#gets thrown for no reason too and gets told lies about his behavior as well.

[acridid-s]

I need to sit by the river and carve away at a block of wood.

[trebol-negro]

A bedtime story

Based on @idoodlestuffsometimes ' AU

Original painting: Reflection in Blue by Eva Bonnier

Mad Lord Metanoy had never been someone to fall asleep easily. Everyone in the castle knew that. During this past week in particular those who guarded Metanoy's room would hear more footsteps and more broken pottery than usual during the night. More screaming, more throwing books.

Nobody knew what caused this sudden change in behavior, but the guards seemed to enjoy speculating about it.

Hunter knew. That last mission was tough. He knew he should have done a better job covering those new scars he had. He knew how his father usually reacted to him getting hurt and now he had to deal with the consequences.

He hated having to hear everyone around him talk about his father as if he was just a hassle, but most of all he hated knowing that he was the reason why his health was worsening.

He knew that going into his room without the Emperor's permission would surely grant him a punishment. Maybe he would be sent into another dangerous mission. Maybe he would be forbidden from seeing his father for a month. Maybe he would have to experience the physical consequences of one of his uncle's outbursts. He didn't care. The only thing in his mind was making sure that his father was alright.

When he opened the door he thought for sure that his father must have initially mistaken him for one of the guards. He saw his expression quickly change from anger to relief to concern.

- Hey, dad.

- Hunter, my fledgeling, what are you doing here? Did your uncle give you permission to enter?

Hunter paused

- Yes. - He lied. - He told me to check on you. To make sure you were asleep.

Metanoy knew he was lying. His brother would have never allowed him to visit without his supervision. Hunter noticed this and fearing he might get kicked out he quickly tried to convince his father.

- Dad, please.- his expression clearly concerned - You haven't slept for more than a week, please let me help. I know you're worried about me and because of that... - A tear started rolling down his cheek - It's my fault you've gotten worse and I just want to make it up to you, so please let me help you. I...

Soon more tears came out. Metanoy, who was sitting on his bed reached to Hunter's face with his hand and wiped away the tears with his thumb.

- Hunter, my boy. My beautiful fledgeling. Please don't say that. It's not your fault and it never will. I'll rest if that's what you want but please stop blaming yourself. You did nothing wrong.

After tucking himself into his bed Metanoy looked around his room and pointed to one of the few books he hadn't thrown out of the shelves.

- Maybe I could use a bedtime story.

Hunter, now more calmed, grabbed the book. He recognized it, it was his favorite book from when he was a kid. It wasn't a story book, but a book about birds, filled with pictures and fun facts about different species.

He sat down next to his father and started reading. Maybe it was because this was the first time they had been together without the Emperor controlling every single one of their interactions, maybe it was because of all those sleepless nights, but Metanoy soon started to relax himself, his eyes slowly closing and a small smile appearing on his face. He was thinking about all the good memories he had shared with Hunter, about how much he loved his son.

After a while Hunter started to feel sleepy himself. He looked around the room trying to keep himself awake. He looked at his father, now peacefully asleep. He looked at the candles, illuminating the room with their warm light. He looked at all the books that his father had thrown out of the shelves. He looked at the book he was holding, wondering why it wasn't on the floor before, and then it clicked. The reason why it was the only one well placed on the shelf.

- I love you too, dad - he whispered looking at him before completely closing his eyes too.

In the morning his uncle would find that he was not in his room. In the morning his uncle would punish both of them for disobeying orders. But for now, they were together. They were asleep. But most importantly, they were happy.

So, this was my first time writing what could be considered a short fanfic. Hope you all enjoyed it. If some sentences seem weirdly structured to you please remember that writing isn't my thing and that English isn't my first language.

Extras:

[thestrangestthing89]

I think it's possible that Mike was actually sending letters to Will and El was stealing them. - We know Mike was trying to call Will and was complaining about not getting through. The logical next step would be to write a letter. It doesn't make sense that he was so determined to call but then just didn't try any other way of getting in touch with him. - Will said El had a whole book of letters from Mike, but we know she only had about 6 of them. It's possible Will was being dramatic. But maybe he saw her taking the mail and that's why he was under the impression she was getting a lot of letters. - El concocted a whole fairy tale version of her life. She told Mike she was succeeding in school and had great friends when none of that was true. She was clearly telling Will that her relationship with Mike was perfect because he's under the impression they are in love. She lies a lot. She wanted her relationship with Mike to look perfect. If Will was getting more letters than her it would have bothered her. She wanted everyone to think everything was going well and she had her normal life all together. And it's harder to sell that story if she isn't getting a lot of letters from her boyfriend. - I don't think the letters would have been so obvious or direct, but it's possible it would have made her suspicious about Mike and Will's relationship and make her start paying more attention to Will's behavior. Because Will really isn't acting weird. He only got secretive about the painting. We have no other indications that his behavior showed he was crushing on someone and hiding a painting doesn't exactly scream "he has a crush on someone". He could be hiding it for a lot of other reasons. - Would El have even known to be upset at the lack of "Love, Mike" at the end of her letters? She has never sent letters to people before. People sign them in a lot of different ways. But maybe she saw Will's letters and how Mike was writing to him and realized hers were different and Will was getting all the "Love, Mike" letters not to mention ones that weren't emotionally distant, which lead to her feeling neglected by him. - We know Joyce got the mail but I doubt she was hand delivering each letter to her kids. It probably just got thrown on a table. So El could have easily gotten to it before Will. - Mike being weird at the airport could have also been because he isn't sure what's going on with him and Will. They only talked on the phone a few times. I'm assuming the last time was when Will started his painting. So it must have been a good conversation. But if Mike was still sending letters after that call and Will was still not responding he could have been more insecure about their relationship. - When Will mentions Mike wasn't reaching out enough he's surprised and points out that Will should have reached out more too. Which could have been what made him realize Will wasn't getting letters he sent him.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers DARK FATE ー Shuu [VAMPIRE ENDING]

ー The scene starts in front of Karlheinz’ castle

Yui: ( His answer...? )

Shuu: Basically you’ll quietly let yourself get killed?

Karlheinz: ...No.

I will kill you.

Shuu: !?

Yui: Shuu-san!!

( Karlheinz-san’s hand is reaching towards Shuu-san...! Don’t tell me he’ll actuallyーー! )

Shuu: Kuh...!

Yui: ...!!

*STAB*

Shuu: ...

...You never change.

Yui: ...Shuu-san...?

Karlheinz: ...Hah...

Yui: ( ...!! There’s a knife stabbed inside Karlheinz-san’s chest...! )

Karlheinz: Kuh...

*Thud*

Shuu: Like you did just now...You see right through my plans, always making sure you’re one step ahead.

Expecting me to follow in your footsteps is unreasonable. I simply had no other choice but to give up.

Karlheinz: That is exactly.... how those standing at the very top must be. It is how, you will guide your people down the right path...

Next....I must guide you. 

Shuu...In what lies ahead of you, you will surely be thrown into a state of disarray.

However, that is your...destiny. One which you could never escape, from the second you were born as my son...Your dark fate. (1)

However...You have already decided you will no longer run away, no? For the sake of those you wish to protect.

Shuu: ...Yeah.

Karlheinz: ...Perfect.

You have fully awakened as Adam. I shall give you my answer as well.

Shuu...You did more than a fine job trying to reach my level. And right now, you have even surpassed me. 

You, who has learnt how to love and feel, should now possess powers much greater than my own.

Go ahead, my son. Take my head...

The head of none other than the King. I am sure it will be useful to you in many ways...

Shuu: ...Ugh...

...Yui, close your eyes. You don’t have to see this.

Yui: ...No, me tooーー

Shuu: It’s fine.

In return...Whenever I will recall this moment in the future, please quietly stand by my side.

Yui: ...

...Okay.

ー Yui closes her eyes

Karlheinz: I’m leaving everyone in your care...

*CHOP*

Yui: ...!?

( What is going on...!? This overwhelming forceーー... )

( I can’t...I can’t endure it... )

ー She collapses

*Thud*

Shuu: Yui!?

ー The scene shifts to the garden

Ayato: ーー Take a look at the sky...

Kanato: Is that enormous magical energy...Father...?

Laito: ...It’s Shuu.

Subaru: He actually killed him...?

Reiji: ...!

Laito: Isn’t this for the best? To us Vampires, death is a blessing.

I’m sure he yearned for it as well.

Ayato: So he finally took his final breath? Well...He lived for long enough.

Laito: You’re being awfully optimistic, Ayato-kun. The King of Vampires just died, you know? Furthermore, the Vibora are without a leader right now as well.

Kanato: I can only imagine chaos will break loose in the Demon World. I’m sure there will be many wars as well.

Subaru: You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me...As if this place isn’t enough of a hellhole already...

Reiji: ...

Ayato: Oi, Reiji. Whatcha gonna do?

Reiji: ...Let us go meet Shuu.

There are a hundred and one things...I want to ask him, and say to him.

Laito: Let’s go pay our dear older brother a visit then.

Subaru: Cut it out, you’re makin’ me gag!

Reiji: ...Father...

*TIMESKIP*

Shuu: ーー Oi, Yui.

Yui: ...

ー Yui wakes up near the castle

Yui: ...Shuu...san...?

Shuu: ...You’ve regained consciousness, huh?

Yui: I...

Shuu: You had fainted. I assume from the magic energy.

Yui: Magic energy...?

Shuu: ...When the Old Man died, his power was let loose. You witnessed that right before your eyes.

His magic energy was the strongest of anyone in the Demon World. I guess a human simply couldn’t endure it. ...Are you okay?

Yui: Yes...

...How about you, are you alright?

Shuu: ...

...To be honest, I’m not quite sure myself yet.

Part of me regrets killing him, but at the same time, I also feel somewhat relieved.

Yui: ...Do you believe you made the wrong choice?

Shuu: I don’t know that either.

I never thought of him in terms of ‘like’ or ‘hate’ but...

Right now, I understand very well that my Father has always been an impactful figure in my life.

All in all, I might have actually viewed him as my family. For some reason, I feel as if I’ve lost a part of me...

Yui: Shuu-san...

*Meoooow*

Yui: Ehーー...?

*Meoooow*

Yui: Ririe!?

*Meoooow*

Yui: Ririe...!

Shuu: ...He was alive?

I figured he had died because we gave him that name but...I guess you weren’t that weak after all.

...Come here.

*Meoooow*

Shuu: Even when something is lost...Life goes on. That might be the true meaning of a family.

Haah...My list of things to protect just keeps on growing.

Yui: ...Will you protect us? Both me and Ririe?

Shuu: You’re still asking that now? Isn’t that what it means to be a family?

...I’ve made up my resolve. I will take responsibility. I will go head-to-head with my own destiny.

Yui: Shuu-san...

Ayato: ーー Oi, there they are!

Yui: You guys...! Is everything okay now?

Ayato: In what world? My whole body hurts like hell!

Laito: But I’m glad to see you safe as well, Bitch-chan.

Kanato: That being said...Where did that cat come from?

*Meoooow*

Yui: Ah...Ririe, you can’t! Come here.

Subaru: Ririe...?

Shuu: ...Shut it, you guys.

Where’s Reiji?

Reiji: I am present, right here.

ー Reiji walks up to him

Reiji: ...Shuu. Do you remember what I told you?

Shuu: The part about not forgiving me if I were to kill the Old Man?

Reiji: ...So you did kill Father after all. 

Shuu: Yeah.

Reiji: Did he have...any final words?

Shuu: He asked me to take good care of all of you.

That isn’t what brought forth this decision but...I’ll be playing his role from here on out.

Reiji: ...!

Kanato: You’ll ascend the throne?

Ayato: A sloth like yourself? ...For real?

Reiji: Are you saying...You will become the Vampire King?

Shuu: That’s what it’ll boil down to. The late King has died.

From here on out, I will lead the Clan of Vampires as their new King.

Yui: ( Shuu-san... )

Shuu: The Demon World is in disarray ever since what happened to the Vibora. Once the news of the Vampire King’s death hits the masses, it’ll only get worse.

After losing their leader, the Vibora were swiftly conquered by the Founders and lost their clan’s pride.

I can’t let the Vampires go down that same path. I won’t allow for that to happen.

I can’t let those guys...run loose forever.

Even if my struggle is in vain, I will fight till the bitter end.

We haven’t seen the last of this yet...

Ayato: ...But can you pull that off though? Us Vampires are already running low in numbers after the recent attack. 

Shuu: Of course, I don’t believe I can fix this all by myself.

I’ll obviously rely on you guys’ help as well. I won’t take no as an answer. As members of this family, you’ll follow my lead.

Laito: Good grief...Seems like we got ourselves another tyrant on our hands.

Shuu: Reiji. You’ll be my right-hand man. Lend me your strength as the second son of the Sakamaki household. Understood?

Reiji: ...

...I did not fathom a day would come on which I get to hear such a clear order from you.

Very well. For the sake of our family, and our clan, I shall do everything within my ability.

Yui: ( Reiji-san... )

Shuu: First we must retroop our people. Then we can move on to uniting them.

Reiji: You make it sound so easy.

Shuu: Of course, I don’t believe it’ll be a breeze. Therefore, first upーー Yui.

Yui: Eh? Yes?

( I wonder what he’s going to say? He’s staring right into my eyes... )

Shuu: I’ll marry her.

Yui: ...Eh?

Ayato: Hah?

Kanato: ...What are you saying?

Shuu: That’ll increase my prestige, no?

Subaru: You’re marryin’ her over that reason!? Don’t you feel bad for her!?

Shuu: Haah...Ridiculous. You really think I would go through all the trouble just for that?

I’m obviously marrying her out of love.

Yui: ...Shuu-san!?

Laito: Haah...I didn’t think I would hear those words come from Shuu’s mouth one day.

Kanato: Seems like he won’t even bother listening to Yui-san’s reply.

Shuu: Because I don’t need to. ...Right, Yui?

Yui: ...No fair...

Shuu: You’ve been stuck in this destiny with me since forever. You can no longer escape.

So you should make up your resolve as well.

Reiji: Haah...You decide such an important thing on the spot. I fear for the future...

Well, I suppose it is fine. Right now, we have something to celebrate first.

The birth of a New King, and his spouseーー 

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ...I didn’t think I would one day get married in the Demon World.

Shuu: Really? I anticipated this.

I told you, didn’t I? That I was aware this moment would come one day.

You were naturally there as part of that imagination as well.

Yui: I...How should I know without you telling me?

Shuu: I’m not the type of guy who expresses himself with words. I’m pretty sure I told you that before as well?

Yui: Gosh...

*Meooow*

Yui: Ririe. Did you wake up?

*Meooow*

Yui: Fufu, come here.

On certain CGs, little black roses will appear on the screen. If you click on them, you get an extra line of dialogue.

“What? You think I look lovely in these clothes because it’s so different from my usual attire? ...Haha. Dare I say you don’t look half bad either?”

“I’ve had let alone time with you ever since this little guy came along. ...However, from here on out, you’ll always be only mine.”

Shuu: ...Don’t you think you spoil him a little bit too much?

Yui: You think so? Not as much as with you though...

Shuu: What do you mean?

Yui: I think I spoil you much more than I do Ririe.

Shuu: ...Hah, you tell me.

*Rustle*

Shuu: In that case, make it a little more obvious.

You always claim you don’t understand me but...Your behavior is confusing as well.

Yui: I-Is it...?

( I always thought I was pretty straight-forward...I wonder if that didn’t quite convey to him...? )

Shuu: Don’t look so anxious. ...It properly got through to me.

Yui: Ah...

*Meooow*

Shuu: You’ve made it more than clear that you love me ...Nn...

Yui: Nn...

Shuu: Nn...Haah...

Shuu: Haha...Now you are one of us as well.

Yui: Am I?

Shuu: Even if your body is human, you’ll marry the Vampire King, so I’m sure that will happen.

The King’s spouse is a human, huh? Well, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing?

...Yui.

Yui: Yes?

Shuu: Chaos still washes over the Demon World to this day. I can only imagine the war will get intense.

Yui: ...Yes. 

Shuu: As long as you stand by my side like this, you will surely get involved with this dark fate as well.

That must be rough as a woman, and a human on top of that. I can understand why you would rather turn a blind eye to it.

Yui: ...I’m prepared.

I’ve always stuck by your side, well aware that this would happen.

Shuu: Heh...I guess I worried for nothing.

Well, not that I was going to let you go either way.

Father was right. I...lose all meaning in life when you’re not with me.

Stay with me until death. I’ll protect you till that day.

Become my new family, and live by my side.

Yui: ...Yes.

Shuu: Then kiss me.

Yui: ...Where did that come from!?

Shuu: Just words aren’t enough. Promise it with your body as well. Come on...

Yui: Nn...

*Smooch*

Shuu: Hah...I really like this way much better than just mere words.

*Meooow*

Shuu: ...Don’t interfere. She belongs to me.

Yui: Oh come on, don’t compete with a cat.

Shuu: I guess every time we welcome a new member to our family, I’ll have to reconfirm that you’re mine.

Haah...I fear for the future. Having a family really is a drag after all.

Well, I guess I can live with it if they’re directly descended from you. 

Yui: ( Does he mean...? )

Shuu: From here on out, I’ll protect both you and my family with my own two hands.

To live alongside my precious family, and the woman I love...

Yui: ...Yes.

Shuu: ...We still haven’t said it, huh?

Yui: What exactly?

Shuu: The oath to become a family.

Komori Yui. I...love you.

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) Karlheinz drops this term in the general prologue as well. He says 闇の運命 or ‘yami no sadame’ which means ‘the law of the dark’. However, ‘sadame’ is written with the characters for ‘unmei’, which means ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ instead of 定め.  

Within the DL franchise, ‘the dark’ is often used as a synonym for demons/those who live in the Demon World. For example, in HDB, the boys will often call themselves ‘yami no juumin’ or ‘residents of the dark’. Personally, I believe he implies that all Demons are born with a set path in life already drawn out for them and in Shuu’s case, it was his destiny to one day become Adam, kill his Father to inherit his powers and become the next Demon King.

[animeyanderelover]

ok ok so deathnote characters (melli near l and light) with a modern s/o but like the thing is is that they kinda fell through the sky whne l and light were at the park or something so they just look at the s/o like 👁👄👁 while the s/o comes running over explaining how much they love l ( and compleatly ignoring light)

I only did it with L and Light because I don’t seem the dynamic with all four of them working. I can see honestly everything else. Near obsessing over L’s darling or Light’s and the same for Mello and everything else. But I can’t think of this right now. I hope it’s still alright😕. I think I’ll make a separate post for Mello and Near later on.

Modern reader getting transported in Death Note

✍️🍰Light knew already that there were more mysterious things that existed in this universe, the Shinigami following him and the note he had hidden in his room being proof enough of this. He would have lied if he had said he had never asked Ryuk if there were other things as well. But that damn Shinigami just shrugged with his shoulders. L was someone who had always relied more on logical things, but during the Kira case his view on the world changed a bit, accepting the fact that there were things beyond his knowledge.

✍️🍰But no one from the two had expected to witness what had happened on this day. They had just been sitting in the park and doing some small talk, both trying secretly to figure ways out how to win against the other. That was until they had suddenly saw something. For the shortest of seconds...the sky suddenly seemed to split in half, opening a hole before quickly going back to normal. What had that just been? Both of them just stared surprised at the sky. And then they had heard it. Screaming, at first only faint, but it had gotten louder and louder until they had seen a view that nearly caused them to drop their jaws. There you were, falling from who knows which height down. You were yelling something from not wanting to die like this, closing your eyes tightly and praying to whoever you believed in. But shortly before you could end like a pancake you suddenly slowed down, floating softly down and gently landing on the earth.

✍️🍰Both of them just stood there in shock, glancing with blinking eyes back and forth between the sky and you. There was no doubt in their minds that you had been falling through that hole from a few minutes before. But that didn’t help them what that had just been and who you were. You on the other hand had slowly opened your eyes, noticing that you weren’t dead yet and looking like a lost puppy confused around. That was until you were met with the clueless faces from L and Light, your gaze freezing on theirs.

✍️🍰For a few seconds they just looked at you and you just looked at them. That was until a sparkle started appearing and you instantly jumped to your feet and hurried to them, looking amazed at L, circling around him and observing him interested. And that’s when you asked with a hint of excitement if he was L? And that made both men tense up. From where did you know that. You took that as a yes and started instantly explaining that you were a huge fan of his, something from “him being your favorite from the Anime” and excitedly starting to ramble about how much you loved him and that he was incredibly cool. Light just stood there, feeling like he was somewhat in the wrong place. Why were you ignoring him?

✍️🍰L on the other hand was flustered, not only because you knew who he was, but also because of your enthusiasm towards him. By all means, he wasn’t used to suddenly be showered in compliments and praises like this. Not only that, but he was scared that someone would hear you because you had gotten louder and louder during your speech. So he just hushed you and asked you who you were. And you told him proudly your name. Light had gotten a bit awkward, not being okay with the fact of being ignored like this. That’s why he decided to finally step in, asking you what had just happened and why you had fallen from the sky. You turned your head in his direction, the smile you had given L slowly transforming into an frustrated and somewhat angry look, scoffing at him that he should just stay out of it.

✍️🍰L thought it would be the smartest to question you somewhere more private, bringing you into the basement where they were currently working on the Kira case. During the whole ride back there you kept talking to L, even going as far as interrupting Light whenever he tried to join. And Light slowly started to get pissed off by your disrespectful behavior. What was your problem?

✍️🍰The way you were being questioned was much more pleasant than what he had done with Misa and Light, looking more like a friendly chat under old friends. You were served some coffee and cake from Watari, L thinking that you would talk willingly. And you did indeed. By the end of your explanation you looked a bit embarrassed, L staring at you with a neutral expression on his face and Light quirking an eyebrow at you. He really wanted to think that you were nuts, but the fact that you had literally fallen from the sky kept him from labeling you as a lunatic. He did know that supernatural things existed, but this was a bit hard. You noticed that both of them were a bit unsure, offering to give them some proof before pulling your cellphone out and showing them some pictures you had saved about L. A lot of pictures. This seemed to fascinate L, taking your phone and scrolling through the pictures before asking you if you had some more proof. You did, but told him whilst glancing suspiciously at Light that you didn’t want to say this loudly. So you just whispered it in L’s ear, his eyes widening in surprise before giving you a intense look. You just laughed and told him that you wouldn’t tell anyone.

✍️🍰What did you tell him? You told him about the Wammy House and his two successors inside of there. And that managed to convince L, explaining later on that you would live somewhere near here and that this should be kept as a secret between him, Watari, you and Light. Light on the other hand still had his doubts, not fully believing yet that all of this was true. Later on in his room he talked to Ryuk, asking the Shinigami what he was thinking about this. Ryuk just laughed, looking clearly amused by something. When Light asked him annoyed what was so funny Ryuk gave him an answer that made him jump up in surprise. He hadn’t been able to see your name nor your life span above your head, emphasizing that he normally was able to see the name and life span of every human from this world.

✍️🍰That managed to convince Light because even though Ryuk was lazy, he wasn’t a liar. But that meant trouble. You had explained that in your world their world was an Anime, a show which people watched. And that meant that you knew about him. He had of course luck because you had explained that before being thrown into this world you had somewhat heard someone saying that you weren’t allowed to tell them anything too directly. But you were allowed to change the future. That meant if you would somewhat hint L that he was Kira it would be over for him. So what other choice did he have besides killing you. He only hoped that the name you had told him was the right one whilst busily writing down your name in his Death Note. But as soon as he had written it down something strange happened. Your name just disappeared. And no matter how much Light wrote it down, it kept getting erased.

✍️🍰What was that supposed to mean? Did that mean that he couldn’t kill you? Shinigami, tell him what that meant! Ryuk himself seemed surprised by this, chuckling and saying that this was so fun. But then he suggested that this Death Note, and other Death Notes as well, maybe didn’t have the power to kill someone from another universe. And that was just great for Light. The Death Note had always been his best weapon, but now it was useless. It was of course also a choice to kill you with his bare hands. But not only were you already very warily around him, he would also make himself the clear culprit since he was the only one besides Watari and L who knew about your true identity. Not to mention that you had been placed under great security system. What was he supposed to do now?!

✍️🍰You often spent time with the four who knew about your secret, talking with you about the case and L also showing a huge interest in your world and the Anime about his world. He was almost a bit disappointed when finding out that your world, minus Kira of course, was pretty much the same as his. And Light could clearly feel how you always glared silently at him, wishing that he could somehow get rid of you because due to your more hostile behavior towards him L had also started to get more suspicious. He needed to do something about you.

✍️🍰But he never got the chance too. Not because he couldn’t, there were moments where he could have easily gotten rid of you. But more because he slowly started to change his impression he had from you. At first he had thought that you were just an annoying fangirls from L, like all the others he had himself. But you weren’t. You were more than that. You were surprisingly witty and fun to be with. Not only that, but you were also hardworking and had a good heart. You were the kind of human he wanted to have in this rotten world. You were purehearted. Even to him you became a bit more friendly over time despite knowing who he was. He couldn’t help, but sometimes suddenly think that you must have been sent here for a reason. To be sent here from some force that wanted to show Light the embodiment of perfection. So he started to change his plans. Instead of killing you he decided to make you his goddess/god and not only ruling over his world, but over yours as well.

✍️🍰L had been obsessed with you the moment you had arrived here, only pouring fuel into his fire of obsession after proving to him from where you really were. He obsessed over the fact that there was so much more in this universe he didn’t know. What other secrets were out there? Due to this he probably didn’t even realize when his obsession started becoming more romantic towards you, needing a long time until he understood that he had fallen in an unhealthy love with you. And suddenly his questions started revolving only around you, wanting to know very private things about you which even caused you to become uncomfortable.

✍️🍰L had a huge advantage in here because he was your favorite from everyone in Death Note. And that was unacceptable for Light. Why would you, his future queen/king want to spend any time with him? An sugar addicted insomniac? You should realize that Light was your future king, your god, your protector, your everything. But you just ignored him, choosing always L over him. And Light just knew that that bastard enjoyed it.

✍️🍰Both of them knew of their feelings for you and none of them was ecstatic about this. But L had the better cards in this games, being able to convince you into spending the majority of your time with him. And Light couldn’t do much about it, having to bite his tongue whenever he saw the both of you together and almost storming over and rip that guy away from you when he was touching you. The Death Note was maybe his preferred way of getting rid of every obstacle in his way, but by now he was ready to jump on L and strangle him because he didn’t even know that guy’s real name.

✍️🍰Another huge obstacle for Light was Misa, who was for him by now besides L the second biggest pain in his ass. Because you had told him one time before that he should feel glad to have someone as lovely as Misa as his girlfriend, always pushing him away with the words to better spend time with his girlfriend. Misa didn’t know about you for which Light was thankful, but whenever Misa touched him he couldn’t help, but cringe at this. What he wouldn’t have given to have you instead of Misa kissing him.

✍️🍰Now to the separate endings. If Light wins he will get rid of L, which will most likely sadden you very much even though you knew that this would happen. Light would at first try to keep you a secret from Misa, but he won’t be able to hide you forever from her and it will end with Light manipulating her into keeping an eye on you when he is busy with work. Light with his god complex would want to find a way back to your world to get rid of criminals and bad people in there as well. He won’t be just god of his world, but of yours as well. If L wins then you were able to push him with your subtle gestures and words into the right direction and helping him with convicting Light and Misa. L has a undeniable fascination with your world and would use the chance to explore it if he should ever get the chance too. He might find some sweets he hasn’t in his world. But I also believe that he would prefer to stay with you in his world since he is in his world able to keep you with him protect you.

[cocobeanncteez]

ATEEZ Yeosang Imagine: When he's secretly dating you and his friends bully you.

Genre: Angst, fluff, high school au.

Pairing: badboy!Yeosang x fem!reader

Words: 4k

Warnings: Bullying, profanities.

You didn't flinch when you felt a crumpled paper hit the back of your head—you were so used to it now. You could hear familiar laughter while another paper was thrown, and it landed right on top of your desk. You slowly straightened it out, unsurprised to find the same words you were called pretty much everyday—bitch, dweeb, nerd, prude. You put the paper in the pocket of your uniform's skirt, mentally reminding yourself to throw it away later.

"Hey, you nerd!" you heard Jung Wooyoung yell from across the classroom, but you ignored him. He was part of Ateez—a so-called group of eight bad boys who were absolutely nothing but trouble. They were always picking on someone, so most students here were scared of them. You became their victim about three months ago when you accidentally bumped into Song Mingi while you were rushing to class; he thought you were the perfect target, and all his friends joined in on bullying you. 

While you were lost in your thoughts, Jung Wooyoung slammed his fist on your wooden desk, making you flinch at the sudden loud sound. "How dare you fucking ignore me, you stupid bitch?!" Your classmates quietly watched the scene, not daring to open their mouths and stand up for you; they knew that they would be next on the target-list if they even uttered a word. You only had two friends at school and both of them didn't share any common classes with you, except mathematics.

You would've stood up for yourself and slapped Jung Wooyoung across his face, but unfortunately for you, he happened to be your boyfriend's childhood and closest friend. You knew how much your boyfriend, Kang Yeosang, loved and cherished Wooyoung and the other six boys, so you never fought back whenever any of them bullied you. They didn't even know that you were dating Yeosang for almost six months now.

Yeosang always laughed with them while you got bullied, but at the end of the day, he would check up on you, pulling you into his arms and kissing you gently while he mumbled an apology.

Wooyoung was going to yell at you again, but your teacher arrived, saving you. He glared at you before he quietly returned to his seat; you knew he would come after you again once class ended.

And you were right.

"Stop right there," Wooyoung said, harshly grabbing you by your arm, and pushing you against the student lockers; you winced in pain. Mingi was right behind him, smirking at the situation.

"What did she do now, Woo?" San asked, walking towards the three of you, Seonghwa and Yeosang trailing behind him. Yeosang gave you a questioning look, but you only shook your head slowly. Only Seonghwa noticed the small exchange between you and Yeosang, but he didn't say anything.

Wooyoung snorts. "This little prude here ignored me in class. Shouldn't we teach her a less—"

"Listen, I'm fucking starving right now," Yeosang said in an annoyed tone, interrupting Wooyoung. "Can we please go eat?"

"But—"

"Same," Seonghwa said. "Let's not waste our lunch break. We can deal with her later."

"Fine," Wooyoung scoffs. "This isn't over yet, bitch," he mumbled lowly to you before following the rest of the boys to the cafeteria.

You took a deep breath, resting your head against the locker. You really wished Yeosang would just tell them you were his girlfriend; it would make everything so much easier. You wondered why he still hasn't told them when you've both been dating for nearly half a year. You couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with you. Was he embarrassed to be with you because you weren't the rebellious type like him and his friends? Or was it something else?

You sigh, scrunching your eyes closed while your head slightly pounded at your temples. The whole situation was seriously messing with your head. You see both your friends—Heejin and Jiwoo— making their way towards you, looking at you with worried eyes. They knew you were dating Yeosang and weren't really supportive of it.

"What's wrong?" Heejin asked.

"Headache," you replied.

She nods, taking your hand in hers. "You need to eat, Y/N." She dragged you to the cafeteria while Jiwoo happily told you both about a guy she was starting to like.

Once the three of you got to the cafeteria and bought your respective food, you sat at your usual table which was at the end of the cafeteria.

You could hear familiar laughter and you didn't even have to look at them to know who they were.

Ateez sat at their usual table which was right in the middle of the cafeteria, grabbing nearly everyone's attention. Of course, most people didn't look at them; they didn't want accidental eye-contact resulting in their life getting miserable every day.

A chorus of 'ohhs' were heard, and everyone glanced at Ateez curiously. However, the moment you looked up from your food, your stomach dropped.

Your heart ached at the sight of a girl—the most popular girl in your school— sitting on Yeosang's lap while he looked up at her with a smirk; the same smirk he always gave you whenever he teased you.

"Well, it's about time," you heard a guy seated at the table behind you say. "Kim Shinah has been trying to date him ever since the year started." You knew this, of course. Everyone at your school did. However, Yeosang told you he had absolutely no interest in her and found her quite annoying, so you were quite confused as to why he was letting her sit on his lap, let alone come close to him.

You glanced down at your food, not feeling like eating anymore. Your friends gave you a worried look.

Heejin sighed. "Y/N . . . "

You shook your head. "It's fine," you lied, smiling slightly. "I lost my appetite." You got up from your seat and disposed your food tray before you headed to your next class.

×××

You barely texted Yeosang for the next two weeks and you didn't meet him after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays like you usually did; you told him that you were busy studying for the upcoming exams in two weeks. You didn't eat at the cafeteria because Kim Shinah was always busy flirting with Yeosang there; it was too much for you to watch.

Yeosang noticed something was off today when he realised that you haven't replied to his texts in three whole days. He secretly tried to approach you in school, but unfortunately for him, he couldn't find the right opportunity as one of his friends was always there. He felt quite sad that you weren't even glancing at him.

After school ended, you sat on a bench right beside your school's outdoor basketball court, scrolling through your social media while waiting for Jiwoo and Heejin so you all could take a bus home together.

"Oh, look! It's the dweeb!" you heard Song Mingi say. You could see the rest of Ateez through your peripheral vision. You ignore them, keeping your eyes on your phone.

"Your skirt is pretty short for a prude," San said, pointing at your uniform skirt that had moved up your thighs a little.

"Virgins are really so desperate," Hongjoong remarked, and the others agreed. You wanted to laugh and tell them how one of their own friends took your virginity away not too long ago. On the other hand, Yeosang was pissed off with his friends' behavior, but he didn't show it. He acted like nothing was affecting him.

"But it would be so nice to fuck her," Mingi chuckled.

Jongho and Yunho nod. "Imagine how tight this little virgin—"

You had enough now.

You snorted, shocking them because of your 'bold' move. You locked your phone and put it in your pocket before you got up from the bench, looking straight at your boyfriend.

"Your friends are talking about fucking me," you said to Yeosang in a nonchalant tone. "Are you not going to say anything? Not even now?"

Wooyoung scoffed. "Why the fuck are you talking to him, bitch?"

Yeosang only stared back at you, unsure of what to say. He wanted to defend you so badly, but at the same time, he couldn't. At least not in front of his friends.

"I see," you chuckled at his silence. "Let's just . . . " you felt your heart ache. "Let's break up, Yeosang."

Yeosang's eyes widened, feeling his heart shatter into a million pieces. He never thought you would ever break up with him. Seonghwa didn't seem surprised, and the other six boys were shocked.

Yunho turned to Yeosang. "What the fuck is she saying, Yeo—"

Yeosang took a step towards you. "Babe . . . you seriously cannot be breaking up with me for this," Yeosang said, clearly hurt. One of the boys gasped, not expecting this to actually be true; who would've thought the bad boy would choose a goody-two-shoes.

"If you think this is the only reason, you're wrong," you deadpanned. "It's been six months since we started dating, Yeosang. Do you think I'm not tired of you ignoring me in front of everyone? You cancel our plans whenever you have to be with your friends. You laugh along with them whenever they're fucking harassing me, your girlfriend. Your friends have been bullying me for three months now and you wouldn't even say shit. Instead, you join in." You didn't care that the seven boys were listening to this. You didn't care that at this point, tears were streaming down your face. "You even let Kim Shinah sit on your lap and you've been fucking flirting with her right in front of me. You told me you had no interest in her. Who knows what the fuck you do behind my back!" Heejin and Jiwoo had just arrived, standing beside you. Yeosang had a pained expression on his face as he took in everything you just said.

"I really can't do this anymore," you stated, wiping away your tears with the back of your hand. "It's over, Yeosang." you give him a small smile before you walked away. Jiwoo followed you while Heejin gave Yeosang a disgusted look.

"You're an asshole, Kang Yeosang. I can't believe she actually loved you," Heejin said before she ran to catch up with you and Jiwoo.

Yeosang stared straight ahead of him, hands clenching into fists. He was so upset with himself. "I fucked up so bad. I love her so much. I really fucked up big time."

"Hyung . . . you're crying," Jongho murmured. Yeosang didn't even realize that. He lets out a broken chuckle while wiping his tears. He left without saying a word to anyone, wanting nothing more than to be alone.

"I knew this would happen," Seonghwa muttered while watching Yeosang walk away, but the boys heard him.

"You knew about this?" Wooyoung asked.

"No, but I kinda figured out recently that there was something going on between them," Seonghwa replied. "I don't know about you guys, but it was really obvious to me that Yeosang liked her. We should go apologize."

×××

You were at your school's library, studying for the exams scheduled for next week. Yeosang didn't go after you or contact you after you broke up with him. In fact, Yeosang hadn't even come to school after that, which was a week ago. His friends didn't bully you anymore and they all apologized for everything. You accepted their apology after they promised to never bully you or anyone else again.

You were just about to leave the library to go home, but someone stopped you. "Y/N, can we talk?" You nodded and followed him outside, waiting for him to speak.

"What is it, Seonghwa?" you asked anxiously when he wasn't saying anything. His silence was making you feel uneasy.

Seonghwa sighs sadly. "Yeosang . . . "

Your heart ached at the mention of his name. "What about him?" you whispered, looking away.

"It's hard to explain," Seonghwa said. "It's better if you see him instead."

"I-I can't, Seonghwa."

"Please, Y/N," he begged. "I know he fucked up, but you really need to see him right now."

You thought about it for a minute before you agreed. Seonghwa drove you to Yeosang's new apartment that he rented out two months ago after his parents kicked him out.

Seonghwa dropped you off at the entrance of the apartment complex before driving off.

You sighed as you made your way to Yeosang's apartment. You rang his doorbell, but no one answered. You rang it twice again, but there was still no response. You bit your lip, contemplating whether you should enter his passcode—the one he had before you broke up. "Fuck it," you muttered after waiting for another minute. You entered the passcode which happened to be your date of birth; you were surprised he didn't change it yet.

You went inside, wondering why his curtains weren't drawn at this time. The room was dim and there were empty Soju bottles scattered on the floor.

Your heart sank at the sight of Yeosang asleep on the floor, curled up into a fetal position. He was wearing the grey hoodie you had gotten him for his birthday.

You kneeled down beside him, running your hand through his messy brown hair. You noticed the dark circles under his eyes and he lost some weight. "What have you done to yourself . . . " you whispered. You went to his room and got a blanket. You placed it over his body and put a pillow under his head before you headed to his kitchen to make dinner with whatever ingredients you could find.

Yeosang woke up an hour later, confused because of the delicious smell of food. "Seonghwa hyung . . . ?" he called out, his voice deep as he just woke up. When he got no reply, he forced himself to stand up, making his way to the kitchen.

Yeosang rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Hyung, how did you get into my apartment? I don't think I've ever told you the pass— Y/N . . . ?"

"I made dinner," you said while putting some rice in a bowl. Yeosang stood there with a dumbfounded expression, wondering if he was still too sleepy. "Go freshen up," you said. He nodded slowly after realizing you were really here before going to the bathroom.

When he came back, he sat down with you at the dining table. "Y/N, I—"

"Eat first," you interrupted him. "We'll talk after this." He nodded obediently, immediately taking a bite of his food. He finished the entire thing in less than five minutes. "When was the last time you had a proper meal?" you asked.

"Last week," he answered. "Seonghwa hyung tried to make something for me, but I couldn't eat . . . so he forced me." He hesitantly reached out to cup your cheek, stroking your skin gently.

"What are you doing . . . ?" you murmured, involuntarily leaning into his touch that you missed so much.

"Just making sure you're really here and I'm not dreaming," he said before his eyes started watering. "Y/N, I . . . I'm so sorry." Your head told you not to forgive him, but your heart disagreed.

You stood up from the chair and went to his side, pulling him into a hug while he cried. "It's fine, Yeosang."

"It's not," he sobbed. "It's not fine and you know it. I said— I promised I wouldn't let anyone hurt you and would protect you from everyone. I promised I would never be the reason behind your tears. And look at what I did! God, I fucking hate myself for hurting you." Your heart hurt at the way he cried. You ran your fingers through his soft hair, trying to calm him down. "I'm so sorry, Y/N. I want to ask you for another chance, but I know I don't deserve it," he whispered. "I failed to be a good boyfriend. I failed to be the man you could trust, and I failed to be the man you could l-love and—"

You brought his lips to yours, cutting him off. "I love you, Kang Yeosang. I'm in love with you. I have been for quite sometime now. Yes, you fucked up and I shouldn't be here, but I just can't let you go . . . I really love you, Yeosang. I want to give you another chance." He wiped your tears that began to fall.

"I don't deserve you, Y/N," he said with a sad smile. "But thank you for giving me another chance and for loving me . . . I swear I won't fuck up this time."

You kissed the birthmark beside his eye. "I know you won't . . . But I want an explanation."

He nodded. "There's nothing much to say, I was a fucking asshole. My friends always kept saying that I'm the innocent one, so I bullied people along with them to prove that I'm not what they think I am . . . and then I just got into it. I swear I wanted to beat them up for hurting you and saying all those awful things, but I just couldn't. I wasn't able to speak up even if I really wanted to . . . As for Kim Shinah, they told me to flirt back just to see her reaction. I swear I don't have any feelings for her or anyone else who isn't you." You listened to every word he said, contemplating on what to do. "You really don't have to forgive me, Y/N, after I put you through so much shit. I'll accept whatever decision you make, even if," he took a deep breath. "Even if you say you never want to see me again. I know I'm a bad person."

You shook your head, running your hands through his hair. "Everyone deserves another chance if they're willing to change, Yeosang. We all make mistakes, some forgivable and some unforgivable. But to me, what's important is how you deal with it afterwards. You're not a bad person, Yeosang. Yeah, you got carried away with all that, but that doesn't make you a bad person overall."

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he stood up from the chair, pulling you into a tight hug. "Thank you, baby. I swear I'll change. I fucking swear I'll become so much better that you'll be so proud to call me yours."

You cupped his cheek, wiping away his tears. "I'm already proud of you now," you say with a grin.

Yeosang leaned in, crashing his lips onto yours. "I love you, Y/N," he said in between kisses. "So much." You smiled against his lips, pulling away.

"I love you more, Kang Yeosang," you said before wrapping your arms around his neck, happily bringing his lips back to yours.

[iknowicanbutwhy]

Heads up we got an

Adult Hikikomori Sunny AU

I've been waiting to find an AU after the neutral end of the Hikikomori route for a while. What happened to Sunny? How did his life go on after that? Did he go to college? Did he get a fulltime job? Did he figure out what he wants in life?

these are all very good questions because literally anything could be the case. So this AU is just gonna be stuck in a hospital setting for a while.

Here's what I got so far:

Past:

Hospital Psychiatrist (practicing? Training?) Doctor Hero

I imagine after Basil's death, Hero would (eventually) turn to learning how to identify and help people with suicidal tendencies, if he's gonna be a doctor anyway.

In a choice between psychologist and psychiatrist, Hero went psychiatrist. Hero's parents would pressure him into getting a more lucrative job. PLUS psychiatrists go to college for 8 years, then take four more of psychiatry residency. Hero might feel just a little more accomplished, just a little better about himself for earning a higher degree, just to reassure himself that he's working hard and doing his best towards helping people.

Hero did extra studying in psychotherapy. He tried doing it at the same time as he did medical college. He's not.. the best at it because of that, for several reasons, but he knows it's better to combine medicine and conversation. When he has his head on straight, he can manage it.

I have.. no idea whether to put Hero into practice or residency. He'd have to be at least around.. 31, if he were in practice. That's a long time to have unresolved trauma. That's a nice hunk of research i gotta do.

That's it that's all for Hero. His goals are set in the present and focused around other people, as per usual.

Sunny is... not doing so well. He lied about going to college when he moved into some hole far away from his mother. He has no reason to get up in the morning when he can just lie around. He doesn't enjoy whatever hobbies he used to have.

He doesn't even know Basil is gone and he's so bad off.

He's honestly convinced himself that he doesn't care about anything. He still cares about people, however. He'd have stayed with his mom and burdened her with himself if he didn't. When they had moved from Faraway, it was to a cheaper, smaller place. That meant Sunny's mom didn't have to work so much. That meant more time with Sunny. He decided it was.. preferable not to stay.

The only times he does anything is when he tries to remember the past and relearn the person he used to be. What did he do? What did he like? He'd play games, and read comics, and would get frustrated? move on to something else when those did nothing for him, searching for.. some feeling to occur. And then he'd question why, why, why.

Why can't he enjoy anything? Why does he want to feel enjoyment? Why can't he just do something and be happy? Why can't he just do nothing and be fine? Why does he need to exist? Why does he want to move? Why does he want, but can never have, can never get by himself?

If there's nothing he can do, then what is he waiting for?

Vague memories would become clearer with introspection, until he would feel something, finally. An old guilt aching from deep inside his bones. A haunting self hatred, ripping away whatever minuscule strength his limbs had to try anything fun. A sense of iron resignation blanketing and anchoring his body, reminding him that it's much too late to try getting up now. Ironically, apathy got him up in the morning, as much as it keeps him from enjoying anything enough to stay up.

He was always a little too thin, but he used to force himself to do things like eat and work enough to survive. Mostly because to sleep means to not have headaches, and to not have headaches means to eat well enough, and to eat well enough means to have food, and to have food means to have money from a job.

But it's not as if he was all too desperate to sleep, anyway. His dreams have stayed the same for years. They're more eventful and colorful than bland reality, but it's a mix of the same thing every day. Staring at the swirling kaleidoscope of his dreams is exactly like observing the same beige ceiling for hours on end, until it all mixes together into the same shade of empty grey.

It probably doesn't help Sunny's mood that he thinks dramatic things like the previous point, just to pass time.

He only got worse once he was forced to move into one of those really bad apartments. You know the ones, with the rusted metal stairs nobody wants to risk their life on, and practically no privacy with four-to-five thin-walled neighboring rooms, and bad heating in one corner of the apartment. But it was cheap. Too bad he had to go up and down the stairs all the time.

He didn't have a problem with them when he just moved in. Generally, the most he notices is starting at the top, teleporting to the bottom, and a slight shaking of his hands that he barely glances at with empty curiosity.

As it is, some part of him knew this was going to happen. That he'd have one of those terribly introspective weeks, when he just so happens to have his new job with a boss ready to fire him and his sullen face and poor (somehow complete neutrality is offensive) attitude. He's emotionally vulnerable, and the memories on top of the stairs are devastating.

A week goes by. He's fired. He doesn't look for another job. He hasn't gone for groceries in a while. He's exhausted.

He was waiting for death, he guesses. He still wants, still feels that urge in the buzzing of his fingertips, the ghost of movement from his limbs, the phantom shiver in his back - the intent of every muscle in his body one after the other pleading with him to move, but never all at once - and Sunny laments that the human body is pretty stupid. Moving wont help. What would he do, make the end come quicker? He's already thrown away too many chances for that.

He'll stop wanting once he's gone. That's what happens when you get what you want, right?

His landlord finds him. He forgot the rent. He's taken to the hospital. Ugh.

Present:

Sunny is stunted and underweight. He wears baggy shirts stuffed into slightly less baggy hoodies, and sweats. Warmth. He couldn't find his hoodie after they took it off to put in an IV on his first trip to the hospital.

Usually nurses do things like bring food to patients, but Sunny only ever interacts with Hero and Hero wants to make sure Sunny is okay anyway. Not that it's much easier for Hero to encourage Sunny to eat.

Sunny stresses Hero the hell out. But Hero kinda missed Sunny, and his depressing and concerning reappearance brings with it a deadpan, world-weary, often childish humor that fails to take anything seriously when everything in Sunny's situation should be taken seriously. It's as much a relief as it is incredibly frustrating. Some days Hero loves it. Some days it makes him angry. Some days it makes him want to cry.

I tried doing research into the conduct Hero should display regarding patients/clients in general but it just. Any professionalism quickly devolves between him and Sunny.

As in, at one point, him and Sunny were whaling on each other about having no lives. Hero felt really bad afterwards; he had no idea what came over him. It was a great way for both of them to let out some hidden frustration, though, and they turned out fine afterwards. They even lowkey pick on each other every now and again.

Sometimes one or the other gets a bit too accurate in their teasing, however.

Psychiatrists are supposed to be able to understand, diagnose, and treat mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. So, if Hero were a completely capable psychiatrist, which he is, he wouldn't break down in front of his client. But Hero's late teenage years are wrought with so much grief and trauma, so to see Sunny and not just another client in this state is.. something i imagine he'd break down about eventually. There's also the fact that Sunny is mostly closed off to any help, which only makes things harder.

Hero is trying his best, but after years of never understanding why Mari died, years of thinking and wondering and second-guessing himself, years of guilt after never visiting Basil before he died, years of doing what he was told was "best" yet failing in what's most important to him (his friends) - his best never feels good enough around Sunny. It feels too little, too late. For this reason, and possibly because even if Hero were able to keep himself together he may just not be the right psychiatrist for Sunny, it would be better for him to find another psychiatrist for Sunny. He won't, though.

Hero really needs some time to himself to just think, or perhaps he needs someone else to talk to. Kel is nice, but Aubrey would have better experience handling emotions.

I have a very limited idea of what Aubrey and Kel are doing. Aubrey is a childcare instructor to parents and works in child services. She has studied child psychology. She has studied how childhood affects adulthood. Kel's off trying to make a name in basketball while giving kids high fives and heartfelt support.

Hero, in fact, does not like to be called Dr. Hero, but his shyness (feeling of unworthiness) about it only endears everyone to call him that more. He tells the kids that everyone calls him Hero, but the adults merely find out from the other doctors and nurses. Hero tried introducing himself as Henry to the other doctors, but Kel told them his nickname, and it stuck for obvious reasons.

Sometimes, on days when Hero has to wear his lab coat, he ties it around his neck like a cape. The kids like it, say it makes him look like a superHero.

Hero doesn't really cook. His schedule is always too busy to make anything that isn't quick. But he does eventually figure out that cooking for Sunny is the best way to entice him to eat, so when he makes something, he makes enough for both of them. They eat together.

Hero had to gather Sunny's change of clothes from his apartment when he found out that the reason Sunny has been in the same clothes for the last week is because he's had no one to visit him. Not even his mother. Why?

[iamnmbr3]

So, this is going to be a long, two-part ask (apologies in advance for that). Thank you so much for your Loki series thoughts. I discovered your blog by accident, and I am so glad I did. I was trying to figure out why I felt so hollow/not-great after watching the episodes each week, and your posts helped me find the answer. I was so looking forward to this series, to see more Loki, but what we got...wasn't Loki. I tried to see past the flawed writing and absurd 'plot', tried very hard, but eventually I just stopped lying to myself, and finally let myself think 'I did not enjoy this'. It is very clear that Waldron didn't bother watching Thor and TDW, and it also seemed like he only skimmed Avengers, because the characterization comes off like he only watched Ragnarok (and somehow made it worse than it was in that film). It was a huge disappointment that in a show titled 'Loki', Loki wasn't even the main character after the first (or second; everything blended together for me) episode. (Side note: I like the concept of Sylvie, but like...she didn't need to have that much focus, or take over the plot. Also...I don't understand why she was named the way she was; Sylvie Lushton was a completely different character in the comics. Show!Sylvie seems like Waldron tried to mix Sylvie Lushton--in terms of looks--with Lady Loki, and even a bit of Amora the Enchantress thrown in there. Which is...a strange choice. It would have been so cool to see Amora get an MCU appearance, especially given her ties to both Loki and Thor, but I digress.) I even, slightly, shipped Sylki for a bit due to the concept of it being interesting to me, and even did some art for it, but as the show went on, and Sylvie started taking over as the main protagonist, my interest in it waned. (I am much more of a LokixJane fan, anyway. -shrug-) I also shipped it because I just...cannot ship L*kius at all. Like you, I cannot stand Mobius as a character; you are absolutely right: he is what Pierce was to Bucky. Except this show paints that in a 'positive' light, and even worse, that Loki deserved it. I have no problem with darkships or darkfic. My issue lies with the majority of people shipping it treating it is if it is a healthy, fluffy relationship in canon, when it is clearly the opposite. (Also, ever since Mobius told Loki that his only purpose was to basically be a stepping stone for others to reach their full potential, I knew that I would never like him or ship him with Loki. Perhaps it is personal, but a toxic person I used to associate with said basically the same thing to me in terms of my role in my friend group, and it messed me up for years, at least regarding how I thought my friends saw me. It got better when we no longer were close to them, and of course it wasn't true, but still. It screwed with my sense of self esteem for a long time. So seeing my favorite character being told essentially the same thing made my stomach twist.) 1/2

2/2 (continued) And don't even get me started on how Loki's mistreatment is used for comedy. Or how he is shown as incompetent, while in his earlier appearances in the MCU, he is clearly very intelligent. (These asks are all over the place, sorry about that.) That whole 'narcissist' comment also infuriated me. Because Loki is not a narcissist. Mobius, on the other hand... His trauma also constantly being erased did not sit well with me, either. Ugh. And of course, I have to mention how, while Wanda, Sam, and Bucky got new outfits for their shows, Loki did not. Just a few of those drabby TVA outfits. (Which, I am fine with him in Midgardian clothes. But like...these did not suit him. Even Ragnarok did 'Loki in Midgardian clothes' better. :/ Now, there were some things I did enjoy, like meeting the other Loki variants in episode five. Episode one was okay, too, since I thought it was going in a different, darker direction. And there were bits and pieces of some other episodes I enjoyed, too. But as a whole? Definitely disappointed. However, I flipped through my art book of TDW and immersed myself in the beautiful designs and characters, and fell in love with them and their world all over again. (Sorry, these got so long!)

Very eloquently put! Also so sorry that happened to you. <3 So many people have been hurt by the toxic and dangerous messaging of this show. Just remember that regardless of how the show presents him, Mobius's behavior is not justified at all. Not only is he not a good friend but in real life he would face very serious repercussions for what he did to Loki and would probably end up going to jail for a very long time. Torture and slavery are heinous acts that are against the law for a reason. The fact that this is normalized in the show doesn't meant these acts are ok and I just a reflection of the moral corruption of Mike Waldron and Kate Herron and the Disney execs that okayed this. Thanks for this very thoughtful ask! And yeah. Going back to the good Loki movies is a great way to deal with this. I rewatched Thor 2011 and Avengers and I'm going to rewatch TDW soon. And read my favorite fics. And forget about this. And so glad you’ve enjoyed my blog!!! <3 

[athrialuxegna]

Stronger than she thinks Part 3

Triggers warning: mental and physical abuse, violence, swearing

Click here to listen to the song used in this chapter, it’s Antidote by Faith Marie. (I love this song so much!)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4

Fanfiction | Archiveofourown | Wattpad

At 5 a.m I get up and leave my apartment. My feet drove me to the leaders' quarter. I felt out of place in this dark hallway. I walked up to door 655. I stood there, looking at the door as if it would come to life and eat me alive. It opened itself and I almost thought I did it by using telekinesis. I was almost disappointed to find Eric on the other side.

"What're you doing here so early?" His rasped voice indicated that he just woke up.

All I could see was his head and a glimpse of his naked torso. I could have waited a few minutes before coming up here. I chastised myself to keep my eyes from wandering along with his defined muscles. I cleared my throat and scratched my neck, my eyes fixated on the door handle.

"I came here because I want to report to Max. Brent ran into me yesterday and... and he'll do it again I'm sure of it."

Eric didn't say anything, he made a sign for me to wait. He let the door slightly open and I heard shuffle around the apartment. He came back fully dressed then he let me in. I stepped inside the large apartment. As usual, all doors were closed. I stood still in the middle of the main room. Eric turned to me.

"Coffee?" He asked.

"Sure." I accepted.

I sat on the couch, twirling my fingers in an attempt to calm my nerves. Eric came back with two cups, he gave me one which I took thankfully. I took a sip of the dark liquid, it burnt my throat in a comforting way.

"What did Brent say to you?" The question made me grimace although I knew it was coming.

"Four found me to tell me that he and you saw what happened from the control room."

Eric's body tensed up at the mention, he opened his mouth but I beat him to it.

"I ran off and bumped into Brent. The bastard wouldn't let go of me, he thought I'd ran into him on purpose to... fuck him." I spat the last part in disgust. "Now, tell me why you didn't inform me that two persons have seen  my rape?" I asked, my voice held all the betrayal I've felt since I'd known.

Eric sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes in a tired motion. I couldn't pinpoint why I was feeling so damn bad that Eric lied to me. Sure it was pretty big information that he kept from me but I knew it was deeper. He was the only one I confessed to. Hell, I didn't even understand why I told him but it implied that I trusted him enough. It felt like an eternity before I heard his deep voice again.

"I didn't want to let you know not to scare you away. It was easier if you'd confessed yourself." He explained plainly.

"I don't stand lies, Eric. Even minor ones can have disastrous consequences. The cold hard truth is better to know no matter what." I said more harshly than intended.

"I didn't lie to you when I said that I won't do anything about this without your consent. I had to play fool around Brent, it was hell not to punch him until he bled out." He admitted.

I was surprised that Eric would talk about how he felt with me. We had regular contacts, nothing out of work until last week. Something had changed between us, some sort of untold agreement that we could rely on each other more than professionally.

"One more lie and I won't trust you anymore." My voice was firm.

Eric nodded sharply, agreeing that no more lies would come out of his mouth. A casual silence settled in while we were sipping our black coffee. I needed to drink this or I'd faint in Max's office. I was content that we sold that trust issue before getting in the lion's den.

"What are you doing tonight?" He questioned out of nowhere.

I wasn't sure how to reply or how to take this. So far, I'd doubt that Eric would be one to take advantage of the situation. I raised a questioning eyebrow, my grip on the cup tightened ever so slightly. Eric's eyes flickered to my hands then plunged into my emerald orbs.

"A friend of mine has a band, they have rehearsal tonight. You should come." He elaborated.

I had a hard time imagining Eric's friends. He was mostly alone or with colleagues when I crossed paths with him. I nodded quietly. I was too awestruck to utter a word. A small smile crept upon his lips, enlightening his gaze. A knock at the door broke the peace in the apartment. The leader took a second before getting up. He knew what was going on apparently. Four came in view, a worried expression all over his tense face. His eyes found mine, a shadow crossed his dark eyes.

"Eric, we have to do something about this." Four's voice was nervous as he poked his head in my direction.

"I'm well aware Four. Chris just accepted to report this to Max."

Eric's demeanor had changed. His body was tensed, his jaw clenched and his eyes threw daggers. I was aware of their rivalry, the reason for this male show was beyond me though. They always were at each other's throats. The tension between these two was practically unbearable.

"No, Brent did it again." He said sternly.

The words made my blood run cold. I jumped up and walked to stand in front of Four. My eyes searched him for any sign of lies. Finding none, anger took the upper hand. I also felt guilty for some reason. Maybe if I hadn't run into him he wouldn't have gone after another girl. I shoved Four to be able to run out of the apartment. I had to find Brent and beat the life out of him. My brain numbed all emotions aside from the pulsating rage. I knew where to find him. I barged in the training room, panting and fuming.

Brent stopped in mid-push-up to look at me. A seductive smirk crept up his face. I stomped towards him and took advantage of his position to throw my foot right into his head. The cracking noise of his nose and his scream just fueled my wrath. I took him by the collar, my eyes burning with hate as I stared at his pained face.

"I'll kill you motherfucker!" I yelled in his face.

I punched him over and over. I couldn't stop myself, even when blood started to pour from his mouth and nose. His face was covered with it. All my pent-up emotions were thrown at him. The loud doors banged open. Heavy footsteps echoed in the room. I continued to punch Brent's unconscious body. Large hands wrapped around my shoulders to stop me. I wriggled in the unknown grasp, afraid that Brent's friend came to rescue him. I hadn't even checked the area, few Dauntless members had stop training to look at the commotion.

"Stop it, Chris!" Eric's stern voice made me stiffen.

He dragged me off Brent then let me go. I was panting, hair wild and eyes wide opened, I must've looked like some psychopath. My eyes darted to the ground when I saw the disappointed looks of Max, Four, and Harrison. Everyone gave me that look lately. Shame invaded my brain, my cheeks burnt from the sudden surge of emotion. I had been carried away, and sure, I'll pay the price.

"Christine, an investigation will be open. The other victim had already pressed charges against Brent. He will be judged by Dauntless law. You're off duty from now on. Your behavior will not be held against you seeing the circumstances but this is the last time you beat up a fellow Dauntless member." Max's voice boomed.

I looked at him and nodded. My breathing and my beating heart had calmed down. I was devastated to no end, but they didn't have to know that. Harrison wanted to say something but Max made a sign for him to take Brent out of the training room. Then the elder leaders took their leave. Eric stood still, his hard gaze burning a hole in my skull. I dared a glance in his direction then sighed. My bloody hands hurt me, not as much as my shattered ego.

"I told you to fight me not to kill Brent. Chris, you're running down the wrong path. Max won't forget this incident even though it's understandable. Don't let this bastard ruin your life."

I couldn't utter a word, I felt empty and full all at once. Eric's presence prevented me from breaking down once more. My wet eyes met his blue ones, disappointment evident in his irises. If he turned his back on me I had no one else to rely on.

"I'm sorry," I finally whispered. "I didn't intend to do this... I couldn't stop myself..."

"Meet me in the Pit at eight tonight." He said then turned on his heels.

Relief washed over me. He still supported me. I went back to my apartment to wash the morning away. I ate lunch at my place. I played the guitar all afternoon. It kept my mind at ease. I began to find some lyrics to put my feelings into words. It was harder than I thought to write a song. My efforts finally paid but one string broke in my fingers. I headed to the Pit to find the music store.

Music was a huge part of Dauntless. It didn't seem at first but every pretext was good to party. It was odd to think that Amity and Dauntless couldn't stand each other as they shared similar rituals and common interests in musical arts. I looked at the racks to find the right box of strings.

"Chris!" Gary's voice called me.

I turned around to see him by the counter, he was waiting for customers. I waved at him, took the box I was looking for, and headed to him. His short green hair stood out from his Dauntless black attire and his big brown beard. His slim figure seemed even frailer behind the big counter. Gary was the musical expert of the compound. He knew all music history from the beginning to nowadays. I used to hang around his store for hours to custom my guitar. It was only a few weeks ago but it felt like ages.

"Hey, Gary!"

"It's been a while since you've come here, sweetheart. I'm happy to see that you're playing again." A smile beamed on his face and his eyes sparkled with joy.

"Yes, I needed a little break.," I replied lightly.

"Can't wait to hear you play sometime. And I heard from a little bird that you have a nice voice to hear." He remarked, giving me a wink.

"I'm not good enough to show my skills but I'm working on it. This little bird lied, I sing in the shower but that's it." I replied casually.

"Your fellow initiates always brag about your singing skills, honey. It's more than just shower gibberish."

It was true that I had sung my ass off in the dormitories showers during my initiation. My fellow initiates didn't stop me so it became a habit. They would praise me and ask for songs from time to time during parties. They were the only Dauntless to have ever heard me singing. It was for fun mostly and to let some steam off during those stressful days.

"Alright, I'll think about it, Gary." I smiled at Gary.

The conversation ended up here, I paid and looked at my watch to see that it was seven-thirty. I had time to eat before meeting Eric. I went to my apartment to drop the strings' box then headed straight to the cafeteria. It was not full so I found a sit at an empty table. I ate with little appetite. My eyes scanned the half-empty tables nearby. Jenna and Kate were nowhere to be found. I sighed deeply. Were they ghosting me in return?

Someone sat next to me. I turned around to see Four. I rolled my eyes and resumed eating as if he wasn't there. I didn't want to talk to him. We ate in silence for a while.

"You shouldn't have done that." He blurted out.

"No shit, Sherlock." I scoffed. "If you're here to lecture me, it's not the time Four." I didn't even look at him.

"I don't judge you, Chris. I understand more than you think." His voice became quiet.

I remembered the rumors about his abusive father, Marcus Eaton. It was different in many ways but I guessed the traumatic consequences were similar. We were both destroyed, broken, and beaten. I could also talk to the other victim, she could entirely relate to my experience. However, I felt uncomfortable around Four. We fell in silence once more. I finished my plate and get up. Finally, I looked at him.

"Thanks, Four. But I don't want to talk about it."

I didn't let him time to respond and turned on my heels to put my plate away. It was nearly eight. I walked to the Pit. Life was buzzing around, Dauntless members were laughing, fighting, and hanging around. I smiled at the overwhelming energy. It made me feel alive and a part of something big. A large figure in my back made me turn around. Eric stood there, his Dauntless attire had changed to a more casual outfit. He wore a button-up shirt and black jeans. I bit my lip at the sight. Eric smirked at my reaction.

"You didn't tell me we had to dress up," I remarked casually.

"My leader's attire has been ruined today. I was at the Child Care service, it turned out pretty messy." He explained with an amused tone.

I raised a curious eyebrow. I almost forgot that Eric ran the Child Care service. It was a place where abandoned children and orphans were raised and taken care of. Picturing Eric with children made me laugh inwardly. The tough leader's image would be shattered into millions of pieces. I wondered how he was with the kids. I didn't think Max would approve if he treated them as initiates.

"I wish I was here to witness our ruthless leader handle children." I laughed.

"You don't know those children, they're little devils sometimes." He muttered under his breath though a small smile grazed his lips.

It was weird to see Eric look fond of children. A man appeared next to him, clasping a hand on his shoulder, a broad smile on his lips.

"We're about to begin." He said cheerfully.

He had intense dark green eyes, it reminded me of the pin forest I had seen in my geographic books at school. His imposing figure matched Eric's even though he had slim muscles. His face was round like one of a child, he had crooked teeth and seemed younger than Eric. The leader turned to his friend and nodded.

"Sure Lex, we're coming."

"The famous Chris, pleasure to meet you." Lex turned to me and bowed before me.

"Famous?" I asked dumbfoundedly.

I feared someone had already spread the word about my rape. Lex laughed heartedly at my wide-eyed face.

"Nothing to worry about, I'm Josh's friend. He praised your singing skills so much, I couldn't stop him." He explained, his big smile always on his lips.

My cheeks turn a dark red at the mention of singing. Eric's eyes locked on me, I could feel his intense stare. I laughed nervously and shrugged my shoulders.

"Oh, well, it's been years since my initiation. I can't believe that anyone remembered this."

"Just so you know they all miss your voice." He winked at me then walked away.

"So you sing."

I turned to Eric, fiddling with my fingers.

"Sort of, I sang in the shower all the time during initiation. It kept me sane from stress." I admitted.

"Interesting." He muttered more to himself than to me.

We entered a secluded bar where a makeshift stage had been set up. The band was already in place, testing the sound before playing. There were few people, some I knew like Josh, Matthew, and Grey. All three were in my initiation class. As soon as we step into the room, silence fell. All eyes turned on us. Eric sent them a look and they all came back to their conversations.

"Chris, it's good to see you here." Matthew greeted me.

"Hey, guys" I smiled at the three men.

They had got stronger and they became real Dauntless men throughout the years. They were in the same patrol squad, real brothers. They came from different families that had been friends for years, they grew up together and didn't part ways at any point. Same as Jenna, Kate, and I. Eric stood next to me, hands in his pockets, not paying attention to the conversation.

"There's free time after the rehearsal, anyone can play on the stage. I hope we'll see you up there." Matthew said enthusiastically.

"Don't count on it, I'm not quite ready to sing outside dormitories," I replied truthfully.

"Maybe you'll change your mind." Grey retorted optimistically.

When the trio had an idea it was nearly impossible to take their mind elsewhere. I rolled my eyes even though a small smile found its way on my lips. Lex called everyone to get attention.

"Let's go!" He shouted.

Music blared through the speakers around the stage. Vibrations surged through my body. Eric placed a hand on my shoulder, I flinched a little at the sudden contact. His eyes narrowed and he seemed thoughtful. I didn't really fear Eric, but I couldn't help but react badly to all physical contact.

"You want something to drink?"

I nodded in response then he disappeared at the countertop to order something. Music always eased my soul. My body moved slightly to the beat. I couldn't bring myself to go party last Friday because Brent would be here. Now there was no way for him to found me. I hoped he was rotting in a dirty cell in the depths of the compound.

Eric returned with two drinks. I took a sip, alcohol burnt my throat and I felt light-headed. I wasn't a drinker, I preferred to smoke but it was taboo in Dauntless. Many smokers would go on the roof or at the train racks not to be bothered. Zeke and Uriah Pedrad were notorious to sell weed nonetheless, leadership didn't mind as long as it didn't interfere with the faction's balance.

It was pleasant to let go. I began to dance once my drink finished. Alcohol intoxicated me. Eric joined me at some point, after his fifth drink or so. We were close, closer than ever. Our eyes were connected and couldn't let go, his large hands on my waist kept me against him. I lost track of time. The music came to a stop and we both quit our odd trance-like connection. I adverted my gaze to the ground and distance myself from Eric. When I glanced back at him, his eyes bored a darker tone. The same one Brent had when he was over me. Images flashed before my eyes. Unable to control the flowing memories, I clenched my fists and shook my head to get rid of them.

"Chris?" Eric called.

I needed to expel all of this. The trauma, emotions, memories. My body moved to the stage, all eyes were on me. I sat at the piano, my fingers caressed the instrument lightly. Jenna taught me to play a long time ago. I felt alone in the room to focus on my desire to pour my heart out. I began to play notes, I knew the song by heart. I opened my mouth and my voice filled the room.

“Finding refuge in my own lies How are you? I'm doing alright Small talk is a great disguise Just let me be Just let me be

Empty thoughts start to crowd my mind Am I only living, living to survive? Shake it off but I've lost the drive Just let me be Just let me be

Let me be okay

No one knows what goes on up inside my head There's a new kind of poison and it's starting to spread No one knows what goes on up inside my head They don't think I need help But I'm scaring myself

I just want to be okay I just want to be okay

All the voices in my head are coming to life They're getting louder and I'm, I'm terrified How do you run from your own mind? Is this what I've become? Take it back, what have I done?”

The last notes died in the silent room. A round of applause erupted from the little crowd. Josh, Matthew, and Grey were thrilled by my showcase. I found Eric's eyes on me, he knew all too well that the lyrics held some truth. I get up and walked out of the bar. I wanted to be alone. Alcohol had worn off during my performance. Emotions ate at me again,. They wouldn't let me enjoy life as I used to. Memories haunted me whatever I did. I walked to my apartment then went up to the roof. I spent the night smoking and gazing at the starry sky.

[heyitsyn]

Oh God

TimeTraveler!Son x Haikyuu!! Part 2

a/n: hehe i wouldnt put ‘x haikyuu’ if manager y/n ends up with that certain character. youll just have to,,,, wait for the end 😏

he didnt want to lie but he had to so he could survive

hinata offered his hand to help him up and natsu winced at the scratches and the slight headache as he stood on his two feet

‘you okay?’

hinata asked and natsu nodded

‘yea, just a headache’

natsu tried to play it off as cooly as he could bc this must’ve been from the car hit before and he couldnt just say he got ran over by a damn car

‘where do you live? i can go and treat your wounds there’

natsu was about to respond but he remembers hes not in tokyo anymore and he cant just spout out his address

so he did the thing his mom told him to do whenever it was necessary

he lied

‘i-um,,,’

he fumbled for an excuse but he sighed to maintain the act

‘i got kicked out’

he mumbled and hinata had to make him repeat it twice because he said it so quietly

the tangerine boy gasped and held his arms

‘what?! why?!’

natsu sniffled

‘my dad,,,, he just,,, doesnt want me’

well, that was actually true

so a true statement could equal that lie, right?

thankfully, hinata bought it and he grabbed his arm to walk forward while his other was pushing his bike

‘i hit you with my bike so the least i could do is take you to my house and treat you!’

and that was what they did

natsu’s phone was dead even though he was sure he charged it from denki’s powerbank during practice but it remained its black screen no matter how many times he hit the power button

his surroundings was also something unfamiliar

his mother only kept him in tokyo and never took him to go visit her family because she was kicked out and had to go live with her auntie when she found out about him and his father refused to help her

‘so, sendai, huh?’

he mumbled and hinata looked at him confused

‘sounds like youre not from around here. where you from?’

‘t-tokyo’

he replied and saw hinata’s eyes brighten

‘oh?! you look like youre my age so you must have been in a high school in tokyo, right? what school?’

‘yuuei’

‘hah?! yuuei?! what is that?!’

natsu rolled his eyes and shrugged

‘a school’

hinata persisted though

‘do you know other schools?! any other school friends?! like nekoma?! or fukurodani?!’

natsu shook his head and he was supposed to be happy that he got to meet, even talk, to his idol yet his younger self was much more hyper than his mellowed out behavior on tv

‘i stick to my friends from yuuei’

‘but what are you doing all the way here?’

natsu’s throat dried up and he watched his feet kick the pebbles to distract him of his urge to just whine and throw a tantrum with the confusion from this mess

‘i dont know’

he choked out and he was so tired and confused and all he wants to do is cry in his mother’s arms like he used to but she doesnt even know he exists

hinata sensed the tension and sadness from the boy beside him and tried his best to stay quiet until they get home

to say his mom was angry was an understatement

‘SHOYO, DONT YOU KNOW TO WATCH WHERE YOURE GOING?!’

‘kaa-san i was so angry and bakageyama was yelling at me and hit me and-’

‘THAT DOESNT GIVE YOU AN EXCUSE TO RUN SOMEONE OVER!’

natsu sat there on their couch awkwardly watching the black-haired woman yell at the human tangerine

he coughed in impulse and she turned away from her son and went to sit next to the h/c boy

‘dear, im so sorry for my son and his terrible biking. i didnt catch your name when you entered, what is it?’

even hinata forgot to ask his name but thats such a hinata thing to do though

natsu froze

if he was to say his mother’s last name, it would raise suspicion that he might know her in this time period and izuku has shown him enough doctor who to show him what happens when he messes up in time

again, he lied

‘kiri,,,shima,,, natsu. kirishima natsu’

he inwardly apologized to eijirou for using his last name

mrs. hinata raised a hand to her mouth with a surprised gasp

‘oh! my daughter’s name is also natsu! natsu, dear! can you come here for a second?’

natsu heard soft sounds from the stairs and she shyly walked down 

‘come say hi’

she softly urged her daughter to come closer and the little girl ran to hide behind her older brother who gently smiled and held her hand

‘well, thats her. she just turned 10 a few days ago. look dear, kirishima-kun has the same name as you!’

she waved slightly and natsu felt his heart swell at the sight of the adorable little girl

his mother never really had time for relationships so he was an only child and never got to experience a sibling, only hearing the experience of having siblings from his friend, shouto

mrs. hinata placed a gentle hand on his arm to revert his attention back to her

‘shoyo told me what happened and im sorry that this is all happening to you’

he felt guilty at the sight of her sad eyes because this was all a lie but he knew if he told them the real reason, they wouldnt believe him

so he had to continue with the lie

‘everything was falling apart and i wanted to leave everything behind. so i just took the shinkansen to nowhere and ended up here’

mrs. hinata felt her heart tug because he was just a little boy and he was too young to experience this so she offered him something he shouldnt have agreed to but again, survival

‘you can stay with us in the mean time. our guest room has been collecting dust so you can live here’

‘what? no! i can’t!’

natsu instinctually turned it down because he hated people giving him charity

but the woman squeezed his arm to give him a smile

‘i will not allow a child to live in the streets because of something he couldnt help’

‘arent you worried youre inviting a total stranger in your home?’

but she gave him a knowing smile

‘im a mother. i can trust you, boy’

in exchange for board and food, he promised to get a part time job so he could pay her back and get out of their house as quickly as he could

shoyo led him to the bathroom upstairs so he could treat the wounds from the ground

natsu sat on the closed toilet seat while his literal idol was putting cream on his boo-boos

he still cant wrap his head with everything

maybe it was because he was so busy trying to come up with lies that he wasnt able to fully sit down and think about the fact that he just TRAVELED BACK IN TIME and could accidentally change it

‘shoyo, what year is it?’

he mumbled

‘2012′

he answered and natsu sighed but his head perked up

oh god

2012

thats a year away from 2013

the year he was born

that meant shoyo’s team manager was going to give birth to him next year

‘why? did you hit your head so far that you forgot?’

hinata joked but he paled when natsu didnt laugh

‘OH GOD DID YOU?!’

‘NO! AND STOP YELLING!’

natsu shouted, equally surprised

‘whew, thank god. again, im so sorry i hit you’

‘shoyo, dont worry about it, okay? im fine, i swear’

during dinner, mrs. hinata told him about his school situation

‘you can go to karasuno with shoyo. what year were you in?’

‘first’

‘perfect! shoyo is too so he could easily help you around the school!’

natsu nodded quietly, still out of it and his brain finally starting to accept this impossible reality

‘but i dont think i could help you with the entrance exams. im not the most-um-smartest, per se’

shoyo apologized but natsu already knew that

he was no extreme fanatic but he knew quite a lot about hinata shoyo, the player he watched during the 2021 olympics and the reason he started playing volleyball

natsu dreamed to join the msby jackals just like his idol did and eventually reach the national team like hinata did

it was during the olympics of 2021, he knew he wanted to be like him

this boy who sat next to him was the reason he came to love volleyball along with his other idol, oikawa tooru, from the argentina volleyball team after seeing that legendary match 

when oikawa hit that service ace, natsu wanted to be able to receive that

he was merely 8 and his neighbor, midoriya inko, was babysitting him and she placed him and her son who was his friend, izuku, in front of the tv where they watched the olympics match

‘someday, ill be someone great. ill be great like him’

he promised and from then on, he worked to achieve that goal 

‘natsu? hello?’

he was shaken from his thoughts as shoyo nudged him back to reality

mrs. hinata laughed

‘maybe you should head to bed early, dear. you must be tired after having a hard journey’

he nodded and was about to go and wash his dishes when she stopped him

‘no. go and sleep, ill take care of this’

‘i have to do my part in here, hinata-san. please, let me do this’

she finally agreed and he was scrubbing the plates when his mind wandered over to possible solutions on how he could go back

there was an episode that he watched with izuku that the character had to do something to go back

and he had a feeling that he would have to do the same thing

but what would that something be?

there had to be a reason he was thrown all the way in this time and it couldnt just be a coincidence that supposedly, this would be around the same time his mother would get pregnant

but who would it be?

he finished putting the plates on the drying rack and he felt really thirsty suddenly

opening the fridge, he found no water bottles and natsu had a very sensitive stomach so he couldnt drink tap water

his next favorite beverage was there and he pulled a glass from the cabinet

‘hinata-san, is it okay if i can have some milk?’

he called out and she shouted that it was okay

natsu poured the drink on his glass and started drinking it when hinata entered the kitchen and snickered at him

‘yknow, you remind me of my idiot teammate. none of my other friends drink straight milk except for him’

natsu placed the glass down and wiped his lips

‘chocolate milk make me sick and i hate the taste of flavoring in milk. but i just hate flavoring in general. except for gari gari popsicles, those are good’

natsu reasoned, watching hinata move across the room to get an apple

‘still ew. but come on! lets go to bed so i can show you around school early before practice tomorrow!’

natsu noticed his excitement by the way he bounced in place and he chuckled

it reminded him of his friends mina and denki

hinata led them both to his room so he could check his wounds again just to make sure

then something caught his eye

‘kirishima-kun you like volleyball?!’

that threw him off

partly because he wasnt used to being called by his friend’s last name

but also because of the question

‘huh? how do you know that?’

natsu asked, almost defensively

hinata shrugged

‘i saw your volleyball shoes in your bag’

hinata reasoned and excitedly pointed at them

‘you should play for us! im part of the team too! oh oh! what position do you play?!’

‘l-libero’

natsu stuttered out, slightly overwhelmed by hinata’s energy

hinata started circling him, inspecting his height and looking at him up and down

‘yanno, kirishima-kun, youre really tall. like much taller than the rest of my club. maybe not saltyshima but really!! youre so tall!!’

hinata whined in envy and natsu laughed

‘blame it on the paternal side of the family. my ma isnt really tall’

he laughs but then memories of his mother resurfaced and he suddenly felt gloomy, guilty, even, bc he doesnt know if time stopped there or it kept going and if so, shes probably worried sick

and he knew she was always one who blamed herself

hinata noticed his downcast expression and thought he probably remembers his dad and got sad since he got kicked out

so our baby sunshine freaked out and he frantically waved his hands around

‘oh no! gomen kiri-kun! gomen! i really didnt mean to make you think about him! gomen!!!’

he even bowed which surprised the h/c boy and made him stand back up

‘o-oi shoyo! dont! you didnt because i wasnt thinking about him!’

he fussed and patted hinata’s hair

‘i dont care about him. to be honest, there isnt much to think about’

he didnt think about what he said until he heard himself

natsu’s eyes widened, fearful of how hinata could take it but he flinched when the orange-haired boy’s eyes were filled with his own tears

‘OH NO!! KIRI-KUN!!!’

then launched another series of apologies and natsu had to calm him down

oh dear

it was early in the morning like 5 when hinata bursted into natsu’s room

the loud shout of shoyo made his eyes blink open and he groaned before turning to the side

‘come on, kiri-kun! we need to go to take your exam!’

‘nooooooooo’

‘yeeessssssss’

it was quite a battle for hinata to even just get natsu out of bed but he managed to bribe the latter with some milk bread from the bakery down the street

‘2′

natsu showed his two fingers and hinata sighed before nodding

‘yes. now go hurry so we can leave!’

dressed in his grey sweatpants and a yuuei sweatshirt, natsu cursed as he only has clothes good for 2 days and he didnt want to bother the hinatas so he was at a loss

mrs hinata bid the two boys good bye and natsu was yawning and dragging his body to walk while hinata was skipping over to his bike

then he finally realized the problem

he nervously looked at natsu and the taller boy didnt understand why he was looking at him that way

‘what?’

shoyo pointed at the bike and awkwardly smiled

‘uh,,, you see,,, i dont think youd,,, fit,,, at the back seat’

natsu shrugged

‘then ill bike. ive done it before’

he sauntered over to the bike and swiftly lifted his leg before testing out the brake handles

‘its good and better than mine back home’

‘a-are you-’

‘sit down, sho’

hinata gripped on to the back of natsu’s sweatshirt as he told him the directions to how to get to the school

natsu remembered watching an interview of hinata talking about his high-school life and he remembered the star player talking about his dedication to go to karasuno everyday for volleyball

and the boy couldn’t believe hes doing that right now, with his idol literally behind him, and driving to the legendary karasuno high school

from the jackals to the adlers and even some other teams like the frogs, natsu cheered for them

there was a memory of his mother sitting with him on their couch during one of her rare day offs as they rewatched the recorded copy of the olympics

it has become natsu’s favorite thing to watch

‘with great talent comes great hardships. people don’t become good overnight and i watched those people suffer through it all but look where they are now’

‘KIRISHIMA, WATCH OUT! COWS CROSSING!’

natsu was snapped out of his thoughts at hinata’s shout

then it morphed into pure and utter confusion

‘cows?’

shoyo laughed

‘since youre from the city, this must be a weird sight for you, huh? well, in the countryside, this happens a lot!’

but natsu didnt mind

in fact, he loved cows

he loved any farm animal in general

maybe it was his upbringing in the hustle and bustle of the city that he grew to love the countryside

shoto took him with his family to a trip to the country once and he remembered loving the smell of grass

they were able to do an activity in a farm where they worked in a rice farm and the peace and serenity was something he will always remember

his mother was lucky she grew up in a place like this

‘kiri-kun, ive been wanting to ask, how is your volleyball team in the city? are you a powerhouse?’

natsu felt pride bubble up in his chest

‘of course! we got second place in nationals!’

he boasted and blurted out before he could stop himself

then he felt fear

he shouldnt have said that because for all he knows, yuuei probably doesn’t exist at this time period

hinata had a different reaction and his eyes shone

‘WHAT?! WOAH! SO COOL! I HAVE TO TELL OUR CAPTAIN THAT WE’RE GETTING A POWERHOUSE STUDENT!’

‘uh-i-uh-’

natsu didnt know what to say because he had a feeling he definitely just did an oopsie

so he switched topics really quick to divert the attention away from his past

‘o-oi sho, once youre done being a pro volleyball player and stuff, we should have our own rice farm’

of course it was such a random idea but it distracted the orange boy

hinata shrugged

‘i mean,,, i have to be a pro first but i guess we can!’

‘hmm,,,, i dont think you have to worry about that’

.................................................

taglist:

@hartbeat-art​ @yakus-yakult​ @nerdyphantomlady​ @jollycowboysaladhero​ @cynicallychaotic​ 

a/n: oh god this sat in my drafts for so long and i really dont know what im doing like i kinda have a rough outline of what im doing but im just going with the flow but i dont think the flow is quite flowy 

[midnights-light]

Ladybug and the hound

Chapter 1

Imma be honest I wasn’t expecting 1 person to read my story let alone 48 but life is full of surprises and while that may not seem like a lot of people I was expecting no one to read this so for me it means a lot. Now a few notes.

So I forgot to mention a few things in the last chapter such as Captain’s breed. He is a Malinois Dog breed, second I may use some things from @kelelamentia Dogs are a ladybugs best friend ‘cause I love the idea of the way Ladybug and Captain do the pound it.Now on to the second chapter. Also I did not forget August you’ll just have to read to know what happens with him. I also am terrible at describing things and how people look so imagine them as you please.

Learning about Marinette

Marinette’s POV

After the battle me and captain were just trying to get home so I could help maman and papa in the bakery but instead I run into the people I handed August to while I yelled at Chat. He’s been getting worse and worse each akuma that appears demanding that I go on a date with him and accept that I love him even though I told him that I don’t like him over and over again. I lost my feelings for Adrien when he left me to deal with the class bullying me to make me pay for ‘bullying’ Lila. One good thing that came from the Lila situation is that I learned who my real friends are. Max, Kim, Alix, Chloe, Kagami, Nino, and Luka all stick with me.

Max had his suspicions about Lila’s lies since the beginning but the napkin incident is what made him completely sure that she was lying because one it was a napkin so it couldn’t possibly gouge his eye out, and two is that even if it ‘could’ gouge his eye out HE HAS GLASSES which would protect his eyes. Kim and Nino have been my friends since forever so they know that I hate liars so when I called her a liar they knew that there must be a reason so one day after school they came to my house to ask me why I think she’s a liar. So I pointed out that all of the lies that could be proven wrong with just a simple google search. Alix has known me since we could walk so she knows that while I could hold my own in a fight, I wouldn’t do anything that would harm someone else on purpose (and if I did then I would do everything I could to make sure that they are ok afterwards) no matter how much they deserve it. Kagami and Luka know that I will give up my happiness if it means someone else will be happy like when I gave up on Adrien to let Kagami get with him, but sadly they broke up a month later after Kagami learned that he told me to take the high road in the Lila situation. And Chloe. Chloe is the daughter of the Style Queen and the Mayor of Paris so she has a knack for finding out liars, and after a month or two of me being bullied by the class sans, my friends, she came up to me and apologized for bullying me all those years. I forgave her because I know she can be good she just doesn’t have much experience in people being nice to her but my friends were still a little protective of me for a few weeks till they knew that she could be trusted.

They found out my identity by accident but I am so glad that they found out, especially when Chat or should I say Adrien acts like the world owes him something in exchange for ‘protecting’ Paris. I hadn’t meant to find out his identity yet cause I want to find the true black cat before I take his miraculous away from him. I am a true ladybug, but Adrien isn’t a true black cat but Master Fu needed to get both of them out into battle fast so he couldn’t look for a true black cat so Adrien would have to do, but ever since Lie-la showed up he acts as Chloe had before Lie-la. We have been talking about replacing him but I want to find the true black cat and test them to see if they are worthy and I am going to ask if they want the responsibility cause no one should be thrown headfirst into this kind of stuff like I was.

Where was I? Oh Right! I hadn’t meant to find out his identity but Plagg was getting sick and fed up with his behavior so he came to me one night and asked how long till we find the true black cat. I told him soon and that if we didn’t find them before my birthday (which was on Friday) that I would take the ring from him and asked Plagg to give me a clue as to who he is. The clue was his birthday and I thought of when the birthdays of every male blonde I know that is around my age was and landed on Adrien so I asked if i was right and he nodded then had to leave before he woke up. Back to the people I ran into I see that Damian I think is around my age and he also has a dog, doesn’t hurt that he is pretty handsome too.... WAIT WHAT!? ‘NO NO NO! BAD MARINETTE! YOU JUST MET HIM!

After he’s introduced Damian grabs my hand and place a kiss on the back, said “Nice too meet you Angel.” and I start blushing and internally freaking out like ‘OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! HE KISSED MY HAND! AND HE CALLED ME ANGEL!’ Then I hear Captain growling at Damian. He looks at me slightly waiting to see if he can shred him apart or not. I quickly say “Sorry Damian, Captain’s a little protective of me and doesn’t like strangers being around me.” I say a little worried that he would be offended but to my surprise he says, “I understand.” then he holds out his hand for Captain to sniff which he does and after he does he still is growling but he doesn’t look ready to rip him to shreds at least. Then we hear snickering behind us and Damian glares at the source of the noise which turned out to be his family... OH RIGHT! I am being so rude right now only focusing on Damian and not paying attention to his family. Then Captain and his dog start playing with each other making us laugh.  Then I notice that August starts trying to say my name, “Mariette, Mariette!” Oh that’s the guy I gave August to... AUGUST!!! I completely forgot to tell them what to do with him till his mom is able to get him. “Oh! Hello to you to August.” I say causing him to laugh and try to hug me which causes Dick to hand him to me, “It’s nice to see you again to. How about we call your mom and get you a snack?” He laughs and I say, “I’ll take that as a yes!” I laugh. I then turn to them and say ,“So shall we start walking to the bakery?” A chorus of Yes is the response so I start talking with Damian while Captain and Titus, I learned was his name, continue to play as we walk. Me and Damian talked while we walked and by the time I noticed our surroundings we were across the street from the bakery and as I was about to say we were there someone called my name and I froze.

Damian’s POV

I was having fun (Yes FUN) with the Angel next to me and as she was about to say something when an amber haired girl with glasses and a girl with sausage like hair called her and they looked angry. Maybe they were her friends though judging by the way she froze probably not... Wait why did she freeze? Just as I was about to ask what’s wrong she suddenly says, “Ok well the bakery is across the street just tell them Marinette sent you and could you take Captain and August in with you? Thanks!” She quickly handed the leash to me and August to Dick and ran off to where the other girls were and pulled them around the corner and Captain was desperately trying to follow her and was pulling hard on the leash.

“So we’re going to see what that was about right?” Grayson asks, “I mean she seemed in a hurry to get to them before they got to her and get them out of sight, so something is off right?” “Well I think only one of us should go instead of all of us. It could be personal though so how about we head into the bakery and wait?” Father asks. “Actually Master Bruce I believe Master Damian should go see what is going on, since they get along quite nicely.” Alfred says with a hint of worry in his voice, and while normally I would try to object I really want to get some time alone with the Angel to talk and ,if the chance shows itself, make her blush some more. So I agree and start walking with Titus and Captain who has gotten more desperate to get to her the closer we got. As I was about to round the corner a voice made me stop in my tracks, “-is for hurting Lila Marislut. You destroyed her homework so she gets to destroy your designs.” I then hear shredding noises and hear her crying and begging them to stop. I try to get myself to move and help but her heart wrenching sobs kept me frozen in place.

As soon as the tearing stops I then hear a loud crack and that gets me to move faster than I thought possible. I round the corner ready to commit a murder or help the Angel, preferably both, and as soon as I do I see a scene that breaks my heart. Marinette is sitting on the ground with a large hand print on her cheek and she is surrounded by torn pages and she is trying and failing to not cry. I then notice that Captain and Titus got loose from my grasp and are chasing the girls away and after a block they come back and try to help cheer Marinette up. Just then she notices me and she starts freaking out, “D-Damian wh-what a-are- you doing the-there?” I get down on my knees and start helping her pick up  the torn papers and say, “We noticed that you looked scared to go to those girls and wanted to make sure that you were ok. Good thing I brought Titus and Captain with me.” That makes her laugh though her voice is a little hoarse. “Are you ready to get inside?” She asks though I don’t know why she’s worried about me she just got slapped and had her designs torn up. “Only if you are but if you need a few minutes I can wait with you.” I reply.

“I’ll be fine,” she says, “I’ve been through worse I-” As soon as she says that I feel my blood run cold and boil at the same time. How bad has she been hurt before and who hurt her? Then I notice that she’s still talking “Sorry you don’t want to hear about my problems.Shall we go in?” I then did something that I had never done before but I have seen Grayson do it to Drake after he had a long difficult day at WE, I hugged her tightly and Titus and Captain lick her face. “Sorry I’m not to sure what to do to help cheer someone up but I have seen my brother do this to help. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.” I say then I feel her tightly hug me back but I find that I don’t mind it. “No it’s ok I actually needed a hug. Thanks.” We stay like that for a few minutes until she pulls away and I get a better look at her face and I have never wanted to commit a murder this badly. The place she got slapped is starting to swell and her eyes look like they lost the spark they had when we were talking. “Thank You. Really.” “I’m not the best at comforting someone so-” “No I mean Thank you for coming to check on me. Not many people would do that so thanks.” And in this moment I knew that I would do anything for her and protect her as much as possible. We get up and she takes Captains leash and the papers from me and starts to head to the bakery. As soon as we enter I hear my family happily talking with Marinette’s parents about busy and slow days.It seems that August’s mother has already picked him up so I guess this happens quite a bit but that makes me concerned about how often this happens. How often is Angel in danger of akumas (Whatever those are) harming her? I clear my throat and Grayson is the first to notice us, “Oh hey guys ho-” he then notices Marinettes red puffy eyes and the hand print on her face and his big brother instincts kick in, “What happened!? Are you Ok? Who did this?” Then he’s moved out of the way by Marinette’s Dad, “Marinette are you ok do we need to call Chloe, Luka, and Kagami?”

Marinette doesn’t say anything but nods. He then calls out to her mother, “Sabine can you call Chloe, Luka, and Kagami and see if they can come over?” “Already on it honey.” and not even a minute later the door bursts open and a Blonde girl, a Asian blue haired girl, and a chill looking guy with teal hair tackle Marinette in a hug with the blonde asking if she could sue them, the teal guy asking if she needs him to play her song for her, which breaks my heart a little cause he must be her boyfriend, and the blue haired girl asking, “Can I run them through my blade now Mari-hime?” “No Kagami also I have a few guests with me.” They then seem to notice us and they suddenly look ready to pounce at any second with the blonde doing quick introductions, “Hi I’m Chloe, that’s Kagami,” The girl with blue hair bows a little, “and that’s Luka,” The boy gives a nod with his head, “now I want you to answer truthfully, what do you want with Maribug?” “What?” Asked Todd and Drake at the same time. She let’s out an annoyed huff, “I said, What are you intentions with Marinette. You know are you using her, do you want to be friends with her, or what? And answer truthfully we will know if you lie to us and it won’t end well for you. It doesn’t matter who you are we won’t let you hurt Maribug.” She says with a snarl. I don’t know when or how but somehow Marinette’s parents got behind them and are giving us dangerous looks and Captain is back to growling at us. And Angel’s friends look ready to commit murder if anyone harms her.

The looks they give us makes everyone even father and Alfred take a step back. I had multiple questions running through my head at once. What happened to this beautiful Angel to make her friends so protective of her? Wait beautiful? Where did that come from? And why did my heart skip a beat when she looked at me? And why... I’m in love aren’t I? Well guess the city lives up to it’s nickname. 

Find out how this goes in the next chapter. Also we find out how Marinette and Captain met and how he became Hunter.

So I feel like I need to say a few things just so that they are known

1.I have quite a bit of free time but I can’t always get the motivation to write even though I want to get the next chapter out sooner rather than later

2. I have several parts of the story planned out in my head I’m just not sure what leads up to that point what happens to cause the thing to happen, or what happens after ting happens so I’m just running different scenarios through my head and I can’t make decisions easily so I have all these scenarios happening and I’m not sure which one I want and so most of the time I just come up with one when I start writing so sometimes it’ll make sense and other times probably not.

now I don’t know how many chapters I’ll write so the most I’m going to try for now is fifteen chapters and if I have more ideas then there’ll be more. Let me know what you thought of this chapter. See ya guys next time, Bye!

One last thing I don’t have a set time to chapter updates I just plan to write and get them out to you guys as soon as I can.

tags

#iglowinggemma28  #i-am-ironic

[agent-cupcake]

Third place winner @atomicchocolatecookie asked for a fluffy Yuri scenario where reader was a mage and artist and although this isn’t as fluffy as I kind of intended... I hope you enjoy it? 

POV Yuri x Reader

/

“You called for me, yeah?”

Yuri’s greeting caused you to jump up from your chair, sketchbook pages fluttering to the floor. He probably should have knocked rather than let himself in, considering the circumstances, but the breach in etiquette didn’t seem to stick to you after the surprise faded. Sometimes you scolded him for such antics, but not today. A pity, you were pretty cute when you were indignant. Then again, he did feel a sort of fondness for the way your eyes softened for him, the way you smiled despite being startled. If he had any doubt as to the reason for you calling for him, it was all cast out with that look. Yuri was good at noticing things. Little things, signs in people’s behavior that gave away their feelings. Not that you ever tried particularly to hide what you felt, or perhaps you just hadn’t recognized the feelings for what they were. In a way, receiving your invitation was a relief because, to him, your affection had been obvious for a while. You cared for him. Loved him, even. Yuri had seen it all before. But in that second, appraising you honestly, Yuri decided that he didn’t mind. It was you, after all. Maybe you weren’t all too different from countless of the other women he’d enjoyed, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He’d come to like you quite a bit and after everything that had happened-

Well, every person had a vice. Yuri was more than well aware that he’d never find absolute regardless; what was a petty indulgence on top of that?

“Yuri! You came,” you exclaimed, just a touch breathless. He doubted that you meant for it to be appealing, but the happy relief in your tone was alluring in a way, even if the hesitant concern in your smile was somewhat condescending.  “I didn’t know if you would.”

“With such a cryptic invitation, how could I not?” Yuri responded with a playful confidence to squash the irritation of your tone, dangling the sheet of paper you’d sent to him between two fingers. It was a simple thing, merely inviting him to visit the collection of rooms you’d claimed as a home and art studio whenever you stayed in Abyss, but the lines were clearly drawn up and he was more than capable of reading between them.

“I thought you might want some company. I know you’ve been having...” You paused, chewing on your lip as you carefully selected the right words. Your lip was already red from the treatment, a sign that you’d been stressed. Or nervous. “A hard time.”

Yuri could have laughed at such a massive understatement, but he held off. It wasn’t like there was anything funny about losing dozens of his people in a surprise ambush from hired thugs. It was an insult. A tragedy. An event he should have been able to avoid. Although Yuri knew the aim of the attack was to get him to let off on the nobility, although he absolutely knew that it meant he couldn’t give in, sometimes, between trying to organize aid for the widows of his men and trying to restructure things to fix any compromised pieces of his plan, it was hard to justify to himself. Sometimes the notebook in his pocket was a dead weight, a body count he had to support with every step onward. It wasn’t funny at all but Yuri forced a smile and a confident, if teasing, voice. He was meant to be strong. Besides, weakness would hardly benefit him now. That’s what he always did to get what he wanted, wasn’t it? Lied, pretended. It didn’t matter.

“Aw, you were worried about me,” he cooed, holding your gaze with a winning smile. It had the intended effect, even if you tried to play off your embarrassment. Your reaction was cute. Yuri liked the way your eyelashes fluttered as your eyes leapt around, unable to meet his. The way your fingers danced at your side. You had pretty hands, graceful and dexterous in the way so strongly associated mages, musicians, and artists. They were softer than most, but not without callouses. Yuri would have been a liar to say he hadn’t wondered what they might feel like, if they were as clever as he thought they might be.

“Yeah, I guess so,” you answered. “You’ve seemed different since… It happened. So I wanted to do something to help you feel better.”

“You’re cute,” Yuri said, wondering in an abstract way if you were always this bashful when it came to men or if he was special. “But as you can see, I’m fine. Not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment.” That was why he’d come, wasn’t it? You could distract him —you were willing to!— and with just a word, with a single touch, he could have you at his complete disposal. And maybe that would help. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time he used another to soothe his aching spirit. The self-loathing of his actions hardly even registered. Not yet, at least. “Although,” Yuri said in a lower voice, taking a few steps closer. You were soft, in a way. Guileless and charming in how earnestly you regarded him as you met his eyes. It was a beauty that was all at once shy and overt, and one that he found inexplicably compelling right then. He was close enough to smell the faint fragrance on your skin, close enough to make his intentions clear. “Let’s drop the act, yeah? I think it would be better if we both more honest about what we really want. What I-”

“Wait!” you said, cutting him off. Strangely, you took a step back, an action an odds with your bright eyes and blushing cheeks, clear signs of attraction. “Um, sorry. What I want, why I invited you here, is to give you... I have a gift that I wanted to give you.”

Yuri, caught somewhere between amusement and surprise, stopped and raised an eyebrow. “A gift?”

“Yes, I painted you something. I thought that it might lift your spirits a bit. Maybe,” you said, your excitement edged with a skittish mania now that the mood had turned so abruptly. You gestured to the easel behind you, one that was covered by a ghostly sheet thrown on top. Yuri had discounted it as a trivial piece of furniture, a seemingly omnipresent setup in your rooms.

A gift. You had never painted anything for him specifically, although he had seen some of your portrait work. Painting people was a special hobby of yours when you weren’t engaged in other endeavors. Sometimes he wondered why you bothered at all with the criminal work, but you insisted that art was a mere fancy.

“Consider me intrigued,” Yuri said honestly, dropping the flirtatious effect. “May I see this ‘gift’?”

“Yes, of course,” you said in an overly bright voice. Insecurity and awkwardness was written into every line of your body, scratched deeply into the furrow or your brow and purse of your lips as your smile fell. Somehow, even this was a little charming. “Right. Well, I guess there’s no point in waiting. So-” You pulled the sheet off the easel, letting it drop to the floor without ceremony. Yuri wanted to say something, make some sort of comment about your behavior, but when you pulled the sheet away from the easel, he was rendered speechless.

What could he say?

“Do you like it?” you asked softly, peeking at him sideways.

Yuri was well aware of his beauty. He primed and projected it in the scathingly vain way only an auctioneer of the self could be. His looks were well documented by every painter and wordsmith who had ever attempted and failed to capture him in some capacity. But you hadn’t painted beauty. Portrait-Yuri wasn’t looking at the viewer, but at something past the edges of the canvas. He was smiling, commanding, but there was something else. His allure wasn’t aesthetic, but transcendent of such a trivial attribute. That man both was and wasn’t Yuri. Like he was staring into a mirror reflecting a perversion of reality.

“Yuri?” you asked when he didn’t answer.

Yuri blinked, clearing his throat and forcing a smile. It was harder this time, with such an obvious reminder of what the genuine article was meant to look like right in front of him. “Sorry, I was admiring your technique.”

You swelled with the almost-praise, your eyes alight as they searched his face for any response. “So you like it?”

Did he? Yuri looked back at the canvas. With the second glance, he was able to understand what was wrong with the image, what troubled him so intimately. You had painted a hero. Portrait-Yuri’s smile held no deceit. In his posture, there was no pretend. The man you’d painted lacked Yuri’s sin. The hands he raised in passion as he seemingly addressed someone or someones unseen were clean of filth. After the sleepless hours he had spent trying to clean up a mess that was a direct result of his wrongdoings, the image was like a bludgeon of his flaws. After being so entrenched in the darkness of the world he’d submitted himself to, the light was jarring.

“You can be honest with me,” you told him when he didn’t answer.

Yuri shook his head, trying to push back the feeling swelling in his chest. “I didn’t pose for this, so I’m trying to remember when this might have been,” he lied. Misdirected, really.

“Oh, it was a while ago. You were rallying support, uh, explaining how you were gonna make the nobles take responsibility,” you told him. It took a second for the event to come to mind, but eventually, Yuri remembered vaguely what you were talking about. Moons and moons ago, then, he couldn’t even recall if the two of you had been close at that point. Yuri had nearly forgotten about that night. “Nobody believed that you could do it. I don’t even think I did,” you added after a moment of thought, staring at the painting rather than meeting his eyes. “You were called crazy and overly optimistic and naive. But when you got up to speak, I realized something.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

You turned to him, your eyes sincere. Intense. “It’s not blind optimism or naivety. It’s not like you lie to yourself that the world is better than it is. In fact, I’d hazard a guess that you see the worst parts of the world more than anyone else. But you don’t submit to such a cruel fate or accept that it’s the way things must be. You want the world to be a better place, and you have the will to change it. That night, that’s what I saw.”

If he were any lesser man, you would have rendered him speechless all over again. But he was Yuri, and a response formed alongside a smirk that didn’t even half reach his eyes. “You’re wrong about that,” he said. “About me.”

“I know what I saw, that’s why I painted you in the first place,” you told him stubbornly. “I didn’t know if I was going to give it to you until now, but since everything that happened… I thought maybe you’d need a reminder.”

He knew the words would come out too sharply before he spoke them, but Yuri couldn’t stop himself from asking, “A reminder of what, exactly?”

“Art can’t change the world,” you said, ignoring his tone. “At least, nothing I could do. But you know, people use statues and paintings of saints to inspire their good actions. They look at paintings of Nemesis as an example of evil. When I look at this Yuri, I see you. The you I think you want to be. This is the man that history will remember. So even when bad things happen... Even then, this is-”

“A little paint can’t cover the things I’ve done. That man,” Yuri nodded to the portrait, “isn’t real.” His voice lowered, softened. “Besides, history would be better off forgetting me.” He looked at you, so earnest and trusting, and ran a hand over his face as the guilt formed into a sick slush in his chest for what he’d intended to do. “You would be better off forgetting me, too.”

“Then why do you fight so hard to do good things?” you asked him. “If you believe that the bad things you’ve done have destroyed any hope of redemption, why do you leverage your power to help make things better for the people in Abyss? If you truly believed you were beyond any hope, then doing those things would make you an idiot. Sorry, Yuri, but I don’t buy it.”

“Should I try and convince you, then?” Yuri asked. “I wonder what it would take. If you wish to exalt the best of me, you should know the worst, yeah?”

“Fine,” you said, no hesitation or doubt in your voice. You put your hands on your hips, tilting your chin upward in defiant determination. Yuri was no artist, but if he could have saved the sight of your eyes at that moment he would have gladly become one. The look was not the simple infatuation of a girl, or the affectionate and misguided love he believed had kept you trailing around him. Could he even call it love at all? When you looked at him like that, he felt oddly exposed. Only minutes ago he had believed fully in his ability to manipulate the situation, but right then he wasn’t so sure. “Tell me about your guilt and shame and listen when I tell you that you can be forgiven. That I forgive you.”

Forgive him? You? You, a master forger and gremory who wanted to be recognized first and foremost as an artist. You, a whimsical fool who insisted that beauty was for everyone to enjoy, scoring the ungrateful aristocracy who hoarded it all for themselves. You, who had joined his cause out of a childishly expressed desire to do good. Yuri knew he was guilty of countless unthinkable sins, he knew that enough blood dripped from his hands to drown in, and he knew that even the goddess’s clemency could not save him from reaping what he had sown. Yuri could argue the point if he wanted to. He would have been right to say that he was deserving of your disgust and distrust. He should have done his best to avail you of whatever love you believed you felt for him.

But he looked at the portrait you had painted, and couldn’t. Was that really what you had seen that night? Could that really be him? Those whose names were listed in his notebook, would they believe in such a thing? In such a man?

Eventually, Yuri relented to the war of his thoughts, shaking his head and putting a hand to his temple. “Who put you up to this, I wonder,” he mused.

“We were all worried,” you said, “But nobody put me up to this. It was the only way I could think to remind you of why you’re needed and appreciated. And I was worried because I... I care about you. I don’t want you to be unhappy.”

Those words pulled him from his thoughts, set something within him at ease. The awkward way you stumbled over the words, the way your voice softened them so sweetly. Yuri had been confessed to in hundreds of ways but never had simple admissions been used to such great effect. It was also a reminder that despite your clear feelings, you had rejected his advances in an attempt to make him feel better. Seemingly inadvertently, you had turned everything around on him. Yuri wasn’t sure if he liked the feeling, but he felt a sort of appreciation for the way you’d managed it all.

“Do you, now?” he asked suggestively, peeking up at you. Sure enough, blushing, your iron-clad determination having eased up. But the look was different. Or perhaps his way of appreciation had just changed. 

“Don’t tease me, Yuri, I’m being serious,” you said.

“Who’s to say I’m not being serious? I seriously was asking how you felt. I’d like to know these things.”

You hesitated. “Really?” you finally asked, your tone adorably earnest.

He laughed. It wasn’t full, but it wasn’t fake either. It felt good, as if some weight had been taken from his chest. “Whatever am I going to do with you.”

“Trust me?” you asked.

When Yuri looked up at you in surprise at the request, something within him softened. He wasn’t a fool, nor was he particularly good at lying to himself. It was affection. Desire of the heart. Not just for you, but for the portrait of him you’d created. The desire to be that version of himself.

He smiled, although it was a confused expression, half bewildered and half reeling from surprise. “Maybe I will.”

[absolutepx]

So I've been playing Death Stranding lately. Wait, that's not what this post is about. Well, it kind of is. Hang on. What is Death Stranding about?

A: Norman Reedus getting bare ass naked B. Sneaking around ghosts with the help of your sidekick, an actual baby C: Carrying 50 Amazon packages up a hill while trying to not topple over D: Waking up in the morning and drinking 5 Monster Energy™ for breakfast

For those following along at home, the answer is actually none of the above. Despite the set dressing being bizarre to the point of near absurdity, what the game is actually about, like thematically, is actually really simple.

See, the development of Death Stranding was actually quite a trip. Hideo Kojima is the video game world's equivalent of an auteur director. He has a very recognizable personal style. It's thoroughly horny – he caught a bunch of shit for the design of Quiet in MGSV, but like, a lot of Kojima characters are just -like that-, including the dudes. Also, this is going to possibly be important later.

Anyway, so Kojima was going to do a rebootmakequel of Silent Hill, and the demo actually made it to the PS store and I could actually write a whole side essay about why P.T. (it was called P.T. for some reason btw) was brilliant game design for how it used the same hallway over and over and it was somehow beneficial to the overall feeling of horror. So Konami it turns out kinda sucks nowadays and they like, fired Kojima (they were huge dicks about it behind closed doors, too) and scrapped the project and kicked him out on the street and kept the Metal Gear series which was his baby (literally the baby in the sink in P.T., he snuck a bunch of messaging about the Konami situation into the demo like a breakup album) and Kojima would go on to form his own studio and poach some of the people who worked with him to boot. So the thing about Kojima is this: he's got a reputation for already putting some wild shit in his games, like a ladder that takes like 10 real time minutes to climb in MGS3 for dramatic effect, and a boss in MGS3 that summons the ghosts of all the people you were too lazy to stealth past and killed, or a sniper battle with a really old guy that he wanted to have last two weeks or some shit until he died of old age but he was "told that "this was impossible and not recommended." That is a real quote I just looked up. So he's coming off the heels of making this hugely successful game with MGSV and the hype of the P.T. Demo and he fucking, he like took all the people that were going to be working on P.T. Along like Guillermo Del Toro was going to co-write it and Norman Reedus was going to star in it, and he's like, I'm going to make this game called Death Stranding. And the first trailer comes out for it and it's completely nuts. Norman Reedus wakes up naked on a beach crying with a baby and there are floating people in the sky? So we're all like hooooooly shit, there's no one to tell him "this is impossible and not recommended" anymore. What's he going to make now!?

So the whole time the game is in development I keep seeing these tweets where it'll be like, Kojima and one of his homies smiling with some saccharine message about being spiritual warriors and changing the world. And not just Del Toro and Reedus, there was Mads Mikkelsen (another guy Kojima puts in the game just because he apparently loves him), and the band Chvches, and also like, Keanu Reeves at one point? You know how everyone has just kind of accepted that Keanu is a being of light? Here he was endorsing Kojima. The hype was pretty confused and frantic.

The game eventually comes out. A lot of game journos hate it because I think there was this expectation it was going to be, you know, less weird and have more of the conventional structure of a video game. That's not to say the average gamer wasn't also dismissive of it, but I think on the ground level there was more of an understanding that like, yeah, Kojima just be like that sometimes.

Because the game was a timed console exclusive and your homie don't play like that, I spent the first year or so cautiously viewing Death Stranding from a distance. I wasn't sure I was going to like it – except for being really impressed with P.T., I wasn't actually a big fan of Kojima's games as games – but I -was- sure that I was going to buy it, because of the way Konami fucked him over, just out of support. And the shit I was hearing was really out there. The primary mode of gameplay is just delivery packages. You collect Norman Reedus' bathwater and pee and use it as grenades. You get a motorcycle that looks like the one from AMC's The Ride with Norman Reedus, and when you sit on it, his character in the game says "Wow, this thing is like the one from AMC's The Ride with Norman Reedus!"

But I didn't really want to know that much about it. Something has that much fucking crazy person energy, you want to go in mostly blind, right? So maybe people just weren't talking about this, or maybe I wasn't seeing it, but then I watched Girlfriend Reviews' video about it and they came right out and said it (link provided if you want to hear Shelby say it more articulately than me):

Death Stranding is basically about the exact opposite of Twitter. It's about remembering how to be kind to each other, how to reconnect in a world where people are so often hostile to each other by default. Prophetically, it's about a world where people are afraid to go outside or touch other people and how damaging that is. It's not a game about carrying packages, it's a game about helping people by being brave enough to walk through a wasteland carrying their burdens because they can't. It's about rebuilding the lost connections between people, about restoring roads and giving people hope. I bet, for Kojima and the people close to him, it's about how to answer hostility with compassion. You can't kill people in Death Stranding. You can and are absolutely encouraged to fucking throw hands with people sometimes, but all the tools and weapons are nonlethal. So I think Kojima took all the Twitter heat he got over the Quiet nontroversy, and all the feelings of isolation he had from Konami separating him from his team during the end of the development of MGSV, and all the support and encouragement he got from his bros Del Toro and Mads and the rest, and decided to channel that into making a game that was a statement about all of it. And sure, it's a little heavy handed, and sure, it's a little saccharine, and sure, the gameplay sometimes borders on miserable in service of creating emotional payoffs. For me, especially in 2020, this message is a huge success. Social media should be an opportunity for all of us to feel more connected to each other, yet primarily it feels like one of the main forces driving people apart. Why is that? Why is the internet of today such a hostile place? I'm old enough to remember web 1.0: I can haz cheezburger memes; YTMND; the early wild west days of Youtube... What happened to us? I've thrown the blame at Twitter in the past, and I think the architecture of the user experience on Twitter is absolutely a big piece of the puzzle, because it fosters negative interactions. But in terms of the behavior, people have observed that 2018 Twitter was actually almost exactly like 2014 Tumblr. (For the record, Tumblr is now one of the chillest places left on the internet, because so few fucks are left to give.)

I think part of it is the anonymity. The dehumanizing disconnection of the separation of screens and miles. Louis CK, before he was cancelled, had a great point about cyberbullying, and why it's so much more savage than kids are IRL. When you pick on someone in person and you are confronted with seeing the pain you caused them, for most sane people it causes negative feedback and you become disgusted with your actions and eventually learn to stop being a shithead. Online, at best you can "break the wrist, walk away".

At worst, you can become addicted to "clout chasing" and the psychological thrill of being cheered on by your social ingroup. It's even worse if you feel like it's not bullying and your actions are justified because whoever you've targeted is a bad person so you don't have to feel bad about what you do to them. This is where reductive, unhelpful catchphrases like "punch a nazi" come in. For every argument, one or both sides have convinced themselves that the other side is subhuman because their beliefs are so disgusting. And sometimes it's even true! A lot of times, especially these days, people really are acting like animals or worse online. Entire disinformation engines are roaring day and night, churning out garbage and cluttering the social consciousness. (Kojima talked about this bit, too, way back in MGS2. As if I wasn't already in danger of losing my thread through this.)

The human brain was not built to live like this. You can't wake up every morning, roll over and open your phone, and be immediately faced with a tidal wave of anger and indignity. It wasn't built to be aware of fully how horrible the world is at any moment ALL AT ONCE, ALL THE TIME. And you will be. Because of another way that our brain works – the way we are more likely to share negative opinions. And because of the cottage industry built on farming outrage clicks, and because of constant performative activism.

It's not that I don't agree that being informed is important.

It's not that I don't agree that the causes people get riled up about are important.

They are. They absolutely are.

But we can't keep living like this. The constant, unending flood of tragedy, arguments, and hot takes. How much of the negativity we associate with online culture is the product of this feedback loop? What if the rise of doomer culture has been, if not entirely created by, has been nourished and exacerbated by our hostile attitudes toward each other?  Incels and TERFs, white supremacists, radfems, tankies and Trumpers – it seems like on every side of every issue, there are people simultaneously getting it wrong in multiple directions at once and there are more being radicalized every day. They are the toxic waste left behind by the state of discourse. And any hill is a hill worth dying on.

So what am I actually advocating? I don't know. There are a lot of fights going on right now that are important and we can't just climb into bunkers and ignore our problems hoping that Norman Reedus and his fine ass are going to leave the shit we need on our doorsteps. We need to find the strength to carry those hypothetical packages for ourselves sometimes - and hopefully, for others as well. Humans are social creatures. We need interaction and enrichment.

We need love.

So just try to remember the connections between humanity. Try to put more good stuff into the world when you can. Share more shitposts and memes. Tell your friends and family that you love them. Share good news when you hear it. Go on a weird fucking tangent about Death Stranding. Find a way to "be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes."

[starryknight09]

Ironman doesn’t tolerate bullies

Febuwhump Day 23: “Don’t look”

Read on AO3.

________________________________________________________

As he flew headfirst through the locker room’s glass shower door, his only thought was how he was surprised he hadn’t actually seen this coming.  

“Holy shit!  Peter!” He heard Ned yell a split second before he hit the tile floor amidst a torrent of glass.

Pieces of the door had scattered everywhere and the light streaming in from the windows made the floor look like it was covered in diamonds.  Painful diamonds.  Some of the tiny pieces cut into his palms as he pushed off the floor.  Moving to stand, shards fell from his clothes and rained down onto the tile with a melodic tinkling noise.  Thank god he’d had time to get dressed and put his shoes on before Jack had decided it was time for him to get up close and personal with the shower door.  He stepped out of the stall, a handful of guys from his gym class watching him in shock.  Jack was nowhere in sight.  Maybe even he realized he’d crossed a line.

“Peter?” Ned asked quietly, taking a hesitant step toward him.  “Are you okay?”

“Um, I think so.” He looked down at his body but he didn’t see anything wrong besides the tiny cuts on his hands that he knew would heal within the hour.  Nothing really hurt, but it seemed like it should with the way Ned was looking at him like an accident victim.  “Why?  What’s wrong?”

“Uh…” Ned stared at him wide eyed.

Peter frowned and stepped around his friend to try to catch sight of his reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall, but Ned grabbed his arm and jerked him away.  “Don’t look.”  His friend said as he started guiding him out of the locker room.  “Let’s just uh go to the nurse’s office.”

“Is it that bad?” He asked.

“It’s fine.” Ned said but his voice got all high pitched like it did whenever he lied.

Everyone that he passed in the hallway stopped and stared at him.  Ok, it must be bad.  Still, nothing really hurt, although he felt something wet dripping down the sides of his face, which was odd because he didn’t think he’d landed in a puddle or anything.

Ned glanced back at him and his eyebrows rose.  “Uh let’s walk a little faster.  You sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok.”

They picked up their pace and made it to the nurse’s office in record time.

“Mr. Leeds, I haven’t seen you in a while.  What brings you—  Oh goodness!” Betty, the nurse covered her mouth with a hand the second she caught sight of him.  “What on earth happened?” She asked as she led him to sit down on one of the beds.

“Jack Riley threw him through the glass shower door in the locker room.” Ned answered for him.

“He did, did he?  And why would he do that?” She asked, already putting on a pair of medical gloves.

“I guess I said something he didn’t like.” Peter said, not really wanting to get into it.

“He’s a bully.” Ned answered at the same time.

“Mr. Leeds if you could be a dear and go get Principal Morita for me?” Betty asked Ned as she carefully moved his hair around.  Ned took off like a shot.

“We really don’t have to—” Peter tried to protest.

“Now now dear, that was definitely not acceptable behavior.” She simply said, shutting him down.

Peter gave in with a sigh.

**********

When he’d finished reluctantly telling the entire story to Principal Morita, with Ned adding bits here and there, he had to admit he was happy to finally hear there were going to be repercussions.  Jack had started at Midtown a couple months ago and he’d spent the last six weeks making Peter’s life a living hell.  Sure, he’d dealt with bullies before, like Flash, but Jack was on a whole different level.  Flash said some annoying crap, but he’d never punched him, or held him up by his shirt against a locker, or threw him through a glass shower door.  Luckily, he was Spiderman with the healing factor that came with that, but at the same time, that same healing factor ensured no one had noticed what’d been going on because the evidence disappeared so quickly, and he hadn’t told anyone no matter how many times Ned had insisted he should.

“Well Mr. Parker, we’ll talk to a few more of your classmates but if they corroborate what happened, then at the least, Mr. Riley is looking at a long suspension.”

Peter nodded.

“Try not to move dear.” Betty chastised as she continued to pluck small pieces of glass from his scalp with a tweezer.  It had started to sting but still didn’t overtly hurt.

The secretary poked her head in the door and told Betty, “I got ahold of his aunt but she’s out of town, so she called the family friend he’s been staying with to come pick him up.  He’s on his way.”

Peter’s eyes widened and met Ned’s.  Shit.  He’d forgotten about that.  May had gone on a girl’s trip with some work friends to the Bahamas and she’d left him with Mr. Stark.  It’d been kind of a big leap in their relationship.  After he’d turned the man down for a spot on the Avengers, Mr. Stark hadn’t continued with the radio silence like Peter had expected him to.  Instead, he’d offered Peter an actual internship with him and they’d grown close over the past six months, but this was the first time he’d actually stayed over with him.  And even though Mr. Stark had acted all nonchalant about it, it was a big deal to Peter.  He’d tried to be on his best behavior and now here he was, causing trouble.

“Thank you Marge.” Betty said.  “Do you know how long he’ll be?  Because Peter’s definitely going to need to see a doctor.”

Peter groaned.

“She said around fifteen minutes.” Marge answered and then disappeared.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it.  Oh, and Mr. Leeds, you should head back to class.” Principal Morita said as he walked out.  Peter heard him stop and tell Marge outside the door, “When his guardian gets here can you send him to my office so we can talk?”

“Of course.” Marge answered.

Wonderful.  There went any hope of Peter spinning this some other way.  This day was just getting better and better.

Ned shot him a pitying look.  “I guess I better go, but text me later.”

He gave his friend a thumbs up, trying not to grimace as he thought of the train wreck that was about to happen.

“Don’t worry.  It’ll be ok dear.” Betty patted him on the shoulder in reassurance.

“Yeah.” He mumbled, not too sure, as he waited silently, listening to the ping ping ping as Betty dropped glass shards into a small metal basin.  He hoped Mr. Stark wouldn’t be too mad.

**********

Twenty minutes later, Mr. Stark arrived.  Peter knew the exact time because he’d been religiously watching the clock on the opposite wall.

“Oh!  Mr.—  Mr.—” Peter heard the secretary stutter.

“Yeah hi.  Where’s my kid?”

“Um he uh…”

“Or should I just find him myself?” Mr. Stark sounded pissed.  Great.

“No, uh, I was just going to say, before you see him, Principal Morita wanted to uh talk to you.”

There were a few long seconds of silent before Mr. Stark said, “Fine.”

“Um, his office is just through here.” Peter heard Marge lead Mr. Stark away, so Peter was kept waiting, foot tapping the floor, his anxiety having no other outlet.

Thankfully, he only had to wait another five minutes before Mr. Stark swept into the room.

“Oh my goodness!” Betty exclaimed the moment she saw him.

“Jesus kid.” Mr. Stark said, ignoring Betty’s reaction to him as he took off his red tinted sunglasses.  “You look like an accident victim.”

“Is it really bad?  Ned wouldn’t let me look.” Peter complained, but given everyone’s reaction to him, he was curious.

“Probably better that way.” Mr. Stark said before finally acknowledging Betty, who stood in the corner of the room with her jaw practically on the ground.  “Is he good to go?”

“Oh!  Yes Mr. uh Mr. Stark.  I tried to get most of the glass out, but he um he should probably still see a doctor.” Betty instructed.

“Of course.  Let’s go kid.” Mr. Stark held an arm out and Peter stood and walked over to him.  As soon as he was within reach, Mr. Stark wrapped an arm around his shoulders and guided him out.

“You ok to walk?  Not dizzy or anything?” The man asked as they walked past the still shocked secretary and out into the hallway.

“No, I’m good.  I’m totally fine Mr. Stark.  I’m just really sorry you had to come all the way out here.” He said as they made their way to the exit.  They only met a few stragglers here and there in the hallway along the way. Every single one of them stopped to stare, and for the first time Peter wasn’t sure if it was because of what he looked like or just because Mr. Stark was there.  Peter was just thankful class was still in session so at least his entire school wasn’t gawking at them.  Although now the whole fake internship thing should finally get put to rest.  By the end of the day, he was sure everyone in Midtown would hear about how Mr. Stark led Peter Parker out of school.

Peter glanced at Mr. Stark and he noticed his mentor’s lips were pursed together, a clear indication that something was irritating him, but Peter didn’t know what.  Maybe it was because he was bleeding?  For some reason Mr. Stark always seemed to get peeved whenever he got hurt.

“All this is really no big deal.  It’ll be completely healed by tomorrow.” He tried to reassure him.

“Like all the other times?” Mr. Stark asked sharply.

Peter frowned.

“Because I’m guessing if this kid threw you through a glass shower door, this wasn’t the first time.”

“Are you mad?” He asked in surprise.

“Of course I’m mad!” Mr. Stark whisper yelled.  “My kid just got thrown through a glass door!  Why wouldn’t I be mad?”

Peter blinked in shock at the fact that Mr. Stark had just called him his kid, but the man didn’t even seem to notice as he continued, “How long has this been going on for?”

Peter shrugged.  “A couple weeks.”

Mr. Stark pushed the school door open and as they walked out Peter noticed the man’s Audi was illegally parked in front of the school.

“A couple weeks.” Mr. Stark echoed.  “So if I texted your Ted friend and asked him, he’d tell me the same thing?”

Peter looked up sharply at the man, brow furrowing.  He wouldn’t really do that, would he?

Mr. Stark raised his eyebrows at him in challenge.

Peter sighed, “Ok fine.  For six weeks.  But it’s fine.” He added when he saw the thunder cloud that moved in over Mr. Stark’s face.

Mr. Stark opened the passenger car door and guided him in before slamming it shut behind him.

“Does May know about this?” The man asked as soon as he got in the driver’s side.

Peter licked his lips.

“Of course she doesn’t.” Mr. Stark muttered, shaking his head as he answered his own question.  He started the car and the engine revved as they sped away.

“This is the kind of stuff you need to talk to someone about.  You need to tell an adult.”

“Why are you freaking out?  This is nothing compared to the stuff Spiderman goes through.” He didn’t understand what the big deal was.  A few weeks ago he’d literally taken a bullet to the arm and Mr. Stark hadn’t seemed this pissy.

“Because you weren’t Spiderman when this happened.  You were Peter Parker and you were at school, a place where you’re supposed to be safe!” Mr. Stark ranted.  “You shouldn’t be getting thrown through glass and getting your head all cut up to hell.”

That reminded him.  Ned and Mr. Stark had both discouraged him from looking, but he wanted to see what he looked like.  He flipped the visor down and adjusted it so the mirror faced him.

“What are you doing?”

“I want to see how bad it is.” He looked into the mirror.  “Oh wow.  That does look kind of bad.”

His hair looked like he’d tried to dye it a dark red and rivulets of dried blood ran down the sides of his face down his cheeks and temples and over his ears.

“Yeah, well, head wounds bleed a lot.” Mr. Stark said.

Peter flipped the visor back up as Mr. Stark let out heavy sigh.  “Why didn’t you tell me kid?”

He shrugged.  “Because it was a Peter Parker problem, not a Spiderman problem.”

“Pete you’ve got to stop talking about yourself like that.  Peter Parker is Spiderman and Spiderman is Peter Parker.  They’re not different people.  And…” Mr. Stark paused to clear his throat awkwardly, “I care about them both.”

Peter smiled.

“So next time I want to hear about this from you, not your principal.  Got it?”

“Yeah.”

“And I got that little shit expelled so you don’t have to worry about him causing you anymore trouble.”

“You did?”

“Of course I did.  Your idiot principal only wanted to suspend him, but I very persuasively explained all the reasons why that was a bad idea, and he agreed with me in the end.” Mr. Stark said.

“Um thanks.” Peter felt kind of bad he’d gotten one his classmates expelled, but at the same time he was relieved he wouldn’t have to deal with Jack’s abuse anymore, and honestly the jerk had deserved it.

“Don’t mention it kid.  Or actually do mention it, but sooner next time, so I can fix things before you get thrown through a glass door.”

Peter let out a laugh.  “Ok.  Deal.”

[harrypotter-imaginess]

A/N: Tad on the long side, slightly NSFW at the end

Part 2 is Here!

He meets you a few years after Hogwarts, you’ve just finished up University, and are working in an office

Well Draco’s on his best behavior, he can’t ride his broom in London anymore, he might be spotted by Muggles.

So with a sour face he walks to work, past all the muggle office buildings.

 You notice him almost immediately, well in a sense

The first time you notice him is when you’re going to work just a bit earlier, wanting to finish a project you’re working on

He’s pretty handsome you decide, platinum blond hair is a bit on the long side, but cut neatly. He’s got a black earring in one ear, several rings on his fingers, and he’s wearing a rather smart coat.

 “Way out of my league.” You mutter to yourself, but for the briefest second your eyes meet and your face erupts into flames.

 “Just forget it,” You tell yourself quietly, “people that beautiful usually have a wife or a boyfriend.” You mutter as you climb into the elevator.

 “He’s probably a model,” And then remembering his coat you add: “or some fancy rich kid.” You tell yourself

 But you find yourself going to work at the same time the next day, and every day after to that to catch a glance of him.

 In your head you start calling him “golden boy”, and it turns out he’s actually a bit famous around your office.

 “Oh him? He’s a cutie isn’t he?” You co-worker says

 “I wonder where he works, must be in a management position if he’s always in those Louis Vuitton suits though.” Another adds

 “Rich golden boy” then, you decide

 Draco doesn’t notice you for months, and the only reason he finally does is because your stuffing some papers into a folder hurrying to work, and accidentally bump into him.

 “Muggles” He whispers under his breath with a sneer, he doesn’t realize you heard him.

 You have no idea what it means, but you figure it’s some model-rich boy slur for just a regular civilian.

 “What just because you’re beautiful you think you can say anything you want?” That stops him in his tracks, and for the first time he really see’s you.

 You’re not breathtakingly beautiful or anything, he’s seen Fleur Delacour after all.

 You are pretty adorable though.

 You scoff when he doesn’t respond, and continue on to your building.

 The rest of the day Draco’s strangely pissed at himself

 Who do you think you are? Just some muggle.

 He’s a pure blood, he’s a Malfoy, he’s above you.

 He goes to bed still upset that you talked to him that way.

 “Beautiful? Of course I’m beautiful, anyone with eyes can see that.” He mumbles, turning to his side, in the dark he doesn’t notice the red dusting onto his cheeks.

 The next day he notices you shuffling papers into your briefcase again.

 “Maybe if you walked while looking up, you wouldn’t bump into people.” He shouts to you, and you smirk.

 “Better than looking like I have a stick up my ass Golden Boy.”

 A stick??? Up his ass??

 He’s fuming as he walks past the Muggles and to the ministry.

 He’s still pissed as he shuts the door to his office and slumps into his desk.

 “And what the hell does Golden boy mean?” He shouts

 Meanwhile, you can’t believe you called him golden boy to his face.

 You’re mortified as you sit at your desk.

 You’re mortified throughout the entire day, and that night you convince yourself everything will be fine after a good nights sleep.

 That it wasn’t that big of a deal, and he probably doesn’t even remember it.

 Draco remembers it

 It’s been all he’s been able to think about all day.

 He lies awake at night thinking about you

 “What kind of insult will make them as upset as I am.” He whispers to himself

 The next morning he sees you walking to work, typing furiously into your phone with one hand.

 You look up and make eye contact, looking away quickly.

 That makes him mad

 “Nice hair.” He scoffs as he walks by you.

 “Better than looking like some fairy prince.” You tease back

 Before he can say anything back you’ve disappeared into your building.

 Why did you say that? You internally shriek, it wasn’t even really an insult.

 And then feeling self conscious you check your hair, what’s wrong with you hair it looks fine. Maybe a little frizzy but there’s only so much you can do in this weather

 A fairy prince??? A fairy prince???!??

 For the second day in a row Draco slams his door shut, and slumps into his chair

 “What the hell is that even supposed to mean?” He shrieks.

 And why was the best he could do “nice hair”?

 It’s not like he can call you a muggle to your face or anything

 It goes on like this for a few weeks, you insult each other back and forth

 “Where’d you get that outfit? Out of the trash?”

 “Sorry my daddy couldn’t afford to be me a tacky fendi print coat”

 “Off to another photo shoot Golden boy?”

 “Better than being some entry level desk worker.”

 The insults only stop when he notices that you aren’t there one morning at your usual time. Draco hesitates for a second, he almost wants to wait for you. But then he reminds himself you’re just some muggle, and walks to ministry and goes straight to his office

 For the first time in weeks Draco doesn’t slam his office door shut

 His employees are, frankly, a little concerned

 His leg bounces all day, he mutters to himself continuously, and he can’t seem to focus at all.

 Finally at twelve he decides to go out for lunch.

 He’s not going to see you, he tells himself, just wants to try something new for lunch.

 And that’s how Draco finds himself in front of your office building.

 Just his luck you’re sitting on a bench a few feet away.

 “You look awful.” The words fall out of his mouth before he even knows they’re there.

 You turn and see the beautiful man you’ve been casually exchanging insults with for weeks now and sigh.

 You’re wearing dress pants, and an oversized sweater.

 You’re not wearing any make up, and your eyes are slightly swollen and bloodshot

 You offer a small, self depreciating smile.

 “Yeah I probably do.”

Without waiting for an invitation Draco takes a seat beside you on the bench, leaving enough room for someone to sit in between you both.

 “You get sacked?” He asks, and you shake your head

 “No I just-“ And you don’t even know where to begin. You feel the tears prickle at the corners of your eyes. “I’m just having a bad day.” You mumble.

 Draco doesn’t really know what to do, but when he see’s you hold back tears, his heart squeezes a bit.

 And he’s not quite sure why.

 “Your comebacks not good enough to get you out of trouble at the office?”

 Despite your awful mood, you laugh

 And Despite himself, Draco curses himself for not listening to Fred and George Weasley more when he was at school

 They were by all cases prats, and blood traitors, but they told good jokes.

 Good jokes he could really use right now

 “What’s your excuse for being out of work right now?”

 Well he’s certainly not going to tell you he came here hoping to see you.

 A deep sigh escapes him

 “I just-“ And he looks at you, and it’s like he’s seeing you all over again. Your (Y/E/C) eyes gaze deep into his, and he feels the heat creep into his face.

 “I-I just needed some fresh air.” You’re still looking at him with those big expressive eyes, and the blush only intensifies

 He stands up abruptly, and begins to walk away, and you’re both confused and a little sad to see him go so soon

 “See you tomorrow!” He calls out with the blush only intensifying as he hurries back to the ministry.

 You smile for the rest of the day.

 Draco feels like an absolute idiot, why did he just get up and run off like that?

 He’s red faced, his face down on the desk, when he hears a knock on the door.

 “Did you have a good lunch Mr.Malfoy?” He looks up to see one of the newer employees practically shaking as they stand in his doorway.

 He looks past him and see’s several other watching with curious gazes, who quickly turn away when they catch his eyes.

 They’ve obviously sent the weakest of the bunch to scope the situation

 Draco sighs

 “Don’t call me Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Malfoy is my father.”

 When his employee doesn’t realize he’s joking he just sighs.

 “Papers for me to sign?” He supplies and the man nods quickly

 After that, mornings are more pleasant between you two.

 Mostly they’re just morning greetings with a few compliments thrown in.

 “You look nice today, do you have a meeting?” He asks

 “Nah just a conference.”

 “I like your coat, where’d you get it?” And at that he’s a bit taken aback

 “O-oh,” He can’t very well tell you he got it from a designer store in the wizard world and that it can hold infinite amounts of things in the pockets

 “It was a gift.” You smile

 “That’s too bad, I was thinking about getting one like it.” You wave as you walk into your building and it takes everything in Draco so he doesn’t rip his coat off and hand it over to you right now

 He’d give you his whole life if you asked

 You occasionally have lunch together on the bench in front of your office.

 “This is a bit awkward,” you start, and Draco’s heart leaps, are you going to tell him you can’t be seen with him anymore?

 And for a second, Draco hopes beyond hope that you’re going to tell him you’re a witch.

 That maybe you went to school somewhere else, or that you recognized him from school

 But instead you say

 “I actually don’t know your name.” You say it with a grin, and Draco’s heart plummets a bit

 “Draco.” You raise an eyebrow

 “You sure it’s not Stefan, or Gaston or something?” You say with a giggle

 You didn’t think he’d have such a weird name to be honest.

 Draco grins

 “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” And then adds “What’s your’s then?”

 “(Y/N)” you tell him

 He nods, biting back any comment he might have. And instead adds:

 “And your boyfriend’s name?” He asks and you giggle

 “I don’t have a boyfriend.” He checks your hand for a second, making sure there’s no ring before saying

 “Girlfriend then?”

 And you laugh and shake your head

 “No I’m single at the moment.”

 He nods, and you’re about to ask him wether he’s seeing someone or not when he says:

 “We should get dinner sometime then.”

 For several long seconds you just stare at him. The slight pink that dusts over his cheekbones.

 His platinum blond hair is neat and looks soft and fluffy as it brushes against his pale eyebrows. Bright grey eyes staring straight at you.

 The next seven seconds are filled with fighting the urge to run away and squeal

 “Sure,” And then you take a deep shaky breath and add “Friday work for you?”

 “Yeah, that sounds good.”

 For the first time you see Draco actually smile.

 It’s not like the smirk or cocky grins he’s sent you before. His lips arch upwards, and reach all the way to his eyes. And he doesn’t look like this beautiful unobtainable man anymore.

 He looks like a sweet boy

 “I’ll meet you here after work then?” His voice snaps you out of your senses.

 “Actually I’ll be a bit late that day,” you’re going to have to put in a request to leave early. If you’re going on a date with Draco you’re going to have to go to the spa and get your makeup and hair done.

 You dig around your (Wallet/Purse) for a business card, and hand it to him.

 “I’ll meet you wherever you pick.” You add with a smile, Draco accepts the card, and reaches for his own before he stops himself

 He can hardly give you the business card that tells how to access his office via floo network.

 “I’ll give you a ring.” He says with a nervous smile

 Draco has to go buy a muggle phone now

 He makes one of his assistants at work do it

 “Reginald get in here!” He shouts

 And follows a rather nervous employee

 “You’re parents were Muggles, yes?” And the employees face goes white.

 It’s pretty well known how anti-muggle the Malfoy’s are. So this guy is already thinking he’s about to be fired.

 “Y-Yes sir they are.”

 Well if he’s going to go down, he’s going down swinging Reginald decides. And he’s already preparing “the reason you suck” speech in his head when Draco sighs with relief.

 “Good, can you help me get a phone?”

 “Oh,” And Reginald just stops before saying “which one?”

 And Draco is astonished that there are different kinds of phones

 He gets a flip phone (the kind people used in the 2000’s)

 He picks a more upscale restaurant in the downtown area, recommended by Reginald. Who also advises him to bring along more than enough muggle money for his excursion

 He makes a reservation ahead of time, and ends up getting there before you.

 He’s sitting at the table, beginning to doubt wether he called you to let you know which restaurant when you waltz in through the door.

 When you walk through the door in a curve hugging (black dress/suit).

 You talk to the host, before making eye contact with Draco

 He can’t take his eyes off of you

 You say something, and then a hand gesture, and the host allows you through.

 You’re breathtaking, you’ve always been cute, adorable really he thinks

 But this is- this is sexy, you look beautiful

 And you should, you spent the last four hours, having everything important waxed, tweezed, curled, and polished.

 The (dress/suit) is courtesy of your savings account.

 RIP to your early retirement plan

 Draco’s in his usual suit, a polished black blazer and pants with a crisp white shirt underneath

 God, if you hadn’t decided to eat dinner already, you’d certainly make do with him.

 He stands to greet you, pressing a kiss to the back of your hand that sends a positively sinful shiver through you

 Dinner is nice, the food is exquisite, and Draco’s actually quite interesting, you decide.

 “So where do you work?”

 “I’m an Curator.” He’s practiced this answer with Reginald several times. Apparently a Curator would be the closest thing to the head of the department of cursed magical artifacts.

 “And you?” Reginald also told him the best way to distract attention from himself was to divert it back to you.

 You blush, your face feels warm and you start to feel the alcohol get to you

 “I’m just an office worker.” You tell him, and you wonder why he’s asked, surely he’s insulted you with that very fact several times in the early stages of your friendship

 “Selling yourself short, are you?” And you smile at him

 “Well I can’t possibly compare to a curator now can I? You must have all sorts of stories”

 Cue Draco practically sweating as he tries to cut out all the pieces of his stories that involve magic

 “So I once found this-erm, this box,” And he has to think for a second, how should he cover this up “and there’s been dozens of these boxes found from here to France, well a lot of them are said to be cursed.”

 “And you believe that?” You ask, he pegs you as a pretty skeptical guy

 “Yes.” He answers without a doubt, partially because some of these boxes are in fact cursed. “We curators are very superstitious.”

 after the meal he walks you home, he’s surprised to learn you live so close to work

 “Well this is me.” You tell him as you stop at a rather posh flat.

 “I had a lovely time with you.” He whispers, he’s gazing into your eyes, your faces slowly creeping closer.

 “Can I ki-“

 “Yes” You say before he can even finish

 It starts out chaste, but heats up to one of his hands on your waist, and both of yours under his shirt.

 “Would you like t-“ you start, a bit breathless

 “Yes.” He answers before you can even finish the sentence

 “Bedroom?” He asks, leaving sloppy kisses down your neck, your legs circled around his waist

 “The one on the right.” You murmur, a gasp escaping you as his fingers dance over your thighs.

 This is a little soon for you, but Draco’s hot enough to justify the bump in your body count

 Draco however, is the one protesting throughout

 “I don’t usually do this with someone after the first date.” He mumbles against your mouth, his hands making quick work of your clothes

 “This really isn’t like me at all.” He explains, you pull off his jacket, his lips tracing up your legs

 “This wasn’t my intention at all.” He reaffirms, mouth hovering over a place you desperately want it.

 “Draco it’s fine, really”

 Afterwards he’s laying beside you, hair a bit damp with sweat. You’re curled up by his side, asleep

 That was mind blowing

 A small part of him was hoping that maybe this would be what brought him to his senses, that you both just wouldn’t click like he wanted

 A reminder that he belongs in a different world

 He never imagined your sexual compatibility would be this good

 And the goofy grin on his face falters a bit

 He was going to have to tell you sooner or later, if he wanted a future with you

 That he was a wizard, and about his family

 And then he remembers his parents, and it hits him full force

 “Oh fuck, I just shagged a muggle, Dad’s going to kill me.” He whispers to himself

 He’s half convinced himself that if he slips out of bed now, and never see’s you again maybe you both would forget each other.

 His Mum would surely forgive him, would say it was a minor transgression, and it was in the past

 But then he takes one look at you, the content expression on your face, eyes closed under creamy eyelids, and he finds the goofy grin curling onto his face yet again.

 Oh fuck, he’s fallen in love with a muggle.

 Biting back a laugh, he thinks his mum is going to kill him

 You wake up the next morning in your underwear and alone

 No Draco and no note

 A deep sigh leaves you, well it was nice while it lasted

 You get up and move to grab some clothes

 You had just put on some pajama shorts and a shirt, when you hear your front door shut, and in the next second your bedroom door opens

 “Love, you’re awake” Draco says, holding a tray with, what appears to be two cups of tea and a cup of coffee, and a bag that you can only assume has pastries

 “I didn’t know if you drink tea or coffee, so I got both.” He adds sheepishly

 And then he looks at you, and you notice he’s wearing different clothes than the night before. A pair of trousers and a crisp shirt. He must live close by.

 He presses a kiss to your forehead, and you smile

 Of course Draco could never leave you, he loves you.

[animeyanderelover]

could you wrote prompt 17 with paku? im sorry ive just been stalking ur page 😭

Don’t feel sorry for this darling. I’m not angry with you.

Warnings: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, obsessiveness, manipulation, Pakunoda reading the reader’s mind, mentions of kidnapping

Prompt 17: “You’ve been such a good girl lately. If you continue to behave so well I might just reward you. Would you like that?”

What had you gotten yourself into? How had this even happened? When had your lovely girlfriend became a criminal and part of the famous Phantom Troupe? As it appears she had been part of the troupe since a long time. How had you even found that out? Let’s just say...you managed to appear at the wrong time at the wrong place and had witnessed Paku talking to some rather shady looking persons. A girl with pink hair who looked like she hadn’t smiled very often in her life and a man who had looked creepy as fuck if someone ignored the fact how tiny he was. You had been too far away to hear what they had been saying, but you knew that it hadn’t been anything good and had tried to sneak away when the man suddenly appeared right in front of you, giving you nearly a heart attack. Just from looking at him you had known that the gap between your and his strength was enormous. He had looked at you with a look in his eyes that had scared the living shit out of you and had asked you with his hoarse and broken voice who you were and what you were doing here. You hadn’t been able to answer him, paralyzed with fear. He had asked you once again and had told you if you wouldn’t answer him he would kill you. That had been the last straw for you and you had fallen unconscious right then and there, expecting to never wake up again.

But you had woken up again. In a room with which you were very familiar. It was Pakunoda’s bedroom. She had been sitting right next to you, waiting for you to wake up again. As soon as you had sat up she had been quick to hug you and telling you that she had been worried when exactly you would wake up, but you had interrupted her and demanded from her to know who the hell these people had been. Paku had tried to tell you something about that they were old friends from her. You would have believed her if it wouldn’t have been for the fact that the small guy had threatened to kill you and had meant it so you hadn’t believed her. You weren’t the smartest one, but you weren’t dumb either and it had been obvious to you that these people had been some sort of criminals so why had Pakunoda be with them? Was she involved? You bombarded her with these kind of questions, not giving her time to lie even more to you. You had felt betrayed. But she still had insisted that these people weren’t bad and that you had just misunderstood something. That’s when you had snapped and had angrily told her that you didn’t plan on staying with a liar so you just stood up and had left her house, yelling that if you really meant something to her that she wouldn’t lie to you so boldly.

And you had gotten answers to your questions because the very same day she had kidnapped you and had told you the truth. Now you wished you would have just accepted her lies back then. You had felt nothing, but terror when she had told you that she was a member of the Phantom Troupe and that the two guys you had seen her with recently were members as well. Hearing that you had nearly been killed by a troupe member had sent you into pure anxiety and you had suddenly realized in what a situation you had gotten yourself into. You had asked her shaking what would happen to you now that you knew who she really was. She had answered you honestly that she had talked with her boss about this and he had told her that as long as she would make sure that you wouldn’t tell anyone he wouldn’t see you as a threat. When you had asked her what would happen if you would tell someone she hadn’t answered you and had just told you that you shouldn’t think about that, but her undertone had told you exactly what would await you if you would tell anyone. Death.

After that day Pakunoda hadn’t let you out of the house again, wanting to ensure that you wouldn’t get the chance to tell anyone about her or the troupe. When we’re already talking about the troupe, she had introduced you to them after some time, wanting you to meet her friends. This day must have been the most terrifying and interesting day in your life because who gets the chance to see all of the Phantom Troupe members without being killed immediately. Probably only a few. You had clinged to Paku for dear life during this time, not willing to leave her side, especially when you had seen the guy again who had wanted to kill you, Feitan. But you did meet some guys who were more pleasant to be with and if you could choose you would say that your “favs” were Uvogin, Nobunaga, Shizuku and Kortopi. And if you could choose the ones who were your least favorite then it would be without a doubt Feitan and it seemed like that feeling was mutual judging from the way he glared at you. But then again he seemed to always be not in a good mood and you doubted that he had ever laughed or smiled in his life.

You were conflicted about how to feel about Pakunoda now. You still loved her, but locking you up in her house was a bit much to take and you hadn’t even talked about her punishments yet. She had a lot of patience with you and you were sure if you would have been kidnapped by another troupe member you would have gotten in serious trouble for your behavior. But Pakunoda wasn’t them and so you were still healthy and good taken care of. But even the most patient person had a limit and you guess you had gotten a bit too comfortable with her. That had been a mistake because you had found out only after she had locked you up in your room and had taken everything you could have used to pass your time that she possessed the ability to read someone’s mind, meaning you were literally naked for her and had no way to hide your thoughts. You had tried to use her softness for you against her and had planned to escape her, but all she had needed was to swing an arm around your shoulder and ask you if you wouldn’t try anything. You had answered with a no and at first you had been confused when she had suddenly tensed up and looked at you with a disappointed and sad expression. Only after she had thrown you into the room she had told you about her ability and that’s when you had understood that you were doomed. There was no way for you to even think about a way to escape when all that was needed was a touch and a simple question for her to know what you were thinking. It was truly unfair. The worst was that you had been stuck in this goddamn room for at least two weeks and you hadn’t anything to use for some entertainment. No books, no TV, nothing! The only thing you could do was sleeping, wandering around the room or staring at the ceiling.

Currently you did the last one, staring at the ceiling and thinking about your life decisions, asking yourself what you could have done differently to not get into this situation. Your thoughts were interrupted when you heard the door lock being unlocked. You turned your attention towards the door when Pakunoda walked in for her daily checkup. She walked quietly to your bed, sitting down next to you. “How are you?” “Boring.”, you answered her straight away. She chuckled a bit before pulling your head against her chest. You knew what was coming now. “Do you plan anything special?” Here we go again with the questioning. “No Paku. I don’t plan anything.” You didn’t lie. What was the use anyways? Paku knew this as well because you could see a small smile on her face. “That’s good to know.” Your situation was really helpless because as soon as even the idea of a way to escape would come into your mind she would know. She didn’t let go of you and you just assumed that she wanted to spend a bit more time with her. Not like you didn’t like it, her breasts were...soft and comfortable to lay on.

“You’ve been such a good girl lately. If you continue to behave so well I might just reward you. Would you like that?” You tensed up when she said this. Was this a way to test you? Was this a trick? Since she was still in contact with you she read your thoughts and a sigh escaped her lips. “You still don’t trust me?”, she asked with a hint of disappointment in her voice. “You gave me some reasons to not trust you. By the way, you don’t trust me either. It seems like our relationship is lacking the most important thing that it’s supposed to base on. Trust.”, you replied, bitterness audible in your voice. “I really want to trust you, but you just make it a bit hard.”, Paku said. You looked up. “I trusted you once, but you broke that trust when kidnapping me and telling me that you’re a criminal who kills people. But I guess you have your reasons too that I can’t understand since I’m not you and don’t know what you went through in the past. So it’s not my right to judge you, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m upset. And I upset you too so I guess we’re both guilty.” You meant those words and you could tell by the way she tensed up that she was surprised by this. “(y/n).” You hummed and gave her a confused look. “Yes?” “I meant it when I said that I want to reward you. Tell me what you want?”

Wait?! What?! Your thoughts started to race and you felt excited at the thought that you would have something to entertain you with. But what did you want? A book? A CD? A movie? Something to play with? “Only one thing.”, Paku reminded you when noticing your racing thoughts. You tried to calm your train of thoughts down to start thinking clearly. “A new CD?”, you asked her hesitantly. She nodded in approval. “Alright. A new CD.” You felt relief flowing through you. To be honest, if you would have spent a week longer in here without anything to do you were sure that you would have gone berserk at one point. A human can only hold on that long when they have nothing to do.Both of you spent a few minutes longer in this position, your head against her chest and her just holding you close. You were almost sad when she let go and made her way out again, but at least you would have very soon some music to listen to. “(y/n)?” You hummed confused and looked at her. Paku was standing in the door frame and her head turned around to look you directly into your eyes. “Is something wrong?”, you asked her irritated. “You said that our relationship is lacking trust.” “Yes?”, you answered her unsure.

“Do you think we’ll ever be able to build that trust up again?” This question caught you off guard. Your eyes widened surprised. Why was she asking this? And why wasn’t she just asking you whilst having some physical contact with you? Like this she could make sure that you wouldn’t lie to her. For a moment you played with the thought of giving her an answer that would please her and probably lead to you getting sooner out of this room. But then you realized that this was exactly why this relationship had never worked. It was right that she had lied to you, but were you any better when you tried to use her love for you to your advantage? No, you weren’t. So you decided to give her your honest opinion. “I’m not sure. Our situation is very...complicated at the moment. But I guess if both of us try to change that there might change something. But I’m not 100% convinced.” Paku didn’t say anything and you assumed that she was thinking about your answer. Before she closed and locked the door up again she said:”I appreciate your honesty.” You sat stunned there, staring at the door before you realized why she hadn’t tried to read your mind whilst asking this question. She had wanted to be able to trust you without needing to read your mind. That told you something else as well. She was ready to try to trust you again. The question right now was would you give it a try as well and try to work this out with her?