every word they can.

◾ Your eyes glance around the room and take in the other freshmen who are stuck in this hour and a half long hell with you. Some of them have found a way to sleep in the uncomfortable plastic chairs, others are on their phones – one guy even figured out that taking a picture of the slides on his phone and then returning to whatever it is he’s doing works for him. 

◾ A guy with purple hair in an oversized black sweatshirt catches your eye. He’s watching something on a laptop. When you look closer, you realize it’s your favorite anime. The whole class period, you’re entranced by the show, so when the laptop closes quickly, you panic, wondering if he caught you. When you realize it’s only the end of class, you’re already looking forward to the next one in two days. 

◾ Bright and early two days later, you’re excitedly waiting for the purple haired man to show up again. It’s been two weeks since the start of the quarter, and students are dropping like flies once they realize there’s no attendance. Will he be one of the people to no longer show up?

◾ Five minutes before 8, he walks in and sits down in his spot. You’ve moved from your normal seat a couple rows away to just one row behind him. Like clockwork, as soon as the professor walks out, your purple haired savior opens his laptop. 

◾ Whether it’s the feeling of someone watching him or you stifling a laugh at a funny moment, the guy turns and looks at you. The blood drains from your face as he pulls up a blank document. Is he really going to stop watching now that he knows there’s an audience?

◾ You like this too? He types in a large font. You nod at him and hope he can’t tell how embarrassed you are at being caught. The document goes away and the show is back up. He turns on subtitles and angles it so you can see better.

◾ It’s an odd feeling, knowing that someone knows you’re watching them, even if it’s just over their shoulder. But just like before, the class flies by, and next thing you know, everyone is packing up. 

◾ You and the man stall, trying to figure out who will approach the other, while the other students stream out of the auditorium around you. 

◾ “I’m Shinsou,” he says and hands you a slip of paper, “If you want to grab coffee sometime and figure out shows to watch, text me.” “I’m free now!” you blurt out, “If you want to get coffee or something. I know I could use something to wake me up after that…” You laugh nervously and wait to see his reaction. Sleepy, indigo eyes crinkle slightly as Shinsou smiles. “Cool, I’m free until noon,” he says. Slowly, the two of you head towards the coffee shop on campus. “You know you can sit next to me instead of behind me. Then you can use an earbud to listen too.” “I wasn’t sure if you’d mind someone watching,” you laugh.

◾ For the rest of the quarter, you spend every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning next to Shinsou watching shows and getting to know one another through texts. After the final, you’re unsure of where you stand with him. Friends? Two people who just happened to share a boring class?

◾ Shinsou: now that class is over, want to hang out at my place and watch? Y/N: it’s a date 😊 Shinsou: if it’s a date then I need decent food to feed you and not 10cent ramen Y/N: it doesn’t have to be a date, that’s just a saying ya know? Shinsou: nah it can be a date. What kind of food do you want Y/N: I’m down for anything- including ramen