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otomotoelzhinee · 3 years ago

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SAILOR MAX: Chapter 1

Before we start, I just wanna thank everyone for being so, so patient with me and this project!! I’ve worked hard on this AU, and I can only hope it was worth the wait. I also wanna thank the people who helped me with the project in general with stuff like worldbuilding, character relationships etc; and with the chapter itself by offering criticism to my writing (cause as we know, it’s not my forte). You know who you are and I just want you to know most of this stuff wouldn’t have been possible without your help. Lastly, thanks to my partner for the ungodly amount of support and patience, cause I know my perfectionism can get messy and they were always there to set me straight. I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to go through with this if it wasn’t for them. With all that out of the way...

“The Day a Lagomorph became a Sailor Soldier“

Word count: 18,361

Fog.

An intense fog was covering the entire place. Wherever he walked, no matter how much he had advanced, Max was not capable of seeing anything, or hearing anything. The atmosphere was cold and heavy, there was a weight that came directly from his legs, as they struggled to move across the intense fog field.

He desperately wanted to run through it, in hopes of finding something, someone, anything at all that could help him understand his situation. But no matter how hard he tried, his legs would not move. It almost felt as if he was slowly floating around.

He hadn’t even realized that, this entire time, he never felt his feet touching the floor, or a ground of any sort. The fog had made it impossible to see anything under him.

There were no echoes, no wind, not even the sound of his own breath was something he could perceive. Just pure, overwhelming silence. “What kind of place is this?” He wondered.

“I’m so cold…”

“…Where are you?”

As that last sentence crossed his mind, his ears finally began to capture a sound. It was the distant screams of a crowd, they were screams of terror. Or, were they cheering…?

No…it was both, both sounds from two different groups, clashing with one another. It became hard to tell exactly what was going on, but Max kept running forward. The sounds became louder and clearer, a clash of hard metals joined the chaos. There was a moment where he could hear the current event surrounding him. But despite this, no matter how much his eyes searched, no one was there with him.

The screams, the pleadings, they wouldn’t stop. His eyes kept searching, but it was all so loud and fast, was he going insane? Only the frantic sounds of his heart, pounding harder and harder into his ears, was able to overshadow it all. He closed his eyes and held his ears tightly.

“Where’s everyone? What is happening?!”

It was then when Max felt another presence approaching him, something physical. Something he might actually be able to see, someone he might be able to speak to! But there was no way for him to tell who it was without turning around first.

Disoriented and stumbling a little, he opened his eyes, turning around awkwardly. All he saw at that moment, was…

“MAXIMILIANO!”

Max gasped. The loud and angry voice made him jump on his bed, his heart almost escaped out of his chest. He hardly had the time to process the situation before hearing that voice again, scolding him from the floor below him.

“Maximiliano, you have FIVE minutes to get ready for school, or you’re going to be late! You hear me? FIVE. MINUTES.”

The entire room was made out of vague shapes and shadows, Max barely managed to recognize the clock by his side. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision, and what he saw made him release a scream of pure horror.

He jumped from his bed and quickly started to get dressed. He stood in front of a large mirror that was standing against the wall, on the back of his bed.

“MOM! Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”

His mother was still on the second floor. “I tried waking you up nicely- Three times! But you wouldn’t answer, even with the alarm. So now you’re late!”

Max, now all well dressed in his gakuran, went down the little stairs in his room and opened the little door on the floor to release the ladder. He threw his briefcase to the second floor before going down the ladder, only to stop halfway and jump down since it wasn’t very high. He grabbed his briefcase and started running downstairs to the kitchen as fast as he could, so fast, in fact, that he ended up rolling down the stairs instead.

His mother heard the impact and immediately became worried. “Max! Geez, are you okay?!” She spoke from the kitchen, sitting at the table where she was previously reading the newspaper.

“Oww…’Course I’m not, Mom!” He stood up and rubbed his lower back as he approached the kitchen, making loud and long hisses through his teeth to make it as evident as possible to her he was in pain. Although in reality, and surprisingly, Max didn’t feel the impact at all.

His mother, while genuinely concerned, was still too upset to give Max the attention he was asking for.

“Ay, este cabro…” She sighed “…You’re too careless! Here, take your lunch and leave already, and be careful out there!”

“Yeah, yeah!” He received the little lunch bag grudgingly and ran to the main door, but his mother made one last question before he opened the door.

“Hey, aren’t you forgetting something?”

Max took a second to look around him and think, he had his lunch in one hand and his briefcase in the other. He had his notebooks, a pencil, what else could he be missing…?

“…Oh c’mon.”

Reluctantly, he approached his mother again to give her a quick peck on the cheek. His mother chuckled and said goodbye to her son as he closed the door. Because of his height, anyone would assume it’d take him a while to arrive to the school. But Max was incredibly agile, even for a lagomorph, and this physical ability had saved him from getting late a couple of times before. However, he had no idea what fate would prepare for him today.

He was getting his hopes high as he quickly recognized the streets, knowing he was getting closer to his destination, “I can make it, I can make it! I’m gonna make it!!” he repeated to himself.

And he would have made it! If only he had noticed the little creature in front of him lying on the sidewalk. His foot stepped on it and quickly made him lose balance, making him fall on his precious face.

His nose was bleeding a bit, but that didn’t bother him. He was mostly worried about how the teacher would react to this ‘new look’.

“AGH! Damn it, that’s gonna leave a mark! What the hell did I trip over with, anyway?”

When he looked back, he noticed that the creature in the sidewalk was actually a small, white, and poor little rat that had the bad luck to cross paths with Max.

His first reaction was disgust, he shivered as he loudly reaffirmed that he just stepped on a rat, even if no one was around to hear. Then he noticed the rat was not moving, and now he was terrified he may have just committed his first murder, and he just began high school this year! What a world, what a world…

He was hesitant to hold the creature for obvious reasons, but it didn’t seem dirty. Its hair was pure white and radiant, it seemed soft at first glance, the only strange detail was the band aids it had on its forehead. Maybe it was already wounded before encountering Max? What if it had an owner? And what if it was a rich person who would seek the head of anyone who tried to hurt their pet? Max was about to panic at that very moment, so he gently pushed the little rodent with one of his fingers to see if there was any reaction. When he saw it shaking at the touch, he finally held it between his trembling hands.

“H-hey, are you alive?! Oh crap, I’m so sorry! I didn’t break any bones, did I?”

The little rat opened its eyes slowly, Max’s weight on its body really stunned it, but nothing the rodent wouldn’t be able to survive. The rodent started to shake in Max’s hands, seemingly trying to get to the band aids, its sudden movements almost made Max drop the creature, but he did his best to keep himself calm.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like the band aids? …Do they itch, or something?”

It seemed like they were seriously annoying the rat, and Max was actually curious as to what kind of wound it could have on its forehead. Is it just a scratch? Or maybe something more horrific, more morbid and disgusting, that would keep him wild awake every night for the rest of his life? Whatever it was, he had to know!

With a small (not really) grin of curiosity on his face, he quickly began to remove the band aids from the rat’s forehead, and to his surprise, there were no signs of blood whatsoever. But before he could inspect better, the rat gave a high jump to his head, as a way to impulse itself in the air. The rat landed at the top of a wall that surrounded a garden of one of the houses, and its eyes seemed to be locked in Max’s eyes.

As the rat kept looking, Max finally took the chance to look at its forehead. It had a peculiar mark, a bald spot that resembled a crescent moon looking upward, which was quite funny to him.

The rat inclined itself to look at Max better, and with that he felt a slight sensation of intimidation. “Just what kind of rodent was this? Do they all behave this way?” His question would have to wait for another day, because the school’s bell gave its last rang, and now Max was officially late.

“…GOD DAMNIT! I shouldn’t be wasting time like this! Crap, crap, CRAP!”

He cleaned his nose, grabbed his briefcase, and restarted his race to the school. The little creature kept its eyes on him, until he was out of its sight.

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“Ah…Crap.”

As Max took the time to catch his breath, he stood in front of the closed door of his classroom. Because he had arrived late, he knew that if he called out for his teacher or knocked on the door, he would not be let in. But worst of all, he was probably deemed absent from this class, and would not be allowed inside until the first hour had passed.

He felt humiliated, having to stand in the corridor all by himself, but also tired, with his eyes slowly feeling dry and heavy. If only he hadn't spent the night reading manga, he might have woken up at a decent time, and then made it in time for school. Just who was responsible for that?

“Geez…I can't believe a cute lil’ lagomorph like me has to be standing up in the middle of the corridor. My feet hurt so much because of these stupid school slippers...Ugh, and I really tried to get here fast!”

Instead of continuing complaining to himself, Max started looking outside the window seeking for anything to distract him. Sadly, all there was were the clouds crossing across the sky, and a few birds flying by. The small creatures quickly reminded him of the small rodent he encountered not too long ago, and the strange event made him think of his even stranger dream from this morning.

If he was being honest, this was not the first dream he had that was related to that fog and those feelings of incapacity. But these dreams started so long ago, Max could no longer remember when exactly, and the mere act of trying brought him headaches.

There was something about these dreams that made him feel nervous, as if something horrible was going to happen soon. Or maybe it was something that had already happened, and his mind was trying to recall the event. But no matter how familiar the scenario felt in his mind, it still didn’t ring any bells, Max was sure he had never been in such a situation before in his whole life!

And yet…

“…Ugh.” he rubbed his eyes. “Maybe my head is making up this stuff ‘cause of the lack of sleep. I hate waking up so early, my eyes are burning.”

And suddenly, he heard an uproarious growl making itself present all across the corridor. Of course... He completely forgot he didn’t have breakfast this morning, no wonder he felt exhausted.

Max looked around the corridor to make sure he was alone, and took his lunch bag from his briefcase, desperately trying to untie the knot. Once his bento box was uncovered, he opened it without a care. The smell that came out of the box was mesmerizing for him, and the content’s reveal was too much to handle. His mouth was watering, and his stomach only growled louder at the sight.

“Well… I’m sure it’ll be fine if I just take a small bite to compensate for skipping breakfast! Thanks for the food!”

But just as Max was about to insert his teeth into the delicious food, the door of the classroom slipped open.

“Tsukino Maximiliano, what do you think you’re doing?”

Max hid the bento box behind his back in an attempt to pretend he wasn’t doing what he was clearly caught doing, but somehow, his plan failed; and the look on Miss Gibbens face said she was not pleased in the slightest. He then tried to find an excuse, but his teacher did not give him a second to speak, so she proceeded.

“It is for behavior like this that your grades are declining!”

And with that statement out of the way, she showed Max the results of his last English test, putting the test right in front of his face.

With only a quick inspection to the piece of paper, Max felt like he wanted to disappear at that very moment. Only 30 points? How embarrassing, and it was especially frustrating because he actually did know all the answers to these questions. If only he hadn’t fallen asleep during the test, maybe he could’ve answered properly, and with a more readable handwriting, too. He managed to hear a few chuckles from his classmates before the teacher finally allowed him inside the classroom.

“This day can only get better”, he sarcastically thought to himself.

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In another part of the world, in a much more cold, dark and desolate location, a heavy snowstorm was taking place. And among that storm, somewhere under the snow, an old castle of great size lay hidden. The material of the walls was rusty and cracked, and the colors had faded. Some of the pillars that decorated hallways had collapsed long ago, and darkness swallowed every room to the smallest corner. Only the weak light, emitted by the very few torches hung on the walls, would allow anyone to watch where they step.

Somewhere, in one of the many hallways, a tall anthropomorphic dog in a dark blue suit was walking through. His fur was of a pale, prim color, and his snoot was of a much whiter tone. He had short pointy ears hanging from his head, and his eyes were of a pastel blue color. He adjusted his white gloves with care as he approached his destination, his eyes fixated on it as they looked forward.

He arrived at a small sanctuary of sorts, where at its center resided a small pit completely filled with clay. He stood up in front of it, he stretched his right arm, and with a firm tone in his voice he called a name…

“Rise up, Morgana! Oh fervent servant of our mistress!”

The clay inside the pit began to shake, and it quickly raised together, struggling violently as it tried to take form. Eventually it transformed into a humanoid creature with a curvy shape, and once the base of the body was done, the clay figure began to draw in itself clothes, hair, eyes and other details. Once it all solidified, color began to fill its cheek, to then spread to its entire body, the creation was complete.

“Now listen closely, Morgana, your mission today will be to collect a large amount of human energy. But above it all, you must find an ancient object, a Silver Crystal. It is of great importance to our queen, so do not disappoint me.”

The humanoid figure smiled at the order and made a reverence to her master, before vanishing in the air.

══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

Back at the school, everyone was getting ready for lunch time, but Max was still sitting at his desk, completely asleep. The view was quite disturbing, actually, his mouth was completely open and leaking disgusting fluids all over his desk. He was so still he may as well be dead, but Inés was so used to this she didn’t give it any second thoughts. She and Max have been friends since Elementary school, and his weird mannerism was an everyday thing for her, it was amusing at best.

“Max…Hey, Max.”

She put her hand on his back and shook the lagomorph's body in hopes of getting a reaction. It took Max a second, but he finally came back to some of his senses and slowly opened his eyes.

“I-Inés…What are you doing here?” He cleaned his mouth with the sleeve of his gakuran in a sloppy manner.

“What do you mean?” She laughed. “We’re at school, what else am I going to be doing here?”

“S-School…?” Max’s eyes were squinting as he tried to look at his surroundings. He barely recognized the shape of Inés in front of him, and even less the entire classroom.

“Geez, how can you get that disoriented after a nap? C’mon, it’s lunch time, Lorne and the girls are waiting.”

Max rubbed his eyes as he began to search for his lunch bag among his other stuff, and Inés cleaned the mess over his desk with her handkerchief.

“You’re just like a baby.” She commented as a way to tease him.

After Max was ready and fully awake, they began walking downstairs on their way to the schoolyard, both him and Inés carrying their bentos. Inés didn't take long to ask him what the reason behind the hijinks of this morning was, with a mocking smile on her face. The Lagomorph didn’t take the interrogation too kindly, claiming everything that happened today was out of his control. But there was one situation that he did not even think of mentioning to his friend, and that was the strange encounter with the white rodent.

In reality, he pretty much forgot about the encounter at this point, thinking of it as some sort of fever dream, an illusion of his head at best. And right now he had only one thing in his mind: Sit on his favorite bench, gossip with his friends and eat until his lunch was no more.

When Inés stopped the teasing for the sake of Max’s ego, the duo finally arrived with Lorne, who was waiting for them with an orange juice box on his hand; Sitting on a bench that was under the trees. In a bench right next to the last but in a vertical position, two other girls were sitting on it. Their names were Amano and Suri, friends of Inés from another class who would sometimes join in the little group of Max, Lorne and Inés.

Inés sat together with the girls, leaving Max no choice but to sit at the other extreme of the bench, which was nearest to Lorne. Max didn’t like having to sit this close to Lorne, as his sole presence would put him in a bad mood, but he wasn’t quite sure why. Lorne wasn't a bad kid, he was only a huge nerd who never shut up, but that seems to be enough of a reason for Max to sort of dislike his “friend”.

The group greeted each other and began talking about how their day went, and which classes they had today. Lorne immediately mentioned the English test results, saying, or rather showing off in Max’s eyes, how he got a better score than most kids in the class.

“I thought it’d be an easy exam, but 95 points is all I managed to get. I guess I should have prepared myself more! Tests are just like games, aren't they?”

‘Games’? How could he even say such a thing! How dare he presume to be better at English than him. Max was focusing on his food to avoid looking at Lorne, but he was absolutely furious, nobody was even laughing at his joke!

Well…Inés did chuckle a little, but Lorne was still irritating in Max’s eyes, and no one would be able to change his mind.

“Oh! By the way, how many points did you get, Mr. Max?”

Max choked on his tamagoyaki, he swallowed it the best he could before starting to laugh as loud as he could.

“Ah, me? Well, I got a perfect score, of course! Haha!”

“Wow! Really?! Well, you are a genius when it comes to English, Mr. Max!”

Lorne was a kid who had no malice in his heart. His admiration towards Max’s capacity to understand a foreign language that, to him, seemed so complex and sophisticated, was as true and honest as it can be. And as much as Max disliked Lorne, he had to admit, Lorne knew how to flatter a guy. After all, who doesn't like a bit of praise for their accomplishments?

“Could I see your test? I-I’d just like to see what answers you have so I can understand what I did wrong! Of course, if you don’t have a problem with that!”

At that point, Max was no longer laughing, his thoughts were rushing in his head trying to find a good excuse not to seem suspicious. That was the sign for Inés to interfere and help her friend get out of the hole he was digging himself in.

“Hey now, how about we change the subject?” Inés said calmly. “We shouldn't be thinking about school in our recess anyway, this is our time to relax.”

Lorne was quick to apologize, not wanting to disturb any of his friends. Max on the other hand, resumed his affairs and continued eating his lunch, swallowing both the food and the shame deep down his throat. Meanwhile everyone else kept the conversation going. That’s when one of Inés' friends, Amano, took the chance to speak.

“Oh, that’s right! Inés, have you heard about the recent robbery in a jewelry store at Chūō? It happened in the middle of the night, and the owners almost got hurt! There’s been lots of crimes near Minato ward these days, too. You and your mother should be careful!”

“Yes, I’ve heard, and you’re right. My mom’s been taking precautions, but she says there’s nothing to worry about, that our store is safe.”

Inés put her hands together, tightly. “Still, it’s a little scary to think that something could happen to us. I’m honestly not sure what I’d do…”

Her friends immediately noticed her concern, and Suri began rubbing her back as a way to comfort her. Lorne thought this would be a good time to share his own news, and that way lighter up the mood of the conversation.

“But you forgot the most important detail, Amano! Sailor V arrested the criminals from the Chūō robbery! It’s been confirmed!”

“No way!” Amano gasped. “Sailor V? You mean it?”

Max’s right ear twitched, and finally he raised his head up to look at Lorne. “Sailor V? What the heck is that?”

“You don't KNOW?” The group exclaimed in awe.

Max shrugged his shoulders and lowered his ears. He shouted “I’m not DEAF, you guys!”

Lorne chuckled, he began to fix his glasses and showed an unusual confidence in his face. After quickly cleaning his throat, he began his tale.

“Sailor V is a beautiful and mysterious heroine in shining armor, who wears a mask to hide her identity. She appeared a couple of years ago out of nowhere, and has been helping keep the city a safe place ever since. Many people know about her existence, but pictures of her are very rare, and always unclear! She always leaves the crime scene before the arrival of the police, leaving the criminals tied up and unconscious, ready to be arrested!”

“Woah!” The girls exclaimed.

“It is said she has very long hair that shines in the dark, and that she's incredibly strong! But the biggest rumor that’s being spread is that she works as a special agent for the police, but nobody knows for sure…”

The three girls were fascinated by the tale, but Lorne was impatiently waiting for the response of Max the most. There was a second of silence before Max finally raised his head and looked at Lorne.

“…Oh, yer done already? Sorry, I stopped listening after you said ‘Sailor V’.”

Everyone sighed.

“Anyway...” Suri started. “I'm so happy Sailor V is back on her rounds! It’s been a couple of months since we’ve heard of her!”

“Could you imagine, though?” Amano sighed as she fixed her hair. “Being surrounded by so many beautiful, sparkling, precious gems? Honestly, I don’t think I could resist the temptation myself!”

“Ah, you’re right. Jewels are just so beautiful!”

“Now we’re talking!” Max quickly joined in the conversation. “Inés, your mom has the jewelry store open today, right?”

“Oh, yes! In fact, there’s a special sale today, you can find some jewelry for half the original price.”

“That’s great! We should go check out those prices, then! What do you say, girls?”

“Inéees?” The girls stared at her.

“…Weeell…” She pondered in a teasing tone. “…I don’t see why not!”

When Max said all, of course, he was not trying to include Lorne. As the boy drank his juice, Amano, Max and Suri cheered in excitement.

Max then noticed Inés resting her hand on his small shoulder, she was looking at him with a smile.

“What’s wrong, Inés?”

“Sorry, but I just remembered I’ve got a surprise for you. Follow me!”

The word “surprise” made him think of the word “gift”, and because Inés was relatively rich, his expectations were always high. Inés could see the interest sparkling in his eyes, and Max did not hesitate to follow her back inside the school building. That is until he noticed that the direction they were going would actually lead them to the bathrooms of the first floor.

“Hey, Inés, what gives?”

“Okay, so!” She stopped the walk and turned around to see Max. “I know you’re going to freak out, but hear me out. I need you to get in the girls bathroom and wait for me in the last stall.”

“What?! Why?”

“Hurry up before the break is over. I promise I’ll be back soon!”

“No, but-! I-Inés! What is…!”

As Inés ran upstairs, she left Max standing in front of the bathroom with a good amount of questions wandering around his head. He stood in that same spot for a few minutes, debating on what he should do. Should he just wait outside instead? Or should he go back with his friends and ignore this nonsensical request?

What was she thinking anyway? Inés was not usually like this, and Max really hated to be left in the dark. But because she was his best friend, and quite honestly, he really wanted that expensive gift, he thought he should trust her. After all, what reasons did he have not to?

And so, making sure nobody was looking, he ran inside the bathroom and into the stall Inés had told him to go. He stood still in a corner, quite nervous, and he had two main reasons. One: because he didn’t want to get caught by some girl passing by. And two: Because he absolutely did not want to accidentally step near the toilet, who knows what sort of disgusting and horrible acts have been committed there.

Everything was quiet, for the most part. Except for the noisy voices of kids playing outside, this was mainly the floor of the junior high students, after all. Thankfully, none of the little girls had approached the bathroom so far, which made him feel a bit less anxious, yet not enough to lower his guard.

He stood there for just a few minutes, yet it felt like an eternity to him. Suddenly, he began to hear some steps entering the bathroom that slowly approached his stall. He thought it may be Inés, but didn’t dare to speak up. What if it’s another girl? The sole idea made him stop breathing for a second.

It wasn’t until he heard a quiet “Max? Are you there?” that he sighed with relief.

“Yeah, I’m here, but what the heck are we doing here, Inés? I could get in serious trouble for this!”

“Shh!” she gave Max a warning as he was being a bit too loud. “I know, I’m sorry! I just wanted to make sure nobody would look at you weird. Now here, open it quick!”

‘Look at you weird’? What exactly was she referring to? Most kids would already look at him weird for being one of the very few Lagomorphs at this school, so what could possibly draw more attention to Max?

Inés slid a black bag under the door of the stall, Max took it and began to rip it apart without much care. Although the sound of the bag being torn apart echoed through the room, he thought it was better to do it quickly and get this over with, rather than do it slowly and wait for someone to come and catch them.

Once he recognized the content inside the bag, his anger vanished, only leaving pure and utter happiness that reflected through his face. It was a dark blue sailor uniform, with a big bow of the same color attached to the blouse and two thin red stripes in the collar and the cuffs. It was the design used by the senior high school girls from this establishment, and it was his size! Max did not think twice about trying it out.

When Max was finally ready, he left the bathroom stall he was hiding in and began to show Inés his new look, giving a quick spin around to show the entire outfit.

“So! How do I look?”

Inés giggled. “Well, the important question is: How do you feel? Do you like it?”

He began to look at himself, holding his skirt from each side like a princess in a big dress. The dark color of the uniform gave him a feeling of maturity and realization. For the very first time, he felt like a full-blown senior high school student, which drew a big smile on his face.

“I… LOVE IT!”

He jumped into Inés arms and hugged her as tightly as he could, clinging onto her like a child holding onto his mother. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” is all he kept repeating. Inés smiled as she reciprocated the hug.

“How did you manage to get one of my size? And with the summer blouse included!”

“I, uh, didn't. I got the smallest uniform there was and I had to cut and sew some parts myself.”

“Wait, wait! Wait... You made this uniform? For ME?”

“You said you wanted to wear a skirt this year, something different to start high school with, and I just-”

“No, no, no. Say no more…” He purposefully hid the upper half of his face under his arm as he kept holding onto his friend. “You’re such a kind soul… I-I really don’t deserve you, Inés. I think…I may even cry a little…”

“Oh, please.” she gave a quick eye roll. “You’re not the type.”

Max drastically changed his tone and stopped covering his face. “Ah, you’re right! You know me so well, Inés!”

They both laughed it off.

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It was now around 3 in the afternoon. School was finally over and Max, alongside his friends, were ready to start their favorite activity of the day: Window shopping!

Max was pretty cheerful, maybe a bit too cheerful, but not for the reasons the girls thought. While he was indeed excited to go see precious stones and gems, among other stuff, all he really thought about was how cute he felt in his new uniform. When Amano and Suri saw him they just laughed it off, not thinking much of his look. Inés on the other hand, was happy to see that her small action had brought so much joy to her friend.

“Max, Look!” Inés called his attention, as he was still with his head in the clouds. He shifted his attention to the tall, very fancy building at the end of the street. Its exterior walls were white and the first floor’s showcase had purple windows, while the other three upper floors had crystal clear windows.

Max instantly knew what the building was, but it didn't take much work to figure it out, since there was already a big and very "in your face" signboard at the upper left of the first floor, which had the store's name written with big cursive letters, the Jewelry ABE・P.

"Kinda cheesy" he thought. But that didn't stop him or the girls from running right to the store's showcase and see what they had for sale.

Inés on the other hand, simply stood behind them, as a way to not disturb them. The shiny rocks that were on sale were nothing she hadn't seen before, considering it’s her mother’s work, and jewelry itself was not one of her biggest interests anyway. But she still explained in the most brief way possible all the articles that were being displayed in the showcase, just to make her friends happy.

"And that one is called ‘Pigeon blood ruby’, it costs one billion yen! Unfortunately, this one is not on discount.”

Max frowned. “You're serious? Who the heck would have that much money these days?”

“C’mon Max, I’m sure there’s more accessible prices inside the store!” Suri smiled at Max before following Amano inside the building. Inés then approached him and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s go, Max.”

As the automatic door opened, the group was immediately able to hear the lousy crowd of women. Looking at, taking, and wearing as much jewelry as their wallets could afford. The view was shocking at first, but nothing that could be considered strange, this was a discount sale after all. Whatever reason a person may have, the opportunity to get a pretty necklace, or a shiny ring, would not be wasted.

And of course, Inés’ mother knew she only needed to give these people a little tiny bit of encouragement to buy everything. And so, with her sales megaphone, she continued to cheer on the crowd.

“Thank you everyone for coming! Go ahead and look, there’s enough jewelry for everyone! Our jewels are of the best quality, I assure you that you will not find these beautiful pieces anywhere else at this price!”

Inés’s mother, ‘Mrs. Abel’, was a middle aged woman with light brown, short curly hair. She enjoyed dressing up in fancy clothes and wearing a modest amount of jewelry, along with some red lipstick to highlight her face.

‘Mrs.Abel’ also liked to keep her store clean, the floor was sparkling white, and Max could practically see his own reflection.

The room was huge, with cream colored walls on the first floor, and sky blue colored walls on the second floor, which was visible from the group’s position; alongside the many rooms of the second floor. The second floor was also being supported by big, white pillars (three on each side of the first floor), that would give the store a classy vibe.

At the top of it all, a great Chandelier full of crystals was hanging from the ceiling, currently being unused. Max assumed that because of its great size, it would be more than enough to illuminate the entire room during the night.

“Mom, I’m home!”

“Ah, Inés! Welcome home, darling!” ‘Mrs. Abel’ turned around to greet her daughter, as she smiled cheerfully. “Are those your friends?”

“Yes.”

‘Mrs. Abel’ giggled. “Wonderful! Don’t worry girls, I know there’s a lot of people here, but feel free to look at anything you like. I’ll even give you a special discount for being friends of Inés!”

“Seriously?!” Max and the girls stared at each other with their mouths open, the sale was already crazy cheap, now they would get another discount on top of the already established one? ‘Mrs. Abel’ either hit her head really hard today, or just didn’t care how much money she would be losing.

Either way, Amano and Suri immediately ran into the crowd of women to see if there was anything that they could find intact, and Max was just about to follow them. But then, it hit him, a fact he completely dismissed for the entire day, something he could‘ve prevented, but was now too late…

He was out of cash. And what’s worse, even if he ran back home right now, he could not ask his parents for a single yen, no. Not after that terrible grade he got on his English test. He knew what would happen once they found out, which would be soon or later.

So, as he quickly accepted his defeat, he limited himself to stay beside Inés and watch with melancholy how his friends got to enjoy the sale. Without him.

“…You know, something about this feels…Wrong.” Inés murmured.

“Tell me about it…”

“I mean, I know my mom is very enthusiastic… But, we've never had so many sales before, and never at this scale! I wonder what’s gotten into her.”

Max just sighed, his eyes completely fixed on the crowd.

“Please, do not push each other!” ‘Mrs. Abel’ kept on cheering her clients. “I promise there’s enough for everyone!”

Inés stared at her mother, trying with all her might to discover what was going on inside her head at this moment. Despite them being in the same room, Inés felt a certain distance between the two, but what could be causing these feelings? This is her mother, she has been in this business for years, and she absolutely must know what she’s doing.

Yet, why is she doing this? Inés’ little head kept working out an answer, yet it would not come out.

And speaking of questionable intentions, Max just had an idea.

“Oee, Inés.” He whispered.

“Oh-” Inés snapped back into reality “Yes?”

“Ye think you could, please, pretty please, lend me some money? I forgot mine at home!”

“Ah, sure. What do you need it for?”

“Mmm, well…” Max danced around the question for a little. “You knooow~”

Inés tilted her head slightly.

“…Ah, I see. No, sorry Max.”

“Aww, c’mon! You’re my best friend in the whole wide world! Can’t you help out a friend in need?”

Inés used a more serious tone, without trying to be rude. “Max, any money I have was given to me by my mother. If I lend it to you to buy jewelry, there would be no gain for my mother’s business. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to say no this time.”

“Geez! A simple ‘no’ would've been enough.” He crossed his arms and looked in an opposite direction.

Inés sighed. Max was exasperating sometimes, it was hard to say no to him without getting on his nerves. Yet somehow, neither of them could stay angry at each other for too long.

“Alright…But could you at least let me use the bathroom? I need to change clothes.”

“Oh, yes. Of course! Follow me.”

══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

Max said goodbye to Inés before leaving the store, and started walking to the direction of his house, now wearing his gakuran; its dark and lifeless blue color only lowered the mood for him. What a big chance he had right now, he could’ve gotten something pretty for himself like a ring, or a necklace, but he had to screw it up by wasting his allowance on childish stuff. And not to mention that darn test…

He took the piece of paper out of his bag and stared at it, it was covered in red lines crossing out all the questions he didn’t answer, while the ones he did answer were all perfect. “If my mom sees this, she’s definitely gonna kill me…”

Part of him had gotten used to this by now. How he couldn’t bring himself to study, getting yelled at by his teacher for his poor grades, getting yelled at back at home again. But, he was supposed to be good at this one subject, it was his thing! And because of a single mistake, he ruined it.

What bothered him most, is that there was only one person to blame for this, but his pride wouldn’t let him say who exactly.

“…BAH! Let the wind blow it away!” He crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it behind him.

There we go, now that he got rid of the test, he could just lie to his mom and say the test results haven't been given yet. Eventually, she will forget about it, and Max will avoid any further trouble-

“Hey, Bunny-boy!”

…Perhaps not.

Max felt a shiver down his spine. Something about the tone in the stranger’s voice instantly told him he must’ve done something bad to bother him.

“Do I look like a trash-can to you? You should be more careful where you aim at, it hit my face.”

Max held his breath in for a moment, how is it possible he didn’t notice someone standing behind him? Was he really that stupid? As much as he would’ve loved to run away home and avoid the conflict, he turned around to face the stranger.

“I-I’m really sorry, sir! I-I wasn’t paying attention!”

Max didn’t really know who he was talking to or how old they were, but he assumed he was a ‘sir’ when he noticed all the fancy clothes he was wearing. Max knew nothing about fashion, otherwise, he would’ve been able to guess what he was looking at was a morning dress. Max did, however, recognize the quality of the fabric, and the amount of earth-like colors in the suit.

From the dark green coat and his green beige waistcoat, to his brown trousers, along the orange necktie that stood out from the entire combo. To Max it was quite hexcentric, ridiculous even, but of course- He would not voice his opinion of fashion to this stranger.

Besides the peculiar clothing, the man was tall, extremely tall. Especially for Max, who could barely reach the guy’s stomach. Even though he looked quite chubby, there was no doubt for Max that a single push from the guy could leave him in the ground. He also looked like an anthropomorphic being, just like him, but Max couldn’t tell what kind.

Max began to search for more clues. At first he thought he could be a bear, mainly for the color of his fur. But despite his height, the stranger wasn't tall enough to pass as one. Max then tried to get a look at his face, but the stranger had it covered with a wrinkled piece of paper in front of him, the same one Max threw at him by accident.

Wait a minute... It was Max’s test!

“…30 points?” The stranger smirked.

Now he was making fun of him! The shame, the horror! Right now, a good punch in the gut from the man didn’t seem like such a terrible option for Max. At least if he was left unconscious, he wouldn’t have to hear any more humiliating comments about his poor performance.

“Geez. You should focus on your studies first, rather than carelessly littering people on the street, Bunny-boy."

“B-Bunny?” Although he might have been afraid, there was one thing Max would absolutely, not by any means, tolerate from anyone in this world; and that was being called a bunny. He may have let it slide the first time, but he would not do the same for a second time.

“Excuse me, sir, but you should get your eyes checked! Because I am a Lagomorph, not a Bunny!”

The stranger chuckled at Max’s reaction and returned the wrinkled piece of paper to him, placing it right on his face as a way of teasing him. “Well, you should pay more attention in class, Lago-boy.”

Max growled at the rude gesture, he took his test and violently put it aside, finally allowing the man and him to be face to face. “That- Is none of your business!”

Max was frozen. He stared into the stranger’s eyes, and despite the fact that he was wearing shades, Max could still see right through them. Finally, he was able to figure out the anthro-being he was dealing with.

He was an anthropomorphic dog with black eyes. His snoot was round and his ears were long and fluffy, they were practically hanging from his head, and Max felt the strange need to touch them.

He started to get the feeling that something about this guy was very, very familiar. And the more he stared at him, taking the time to analyze all of his features, searching for that ‘ah-ha!’ sign that would help him understand: “Just who is this guy?” The more he felt the two of them had, somehow, already met. But where and when, exactly? He couldn’t tell.

“Hey, Lago-boy? Did you lose something?” The dog waved his hand in front of Max’s face.

“H-Huh?” Max blinked twice, startled.

“Oh, geez. You just keep living in the clouds and refuse to get down, don’t you?”

“What? N-no!”

“Alright, alright, if you say so. It’s ‘none of my business’ anyway.”

The dog turned around in the other direction and said goodbye to Max, but Max wasn’t done with this conversation just yet.

“Wait a second!”

“Hmm?” The dog stood still and looked back at Max.

Every part of his body was shaking, his hunch was practically screaming, he had to know! Max had to know if, by the smallest chance…If it was him.

…But he did not have the courage to ask. Too many unpleasant things happened today, and now, based merely on feelings, he was going to ask this total stranger if he was ‘this’ certain person? And what if he said no? Max would only look like a complete idiot in front of someone he doesn’t even know. No, he would rather leave things just like this, as mere coincidences, and avoid any further embarrassment.

“…Sorry, nevermind. Must’ve confused you with someone else.”

Max then walked in the opposite direction without saying anything else, leaving the dog in front of the jewelry store. The stranger was a bit confused, but he quickly dismissed the moment as nothing of importance, as he had other things to worry about. He shifted his attention to the tall building in front of him and examined every inch of its structure, including the windows, until he was convinced that this was the place he was looking for.

Max kept going on his path, also trying to dismiss the event that just happened, and get home as soon as possible. Perhaps he could get a nice nap, too, he felt like he deserved it after such a stressful day. But that guy, his face…

“It had to be him, I know it was him.” He kept repeating those words to himself, and he would argue back at himself. “But it’s impossible, it can’t be, they look nothing alike, and he would never dress like that!”

The ideas kept clashing with one another over and over again, and Max felt a headache was coming soon if he didn’t do something about this matter. That’s when he noticed that he was passing right in front of a game center, one he casually visits now and then, The Game Center CROWN. And to his surprise, a poster had been recently added to the wall promoting a new game.

The poster was a cartoony illustration of a girl with long, light blonde hair and a red mask covering her eyes. She was wearing stylized armor that seemed inspired by a sailor uniform. She had the look of a hero ready to fight the bad guys, which were also depicted in the poster, but without taking the hero’s spotlight. The game was called Sailor V: Hero of the Night! Now where has he heard that name before…?

“Ah, this must be the girl Lorne was talking about! ‘Sailor V’, huh?”

Max examined the poster for a while, with slight annoyance, the thought of this popular superhero girl really tickled his anger, and his envy as well. Why was she getting all the attention? What made her so special? Is it because she had a fancy name and cute clothes? Anyone could do that. At least that’s what he thought, as he imagined himself in the spot of Sailor V. But that was just a fantasy, deep down, he knew it was impossible. Some people’s lives are just too easy, he thought, and he was not one of the lucky ones.

“…What a stupid name. What does the V stand for, anyway-?”

“Good afternoon, sir.”

Max released a fast scream of pure, sheer terror and stood back, leaning against the door entrance of the arcade. He looked back at the person who just spoke to him, and felt great relief when he realized who it was.

“H-Hyōsuke! I, uh…Didn’t see you there!”

Hashimoto Hyōsuke was the son of the owner of the game center CROWN, and had a part time job in the arcade. He had tanned skin and his hairstyle was similar to a ‘pompadour’, he also liked to wear shades all the time and never take them off.

They met at a time when Max used to visit the arcade frequently, and somehow became good friends. Despite the fact that Hyōsuke is a University student, Max always addresses him by his first name and almost never used honorifics, and despite Max being younger than him, Hyōsuke always treated him in a very polite manner. Although, to be fair, he tends to treat everyone respectfully no matter their age, and Max loved this! Being treated like some sort of respected gentleman always boosted his ego.

“Please step aside from the door, sir, before it-”

“WOAH-!”

“…Opens.”

Max, who just met with the cold and crystal clear floor of the game center, immediately started complaining. Not because the fall was painful in any way (And even if it was, he lacked sensitivity to pain.), but because he liked complaining, it was a way to release stress.

“God- DAMN IT! Why does this keep happening to me?!”

“It’s okay sir, everyone has accidentally fallen into an automatic door once in their lives, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Hyōsuke offered his hand to Max as a way to help him stand up, the lagomorph took it with certain embarrassment.

“Thanks, Hyōsuke…But that’s not what I mean.”

“Did something happen?”

“Eh… Let’s just say this wasn’t my day, at all.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, sir. Perhaps a time in the arcade would help you clear your mind.”

“Woah, sneaky guy! But, I’m sorry to tell you I don’t have a single coin in my pocket.”

“Are you quite sure, sir? We have a new game available since yesterday.”

“A new game?!” The smile that had just formed in his face quickly came and went as the gears in his head started to turn. “…Wait, you’re not talking about that Sailor V chick, right? Because in that case, I-”

Max froze for a mere second and shook his left ear. He felt a presence behind him, something with his eyes fixated on his back, but once he turned around, he couldn’t see anyone else. It was just him and Hyōsuke, and yet, he could still feel there was someone else.

"Something troubling you, sir?"

“Huh? Oh, no, nothing at all! Sorry, I’m a little distracted and I just want to go home and rest.”

There was something troubling him indeed, but Max couldn’t figure out himself what it was exactly that gave him these feelings, and he found no point in telling his friend.

“Alright sir, be careful on the way home.”

“Yeah, I will. Goodbye, Hyōsuke!”

══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

As the sun slowly sank through the pink clouds, Max had finally arrived at his home, and he was ready to take a snack from the fridge, relax and take a good nap. He opened the door and announced his arrival.

“Mama, I’m home!”

His mother came from the kitchen, cleaning her wet hands with her apron. “Welcome home, hun! What took you so long?”

“Ah, Sorry! I was hanging out with Inés and we didn’t notice how late it was getting!”

“I see… Oh!”

Mrs. Tsukino giggled as their conversation was abruptly interrupted by tiny bundles of joy, her six youngest daughters, who were happy to see her big brother finally at home.

“Max! Max! Max!” they shouted as they jumped and pushed each other playfully, trying to get a chance at hugging their big brother. Max had to make an effort not to lose his balance.

“What took you so long?” said Olivia in an upset tone, as if trying to scold Max.

“Did you bring us something?” Said Asami, the tiniest of the sisters.

“Asami! Don’t be rude!” Replied Josefa, the tallest and oldest of the sisters.

“We really, really, really missed you!” Said Isabella, the dearest sister out of the six.

Since she was born without one of her legs, she had to use a special prosthetic leg for a tiny lagomorph like herself. But she didn't mind. In fact, she thought it looked cool.

“Hey, Hey! One at a time, kiddoes! You're gonna make me fall on my butt!”

The little ones began to laugh.

“Girls, please. Give your brother some space.”

The little ones apologized, finally leaving the poor lagomorph a moment to breathe and stand up properly. The girls hid behind their mother as she began retaking her conversation with her son.

“By the way, Max. How did you do in your exam?”

“Oh, That! Well, you see-”

“Because I crossed paths with Lorne earlier today, and he told me you guys got the results already. He said he got 95 points!”

Max stood still with a blank expression, admiring how his entire plan crumbled in front of him, thanks to his gossipy little friend. “That blabbermouth, I’m gonna strangle him for this!” He took a mental note before proceeding to answer to his mother.

“…OH! REALLY? Woah that’s AMAZING isn’t it?” He laughed it off, pretending to play dumb as a last attempt to escape his mother’s interrogation. But it didn't work out.

“Now tell me, how did you do?”

“Well…Ah, you see! …Th-the thing iiis…!”

“Maximiliano.”

Max was looking to the ground avoiding eye contact, but he already knew his mom’s tender, welcoming smile was vanishing, along with her patience. He sighed and accepted that there was no escape from the hell that was about to rise, and decided to give her the test in her hands.

Mrs. Tsukino took it and examined it for a moment, a moment that felt like an eternity for Max. The little ones got on their tip toes trying to take a look as well. Everything was quiet for a few seconds, until…

“Maximiliano Santiago Tsukino SILVA!”

The rage Mrs. Tsukino felt was so strong, Max swore he could see fire in her eyes.

“Uh-Ooh.” The little girls stepped aside, knowing exactly what was coming for their big brother.

Max began to sweat, somehow; despite lagomorphs being incapable of it. He chuckled nervously. “M-Mama…I can explain!”

“¡Cómo se te ocurre traerme una nota tan baja a MI casa! ¡AFUERA! ¡NO TE QUIERO VER!”

“W-WAIT! WOAH-!”

Mrs. Tsukino furiously pushed Max outside of the house and shut the door in front of him, leaving him in the front yard to think of what he just did. In part, it could’ve been worse, at least he didn’t get an ear pulling or something similar. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure for how long his mom was planning on leaving him there, and the mere thought of spending the night outside wasn’t comforting. So he followed the next step of his plan B.

He began to make a scandal.

“MAMAAA! C’MON, IT’S NOT THAT BAD, PLEASE LET ME IN, PLEAAASE!”

“What’s going on here?”

Max’s left ear twitched, he recognized that voice! It was the annoying and overly confident voice of his little brother, Dante, the oldest of the group of the six lagomorph boys. They approached the front door as they were eating their lollipops, seemingly showing them off to their big brother as they walked past him.

“What, did you get kicked out again?” said Dante with a big smile.

“Wouldn’t that make it the 4th time?” Said Bruno, a chubby, small lagomorph.

“No, actually. Last time, mom locked the house after she went shopping and forgot Max was going to arrive late, so he had to wait outside. This is only the 3rth time Mom kicks him out for failing an exam.” Said Hiroaki, the smartest of the six boys.

“What an Idiot! Why didn't he use the back door?” Said Yukio, who was carrying a chocolate bar and a soda inside his open backpack.

“We don’t have one.” Replied Hiroaki.

“We don’t?”

“Hey!” Max had enough of these kids and their mean comments. “How can you treat me like that? I’m your big brother, you should respect me!”

“It’s not our fault you have such terrible grades! I wish we had a big brother that was actually smart!” Dante then made a funny expression to mock him, sticking his tongue out.

“That’s IT!”

The boys were laughing uncontrollably at Max and how easy it was to provoke him. He was getting ready to throw a kick at them and they quickly went inside the house to avoid it. Dante shut the door as fast as his giggling body allowed him, without realizing that the poor door would be the one receiving the impact of that Kick.

Max hit the door with his bare foot, harder than he expected. He hit it so hard that he actually felt that pain slowly building up from his heel to his brain and the tip of his ears. He held it in, he was really trying to hold it in, but he couldn't. He let out a scream of pure pain, combined with more whining. While he was indeed insensitive to pain, there were still certain things he could feel, and right now he wished he didn't.

“MOOOM! OPEN THE DOOR, DANTE HIT ME!”

The boys were still giggling inside the house, they couldn’t help it, but the girls didn’t enjoy this attitude in the slightest; so they made an attempt at trying to talk things out with their mom. They tugged her apron gently, asking to please let their big brother back inside the house. “He didn’t mean to!” they said. But Mrs. Tsukino was not going to let him in that easily, what he did was unforgivable, and he deserved to be reprimanded for it!

…Although, if he kept screaming for a few more minutes, she may consider letting it pass. After all, she was still young and she wanted to conserve her good hearing intact. And the neighbors may start complaining there’s a squeaky rabbit that won’t shut up.

══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

Back at the Jewelry store, where the sun’s rays were no longer illuminating the streets, and the moon was slowly making itself more present, a dark and imposing figure stood up at the other side of the street. The mysterious stranger, who was dressed in fancy clothing and covered his eyes with a white mask, hid in the shadows provided by the buildings. He was waiting for a chance to enter the store, which seemed to be closed, as the lights were off.

His intentions were obvious. What he was searching for were precious and shiny stones for him to take home, and he was willing to take them no matter who stood in his way. Although he was not here to start a fight, it was not outside the realm of possibilities. He'd just kindly take a few gems without the owner of the store's knowledge and no one would get harmed, simple, like always.

Little did he know, the vast majority of the articles being displayed this morning were no longer available, thanks to “Mrs. Abel’s”…Or rather, Morgana’s big sale.

The first part of her plan was a complete success. Now all the women and men who bought those precious objects were contaminated with dark energy, energy that Morgana herself placed inside all those fake stones that decorated the collars and rings, making them look shinier and more appealing to the human eye.

“Humans and their pitiful wants, they are so gullible.” She laughed.

Now all she had to do was call back the energy of her victims as they wore the jewels. She was using a special red glass container of a cylindrical shape to store all the human energy in it as it arrived. She placed it on the counter and activated it with a single move of her hand. The energy began to flow right from the houses of the victims and back at Morgana’s artifact.

Every person in the city wearing their recently bought jewelry at that moment, quickly began to feel weak, disoriented. Some even felt dizzy and had to go to the bathroom urgently, as the nausea was too much to handle.

“So much energy…Lord Jadeite will surely be pleased! Although…”

She began to look at her surroundings, several times.

“…The object he entrusted to me doesn't seem to be here. I will have to make one last quick inspection to the building before I-”

The door beside the counter, where Morgana was standing, started to open. A thin figure was standing under the door frame, letting the light of the other room get into the store.

“Mom? What are you doing?” Inés spoke in a gentle tone.

Morgana could’ve come up with an excuse, but she didn’t bother. She was done with her job, and she already knew what she had to do with intruders.

Inés kept going as she received no answer. “I thought you had closed the store already…?”

Morgana turned her face around, allowing the light coming from the other room to reach her. She let her teeth show off, growing into fangs, twisting her face slightly as she smiled; she had nothing else to hide from this kid.

Inés gasped loudly and stepped back, her eyes couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her mind began to rush, trying to find an explanation, was this an illusion? Is she dreaming?

Her body began to shake, begging for her to run upstairs, back to her room and lock herself there. She couldn’t respond to the signs on time, as Morgana stretched her limbs to an unhuman capacity and violently grabbed her arm, pulling her inside the store.

The door had been closed, and Inés had nowhere to go.

══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

Back at the Tsukino residence, Max was climbing the ladder to his room halfheartedly. He sat in the tiny stairs of his room for a moment, letting the small door close as the ladder came back to its original position. He then yawned and stretched as he walked to his bed.

When he left the house in the morning, he left his bed undone, but now it was fixed and he could only guess it was his mother, who may have entered the room during the day. The empty glass that he left over the nightstand was also gone, but the manga he was reading last night was still at the window.

He left his briefcase over the white, small round table near the bed, and sighed. “Finally, she let me in! Geez, I don't know why she gets like that, she's so mean to me…”

”…I don’t wanna do my homework, I think I'll just take a small nap and then figure it out.”

And following his last words, Max laid down in the warm bed comforter and closed his eyes, falling asleep in just a couple of minutes.

The minutes kept passing as Max kept dreaming, and the wind began to blow against his window, making him shake slightly because of the noise; but it was not nearly enough to wake him up. If he had woken up at that moment, he probably would’ve noticed the small shadow in front of his window, standing still.

The wind somehow made its way into the room, unhooking the window lock, opening it slightly for a moment, before shutting down abruptly. Finally the lagomorph opened his eyes and sat on his bed, rubbing his eyes before looking at the window. Once his vision was getting clear, he saw a small, white and blurry figure, slowly taking shape into the curious rodent he encountered earlier today. And, once again, the creature was staring at him with its tiny eyes.

“What the…The rat with the bald spot? How did you get here?”

“Oh, Holy Lunar Trinity…” She said exasperated. “It is not a bald spot, okay? It’s a tattoo. Quite the rude assumption, child.”

Max blinked twice, his eyes fixed on the rodent. There’s no way he heard that, there’s no way those words came out of this tiny creature’s mouth. There is absolutely no way the rat just spoke to him like a tiny grandma scolding her grandchild. Rats don’t do that! …Right?

But, the rat kept going with what she had to say, and Max just couldn’t react to any of it.

“Ahem! Anyways, my name is Luna, and I’ve been looking for you for quite a long time, Max. I’d also like to thank you for taking off the band aids from my forehead. Because of that obstruction, I wasn't able to speak, and it also affected my sensory skills. The kids of this neighborhood are so naughty!”

“Ahh…” Max seemed to wake up from his trance, nodding slightly. “I see now.”

“You do? I’m glad! It’s good to finally meet you, dear, I really don’t know what I would've done if I hadn't found you-”

“Good night.”

Luna was so wrapped up in her excitement that she didn't realize the moment Max was laying down in bed again, facing the opposite direction.

“Eh? M-Max! What do you think you’re doing? Wake up, this is no time to rest!”

But Max ignored Luna’s complaints entirely. She jumped to his bed and began shaking him as strongly as her tiny body allowed her, and it was not enough to even bother the Lagomorph. Maybe if I stay like this, she’ll go away. That was his plan, but Luna was not gonna stand there with her little arms closed.

“Ah, I just remembered! I’ve also got a gift for you, Max dear.”

Max’s ears twitched, that was everything Luna needed. She stood back on her two hind legs and the mark on her forehead began to shine. She gave a high jump followed by a spin in the air. As she was doing this stunt, the mark on her forehead began to shine even brighter, until the light became a solid object that left sparkles around as it materialized.

Luna finally landed on the bed, and with one last spin in her place she stood on one leg (her other leg raising high), and caught the object with her right hand. She made each movement look elegant and so simple, her eyes were closed the entire time. But more interesting than her dance moves, Max was much more interested in the object Luna held between her tiny, pink hands.

“Here, this is a special brooch, it’s magical.” She winked.

The brooch was made of pure gold and had a crescent moon symbol at the center, along a pink gem at the top. The contour of the brooch also had smaller gems: A blue one at the bottom, a red one at the top, a green one at the left and an orange one at the right.

“Wait, this is for me? You’re seriously giving it to me?” Max smiled.

“Of course!”

“WOAH!” Max took it with excitement and jumped out of the bed. “Thank you! It’s so shiny, I love shiny things! But, wait, how am I gonna…?”

“Max?” Luna waved her hand at him to call his attention.

“Ah! I’ve got it!” Max sat on his knees near the white table and began to open his briefcase quickly.

He started to throw everything inside the briefcase around the floor of his room, not caring where it would land or how, and stopped once he was able to take out what he was really looking for: His sailor uniform. He took it from the black bag where it was and tossed the bag away, quickly taking off his gakuran and putting on the other uniform; all of this while Luna was still trying to get Max’s attention.

“Max, please, you’ve got to listen to me! There’s been a lot of strange events happening all around the city of Tokyo, crimes that not even the police can figure out! And it is your duty to stop this chaos, Max, you’re our chosen Sailor Soldier!”

Max was now fully dressed and wearing his new brooch, which he placed at the center of the bow in his blouse. He took a big mirror that was around the room and placed it carefully in front of him. Admiring his new accessory in the mirror, Luna took the chance to jump to the night stand to be in front of Max, trying to get the Lagomorph to look at her, and it seemed to work.

“And besides!” She proceeded. “You must find your allies as well, to find and protect our princess!”

“Aha, Aha, Aha. Sure! Anything else?”

“…You don’t believe a single word I told you, do you?”

“Oh no, no!” Max shook his head. “Sure I believe you!”

Max was smiling and giggling, but Luna knew he wasn’t buying her story, he only cared about the pretty brooch. That was okay with her, as she was not going to give up just yet.

“Okay, if that’s true, then repeat these words after me…Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!”

Max chuckled. “What?”

“You said you believed me.”

“I do! I promise!”

“Go ahead, then.”

Max giggled one last time before taking a deep breath, frowning suddenly, forcing his cheeks not to smile again. Max did believe in Luna’s words, actually. The issue lied in the fact that he didn’t believe any of this was real. He had a rough day after all, so maybe, his mind was making up for it by creating a magical dream in which he’s a superhero. Someone wanted, someone needed! Someone useful and important! And he was going to enjoy this dream for as long as it lasted.

He put his hand in the air, pretending to stand in an epic pose, and shout the ‘magical phrase’ his ‘magical rat’ gave him.

“Moon Prism Power! Make-UP!”

Max couldn't have possibly imagined what came next, as this energy bursted suddenly from his chest, it was a strong and powerful feeling surrounding his entire body, wrapping him in a cocoon of indescribable warmth. It was overwhelming, scary, yet exciting. It filled him with great joy and determination!

He closed his eyes, holding onto this feeling for as long as he could. But just as it came, the moment he opened his eyes, the feeling was completely gone. All that was left was him, standing in front of the big mirror, and Luna, who seemed quite happy for some reason.

He stared at Luna in confusion as to what just happened, before taking a look at himself in the mirror. There was something… different, Max had to take a moment to realize it, his chest bow seemed to have changed its color, he was wearing earrings too. And, did his skirt just… shrink?

No, that wasn’t quite it, this was an entire different outfit. What Max was wearing was a white leotard with a chest protector over it, and a blue collar with two white stripes. He also had white shoulder pads, gloves, and a blue skirt, along with a big red-ish pink bow at the center of his chest and his back, a choker and a pair of red boots of the same color, with a white border at the top.

His boots had golden crescent moon ornaments, just like his earrings and his choker. And the crown of it all was his tiara, which has special ornaments and a dark pink gem at the center.

What the hell was all this?

“So, how’s that for a proof?” Luna spoke. “Do you understand what I’m saying now?”

Max took a good look at his new clothes, feeling the texture of his gloves and admiring how his new jewelry shined. He felt an unusual comfort, even more than earlier today when he wore his other uniform, this suit just felt…Right.

He giggled. “Look at me! I look like a superhero!”

“Max!”

“Aw, don’t worry Luna, I said I believed you!”

“That’s good, but I’m afraid you’re still not taking me seriously! Just-- Quit spinning around, please, and listen!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure!” Max waved his hand in a condescending manner. “So, what else do I need to know-?”

Suddenly, at that moment, the gem in his tiara began to project an intense shine. Max’s ears began to twitch as they captured a sound, it was muffed, but Max made an effort to pay closer attention, until the sound began surrounding him. It was a voice, a plea, and it didn't take long for him to recognize the person making it. It was his friend Inés.

Max was surrounded in this aura of danger and malice, but he was the only one who could perceive it. All that Luna saw was how the teen was completely ignoring her instructions, and she was getting tired of this treatment. “Max, can you hear me?”

“Inés? But how…?”

“MAX!”

“AH!”

Max pressed his hand against his chest, the threatening aura had finally disappeared. “Ah, Luna, you startled me!”

“Startled you?”

She started connecting the dots in her head.

“You heard a cry of help, didn’t you?”

“‘Cry of help’…Yeah, you could say that.”

“Tell me, what did you hear?”

“Umm, well…” Max rested his left hand on his waist, rubbing his chin with one finger of his right hand. “I think I heard Inés screaming! She said something about her mom, but I couldn't hear the rest.”

Luna stood up in the nightstand. “Inés is the girl that owns a Jewelry store, right? Perhaps the store is being robbed. Max, now that you've transformed into a Sailor Soldier, you must go and help her!”

“…Eh?”

Luna pointed a finger at Max, accentuating his importance at this moment in time. “Consider this your first training session. Now go there and save Inés! Go, Sailor Moon!”

‘Sailor Moon’, was that supposed to be his ‘hero’ name? Well, it certainly had a nice ring to it.

Wait, but that would imply he would actually have to fight people, hand to hand combat. Well, maybe he could bite them in the arm and they would eventually give up!

But wait! Most thieves are armed, right? And they’re very dangerous by nature! And Max could barely remember the last time he had a fight, he must’ve been as tall as a chair back then!

…Actually, he hasn’t grown all that much since then, he still had issues sitting in chairs that were not made specifically for small creatures like him.

“Wait, me?” Max made a gesture pointing at his own face. “You’re talking about me? Shouldn’t we, uh… Call the police for this kind of thing?”

“Forget the police! Now, let’s go save your friend!”

Luna immediately ran to the window and proceeded to carefully walk on the house’s roof, climbing down a pipe to get to the ground. Max, who was sitting on his bed near the window, looked at her quite displeased.

“Hey, hold on! Where are you going? You don’t expect me to jump from here now, do ya?”

“You’re a bunny, your species is agile. I'm sure you can handle a jump to the balcony on the lower floor”

“B-BUNNY? I am NOT…!” Max stopped his incoming rant, as he saw Luna climbing down the pipe with the least bit of interest in what he had to say.

“Oh, I’ll show you…’Bunny’!”

He carefully sat on the window as he kept mumbling under his breath. He was so angry at Luna that he almost forgot how dangerous the act he was doing truly was, which could be considered an advantage, as he did not hesitate when falling down from the window of his room to the balcony of the second floor. Once he realized he had landed without a single bruise, the next jump didn’t seem so scary, and proceeded to hold onto the other side of the wooden railing to do his second jump. “What a strange dream this is!” He thought, but this small act of bravery began to fill him with security, with a twist of excitement as to what dangers he’d find in the jewelry store.

══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

“No! Stop! Get away from me!”

Morgana laughed, slowly approaching the defenseless girl. As she walked, her body kept changing, almost deteriorating.

As the color of her skin was fading and her limbs began to extend in an unnatural manner, Inés kept clinging onto the piece of furniture she had cornered herself against, trying to look away from her. This creature, this… Monster. Was clearly not her mother, but her resemblance was still there, and she could not bear to see it rot in front of her.

“What’s wrong, darling? Are you afraid of seeing your own mother's face?”

“How dare you!” Inés was now in tears. She shut her eyes and confronted Morgana to the best of her ability. “What did you do to my mother? Where did you take her?!”

Morgana violently stretched her arms directly towards the girl’s neck. She began to squeeze it little by litte, lifting her from the ground, as Inés struggled to break free.

“Do you want to know what happened to your mommy? Do you want me to tell you what I really did to her?”

The fear in Inés' eyes only fed Morgana’s cruelty even further. The teen kept struggling against her grasp, kicking her feet in the air, using all of the force in her body to push the monster away. But that force was fading, as Morgana continued to squeeze every bit of breath from her body

“D’aww. Don’t you worry, little one. Soon, you and your mother will be together forever!”

Morgana let out a strong, heartfelt laugh. Knowing she had successfully completed most of her task, and that no one could possibly stop her at this point.

“STOP RIGHT THERE! You ugly WITCH!”

Morgana freezes, letting go of Inés’ neck just for a second, enough for her to simply pass out from the exhaustion and dizziness. But not before her eyes managed to capture a single, small shadow, standing under the door of the jewelry store.

Morgana stood still, only turning around her neck. She bitterly replied to the stranger. “Who is this? Who are you?!”

“Aha! Excellent question. My name is…!”

“…Hey, Luna. Who am I again?”

Luna gave a harsh sigh. “You are Sailor Moon, the soldier of Love and Justice!”

“AHA! Yes, I am…What she just said! And I’ve come here to kick your butt!”

Max kept showing a confident smile on his face, which only further reflected his complete ignorance of what was at stake right now, and who was at the hands of Morgana right now. But Luna didn’t seem to notice the peculiarity of these actions. All she saw was Max’s cocky attitude taking over him, and decided to let it pass. It was better for him to be confident than afraid.

Morgana then responded with a loud, wicked laugh. Dropping the unconscious girl to the ground.

“Sailor Moon?” She emphasized in a burlesque tone. “I've never heard of such a RIDICULOUS name ever before!”

Morgana stretched her hand back to the counter, grabbing the red artifact where she had stored all the human energy. She held it up, shouting. “Rise up, SLAVES! Come and serve the purpose of our dark mistress!”

“Gee-eez!” Max held his ears down. “Keep it down, old lady! Are you trying to wake up the entire city?”

“Precisely.”

“…Huh?”

There was a moment of silence inside the building.

Max then began to hear a particular sound, getting louder, closer. Until finally, he was able to recognize it. Steps. Many, Many steps behind him…

“Wh- …HAAH?! WHAT ARE ALL THESE LADIES DOING HERE?!”

Max turns around to discover a crowd of women standing right outside the jewelry store, all of which were wearing expensive jewelry accessories in different parts of their bodies. Their eyes were lost, as if a part of them was not even there at all. Max began to take a few steps back.

“Now, slaves! Get rid of him!”

“No. Wait, wait, wait. Timeout! TIMEOUT!”

Max moved his feet and began to run as the crowd entered the building. They chased after him through every corner of the room, meanwhile Max clumsy, but effectively avoided the women’s grasps. He ran, crouched and jumped over every obstacle, not caring if he broke a piece of glass from one of the empty display cases.

“Luna! What am I supposed to do?”

“Stay still and calm down! Just give them a good punch!”

“WHAT? No WAY! I’m not gonna hit a buncha old ladies, one of them could be as old as my mom!”

“You have to defend yourself, Sailor Moon. Fight! Then your tiara, and…!”

Unexpectedly for Luna, one of the possessed women among the crowd had the clever idea of breaking one of those display cases, getting a fairly sized piece of broken glass in her hands.

She began to chase the Lagomorph with great speed, Max was barely able to escape her deadly hand swings. But once he managed to run past her, his feet tangled against one another, making him instantly fall in the pieces of shattered glass that were scattered on the ground.

He quickly gathered his composure and ran towards one of the pillars in the room, falling near it in the process. He leaned against it, using it as a support to stand up, but one of his feet had slipped and made his behind fall back on the floor.

“I…I can’t…” He gasped. “I can’t keep up…Why…?”

Then, the revelation laid right in front of his very eyes. A small, burning and fresh cut on one of his knees, which opened his eyes to all the small bruises he had accumulated on both of his knees.

But that couldn’t be possible, no. No way…

Luna then appeared behind the pillar, whispering. “What are you doing, Sailor Moon? Stand up! You have to fight!”

But Max, surprisingly, had nothing to respond.

“Sailor Moon! They’re coming to get you, quickly!”

The crowd was slowly surrounding the lagomorph. But he could only stare at his wounds. He mumbled something under his breath, something about his bruises.

“Sailor Moon?”

“…This isn’t a dream.”

Max had finally managed to lift up his view and look around him, but it was far too late. The group of women had him trapped against the pillar. Max managed to catch a glimpse of a pair of legs, laying on the ground far away, before the group got in the way of his vision. He felt the air escaping from him, those clothes, could they have been Inés’s?

Was she…?

“Look out, MAX!”

Max was shook away from his thoughts by Luna.

Morgana, raising behind the crowd, began to stretch her limbs and reach out for Max from the other side of the room. Max could see the wrinkled hand getting closer, he could almost feel her long and red claws stabbing his neck. But it didn’t matter how much Luna, or himself, begged for his body to move; Max had been frozen in place.

But then… A scream of pure pain came from Morgana. She had to stop her hand and return it to its place. A clear and burning cut on the back of her hand, but how? What could’ve possibly been the cause?

“Who did this? Who are you?! SHOW YOURSELF!”

The group of women began to stand back in confusion, allowing Morgana to see the other side of the room. Her victim was still in the exact same spot, still paralyzed, but his gaze was focused somewhere else. Following his gaze, Morgana found the perpetrator of her wound embedded in the floor.

A single Red Rose.

And suddenly. BANG! BANG! BANG!

One shot right after the other, more Roses of red and white colors began to stab the floor. A column of Roses was formed, and before anyone in the room could breathe, an explosion surrounded the women. They had no choice but to run back to Morgana, as a thick smoke screen began to fill the room.

“S-Sailor Moon!” Luna covered her mouth with one hand and squeezed her nose with the other, containing her coughs the best she could. She called out to her pupil, but he was no longer there.

Max had his eyes shut tightly, unknowing of the fuss that was going on. He felt a strange, but comforting warmth surrounding him, making him hold tightly onto it.

It was then he heard a particular melody, a short ballad being whistled in a soothing manner. He opened his eyes with slight fear, looking for the source of the melody.

A tall, masculine figure covered in black, and a white mask covering his eyes. He was holding Max firmly with only one of his arms, using the other to spin his cane in the air and dispel the smoke that came from the floor below. The fabric of the clothing was something Max had never seen before, it was smooth and sparkling. But what concerned him most, was how familiar this was, how familiar the stranger’s shape really was…

Morgana, along with her mind controlled slaves, were immediately drawn by the movement at the second floor. As the smoke began to fade, the unwanted stranger’s shape became clearer to them.

“Show yourself, coward! How dare you hurt ME, Morgana! Faithful servant of Lord Jadeite!”

The stranger then spoke directly to the crowd.

“To harm innocent lives is simply an act of cowardice, no matter the reasons, and I am not one to stand such vile acts. Whoever you are, I will make sure to put you back to the hellish hole you came out of!”

“Such insolence…!” Morgana hissed. “SLAVES! Teach this fool a lesson!”

The group under Morgana’s control went directly to the door behind the counter, but were unable to reach it in time. A single shot echoed inside the store, and just like that, a red rose had been put in their way, making them run to the other direction before it inevitably exploded.

Max stared at the gun in awe. It was a gorgeous weapon of a pure white color, with a flower pattern all over the frame, and small vines drawn at the top of the barrel. He had never seen anything like it.

The stranger in black put down the lagomorph, walking towards the balcony as he re-loaded his gun. Max’s jaw almost dropped when he realized he was using rose seeds. He at least expected a fully bloomed rose, as that would’ve made much more sense in his head. Regardless, how could that even be possible? Was he really, truly awake?

“So, lil’ pal. Any ideas on how to get rid of the ol’ witch down there?”

“Huh?” Max blinked twice. “Ah- Yeah! I mean, I-I’m here for that! …I think?”

A couple of shots echoed in the room. Followed by the screams of distress of the group of women running in circles.

“Perfect. Then I’m counting on ya to take her down.”

“And what are you gonna do, uhhh…” Max took a second to get his thoughts together. “...‘Mister’?”

The stranger pushed his large cape aside, revealing a device of a small grappling hook on his belt. He shot the grappling hook towards the giant chandelier, tensioning the cable to make sure it was secure.

“I'll be the distracting factor.”

And just like that, the stranger jumped from the balcony right into action. Using his weight, he rocked around the room in a circle. The women would run from one direction to the other, desperately avoiding the red roses the stranger in black would shoot.

It was a sight of chaos, a black smoke began to cover the first floor as more roses kept exploding, marks of dust were all over the floor and the walls; and the women ran desperate like chickens. Morgana, being unable to instruct them properly, started to lose her patience. She tried to reach out the stranger with her other hand, which only resulted in yet another injury on the back of her hand.

Max was having the time of his life watching everything unfold from the second floor, but what fascinated him most, was the stranger.

Max wasn’t sure if this man was probably used to this environment. Maybe he had seen many other ugly monsters that possess humans for their evil schemes, it had to be that. Otherwise, how could he be so confident in his actions?

He swayed around, from left to right, every shot landing exactly where it needed to. And despite the havoc he was causing, not a single rose managed to hurt the ladies.

The stranger was in his playground, the smile on his face could not be hidden behind that mask.

And something about that fact brought butterflies to Max’s stomach…A sight only for him to admire, only for him to remember. No one but him. That brought a big, goofy smile to his face.

“SAILOR MOOON!”

Max screeched. As if he had just been caught doing something dirty.

“L-Luna! I-I wasn’t…!”

“I’ve been calling you out three times now! I swear, you’re living up in the clouds.”

“Hey! That’s-”

“Ah-Ah!” Luna exclaimed, putting her paw right in front of Max’s face as a gesture to silence him. “Now listen to me! While that guy down there is messing around with the mob, you need to sneak behind Morgana and finish her off.”

“Ah-Ha. Yeah. And how exactly am I gonna do that?!”

“You’re right, I did not mention this before, I’m sorry.”

“You should be! I could’ve been killed down there-!“

“Please, pay close attention!” Luna now had both paws over Max’s mouth. “The tiara you’re wearing isn’t a mere piece of jewelry, it’s a weapon. You need to call it by shouting ‘Moon Tiara…’”

Another couple of explosions were heard from the down floor, slightly shaking the second floor.

“…And then throw it at the enemy!”

“Uhm-Hum. Und whot iff I fail?”

“You won’t! The tiara will never fail you. Now get down there and show that old hag who’s boss!”

Luna then put her hands away from Max’s mouth and jumped to his shoulder, as he carefully got on top of the balcony. He tried not to look down, feeling his legs shaking slightly by the mere thought of it. Sure, he had previously jumped from a high place and landed safely, but that was before he discovered it was all real. That confidence he had built up before was now completely gone.

“Are you sure I’m not just gonna. Y’know. Die?”

“Just relax, you’re a Sailor Soldier. Hard as a rock!”

And just before Max could give his last protest, Luna used her own weight to push Max down, forcing him to Jump.

While the stranger kept terrorizing the ladies, Morgana kept screaming at the top of her lungs for one of them to PLEASE do something about the intruders. Meanwhile, Max had landed on the ground safely, and was getting ready to summon his attack.

He reached out to the tiara, and the red gem at the center began to shine with intensity. Once he removed the tiara from his head, the piece had transformed into a disc shape with a sharpened outer edge. It was shining bright as a star, Max could feel the warmth coming from the object.

He knew what he had to do.

He held the weapon tight, took air into his lungs, and shouted...

“MOON TIARA… CHAKRAM!”

And WOOSH! He threw the weapon with all of the strength in his arm.

The tiara flew at great speed across the room, past Morgana. And she turned around to see where that breeze had come from.

“…It’s you!” Morgana wrinkled her nose and began to stretch her limbs again, making her taller, and taller... “You, little pest! I’m gonna make you pay for what you’ve done…!”

But then…

SLASH!

The Tiara had returned, slicing Morgana’s neck side to side! Her head coming off of her body, and one last expression of pure disbelief plastered all over her face. Her body almost immediately dropped the red artifact, shattering into tiny pieces the moment it reached the ground, and all the stolen energy began returning to their rightful owners.

The giant and beheaded corpse began to highlight a shine coming from the neck, running all across the body. And just like that, Morgana was gone with a bang.

Max stood still for a couple of seconds. He then slowly lifted his head from behind the display case he was hiding at.

“Is it over…?”

Luna came out and began to search for any sight of Morgana, only finding a pile of powdered clay in the middle of the room, alongside the shards of the container of human energy. Meanwhile, the women that had been previously brainwashed, were now laying down on the floor unconscious.

“I think so. Good job, Sailor Moon!”

Max let out a deep sigh, but the night was not over yet.

Both Luna and Max turned around the moment they heard a heartfelt laugh coming from the second floor, at the other side of the room. It was the stranger in black.

“Good job, lil’ buddy. We got rid of that monster just in time!”

Max got out of his hiding place, fixing his skirt in a quick manner. “Ah, yeah! Th-Thank you for your help!”

The man chuckled. “No, thank you. This night would not have been nearly as entertaining without you.”

A warm, intense feeling began burning Max’s cheeks. Which he quickly dismissed. “Ahaha! Oh, well. You know! That’s my job.”

“Oh?” The stranger fixed his mask in a playful manner. “Am I in the presence of a hero?”

“That’s right! My name is Sailor Moon, and don’t you dare forget it!”

“I would never.” He smiled.

The stranger then searched inside his jacket. “Here, a hero deserves a reward!”

He threw an object at Max, who, miraculously, managed to catch it in the air. He kept the object inside his hands for a moment, trying to take a guess before opening up the surprise. The object was small, but heavy and with sharp edges.

“Eh…?”

Max opened his hands. The object was a white gemstone, sparkling many other colors in the palm of his hands. It was gorgeous, certainly pretty expensive, but where did he…?

…Oh.

“Hold it…DID YOU STEAL THIS JUST NOW?”

The stranger laughed once again, and said his goodbyes before jumping outside the window, leaving the store for good.

“W-WAIT!”

Max ran outside the store. Luna chased after her pupil.

“STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU THIEF! YOU CAN’T JUST…!”

Max felt the time freezing, just for a moment. He saw the stranger do many impossible things tonight, but this might be the one that takes the cake.

After the stranger had jumped from the window of the second floor, he managed to land at the top of a light pole in the street. Not a single scratch was done to the material, and not a single sight of hesitation was visible from the man. With a single foot, he firmly jumped again from the light pole. Now floating high in the sky, light as a feather, with all the city streets shining below him.

How…How was he capable of such wonders? No creature on earth should be capable of these acts. And yet, in front of his very eyes, there he was defying everything Max took for a fact.

The stranger looked down to the lagomorph one last time.

“Remember me as well. My name is Tuxedo Mask. We’ll meet again, Sailor Moon…”

Max was left in a trance, unable to look away from the man. Many thoughts rushed through his mind, and not a single one connected with the other. And just like that, by the mere blink of an eye, the stranger was gone. Max was only left with a single piece to remember the encounter, which he held tightly to his chest, as if desperate to cling onto something that was real. Something that could tell him this was, indeed, not a dream.

“Sailor Moon! Let’s move!” Luna appeared right behind him.

“Huh…?” It took a moment, but Max was finally set free from his thoughts. “Ah, right! Yeah! But, what about the store-?”

“-Inés!” Max started to panic. “She’s still inside! I have to check on her!”

“Calm down, calm down!” Luna got in his way before he tried to enter the store again. “She’s perfectly fine, if only unconscious like everyone else!”

“But…!”

Both Luna and Max twitched their ears, as they felt something approaching at great speed, but still quite far away. A bunch of loud sounds coming from many cars in movement.

“The police. Just in time.” Luna snickered. “We have to leave now, or else we’re gonna be here all night!”

Max found himself in a small dilemma. He knew what would happen if the cops found him in the middle of the crime scene, and would probably not believe him if he told them a giant monster that looks like a witch came in and caused all of this mess.

As the sirens began to sound louder and clearer, he realized he couldn’t ignore his decision any longer. Leaving Inés alone, as bad as it felt, was the only thing he could do.

“…Damn it.”

And so, Max and Luna made a run for it.

The police arrived almost immediately after the duo’s escape, with an ambulance. And from one of the cars, a tall and distinguished man was the first to come out and enter the building.

The first thing the police noticed was the amount of bodies all over the floor. They were immediately checked upon and assisted by the paramedics. The distinguished man then commanded his team to search around the area, as he walked around the room digging for some clues himself.

Very deep inside the room, far away from everything, the man found a small white rose still embedded in the floor. Its petals were closed, it seemed like it had not bloomed yet. He got on his knees to take a closer look…

“Inspector Kamino! Don’t!”

One of the police men tried to warm him, but it was too late, the rose opened its petals and blew up on the Inspector’s face. He was not injured, but instead received all of the thick, white smoke the rose released.

The inspector stood up and covered his mouth and nose with his forearm. “What the hell is this?!”

“It’s another one of Tuxedo Mask’s toys, sir! It’s brand new.”

“Goddamn it! Fell for it immediately.” He coughed.

“There’s also marks of small explosions all over the walls and the floor. There’s no doubt he was here.”

“Hmm…” The inspector scratched his chin, making a loud sound as his fingernails scratched his beard. “He was definitely here, but…He’s not one to make such a mess. He’s usually a lot more, y’know, subtle.”

“Do you think someone else was involved?”

“Possibly, it does look like a war zone here. Keep searching, we’ll interrogate the victims later.”

“Inspector Kamino!” Another policeman came in. “We found a woman in the store’s basement! She’s still conscious, but needs help immediately.”

The inspector ordered to bring more paramedics before running back with the second police man back to the basement, hoping to get a bit of info from the woman before she was taken away. He needed to know just what happened to this place, and who exactly was behind all of this.

══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

Meanwhile, back at the cold, desolated castle. The tall, anthropomorphic dog known as Jadeite, had been carefully watching the events of that night from a purple crystal ball. From the moment that ‘Sailor Moon’ arrived, to the moment where his clay doll had been beheaded in cold blood. A shame, really. Morgana was one of his favorites, always did her job, until now. She had grown overly confident, and she let two intruders ruin their plans. Only a fool could’ve made such a mistake.

Because of this mistake, they just lost a great amount of human energy, and that meant their plans would be horribly delayed. Jadeite was furious, truly. But he would not allow this inconvenience to get the better of him.

“Such a waste of good clay, that was…” Said Jadeite in a cold tone. His blue eyes fixed on the Crystal Ball. The images had stopped to a certain moment where Sailor Moon’s face was the most visible.

“Sailor Moon…I’ll remember your name. And I’ll make sure the next doll takes special care of you next time.”

The light of the Crystal Ball began to blink, little by little losing its power. Until finally its light faded, leaving Jadeite alone, surrounded by darkness…

══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

The next morning, Max attended school like usual. Except this time, little ol’ Luna decided to accompany him. It was a shocker finding her inside the school grounds, but luckily, it seemed no teachers had noticed her presence so far.

During recess, Max was walking around the corridors of the school, searching for his friends, when he stopped at a corner to see a big surprise. His friend, Inés, was safe and sound! She was talking to her group of friends like usual, seemingly excited about the subject of the conversation.

Max had not seen Inés in the first hours of class that morning, so he had assumed she was going to stay home that day. But of course, someone as remarkable as her wouldn't let this situation stop her from fulfilling her duty as a young citizen. Inés wasn’t exactly a nerd, unlike Lorne, but she was committed. Something Max genuinely admired about her.

However, as much as he wished to, Max couldn’t bring himself to talk to his friend. He still felt quite guilty for having to leave her behind, and did not know how to act casual about everything that happened last night. What if Inés started to suspect him? How could he possibly explain something not even he understands? He began to hold his skirt tightly, trying to control his nerves.

Instead, both he and Luna decided to eavesdrop on the group of teens.

“And then! Then she- grabbed me by the neck! And started to squeeze me, harder and harder!” Inés made a gesture with her hands near her neck. She then showed her classmates the remaining marks she had on her neck from last night, to prove it was real.

Her friends gasped at the horrific tale. “How did you manage to escape?!” Amano asked with a certain corner in her tone.

“I’m not sure.” Said Inés. “I think…There was someone else there.”

“Someone else? Like who?” asked Suri.

“I didn’t see them clearly, but…”

“Uh-hu?” said everyone.

“…I think it was a hero. Before I passed out, I heard them say ‘stop right there, ugly witch!’.” Inés made a voice she considered cool to imitate her hero. “And then they said something about being a Sailor.”

“Sailor? Like Sailor V?!” Lorne jumped immediately into the convo.

“Sailor V.” Max chuckled in a derogatory manner. “She wasn’t even near the area!”

“Shh!” Said Luna, trying to listen to the kid’s conversation further.

“No…” Inés continued. “This one was nothing like Sailor V. I don’t know who they were, or how they look. But they saved me and my mother’s life. I can never repay that.”

Those words made Max show a smile from cheek to cheek. It was all he needed to hear, that his actions had caused a good outcome, that he had finally done something right for someone! He stopped listening to the conversation and rested against the wall, letting out a rewarding sigh.

“Well, at least we know she’s not gonna be an issue.” Said Luna.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I was worried she might have caught you, of course! You need to be careful with your identity, Max. If someone else found out you’re a Sailor Soldier…”

“Well, I’m sure Morgana appreciated you telling her my real name before I cut her head off.” Max replied sarcastically.

Luna started to babble for a second. “W-w-well! It was a matter of life and death! Y-you weren’t moving, and I was…!”

Luna stared at the lagomorph with a certain shame in her eyes. She then sighed.

“I’m so sorry I put you through all of that, Max. I assumed the moment you transformed, your will as a Sailor would wake up with you! But that was careless of me, and I should’ve explained to you how to fight before sending you there. I’m deeply sorry, child.”

“Geez…” Max chuckled. “Don't get all mushy on me now, grandma! It’s okay, I forgive you.”

“You’re sure!”

“Of course!” Max gave her a big smile. “Besides, had we not gone there, who knows what would’ve happened to all those victims…!”

Max twitched his left ear. Seemingly freezing in his place.

Luna stared at the kid with concern, until she started to hear it too.

Loud footsteps began approaching the duo, the kind of footsteps only a tall creature could make. Max looked towards the direction they were coming, and his heart dropped the very second he laid eyes on that person. With his brown, brushed fur, his long, fluffy ears, and a sparkling clean Gakuran.

It was him, the man he saw the other day outside the jewelry store. But, he was actually a student? Oh, how stupid Max must’ve looked calling him a “Sir”.

But that wasn’t all that was in his mind.

As the anthro dog walked in front of him, Max gave him a second, much careful look. And even after the guy had already walked past him, Max continued to stare at him. From the back of his head, to his shoulders, the size of his arms, all of his shape spoke to him…

After all this time. All these years. Could it be? Could it really be him…?

“…Sam.” He whispered.

Notes:

"Cabro" o "Cabrito": Is a word used in Chile to refer to a young boy. But the literal spanish to english translation would be "goat".

Bento: a Japanese-style packed lunch, consisting of items such as rice, vegetables, and sashimi.

Tamagoyaki: A sweet rolled Japanese omelette.

Gakuran: Classic Japanese Male uniform.

#long post #sam and max #Sailor Max AU #fanfiction #SA's Art #Happy happy birthday Max!!

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amazingphilza · 4 years ago

Text

snapchat :: c!tommy x reader

fluff / angst , platonic , gender neutral ! first request whoop whoop :D [check pinned for more info on requests]

synopsis: ‘what’s so bad about adding every person on snapchat?’ tommy thought. unknowingly, with all the other people he begins talking to during exile, one ends up being you; tubbo’s younger sibling. that is until you both visit tommy in logstedshire.

cw: i purposely misspell a few words for the texting part, i hope it’s still readable for y’all! and i haven’t actually used snapchat in years so let’s pretend i know what i’m doing :)

tommy smiled at his brand new phone

first thing he does? install snapchat and reddit

if he couldn’t talk to his best friends face to face anymore, at least he had people online to talk to, right?

tommy hoped from all his possessions dream would destroy, he could at least keep a phone

without much thought, tommy opened snapchat and began adding every account and messaging them the same obnoxious message

BE MY FRIEND . MESSAGE BACK NOW.

most people chose ignore tommy, not having a clue why he was messaging them

but as for you, when you had the notification that someone added you on snapchat and started aggressively messaging you, it made you curious

you read their user

“wife haver”?? huh???

instead of immediately blocking the person, you replied back

what?

not even less than a second later you get a reply back

OH MY GOD FINALLY SOMEONE

IM DYING

without context, you were more than confused

genuinely dying is very alarming but you shouldn’t text a random stranger your last words

huh?

THE GREEN BASTARD TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME

YOURE ALL I HAVE LEFT

plwase helo

Help

where did tou go

Ohm hgod

hHello?

NOOOO NOT YOU TOO

PLEASR

you laughed at the person’s desperation and ignored the messages

if the stranger wasn’t going introduce themselves, you wouldn’t either

however, after a while you realized you had over 100 snapchat notifications within an hour of trying to ignore the person

however it was just jumbled up words and useless spam, nothing important

as if the stranger would said anything important to your concern anyway

do you ever shut up??

fuck you

a normal person wouldve taken offense by these messages but you found them quite amusing

it wasn’t like you had anything else better to do

and this acceptance was the start of your odd friendship with the stranger

you were still on edge because you had no idea who they were and their intentions but the anonymity was mutual nonetheless

if the desperate spamming “wife haver” isn’t going to formally tell you who they actually were, you weren’t going to risk exposing yourself first

but in the past few weeks, you and the person had normal conversations apart from the first day they messaged you

well as normal as you could’ve expected from someone named “wife haver”

they were the first to send an actual snap as well

that was when you found out the “wife haver” was an obnoxious boy that looked around your age, maybe a slightly older

he had sent you a photo of him holding a thumbs up and trying to smile when he was clearly upset

just got all my stuff exploded again, feeling good

you noticed his messy blonde hair and tattered clothes

what the hell happened to this guy?

part of you was confused, and the other was concerned

u good bro??

well

i don’t have anymore tools and materials if that’s anything

so no

this is shit

lmao it was probably deserved

FUCK YOU!!!!!

im kidding that’s sad

but like do u actually need stuff?

you contemplated sending your next message and thought of the consequences

but in the end, you were probably better off than him so if he did try to do something suspicious, you could easily just leave with your trident or defend yourself

i can bring some things over if you’d like

please oh my god it’s so boring here

where the hell do you even live???

it finally hit that you would be visiting this mysterious person

you never really had much to do during the day and he had nothing against your enchanted netherite armor when compared to his worn-out clothes

you were surprised that he was quick to be comfortable with you visiting him so continued to message the boy

if you live nearby i can just stop over and bring some spare diamond tools and armor if you’d like or smth

DIAMOND !,?’/:@!?:/-',(

ya sure lol

WTF

GOOD SHIT LAD! THANKS

WHEN DO U WANT TO VISIT???

his shock and excitement made you smile

maybe this wasn’t a bad idea

before replying, you quickly ran to your storage room you gather your spare items

instead of normally texting, you decided to take a picture of all the enchanted tools and armor and send back a snap

i’m down for tomorrow, turn on your snapmaps so i can come by ;D

he quickly replied back with handfuls of ‘holy shits’ and ‘YEAHS’

you couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear which caught the attention of your older brother who had just walked in to get blocks from the wall of chests

“ew why are you smiling at your phone like that?”

“oh shut up, tubbo”

“it’s weird”

you roll your eyes at him in a playful matter

“whatever! i’m gonna be out tomorrow to visit a friend, okay?”

“you have friends? wow, sounds like a first”

“you’re such a dick!!” you yell at him whilst trying to hold in your laughter

“oh yeah? go on, tell me about this friend of yours then. meeting strangers online, hm?”

“if you’re so concerned, you can come with if you’re not busy with whatever a president does. i promise they’re not some weirdo like you”

tubbo’s tone was sarcastic but he agreed then left you to your own thoughts

you were excited for tomorrow that you were restless in your bed when nighttime had came

somehow you managed to fall asleep from tiredness in the middle of the night

soon enough it was morning

before doing anything, you checked your phone and went through all your notifications

you then checked snapchat, browsing snapmaps and realized how far you had to travel

despite the long travel, you brought yourself up from your bed and gathered all the items you were going to bring

you stuffed a full set of enchanted diamond armor, tools, and over a stack of golden carrots all in your inventory

after finishing all your preparations, you searched for your older brother

with just a loud yell of his name he appeared almost instantly

“you ready to go, tubbo?”

“yep! you know where you’re going right?”

you scoffed at the question

“of course!”

and with that, the two of you traveled on foot until you reached the ocean

you had brought 2 boats with you knowing that you couldn’t imagine being in the same boat as your brother; it would’ve ended up in endless bickering

after a while of being at sea, tubbo started to become impatient

“what the hell! how far does this person live, y/n??”

“i dunno!”

you knew the general direction you were supposed to be going to after studying your snapmaps all morning but you couldn’t check how much farther it would take to get there; there was obviously no signal in the middle of the ocean

it felt like forever before you saw land in the horizon

suddenly you regained all the energy you have lost from rowing

“there!! that place with the white tent, i can barely see it”

“finally”

with the burst of energy, you got to land in no time

the moment you got off your boat, the blonde spotted the two of you and ran in your direction

once appearing nearly feet apart, he stared at your brother who also had the shocked expression

“TOMMY?”

“TUBBO?”

your brother had more of a confused expression whilst the other boy seemed a bit mad

maybe he was always mad considering the endless conversations you had with him ranting about some ‘green bastard’

but tubbo quickly got defensive, stepping in front of you

you didn’t understand how they knew each other beforehand, but at the same time you never caught up with tubbo’s friends either

you needed answers

“what’s going on?”

“y/n! you were messaging tommy this whole time? why didn’t you tell me?”

tubbo was clearly frustrated and a feeling of guilt washed over you

it didn’t click that you never exchanged names and admitting it did not seem believable

tubbo was in complete shock, trying to process everything that was happening

“WHAT?! AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TALKING?”

you mumbled out your words

“a few weeks, i can’t remember”

“uh, yeah sorry” tommy had confirmed your statements. “i didn’t even know you had a sibling, tubbo! i actually didn’t know their name until now as well..”

“HUH??”

“but if i knew i was messaging a tub-ling, i wouldn’t have in the first place!”

“what the fuck tommy!!!”

“no, but how do you even know each other?” you had interrupt the two

tubbo had chosen his words carefully

“we’re... friends”

tommy had seemed upset at this

“tubbo....”

“no, don’t talk to me, tommy. you were exiled for a reason. y/n? give him the stuff you wanted to him and let’s go, this was a waste of time”

you were saddened but obliged, you didn’t want to anger your brother even more

“fuck you, tubbo! can’t believe this was how you visit me for the first time, i don’t even want your pity shit”

before you could react, tubbo led you to the back of his boat

he got in the front and quickly rowed away from the land you barely stayed on, leaving your boat behind on the shores

you looked back at tommy who already had left back to his tent

the boat ride was silent and full of sorrow until you arrived back at l’manburg

once you got home you immediately opened snapchat to message tommy

hey tommy i’m really sorry about today. i had no idea,,,

you thought he would’ve ignored your message but instead replied right after

but your heart sank at reading the message

it’s fine

i think it’s best we stop talking y/n

you didn’t want to lose a friend so quickly but after all the tension from today, you didn’t know how to come back from it

so instead of arguing you agreed, even if it wasn’t honest

yeah, me too

and that was the last message you sent to tommy

even though the whole situation was confusing from the start, it didn’t mean you didn’t enjoy the random conversations you had

the bizarre encounter was unforgettable

it made you even sadder when you realized the first time you two used each other’s names through text would also be the last

a/n: ngl, i didn’t think i would finish this on a kinda angsty ending but here we are! and grrr it’s 4am and i just wanted to finish this,, let’s hope there aren’t that many grammar mistakes LMAO anyway i hope y’all enjoyed <3

#tommyinnit x reader #tommyinnit x y/n #tommyinnit x you #tommyinnit imagine #tommyinnit fanfic #mcyt x you #mcyt x y/n #mcyt x reader #mcyt fanfic #mcyt imagine

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crescentsteel · 4 years ago

Text

Keeping a Secret - Part 3

pairing: Tsukishima x f!manager of Sendai Frogs genre: sexual tension/crack/fluff/slow burn warnings: lots of swear words, tsukki being a a closet softie wc: 7.3k (Ill just stop apologizing for this long chapter updates at this point)

[a/n]

Let me know if you want to be part of the taglist uwu

AO3

Part 2 || Part 4 || masterlist

“Remind me again why are we here.” Tsukishima tells you as soon as he steps foot inside your room.

He scans the room and immediately notices the mess that it is, particularly the top bunk of the bed which he doesn’t doubt must be your share of it.

On the wall on the left side of the room are posters of seascapes and sea animals of different varieties while the desk bolted under it are framed photos of Sendai Frogs. He recognizes them all;, one was taken from the first win of the team on the first year you joined as the manager. The second is a photo of the team at the gym with the new members that year, including Kyoutani who had just recently joined. The last one is a selfie of you on the bus doing a peace sign and winking at the camera while everyone was sleeping.

He kinda feels bad for your roommate now. You’re practically hogging the whole room.

You put down your bag on the floor and shoot him a confused look. “To do our project?”

When you told him to meet in your dorm, he agreed because he thought you meant the common area. After all, he had no reason to think you’d invite him to your room. You two may have disregarded the club incident, tucking it away as a sordid memory from a night of insanity, but that doesn’t mean it is forgotten. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case with you as you appear to genuinely find nothing wrong with the current situation.

You seat yourself at your table, taking out your laptop and notes from the trip last time.

“Go sit, Tsukishima,” you say without even looking at him as you spread out your notes on the table’s surface as your laptop boots up.

“We could’ve just done this in the library, or at least in the lobby,” he says as a matter-of-factly.

“True, but I also don’t see any problem with doing it here,” you answer passively, still occupied with arranging your papers.

He was right. It really does not bother you at all. So, he shouldn’t be bothered with it either. This way, at least, no one would see you and him together. You’re a person he doesn’t want to be associated with hanging around with anyways.

“Do you always invite your groupmates to your room?” He asks out of curiosity since it didn’t seem like anything for you to just invite him in, as if you didn’t care much about your privacy.

“Hmm. Depends,” you answer.

He takes out his own laptop, but still eyes you as he prods further. “On what?”

The curve of your lips tugs up slightly as you sit up straight and lift your gaze away from the notes you took out and finally turn your attention to him.

“I welcome those who won’t get handsy with me.”

“Even if you’re the one who’d get handsy with them?” he boldly counters.

You cock your head to the side with hints of amusement playing across your features, which vexes him. The question was supposed to tear your composure, not entertain you.

“Alright, let’s get the fucking elephant out of the room since it bothers you so much,” you announce with levity.

If you’re going to be honest, the kiss still finds its way to your mind sometimes. You just keep pushing it off so that you won’t get stressed out by it. What you find interesting is that he still keeps shoving that fact that you kissed him as if you wanted to do so.

Well, you literally did kiss him, but it’s not like you sought for it prior to the incident.

It just … happened.

“I’ll come clean, good sir, if you’ll allow me,” you declare sarcastically before setting a more serious tone. “I admit it. It was one hell of a mistake to kiss you. But I didn’t mean to. As ridiculous as it sounds, I really didn’t. It was just one of those stupid, off-the-cuff things people do.”

Your voice takes an accusatory note when you ask, “And why do you sound like I harassed you or something? Hmm? ‘Cause if I remember correctly.”

You cross your arms and look up, pretending to be deep in thought before facing him again with a fraudulent shock. “Oh right!” you exclaim exaggeratedly. “You kissed me back,” you add in almost a sing-song manner.

You put an elbow on the table and rest your cheek on your palm as you hold his glare with a snide grin. “How about that?”

He continues shooting daggers at you but you don’t falter. Quite soon enough, he lets up and returns to the passive, apathetic face he usually wears, which signals your victory for the argument. “Like you said, it was one of those dumb on the spot whims.”

You nod agreeably. “Alright, great. Now that that has been established, let me reassure you. It’s never ever gonna happen again. Ever.”

Your eyes are devoid of any humor while your words drip with firm resolve. Yet, he finds it off that you’re not asking him to do the same given that you both just agreed that you are equally accountable for that imprudent act. He is almost just as guilty.

“Aren’t you going to ask the same from me?”

Your somber expression breaks into a humored one as a laugh rumbles from your throat. You shake your head in comical delight while you look at him. “No, I won’t. Actually...” you drift off as you scoot closer to him until you’re right beside him. “Give it your best shot.”

You close your eyes and tilt your chin up. Did you really just dare him to kiss you? Kiss those stupid lips and have a repeat of that appalling night?

Should he?

He would do it just to erase the smug off your face, just to prove you wrong. But similar to that night, he can’t bring himself to do it. He hates the idea of instigating such a thing.

Even more so now that he’s already had a taste of those lips. Those lips that felt too exquisite that it infuriated him. Those lips that took away his logical thinking. With you offering those lips to him so generously, you make him hate them even more. That pretty face and that playful smile of yours do nothing but add to his fury.

“Can you get your face away from me?”

You peek one eye open before bursting into laughter, making his displeasure towards you skyrocket. Why the fuck is he always your laughing stock?

“See? This is why I don’t mind you coming over, Tsukishima. I bet if I strip naked right now, you’d walk out in a heartbeat.”

His scowl deepens. The mental image of your unclad body is very much unwelcome and unappreciated. “Bring that up again and I really will leave,” he snaps.

Even with your smile intact, your humored expression dissolves a bit and is replaced by a curious guise.

“You know, everyone likes me except you,” you say with no shred of diffidence.

You really are full of yourself. You might be ‘likeable’ for a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean every single person you meet actually likes you. He’s certain there are people who you rub off the wrong way -- people like him.

“Isn’t that a bit too conceited, even for you?”

You shrug your shoulders indifferently. “Maybe so. But you’re the only person who shoves your blatant dislike on my face.”

“You didn’t seem to have a problem with it for the past three years,” he replies as he flips his laptop open and boots it up so he can turn his attention somewhere other than you.

“I didn’t need to work with you like this for the past three years.”

He doesn’t know where you’re going with the conversation so he doesn’t respond anymore. He’s certain you know why he finds you a pain in the neck. You constantly get on his grill with every opportunity you get. Maybe if you didn’t, he could actually tolerate your topsy turvy persona. But it’s as if it’s your personal mission to aggravate him.

“I’m putting the deal I offered during the trip,” you announce.

“What deal?” he asks as he starts typing bullet points of what should be done today so he can go home already.

“Forget I’m the annoying manager when it’s just us two. And I won’t deliberately piss you off.”

He types the last bullet point before returning his attention on you. “Then what? I suddenly become nice to you?”

“Hell no! I’m not asking for a fucking miracle. It’s not like you’re ever nice to anybody. Geez!” you explain derisively. “I just want us to have a conversation where you’re not giving me death glares.”

You give him a smile, one that lacks your usual haughtiness. Still, he can’t tell if you’re being serious or if you’ll actually manage to hold the deal you’re proposing. Truth be told, he wants it. He can’t handle you being your usual if you two have to meet beyond training hours and, even worse, in private.

If this keeps up, he might end up cursing this subject by the end of the semester, which would be a waste because likes this subject way too much for you to taint it with your idiocy.

“Deliver your end of the bargain. Then you’ll have mine.”

Your eyes twinkle with glee at his semi-approval. “We have a deal then.”

You go back to where you’re seated a while ago and proceed to start discussing at hand.

With the start of the game season, training has become more intense. Coach Mira had the team work on the weak points she identified with the help of the data you tallied from last season’s games.

“Kyoutani! Do not lower those arms just yet. Keep those elbows up when you block,” Coach yells at him, as Kogane spiked from the other side of the court.

She looks over at the other players practicing their jump serves. She furrows her brows at something. Following her line of sight, you see that it falls on Tsukishima.

On his next serve, the ball spins ferociously but is of low height that it hits the middle of the night.

“Y/n,” Coach calls out. She didn’t have to say anything else as she cocks her head to Tsukishima’s direction with a telling expression on her face. She’s asking you to handle him, and you know exactly why.

Before he can toss the ball for another jump serve, you yell out merrily which you know will definitely catch his ears, “ Tsukki!! ” and jog to where he is. His blank expression turns into a scowl when you reach him.

“Can you stop calling me that?”

“You’re so mean. Aren’t we close enough for me to call you ‘ Tsukki ’?.” You ask with a dramatic pout and exaggerated false woes that he visibly cringes after hearing it.

He doesn’t respond to your pretentious act. “Why are you here?”

You instantly lose the cheeky act and get to what Coach Mira wants to let him know. You’re just going to twist the words a bit to his ‘liking.’

This is the problem you noticed with Tsukishima, one worse than his rotten way of interacting with the team. He can be incredibly unmotivated at times, and when he is, he only gives the bare minimum amount of effort.

It’s the one thing you can say you truly dislike about him because he’s a professional athlete for crying out loud. It doesn’t matter if he’s unmotivated, uninspired, or doesn’t feel like trying. He should be disciplined enough to push himself to put as much work as he usually does when training.

“You’re not going to get those serves in with that half-assed attitude of yours,” you say sternly while you eye him with a threatening stare.

His face scrunches in utter displeasure. He’s well aware that he’s not feeling his best today and he’d rather do blocking drills for the whole raining than do ten consecutive jump serves.

“Since enthusiasm is the answer to everything else, why don’t you try it?” He bites back, which you obviously weren’t expecting. He’s always irritated when you point out his mistakes, but thus far he has always stayed silent.

Maybe the amount of time you’re spending together outside the gymnasium has made him reach the limit of his patience… which isn’t even a lot to begin with.

“Are you serious?” you ask incredulously.

Of course he wasn’t. You might have some sort of experience with volleyball (although he doesn’t know to which extent), but jump serves are difficult. The coordination of the toss and the run up to hit it at the right angle is aggravatingly hard to pull off, especially for him since jump serves need tons of practice.

He detests the practice for it; he needs to run, jump, and swing his arm over and over. It is boring and tiring for him because it is purely based on physical prowess, compared to practicing blocking where he’s actually thinking.

He thought you’d leave him alone when you stepped away. Instead, you come back with a ball in your hand. You dribble it off the floor with unbendable focus as if you’re trying to recall something.

“Are you serious?” he’s the one who asks this time. He was just fucking around. He didn’t expect you’d actually respond to his provocation.

“Yep,” you answer with your full concentration on the ball in your hand as you spin it vertically. Some of the players notice what you’re up to and briefly stop what they’re doing to watch.

You close your eyes and take a deep breath. You bat them open with burning determination before you toss the ball.

Instead of watching the ball, he watches your form. There’s no trace of awkwardness in your movements, almost like you’ve done this frequently before. The three-step approach is nearly perfect as you propel yourself up to jump.

The sharp sound of the ball hitting your hand causes the rest of the gym to look at you. The ball spins ferociously at a height he’s not sure is sufficient to get over the other side of the court. He wishes it won’t. That would be the second worst thing you could ever do to him, the first one being that certain occurrence he’d rather not think about again.

You falter on your feet when you descend from your leap but you immediately look up to see if your serve makes it. Everyone else, including him, is on the edge as they watch whether the ball will get in or not.

It roughly scrapes the edge of the net, effectively thwarting its velocity. Still, it bounces off and lands inside the opposing court, causing the rest of the team to cheer you on as the ball hits the floor.

You seem to forget for a short while that you did it to spite him as your face beams with inexplicable joy while his contorts with ire.

Even if the momentum of the ball was broken, you still managed to get it over - the one thing he hadn’t been able to do from his last eight attempts. Meanwhile, you did it on your first.

You definitely had a lot of experience in high school. No beginner can manage to do a jump serve like that, even if it was flawed.

‘Shit,’ he silently curses when you face him with a cocky grin disguised as a pleasant one.

“Who knew that my experience being an outside hitter and captain of my high school team would still be useful as your manager?” you ask as you slowly walk towards him.

He doesn’ expect that your knowledge about the sport came from first-hand experience. He thought you’re manager of another team previously or just a crazy volleyball enthusiast.

You pick up another ball and softly push it against his rib as you look up to him with contempt. “Don’t tell me I can do better than you,” you spur him on with squinted eyes.

He snatches the ball away from your hands and steps back from the serving line. He spins the ball one time and tosses it high. Instead of a three-step approach, he makes it a four to increase his vertical jump. He tosses it high enough and channels all his rage for you at the ball.

With how high he jumped, the ball easily goes over the net. Its trajectory curves when it crosses over and hits a spot a little bit just beyond the end line.

He clenches his fist at his another failed attempt despite exerting more than necessary effort for that shot. He avoids looking at you for he’d be put in an even worse mood if sees that taunting grin of yours.

But of course you had to make yourself seen and intentionally go in front of him with an impressed look in your face instead of a condescending one.

“That was great! Holy shit. It was just a smidge out. Wow.” You applaud him earnestly, and as much as he despises it, it makes him a little less bad about that missed shot.

“Can you leave me alone now?” He drives you away to fend off the stupid feeling. He’d rather you just walk away and don’t say anything. “Not like that serve mattered,” he mutters in annoyance.

“What are you talking about? It was awesome!” you yell out with your eyes shining with flagrant admiration, which annoyingly strokes his ego.

“Just a bit less and it would have been in a spot difficult to return,” you remark as you pat his shoulders approvingly before heeding his request to leave and go back to where Coach is.

“Sorry, Coach. I distracted everyone else,” you scratch your head with an apologetic smile when you return.

“I’d tell you off, but everyone seems more motivated now, so good work I guess,” she commends you with a satisfactory tone.

“He looks really pissed though,” Coach Mira adds as she glances at the blonde middle blocker.

“More than you know, Coach,” you reply with a wide smile as he serves another ball and gets it in this time.

Prior to your meeting with Tsukishima today, you proposed to finish the project as soon as possible so you can both focus on other other uni subjects on top of training hours. He immediately agreed, which didn’t surprise you because even though it’s not game season, you’re pretty sure he can’t wait to stop having to see you.

The project’s deadline is in three months, but you believe you can finish it in less than two if you meet up at least twice a week to work on it.

It should be okay, given that you both agreed to have a truce of some sort from the usual dynamic of your relationship. You actually think that it’s not going to work out smoothly, but you still suggested it with the hopes of decreasing his animosity towards you. Yes, it’s fun and amusing most of the time, but outside the gym where you’re just a classmate and not his manager, it’s kinda draining to deal with it.

“Won’t your roommate mind if there’s a stranger in your room?” he asks as he sits down and rummages through his bag.

“Oh.” You thought he already figured it out because he didn’t ask about it on his first visit. “Didn’t I tell you before? I don’t have a roommate.”

His eyes immediately go to your bunk bed that you didn’t bother getting replaced because it’s convenient when you’re too tired. You usually just mindlessly throw your stuff at the top bunk for a later clean-up.

“Wanted the whole room to myself,” you add.

“Spoiled, little rich brat, aren’t you?” He really doesn’t have much basis for his statement. He just wants to say something nasty and sneer at you because he wants to get back at how you called him out during training the other day.

When he meets your gaze, you raise an eyebrow at him, reminding him about your agreement while working on the project. He purses his lips to the side and returns to his passive expression without saying anything. You roll your eyes in response.

“Well if being a scholar while working as your manager is being a spoiled rich brat, then by all means. Do consider me one,” you answer before looking back on your screen.

He would have never thought you were a university scholar. You don’t look like the type. You’re way too carefree and all over the place. He would’ve thought it was a joke, if not for the tiny offended glint he caught when he said you’re a spoiled brat.

That’s exactly the reaction he wants to get from you, yet it didn’t feel satisfactory. On the contrary, it’s making him feel like a prick. He is being one, but he doesn’t expect to feel like one, especially towards you who does nothing but get on his skin.

Still, hell would freeze over before he apologizes. Instead, he prods on the topic.

“Why would you even work as a manager if you’re already a scholar?”

It doesn’t make sense to him. You don’t need the work if your university fees are already waived. It will just pile on to the academic requirements you will need to maintain.

Your hand stops scrolling on your mouse as your eyes soften, still remaining on your laptop. “Cause I love it,” you utter like it’s the simplest thing in the world.

The look in your eyes is instantly replaced by mockery when you lift them to meet his.

“Someone’s being inquisitive today.”

He gets his headphones out and plugs it to his laptop. He really is curious why you chose you to be their manager, but you just had to be an obnoxious bitch and break the agreement you offered to him just the other day.

He knows you’re too much of a chaos to actually pull it off, so instead of wasting his energy by being irritated by you for the day, he’d rather pretend you’re not there.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” you say loudly with a wide smile, yet he can see the sincerity of the apology through the slight panic in your orbs. You must have realized he’s had enough of your shit. “My bad. Old habits hard.” You laugh nervously.

You speak again when he puts down his headphones on the table. “I may have quit the sport, but I still love it. I love taking care of players like you guys who have the same passion for it.”

“Doesn’t seem like it’s worth it,” he comments with unheld honesty. You could have a lot of time off of your hands if you quit being their manager. You don’t even need the job.

You plant your hands on the floor and lean back as your gaze drifts to the photos of the team displayed on your desk.

“You might be right. A marine science student dedicating her time on sports even though she’s not an athlete? It does sound impractical. But,” you revert your eyes back to him as you continue on, “it makes me happy. That alone makes it worth it. Even if I don’t get paid, I’d still do it.”

Your face glows with pride and joy with your last statement, completely undeterred by his earlier cynicism. If anything, you look even more convinced that you’re doing the right thing.

He can’t tell if he finds it admirable or disturbing. Probably the latter.

“There’s more to life than just sleep, study, and survive, don’t you think?”

It was a rhetorical question that he would’ve still refuted if someone told him that years ago. Back in his freshman year in high school, he thought overzealous passion was stupid. Unless an individual is some sort of prodigy, it wouldn’t get them anywhere even if they keep trying to death.

Still, he put in a lot of work -- more than he should -- when he was playing in Karasuno. What was just a club became entirely something else for him, which, up until now, he still hasn’t put quite a finger on.

When he graduated from Karasuno, he wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to continue playing, but there was a nagging feeling behind his head that he shouldn’t. He thought that that part of his life was already over and while it was good while it lasted, it was time to move one.

Yet, when he was handed out an application form for the university’s college team, he found himself grabbing the sheet of paper.

He didn’t have any reason to pursue it beyond high school. He knows he’s good, but he’s not that good. He was at university already. It was time to focus on his future and ignore the itch to hold the ball with five other players on his side of the court.

What’s even more absurd was the next day, he submitted the application form and tried out for the team. He said to himself it wouldn’t hurt to go on playing until he has finally had enough. He’d just ride it out until he got tired of it.

In his sophomore year, he was scouted by Sendai Frogs and that’s when he knew that the unreasonable passion he has for volleyball is not going to go away. Even now in his graduating semester, he’s still not ready to give it up.

He won’t admit it in your face, but, in a way, he can agree with what you just said. Life is more than just getting by and surviving. That’s the only reason he can think of to justify his choice to continue volleyball: so that he wouldn’t have this constant dissonance that pursuing the sport is a vacuous path he’s treading on.

“Anyways, back to work now, yeah?”

You smile briefly at him and return to the research you’re tasked to do. He puts his headphones back in his bag and gets back to his own task as well.

He thought all is well and you won’t pester him until you both finish what you’re supposed to accomplish for the day. Unfortunately, he thought wrong.

You suddenly close your laptop and start whining.

“Tsukki.”

As usual, he does his best to not acknowledge your existence.

“Tsukkiii, ” you whine louder.

For the love of God, you sound the most annoying when you use his nickname. Even though you’ve used it several times now, he’s still not used to it. In fact, he does not believe he will ever get used to it. Shimizu and Yachi not even once called him that, and they were more respectable managers than you are. Sort of. It doesn’t matter that you’re more active and hands on when managing the team.

“Tsuuuk -”

“What?!” You successfully manage to get his eyes off the screen.

“I’m bored,” you pout.

He glares at you unbelievably. What are you, a five-year-old?

“And that is my problem, how?” he asks with disdain.

“Aren’t you getting tired?” you ask back, unfazed by his blatant irritation. But then again, you never are.

He is getting tired too, but he’d rather drag his brains and eyes out than rest and extend the time he’s going to spend with you.

“Let’s take a break, please, ” you cry out with pleading eyes.

“I don’t care what you do. Just leave me out of it.” He puts his attention back on his laptop and looks for the journal article he found significant among the other tabs he opened.

“I’ll feel guilty if I see you still at it while I goof around,” you admit.

He really couldn’t care any less. None of what you’re blabbering about is any of his concern. If you keep at it, he’ll just take out his headphones again to drown out your childish whining.

“I know!” You suddenly perk up. “Let’s review for our quiz,” you suggest eagerly. “We have one tomorrow, right?”

He almost smirks at your suggestion, but he manages to suppress it. He’d rather not let you see that he’s pleasantly amused with your suggestion.

He didn’t expect that that was your idea of taking a break. He thought you were going to propose something completely absurd like watch stupid videos online because that’s something he could totally see you doing on your free time.

But yeah, he can definitely use a review. It would be a productive break from the strenuous researching and writing you two have been doing.

Even though he still hasn’t verbally agreed, you continue on. “To make it interesting, there’s a penalty for every wrong answer.”

He sits up straight, pushing his glasses closer to his face as you successfully gain his full attention. “What penalty?”

Your smile widens when you realize that he’s finally acknowledging your idea of taking a break.

“Okay, okay.” You rub your hands together in excitement before you clasp them together. “For every wrong answer you get, you need to say something nice about me. And of course vice versa.”

He scowls at the idea. “I prefer the opposite. Get the answer wrong and you get insulted. That sounds more of a punishment.”

You shake your head with your lips pressed into a thin line from disapproval. “Nope. If I get even one wrong answer. I’m sure you’ll get into a litany of rude shit you piled up against me over the years. And I’ll just sit here uncaringly receiving your fury. Does that excite you?”

Hell no. It will infuriate him even more if he throws something at you and you just take it apathetically. But he still doesn’t agree with your initial mechanics. It’s not fair to him.

“No, it doesn’t. But the consequence of a wrong answer is too easy for you.”

You place a palm on your chest and gape at him. “Me? Too easy for me ?”

You break into a boisterous laugh while still maintaining eye contact with him. He just stares back at you stupefied with no idea what you found so hilarious.

“Tsukishima,” you say after recovering from your disparaging hoots of laughter. “I can think of literally one nice thing about you. Maybe two if I tried hard enough,” you explain with your face still crinkled with the laughter you’re trying hard to contain.

If you’re trying to provok him to take on your challenge, you definitely succeeding. “Fine,” he hisses.

Your laughter is completely thwarted when your eyes widen with delight as he succumbs to your plan.

“Great! Okay, two more rules. One, objective questions only. Two, we can’t say anything that involves Volleyball. For example, you can’t tell me that I’m a great manager, because I’m very much aware of that already, okay?”

His frown only deepens from your conceitedness, only to realize that that’s the only aspect of you he’d consider complimenting you about.

“But there is nothing else nice about you other than that,” he says without any trace of sarcasm or ridicule, only stating what he considers the truth.

But you don’t take any offense in his statement. You’re expecting as much. That’s why you added two more rules to push the both of you to take the review seriously.

“Better not get anything wrong then,” you counter easily because it’s as simple as that. It’s a review just for a quiz after all. He shouldn’t be that worried.

“Thirty minutes to review. Then let’s start the quiz?”

You take that he’s fine with it since he closes his laptop and gets his set of notes from his bag.

You get your phone and set a thirty minute timer. You do just as he does and focus on your own notes, skimming over the last two chapters covered during lectures. You concentrate on your learning materials but the alarm sets off after what seemed like ten minutes to you.

You frantically check your phone to see if you put the wrong time, but you didn’t. Thirty minute have indeed passed.

When you glance at Tsukishima, he’s already looking at you with crossed arms and a self-satisfied smirk. He must have finished before the timer went off. He wouldn’t have that smug expression if not.

Even though you haven’t fully gone over the last parts of the lesson covered, you can’t help but be enlivened at how competitive he is. He must really hate losing.

You notice it too with the way he plays volleyball. He might look calm on the surface, but you know he wants to crush his opponents. And right now, that opponent is you.

His muted excitement affects you. Even though you’re not totally prepared, you’re confident with your own wits.

“Ladies first, so go ahead, Tsukishima.”

He clicks his tongue, his usual habit when he’s irked with something, but this one was forced to make it appear as if he didn’t like what you said. But you can tell that he doesn’t give a shit about that and he actually can’t wait to ask away just to so you can get it wrong.

Unfortunately for him though, you two are just exchanging questions when your mini game starts. He answers your questions without hesitation and you do just the same since most of his questions are in your own list that’s supposed to be for him.

“What’s the movable membrane found on the eyes of amphibians?” It’s his sixth question that has you racking your brain for the correct answer. When you don’t respond immediately, he sniggers like he’s already won.

But you do know the answer, or at least the first letter of it. It's the letter N. N-something membrane.

“Nictaling membrane,” you answer unsurely.

The spread of his wicked smile immediately tells you you’re wrong. “It’s nictating,” he corrects you.

“Oh come on! I’m just one letter off,” you strongly reason out.

“Yeah, and that would still be marked wrong in the actual quiz,” he refutes.

Damn it. He’s right. That one letter makes a whole lot of difference your professor will definitely not let go.

He places one elbow on the table and rests his chin at the back of his hand, keeping his eyes trained on you as he silently anticipates for you to pay the price of your penalty.

You bite your lip disquietly when you realize the rule you set was a double-edged sword for you can’t also think of anything nice to say about him. There’s that terrible attitude of his which is usually your source of fun, but not exactly something you can call nice.

You have something in your mind, but your pride won’t let you voice it out.

He starts tapping the table with his fingers. “You’re wasting both our time, y/n.”

You accept your defeat and tell him anyway. “Fine. I think you’re smarter than me,” you confess.

You expect him to agree unanimously, but instead he looks at you stupefied, blinking a few times without saying anything.

“But you’re a scholar,” he remarks. You’re not sure if he just disagreed with you or he’s just putting that fact out in the open.

“Well, yeah. But I’m just really good at studying and have good time management. You’re actually smart. You’re critical with stuff,” you explain.

You cheated a bit with your answer since most of your basis is from volleyball games. Although your trip last time is also proof of that. He provided really good input on how you should go about with the project.

“Okay! Moving on,” you proceed before he can comment further on what you just said and milk it to his benefit.

You ask another question, which he also knows that correct answer to. Originally, you just wanted a fun but effective way of reviewing, but now you kind of want him to get at least one question wrong so you can get even.

“What do you call the structure the lower vertebrae of anurans is fused into?” he asks another difficult question.

You rub your palms on your face, your frustration clouding your mind from recalling what it could possibly be. You push your hair back and sigh when you realize that you’re not getting this one either.

“I don’t know,” you surrender.

His current expression is the most lively one you’ve ever seen from him outside volleyball games, but it isn't a pleasant one. He looks like a villain whose evil master plan is coming to fruition.

Maybe you should’ve just agreed with his earlier suggestion to get insulted when you get it incorrectly. You would’ve just sit it out and brush it off afterwards, not make your brain hurt even more from thinking about non-existent good traits from the guy across your table.

You look around as you desperately try to think of something remotely nice about him.

“Oh,” your eyes meet his right the moment you recall that instance, and form a genuine smile as you remember it once more.

“It was real nice of you to let me lean on you on the way back to Miyagi last week.”

He removes his elbow from the table and fixes his posture, losing the lax and confident aura he had two questions ago.

“You would have woken up face down on the bus floor if I didn’t,” he says defensively as if what he did needs that explanation for it to be acceptable.

You honestly thought he’d rather let you fall flat on the floor. You’re about to ask him back then if he was sure, but you just accepted his angry, yet generous offer which you didn’t expect to come from him.

“I know. I just didn’t think you’d let me rest on your shoulder, so thanks,” you say earnestly, not a trace of your usual cheekiness present.

“It felt nice and comfortable” you add reservedly. You’ve been wanting to thank him but you didn’t know how to bring it up without being awkward for you’re only used to dealing with grouchy Tsukishima.

It’s only then you realize that despite his palpable dislike towards you, he’s not a complete asshole and still cared enough for your welfare that time.

He remains expressionless with his eyes drifting down to his notes, avoiding your gaze as he does so. “The answer is coccyx, also called urostyle,” he ushers back to the question you got wrong, dismissing what you just divulged, which you’re thankful for because you feel like fidgeting with what just dawned on you.

“My turn again then!” you said too loudly as you try to shake off the feeling and put your focus back on the review.

You read the only item left in your list, still hoping that he gets it wrong since this is the last.

“What part of the amphibian nervous system regulates heart and respiratory rates?”

Unlike previous questions, he doesn’t answer off the bat this time.

“You’re wasting both our time, Tsukishima,” you repeat what he said to you earlier even though it's only been seconds after you uttered your question.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I know the answer,” he declares with reassured confidence. “It’s the cerebrum.”

You decide to hold his gaze for two second before you burst his bubble. “Fucking finally!” you rejoice in his defeat.

“Close enough, Tsukishima. It’s the cerebellum,” you announce all too cheerfully.

He hurriedly gets his notes and cross checks if you’re actually telling the truth. You just watch him scramble with a very pleased smile on your face as he goes rigid.

“Fuck,” he mutters to himself. He must have seen that you were telling the truth.

You start squirming in your seat. Oh man, you’re way too excited to hear what he has to say about you. You want to egg him on, to tell him to hurry up but that might affect what he’s going to say so you force yourself to shut up.

He raises his gaze at you while you make sure you’re not smiling too wide to annoy him even though you’re reeling from anticipation.

He still doesn’t say anything, but you know he’s thinking based on the way he’s studying your face.

“You have a slightly above average face.”

You run that by again in your head, not understanding what he meant by it at first.

Above average face? Did he just say you’re pretty if translated from a socially incapacitated person’s language? Is that why he was staring so hard at you?

Of all the things he could choose to say something about, he decides to compliment your appearance? You know that you're a bit good-looking, but you don’t think he notices it. He doesn’t seem to be the type to care about that stuff.

Even when you first met, he just looked at you with a vacant expression and greeted you blandly out of courtesy while the rest of the team ogled at you. His apathetic eyes eventually turned scornful over time because of how often you pick on him, and despite that, he does acknowledge that you are pretty.

You’re used to being showered with admiration because of your face so you’ve developed a natural response to it: a gleeful smile with a spritely ‘aww, thanks!’

But with Tsukishima, it doesn’t kick in. Instead, you avert your gaze away from the unwanted fluttering in your chest. You can’t even look him in the eye as you try to collect yourself and think how you’ll respond to that without looking flustered.

What the heck is wrong with you? That could hardly be called a compliment. Now that you think about it, it actually sounded sort of like a product review with its lack of any fondness.

With that in mind, you manage to regain some of your composure and offer him a faint. “Um, thanks.”

Tsukishima looks at his two remaining questions he listed and even though he’s winning the game, he doesn’t feel victorious at all. Your confessions did nothing to make him feel good about himself. They were too sincere that they made him uneasy.

He also doesn’t like that he had to admit you’re pretty. He expected you’re gonna make a fuss about it. He actually would’ve preferred that than you being uncharacteristically embarrassed about it.

Something weird is definitely going on. You’re not acting like yourself and neither is he. There had been too many opportunities to badger you, but he just let them pass by. Same with you. You could have easily teased him about letting you know he finds you attractive.

“I’m out of questions,” he lies to end the damn review.

“Me too, actually,” you say with an apprehensive laugh.

So it’s not just him. You also feel the change in the atmosphere between you two. Your smile is uncertain and you look like you don't know what to do to remedy the situation -- that is, if you even know what’s wrong with it because he sure as hell doesn’t.

But even if he has no idea what’s going on, fortunately, he knows how to end it.

“I’m tired. I’m calling it a day,” he says as he starts packing up his stuff.

You seem to agree since you don’t say anything and just watch him collect his things. You only react when he stands up.

“Oh yeah. Sure!” You stand up as well.

“I can see my way out on my own,” he stops you when you start to head for the door.

You freeze on the spot then nod timidly. “Okay.”

As soon as he steps out and closes the door, you plop yourself back to where you were sitting. You grasp the edges of your table as you softly bang your head against it, gasping a heavy breath of relief when the air becomes undoubtedly lighter after he is gone.

“What the fuck was that?” you mumble with your cheek against the wooden surface.

Part 2 || Part 4 || masterlist

taglist (those crossed out can’t be tagged)

@ameliaxo @suikrem @akaashisslave @tsumurai @babythotshq @loving-unicorns106 @flairlust @geektastic84 @anaiss97 @berna-dette @just4readingfics @suteorra @xxekitten69xx @simp4tsukkii @music-is-all-i-need @keshinslittlegirl @raspberrysunshinebby @iminlovewhaikyuu @pdiddy11 @lightyagamami @sailorscout1902 @lovershaikyuu @expectonothinfromme @mitzuya @yamigoop

#tsukishima x reader #tsukishima fluff #tsukishima smut #tsukishima angst #haikyuu x reader #tags pls work

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anntoldst0ries · 4 years ago

Text

Everything else is just the weather

Book: Open Heart Pairing: Dr Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr Noelle Valentine) Word Count: ~5.3k (I sinned!) Summary: Ethan takes Elle out on their “first” date. Category: Fluff Warnings: None

A/N: It has literally taken me ages to finish this fic. To the point that I couldn’t look at it anymore, but here it is. I had it in mind for a really long time and now that OH is back, I feel like I’m ready to show it to the world. As always thank you for your support and I hope you like it!

This fic is part 2 of birthday present for my friend, part 1 is the fan art which you can see here. Once you read the fic, the fan art makes more sense :)

This is my submission for CFWC Silly Love Stories, Day 12: Date night.

Loud knocks resonated throughout the room.

"Come in!"

"Good morning, Mrs. Peterson.”

“Good morning, Dr Valentine. I think you are the only doctor in this hospital with some sort of manners, everyone else just waltzes in here as if it was a damn barn!”

“Hospital or no hospital, everyone has their right to privacy.”

“Thank you, child. Once again, please call me Faye."

"Alright Faye, but only if you call me Elle.” She smiled sweetly, and the whole room seemed to be suddenly lit by a thousand suns.

“How are you feeling? Are the meds making a difference?"

"They are. I am ready to be discharged today.”

"Not so fast. I am not ready to say goodbye to you yet."

“Why would you possibly like to be lumbered with an old nuisance like me for even a second longer than necessary?”

Elle just laughed and shook her head. The ‘nuisance’, as the elderly lady so lovingly put it, was exactly what she loved about her job. She loved spending time with her patients, she loved their stories and their worldly wisdom. It made her sad to see how many of them thought they didn’t matter or considered themselves and their lives boring. To her, they were anything but.

Many of Edenbrook’s staff members kept asking themselves: what is it about her? She was a great doctor, no two ways about it, and she was a genuinely nice person. But what was the source of power she had over people? If she woke up one day and decided to start a rebellion, patients would have most certainly followed her, even if it meant they’d be leaving the premises of the hospital with naked butts or trailing their IVs behind them. Doctors, nurses, administration, cleaners and security would follow shortly. She only had to say a word.

And how on Earth was she capable of turning Dr Ramsey, the grizzly bear of Edenbrook, into a benign teddy bear with as little as one look? It was beyond everyone’s apprehension.

Had they spent more time actually observing her, rather than gossiping in the corners, the answer would have unveiled in front of them within minutes.

It was very simple.

Noelle was truly curious about people. She genuinely liked them and was determined to get to know their story, for it helped her diagnose them faster and also satiated the young doctor’s hunger for knowledge.

Patients never felt like “curious cases” or “numbers” in her presence. They were… themselves - people with hopes, dreams, fears, pet peeves and odd habits. They were human.

So little and yet so much.

Those never touched by serious illnesses often failed to understand that sickness strips you of your dignity and becomes your identity. Your true self becomes covered by this weird, annoying sticker that wouldn’t come off no matter how hard you tried to remove it.

But this young woman, despite the nature of her profession, somehow managed to notice what was hiding beneath this misleading layer.

Had all these gossipers spoken to her patients, that’s exactly what they would have heard.

"What's happening today?" The older lady asked with a flick of curiosity in her wrinkle-haloed eyes.

"What do you mean, Faye?" The young doctor sounded genuinely baffled by the out-of-the-blue question.

"Well, I am no diagnostician, but I believe I am rather observant and you radiate with happiness. Something special is happening today, am I right?"

"Yeah, you are right." Elle blushed like a teenager caught in a lie. "My boyfriend is taking me on a surprise date today, but he won’t say a word about it, so I'm super excited to find out what he planned for us. He usually isn't one for romantic gestures, so the secrecy is killing me."

"Do you think he's gonna pop the big question?" Faye’s eyes lit up with excitement.

"No, we're not there...yet." Elle faked a smile, but a tone of doubt and sadness coloured her voice. They probably never will be, those things weren’t in the cards for Ethan, as he already stressed once.

But once was enough and she didn’t dare mention the subject again.

"Well, I'm pretty sure he's got some big guns in store, I would if I had a lady like you." - a male patient lying in the bed adjacent to Elle’s patient added smiling flirtatiously.

"Jerry, you were supposed to focus on getting better, not stealing my girlfriend." They all jumped when a deep baritone echoed throughout the room, hitting present company like a wrecking ball. She must have left the door ajar or Ethan could penetrate the walls soundlessly, because no one heard him coming.

Exactly how long has he been standing there for and how much did he hear?

"Dr. Ramsey, flirting makes your blood flow faster. Isn't it the very definition of life itself?” Jerry’s tone was brisk and lively.

"Well, it definitely isn't the definition of recovery after a heart attack." Ethan used his authoritative doctor’s voice but knew this wasn't a battle he was going to win. Jerry had something he didn't: a couple more decades of life experience under his belt and even the best medical school in the country couldn’t compete with this.

"Besides, Dr. Ramsey, I don't think that the beautiful Dr. Valentine here fancies old farts like me."

"That's where you are wrong, Jerry, looks like this is exactly the type I fancy." The two women laughed, however Ethan was far from amused. "Dr. Ramsey is 10 years older than me."

"10 years? What is 10 years in these times? Nothing. When I was getting married 40 years ago, it was something. But today? Look at all them playboys with girls younger than my granddaughter. 10 years is actually a very healthy difference. Men are immature and slower with growing up emotionally. So I'd say you've caught up, Dr. Ramsey, and the two of you are emotional peers now.”

“Thank you for the fascinating lesson in human psychology, Jerry. To think I’ve wasted all this time and money on medical school and no one taught me this.”

“Dr. Ramsey, it’s because schools and useful knowledge are mutually exclusive.”

Elle and Faye were on the verge of bursting out in laughter, but managed to keep their composure and used the non-verbal communication of exchanging glances instead.

Once they made sure their patients had everything they need, Ethan and Elle wished them a good day and promised to stop by in 2 days, as the following day was their day off.

The moment the door closed behind them, Ethan crossed his arms on his chest.

"I lose you from my sight for one second and this happens. 5 more minutes with Jerry and I'd be single again."

"At least no one wants to poke your eyes out for being with me."

"And someone wants to poke yours?"

"Where do I start... nurses, who had a crush on you long before I even set foot in Edenbrook? Female interns? Anyone, who has a pair of functioning eyes and ever looked at you?"

She was adorable when she was doing this, her whole body overtaken by excitement and her hands waving. When she was talking about something really important to her she wasn't just conversing with her mouth, she was doing it with her whole body.

Suddenly, his pager painfully reminded Ethan that this was neither the place nor the time to lose himself in adoration.

"I need to go, I'm completely swamped today and I have my favourite cherry-on-top board meeting. In case I don't see you for the rest of your shift - I’ll pick you up at 7."

He was gone before she was able to form a response. Was it just her or was Dr Ramsey weirdly… nervous?

* * * * * * * *

At 7pm sharp, Ethan Ramsey curled his palm in a fist and gently knocked. The door opened in an instant, as if someone knew he'd been standing there for the past few minutes.

"Ethan! I mean Dr. Ramsey...please come in!" Sienna squeaked with nervous excitement as she let him in.

"Outside of Edenbrook Ethan is just fine, Sienna. If you don't mind me calling you by your first name, of course."

"Mm..mme? No, yes, I mean... Elle is on the balcony." She tried to hide her embarrassment and motioned towards the tall windows surrounding the living room. Some time ago, he would have been oddly proud to have such an intimidating effect on people - nowadays, more than anything, he was amused. Has he really changed so much?

The answer to his question was leaning against the railing, glass of wine in her hand. Gauzy, flowery dress enveloped her frame and tanned skin.

For Ethan, it was as clear as crystal: summer had the face and scent of Noelle Valentine.

Long before she started leaving her toothbrush in his apartment and sleeping in his old JH t-shirts, Ethan noticed that whenever he laid eyes on her, his whole body started acting in a very irrational way. His doctor’s instincts prompted him to think of all types of biological causes and chemical reactions in the brain. Then, when he sort of admitted to himself it’s not just pure science, Ethan leaned towards the forbidden fruit theory - the more he couldn’t have his drug, the more he was craving it.

But the feeling never disappeared. Whenever he wouldn’t see her for a while - be that an hour, a day, or just when she went to take a shower or make a coffee - the very moment her face came into his view again, he felt his stomach somersaulting.

Every. Single. Time.

It wasn’t any different now.

"Drinking without me?"

She almost dropped the glass when his voice stopped the train of thought in her head. But then she saw his face, the way too seldom relaxed muscles and a barely-there smile.

A perfectly tailored shirt clung to his torso marvellously. If not in medicine, he surely would have made a name for himself in the fashion industry. Fortunately for her, the idea never crossed his mind.

The warm wind blew in her face, carrying the scent of expensive cologne which overwhelmed her nostrils. She didn’t know this one, so it must have been new. But she did know that smelling it for the whole evening while staring at his handsome face will be a pure torture.

Simply put, she was a goner.

"I don't know why, but I was quite nervous. Had to summon the courage somehow.”

“As you should be. After all, it's not every day that one goes on their first date."

She looked at him as if she’d just been told that a UFO landed on the roof.

“On a what?”

"Well, I was thinking a lot lately about how we never had a first date. Nothing was ever...typical with us. I promised myself I will do my best to fix things that caused you pain or deprived you of the things you deserved. Maybe I cannot fix some immediately, but this one I can, so I will."

Her eyes, overbrimming with affection struck him like thousand lightnings. Thank god a comfortable silence fell between them - had she asked him a question, it would have been clear that right now he is nothing but a simpering moron.

With this in mind, he took his hands from behind his back, holding a small bouquet of pink gerberas.

"These are my favourites." Her face instantly illuminated at the well known sight and smell. "How did you know?”

"I had some amazing helpers."

Elle instantly turned her head left and looked inside, where grinning, Sienna was showing her the thumbs up.

"Wow, now I actually wish I'd downed the whole bottle."

"I'm glad you didn't. I want to go on a date with a woman, not her lifeless body, even though the body itself is very appealing. Shall we?”

“King of compliments…”

* * * * * * * *

"You actually look like you are having a good time, Dr Ramsey.”

"Why wouldn't I? There is alcohol, sitting under the sky definitely has its charm and the company is acceptable." She playfully swatted his arm, the gesture a quick reminder of how comfortable they felt with each other, something he constantly remembered to never take for granted.

“Although I love this, I still don’t understand why you dragged me all the way outside Boston, I’m pretty sure the rooftop bars are pretty acceptable there, too. A bit more crowded though, that’s for sure.”

“Are you complaining about the fact that we have this entire place to ourselves? I know the owner and he was indebted to me.”

“Of course he was.” Looks like the whole town is indebted to Ethan freakin’ Ramsey.

“With regards to why I brought you here… you’ll just have to wait and see.”

Gosh. She couldn’t decide whether the mysterious side of Ethan Ramsey was hot as hell or annoying as hell. But she didn’t really have time to contemplate, because her companion asked her a question.

“Why did you become a doctor?” The ocean eyes pierced her to the core and she had a feeling that even if she was the best actress in the world, there was no way she’d be able to hide something from this man.

“That’s a terrible change of subject. Also, I must have told you like a million times already.”

“No, you never told me.”

When she looked at him and really, really thought about it… she suddenly realised Ethan was right. Elle told the story so many times she sort of… assumed she told Ethan, too.

“Are you sure you want to hear it today? It’s a pretty sad story, a mood killer I’d say.”

“It’s what makes you you, so yes, I want to hear all about it - the good, the bad and the indifferent.”

“I’ll tell you, but I need to ask something first. Why now? We’ve known each other for a while and you just… I just sort of assumed this isn’t the type of conversation you’d like to hold.”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head.” Ethan’s expression was gentle, not a hint of irony in his voice. “I’ve known you for a while now, but there are still so many things about you that I don’t know. At first, I didn’t want to ask, because asking these questions meant admitting that there is something more between us. What a fail would that be, after I’ve mastered the art of denial.” He laughed, but it wasn’t a bitter or a nervous laugh, it was a genuine banter between them, as the British half of her soul liked to call it. “But you made me want to dig deeper.”

Was it the heat that made her catch her breath, or did it have nothing to do with the temperature?

“Plus, this is sort of what first dates are for, right? I’m sorry for skipping right to the more complex questions. It’s not that I don’t want to know what you were afraid of as a child, I want to know all the details… but it feels like the atmosphere calls for something…bigger.”

So she told him all about her friend, how she fell ill, how she couldn’t be saved and how the experience wreaked havoc on her whole life, tears glistening in her eyes at the mere memory of the events that shaped who she was today.

Ethan listened, his whole body tense and eyes transfixed. She was giving him one of the most fragile parts of her and he had to make sure his hands were there to catch, carry and care for this treasure.

“And that’s when I realised that if I focused on becoming the best doctor I could be, then maybe one day, I’d be that person who has an answer, who can solve a mystery and save a relationship that means the world to someone. Sometimes, people don’t realise that when a person dies, it’s not only them that’s gone. The part of someone who stays, who has to deal with the whole ‘me after you’ - that part is gone, too. So for me, in a way, this meant saving more than one life.”

For a couple of seconds he didn’t move. Then, without saying a single word and with an unreadable expression he got up and offered her a hand, which she silently accepted. He led her to the railing, where the sun was slowly sinking into the boundless waters of Quincy Bay.

His lips found the all too well known way to her forehead, placing a loving kiss on her delicate skin.

“I am so proud of you.” There was something so mesmerising in his whisper, sending a shiver down her spine.

“As a mentor or as a boyfriend?”

“Both. I want you to know that your dedication to people who rely on you is astounding and hardly present in doctors your age. Or any age, for that matter.”

“Wow, Dr Ramsey, smooth. Trying to hit on me with a recycled pick-up line used on a national TV? No wonder you didn’t have too many girlfriends.”

“No, I didn’t. But I believe everyone has a limit of luck they can get per life. And looking at you, I got a couple of lifetimes worth of luck.”

This was enough to render her speechless. She smiled and at this very moment he knew he would do anything to make her smile like this. She wrapped him around her pinky finger and suddenly his whole existence revolved around finding ways of seeing her curve these breathtaking lips as often as possible and making sure he is the reason she smiles… not crying her eyes out.

Although the other didn’t know, because none of them said it out loud, they both thought the same thing.

This feels so right.

There isn’t a hint of awkwardness in the fact that they can go from being serious or emotionally vulnerable to funny and teasing in seconds.

In one effortless movement, Ethan spun her and pressed her back against his chest. Then, he started placing a series of tender kisses along her jawline and the crook of her neck, slowly moving towards her shoulder.

Come on, just say it Ramsey. It doesn’t get any better than this.

He wrapped her palm in his and pointed them towards the sky.

“There they are - the Little Dipper and the Big Dipper.” Their intertwined fingers were jumping from one tiny flashing point to the other, as if they were playing connect the dots. “And that’s Orion’s Belt.”

“I really don’t get why at this point I’m still surprised that you’re good at everything.”

Elle was drunk on his every word, as this annoying trait of Ethan Ramsey being the know-it-all was actually one of her favourite things about him.

As for Ethan, he couldn’t help but think that life wasn’t perfect and was never going to be. But this - this moment - it was in fact perfect. Why take chances of ruining it, when so many things can go wrong?

What if she doesn't say it back?

What if she's just gonna laugh at him or tell him he had it all wrong.

What if he misinterpreted everything and she never thought about him this way?

He was terrified of being this exposed. The last person he loved so much left him without batting an eyelid and disappeared for 25 fucking years.

Maybe it was better to live in a perfect illusion than a reality in which there was even a 0.01% chance she doesn't love him back.

So they both drowned in the moment, drifted in the sea of rapture, lost in the illusion that it can all last forever.

It was her who broke the silence.

“I’m getting a bit cold, is it ok if we call it a night?”

“Right, of course.”

“Thank you for the first date, I loved it.”

Handing her his jacket (her favourite, the dark green leather one) Ethan was furious at himself.

Maybe he was broken. Maybe he will remain broken forever. Maybe that’s the way it must be.

“Do you want to spend the night at mine?” The question slipped his tongue before he was able to fully reflect on it.

“At yours? Unless you have some secret place I don’t know about, just a quick reminder - I live there too.”

“Since this was our first date, I thought it was a gentlemanly thing to ask.”

“In that case… I am afraid I have the ‘after the 3rd date’ sleepover rule, Dr Ramsey.”

* * * * * * * *

The morning came all too soon and the hot, ruthless rays of the rising sun announced that Ethan is now way past his regular wake up and get up time. He barely slept, tossing and turning, replaying every second of the evening in his head.

His hand mindlessly reached for what he hoped to be the familiar curves and softness of the body he adored so much.

But his palm hit the mattress with a loud thud. The bed was empty.

The all-too-well known feeling of hopelessness slipped into the doctor's mind with ease. What did he expect? He was acting weird the previous day. First date, what a stupid idea. She must have realised something is wrong with him and finally left.

But before he was able to fully wallow in the mud of pity, the feeling was soon replaced by an old friend Ethan haven’t heard from for a long time.

Panic.

Where was she? Is she ok? What if something happened to her and he was just sleeping like a log instead of being there to protect her. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing her… again. Something grabbed his chest in a tight grip and wouldn’t let go.

Scenes flashed before his eyes, vivid and bright. Their hands touching through the glass wall. Her hand cupping his cheek through the layer of hazmat suit.

He got out of bed at the speed of sound and started running around the apartment, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, he noticed.

The balcony door was opened wide.

Shit.

Heart in his mouth, Ethan crossed the distance between his kitchen island and the balcony door in the blink of an eye.

Elle was just serving pancakes outside. The goddamn pancakes. The only thing he couldn’t cook. The one thing she kept teasing him about and he rolled his eyes every time she did.

God, he promised himself he will never learn how to make them, if it meant she would just tease him forever.

She was smiling as widely as ever, putting the sun and everything else in the world to shame. Ethan was still a bit shaken and his uneven breathing gave him away. Elle finally noticed his presence.

“Good morning, I was just about to—“

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They both froze.

The tension in the silence that had just set in was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

But the silence didn’t last long. As one man, with eyes full of disbelief, they both murmured simultaneously:

“What did you just say?”

This time, he felt obliged to break the silence.

"I...I...I mean, I…"

Damn it, get it together, idiot.

"I didn't mean to…”

Great, Ramsey, keep digging an even deeper hole for yourself, then crawl in and stay there forever.

"You didn't mean to say it?”

"Yes. No. I mean, damn it, I am making things worse, aren't I?”

She didn’t set him straight.

"The thing is, I wanted to say it yesterday. I had it all planned, I took you for a first date and I wanted to say it for the first time yesterday.”

"Why did it have to be yesterday?”

“Give me a minute.”

She just rolled her eyes, but Ethan didn’t have a chance to notice before disappearing inside. A few moments later he re-emerged, his face and torso covered by a neatly wrapped, rectangle-shaped object.

"What's this?"

"Something you should have unpacked yesterday, but then... life happened."

Elle sat down on cold tiles, her hands trembling with a mix of fear and excitement. And just like he did months ago, he took her hand in his, only this time he cupped his own cheek with her palm and placed the most tender kiss on the inside of her hand.

It was her favourite medicine, a remedy for all things wrong.

He sat beside her and nodded at the mysterious package. With impatience growing inside of her, Elle has torn the paper up.

Inside was a dark blue, framed print - the colour of it an instant reminder of her favourite set of irises.

She studied everything with intent. A circle must have been representing the earth and the irregular dots and lines must have been the stars and constellations.

"A map of the sky? That's beautiful, Ethan."

He knew immediately that although her delight was sincere, she had absolutely no clue what she was looking at and why she was looking at it.

“It's not just any map of the sky.” Ethan explained gently, hints of pride colouring his voice. “It's a map of the Boston sky from exactly a year ago. Well, a year and a day.” He smiled faintly, now a shade of sorrow in his enchanting voice.

Silence. Was she supposed to know what that meant?

“Aren’t you full of mysteries today? Ok, you need to throw me a lifebelt here. What's so special about the sky from a year and a day ago?”

“For the world? Probably not too much. For me? Everything.”

At this stage of their relationship, she knew a lot about Ethan’s behaviours, triggers, his body language. And not just a relationship as a couple, but also everything that came before Ethan became someone she was running through life with (the life of two doctors in one of the busiest and most prestigious hospitals was certainly not a walk in the park).

But it still fascinated her how his demeanour changed whenever the subject was serious, whenever he was talking about something that truly mattered to him. It was as if he’d stripped down of all the layers and let her look into his bare soul. These rare moments of vulnerable intimacy meant more to her than any night of passion they ever shared.

Her eyes turned to him in pledge, because as much as she wanted to, Dr Valentine still couldn’t fully comprehend the scene unraveling in front of her.

“Read the description below the map.”

Dear God, did she actually hear shyness in his voice?

She skimmed through the image again, and there it was, right at the bottom. Elle was so focused on trying to decipher the meaning of the image that she didn’t notice the words below.

The words which explained everything.

I WILL NEVER FORGET THE DAY

THAT MADE ME REALISE

YOU ARE THE SKY

EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUST THE WEATHER

Her emerald eyes brimmed with hot tears as the meaning dawned upon her. Words were very unnecessary, but now that he summoned the courage to speak, there was still a lot he wanted to put into words. He gently took the frame from her hands and leaned it securely against the wall.

Taking her palms into his, he placed delicate kisses on her knuckles, his lips tracing the shape of these two tiny hands, which held all of him. Everything he had, everything he was and was going to be, he placed in those two fragile palms, with an unspoken hope that they will hold him and catch him if he falls.

“Look at me.” The words were pulsing with care and affection, even though his voice coloured them in serious and desperate shades.

“One year ago… and a day from today…” He smiled and she felt the warmth spilling inside of her. The power he had over her was beyond the limits of understanding.

Little did she know that the object of her affection was lost in the same thought.

“I was standing exactly where we stand right now. It was dark and the view wasn’t that spectacular.” He freed one of his hands, but only to make contact with her cheek to caress it slowly. In this moment, he had to touch her any way that he could. With his hands. With his eyes. With his soul.

“But I always found comfort in staring at the sky. When I was at med school, I had countless moments of doubt, I wanted to quit more times than I can count. So I used to go to a secluded place at night and stare at the sky. It made me realise how, in one respect, I am just a grain of sand in the universe and how little my problems are. Funnily enough, this thought actually brought me a sense of comfort. If I am as little as I think I am, then what is the harm in being brave and taking chances? A wise man once said… There are some things that are worth any risk.”

She giggled through the tears, the sweet sound soothing his shattered nerves.

“I was standing right here and I never felt more miserable in my life. And I couldn’t understand why, for God’s sake. I was thriving at work. I had everything figured out and planned. I was pushing you to be the best you could be and I watched you turn into someone who would one day be far greater than me. But you looked so sad, so… broken. You already know I can’t just gloss over you feeling down. The sadder you were, the more miserable I felt. One evening, I was having a glass of scotch and I remembered some tiny exchange we’ve had earlier in the day, literally a chit chat. No idea what it was about. But I remembered your smile and your laugh. Every tiniest move of your muscles, your eyes, how your hair set around your face. It made me happy. Even if it was just for 5 minutes, knowing that you are happy in that very moment filled my chest with lightness. That’s when I realised I want to be the person who makes you feel this way.”

She blinked the first time in a while, as if she was afraid to make the tiniest movement, afraid it will all disappear and turn out to be a dream. Giant teardrops rolled down her angelic face, trailing the path of joy.

“Noelle Sky Valentine, I love you. I have loved you for a long time but I was too stubborn to let myself give in. And that, as you already know, will always be one of my biggest regrets.”

“Ethan, I don’t… I’m so sorry, I just don’t know what to say.” Her voice was saturated with emotions.

“I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for.“

“I love you too, Ethan Jonah Ramsey. You are by far the most complicated and stubborn person I have ever met. You are… everything I never knew I looked for in another human being.”

Once he heard her say it back, he couldn't get enough of it and a lifetime didn't feel like enough to tell her he loves her, as many times as he wished to.

“But I do have to mention this, Dr Ramsey… from the first date to a love confession in less than 24 hours? I’m sorry, I think this is moving too fast.”

“I’ll show you too fast…but I’m afraid we need to get inside, I don’t want the whole world and its wife to see how I teach you a thing or two.”

Ethan scooped her in his arms and carried her inside, despite her mock protests. He smiled and corrected himself.

He wanted for the whole world to see.

Because the whole world was right there.

In his arms.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

If you’ve gotten this far, I need you to know you are absolutely amazing 💗

Tag 🏷 list: @jamespotterthefirst @romewritingshop @romereadingshop @genevievemd @starrystarrytrouble @terrm9 @mrs-ramsey @maurine07 @gryffindordaughterofathena @mercury84choices @lovingramsey @qrkowna @openheartfanfics @choicesficwriterscreations @lisha1valecha @oldminniemcg @iemcpbchoices @tsrookie @fayeswiftie @levinsdowneyy @brooks-eden @poudredevie @queencarb @caseyvalentineramsey @lucy-268 @tenaciousdeputydreamfriend @alwaysmychoices-sideblog @whippedforethanfreakingramsey @schnitzelbutterfingers @the-pale-goddess @lem-20 @wingedhairstylemusicweasel @liaromancewriter @ohchoices @archxxronrookie

#ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc #dr ethan ramsey #play choices #open heart #open heart fic #cfwc silly love stories #choices fic writers creations #fics of the week #ethan ramsey

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nalu4emily · 4 years ago

Text

The Unexpected Reward - Chapter 17

Summary: Natsu and Lucy go on a job together, but what they bring home is something neither anticipated. Forced to make a life changing decision, they have to adapt quickly, but that's never easy, especially given the circumstances. As they work together on their toughest adventure yet, they find themselves drawn to one another, in ways they never realised. Rated Mature.

"Hey, Flame head! Wait up!" Gray called over, catching the fire mage as he hurriedly made for the guild's exit. "Where're you going in such hurry?"

Turning to catch the ice mage walking straight for him, Natsu stopped to answer, "Home. I left Lucy and Haru asleep this morning, so I better get back to 'em."

"Oh... You've not been at the guild much lately, is everything cool with you?" The ice mage pushed further.

"Uh… Yeah! Been kinda busy and stuff, ya know." The slayer shrugged, not seeming too interested in divulging any further information.

"Well, are ya too busy to come on a mission? It's been some time since our last job together as a team." Gray asked, scratching the back of his head.

"It has been a while, now you mention it… I'd have to ask Lucy if she's feeling up to it yet, she's still not feeling too good… Anyway, catch ya later!" Natsu spoke cheerily and turned back towards the door, his hand reaching for the handle.

"Lucy's been sick for an awfully long time now, Natsu." He heard another voice say, halting him in his tracks, "Are you sure there's not something else going on?" Lisanna came up and elbowed him playfully in the arm.

"Hm?" He replied, retracting his arm back to his side.

"That's right! Lucy hasn't shown her face in months now. Has something happened? Are you guys having relationship issues?!" Levy gasped at the thought, her eyes wide with her mouth hung low.

"Relationship issues?" Natsu cocked his eyebrow in disdain; what kind of nonsense was that?

"I think you're getting a little carried away there, Shrimp. You've been reading too many books again." Gajeel teased, poking Levy's pouted cheek as he came up from behind. "And Lucy hasn't been gone that long… has she?"

"How suspicious… His beloved is sick and yet he's not with her!" Juvia murmured, appearing creepily behind Gray, making him shudder. "What is he hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything! You guys are looking way too much into this." Natsu lied, but for good reason.

The truth was a little more complicated than that. With Lucy being so unwell, she'd not been able to leave the confines of their house, having suffered greatly in the first months of her pregnancy. It'd been hard for the both of them, but Natsu had promised to look after her—to not leave her side, and he'd kept to his word. Having skipped out on job after job, and taking longer and longer breaks between each visit to the guild, it was only natural for their friends to worry and speculate, but it did put him right in the firing line.

He was wasting time. He had to get back to his partner and son, it wasn't fair to keep them waiting. The guild would get their long awaited answers when Lucy returned, which with any luck, would be very soon.

"Can I go now? I got things to take care of." Natsu huffed, starting to get frustrated with their incessant intrusiveness.

Trying to slip out from under the guilds snooping nose, the fire mage was beginning to question whether that was even an option any more, not with the amount of people now crowding him, wanting in on the action. He just hoped the great Titania didn't decide to intervene, then he'd be doomed.

"What things would that be then, Natsu? You're not usually this secretive." Lisanna hinted again, even more curious than before. "I thought you said you had to go home?"

"Just leave the kid alone, he's got his reasons." Laxus shrugged nonchalantly, pretending not to be interested, when really he'd heard everything.

"Yes, listen to Laxus!" Freed jumped in, also creepily appearing out of no where, making the lightning mage quiver. "Natsu doesn't need you all pestering him!"

Said boy sighed, glad to have someone on side and took the opportunity to make his leave—But things were never going to be that easy. The slayer found himself almost smacking his head against the thick, wooden door frame, utterly exasperated, when yet another of his guild mates decided to pipe up and add their two pennies worth.

"Yes, you're right. However, doesn't he usually have the kid with him? Why not today? So many questions that have yet to be answered. It makes you wonder really…" Evergreen chortled to the dubious guild members, hiding her conniving smirk behind her fan.

This was getting out of hand! They were just going 'round and around in circles and at this rate he would never leave. Being backed into a corner, he had no idea what was really going on. His guild mates were chucking all sorts of nonsensical bullshit at him.

Who knew what they were accusing him of? Because he sure as hell didn't know, and was pretty convinced now that they didn't either.

"I've already said Haru's at home with Lucy… The only reason I'm here, is to check in with Mira to make sure everything's ready for his party later. You know, for his birthday today." He explained once again, sighing loudly and slumping forward in despair. "I wasn't gonna bring him in early and spoil the surprise, now was I?"

He wouldn't have bothered with any of it, if it hadn't been for the take over mage and her desire to throw some massive party for the little boy, such was the way of Fairy Tail. But this time, Natsu would've much preferred to celebrate at home where Lucy could be present to enjoy it, too. However, Mira had made her own plans, having suddenly sprung the idea upon the unknowing young man one day in passing, and had given him little choice in the matter—his ultimatum much scarier than Erza could ever be.

"We're well aware of the little one's birthday celebrations today, Natsu." Erza's stern voice echoed through the hall, startling everyone into silence and swiftly marched herself right up to the slayer's retreating body. His heart raced as his worst fear became reality and felt a wave of dread as she approached at speed, her hardened features coming in way too close for his comfort. "However, that doesn't mean I'm any less suspicious of you."

"But why?! There's nothing to be suspicious about, I swear!" Holding his hands up in submission, the fire mage was stunned into silence; his mouth dropping open in disbelief; why were they all so hell bent on this? What even was this? He'd told them what he could; what more did they want? "Lucy and Haru are at home where I left them… What else do you want me to tell you?"

"So secretive and elusive… like you have something to hide. Have you no shame?" Ignoring Natsu's plea, the armoured girl had already come to her own conclusions and summoned one of her treasured swords to point directly at the slayer, her icy glare not the only thing threatening to pierce through him, "Our Natsu would never act like this! He's impulsive and reckless and just downright stupid! What have you done with the real one?"

The fire mage would've taken offence, had the red head not so angrily directed her sharp sword at the bridge of his nose. Narrowing his eyes at the sharp metal so close to him, he gulped thickly, praying to whatever god there was, that today of all days, Lucy might just walk through those big doors, saving him from the hell that was Erza Scarlet.

He shook in his sandals, showered in sweat as the red heads sword tip made contact with his skin, pushing his head right up against the wall, "B-But I am the real Natsu…"

"Then prove it! Explain yourself, now!" She was taking no shit from her fiery companion, not after convincing herself that he was, indeed, an imposter.

Desperate not to be on the receiving end of Erza's wrath, Natsu opened his mouth to speak, but just as quickly shut it again when the old guild doors suddenly creaked open. The sound of an infants voice followed by bickering between two others could be heard filling the loud silence, abruptly halting the interrogation of the defeated fire breather.

"See, Happy! I told you he'd be in here!" The young woman pointed, her eyes landing right on the dragon boy she'd been arguing with flying cat about, only realising moments later the presence of Erza's sword and every eyeball in the building staring unashamedly at her, "Uh… Am I interrupting something?"

"Lucy... you're here..." Natsu croaked in relief, never more glad to see his beautiful girlfriend as he sank to the floor. His voice cracking from the genuine fear the older girl had provoked in him, her sword now fully removed from his face. "My sweet saviour…"

"Uh-oh! Is Natsu in trouble again?" Happy giggled, glancing over at his pink haired friend, taking pity on his horror-stricken features.

"Lucy… You're alive?" Erza stated more than asked, stomping over to the young blonde to inspect her further.

"U-Uh…" The girl in question looked down at herself, confirming that she was definitely alive before looking back up again, confusion etched into her expression. "D-Do you want me to answer that?"

"Maybe you should lay off her a little; I'm sure Lucy's had it rough enough." Gray proclaimed bravely, unable to make eye contact with the unsettled knight.

"Please don't scare her off, not when she's only just returned!" Levy all but pushed Erza out of the way and threw herself at the blonde, who was now trying to balance the new weight along with the baby and herself. "I'm so happy to see you! I've missed you, Lu!"

"I've missed you too, Levy, but I'm sure Natsu's kept you updated." Lucy reassured her, then looked up to all of her other friends, "Hasn't he?"

"Natsu told us you hadn't been feeling well, but that's a suspiciously long illness Lucy, one I hope has a good explanation for making us all worry so much." Erza explained, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's one long tummy bug!" Mira giggled, walking over to the ever growing group to stand near Lucy. "Anyone would think that you were p-" She paused, eyes growing wide with realisation and darted them down to the stellar mages midriff, before promptly fainting on the spot.

"Huh? Mira! Would think, what?! What were you going to say?!" Lisanna yelled, desperately trying to wake her sister up.

"Oh! I get it!" Gray understood, thinking back to the weird conversation he'd had with Natsu in the park and how it all made perfect sense now. "It definitely explains that idiots weird behaviour." He reached out to pat Lucy on the shoulder affectionately and smiled at her, then turned to smirk at said fire mage still recoiling on the ground. "So that's the way you wanna play? Game on, Pyro!"

Turning his head, Natsu smirked back, accepting the silent challenge as he jumped back up to his feet, looking cocky as ever, "You know it, Frosty!"

"Wait, what does Gray know? Is he a part of it too?" Levy gasped, pointing her accusatory finger at the demon slayer.

"Hell no!" Natsu and Gray yelled out in defence, both offended and totally disgusted by the very thought.

"Then what? What is going on here?" Cana shouted from her bench, having heard everything. "Quit with the suspense and just be out with it already!"

"Juvia understands." Out of the shadows, said water mage appeared before her once 'love rival' and smiled happily at the girl she was about to congratulate, "Juvia is so very happy for you both!" She looked down to her own rounded tummy and placed a hand on it, a noticeable difference in size to Lucy's, "They will be the best of friends, Juvia is sure of it."

Lucy's smile reached the corners of her eyes, relieved the rain woman didn't see this as another rivalry, like their partners apparently did, "Thanks Juvia, I'm sure they will be, despite what their father's might think." They both giggled at the expense of the boys gormlessly standing there, along with the rest of the guild, who still had no idea.

"Hold up! So, what does that mean? You're having a baby too, Lucy?" Lisanna asked, cradling her sisters limp body.

The guild's eyes fell to Lucy, more specifically her stomach where if they looked closely, they would see a small, but noticeable bump stretching out her pink summer dress. She could see the expectant faces of her friends waiting for her to answer, and the warm presence of her beloved dragon slayer come to stand next to her, obviously noticing her hesitancy.

"Natsu, I think you should tell them, I know you're dying to." She murmured, her voice quiet but firm.

"Are ya sure, Luce?" He asked, assuming she'd want to do it after all this time, but seeing the certainty in her eyes and the bright smile lifting her cheeks, he took her hand and turned back to the crowd, not needing any more confirmation than that. He glanced at each person in turn, a sense of pride filling his chest as the words left his mouth, "Heck yeah, we are!"

The entire guild erupted in a chorus of whistles and loud cheers, shaking the very foundations of the building in their excitement for the couple, "Oh, wow! Thanks guys! You're too kind!" Lucy's smile shone brighter than it had done in ages, overwhelmed with glee that their guild mates were so pleased for them.

"They've all been worried about ya, Luce." Natsu whispered closely so only she could hear and leaned in to kiss her cheek, knowing just how much this all meant to her. He took the excitable little guy off her hands, giving her the freedom to catch up with everybody.

"I knew it! I knew there was something fishy about you two! But congratulations guys, that's great news!" Levy cheered, ready to get down to the nitty gritty of every dirty detail.

"You had us worried there, Lucy. For a while, I thought you were never coming back!" Lisanna shared, hugging the celestial mage tightly, probably a little too tight.

"Oh… I'm sorry to have made you all worry, but I'm feeling much better now." The blonde explained, a light tint of pink dusting her cheeks from all the attention she was getting.

She could see Natsu hadn't moved too far away from her and tilted her head to look at him. Chuckling to herself, she could hear Erza try to apologise to him, suggesting the boy punch her right in the face for making such a mistake, a suggestion that was right up his alley, if it weren't for Haru in his arms.

Catching his beautiful blonde staring at him through the corner of his eye, he turned in her direction and winked, grinning as he held the little boy up on his shoulders to walk back over to her, "You feeling alright, Luce?" He asked, worried she may have forced herself into attending the celebrations before she was ready.

She nodded shyly, a little taken aback by the overwhelming attention she was receiving. Feeling his hand once again take hold of hers, she stared up into his confident eyes, then up to the child having the time of his life on his fathers shoulders, "I'm okay, but today's about Haru, not me, and I wasn't gonna miss this for the world." She grinned up at the small boy and reached up to stroke his cheek affectionately, chuckling at his enormous smile.

"You're right! Come on, Lucy! I wanna show you what we've done!" Natsu all but dragged the poor girl outside, Haru and Happy in tow, to show her the sheer amount of effort that had gone in to making Haru's first birthday, special.

The entire guilds courtyard had been lit up like a Christmas tree, with nothing left untouched. Banners and bunting of every colour hung from every post, table and tree. Tables upon tables of delicious food had been laid out with the most gargantuan home made birthday cake (courtesy of Mira) proudly sat in the middle of it all. An enormous pile of gifts had also been laid out, all individually wrapped with little cards to say whom they were from and most importantly, the pool had been filled with all kinds of fun inflatables and toys for all the children to play with.

Lucy looked around in amazement. She couldn't believe they'd gone to so much effort just for a one year old, a child that would unfortunately never remember this, but it didn't matter, she and Natsu would for him. "This is incredible, Natsu! I can't believe you did all this without me!"

"Don't sound too surprised; I can help organise things when I want to. And it wasn't all me, Mira came up with the idea." He looked up to the child above him and chuckled, "You like it, Haru?" The child had no idea what was going on, with no concept of birthdays or parties, he simply cheered anyway, responding to his Daddy's infectious grin, "Good! Well then Luce, let's get this party started!"

With his grin turning evil, he squeezed her hand tight and dived head first into the pool, with no consideration for his, Lucy's or Haru's clothing. She yelped at the top of her voice, her only reply a cackle before being submerged under water, thus setting the mood for the rest of the day.

After a full afternoon of playing with the other children, eating lots of cake and other treats, and opening presents, Haru found himself in the pool once again, this time in more appropriate attire for the water. A pair of cute little lion themed trunks (gifted by Loke), and a cute turtle inflatable ring adorning his middle (a present from Lisanna), made it much easier for him to stay above the surface while enjoying a swim in the water.

Natsu, in his usual flamed swim shorts, also found himself in the pool, diving under and popping back up in random places to surprise the little boy. Haru loved a good game of peek-a-boo, the anticipation of where his Daddy was going to pop up next was just too exhilarating. He squealed and laughed every time he resurfaced, then his eyes would grow wide in anticipation when he dived back down again.

"Gotcha!" Natsu exclaimed, appearing behind the little guy and grabbing his sides. "Does Haru want a go?" He asked, lifting him out of the rubber ring and holding him above the surface with just his hands, letting the infant tread the water to keep himself up, "Look at you! You'll be swimming in no time!"

Lucy watched on from her sun lounger, not remotely amused that the slayer had got her cute dress soaked, or that she now had to lay in just her pastel blue bikini, feeling somewhat self conscious with everyone staring at her exposed belly. She laid comfortably basking in the hot sunlight kissing her skin, trying to catch some semblance of a tan, relaxing while she could. She felt happy, content even, thankful that her symptoms had calmed down just in time for Haru's big day.

It'd been a long time since she'd been able to do this without having to run to the bathroom. With no spell or potion being strong enough to truly rid her of the awful feeling, she'd become well acquainted with the toilet in their house, having spent most of her time with her nose down it. It'd been hard over the last few months adapting to her changing body, her wild mood swings and questionable cravings, but she also knew it would be worth it in the end and it was on days like this, with her friends and loved ones surrounding her that she sincerely felt it.

Smiling to herself, Lucy placed her hand on her small, protruding stomach, feeling the tiny flutterings of the little one moving around inside, "You're an active little one today." She giggled, looking to be talking to herself by onlookers, but she didn't mind. "Then again, you're active everyday."

"Juvia's baby is quite active too, but he's closer to his due date than yours and is much bigger." Juvia said, coming to sit on the next lounger. She cradled her own, much larger bump that'd been covered by a flowy, light green summer dress, finding her regular clothes to form fitting and hot to wear now. "It's quite the feeling when he does somersaults in Juvia's belly."

"He? You're having a boy?" Lucy asked, intrigued to learn more and catch up with her friend.

"Yes, Porlyusica told us the last time we visited. Juvia always imagined she'd have a little boy, maybe watching Haru has something to do with that." She gleamed, looking over to the small fella splashing about in the pool still, having the time of his life with his father.

"I'm so pleased for you! I bet Gray was thrilled!" The blonde exclaimed, knowing he would be.

"Of course! Gray was very pleased. In fact, he made us go out and buy all the boys clothes we could find in the market afterwards. Then he took Juvia home and made-"

"No, it's okay… I don't think I need to know any more!" Lucy felt her cheeks burn red at the very thought.

"Made Juvia dinner…" The water mage finished, furrowing her brows at Lucy's assumption.

"O-Oh… Oops! Sorry Juvia, I thought you were going to say that you guys-"

"Made love? I think those hormones are getting the better of you, Lucy." Cana appeared, wagging her imaginary tail at the slightest mention of sex. "They say you get more horny when you're pregnant. I bet you and Natsu are at it all of the time? Actually, I'm kinda surprised he's not over here right now, with you looking all juicy like that!"

"Cana!" Lucy spluttered, her cheeks burning even more furiously. "You can't say things like that in public!" She didn't want to discuss her sex life in front of others, even if what they were saying was true—when she wasn't heaving of course.

"She's right though, Lucy. Juvia hasn't been unable to keep her hands off of Gray." The blue haired girl reaffirmed, her eyes like love hearts as she thought of her beloved Gray. "And Gray hasn't been able to keep his hands off Juvia, either."

"Wow, looking kinda smug there… You were like that any way…" Cana murmured, shaking her head at the love struck girl.

Well, there went Lucy's relaxing in silence, now she could barely keep from her head exploding—Good ol' Cana! "I don't wanna hear any more!" The celestial mage reiterated, covering her ears for emphasis.

"Oh, come on, Lucy! You're pregnant! That didn't happen by accident! You and Natsu knew exactly what you were doing." Cana retorted, moving herself closer to the flustered girl, her boozy breath permeating the air.

"U-Uh… Well… No, actually. It was kind of an accident…" Lucy admitted, feeling a little awkward by saying that out loud, her friends surprised faces not helping matters, "But it was a good accident!"

"Huh… And here I was thinking you were the cautious type, Lucy… Not that it matters. It's good to let the mood just take ya." Cana grinned, her shock forgotten.

"Don't look so ashamed Lucy, you'll both have another sweet baby to call your own and that's a wonderful thing. I imagine Natsu was over the moon when you both found out." Mira beamed her usual motherly smile as she came to sit near them all, having wanted to get the details on Lucy's pregnancy since earlier, "If Juvia's is a boy, then I bet yours is going to be a girl, Lucy."

"You think so?" The blonde asked back, never having actually considered what the sex would be before, but the thought of having a little girl join the family sounded rather appealing, especially in a house dominated by boys.

"Yes, with Haru as well, we need a little girl to make it more even. And she's gonna have the cutest pink hair and big brown eyes, I can just see it now!" Mira was off in a little world of her own, thinking of blue haired baby boys and pink haired baby girls—she was incorrigible.

"Boy or girl, I just hope that after living in a house full of ravenous beasts, this little one might be more like me. Haru's just a dark haired Natsu, he even laughs like him." Lucy placed her hand where she could feel the little movements of her baby and chuckled down, "But who am I kidding? You've already got your father's energy, that's for sure."

"Hey! Don't say that like it's a bad thing, Luce!" Natsu overheard as he appeared out of no where. "There's nothing wrong with having a mini-me, ain't that right, kid?" He hi-fived the now dry child in his arms, having already dried himself using his magic. "Who cares what they are or who they look like? You'll be in there somewhere, Luce; you're their mother, after all."

"Yeah, you're right." She said, always fascinated by Natsu's simplistic, yet logical way of thinking.

"Any way, it's getting kinda late, I was gonna take Haru somewhere a bit more quiet," Natsu gestured to the current brawl taking place behind him.

"Leaving so soon?" Mira asked, standing to say goodbye to the grizzly birthday boy.

"Yeah, he's all pooped out from the busy day he's had and I think he's ready to go to sleep now. Thanks for organising it, Mira!" He said, before turning swiftly to Lucy, "You coming?"

The bikini clad girl jumped to her feet and stretched her arms up, feeling the tiredness begin to set in, completely unaware of her partners roaming gaze, "Yeah, sure... Just let me put my dress-"

"Lucy! Watch out!" She heard Natsu shout suddenly as she bent to grab the item of clothing.

Feeling herself being pushed back onto the sun lounger, she flailed and reached her arms out to catch herself. Darting her eyes up to see what was going on, she was met with the exposed back of the dragon slayer that had moved to shield her from something. Smoke clouded him and the infant; an unfamiliar heat emanated off of his body. The girl hadn't seen what'd happened, or what she'd been saved from, but if the harsh, heavy breathing of the man in front of her was anything to go by, it was a close call.

"Natsu…" She started, but stalled there after, unsure of what more to say to him.

"What the heck do you think you're doing, you old geezer! Do you have any idea what could've happened just then?!" Natsu bellowed, his voice teeming with rage as his eyes narrowed at the culprit. "You're lucky I was here to catch your stupid attack, or that would've gone straight for Lucy!"

The brawl had come to a complete stand still and Macao, the one that'd thrown a fire ball initially at Wakaba, had gone ghostly pale as the dragon slayer's piercing gaze stared him down. "Hey man, I'm sorry… I didn't even know she was there, it was an accident!" He held his hands up in submission, not wanting to enter into a fight with the maddened slayer, knowing that was one he'd never win. "We got a little carried away, that's all."

"Oh yeah? Maybe I should go all out and see how you like it? Try and dodge this one!" Natsu roared, sending a blazing ball of fury of his own hurtling through the air, aiming it right at Macao's cowering body. Turning hotfooted back to Lucy, the distant cries of the offender being struck by his magic was like music to his ears, his anger satiated.

"Are you hurt, Luce? Did anything hit you?" He did a full search of her body, checking for any kind of injury. His worried eyes eventually fell upon her exposed belly and instinctually brought his hand out to caress it softly, "Is the baby okay?"

Smiling up at him, she brought her own hand to rest on his cheek and pulled him closer, loving just how protective he could be, "Of course, our baby's fine. No need to worry." She guided his palm to where the little one was doing somersaults and allowed him to feel the light pads against his skin.

Unable to keep his infectious grin down for long, he pushed his mouth hastily against Lucy's in a kiss that turned heated all too quickly. Buzzing with adrenaline from the incident, Natsu moved his hand from her belly and tangled his fingers into her hair, holding her in place as he enjoyed the taste of her warm lips.

"That's it, fire breath, you took it too far this time!" He heard Gray shout from behind him, knocking him out of his 'Lucy' trance and pull away, glancing over his shoulder, "Look at what you've done to the pool, you dumbass!" The ice mage pointed to the steaming pit that was once the guilds pool, fuming at the state of it.

"Ha! Looks like you and Juvia are gonna have a fun time filling that back up!" Natsu guffawed, passing the fidgety Haru to Lucy.

"Screw you, Pinky! You're going down!" Gray threatened, launching himself at the fire wizard and starting yet another brawl.

Rolling her eyes, Lucy looked down at the sleepy boy rubbing his tired eyes, and decided to creep away from the fight that just seemed to be attracting more and more people, "Come on then, sweetheart. It looks like Daddy's got himself distracted again." She chuckled, disappearing back inside before anyone had noticed she was gone.

By the time the evening swept in, Lucy had found herself a quiet spot up on a small hill a little ways from the guild, overlooking the lake behind it. She sat cosily against one of the many old oak trees, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and the baby laid across her chest, begrudgingly, but slowly falling asleep. She hummed her sweet lullaby to soothe her tuckered out child, hoping to coax him into closing his eyes.

It was moments like this that she cherished the most with Haru, just her and him with no one to interrupt. The atmosphere was peaceful and calm, exactly what she was looking for compared to the ruckus that was the guild's 'after' party that continued on down the street. She could even hear the rumble of their antics from where she sat, but luckily, it was pretty muffled, unable to spoil her quietude.

After weeks of staying at home, it sure made a pleasant change to be watching the sunset instead. She'd grown tired and achy after such a busy day, her feet were sore and her head had grown weary, but still she watched contented as the beautiful evening began to fade.

The young mother could finally hear the soft, even breaths of the slumbering child and gently placed him upon her bent up legs, covering him with her blanket to keep him from feeling the chill in the air. Staring at his little angelic features, she found it hard to fathom how drastically her life had changed compared to just twelve months before. She'd grown so much as a person and gained everything she'd ever wanted and more, making new memories along the way.

She and Natsu had unknowingly plunged themselves into a completely new world, taking on the responsibility of an abandoned child and calling him their own. Haru had opened their eyes to a life they never thought they'd get to experience, especially not with each other. The little boy had brought them together in a way that would forever bind them, creating the family unit they were today. It only seemed fitting to name this day as Haru's official birthday, for it was the day his life, and theirs, had begun anew.

Leaning her head back against the tree, becoming lost in her memories, her eyelids began to close, a wave of exhaustion rushing over her while sleep tempted her in. A rustle of a nearby bush was quick to quash that feeling though, as a startled Lucy snapped her eyes wide open and darted her head over to where the sound had come from.

"Oh, Natsu… It's just you…" She breathed, laying her bleary eyes onto that familiar toothy grin and untameable pink hair, a scaly, white scarf to match. "Tell me, what were you doing hiding in the bushes?"

"Looking for you." He said simply, walking out onto the hillside to join her, having deliberately left out the part that he'd been hiding there for much longer than he'd care to admit. In fact, one might say he'd been there the entire time, watching the beauty that was Lucy quietly sing their son to sleep and hadn't wanted to disturb her until she'd finished. "You left, so I had to come find ya."

"Oh, you didn't have to. I just wanted to settle Haru before he started getting grumpy. It's nice and quiet out here." Her voice sounded airy and light, her eyes half lidded and a little bloodshot. "You can go back and join the others if you want, I'm okay." She offered, but Natsu knew better than that, he always did.

"You don't have to pretend for me, Lucy. I can see how tired you are." He'd learnt pretty quickly in the past few months that pregnancy didn't just make her exceptionally sick, but that it had an array of different symptoms, some physical and others emotional, but all unpleasant and incredibly draining for her. "Why would I leave any way, you're all out here?"

"Happy's not."

"Yeah, and Happy's capable of looking after himself. He's too interested in Carla to notice we're even gone. You know what he's like." Natsu explained, scooting closer to Lucy to take the infant from her legs.

He set the baby down in his lap to keep him warm, the fluffy blanket tightly swaddling his body. The two mages cuddled up to one another, watching the twinkling stars come out to glimmer and shine down onto the glistening water in the distance.

"It's crazy to think it's been an entire year since we brought him home. Who knows where we'd be without him here?" Lucy reminisced, her gaze drifting from the moonlit lake, to the baby snoring peacefully without a single care in the world. "Or where his life might've gone, if we hadn't taken him in."

"We'd be what we always were," Natsu stated bluntly, tearing his own gaze away to look at the girl beside him, "Best friends, going on adventures and honestly, that's kinda the sad truth of it all. As for Haru…" He glanced down at his cuddled up son, smiling sadly as he remembered the first time he ever set eyes on the tiny, lifeless baby, that fateful day, "I made a promise to keep him safe; to make sure he lived… He was always going to come with me, there was never another choice. I just didn't know it then."

"And I'll be forever grateful that he did, because..." Lucy cleared her throat, feeling a little emotional at the thought, "Now, I have you and him! And nothing has ever made me happier! Choosing to adopt a child was the most daunting thing I've ever done, but it's proven to be the best decision I've ever made, one I'll always be thankful for." She gave her own toothy smile, a slight tint of pink dusting her cheeks as she poured her heart out to him.

Natsu felt his heart squeeze tight, her words reminiscent of his own feelings and quirked his lips up at her. Reaching his hand forward, he smoothed his fingers through her golden locks, before coming to rest it under her ear, guiding her to him, "Me too, Luce. Which is why…"

Lucy's breathing deepened the closer she got and felt his other hand come up to hold hers tenderly, paying no mind to him fiddling with her fingers, "Which is why, what? Is there something else?" She asked, cocking her head cutely as their breaths began to mingle. "Natsu?" Her eyes fluttered between his dark ones, waiting expectantly for him to finish.

"I… I wanna ask you something." He murmured just before claiming her mouth, connecting their lips in a kiss so sickly sweet, it made Lucy's belly fill with butterflies.

She could have melted into a puddle right then and there, the feel of his affections always had a way of making her turn to goo in his hands. Her spine shivered and the adrenaline buzzed through her system, not having the capacity to comprehend the words that'd been spoken, for her mind had been taken over by the feel of his hot mouth. Letting go of her hand, he snaked his fingers up to the other side of her neck and pulled her closer, craving those sweet cherry lips that he liked to nip at with his teeth.

Her fingers were now free to roam and touch as they pleased, tangling them up through his hair and tugging on the pink strands at the base of his neck. Desperate for breath, she pulled herself away and gazed into his half lidded eyes for mere seconds, before he impatiently delve down to ravish her neck. The sucking and biting just under her ear caused small gasps and whimpers to escape the increasingly aroused celestial mage, her eyes fogging with lust, until something bright caught her attention.

"What was that?" She asked panting, her voice raspy as she tried to catch sight of whatever it was again. It had flickered like a light, shined like a reflection and sparkled all at once, making her wonder if she'd really seen anything at all.

"What was what, Lucy?" He asked her, not meaning to sound quite so unsurprised, when usually he was the first to go looking for trouble.

"I thought I saw…" She didn't really know what she'd seen, her mind too muddled from the heated moment they were having; maybe it was just her eyes playing tricks? Or worse… someone was spying on them.

Natsu clasped at the hand she had buried in his hair and brought it into view, "Was it this, maybe?" He asked, drawing attention to one specific digit.

Feeling the contrast between his warm skin and the cold hardness of something else against her finger, Lucy peered down in curiosity, her breath stalling when her eyes laid upon the object of confusion. Gasping loudly, she clasped at her mouth, two enlarged chocolate orbs flickered between him and her hand in utter astonishment. Somehow, in the midst of their make out session, Natsu had managed to band the most simplistic, yet beautiful ring onto her finger, where it sat proudly and spoke of untold intentions.

"It's… I-It's beautiful! B-But how did you- When-" She stuttered, too lost in what this all might mean, searching deep within his dark eyes for the answers to her silent, but obvious questions.

"That's the right finger, isn't it?" He asked, looking uncharacteristically nervous, a small pink hue dabbing his cheeks. His heart was beating much quicker than he would've liked, hoping he hadn't screwed up already.

That was all she needed to hear to confirm her suspicions, her brown eyes wet with unshed tears, "N-Natsu, I… I don't know what to say-" She couldn't speak, this was too much and he'd not said anything yet.

"Lucy…" He spoke with every sincerity, taking the ringed hand and entwined their fingers. "I'm not so good with this stuff, but I know that getting married is important to you, which makes it important to me, too. I promised you forever and I guess you could say, this is me making good on that promise." He caressed her soft cheek with his thumb and smiled when he saw the glint in her eyes shine back at him. "So, what do you say? Prepared to commit yourself to this," he gestured to himself and winked playfully, "For the rest of your life?"

Finding herself unable to keep her emotions in check, the girl didn't answer, but instead, launched herself at him, giving him barely any time to move the slumbering child out of the way and brace for impact. Landing on top of the winded dragon slayer, she managed to catch herself with her hands and gleamed down at him, tears falling from her eyes and the smile on her face rivalling his. She leant down and connected their lips once again, taking the lead this time, unable to keep her happiness from pouring out.

To the side, still held in Natsu's opened out arm, was Haru, completely unaware of what was going down, his dreams taking him to far off places. His developing sibling in his Mommy's tummy, however, didn't seem quite so pleased, having been wedged between the two loved up adults as they made out under the sea of stars, had decided to take matters into their own hands. With one almighty kick, the kiss came to a quick halt when Lucy groaned and pulled back, grabbing hold of her bump to sooth the sore area.

"Jeez! Was that the baby kicking you? 'Cause even I felt that one!" Natsu looked surprised, amazed that their baby was so strong, at just five months, that he'd been able to feel the force of the kick against his own abdomen. "Is it still hurting, Luce? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it just shocked me, that's all. They've never been quite that strong before." She chuckled, sitting herself up and straddling his hips as she looked down to her belly, gently caressing it with her thumb, "You were just trying to tell Mommy to move, weren't you?"

Balancing himself up onto his elbow, Natsu also placed his hand on top of Lucy's bump and smirked, "Or maybe, they were just tryin' to get their Mommy to say yes."

"Like you needed an answer!" Quirking her eyebrow up at his smirk, she shifted back a little as he sat himself up against the tree, laying Haru gently next to them while Lucy remained in place, "But you haven't actually asked me anything yet. Who knows what I could be agreeing to? This is you, after all."

The young man chuckled and grinned his thousand watt smile, knowing she'd catch him out eventually, "Alright, have it your way." The mischievous look on his face didn't disappear, even when he tried to take it seriously, "Will you marry me, Lucy?"

She returned his beaming smile with one of her own, glad to have heard it come from his mouth and nodded her head enthusiastically, "Of course, Natsu, the answer was always a yes."

"Good. Can I go back to kissing you now?" He asked, but didn't bother waiting for a reply and went to pull that enticing mouth back in for a third kiss, hoping this time there'd be no more interruptions in the forms of sparkling rings or unimpressed unborn babies.

But just as their lips were about to touch, Lucy paused ever so tantalisingly close to him and furrowed her brows, causing the boy to sigh impatiently, "What is it now?"

"Have you been holding on to that ring all day?" She enquired, only realising now that he must've got it from somewhere.

"Nah, not all day, just the party. I had to ask Happy to go and get it for me while you were distracted with Haru." Natsu explained, scratching the back of his head, "I was gonna do it myself, but stuff happened and then you suddenly showed up."

"Stuff… happened?" Now she was even more curious; what could've gone on in her absence?

"Yeah… them." He shivered still traumatised, pointing over to where Fairy Tail's guild hall stood, still alive and partying, and Lucy understood immediately just what he was referring to, giving her an insight into what she'd unsuspectingly walked in on earlier that day. "So, I had to change up my plans."

"Oh! Why didn't you just do it tomorrow instead? Rather than make it difficult for yourself." She asked, feeling a little smug when she saw the light go on in his brain.

She'd stumped him there. Always the brains of the operation, he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that. He'd wanted to do it on a day that meant something to the both of them, but really, did it matter? The result would've been the same.

Noticing her cocky smirk and the playfulness in her eyes, he rose to the challenge, a fire in his belly, "Because, Miss Know-it-all, today was special, just like you said… And it wasn't difficult… I had it all under control…"

"Uh-huh…" She watched him become a little fidgety as if he weren't quite telling the truth and her smirk widened into a smug, toothy grin, "So you were just pretending to be scared when Erza was threatening you? I get it."

His eyes were sharp and intense, just like they were in battle, the one sided grin to boot as he bore into her playful expression, "Your playing with fire, Lucy…" His voice dangerous and brimming with cockiness.

"Then let it burn." She whispered close to his ear, barely able to get the words out before she found herself being forced onto her back, her hands held down above her head, with a fired up dragon slayer carefully leant over her form.

"You asked for it!" He growled, gulping down a large breath as he connected his mouth to the sensitive skin of her neck, torturing her senses with his loving but fierce embrace.

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sombreboy · 5 years ago

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Scented ↬ yandere!snakehybrid!pjm

⤍18+ ⤍xtremity; 5 ⤍pairing: yandere!snakehybrid!pjm x female reader ⤍genre: pwp smut, hybrid, yandere ⤍word count: 2.2k ⤍warnings: smut, cursing, possessive!pjm, dom!pjm/sub!reader, licking kink (pjm has a split snake tongue), he's got two dicks lmao, biting, unprotected sex, pjm has a praise kink too in the midst of this

Jimin, your snake hybrid-- senses another male hybrid’s scent on you, and punishments follow...

You were dragged out once in a while with your girlfriends to go clubbing, and tonight, they had finally managed to. They brought their boyfriends, and you- well, you brought Jimin.

He'd gladly accepted, he absolutely loved to drink, dance and simply enjoy the flashing colours of the venue.

However, he mostly came with because he wanted to keep an eye on you. Jimin was proud to see you get attention, you were like a goddess to him. However, he was less excited about the longing, dirty looks of men coming your way.

He wanted to strangle every single one of them.

At least you were in good hands of your female friends, and his own.

You were seated in a booth next to Jimin, along with two of your girlfriends and their boyfriends, Taehyung and Jungkook. They were both drop dead gorgeous, sensual men that caught the attention of both men and women as well.

So did Jimin, he turned heads wherever he went, but he didn't notice it at all, too focused to keep his eyes on you.

''We're so glad you finally decided to bring your pet-– I mean, hybrid! What's his name?'' Your friend asked, genuinely curious about him.

You crooked an eyebrow, a small smile on your lips as you sipped your drink with a straw, ''He's not my pet, and his name is Jimin.''

Jungkook scoffed, ''Not your pet? Then what is he, your lover?''

Jimin's split tongue poked out to lick his lips, his eyes flickering between the two men in front of him before looking at your friend,

''Yes.''

You choked on your drink, putting the glass down with a clonk. Jimin laughed, his song-like voice brightening up any room he's in. Jungkook smiled too,

''I like him. He's funny.''

''He's really pretty.'' Taehyung commented bluntly, he's never been one to hide his attraction, whether it be towards males or females. And one can always appreciate somebodys beauty.

''He is.'' You agree, putting your hand on Jimin's knee as you give him a smile. Jimin smiles back, his pearly whites on display and if you looked closely, you could see his pointy fangs.

''Ah, thank you...'' Jimin's eyes gazed over at the dancefloor, packed with people. He seemed intrigued to go out there, but didn't want to leave your side.

You noticed this, always did. The little things in his eyes mattered.

''Jiminie, you wanna dance? Go on, take the guys with you. I'll be here with the girls.''

Jimin looked unsure, breathing out a sigh through his nose. But his doubts were washed down with alcohol, and both JK and Tae stood up to pull Jimin with them, ''Come on, it'll be fun!''

''Okay, okay, fine!'' Jimin laughed, letting the men pull him out on the dance floor on each of his arms.

As time passed by, the boys were sweaty, Jimin thoroughly enjoying being able to get rid of some energy on the dancefloor, his hair clinging to his face as he showcased his mesmerizing movements. And even if he loved the attention, the only eyes he cared for was yours, and as he was glancing over his shoulder towards your table, you weren't there.

Jimin squinted his eyes, his split tongue poking out to try to smell you, but it was impossible, there were too many scents around. He stopped dancing, the other men too drunk and happy to notice when he shuffled through the crowd to look for you.

You'd gone to the bar to get some drinks for you and your friends, but ended up stuck there, kind of flirting with the men up there. One of them were tightly pressed up against you, appreciating your beauty, telling you dirty things. You were drunk, a haze where everything felt good, boundaries slightly bent... It was just a little flirting, what could it hurt?

The man was another hybrid, a wolf that rubbed up closely, nuzzling his nose against your neck, ''You smell like...Hm..'' He scrunched his nose, not quite able to place the scent, but it was definitely a vague smell of another hybrid.

You laughed, ''Don't rub your scent on me, I'll get in trouble!''

''Hm, how about you just come home with me instead?''

You let him rub against you a little too long before you realize what is going on, and you quickly push him off of you, ''No, no. I'm taken.''

The wolf hybrid scoffs, ''Huh... Well, find me if you change your mind.'' He walked off, leaving you to finally order the drinks, but before you're able to say anything Jimin grabs your arm to pull you close, startling you.

''I was looking for you.'' He hissed through his teeth, a worried look on his face, ''Please don't go anywhere without me.''

Within the next second, Jimin's expression went from worried, to confused.... To angry.

''Why do you smell like that?'' He inches closer, nuzzling his nose against your neck. His forked tongue pokes out to lick your neck, drawing a small gasp from you,

''Dog.''

''Ah, well... A wolf hybrid...'' You weakly reply.

''Hm, so you let a dirty dog rub his scent off on you? When you belong to me?''

He hissed through his teeth, tongue slipping back into his mouth as he withdraws to stare at you with his cold eyes, pupils shrinking into a thin line, truly showing the snake hybrid within him. He wasn't pleased.

''I didn't let him, I.... He just came up and..''

Jimin interrupted you with another hiss, roughly pulling you with him into the bathroom. The bathrooms had no open stalls, just simple rooms, so this was convenient as Jimin locked the door after closing it behind him, staring you down like a predator chasing his prey.

''Jimin, what ... what's wrong?''

''You don't get it? I leave you alone for one second, trusting you...''He saunters closer, unbuttoning the upper buttons of his shirt, ''And a wolf is trying to scent you.''

You shrug, ''I don't know what he was doing..''

Jimin scoffed, ''Don't act dumb! Babe, you know exactly what he was doing... Now, I suppose I have to prevent this from happening again.''

He inches even closer, until his chest is pressed against yours, pushing you backwards against the cold tile wall.

''I'm just gonna have to show you just which hybrid you belong to.''

His hands waste no time in swiftly turning you around and bending you forward, you quickly grab onto the sink for some leverage, a small yelp escaping your lips,

''Bad girls get punished.'' Jimin hissed, and before you could answer, he had peeled the skirt of your tight dress up to expose your ass, his palm landing on your skin with a harsh smack.

Another. And another. And another.

Until you were whining, your ass red and sore as he kept spanking the same spot.

''Please! ah, it hurts...''

''Should've thought about that before you let a dirty dog scent you, hm?'', Jimin sounded angry, yet his voice was slowly becoming laced with lust. He couldn't stay mad at you for long, he never could. You were just too precious to him.

But he wouldn't tell you that. Not right now.

Jimin's eyes flickered down to your bruised skin, his forked tongue slipping out to lick his plush lips. You looked absolutely gorgeous, and there was nothing more that he wanted that to fuck you full of his cum.

He used his foot to move yours further apart, spreading you for him. His hands gripped at your ass, his blunt nails digging into the skin, drawing more whines from your throat.

''Jimin, please..''

''You have no say in this, y/n, you lost that when you betrayed me.''

''I didn't–'', Your were silenced when you felt his fingers rip your panties down, exposing your little cunt to him.

''Oh, now you've got nothing to say, hm?'' He snickers, biting his lower lip as his fingers slip between your folds, teasing your hole, but not quite inserting them as of yet.

You sigh in surprise, his fingers were cold, but it wasn't unpleasant. Automtically, you feel yourself want to move your hips against him, trying to make his fingers go inside of you.

''So compliant, I only touched you for a second and you're already needy. Tsk.''

He suddenly plunged two fingers inside of you, drawing a whimper from your lips. He pumped you slowly, teasing until you were dripping down on his hand. A series of curses hissed through his teeth, continously moving the pads of his fingers past your sweet spot, while the other fumbles to unbuckle his pants.

At last, he pulled his pants down, his two members aching for your warmth, heads swollen and glistening with precum. He sighs, a shaky breath of anticipation as he grabs one of his cocks, rubbing it between your folds to gather your juices, letting the other rub between your asscheeks.

Jimin grabs your hip with one hand for leverage, advancing his hips forward to sink his fat cock deeper inside of you, his other hand stroking his neglected length, ''Ah,'' He hissed, ''Feels good...''

Even if he wanted to punish you, he was not getting through this unaffected either, internally falling apart at how good your cunt squeezed around his girth. Another soft sigh pushed through his plushy lips, his hips slowly rocking back and forth to feel every single inch of his cock squeezed by your tight warmth.

His lips fall open in pleasure, small grunts echoing in the room. You watch him through the mirror, his predatory stare making you shrink, feeling so small underneath him.

''J-jimin...'' You whimper weakly, his thin eyes meeting yours in the mirror, a small smirk curling on his lips until his fangs are bared,

''What?''

''More..'' Your hips move to meet his, and his stare grows richer, both of his hands now settling on your ass to move you on his cock like a toy,

''Like this? You like this?'' He growls, eyebrows drawn together in focus as he fucks into you harder, stretching your cunt with his fat cock.

He moans your name, it comes out like a mix between a whimper and a hiss, and when you grind harder against him, the coil in your lower abdomen was tightening, feeling your orgasm creep up on you.

''Y-yes, you're doing so well, Jiminie.'' You gasp the words out, your body now jolting forward with every thrust, gradually growing rougher and faster with his greed to chase his own high. He licks his teeth, his small fangs itching to bite into you. He wasn't venomous, so he knew he could safely do so, and that's exactly what he needed.

He snaked his hands around your torso, forcing you to stand up straighter, back still arched into his touch as his forked tongue slips out to lick your neck, the urge to sink his teeth into your skin unbearable,

''Bite me,'' You grunt between his thrusts, ''Please, bite me, Jimin!''

He obliged without a word, no hesitation in the way his lips curled up in a small smile, placing open mouthed kisses on your neck to tease until he wasn't able to hold back any longer, and sunk his teeth into your neck.

You cried out in pain and pleasure, rocking your hips against his length. Jimin kept biting, littering your neck and shoulder with small dotted bites.

That was enough for you to feel the coil in your core burst, your flesh spasming and squeezing his cock desperately, body quivering underneath him as your mouth fell open in a silent cry.

''Shit shit shit.. Y/N, I'm gonna cum.. I'm cumming too–'' He slammed his cock into you a few more times before his hips stuttered, a low guttural groan vibrating in his chest. His cocks desperately throbbed, one filling you up to the brim, relishing the velvety walls of your cunt, the other pathetically pulsating as it freely came on your back, twitching desperately. His grunts quickly turned into broken whimpers, hugging you close through his relase.

Jimin nuzzles into your neck, his split tongue gently licking your wounds clean, his breath fanning your skin.

''Mine...'' he weakly whispers into your ear, the spot where the two of you are still joined leaking with his cum, dribbling down in the form of a puddle on the tile floor.

''Yours,'' You softly chuckle, grunting lowly when he pulls out of you, his two cocks coated in his cum. He turns you around, hands wrapped around your waist to pull you close to his chest, his rich, snakelike eyes staring down at you with a smile on his swollen lips,

''You don't smell like dog anymore.'' He beamed, as if this was his mission all along.

You scrunch your nose, squeezing his cheek between your fingers, drawing a small whine from him, completely the opposite of the dominant predator you just got fucked by,

''That was never my fault!''

Jimin's eyes squint as he smiles, his split tongue teasingly licking his teeth,

''I know.. And now, no hybrids will be mistaken that you're already claimed, with my scent and markings on you,''

He smirked, helping you and himself to become more presentable before pulling you with him to leave, your eyes still shocked at his words.

He had mated you.

#bts smut #jimin smut #yandere bts #yandere jimin #snake hybrid jimin #hybrid jimin #hybrid bts #jimin imagine #jimin x reader #jimin x you #jimin x y/n #bts hybrid smut #hybridbtsnetwork

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vennilavee · 4 years ago

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heat, mind, soul (5)

tsoaf masterlist pairing: levi x reader of color summary: in which there is a party, and you spend the night at the survey corps HQ. and your bar is destroyed. warnings: alcohol, cursing, fluff, smut!!! 18+ word count: 5.3k a/n: i guess 2 months between each chapter is the norm for this story huh

Notification of the pre-expedition party comes in the form of one of the younger survey corps scouts walking into your bar late one evening. You recognize him as the boy you saw on the wall a few days ago. Eren.

When you had your midnight kiss with Levi on top of Wall Rose. His kiss was something that played on repeat in your head, the soft feeling of his lips against yours, his hands over your hips, the way he pressed himself against you when you both fell asleep…

Despite the grimness of this world, his warmth and the map of his hands is a feeling that has fondly crawled into your heart and bloomed. And over the last few days, he’s stopped by when he can, opting to spend the night with you whenever possible.

It’s moving fast, but with him, it just feels right. And for two souls from the Underground, taking things slow seems like a waste of time. Considering that you both know how fleeting life is. And that small joys should be cherished and held on to for as long as they can.

So you hold on to him. You cherish him. You ask questions about what it’s like beyond the wall, and he only looks at you as if he can see right through you-

“It’s...it would be better without the fuckin’ titans.”

“Oh, you don’t say?”

“It’s endless. There’s so much sky...trees...you would like it. You like that kinda shit.”

Levi pauses, kissing his teeth.

“I’ll take you someday. When this is over.”

You scoff. Tomorrow is not a promise for today, and you both know that.

“You shouldn’t make promises you won’t keep.”

You’re lost in your thoughts for a moment, thoughts of Levi and his steel eyes, when the boy in front of you clears his throat with wide, green eyes.

Despite him being just a boy, you can see the undercurrent of tragedy and blood in his bright eyes.

“Think you’re a few years shy of legally being able to buy a drink from me, Eren,” You say dryly, wiping a beer glass with a cloth.

“I’m not here for a drink,” Eren says, sounding affronted, “I’m here because the commander wanted to relay a message to you.”

“Your commander and his captain couldn’t come tell me themselves, huh,” You mutter under your breath.

“Oh, you’re telling me that Captain Levi isn’t going to be stopping by soon?” Eren says smugly, without batting an eyelash and you gasp at his attitude.

“That’s-that’s not-” You sputter, cheeks warming up at his grin, “What is the message, Eren?”

“The commander is requesting your services for a party in about a week. He wants you to provide alcohol and drinks for the Survey Corps.”

“O-oh,” You nod, “Yes, I can do that. Just give me the details and I’ll do my best.”

Eren tells you that he and some other members of the Survey Corps will arrive during the day to help bring the barrels and bottles of alcohol over to headquarters. You don’t bother to tell Eren that you are well aware of where the Survey Corps headquarters is located.

Because Levi somehow trusted you enough with that information.

The thought of seeing the castle where Levi lives sends a rush of nerves through you. He hasn’t invited you himself, not yet at least. After all, he usually stops by your bar more often than not and you’ve never asked to see the castle.

You think that Captain Levi of the Survey Corps probably has more pressing things to worry about than the blossomed feelings of the bartender pining after him.

Perhaps his leg is still slightly hurting him, you think. Levi had mentioned here and there that sometimes his leg would ache at random moments. You wonder how much of him aches and how much of it he internalizes. He hasn’t been by to see you in a few days, and if you’re a little disappointed, you’ll keep it to yourself.

Because there are more pressing things, and you’ll see him soon enough.

Levi wonders if he should ask you to stay the night. After all, you’ll be essentially hosting this gathering for the rowdy soldiers of the Survey Corps. And you’d probably be tired by the end of the whole ordeal.

He’s already tired from it, and it hasn’t even happened yet. But if you’re there, that makes it a little more bearable.

Levi tries not to stare when you walk into the mess hall with Jean and Connie on either side of you, each carrying a barrel of what he presumes is wine while talking your ear off. And you smile with them, laugh with them.

You’ve been here for two seconds and Levi can already tell that you fit in with them. And he struggles to keep his eyes off of you- the fit of your long black skirt hugging your hips and the green blouse tucked into your skirt, gold hoops on either ear…

Pretty. You look pretty and Levi’s throat goes dry.

He catches your eye and you offer him a crooked smile. Levi makes his way over to you and tells (really, demands) Jean and Connie to go get the other crates of alcohol, and you smile a little wider at him.

“Missed me so much that you wanted to throw a party here, huh?” Levi says, letting his fingers brush over your clothed elbow. His touch is fleeting, barely there, but you can’t help but try to lean closer to him for more.

“You caught me,” You reply dryly, “I wanted to see you so bad that I offered more than half of my stash of liquor for you to consume in a single night. You know, I should report you to the MP’s for encouraging underage drinking. Pretty sure your kids were frothing at the mouth just from the smell of beer.”

“Underage drinking? Yeah, right,” Levi scoffs with a roll of his eyes, “Those kids wouldn’t be able to tell water from wine.”

Levi brushes his pinky finger over yours and the small touch sends your heart accelerating.

You let out a laugh, your head tipping back in mirth and you miss the flash of fondness in Levi’s grey eyes.

“You gonna give me the official tour or what,” You ask. You’re curious about the space that Levi lives in, about where his friends and colleagues live. The Survey Corps has always felt like an enigma to you- a flurry of forest green capes and silver blades.

“Maybe later. Don’t you have work to do?” Levi says, voice flat but you catch the undercurrent of teasing.

“You gonna help me? You didn’t even help me bring the barrels inside.”

“You had it covered.”

“Oh, did I? If your kids are drunk off of the fumes, don’t blame me.”

Levi exhales sharply, a breathy chuckle escaping his lips. The sound echoes in your heart, a sound you never want to let go of.

“You’re stupid,” Levi mutters and pokes your forehead. You only beam at him.

Organized chaos fills the mess hall quickly once the Survey Corps begins to fill in to the hall. You can’t help but wonder when the last time any of them had laughed like this- were they laughing for themselves or fallen soldiers and comrades? Both? It’s the least you could give them, you think.

The raucous sounds of laughter and shouts emerge from the corner of the mess hall, where you spot Eren and a few other boys his age. Namely, one of them with brown hair. They’re yelling at each other, about to start throwing fists, while a crowd forms around them.

Nobody moves to stop them, but clearly, everyone’s either too intoxicated or too lazy to try. But really, maybe this is a reprieve that they all need.

The shouts get louder and punches start being thrown. You pay it no mind, expecting someone in the Survey Corps to stop them. Before you can give it another moment of your attention, your vision is blocked.

You look up, somehow maintaining a perfect poker face when you come in contact with Erwin Smith’s deep, blue eyes.

“Was wondering when the Commander himself was going to grace me with his holy presence,” You remark dryly.

He only looks at you in that disarming way. The same way he looked at you the first time you saw him in your bar. And it’s a look you’ve seen on him from years ago.

You’re very familiar with him, it seems. And the thing you both have in common is Levi.

“I assume you found your way here alright?” Erwin asks. He’s intimidating and his mere gaze makes you swallow nervously.

“Yes, Eren and the rest were really helpful. And thank you for asking me to supply you. I’m really-”

“I trust anyone who Levi trusts,” Erwin says simply and your jaw nearly drops.

“Do you?” You can’t help the question and Erwin looks amused.

“Do you have something you want to say?” Erwin asks, his eyebrow raised.

Your palms sweat- should you tell him? Should you tell him that you recall seeing him all those years ago in the Underground? Should you tell him that you and Liya had been paranoid that he and he team were coming for you and your little not-so-legal operation?

“No, not at all,” You shake your head, “And a word of advice- maybe it’s not a good idea to blindly trust anyone who your Captain trusts.”

“Who said anything about blindly trusting anyone?”

And he walks away from you, effectively rendering you speechless. You think he has that effect on people quite often.

By the time the night ends, it’s well past midnight. In fact, it’s closer to three in the morning, and your eyes are burning with sharp fatigue. Most of the Survey Corps soldiers had drank their fill and the descent into drunkenness had been a merry one.

You always love to see how people enjoy the things you create. It’s part of why you genuinely enjoy being a bartender. But making drinks for the entirety of the Survey Corps was pretty taxing, even if you had enjoyed every minute of it.

And if Erwin Smith himself had paid you well and complimented your bartending skills, it was a win for you.

You had managed to have a few drinks of earthwater to ease your nerves, but now you were eager to go home and go to bed. Sleep is calling your name, and yet your eyes always land on Levi.

He hadn’t approached you much during the night. Not that it bothers you. You know he wants to let you be in your element without him as a distraction. But really, he’s not a distraction for you.

Levi sees you yawn a few times and something hesitant gets stuck in his throat. What is he so hesitant for? It’s so late already. It would be stupid for you to walk home right now, let alone walk home alone.

He could walk you home, he supposes. But he doesn’t want to do that either. It’s been a few days since he’s seen you last. Since he’s stayed the night with you.

Maybe you could stay the night with him. For the first time.

Levi scoffs at his own internal monologue.

“It’s late,” Levi says off-handedly. Everyone else has cleared away from the mess hall, taking their drunken antics with them to bed.

“Great observation,” You mutter.

“Stay with me tonight,” Levi says. He says it so easily, as if it’s not the first time he’s asking you to stay with him. He forces himself to look you in the eyes, amused to see a knowing grin on your face.

“I was waiting for you to ask. Can’t believe it took you until three in the morning to ask me to stay the night-”

“Don’t make me rescind my offer.”

“What a gentleman,” You tease.

“Shut up.”

Once the door of his bedroom closes, you immediately tug his wrist and he turns around, about to ask you what’s wrong. But instead, you impatiently press your lips to his, tasting liquor on his tongue immediately. Levi tastes sweet and minty, refreshing like a cool sunrise.

Your hands are instantly in his hair, chest pressed against his. His hands hover over your hips before sinking his fingers over your ass.

“Missed you,” You say into his mouth, your voice soft and sweet. You press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, somehow already knowing that he was aching to be near you. To hold you, to touch you.

Levi lets himself indulge with you a little longer- the press of your hips against his is too much for him to want to resist. His hand cradles your neck as he steals your breath with soft lips. You don’t think you ever want to live in a world where you can’t feel his quiet desire.

“Wait,” He rasps and you look at him with wide eyes, “Go change.”

“And what would you have me change into?” You ask with a raised eyebrow, “I don’t have clothes here.”

“I have clothes,” Levi murmurs, his thumb caressing your cheek.

“They’ll be small on me-”

“Just try them on,” Levi hushes you and pulls you towards his mahogany armoire. You can’t resist touching the different iterations of his uniform, his dress shirts, his trenchcoat. And then his linen night clothes.

“You’re not shopping,” Levi says dryly, “Stop touching everything.”

You smack his chest lazily. “I’m assessing my options. I guess this’ll do-”

You pull a shirt from his closet, it’s soft under your fingertips and you wonder how it might look on you. Maybe Levi would enjoy the sight of his clothes on you the same way you had enjoyed your own clothes on him. Levi gives you a shirt, similar to the style of the grey linen shirt you enjoy seeing him in.

“Turn around,” You shoo him away.

“I’ve literally seen you naked,” Levi says flatly, but turns around regardless. He hears you rustling your clothes off and hopes that you don’t let your clothes drop to the floor. What a mess.

You neatly fold your clothes and place them inside his armoire, tucked into the corner. Levi can’t resist turning around and catching a peek of your bare legs, a hint of cotton black panties, and the way his shirt cinches around your waist.

Levi swallows.

“Told you it wouldn’t fit,” You say pointedly, “Look at this-”

Levi’s looking alright. His shirt rides up on you, your bare belly and your hips calling for his touch. The shirt is tight over your chest, your breasts defined and detailed by the fit of the shirt. You’re afraid to raise your arms too high, for fear of ripping the shirt.

“Looks great to me,” Levi murmurs, stepping closer to you. His hands instantly grip your hips, your warm skin under his fingertips and pliant to his touch.

“You’re only saying that because you have to,” You roll your dark eyes playfully and smack his chest. He takes your wrist, thumb absently soothing your pulse and he raises your wrist to his lips. He presses a light kiss to your inner wrist, leaving your heart fluttering and your lips upturned.

“I don’t have to do anything,” Levi points out.

“Yeah,” You breathe, “But you should kiss me-”

Levi easily picks you up, his hands tight on your thighs and carries you to his bed, dropping you carefully on his crisp, cotton sheets. Everything smells like him, his beige sheets, his pillow, his covers. You could drown, and you’d gladly sink in love with him.

You’re both a synchronized mess of limbs and lips, of murmurs and moans- neither of you can get enough of touching the other. It’s only been a few days, maybe a week or so, but you’re overcome with a familiar feeling. A familiar feeling of longing, of not wanting to let him go. You cross your ankles hastily around his narrow waist, pulling him closer to you.

The dimming light of the candle at Levi’s bedside illuminates the soft planes of your face, giving your brown skin a fiery glow. You look like you belong here, your dark hair a sharp contrast against his sheets. You look like you belong here, with him, in between his sheets and fitting in the rough crevices of your hands.

But your hands are rough, too, in the way that they scale his back. Your touch is rough but gentle against his scarred skin. The scars on your skin match some of his and he squeezes your hands as he dips his head to meet your rouged lips.

Levi wonders if he should pull away from you. Not just from this moment, but from you in all of your fire. If embracing his feelings for you is dangerous, then he’ll be a risk to himself.

If his feelings are something to avoid for some grand, noble cause that he doesn’t quite understand, he won’t. Not when he’ll regret it if he does. Not when the noises he pulls from you, the soft sighs and breathy calls of his name sound so sweet to his ears. Not when the cacophony of your sweet noises shoot straight down to his cock.

He won’t deny himself of this divine rapture- nothing would ever compare to the way your moans crescendo in his ear, only for your wet, warm walls to squeeze down all around him. Levi kisses the junction in between your shoulder and your neck, panting into your glistening skin as he rolls his hips into yours. His hands are bruising over your hips, hands squeezing every inch of your skin that he can.

Levi’s eyes are blazing, bits of grey steel sputtering out in ash when he looks at you. The intensity of his gaze makes your cheeks heat up, and instead you tip your head up for a needy kiss.

He curls a hand around your warm cheek, stilling inside of you momentarily. “Are you with me?” Levi murmurs. He’s so close to your face that soft puffs of his breath tickles your nose.

“Yes,” You mumble hoarsely, “I’m with you.”

Waking up next to Levi in his bed felt as natural as anything else in the world. As the sun rose, illuminating his bedroom with soft rays of gold, you did, too. Specifically, you woke up to Levi’s hands on you and his lips attached to the back of your neck.

You could get used to this. You could really get used to this.

“You don’t have anything to do today?” You ask, sleep still curled in your voice.

“Couple things later,” Levi murmurs, “For now, just us.”

“Okay,” You hum, closing your eyes and almost drifting back into sleep.

Mornings with Levi are slow and steady. Just the way you like it. No interruptions outside of the concrete walls of his bedroom, only your breaths and his. He slots himself between your legs and you make a home out of him as the sunlight pours onto your skin.

Levi doesn’t think he’s ever seen anything as beautiful as the golden sunshine on your brown skin.

Once you and Levi are both dressed, Levi wordlessly hands you something heavy in your hands. It’s in a sleek, black box and you raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

“What’s this? Parting gift?” You ask. Levi rolls his eyes and opens the box for you. It’s a silver dagger, one that looks a little used.

You look up at him with wide, confused eyes.

“In case you need it,” Levi says simply.

In case you need something to remember me by.

A bullet almost as wide as your palm slings past you and into the shelf of alcohol behind you. Before you can shout at whoever it was for destroying your precious liquor, a piercing pain erupts from your upper arm.

Blood drips down your arm, staining the edges of your nice blouse. The bullet grazed your bare arms apparently and Levi meets your eyes from his position behind the bar counter. Silently, you tell him you’re fine and to handle his mess. He gives you a curt nod and eyes the bottle of alcohol in front of him and takes your shotgun.

He always would ask you why you had a shotgun if you never learned how to properly use it. And you’d tell him you’ve always been a knife kind of girl, as he should know.

You briefly wonder how Levi reacts so quickly. Are you in shock? Why are you thinking about Levi’s quick reflexes when your arm is bleeding out? You feel lightheaded but you force yourself to stay awake and stand firm. It’s your bar, and you’ll be damned if anyone gets in the way of that.

Words and the shouts around you sound muffled to your ears. You briefly hear Levi and the stranger with a fedora exchange a few remarks, before Levi lifts your shotgun over his head and shoots. Your ears are ringing fiercely and you barely hear Levi mutter to you that he’ll try to come back to you before tossing one of your bar stools out of the door and into the stranger.

“That’s my fuckin chair,” You mutter, “Ass.”

Levi doesn’t look back at you before swinging away on his cables. You hear the sharp twist of blades and the booming sound of bullets fill the air once more before black dots coat your vision and you pass out.

Cradling your left arm close to your chest, you survey the damage at your bar. The bar top itself is split in half with stray pieces of wood littering the floor. The stench of fear and adrenaline lingers in the air, even though it’s just you in the bar.

You decide to tell Levi that you’re putting the damages on the Survey Corps’ tab.

You had woken up several hours ago in the infirmary, with a nurse and a doctor looking at you warily-

The throbbing in your arm had subsided for the most part but you just felt so… woozy.

“We cleaned out your wound while you were passed out. Unfortunately, it does require stitches. Eight to be exact.”

“You couldn’t do that when I was passed out, too?” You groan hoarsely. Stiffness begins to settle into your left arm and you wince.

And about thirty minutes after that, you had left the infirmary alone with only the new moon as your company. You vaguely remember Misaki being in the infirmary with you, but you had told her to go home. She had a younger sister to take care of, after all. That much you remember, in your exhausted delirium.

Sweat breaks out over your forehead when you attempt to pick up the pieces of broken wood from the floor. You manage to clean all of two feet of space before giving up from exertion. You sit in front of what remains of your bar counter and lean your head back with your eyes closed.

What a day. You hope Levi’s okay, and that whatever reason he had for dramatically slamming into your bar completely unannounced was worth it.

He’d roll his eyes at you if he heard you.

“You gonna sit there all day or what?” A voice, quite possibly one of your favorite voices, calls from the entrance of your bar.

“We’re closed. For construction,” You reply, still with your eyes closed.

You hear his footfalls before they stop right in front of your crossed legs and he crouches down to be eye-level with you. You feel his fingers brush over your bandages and you finally open your eyes to come face to face with Levi himself.

“Hey,” You murmur, the last bits of your strength evaporating into the air with your words.

“You should be resting,” Levi says, eyes intensely trained on you.

“I suppose,” You reply, “You should be resting, too.”

You eye the cut over his eyebrow and splotches of dried blood caked over his cheeks. You wonder if it’s his blood.

“Couldn’t even make it upstairs?” Levi asks, ignoring your comment.

“Obviously not,” You roll your eyes.

“I should leave you here. For that mouth of yours.”

“Shut up. I quite literally took a bullet for you, so help me up, Captain Levi.”

His eyes soften marginally at that. He pulls away from you to quickly clear away the broken pieces of wood strewn across the floor. He hoists you up with his hands gently over your ribcage. You’ll never deny his touch on any part of you, and you both know it.

Levi carries you to your small but cozy apartment above the bar when he sees you fighting off fatigue. He wonders if you do that for his benefit. Pretend like you’re not the most tired you’ve been in a long time just so he doesn’t feel bad about it.

He knows of your tough exterior and he knows your smart mouth. But he knows that you’re soft, too.

Levi seats you on the edge of your bed and you watch him flit around your apartment with tired eyes. He’s been here enough times to know where things are- ointment, bandages, medicine, water.

“Stitches?”

“Eight of them,” You nod.

Levi wordlessly peels your bandages off of your skin. You expect a sharp sting, but there is none. Only Levi’s rough fingers gently prodding at your skin.

“I could’ve done a better job,” Levi scoffs, “Look at this. It’s going to leave a scar.”

“Should I have waited for you while you brought your fancy medical supplies?” You snark, “Besides, it’s okay. Nobody will fuck with me now.”

Levi ducks his head to examine your stitches further, but you’re certain he’s rolling his eyes at you again. His fingers are gentle and warm along the outer areas of your fresh stitches. He washes his hands before dabbing ointment over the gash and wrapping it with new bandages.

“You should watch what I’m doing, rather than stare at me. I won’t be around to change your bandages every night,” Levi says without looking at you.

“What an honor that would be,” You mutter, “Having you stay longer than a night. What a dream.”

He hears the bite in your teasing, but lets it go. Hands brush over his cheek, fingers flitting over his eyebrow curiously. You pad across the skin there, satisfied when you feel a mostly healed cut.

“And you? You were bleeding when you flew in here. Who was that guy anyway? Can’t believe he fuckin’ shot me. In my own fuckin’ bar. What an ass.”

“That was Kenny.”

“That was Kenny?”

“Yes, close your mouth. You look like a fish out of water.”

“How else do you want me to react? The guy who raised you is trying to kill you? What the hell, Levi?”

“He’s part of the shitty MP now. With the interior police.”

He can’t hide the disdain in his voice.

“Wasn’t he the one who killed over a hundred MP’s? Kenny the Ripper?”

“The one and only.”

You’re quiet for a few moments, fingers reaching behind him to lightly scratch his undercut. Levi dares to let out a quiet sigh, closing his eyes and allowing himself a few moments of silence. And you. You press your forehead to his, a light breath tickling his nose.

Dark circles under his closed eyes are prominent and his shoulders seem to slump in your embrace. He’s tired, even if he’ll never say it.

“Stay with me tonight?” You whisper, breaking the silence. Levi opens his slate grey eyes and peers into your own, reluctance already swirling in them.

You press a kiss to his jaw. His cheek. The corner of his mouth. Finally, his lips. As if you’re trying to coax him into staying with you.

Like he needed any persuasion to begin with.

“I have to leave early tomorrow,” Levi finally says. You nod and he buries his head in your neck, breaths soft and steady against your skin. His chapped lips are rough but welcome over your throat as he kisses you. Levi is gentle with you, mindful of your arm, as he melts into you wordlessly.

You wonder if this man knows the extent of how deeply he’s burrowed himself within you. You wonder if he knows that your blood and your heart belong to him.

The words, the confession. It never comes, no matter how often you think of spilling the words from your lips. It remains silent in your throat, caged away like a bird that will never sing.

You tug at Levi’s shirt, trying to lift it off of him with one hand. Mostly, you want to see if he has any fresh bruises that need attention. But you always get distracted by him and his curious hands.

But tonight, you can tell his mind is wandering. And you can tell he needs to sleep. You wish he’d sleep with you for half a day, or even sleep in with you once in a while. But you can only dream.

“Levi,” You say softly, “Will you help me get out of these clothes? I’m so tired. Kinda want to just… lay down.”

You rub your eyes and press your forehead to his shoulder. You sigh contentedly as his hand rubs your back and you lazily rub his chest.

“Sit up then,” He murmurs. He knows where your sleep clothes are, and pulls out one of two shirts he had given to you weeks ago. To remember him by.

Levi undresses you, deliberately sending you little shocks with his touch across your warmed skin. His lips are upturned slightly. He’s being playful. He tosses your clothes in your laundry bin as you crawl into bed, waiting for him.

“Wait,” You say sheepishly, “Can I have some water? I mean, I’d do it myself. But I’m just so cozy right now.”

Levi kisses his teeth in pretend annoyance but brings two glasses of water to bed with him. One for you and one for him. You drink generously, watching him change into sleep clothes before he blows out the candle on your nightstand. Levi climbs into your bed and immediately pulls you to him, fingers under your shirt instantly. His arm is around your waist, wrapped around you, quiet and steady. He’s careful not to touch your injured arm.

There are a million things you want to say to him. You want to speak to him until the sun comes up, not wanting to waste a second more with him. You want to hear about every second of his day and you want to tell him about every second of yours. His time with you is rare and limited and you’re always left yearning for more when he inevitably leaves you for the world.

His world. The one without you in it.

You swallow those slippery thoughts down, and instead snake your fingers through his hair and enjoy the way he hums into your neck. Levi rubs the bandaged area around your arm gingerly. His touch is gentle and featherlight, yet still somehow carrying all the words he doesn’t say in it.

“I need to get you another chair, I think.”

“You need to get me another bar, I think. I’m putting it on the Survey Corps’ tab. It’s a Levi tax. A levy if you will.”

“Hilarious,” Levi mutters, but you hear the airy chuckle against your skin. You laugh with him, before turning towards him and cupping his cheek. He meets your dark eyes, peering at you as if he can see your heart beating through your gaze.

“Sleep, Levi. Wake me before you go,” You say softly, pressing a fierce kiss to his lips.

Levi allows himself to get lost in you, in your familiar jasmine scent. He allows himself the luxury of a lover stealing his breath away at least once more.

Sleep comes easily for him that night. As it usually does, when he’s with you.

tags: @simpingmaize @captainchrisstan @alrightberries @kentobean @melancholicmonologue

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman #levi x you #levi ackerman x you #aot x reader

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