#he gets loose eventually and when Kou catches up

[wool-string]

More on this au

They meet when Kou is riding and happens to see Kei roaming about. He means to just ride up to him but as soon as Kei spots him, he starts sprinting off

At this point, it’s a game to Kou, and he’s practically bullying him as he chases him down and watching him scurry like a mouse all over. Eventually he’s like “okay, imma just catch him.” And trips him with the rope

[1rintooru]

When Life Gives You Lemons

Pairing: post-timeskip Bokuto Kotaro x fem! reader (its p gender neutral with a few exceptions)

Themes: fluff, fluff and more fluff

Word count: 2020 one-shot

Warnings: light swearing - that's it!

Summary: just you and bokuto remembering how you first met and started dating. And Bokuto being Bokuto 💖💫

“Do you remember our first date?”

You cocked an eyebrow at his question and shook your head incredulously, “Kou, how could I ever forget that?”

“I’ll never forget that face; you looked so beautiful.”

You smiled at the thought. You remembered that night so vividly as if it were only yesterday. All you wanted to do was dash in and out of the store to collect a few missing groceries. It had been pouring all day and within the short time you were outside, the rain had managed to soak through your paper bags, causing your groceries to rip through the softened paper. You were so upset that you ended up hastily tossing your individual groceries into the backseat of your car before getting in and speeding off.

“And I remember yours,” you chuckled, “that stupid, dumb face that looked right back at me.”

You had a hit a series of red lights – normally annoying you – but the downpour had gotten increasingly aggressive on your drive home. Your car felt like it was vibrating from the fat raindrops that hit the window and roof. You were mindlessly listening to the radio when a loud thump sounded from the hood of your car. Your eyes darted to the sound and you just barely caught a glimpse of white-gray hair and golden eyes staring at you like a deer in the headlights before quickly vanishing as the person rolled off the side. You shrieked and hopped out, mentally preparing yourself for the worst, only to see a young man lying on the road, illuminated by your blinding headlights.

“I really though I hit you…”

“Baby, you were at a red light. I had this all planned out,” Bokuto grinned smugly, then scratched his chin contemplatively. “Besides, how else was I supposed to catch up to you!”

He had plastic fruit net entangled in his fingers but you couldn’t quite make out what was within it. Once his eyes met yours his shocked expression was replaced with a confident boyish grin. He held up his bag, pointing it towards you.

“And then you had the nerve to say something as dumb as ‘Uh, you forgot your lemons!’”

“And you were all like, ‘Oh, you’re my hero! You’re so sweet. And handsome too!”

You rolled your eyes, trying – and failing – to stifle a giggle. “I did not say that!”

At the time, of course, you were beyond annoyed. You had barked a couple of insults and promptly snatched the lemons from him before you stomped back into your car. When you arrived home, you threw the fruit into the fridge before changing into a pair of dry clothes. You had managed to calm your nerves but the man from before never fully left your mind. The entire time you tore into him, a goofy smile was plastered on his face. Despite that, he was admittedly quite attractive. His wet hair stuck to the sides of his face, his drenched clothing clung to his body, contouring his muscular physique and he looked almost angelic with the headlights reflecting off his glistening skin.

He cleared his throat,” A couple of days went by, so I thought you didn’t even notice…”

And you almost didn’t. A few days passed and you ended up forgetting about the incident and the lemons altogether until one evening you stood in your kitchen wondering what to eat. You had raided your cabinets and scanned your pantry, but it wasn’t until you opened the fridge for a second time that you noticed the lemons from earlier, still safely contained in their netting. Suspicion began to bubble within you as you had started to realize something.

“I didn’t even buy lemons in the first place…” your voice trailed off.

In the commotion of that night, you didn’t even think twice about what you had snatched from the man. You were cold, wet, hungry and just had a lunatic jump in front of your non-moving vehicle; the last thing you were worried about were the intentions behind some fruit. You debated whether or not you should have simply thrown them away entirely, but you noticed something different about one of the lemons. You fished it out of the net and realized what you had seen earlier. You could just barely make out the digits that were scribbled in thick black marker – most likely written in a hurry – with his name underneath, followed by a crude smiley face.

Bokuto

Call me :)

You remembered how you rolled your eyes upon seeing that. ‘Who did he think he was?’ you thought. Despite your exasperation, something held you back from throwing away his eccentric proposal and to your own surprise, you ended up texting Bokuto that very night.

Your message finally reached him in the early hours of the morning. Bokuto instantly replied back the moment he saw his screen light up. In all of your retellings of the story, he always omitted just how anxious he’d become the past few days. You lived in his head rent free and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t evict you from his mind. Did his master plan really fail him? What if you didn’t even like lemons? Maybe he should’ve taken his shirt off instead. Better yet, he should’ve spiked your car with a volleyball to show off how athletic he was. He really would’ve loved to see you watch him during his matches. He pouted and let out a defeated sigh since he finally understood what it was like for Akaashi when he would overthink.

Your first message way terse and dry but it gave Bokuto enough serotonin for him to snap out of his slump. You ended up texting each other until someone caved and fell asleep, the rays of the rising sun already peeking through your blinds. Texting quickly turned to daily phone calls and that eventually escalated to the two of you constantly facetiming each other. At some point, without you fully realizing, Bokuto had turned into a quasi-roommate – always inviting himself in with the excuse that he didn’t know how to cook for himself. (You came to learn that this was very, very true).

You hadn’t even realized how lonely you’d felt before you met Bokuto, so you wholeheartedly enjoyed being able to see him all the time. However, what you didn’t enjoy was seeing him walk behind you through the monitor of one of your zoom meetings, with nothing but his boxers hanging loosely from his waist. You immediately sprung from your chair, shouting profanities and demanding he leave. The entire time he just smiled at you bashfully, shifting his weight uncomfortably and once you looked down, you finally understood why. You had forgotten that you only got dressed from the waist up – just a pair of barely-there panties prevented you from mooning your co-workers. Needless to say, your colleagues never let you forget you and Bokuto’s peepshow.

“It really was never a dull moment,” you smiled fondly, your mind flooding with memories of all the dates and silly adventures you shared together on a whim.

Bokuto hummed agreeingly, “So, when did you finally know?”

“Know what?”

“Well, you know… when did it feel like love for you?”

That was a good question – you hadn’t really put too much thought into it. A relationship with Bokuto was like having a tidal wave of love and affection hit you. All the time. At first, you tried to resist his efforts in order to protect yourself from getting hurt – turns out, he was the one who needed protecting. He had a knack of getting himself into trouble or diving head-first into something without realizing the risks or consequences. The time he dragged you to an annual food-fair on the boardwalk immediately popped to mind. He had begged you for months to take you there on a date. Once you finally gave in, his face lit up like a small child’s on Christmas and it stayed that way for the entire day while you both tried food from all the different food vendors. You’d both reached your limit but unlike you, Bokuto continued to scarf down food like there was no tomorrow – you suspected this was just another way for him to show off. The only reason he did stop was because the vendors had started to close their stalls and by that point, he had started to realize the error of his ways. The rosiness of his cheeks had paled as he hunched over clinging to his stomach, pain written clearly on his face. ‘I told you so’, you said, already digging through your purse for pain medication. He held up a hand, effectively stopping you, ‘Don’t worry babe, I’ll swim off the pain.’

Before you could even argue, he had already made a run for it, beelining towards the ocean. You chased after him, only catching up with him once you were both neck-deep in the water.  You tried to pull him out, but it ended up with you both playfighting instead. Every time you’d aggressively splash him, he would throw you into the air in retaliation and this went on until you were completely exhausted and he was complaining about the saltwater burning his eyes.

You remembered distinctly how your wet shoes squeaked as you walked along the boardwalk. You were glad the life had returned back to Bokuto’s cheeks, even though his hair was disarray and his eyes completely bloodshot. He had an arm twined around the small of your waist and despite his best efforts to hide it – you could feel him shiver underneath his drenched clothes. Someone once told you how your favorite things about your partner would eventually be the same things you come to resent them for. When you looked up at your boyfriend, you couldn’t have disagreed more. Every time you passed a streetlight his features would illuminate – reminiscent of how you saw him for the first time. You met each other through his idiotic plan and you’d be damned if you if you were ever going to miss out on these chaotic adventures together.

Your attention turned back to Bokuto, staring at you fondly through the monitor.

“I guess I just always knew,” you said with a coy smile.

“C’mon that’s not a real answer!” he whined, but even through the pixelated screen you can tell he was hiding a grin.

“Well, answer me this instead, Kou,” your voice quickly turned serious, “when will I get to see you again?”

Bokuto leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms before finally resting his hands behind his head.

“Not long. Besides, you’re lucky enough to see me on TV even when I’m not around,” he grinned mischievously and gave you a wink, making you roll your eyes, “Besides, I uh… I left you something before I left. I hid it behind our junk food stash, I think.”

You raised an eyebrow, but decided to go look without questioning him further. What you found hidden deeply in the nook of your pantry didn’t clear anything up and raised more questions instead.

“Lemonade?” you couldn’t contain your confusion as you held up the can to your camera.

“Read the label.”

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade :)

“I know it’s been tough for you baby, but we’re almost through it. Just a couple more weeks and I’ll be back home. I promise.”

You felt tears threaten to spill over as you read the label again. It was such simple gesture but it truly did encompass your relationship beautifully. Bokuto always had a thing for silly melodramas and goofy sentimentalities. Even after two years you still felt like you were a fresh couple – you never lost the feeling of butterflies in your stomach or the habit of rolling your eyes over his antics. You managed to collect yourself and you couldn’t help but smile when you looked back at him through the screen. He may have been an idiot, but he was your idiot.

“I love you Kou. Don’t keep me waiting.”

[ahkaahshi]

12:27 AM [kuroo tetsurou x reader]

pairing: kuroo tetsurou x fem reader (platonic relationship)

genre: fluff and angst

warning(s): swearing, brief mentions of alcohol consumption

word count: 2.8k

overview: you go on one, final late night food run with your best friend to commemorate your last evening in tokyo

notes: as stated above, the reader and kuroo’s relationship here is purely platonic. it just felt right. also, this one’s a bit more dialogue-heavy than usual, but it’s intentional :) hope you enjoy!

At 12:27 AM, Kuroo’s standing in the kitchen, poring over an open cupboard of food—none of which seems to fulfill his cravings. Tapping the toes of his house slippers against the tiled floor, he sends a glance over at where you’re sitting on the couch, watching the movie he’d put on with rapt attention. His attempts at successfully blocking out thoughts of what’s to come tomorrow are foiled once more when his gaze settles on the luggage waiting patiently in the entryway.

“Hey, (f/n),” he calls out to you, shutting the cabinets in front of him and turning away from them. The eyebrow you raise at him expectantly has him continuing, “Whaddya say to going on one, last late-night food run in the city with your old pal?”

With a snicker, you toss the mountains of blankets off your body and stand up as you say, “You act as if today’s my last day on the planet, Tetsu.”

“Seriously, though, who knows when we’ll be able to do this again?” he wonders, “Might as well live like it’s your last day on the planet, even if it’s just for a night, right?”

You shake your head as you pull on an old Nekoma hoodie out of your backpack that matches the one he’s wearing. “Quit it, dumbass; you’re gonna make me all sentimental.”

A grin spreads across his lips and he gives you a playful shake once the two of you have stepped into your shoes and left his home. It warms your heart but shatters it at the same time, since you’re painfully aware of the fact that tonight will be the last time you see it in person for what could be months. And if his words hadn’t already made you a bit emotional, the drive through Tokyo would’ve done the trick.

He rolls the windows of his car down, letting in the cool, nighttime air that whistles past as the vehicle picks up speed. In an effort he wants to seem as spontaneous as possible, he plays music from a playlist the two of you had made together back when you were in high school, shouting and dancing along to the lyrics of every song with you with an enthusiasm that has you doubling over in your seat with laughter.

Every stoplight gives other drivers and pedestrians buzzing around the bustling downtown area the opportunity to shoot you judgmental looks or those of entertainment, but you’re too busy living in the moment with him that you barely notice or even care, for that matter. You don’t know where he’s taking you, but you don’t bother to ask. Instead, you find yourself lost in admiring the dazzling array of lights passing you by during your drive through the lively city. Knowing you’ll be in a new one by this time tomorrow has you gazing upon everything you’d simply passed by before without a second thought with a newfound appreciation and lingering nostalgia.

Eventually, after Kuroo’s impressed you by maneuvering his car into a tighter parking spot than you thought he could fit in, you find your destination is a small restaurant tucked away in one of the back alleys aglow with neon signs. Though it’s packed to the brim with other patrons enjoying a late-night meal, there’s plenty of conversation between you and your friend to fill the time you spend waiting for a table.

Once you’re inside, you bask in the warmth heavy with the delicious smell of fresh food as the two of you sit together and reminisce over steaming bowls of ramen. “You know one thing I’ll never forget?” Kuroo begins, fishing out a few plump noodles with his chopsticks. You glance over at him expectantly while you blow on the broth in your spoon and he chuckles before adding, “The look on Lev’s face when he hit you in the back of the head during warmups and you gave him the coldest stare I’ve ever seen.”

“I felt so bad when I realized it was him, though, ‘cause I thought it was you!” you defend.

Kuroo’s unoccupied hand flies to his chest to complete the feigned look of shock on his face. “And you were gonna look at me like that if it was?”

“You were always aiming for me, Tetsu.”

“You were always on the court!”

“Helping Coach toss and keeping hitters like you from fucking up your ankles by coming down on stray volleyballs, you asshole.”

Kuroo shrugs and comments, “I never hit you hard, though,” and moves another serving of noodles to his lips. “Just wanted to keep our beloved manager on her toes is all.”

With an incredulous scoff, you retort, “Yeah, you did that, alright. And even well into uni, too.”

There’s a pause in your conversation as you both take a moment to enjoy your food before Kuroo questions, “Could you please submit your evidence to the court?”

“Halloween,” you state, (e/c) eyes laser focused on his own, hazel ones. He’s narrowing them, as if he’s trying to remember the event in question, so you help him out by continuing, “You and Kou were insistent on coming with me to a raging house party that night. The two of you got so, annoyingly drunk that you were laughing at the top of your lungs like hyenas about videos of pets dressed up in costumes at three in the morning.”

He raises a finger contemplatively. “I might’ve blacked out, but that does sound like something I’d do.”

“In that case, you probably forgot about all the noise complaints I got, then; and how the owner of the place came to scold me in person.”

A bashful grin forms on his lips at the memory you’ve reminded him of, and he concedes, “Alright, alright; we’ve both done a lot of stupid shit in the time we’ve known each other, so let’s just leave it at that. Besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to remind you of the time you lost your bikini top in the ocean and were too mortified to move, so you made me swim in and get it, right?”

“This conversation is over,” you declare, face growing hot with embarrassment as a vivid image of the moment in question flashes across your mind.

As the two of you continue enjoying your delicious meals and reminiscing about other, more positive experiences you’ve shared together, you feel the knot that’s been settled in the pit of your stomach for what seems to be weeks now make itself known once more. In spite of your outward calmness and enthusiasm, you were starting to have trouble hiding your nervousness. The last thing you’d wanted was for anyone to notice and try to talk you out of your decision, but Kuroo’s far more perceptive than most and knows you well enough to understand what you’re thinking.

When the two of you finish your meals and find the strength to scoot out of your chairs, he notices the way you gaze longingly at your surroundings. He catches sight of the gentle glimmer of emotion in your eyes as you request that he drive you anywhere he wants—just to hold off on going back to his place for a bit longer. And each time he takes his eyes off the road ahead to cast a glance in your direction, he finds your attention fixated on all the buildings and people that pass by.

But it’s not until the two of you arrive at a nearly empty parking lot outside a large, sprawling park that he decides to bring up the question of what’s on your mind. “Hey, (f/n),” he says, making you turn on your heels to face him where you’d been standing a few feet away from his car, watching the twinkling lights in the distance. He looks so carefree, perched on the hood of his vehicle, hands shoved into the pockets of his black joggers, whereas you’re much more on edge, trying to keep your foot-tapping against the loose gravel to a minimum.

“Hmm?”

He purses his lips for a moment before answering slowly, “I’ve been thinking about this for a while—the last day we’d spend together. And it’s one of those things that you just can’t really prepare yourself for, no matter how hard you try to, y’know?” The muscles around your brow relax, and your expression becomes more curious upon being pulled out of your worrisome thoughts. “I know how I’m feeling, but how are you holding up?”

Your fingers interlace themselves as you bite the inside of your cheek. Even if you want to, there’s no bullshitting Kuroo. Not when he’s seen you in every state you can imagine and is often one to pick up on your feelings before you’re even aware they exist, though he often brings them to your attention with a more lighthearted approach than most would think appropriate to take. Doesn’t mean he cares any less, however; and you can see the genuine concern in his hazel eyes shining a paler color in the white moonlight.

“I’m excited,” you tell him. With the way your heart’s pounding in your chest, you’d be surprised if he couldn’t hear its pulse in your voice. Moving towards him to occupy the space on the hood beside him, you take a deep breath and look up at him. “But I’m terrified at the same time.” It’s instantaneous, the way you lean into his touch the moment he slings his arm around your shoulders to pull you closer to him. “Since we were kids, I was always talking about wanting to move to another country, remember?”

“I thought you just said that to make me sad whenever I pissed you off.”

You lightly swat his chest and argue, “Oh, be quiet.” But, before you can continue with what you were going to say, you find yourself focused on the words he’d spoken instead. “Wait, did you actually mean that?”

With a gentle chuckle, he shrugs. “Nah, I was joking.” The adam’s apple in his throat bobs when he turns his attention towards the sky and admits, “But I always did get a little sad whenever you mentioned it. Still do.” A moment of silence filled with the distant sounds of traffic and the chirping of insects ensues during which you watch your fingers toy with the aglets hanging off your hoodie. “I mean, come on, now; what kinda kid wants one of his best friends to move away when he knows how big the world is but how singular and small he is?”

“Tetsu,” you murmur softly, feeling your lip tremble with emotion and your eyes sting with oncoming tears, “You’ve always been there for me through, like, everything. Or, at least, it feels that way. Part of the reason why I’m so scared of leaving is because I’m gonna be all by myself, in a brand-new place, just thrown into the deep end of things and having to teach myself how to swim all over again. But another part of it is because I’m gonna be away from you. And even now, as an adult, I still don’t wanna move away from my best friend.”

He doesn’t even have to look at you or hear you sniffle to know you’re crying, and he tightens his grip around you, placing his other hand on your back. Appreciative of the gesture, you bury your face in the soft fabric of his sweatshirt and pull him into an embrace so you can hold onto him for a few, long moments that you wish didn’t have to end.

“Hey, it’s all good as long as you don’t forget about me once you make it big out there, okay?” His tone is teasing and lighthearted, as per usual, but you can hear the subtlest break in his voice that has more tears cascading down your cheeks and pooling in the creases of his sweater.

“I’m not gonna forget you—I could never—but, what if I can’t do it?” you whimper, “What if I get there and I hate the job, or I hate my coworkers, or I hate life over there? Then I’ll be stuck out there with no one.”

Rubbing your back gently, he assures you, “If worst comes to worst, you can come back home and regroup. You’ll always have a place to stay here. Well… unless I get super famous and end up being offered a job to travel around the world.” You can’t help but snicker at his comment, and neither can he. “Even if I’m not physically there, I’ll always be there in spirit. And don’t discount the possibility of me showing up at your doorstep, since we know I have a tendency to do that.”

“Like a stray cat I keep feeding.”

“Exactly. Maybe you’ll even get two if I can convince Kenma to come with me. We’ll have to see how long he can survive off his Switch alone.”

Your bodies both shake with laughter for a few moments before you pull away from each other, and his hands slide onto your shoulders to give them a firm squeeze. Keeping your head lowered for a moment, you drag the sleeves of your hoodie across your eyes to wipe up any stray tears you hadn’t left on his. When your gazes meet, though, the confidence in his almost entirely dissolves the knot that’s been building in your stomach for so long.

“Hey.” He shakes you gently, and you jokingly let your head roll about, eliciting more snickers from both of your mouths before looking at him expectantly and with your full attention. “Don’t let the worst-case scenario hold you back from something that could be great. You’re so quick to think about how likely the worst possible thing is to happen, but why can’t the best be just as likely?”

Playfully, you tease, “Wow, seems like someone’s trying to get me outta here,” with a smirk.

“(F/n),” he sighs, sending a long plume of steam upwards from his mouth. Giving you a firm pat on the arm, he admits, “I’m gonna miss you like hell. But this is what you’ve been wanting for so long, and I want you to do it so badly. Partly so I can say that I have a vacation property abroad, but mostly because you know I want the best for you, since you deserve it.”

Your lip quakes once again at his confession, but you manage to blink back the tears this time and crack a smile. “Okay. But if you’d better not get even the slightest bit sentimental or teary-eyed tomorrow or else I’m gonna cry like a bitch all the way through the airport.”

“Eyes will be dry as long as you promise to video call me the second you land so I can go on the cab ride with you and see the whole, cute apartment reveal thing that’s so trendy these days.”

A mixture of a giggle and a gentle sob leaves your mouth as you watch his figure distorted by your swimming vision rise from the hood of his car. You feel warm hands on your wrists pulling you up onto your feet before you’re ensconced in another tight hug while Kuroo rocks from one foot to the other.

“You’re gonna be fine.”

After giving you a squeeze hard enough to push the air out of your lungs, he releases his grasp around you and opens the door on the passenger’s side so you can climb in and retreat from the coldness of the night. “With all these emotions plus the food, I’m gonna knock out so fast when we get home,” you mumble with a soft sniffle, reaching for the packet of tissues in his glove compartment once he’s settled in the driver’s seat.

He scoffs and furrows his eyebrows at you as he sticks his keys in the ignition. “Who said you were sleeping tonight? You’ve got the whole plane ride tomorrow to do that.”

“Alright, you can’t blame me for being cranky, then.”

With a shake of the head, he shifts the car into reverse so he can back out of the parking lot and start the journey back to his home. While the music you’d been blasting earlier plays softly from the speakers, you rest your head on the door once more to watch your familiar surroundings breeze by outside.

“Tetsurou.” You glance over at him and his head of haphazardly styled hair that you’re sure won’t fit on the screen of your phone the next time you see him, and his eyes meet yours when he brings the car to a halt at a stop sign. “Thanks for spending my so-called last night on the planet with me.”

extra that didn’t make the cut: kuroo didn’t shed a tear at the airport until after he thought you’d left. but you’d actually just hid somewhere and caught him with watery eyes. you still video called him as soon as you landed, though.

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taglists (send an ask to be added to the when night falls taglist!)

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general: @dinablossom​, @newfriendjen​, @ohbyunhunn​, @aftcrlust​, @mister-future​, @kyleclxin​, @kac-chowsballs​, @osamusmiya​, @nit-sir-hc​, @arixtsukki​, @shinsurou​, @ichorizaki​, @dominikmagnus​, @tendo-sxtori​, @krynnza​​

kuroo: @lotsoffandomrecs​, @heyhinata​, @cuddlysoftbear​

[shepard-ram]

Hello ‘tis I Echo and I regret to inform I have been locked out my old acc 🥲 Still that won’t stop me because I was thinking about making a Dream smp TBHK AU.

🚫Mentions of ghost shenanigans and killing. Also tbhk spoilers)🚫

-Brief plot for those who don’t know the story of this anime. Yashiro Nene attends Kamone Highschool, a school known for it’s interesting rumors of ghosts, apparitions, and of course the 7 wonders of the school. One particular wonder, Hanako-San of the Toilet, catches Yashiro’s attention. If you summon Hanako she is said to grant any wish you want. Yashiro goes to summon Hanako to ask her to grant a wish of finding love but she is met with shock when Hanako turns out to be a boy. Through some odd events Yashiro gets put under a cursed that leaves her spiritually bound to Hanako. The two become partners with their goal to take down evil spirits in the school to keep the peace between humans and apparitions.

-Now here the cast list:

-Yashiro: Reader

-Hanako: Tommy

-Kou: Ranboo

-Mistuba: Tubbo

-Tsukasa: Wilbur

-Teru: Techno

There are more characters but I’m having trouble assigning characters to roles.

Also saying this now even though the anime has romantic stuff between Yashiro and Hanako my AU will not have that. Everything here is platonic. Just a couples homies being homies.

-Reader is Yashiro because protag moment. Unlike in the original story where Yashiro wishes for love, Reader wishes to find friends who won’t abandon them. I’m the past they’ve made friends but they either all left them behind or weren’t really their friends and were fake.

-Tommy is Hanako because they are both chaotic and rude little shits. Tommy at first really doesn’t think that much of Reader, they are only keeping them safe to help take care of the other apparitions. As time goes on though, they grow on each other and become best friends (4lifers 💃) Tommy is honestly very happy to have someone by his side after being alone for so long. The feeling of having someone who says they will stay by their side makes him feel nostalgic…

-Ranboo is Kou because yes! Ranboo comes from a clan of powerful exorcists. His adoptive father, Philza Minecraft, and older brother, Techno, being huge role modules for him. Techno instructed Ranboo to find and eliminate the 7th wonder, Tommy the bathroom ghost. Tommy needs to be exorcised because he was said to have killed someone close to him when he was alive…Ranboo attempts to fight Tommy but looses. Ranboo ends up hanging around Tommy after the fight trying to see if he would actually try to do anything evil. He is shocked to find that while this ghost child is annoying he isn’t really evil. He may have done things in the past but he seems to genuinely care about reader and eventually him too and the three become friends. Sure hope Techno doesn’t find out ahahaha.

-Tubbo is Mitsuba because yep. Tubbo was an outcast in his class with the closest thing to a friend he had being Ranboo but even then they weren’t that close. Tubbo sadly died after being hit by a truck. After some time his spirit finds it way back to the school and the first person he sees is Ranboo. Tubbo is often very sarcastic and can be a bit rude (a bit rude is an understatement), which is why Ranboo didn’t even recognize Tubbo at first. The Tubbo he knew was quiet and soft spoken. Ranboo tries to help Tubbo find peace in the afterlife, showing him around the school and finding some old stuff that used to belong to him. Ranboo feels like he and Tubbo are really starting to get to know each other well but that sadly doesn’t last because of…

-Wilbur is Tsukasa because Wilbur is too good at filling in that shit brother role in rp. Tommy and Wilbur were the closest of brothers out there but due to something…Tommy ended up killing Wilbur. Wilbur haunts the school and makes it his goal to cause as much chaos as possible. One of the ways he did this was by destroying what remained of Tubbo’s spirit. He took a small portion of it and used it to bring Tubbo back after basically killing him. Tubbo lost all his memories of Ranboo and became a 7th mystery like Hanako. What Wilbur’s final goal in everything is unclear but he is a threat that should be taken down.

I know I didn’t write a section on Techno or Phil and I’m sorry. I am tired but I hope you enjoyed this Au thing. If anyone wants to add onto this or write about it feel free to.

Okay I can't really add to this but- I can vibe with it

[koukouture]

Meant for you chapter 11) Tied

Kouen shifted his sword’s weight in his hands, stalking cautiously through the forest. This was a training exercise Hakuren had put together for him and Amaris. Since Amaris’ fighting style was more built towards stealth and assassination, they decided to test it out somewhere that worked with her wires and daggers. And Kouen needed to sharpen his senses anyways so here they were. 

Kouen quickly turned, hearing a rustle behind him. She could be anywhere. Amaris was light and fast, he overpowered her with pure strength sure, but her speed could easily catch him off guard. ‘You need to be careful Kouen’ he reminded himself ‘Keep your eyes peeled and just-‘ he didn’t get to finish that thought as the first storm of wires and daggers rained down on him. He faintly saw a flash of white before his body was ensnared in red wire. (Amaris has a similar fighting technique to Ja’far, just to give you an idea of how she fights) he didn’t even feel one of the daggers cut through his shoulder as Amaris held one against his throat, her other hand holding the wires around him.

”Hey, En” she said cheerfully. She laughed as Kouen turned red, then she noticed the cut in his shoulder. “Oh! Sorry” she exclaimed before releasing him from his wired prison. Kouen took the advantage to attack her, as mentioned earlier, Kouen over powered Amaris when it came to brute strength, but it didn’t mean she didn’t fight back. But, Kouen tripped her and caught her, almost like some dance. The younger boy smiled shyly before letting her stand up, and they both awkwardly just stand there for a moment before they both hear a whistle and a small round of applause from none other than their number one shipper, Hakuren. 

“Alright, I think that’s enough for today” Hakuren said. Suddenly, two heads peaked out from behind him. ‘That is just adorable’ Amaris thought, trying not to smile. Two big blue eyes stared at her, Hakuren laughed and ushered the two children so that they were in view. “Hakuei, Hakuryuu, meet Amaris” he said. Said girl walked over and knelt down to be eye level with the two dark haired children. 

“Hello” she said, trying to sound nice as possible. The girl, Hakuei smiled at her “Hello, miss” she said timidly. Amaris looked up at Hakuren

”You’re younger siblings, I assume?” The second prince nodded. The little boy, Hakuryuu shyly hid behind his sister. He had to be at least three years old, maybe younger. Amaris smiled at him. “Hello. Your name is Hakuryuu, right?” He nodded “That’s a strong name. It means white dragon” Hakuren looked down at her, puzzled. “It does?” 

Amaris laughed “Your parents named their children without knowing what it meant?” Hakuren shrugged. Amaris stood back up and looked down again surprised to see Hakuryuu tugging on her cloak. Hakuren laughed “I think he wants you to pick him up” Amaris obliged and picked the little boy up. 

“Amawis” he said happily. ‘I think my heart’s about to explode’ she thought. Kouen, who was momentarily forgotten, coughed awkwardly. “Well, we should be getting back” Amaris nodded and tried to put Hakuryuu down, who clung onto her clothes tightly. “You’d better onto him before he throws a fit” Hakuren said, he was giving Hakuei a piggy back ride. 

“Ok then”

And with that, a short walk back to the palace commenced. And Hakuren, oddly was giving his signature idiot grin. Which meant that something bad was about to happen. And soon because the palace got closer and closer. So, when they got to the entrench, Amaris put Hakuryuu down and made a run for it. 

“Amaris!?” She heard Kouen hell in shock. She just heard Hakuren curse before he started running after her. ‘Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!’ she mentally yelled. She bolted through the streets of Rakusho as the second imperial prince chased after her. 

‘Sombra, please if you can do anything, help me right now!’ 

“Sorry Amaris, but you haven’t used me for over a year so you’re dead” the voice in her head replied, she heard a bit of amusement in the djinn’s voice. “Plus, he’s doing you a favour. You seem to like that Kouen boy” 

“ARE YOU SERIOUSLY SIDING WITH HIM!?” She yelled, a few people may have looked at her, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to know what Hakuren was planning...

Amaris hid behind a market stall, just as Hakuren broke through the crowd. He ran right past her. ‘Ok, don’t be so sure. Remember, you’re in a world full of anime cliches’ she reminded herself. But, curiosity got the best of her and she peaked, out around her shoulder. And then, a smiling Hakuren cornered her. 

“Oh no, Amy. I have plans for you” ‘Oh my god he looks like a serial killer’ she thought nervously. And before she knew it, Hakuren slung her over his shoulder. “Hey! Put me down!” She yelled. 

And Hakuren dragged her kicking and screaming back to the palace. And luckily, Hakuyuu saved her. “Hakuren, put the poor girl down” he said. Amaris took advantage of Hakuren’s stillness and managed to find his crotch, and kicked it. Hakuren screamed and she got one of her daggers out and managed to hook herself up onto a support beam. Hakuyuu laughed a little while Hakuren clutched his balls and whimpered. 

“Um... what happened?” Kouen was at the other end of the hall, walking towards him with a slightly shorter figure trailing behind him. 

“I will have my vengeance!” Hakuren yelled. 

Amaris laughed and came down “Sure, sure, but right now, I think you might need your crotch fixed” she said before launching into a fit of giggles. She turned to Kouen “Who’s this?” She asked, looking behind him. 

“Well, introduce yourself” Kouen said to the young teen beside him. The freckled boy took a shuddering breath. 

“I am Ren Koumei, second son of Kou... Koutoku...” he trailed off before falling forwards into Amaris’s arms. 

“Is he ok!?” Kouen sighed irritably and glared at Koumei’s back “He does that. He pretends to have some chronic disease that makes his body weak. It’s stupid yes, but he’s rather bright. But of course, he’s lazier than a sloth” Amaris looked down at Koumei unsurely. Oh well, he did fund a magical research centre when he was a child...

”Koumei, get up” Kouen said sternly. No reply from the younger boy, Kouen sighed and tried to haul him up from Amaris’ arms, getting way to close in the process, he didn’t notice until Hakuren slammed their heads together to make them kiss. But it back fired and all they ended up doing was bumping heads and creating a pile of loose robes on the floor. 

“Great job Ren” Amaris growled as she roughly tried to push the two redheads off her. Eventually, they got it all sorted out and they fooled around for the rest of the day, but as night fell, Amaris decided that maybe she would retire to her home for the day. 

“I’m going home” she said, walking off. “Wait!” Hakuren called, he grabbed Kouen “A lady shouldn’t walk alone at night” he said, pushing Kouen in her direction, “He should go with you” 

“But I can- You know he’s not gonna stop insisting so may as well go along with it” Kouen grumbled before grabbing her wrist and dragging her out of the palace. Eventually, they hit the dark streets. When they got to Amaris’ mansion, she turned to Kouen. 

“Thanks. You could have chickened out halfway through though” she said. Kouen shrugged, “Well, I do need to make sure you don’t get hurt. If you couldn’t beat me, then you surely can’t defeat a few street thugs” Amaris punched his shoulder lightly before opening one of the large doors. “Night Kouen” she said before slipping through the doors quietly. 

Kouen smiled lightly, he really wouldn’t have minded if Hakuren succeeded in getting them together...

[lost-stargazer-girl]

|| A Step at a Time ||

Fandom: Haikyuu

Pairing: eventual!OcxOikawa

Word Count for this Chapter: 2544

*Author’s Note at the end and listings for other chapters*

Chapter 4: Hidden Persona

Two children lay in tranquility at a beautiful park. The dark haired girl’s head lays on the boy’s lap as she reads, eyebrows furrowing in concentration and the tip of a tongue sticking out in concentration. The boy gazes at her with fond, golden eyes as he lays back contently, arms cushioning his head as he serenely cloud gazes. It is a rare moment of peace for the two of them, one they are wholeheartedly willing to cherish and bask in. 

The solid slam of a book jolts Bokuto Koutarou from his daze as Kagami shoots up from her position. He doesn’t bother getting up, only staring at her side profile and waiting for her next move. Koutarou knows it isn’t anything serious from the way her body remains loose and relax. She suddenly swivels her head towards him so quickly that he worries, for a moment ,that she’ll get whiplash. It wouldn’t be the first time she does something to make herself sick.

Kagami pins Koutarou with a piercing, crimson stare as she exclaims, “Kou-chan, we should go hang out at your house someday!” The girl’s eyes have that rare shine that soften the usually hardened, ruby eyes. However, even with the presence of his friend’s excitement, Koutarou stiffens and his eyes dull slightly to an unhappy yellow instead of the brilliant gold Kagami usually sees. She recognizes that stare, she realizes, feeling a sudden drop in her stomach and begins mentally berating herself for not noticing before. The sadness in his eyes, the loneliness.

The boy shuts his eyes gently before taking a deep breathe, “Mom and Dad aren’t home very often. They work a lot, so I understand, really. But,” Koutarou shivers slightly, “the house gets too quiet with only me in there. It’s nice out here with you. The quiet never feels cold.” There’s a slight pause after his confession and Koutarou feels his face heat up. He’s never told anyone his situation before because he didn’t want them to judge his family or pity him. He’s fine with it, he understands. 

Suddenly, he feels tiny arms awkwardly wrap themselves around his waist and then his air supply is cut off. He flails for a few seconds, emitting incoherent sounds from both the lack of oxygen and his surprise. Kagami remains oblivious to this as she hugs her friend tighter, whispering an apology once. Just once. 

As soon as she says the words, Koutarou is bewildered to find himself gasping and floundering for breathe like a fish on the green grass of the park. He clutches his chest and closes his eyes in an effort to ground himself as his breathing steadies. Kagami always surprises him. She’s always been reserved with her touches and never apologizes. In the year since the incident at the park and their first meeting, he never hears her apologize for her actions, regardless of the seriousness or magnitude of it. 

“What,” he gasps roughly, “was that for?! Are you trying to kill me?” He slits one aureate eye toward the girl, only to find her form shaking from the effort of repressing her laughter at his predicament. He playfully growls at her failure of an attempt to save his pride and keep her composure.

“Hey,” an unfamiliar voice has both children jumping to their feet, smiles falling off their faces, “what are you guys doing?” Koutarou discretely places himself slightly in front of Kagami, who huffs at him in irritation but says nothing. He asses the boy who stands in front of them, he’s tall with hooded eyes that give him a catlike appearance and oddly spiked, black hair. He has his hands on his hips with a black eyebrow raised above a questioning hazel gaze. Koutarou takes note of the ball tucked in the crook of the unfamiliar boy’s elbow. 

The golden eyed boy relaxes marginally when he feels the slight weight of a delicate hand on his shoulder. He exhales and steps slightly to the side for his friend. “Hi,” she greets the boy brightly, “I’m Akane Kagami and this overbearing misfit is Bokuto Koutarou. It’s nice to meet you!”Kagami shoots a hand out, gripping her friend’s head as she forces him into a bow of greeting with her. She ignores his welp of pain and quickly releases him when the two straighten their backs. 

“Ah,” the boy inclines his head slightly towards the two, “I’m Kuroo Tetsurou. It’s nice to meet you as well Akane-san. Bokuto-kun seems like a loss cause in terms of manners, though.” His catlike eyes are glittering with poorly masked amusement as Koutarou’s face explodes in indignation. Kagami only sighs in exasperation at him as she levels Tetsurou with a tired smile, sensing his purpose. 

“Yeah,” she sighs dramatically, “I’ve known him for a whole year, and he hasn’t changed one bit.” She glances at the boy in question and has to shoot her hand up quickly to muffle the uncontrollable laughter from his gaping face. 

Koutarou crosses his arms petulantly and pouts, feels an itch growing at the back of his throat. He opens his mouth and surprises himself as his voice shouts out, “Hey, hey, hey! Stop dissing someone as awesome as me!” At his declaration, Kagami falls to the floor in tears as she laughs at his response. Koutarou takes the scene in for a moment, aware of observant eyes watching him. He’s never seen his friend this carefree, sure, there are moments when the two don’t feel any tension and can just relax. But, this is different. Kagami is happy. And because of him. He grins in victory and thinks that, maybe, he’ll adopt that catchphrase if this is the reaction he’ll always get. 

“As cute as this scene is,”Tetsurou purrs, “I wanted to ask you guys something.” Kagami stops rolling around on the grass and peers up at the boy with joyful, carmine eyes. Bokuto even looks at the boy with slight curiosity. The two friends are not very open nor social, it’s a first for them to have someone approach them. Surprisingly, the catlike boy looks off to the side with red creeping up his neck as he awkwardly rubs his neck with his free hand. “Well, I saw you guys kind of sitting here alone. My friend went home early today, so I was wondering if you wanted to play volleyball with me.” He shyly holds the red, green, and white boy out to the two, who glance at each other in surprise and delight. They turn back towards their new friend and nod their heads frantically. Tetsurou whoops in delight and runs off to find a court, knowing the two would follow. 

… 

Kagami finds herself on the stands of the Seijoh gym, watching the volleyball team practice with increasing annoyance. It’s not really Oikawa-senpai that bothers her. After the initial confrontation, with Hajime dropping the figurative ball onto Oikawa-senpai’s head and leaving him stuck gaping at their forms, the girl quietly slides past him to the stands. She’s relatively near the coaches and can hear all their anecdotes on the team, but she’s still unsatisfied. 

Hajime and Oikawa-senpai are not in this particular practice game, but she is still disappointed by the performance of the third years. True, the Spring Tournament is over and they just want to play one more game before focusing on studies, but Kagami is close to tearing her obsidian locks out of her scalp. Her eyes narrow as she watches a player side jump in order to block an incoming spike and drops her head into her hands helplessly as the spiker easily avoids the blocker and scores a point.

Kagami releases another sigh as she wonders just how her school is one of the best with the condition their defense is. The team relies too much on their libero and not enough on strategizing their blocks, she internally groans. The libero could only dig up so many spikes before their stamina dies. 

She feels a burning sensation run along the back of her neck, someone is watching her. Chancing a glance to where the second and first years are waiting, she catches a glimpse of amusement within olive eyes. She gives Hajime her best withering glare and curses the years they have been friends as her venomous stare seems to have little effect on the second year, only causing him to laugh at her predicament. 

While Hajime distracts her with their childish, silent squabbles, Coach Irihata plunks himself down relatively near the new girl Iwaizumi brought to practice. He admits that her presence sparks his attention, especially when he realizes she is not another one of the mindless girls who know nothing about volleyball and come to gush over his second year setter, Oikawa-kun. While the team may not realize it, not even the brunette setter who is famous for his observational skills and perception, they need to improve a great deal more in all aspects of volleyball if they want to win against Shiratorizawa. Especially on blocks and serves. So when he hears continuous sighs at every point a mediocre block or action is done, he becomes curious. Then finds surprise filling his mind as he watches the girl look on at the team’s practice with disappointment and frustration. 

“So,” the man begins gently. He quietly chuckles as Kagami whips her crimson gaze to meet his own calm, dark brown eyes. “You seem to know a bit about volleyball.” The coach gauges her reaction and raises an eyebrow as he watches her eyes dull to a deep maroon as she shakes her head. Well, from her closeness with Iwaizumi, the coach thinks the blunt and straightforward way would work better with her. He smiles kindly as he states, “I saw your reactions to the third years’ game, you didn’t seem very impressed.” Coach Irihata begins to outright laugh as the girl’s head begins to shake side to side rapidly. “By the way, Miss, what’s your name?”

The dark haired teen stops her frantic shaking and smiles nervously, hands wringing in her lap, “Ah,” she stands, slightly wobbly, and politely bows to the man, “I’m Akane Kagami, sir. Please, pardon my intrusion on your team’s practice.” The girl straightens her back and moves to sit back down, relief palpable on her face though it is not seen by the man.

Coach Irihata hums, that name sounds familiar, but he just can’t remember where he may have heard it from. “I’m Irihata Nobuteru, the Head Coach of Aoba Johsai’s volleyball club. Have you played any sports before, Akane-san?” It’s a good question. One that could reveal where he’s heard her name from and her apparent knowledge of volleyball.

Kagami immediately sees the attempt at getting more information out of her. She flashes a secretive smile at the man, “No, not really,” she states gently, voice soft with faux openness. The coach observes her for a moment before laughing jovially, aware his attempts would most likely get him nowhere.

“Well, my girl, you certainly are a sharp one,” he pauses in his laughter and turns back to the game once more. Feeling that the conversation is over, Kagami does the same. However, she is still unable to hold back her winces at the amateur technique the players are displaying. Good teamwork, though, she notes as a particular combination play scores a point. “What do you think of the games, Akane-san? I’ve been thinking of drills for the remaining members once our third years decide to retire, but I’m not quite sure what to focus on.” Kagami blinks, knowing a bait when she hears one, but she really can’t help herself.

Crimson eyes flit back to the game, observing everything for a moment. Kagami turns back to the coach and slumps in defeat, she may love her privacy, but she cherishes the moment of surprise and accomplishment on the face of someone she’s helped grow. She head hangs low as she reluctantly admits, “Their defense is barely passable, at best. There’s not many people specializing as middle blockers and are serious about it. They tend to lift their arms up without much strength and rely on the receives of the libero. The way the players jump is also something that’s killing their blocks; they’re jumping diagonally for a one touch instead of aiming for a complete shutout or trying to control block by jumping straight up in front of the spiker’s dominant hand. The serves are weak, as well. Their teamwork seems to be able to fill the majority of the holes from the weakness in each individual player, but in order for a team to be strong, the players need to be confident of themselves and their technique.” Kagami’s cheeks are bright red with embarrassment after her rapid explanation of the team’s skill in blocking, it may be a tad bit unfair to judge the first and second years along with their upperclassmen but mimicking those older than you happens more often than not. She glances at the Head Coach and squeaks in mortification at his wide stare. She immediately jumps to her feet, ignoring the stabbing pain in her knee from the sudden motion, and bows in apology.

Coach Irihata snaps out of his daze at the sight of a wince on Akane-san’s face right before she bows to him. He slowly stands in front of her, causing her to look up at his kind eyes in confusion. However, all the man does is place his hands on her shoulders and guide her back to her seat on the stands. He gently pats her shoulder with one hand and chuckles in a grandfatherly way, “It really did not bother me, Akane-san. I was only surprised you were able to pick out the flaws in their defense so easily! We’ve been a powerhouse for years with eyes constantly watching our every play and movement, but I don’t think anyone has ever seen through our team so quickly before!” The coach sits back down and crosses his arms as an amused smile grows on his face, “You sure you’ve never played volleyball before? Those observations and tips seem pretty detailed, it’s almost like you knew how to look for flaws like those in my boys’ defense!”

Kagami chuckles nervously, breath catching in her throat as she rubs the back of her neck with a shaking hand in embarrassment. She chances a glance at Hajime, hoping to find a reassuring gaze, but wilts as she notices his rapt attention on the third years’ game. Her gaze shoots back towards the coach, who is watching her with a raised eyebrow as he waits for her response. She allows a thin smile to stretch across her face, “Ah, I really don’t play volleyball but a few of my friends do. I just learned what to look for after watching their games and practices back in middle school.” There is definitely more to it than that, but Kagami is unwilling to divulge her entire story to this man, regardless of how kind he is. 

The man hums thoughtfully, gaze turning skyward in seemingly deep thought. Without looking at her, he asks, “Would you like to be our manager?”

Author’s Note

Guys, I am so so sorry for not getting this chapter out on time, please forgive me!!! My English teacher just gave us 3 overlapping projects right when we came back for break and I’ve just been super busy! One of these projects is to write 20 poems, and I actually centered most of them around Haikyuu and other animes... Would you guys like me to post them? Anywho, I’ve actually made a posting schedule: During the school session, I will be posting on Sunday night/early Monday morning. During school breaks (winter, spring, ect) I will be posting at least 2x a week. And during summer break, expect 3-4 posts a week!!!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!

~ Prologue ~ Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~

[mythicamagic]

Mirror image: Yui Komori oneshot

Another writing commission for @s-e-kwan

Yui’s personality drastically changes, to the point that Ruki takes it upon himself to find out the reason. Even if it means confining her to a darker cage. NOT a Cordelia fic. Mild RukiYui vibes.

Rated T for the usual darker themes in DL such as abuse. 

The bathroom had become a welcome reprieve, her own personal sanctuary from the Mukamis. Were she still in the Sakamaki mansion, Shuu would probably be lounging in the bath, but right then Yui leaned against the sink alone, sighing.

She inspected the bite marks on her skin, wincing tiredly.

Lately she’d been stretched a little too thin. Every inch of clothing scraped over the raised bumps of past marks. There were too many, to the point that her body didn’t even feel like it was hers anymore.

Yui swayed on her feel, quickly gripping the sink tighter. Tears strung her lashes. “I’m so tired.”

Her reflection stared back with surprisingly hard, apathetic eyes, “No, not tired. Pathetic.”

“But what can I do?”

The mirror Yui’s lips curved up into a sneer, tilting her chin up to gaze down at her. “Anything is better than nothing, worm. Oh no, wait. You’re Livestock, aren’t you? A Sow, a bitch, a slut. That’s exactly what you are if you’re just going to roll over and take it like a good girl.”

“B-but I’m powerless against them. And everything…hurts, I don’t want any more pain that would come from fighting. I’d rather…” she trembled, the tears finally escaping to roll hotly down her ashen cheeks. “I’d rather just stop existing.”

“…That can be arranged.”

------

It started out with minor things. Small snips in her voice, a slight sharpness in her eyes that wasn’t there before.

But gradually it worsened, or perhaps she’d been holding back.

“She bit me! All I was doing was taking some blood and she bit me! What the hell is wrong with her lately?” Kou snapped, gripping Yui tightly by the hair while turning to glare at Ruki, waiting for his input.

The elder Mukami looked on levelly. “Normally I’d encourage punishment, Kou. But the Livestock is looking frail. Allow her time to re-cooperate and then act.”

Kou tsked and flung the girl down to land hard on the floor, before leaving. Ruki observed her carefully, blinking slowly when her body shook with quiet laughter.

-------

“I’M GONNA KILL HER!” A voice thundered through the mansion.

Glancing up from his book, Ruki watched as Yuma stormed in, looking around the room frantically.

“Problem?”

“Yeah there’s a fucking problem, she DESTROYED my garden!”

Blue-grey eyes widened marginally. The book closed with a sharp snap as he stood. “I’ll take care of it. You’ll kill her as you are now. Call Azusa to help you salvage anything.”

“Tch, I saw him not too long ago. She scratched him up pretty good with his knife. Least he was happy about that…”

Ruki’s eyes darkened.

Yuma didn’t have time to protest as he disappeared, filtering through the scents in the air and finding her fairly easily in Kou’s room. The idol happened to be out working. When he finally appeared, Ruki stopped, taking her in.

She was hunched forward before the vanity mirror, applying a sultry red to her lips. Her dark clothes were unsubtle, exposing a ridiculous amount of skin. He scented blood and pinpointed it on her ear, noting she’d forced an earring in through the skin.

“Whatever possessed you to attempt this cheap shot at rebellion, Livestock, it ends now.”

Yui shifted, blonde hair sliding back as she glanced at him coyly over her shoulder.

Ice briefly chilled his spine. “…Cordelia?” He quietly guessed.

She giggled airily, eyes dulled. “No. She died a long while ago, when the Sakamaki’s still had me.”

“Then there is no reason to be acting out so childishly. As your Master, it falls to me to punish you now-“

“You are not my Master.”

The low, bitter words from that voice, that mouth, made something snap. Ruki seized her chin in his hand, grabbing a wipe and pressing it hard to her lips, swiping the rouge roughly. It smudged the colour over her face, making it resemble dried blood.

He then materialised them into a deep, dark space.

“W-where are we?”

“A place where Livestock go to be rehabilitated.”

-----

A few weeks in solitary confinement changed nothing. Though he’d tucked her away in a room beneath the house, more specifically in the dungeons, she stared back at him with those dulled, mocking eyes. Depriving her of food and water only weakened her, so he eased up on such extremes.

Her words were no less biting.

“You’re disgusting.”

Bite!

“I hate you!”

Bite!

“You enjoy this, don’t you? You like hurting me just so you can feel…gn, in control.”

Pause.

Ruki’s lips hovered over her skin, fresh bite marks blooming. No discipline softened her to complacency either.

“What was that?” He asked lowly, tugging her up to look at him. Sitting on her plain, sad little bed, the two observed each other. As her sole provider, he’d expected Yui to start softening for him.

“Heh,” she shivered, skin pale. “You’re a coward. You place yourself as ‘Master’ just so you can forget about-“

Steel fingers wrapped around her throat. “Say one more word and I will end your pathetic existence, Eve,” silken tones hissed, fire and brimstone churning the dead sea in his veins, igniting a blood lust like no other-

Rose-pink eyes brightened marginally, and Ruki stopped.

His mind clicked, and slowly, carefully, that tight grip slackened, releasing her.

“What are you doing?” She snapped, voice straining a little. “Y-you’re a coward! Like I was saying, you used to be Livestock too! You still are!”

He did not respond, only moved her off his legs, standing.

“Now I understand.”

Yui glared, hugging her arms. “Understand what?”

Ruki did not answer, disappearing from sight and leaving her entirely alone.

----

Raising a hand to shield her eyes, Yui winced at the brightness of the sun. With treacle immediacy, she adjusted, blinking and glancing around.

Ruki had taken her out of her cage, only to get in a car and drive. They’d been on the road for hours, to the point that she’d nodded off, arms curled loosely around her thin body. Eventually she’d been roused to wake, now standing before an old, worn down church.

She recognised it immediately, jolting.

This was the place where she’d been raised.

This was home.

Or at least it had been. In just two years it seemed to have fallen into disrepair. Weeds overrun the front garden, and ivy now burst through shattered windows. Even the walls looked tinged grey, dulled.

“It was abandoned shortly after you left,” Ruki uttered, hands in pockets.

“…What happened?”

“The Vampire King made good on his word. In exchange for you, the nuns here received whatever they wanted.

“I don’t believe y-“

“But they ultimately changed their minds, They did…want you back, Livestock.”

Her frame jolted, as though she’d been slapped. Some old tendencies came back as she held her hands close to her chest. “Even Father?”

“He knew nothing about it, apparently. However, the Vampire King couldn’t allow them to interfere. They either had their memories erased or lie dead. I don’t know anything else.”

Fragile shoulders shook, and her voice softened into one he recognised.

“Why…why are you telling me this?”

His heavy attention slid to rest on her. “You want to die. That’s where this shift in behaviour has come from. You’ve been trying to anger us enough so that we’d snap and free you from misery. Isn’t that it?”

Limp, blonde hair fell forward her head bowed, trembling.

He continued in his usual calm, serious tone. “I can’t pin-point if your personality has split into two, or if you’re merely unstable. Either way, it was obvious you needed a reminder of why you’re alive.”

Yui gave a weak chuckle, turning to finally look up at him, her eyes completely dry. “You’ll just say I’m alive to awaken Adam.”

“Such a thing clearly won’t motivate you. No, the girl I know is sentimental enough to still carry a rosary long after she’s been damned.” He uttered, grasping her chin gently. “You must live for your own pride. Just as I did. If you can’t right now, then live for the ones who tried to save you.”

A choked sound escaped from the back of her throat, the sun catching dulled rosy eyes enough to give them a brief light. “Oh…I-I don’t…” her voice wavered, tears collecting and rolling free finally. “I don’t even know who I am anymore,” she admitted softly.

Ruki blinked, releasing her. He thought for a moment, sliding pale hands into his pockets and wandering towards the small gate at the front of the church. “Oi,” he called, glancing over his shoulder.

“Show us around this place, Yui.”

She stared, something subtly changing in her expression that transformed her entire face, as though only just hearing her name for the first time.

“U-us?”

He nodded to the area behind her, and Yui turned on her heel, breath hitching at the sight of the other Mukamis, who padded out of the dark of the surrounding woods.

Yui swallowed, blubbering. “Oh Yuma, I’m so sorry for-“

“Quit ya crying, Sow,” he tsked, uncomfortably rubbing the back of his neck.

“But I owe all of you an apology.”

“Hehe~ well we sometimes get carried away with things too,” Kou hummed. “How about in exchange, do as Ruki says and show us around, kay?”

Yui nodded, clutching her hands close to her chest and squeezing the rosary, wiping away her tears with her free hand.

“O-okay.”

[shadowtarot]

Thieves in Inaba: Kou and Daisuke put their heads together to escape! Will they succeed? Or do you think the Persona group will find them first?

Thieves In Inaba Part 36

Heat…and the sound of water moving. Kou starts to open his eyes slowly, only to find himself in a steam filled room. Holding his head and breathing heavyly due to the steam, he starts to look around.

“Where…am I?” He suddenly winces and holds his left ankle. It’s hurting like hell, as if he just had a dog bite him. “Ngh!” 

A door slides open on the other side of the room as a humanoid figure starts to walk to Kou. Due to the steam however, it’s hard for the basketball player to tell if it’s friend or foe. 

“You’re awake.” It says, voice echoing though the room as it continues to walk to him. 

“W-who are you?!” He reaches for something to defend himself with, finding a mop to be his only weapon. 

“Come on man, it’s me.” The figure breaks through the steam, revealing it to be Daisuke. Kou gives a sigh of relief. 

“Were you holed up in that room over there then?” He asks, struggling to stand up with his bite. 

“Yeah. This place doesn’t look a thing like Amagi…so where did those wolf things bring us?” The two look around and sigh. 

“It’s too hot in here, it’s obviously a Sauna but…why would we be here?” Kou mumbles. “Well..we should try to get out of here. Who knows how many of those people got hurt. We need to get back there.”

“But you’re hurt aren’t you? We shouldn’t try to push it.” Daisuke looks at his friends injury with deep concern. 

“There’s a chest right there.” Kou points. “Maybe it has something in it?”

Walking carefully, Kou opens it to find medicine and a ball of some sort. The duo seem confused. 

“Random medicine in a random place….do you think it’s safe?” Daiskue asks as Kou looks it over. 

“It says…apply to injury as needed..results work instantly…” 

“I don’t trust it, that’d mean it’s like…magic medicine. Isn’t that impossible?”

Kou looks at his friend with a tired expression. “We were kidnapped by shadowy wolf monsters, dragged to a crazy sauna and we found out that a bunch of people we went to high school with might have some sort of supernatural powers. I’m willing to trust a lot more crazy crap right now.”

With that, he applies the medicine to his injury as it heals it completely. The duo just had to make their escape now.

“What would be the best way to break out of here, man?”  Kou is already picking up the mop again, leaving Daisuke confused. “Uh, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I did. But all these doors are super weak right? If we can break them down, then we can break outta here.” He readies his mop to throw it like a Javelin. 

With careful aim he throws it…only to miss entirely. 

“Why don’t you try the ball?” Daisuke throws it to him and Kou catches it with ease. 

“Worth a shot I guess..” Again with careful aim, he throws the ball and it crashes through the door with ease, giving them access to a hallway.

“YES!” 

“Let’s hang on to this ball, it might be a better weapon then that lame ass mop.” 

The two make their way through the Sauna, hiding from shadows patrolling the area as they go along. But the way to the ground floor from where they were was going to be a long trek, especially since the heat of the sauna was getting to them both..

Elsewhere in the TV World, a hold up is taking place. Ren has Akechi at gunpoint as the other members of his group stand with them, ready to back him up. 

“Talk. Why are you here, and how the hell did you make it out of Shido’s Palace?” Ren’s eyes are intense and serious, a stark contrast to his normal cocky mannerisms as Joker. 

Akechi returns the demand with a small sigh, pulling back enough of his shirt to reveal several gunshot wounds. 

Naoto looks closely, and her eyebrows raise. “These shots all missed the heart by a very small margin….”

“Exactly. I was all prepared to die at that moment, but somehow…someway..I didn’t.” He fixes his shirt as he speaks. 

Mishima wavers a bit, unsure if he should lower his weapon or not. “So you survived  several gunshots, yet you didn’t make your appearance back in Tokyo?”

“Had I made my status of being alive public, I would have been hunted down and killed before I could testify against Shido, I hope you realize this.” Akechi shakes his head. 

“…lower your weapons everyone.”

“Well, if this scary as shit interrogation session is over, can we move on to our first dungeon?” Youske asks. “Yo Rise, have you pinpointed anyone in any of them yet that seem to be alive?” 

“Yes actually.” She responds, her persona already in use to track movement. 

“Awesome! Which one?”

“The Sauna.” 

The color from Yosuke’s face drains…as does Yu and Kanji. None of them look too keen on heading in there.

“Ahaha…on second thought…Ren is there anything else you need to question Akechi on? I don’t mind if we-” 

“Oh will you just grow a pair?” Adachi rolls his eyes. 

Minato sighs, shaking his head, “Let’s just go. Be prepared to be in there for a long time everyone…” 

The group moves out, immediately greeted by the heat and steam. They all have trouble navigating the area. Eventually getting themselves lost.

“Yo, didn’t you all like…go through this shit already? Why the hell are we lost then?!” Ryuji quietly yells. 

“One: this place brings back uncomfortable memories, Two: it’s been a few years, and Three: this place changes it’s layout every time!” Yosuke responds at the same volume.

“Hmm…so it’s like Mementos…” Ren nods as he looks around. 

But as the group tries to get their bearings, a shadow roars nearby. 

“Yeah, take this!” 

Yu looks up to the source of the voices. “Is that…Kou?” Yu draws his Katana from it’s seethe. “Let’s move!” 

The group runs to the source, finding Kou and Daisuke fighting eight shadows…but they both look worn out from the over exertion and the heat. 

“Yu? How…did you get here?” Kou asks, clearly close to dropping. 

“It’s a long story but, why don’t you take five? We’ll take over from here.” With that the Shadows engage the Persona users in combat. 

The sports duo watches as they all fight, amazed when Yu summons Izanagi to cut through a shadow with ease. 

“Man…these guys act like this is nothing…” Daisuke observes. “How’d they even get these powers huh?” 

Akechi cuts clean though a shadow with his sword. “Please, these shadows aren’t even worth my time.” 

“Yo Crow! Why don’t you try to take control of a shadow?” Ryuji calls out, blocking a few strikes.

“I can try…COME, LOKI!” He attempts to take control of a shadow, but suddenly grabs his chest in pain. “Ngh! W-What the hell?” 

Mishima shakes his head. “Seems he can’t for some reason.” The new persona user fires a shot at a shadow, missing it. 

“We don’t have time to rely on abilities that aren’t instant. We’re running the risk of loosing our civilians here!” Mitsuru states. “Just keep fighting the old fashioned way and we’ll be fine.”

The fighting rages on, with more Shadows appearing to assist along the way, getting stronger and stronger each time. 

“This isn’t getting us anywhere!” Ren dropkicks a shadow in annoyance. “What can we do to speed this up?!”

Yu suddenly has an idea. “Ren, Minato…remember our sparing match earlier?” The other two look to him as he smirks, returning the expression. 

“We’re in a tight area…so this could be risky…but let’s try it.” Minato laughs a bit. 

The trio begin to summon their main Persona at the same time.

“Orpheus!”

“Izanagi!”

“Arsene!”

At once, Fire lightning and curse fuse into one attack, striking the shadows down and paralyzing them. This leaves them open for addional attacks by the rest.

“I’ll be damned…seems you kids aren’t useless after all.” Adachi laughs as he finishes a few shadows off. 

Soon the hallway is shadow free. But Kou and Daisuke passed out during the conflict. Mishima runs to them and checks them, looking for any sort of injuries.

“Are they…okay Yuki?” Youske asks, kneeling down beside them.

“Heat exhaustion…who knows how long they’ve been in here. Fighting..running…it’d tire anyone out in these conditions.” He tries to lift Kou up, and manages to just barely. 

“We’ll need to get them somewhere safe to treat them…” Naoto states. “The training hall is the only safe place we have however….” 

“We’ll need to make that our home base for now…” Makoto sighs, standing near Akihiko as he lifts Daisuke up. 

“Mona? Can you be our transport back?” Ren asks. 

The cat simply nods in response as they all start to head out of the steamy bathhouse. 

But a presence is following them as they head out. Minato looks behind himself briefly. 

“….”

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Tidbit The Opposite Of Angst...

... And I’m actually not joking.

This is not angst at all.

One of my teeth fell out while writing this is so bloody sweet. Appreciate it.

The setting I picture for this is that this is after that other one I wrote of Touwa and Banba sneaking off--basically, shit got attacked, and for whatever reason, the trio got to the fight late, and the bad guy was like ‘mwa ha ha ha ha ha we have already killed your friends’ sort of nonsense.

Anyway, the trio is exceptionally upset and pissed, but when the brothers turn up injured but alive...

(Again, this show hasn’t even come out yet. I’m just... Writing tiny snippets that come into my head. So I apologise it any of the characters turn out to be OOC at all)

“Touwa! Banba!”

There was maybe a few parts of a second between their names being yelled and Kou crashing headlong into both of them, bowling them over, throwing both arms around both of them as best he could. Touwa yelped and Banba cursed quietly as the force of an overly excited RyusoulRed bumped and twisted their wounds—but it quickly changed to surprise as Kou proceeded to bury his face in the shoulders and started outright sobbing with relief.

The Asuna jumped in, landing practically on top of Touwa, already crying herself and joining the messy hug with far too much strength until Touwa had to repeatedly tap her arm to make her loosen her grip. By that time Melt had rushed over, kneeling down on their other side; he also reached out to hold onto them—but much more gently, hands on their shoulders—and even his eyes were tearing up.

“What is with you three?” Banba grumbled—even though the arm that hadn’t been leaning on his brother for support had snapped up on instinct to catch their teammate when Red had thrown himself at them, and as a result was floating loosely around Kou’s shoulders.

Touwa was trying to use his free arm to make sure Asuna didn’t squeeze them too tight again. “This is… A little extreme…!”

Finally, Kou pushed himself up a little, taking some of his weight off them. Tears were still running down his face, but he was smiling—possibly the biggest smile they’d ever seen on him. “We…” He stammered, “We thought…” The tears over flowed all over again. “We thought you guys were dead…!” The other two nodded immediately, both smiling and crying as well by that point from sheer joy. Kou’s hands tightened, grabbing fistfuls of their shirts. “We thought you were…” He trailed off into another sob, head dropping forward again to cry into their shoulders once more.

“Jerks.” Asuna accused, though the scolding part of her tone was tempered by sniffles. She moved back a bit too—in order to start smacking them like an unhappy cat. “Jerks, jerks, jerks, jerks, jerks! Why would you leave without telling us?” She tried to shake them, but with everyone in a jumble and weighing on them only really succeeded in jerking Touwa’s arm around a bit.

“We promised to stick together, didn’t we?” Melt’s voice broke, his fingers digging into their arms as well. He smirked a little. “You’re not getting rid of us that easily.”

“Because we’re a team! We’re friends!” Asuna added empathically. “Did you really think we wouldn’t notice if you left?”

On top of them, Kou came  up for air, his shoulders shaking. “We missed you.”

There was a long silence.

“You…” Touwa finally mumbled. “… Missed… Us…?” All three nodded earnestly. The brothers exchanged a nervous glance. Then Touwa’s lip quivered.

With a small cry, he dove forward and hugged Kou back, knocking him over sideways and sending them both rolling on top of Banba and knocking him over when he tried to catch them. The flailing bowled both Asuna and Melt over as well, her scrambling back up to jump in as well, then reaching up and seizing Blue by the arm to pull him into the mess.

Eventually, after much flopping around, they managed to untangle, and the majority of the tears subsided. Melt slipped free, but only made it a little way across the grass before Asuna clambered after and tackled him again, putting him in a loose, playful headlock as she sat up, which settled into leaning on each other. With that weight clear, Banba managed to get enough leverage to sit up, though he still ended up with Touwa and Kou sprawled over his legs.

“… Don’t leave again.” Red said quietly, looking at the sky more than them.

Banba sighed deeply, his mouth twisting a little. “You don’t-”

But Kou sat up sharply to stare intensely at him. “Don’t leave again.” Even though Red’s expression was collected and calm, there was something in his eyes that made it seem like he could burst into tears all over again at the slightest push, so Banba just looked awkwardly away and set the issue aside.

He was spared having to think of anything else to say when something in the distance exploded. Touwa shot up as well at that, allowing his older brother to get to his feet. “Break time’s over.” The others found their way to their feet as well, looking toward where smoke rising from the horizon.

Kou took a deep breath, then turned to look back at them. “… Let’s go.” He said, then looked particularly at the brothers. “… All of us.”

And once again they belonged to someone.

APPRECIATE IT.

[macabrexpastels]

Some random notes for Kou’s comic characters that I’ve made canon in the re-do, so I don’t misplace them 

If Yua had a VA, she’d be American southern. She’s really good at saying things in a backhanded way that most pick up on...after the fact

Yua met her husband in school, but he dropped out early on. She met him again later

Yua was a beauty queen, a prized pig, she left her rich and fancy life behind to marry her husband. She has no regrets about her choices

Yua is not on speaking terms with her family, but is one of ten siblings. Her family has multiple kids for the stipend the city gives for purebred animals. 

Hiroshi’s family had the crematorium, and dealt with a lot of dirty business. It was mostly illegal gambling 

Yua is the one who began the dealings with the back ally market, Hiroshi was the one who gave her the idea after an event (will show this later in a comic, so no spoilers for now)

Yua and Hiroshi, despite both being animals that are very similar, can not have children naturally. Hiroshi is the one who is infertile. 

Yua never originally wanted kids, but Hiroshi did. After a lot of discussion, Hiroshi was fine with just being the *Coolest!* uncle ever. Yua eventually broke down and adopted Kou after a wild series of events. If Yua hadn’t come across Kou, they would have never had kids at all. 

Yua is a triplet. 

Hiroshi had two brothers. The middle child died after a gambling event gone bad. Hiroshi’s oldest brother abandon the family when he was old enough to live on his own

Hiroshi dropped out of school when his dad got sick. He took care of everything

Hiroshi lost his mom when he was young, a predation incident. Since his mom never had dealings with the business outside record keeping, she didn’t know self defense. As soon as Hiroshi began seeing Yua, he insisted she learn self defense. Being from a rich family, Yua already knew how to fight, and broke his nose with a mean right hook

Yua can’t cook very well. Ironically, the only thing she can cook somewhat is meat. Hiroshi on the other hand LOVES cooking

Hiroshi has an abundance of pictures of his family in his wallet. 

Yue and Hiroshi adopted their second child when Kou was about to go into middle school. Instead of being an infant, this child was older. Kou immediately became over protective. 

When they’re older, Kou’s sibling doesn’t deal a lot with the family business. They’re much more passionate about other things

When she was a little girl, Kou would often get stuck in trees. Hiroshi would then headbutt the tree until Kou fell and Yua would catch her. (you can only call the fire department so many times)

Kou has never met her moms side of the family outside of going to school with cousins, who has no idea who she was. 

Kou doesn’t have much of a temper, and gives a lot of warnings before she looses it. When she does, she has as much restraint as her mom...so none at all

Kou’s body language relate more to a cat than a canine. If she does wag her tail you have to see her entire body language to judge if it’s actually because she’s happy or not. More than one bully made the mistake and got their asses kicked. 

Kou got her moms sass, but her dads easy going attitude. Even so, she’s not a social butterfly, her sibling is though. 

Kou acts as the doctor of the family. Since there’s not many hybrids out there, her mom and dad struggled whenever she got sick. She learned how to take care of herself with their help, and now returns the love they gave her as a kid. 

Kou has a few issues. She doesn’t have a sense of smell, which could be from being a hybrid or the trauma she suffered as an infant. She also doesn’t feel, or at least acknowledge, pain. As a kid she broke her arm and it took until it swelling became noticeable for it to be treated. 

Kou has teeth like a cat, do not get bit, it will get infected and you will be in trouble

Kou doesn’t really have cat claws. They grow fast but they’re dull like a wolves

Yua doesn’t approve of how Kou dresses, Hiroshi loves it. 

Yua and Hiroshi don’t fight often. Since they work in a dangerous business they resolve their issues quickly, in case one of them dies before they can solve an argument

Kou is very close to her father, and has a lot of his habits

Kou actually used to go to the preschool Gosha would volunteer at. More than once, they had to get her down from the rafters where she’d get stuck. 

Kou is more catlike in personality than wolf like, she’s standoffish

When alarmed, baby kou would poof. 

[starglossie]

title: stress relief  rating: m  tags: fwb / eventual relationships / humor + fluff / maybe angst most likely not word count: 7.3k+  chapters: 1/? 

summary: oikawa is a law student on the verge of a burn out, and iwaizumi hajime just happens to know a really great way to relieve stress. 

written for iwaoi week day two w/ prompts: university, fine arts, coffee shop. 

can be read on ao3 or under the cut below!

Oikawa pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. His eyes twitched. Sharp stabs of pain traveled up his temples. He squinted at his Macbook screen. He had put in a good amount of work with his outline for Contracts. So far, he’d managed to copy and reorganize his notes from lectures and his book into a cohesive skeleton. The topics were outlined in an organized fashion. He even had color coding.

His brain hurt something awful, though.

“It’s almost three a.m.,” he croaked. He’d been in the library all day attempting to gather his life together and get a work on his revision materials.

Usually, Oikawa was ahead of the game when it came to balancing doing homework and reviewing what he’d already learned. The past month and a half though had thrown him off his path and right off a cliff. He pinched at the bridge of his nose.

Every joint in his body ached. When he yawned, he felt the exhaustion really settle on his bones. Finals were coming up. About three months away. Oikawa was at the top of his class. Sitting dangerously uncomfortable at number one. He was no genius, though. He hadn’t climbed to the top on coattails and summer breezes.

No, he’d clawed his way up there. With gnarled teeth, snarled bone, and blood from his adversaries, caked underneath his nails. .

He rubbed his eyes and closed his computer. He wanted to cram in another section but the clock—screaming how close the sun was to coming up—and how little Oikawa had slept in the past three days were all too loud to ignore. Tonight would not be another night of self destruction, he decided.

“Up and at ‘em, Tooru.” Oikawa packed away his books, highlighter, book stand, and laptop, and put them in his bag. He reached for his coffee cup and opened up the lid. What met him was one feeble sip of a honey almond milk flat white. Oikawa frowned. “This is a top ten anime betrayal…” he grumbled as he brought the cup to his lips to down the last remnants of his hope, sanity, and bliss, all in one gulp.

Whoever said law school was an incredible experience filled with rewards and life-long lessons could get hit by a truck. Then a bus. Then eaten by a shark.

Oikawa had never been more stressed. While he was a competitive little gremlin who enjoyed putting in the work behind the scenes to show up on stage and outshine everyone and anyone—law school was incredibly taxing. Though that’s not really new. This semester, however, was taking the cake in taxes.

As he headed home to his off-campus apartment, Oikawa debated—not for the first time—the pros and cons of dropping out. Yes, he was in the spring semester of his second year. And he had stellar grades. He was on Law Review and his Note Topic he’d written on the harms of using purposefully difficult vocabulary to gatekeep legal knowledge was accepted to be published in next year’s journal. He was the lead attorney on his school’s Mock Trial team. And he was sexy. Objectively, life was grand.

Oikawa climbed up the metal steps on the side of his apartment building. They were slippery from the rain storm that had passed by earlier in the evening. Oikawa had forgotten his umbrella and raincoat, which had forced him to stay on campus later than usual to get his work done. No way he was lugging ten pound books, notes, and a computer all the way to the bus stop. His apartment was about an hour away on a good day, but when it rained, the campus-owned, 24-hour buses were even slower.

He yawned. His jaw popped. He wanted his bed so badly. His knees creaked as he climbed the three flights of stairs to his floor. The world smelled of post-rain. Where the wooden steps smelled of wet bark. And the earth smelled of dew.

“Fuck you, rain. If you hadn’t come by, I'd have been in bed earlier.” He had many grievances against Mother Nature to file. But he’d do that after he shoved some food in him and went to bed.

As he reached the top of the steps he spotted someone leaning against the balcony. He froze. He saw his neighbor step out of their open door, talking to the man on the balcony. The man leaning against the balcony was shirtless and wearing gray sweatpants. He had spiky black hair and a silver piercing hooped on the top of his right ear. From his view, Oikawa could see the beginning of a black tattoo on the man’s left shoulder. His neighbor was also just in sweats.

A small trail of smoke curled into the space between his neighbor and whoever his guest was. Oikawa couldn’t catch what they were saying, but heard the clicking of a lighter. The soft rush of an inhale from the stranger. Oikawa shouldn’t be looking at this. He didn’t particularly care what his neighbor got up to, or who he got into. And it was nearing four in the morning and Oikawa had a lecture in about seven hours. Sleep should have been more pressing.

Yet for some reason, he couldn’t move. He watched his neighbor laugh, then curl his hand around the back of his guest’s arm. Oikawa’s grip on his messenger bag strap tightened. His breath caught in a gulp as he watched his neighbor bend down real freaking close to his guest’s face. His neighbor’s eyes were closed until they weren’t. They opened slightly.

And they met Oikawa’s widened gaze point. Blank. Center.

Right then! He should really get going.

Oikawa double timed it to his door. Once he got the door, he opened his bag and fumbled around for his keys. God. Shit. Where were his keys?

“Just my luck,” he felt around in his bag and came up with pencils, markers, and a gum wrapper he really should have thrown out in a trash can instead of putting in his bag.

Then he felt his pockets and remembered, oh right. They were in his jacket. Feeling his cheeks redden, and his back get incredibly hot—were they looking at him? He sure hoped not. Oikawa wasn’t into watching people get it on in public. Or well, he could be. If drunk, and properly convinced, but he at the very least had to be participating in it.

Just as he found his keys and slipped them into the door, his neighbor called out to him.

“Yer back late, Oikawa. Books got ya by the balls?”

Oikawa’s loose grip transformed into a titan crunch. He turned the lock as he turned his head, putting on his award-winning fake smile. “Tsu-chan! Good morning!” Now, he got the chance to see Atsumu’s guest properly.

What the fuck? He’s so hot.

Maybe it was one of those ‘attractive people attract attractive people’ things Hanamaki had always told Oikawa about. Oikawa knew that intimately. Because he was attractive. And Atsumu, objectively, was attractive. Until he spoke, then he was ugly.

But this guy? Whoever he was? With his strong jawline, tanned skin, charcoal eyes, and dark eyebrows. Holding a cigarette between his lips. His gaze, that looked somewhat bored—barely interested—was zeroed in on Oikawa. With such an intensity it made Oikawa want to do terrible things, many he couldn’t quite name. This guy was stupid attractive. Way out of Atsumu’s league.

Maybe he was drunk and didn’t know better. That had to be it. It was the only logical conclusion.

“Don’t mind me!” Oikawa continued as he pushed open his door, “I’m about to head in and completely forget our meeting in favor of sleeping. For my sanity, you know.”

“Yeah?” Atsumu leaned against the railing. “Ya could have done that sooner, ya know. Instead ya chose to be a creep”

Oikawa popped his lips quite loudly, “Well! Someone was giving me a free show! Hard to ignore that when you’re sucking face outside my door.” He turned to Atsumu’s guest, “Tsu-chan brings the horrible out in me, sorry about that.”

Atsumu’s guest for the night barked out a laugh, “Yeah.” He took a long drag of his cigarette, then snuffed it on the railing. “I found that out pretty quickly, myself.”

“Not true!” Atsumu pouted, “I brought great things out of you tonight. Like yer pretty little moans and yer-”

Oikawa slammed the door to his apartment before he could hear something he really, really didn’t want to hear.

/

“Tooru, you look like roadkill.”

“Thank you so much, Kou-chan!” Oikawa threw his hands in the air. Loud enough to have a few heads turn. “I love when you point out all my insecurities and flaws in broad daylight.”

Suga beamed. “It helps keep your colon clean.” He poked Oikawa on the side.

“Ow!” Oikawa jumped from the touch. Suga snickered and slid into the seat opposite of him. They sat on two, plush white chairs in the large hallway of their law school building. Oikawa had camped out there with his laptop balanced on his knees right after class.

He liked working in direct sunlight. And these two chairs, surrounded by potted plants, always sat right in front of windows as tall as skyscrapers that welcomed all the sun and its glory.

“How much sleep did you get last night?”

“I was in bed by 5 and up by 9 so technically 4 hours.”

“Technically?”

“Yeah,” Oikawa’s glasses slid down the slope of his nose as he typed away on his computer. “Technically. Because in bed doesn’t mean asleep. I probably entered REM around… 5:20? So really, I’m on about three hours of sleep. Unless you count the night before yesterday. Which my volleyball coach used to say the night before the night before was the most important night for resting before a big game because-”

“So you’re delirious,” Suga cut in. Oikawa glared up at him over the top of his computer monitor. Suga shrugged and reached for his phone. “I’m not wrong.”

Suga’s phone dinged and his fingers flew across the keyboard. Oikawa adjusted his glasses and closed his laptop. “Interesting how you’re suddenly all up in your phone when you’re with me but you know I die without constant attention?”

Suga kept texting, “RIP, my dear friend... I’ll speak at your funeral, I promise.”

Oikawa frowned. Suga was one of the few people in law school he genuinely liked. Suga was funny, friendly, and incredibly messy. He was entertaining to have around. He was also one of the few people willing to call Oikawa out on his bullshit. Which Oikawa always appreciated having around, even if he never vocalized it. And probably wouldn’t vocalize until maybe his funeral. Or at all.

“Rude and uncalled for!” Oikawa drummed his fingers on his laptop. He had practice for Mock Trial later that evening until about nine. His Law Review paper needed to go through another round of edits too. He also had to review his notes from lecture today and continue updating his outline. Oh, he should probably schedule in time to eat and sleep and poop too.

But when? With what free time?

Suga peeked up from his phone, “Wow,” Suga frowned, staring for a few seconds more. “You’re stressed,” he concluded.

Oikawa felt like he’d just gone under a microscope. “Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Oikawa turned his head as he heard his voice being called. A group of girls walking by had called out to him. He slapped on a smile and gave them a wave, while silently praying they didn’t come up to talk to him.

His prayers fell on deaf ears, apparently.

“Oikawa-senpai,” one of the underclassmen approached with two girls behind her. Oikawa vaguely knew her name. It started with a T. And that’s as far as he’d go with that. Her curly hair fell to her shoulders, and she wore a very bright red lipstick that somehow didn’t stain her teeth as she smiled bright and wide at Oikawa. “We wanted to know if you were coming to our class mixer this weekend.”

Ah right. Yes. A social life. He had to find time for that too.

“Where’s my personal invite, ladies?” Suga leaned forward in his seat, fixing a pout on his face. “I’m hurt! I’m wounded!”

The redhead behind the brunette laughed, “You’d come whether we invited you or not!”

“The mixer was your idea!” The dark-haired girl placed her hands on her hips.

Suga stuck out his tongue, “And it’s a good one.”

Oikawa couldn’t tell if it was the lack of sleep or not, but Suga was more hilarious than usual. He threw his head back and laughed, feeling the tiredness cling to the sound. He needed coffee. And a nap. At least thirty minutes. So he could be somewhat of a person to lead his team tonight.

He’d have to navigate these girls first, though. “Hmm, let me check my calendar! I’d love to come, but I want to make sure I don’t double book myself. I’ll text you?” Oikawa pulled out his phone and gave it a wave.

“Sounds good,” Tsumugi, that was her name. Tsumugi-chan smiled. “We’ll see you there, Oikawa-senpai! Sugawara-senpai!”

As the girls walked away, Oikawa turned his attention back to Suga. “I need coffee.”

“Oh, heck yes.” Suga jumped out of his seat. “I was waiting for you to say that. Let’s go! You need, like, seventy shots of caffeine inserted into your arm via IV at this rate.”

Oikawa packed up his stuff and slung his bag over his shoulder. He ran a hand through his messy hair and followed Suga out of the law building. “Okay, now you’re just exaggerating,” Oikawa said as they made their way to the bus stop. There was a local coffee shop in town about a ten-minute bus ride from the school. Most of the students went there for their midday breaks, coffee stops, or study sessions.

As the bus pulled up, Sugawara pulled out his wallet, as did Oikawa. He took out his bus card as he climbed the steps and swiped in. “Am I? Or am I telling you the truth, as I should, because I’m your bestest friend.”

“You’re more of a best pal,” Oikawa quipped as he scanned his bus card and followed Suga to the middle of the row. The bus was pretty empty. A few people were scattered in different seats, so it wasn’t hard to find two open ones. They clambered into a pair of seats in the back, elevated above the other seats. “A trusted comrade in arms, even.”

“Thank you so much,” Sugawara drawled. He claimed the window seat. Oikawa took the middle seat. Their knees bumped as the bus crawled from the stop and headed down the road. They passed buildings and people. On the way to the coffee shop Oikawa and Sugawara discussed the upcoming mixer.

“How do you have the energy to plan a party and study?” Oikawa took off his glasses to clean them with the hem of his shirt. He held up the glasses, squinting. Were they still smudged? A tad. So he went right back to cleaning. “I don’t even try to kid myself anymore. I don’t even pretend to act like I still have the social battery for that stuff.”

Suga was still on his phone. Type type typing away. Oikawa was a nosy bitch. And wanted to know who had sucked up all of Suga’s attention when he was in the almighty presence of Oikawa Tooru. So, because he knew he could, Oikawa leaned forward. Pressing his shoulder against Suga’s so he could get a better peak at his friend’s phone. All he managed to catch was a D for the contact photo and one flirty bitmoji before Suga’s fist connected right into his nose.

“Ow!” Oikawa fell back into the chair. Bumping and jostling around with the bus. His nose ached something awful. Bright red and stinging. He cupped his bruised nose and scowled. “That was rude! That was a tort! I’m taking you to court!”

“That was self defense, and I’d win that court case hands down.” Suga looked so fucking pleased with himself. The gremlin. “Who said you could look at my phone? An invasion of privacy is a tort, too.”

“We should have never gone to law school,” God, hearing himself and Suga talk about law related things in a casual, joking context made him want to hurl. Thankfully, the bus rolled up to the coffee shop in time. And that cut their conversation short as they stumbled out of the bus and went inside.

Their coffee shop was creatively named: Coffee. With a giant coffee cup sign that lit up past midnight on the weekends. Oikawa had asked the owner about that once and the owner had told him it was intentional. A sort of beacon, or a northern guiding light, for all the grad students up late doing work.

“Y’all don’t know the first thing about self care,” the owner, Osamu, said as he gave Oikawa Tooru, the moth that had followed the bright light of his sign, a decaf green tea latte with almond milk and an onigiri on the house. “So I figured lemme at least give y'all a pick me up before you crash several hours later. Which by the way, go to bed.”

Osamu was great. And after that, Oikawa made an effort to not only visit his cafe at the ass crack of night.

“I’ll grab us a table,” Suga said, motioning over to a circular table by a window. “Coffee on you?”

“You’re just grabbing the table to get out of ordering the coffee,” Oikawa said but he reached into his bag anyway for his wallet.

“Bingo!” Suga winked and without any more shame, sauntered over to the table before anyone else could claim it.

If Suga wasn’t so pretty and charming and a gremlin, Oikawa wouldn’t fall for his tune.

Oikawa went to the register. He searched for any signs of Osamu but found a worker at the coffee machine instead. The worker had short, cropped black hair but what it looked like fully was hidden by the black cap on his head. Oikawa drummed his card against the counter as he waited.

“Hi!” he called out. The worker turned his head and then, suddenly, Oikawa was punched in the gut.

Holy shit. It was him.

Oikawa had no idea that Atsumu’s hook up worked at Coffee. Nor that he would see him so soon. Atsumu’s hook up regarded him for a minute, before realization washed over his face. Oikawa’s breath caught in his throat as the man’s lips slowly pulled into a lopsided smirk.

“Long time no see,” Oikawa frantically dropped his gaze to the man’s name tag.

Iwaizumi.

“What can I get you?”

Iwaizumi.

“... You good, dude?”

“Right!” Oikawa jumped to attention. God, he hated this. Why was he so flustered? He’s seen hot people before. Fuck, he was one of the hot people. A random man (Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi) shouldn’t have him so off balance. “I’m good. I’m coffee.”

“You’re… coffee?” and now Oikawa wanted nothing more than to obliterate on the spot. Iwaizumi looked more amused than put out. In hindsight, that was probably a good sign. In current sight, Oikawa wanted to cease being in existence. “Then I’m tea.”

Oikawa snorted despite himself. His ears burned red at the tips. “Hilarious. Thank you for joking along and not making me feel like a dumbass.”

“That’s what I’m paid for.” Iwaizumi rested his hands on the counter. “So how can I help you, Coffee?” Oikawa caught a flash of his tattoo from his rolled up sleeves. He wondered what the full sleeve was? He wondered how big or small it was? If it had taken him hours in one sitting to get done or if he’d finished it between multiple trips? He wondered if his ears had hurt when he’d got them pierced. He wondered if Atsumu already knew all of this.

He wondered why he was wondering any of this at all.

“Can I get a chai latte and hazelnut iced coffee?”

“To go?”

“For here. I’m with a friend.”

Iwaizumi’s eyes trailed over Oikawa’s shoulder. He dragged them back once he found whatever it was he was searching for. “A study date?” he asked, punching in Oikawa’s order into the machine.

“Something like that,” Oikawa quipped, then suddenly, “but platonically!” he had no idea why he felt the urge to add that on. “We’re platonically… studying, together.”

Iwaizumi fixed Oikawa with a long, flat stare. Oikawa, not for the first time, wondered why he was blessed and cursed with a horribly beautiful mouth. He was going to be a lawyer for fuck’s sake! Why was he so nervous speaking to a stranger? He had to get it together.

Finally, like daybreak coming after a long night, Iwaizumi huffed. “That’s good to know.” Thank God he didn’t find Oikawa strange. “That’ll be 1400 yen.”

They completed the transaction. Iwaizumi reached for a plastic cup and a black sharpie. He hesitated, and then glanced up at Oikawa. “Should I write your name as Coffee or do you go by something else?”

“It’s Oikawa,” Oikawa felt a surge of something akin to hunger. A desire to hear his name spoken on this man’s tongue. Just once. “Oikawa Tooru. But,” he added quickly. “You can just say Oikawa.”

“O-i-ka-wa,” Iwaizumi’s enunciation of his name did something awful to Oikawa. He felt like he’d been struck by lightning and was rushing down a steep hill all at the same time. He watched Iwaizumi’s fingers intensely as he marked up the two cups. He noticed that Iwaizumi wore rings. Two silver bands. One on his index finger and one on his thumb. Oikawa had a sudden urge to stroke his thumb over them several times.

God, what was wrong with him?

“I’ll call you when it’s finished.”

“Thanks.” The word felt wrong on his tongue. He wanted to say something more, but wasn’t quite sure what. Did he even need to say anything at all?

Oikawa went back to Suga. Who was still, surprise surprise, on his phone when Oikawa sat down.

“Okay, spill,” Suga raised his head as Oikawa sat down and fixed him with a curious gaze. “Who are you texting? Who's the D? A dick appointment?”

Suga threw his head back and laughed, a blush staining his cheeks. “No! I mean, his dick is great and I’ve had several appointments with it since we’ve met…”

“Incredible!” Oikawa clapped. “I’m so glad one of us is getting laid,” he said with all the fake sincerity he could drizzle onto his words. “Who is he? To circle back to my question!”

“Why are you so in my business?” Suga retorted. “Who’s the cute barista you were chatting up, huh? Let’s get into that.”

“I’m cross-examining you here. Not the other way around!”

“Let’s call it a plea bargain,” Suga grinned.

“God,” Oikawa slid into his chair. “I hate this. Can we stop using legal terms when we chat? Can we be normal for five minutes?”

“Never,” Suga crossed his legs and played with the ripped part of his rubber phone case. “I think it’s become a coping mechanism now. We make so many law school jokes because if we’re not joking, we’re crying.”

That was far too real. Oikawa had to give him that. They kept going on in circles about Suga’s mystery D while they waited for their coffee orders. After an aggressive line of questioning, Suga finally relented and told Oikawa that he was talking to a guy named Sawamura Daichi. Daichi was an older guy Suga had met out one night when he was clubbing. According to Suga, Daichi made a living as a bodyguard for some CEO.

“His abs,” Suga’s mouth had a little drool on the corner, “they were so solid. I could build a four story house on them they were so stable and delicious and-”

“I can’t believe it’s not even demon hours and I’m sitting here hearing you objectifying poor Daichi-kun.”

“Hey!” Suga sat up in his chair. He pointed an accusatory finger at Oikawa, who stuck his tongue out playfully in return. “He told me I could objectify him if I wanted to. Since it’d only be fair ‘cause he kept talking about my ass like it was-”

“Here’s your order.”

Iwaizumi placed their coffees on the table. Oikawa’s heart skipped several beats. Suga made a quick grab for his coffee and cupped it in the palms of his hands.

“Oh, I thought you were going to call us when it’s done?” Oikawa wanted to find another place to land his gaze. Like the plants hanging above their heads or the way Suga slurped his coffee like he’d been dehydrated for days. Instead, he kept his eyes on Iwaizumi. He played with the brim of his hat as he spoke.

“You looked busy with your conversation. Didn’t want to interrupt that.”

“Ah, were you checking us out then?” Oikawa felt like such an ass. Flirting with people while they were on the job was such a scummy move. Why did he do that? Why couldn’t he have started flirting once Iwaizumi got off the clock.

Wait no. Why did he even want to flirt at all?

“I’m s-” he went to speak, but Iwaizumi was quicker.

“I was. But just you.”

Oikawa’s mouth hung open. Suga took an incredibly long sip of his coffee. Slurping loud enough to break the sound barrier. Iwaizumi smirked and turned on his heel, walking away to the counter to tend to a customer that had just entered.

Once he was gone, Oikawa heard Suga start cackling.

“Oh my God. You’re a disaster!” Suga had to put his cup down because it would jostle too much from how hard he was laughing. Oikawa’s lips pulled into a deep frown. Suga making fun of him was completely unwarranted! Was he disastrous at that moment? Yes. Did it need to be ridiculed? It could be—but not here.

“Don’t laugh!” Oikawa hissed. “Stop it,” he hissed again. But Suga just took one look at Iwaizumi who was talking to a customer and lost it all over again. “You’re the worst!” Oikawa flipped Suga off.

Suga flipped him off right back, “If you come back here to awkwardly flirt and panic around the hot barista again please alert me. I must know.”

Oikawa reached for his coffee and hoped the cold from his iced coffee would cool him down. And if he happened to steal glances at the cute barista who also, apparently, had slept with Atsumu Miya (for why?), then what of it?

/

At some point, the words on Oikawa’s screen began to blur together. He pinched the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses. God, he was tired. He was so tired. This past week had been so hectic. His computer had a day after his coffee run with Suga. So he had to resort to handwritten notes for three days. His fingers still cramped from how furiously he’d taken notes to make sure he got all the important information down. Suga was a godsend and had made an extra sheet of notes for Oikawa for their classes. So tonight, after he’d gotten his computer back, he was able to make a fresh sheet to put everything together.

Mock Trial had been a disaster this week, too. His team's been doing so well at first. Moving smoothly from openings to direct examination, but once they’d started practicing their cross-examinations, everything had gone downhill. The witnesses had forgotten their stories and the attorneys couldn’t keep their line of questioning straight enough to get through the important parts. Oikawa had told them to call it early that night. Start fresh again tomorrow. He could still see the frustrated and disappointed looks of his teammates as they’d filtered out of the classroom one by one.

He still felt the tinge of failure on his skin. Etched and caked so deep down, no amount of scrubbing could get it out. If his team failed, it was a reflection of him as a captain. He had to rework their strategy. Figure out a way to get his team back on track and confident enough to kill it at upcoming competitions.

But God, if Oikawa wasn’t on the very precipice of burn out right now.

Oikawa Tooru didn’t like to burn out. Well, who really did, right? Oikawa specifically hated knowing the crash and burn was coming. It always started slow. With irritation and clipped remarks. With not being able to focus for long periods of time. With indulgences becoming more and more gluttonous compared to a reward for hard work. Oikawa liked efficiency. He liked being on top of things. He liked being high functioning and even higher performing.

Of course, burn out was natural. You work at something so long, so rigorously, and without putting on the breaks—you wipe out. His therapist had encouraged him to seek self care. And while Oikawa had nodded and smiled and said “You got it, Doc!” he had not performed an ounce of self care since his last session three weeks ago.

He glanced at the clock on his computer screen. It read, in a rather gentle voice: 2:05 am.

He didn’t have class tomorrow, thankfully. But he did have to go into his internship to represent a client.

Oikawa shut his computer. He should go to sleep. That would be self care, right? Choosing himself over his work? But he had so much to do. He wasn’t on the ball with any of his tasks.

But sleep was persistent. He rubbed his eyes. The world was a bit blurry. “Okay, Tooru,” Oikawa made the executive decision then and there that sleep was a necessity. “Let’s go to sleep and be a normal person.”

Once Oikawa reached the top of his apartment steps, he smelled cigarette smoke. His heart raced a little. Wondering, if maybe, where the smoke was—there would also be fire.

Iwaizumi leaned against the railing. This time, in a t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the shoulder and a pair of jeans. His face turned towards the city. Illuminated by the soft glow of the buzzling lamp light hanging above his head. Oikawa gripped the strap of his bag. He wondered if he should say hi. They knew of each other, right? A greeting shouldn’t be too crazy.

“Hi hi!” Oikawa waved. His voice cracked. Ah shit.

Iwaizumi turned his head slowly. The light at the end of his cigarette glowed, a lazy firefly that could barely keep its light on. He raised an eyebrow—the one with a small gap in the brow, and then smiled. With a bit of teeth. And this time, from where Oikawa could see him standing, he could finally get a good look at Iwaizumis’ tattoo. On his shoulder, down to his forearm, linkedin thick black lines were leaves that spiraled down Iwaizumi’s arms like ivy vines. They curled and looped around an inked sword that went straight down Iwaizumi’s arm. Oikawa’s fingers twitched. He wanted to outline the shape of Iwaizumi’s tattoo with the tip of his fingers for hours.

“Oh, hey.” Iwaizumi gave a small wave himself. “We meet again. You worked late?”

“Unfortunately,” Oikawa brushed his hair back. His glasses slipped down his nose slightly. “Law school work is piling up, as all.”

“Ah, right.” Iwaizumi took a long drag of his cigarette. Then exhaled. “Osamu was telling me about that. How you law students come into his shop at the ass hours of the night, looking like zombies, begging for some caffeine to make it through the day.” Another drag. Another exhale. “Sounds stressful.”

Oikawa chuckled, but it was void of any humor. “Stressful doesn’t even describe the half of it.”

“Yeah?” Iwaizumi said. “Well, let’s hear it.”

Huh? Oikawa blinked several times. Rapidly as his brain scrambled to catch up with what Iwaizumi had offered. An opportunity to converse more. Why in the world did that make Oikawa feel so… so… excited?

“You sure?” Oikawa took one small step for progress, one giant leap towards his devastation. Until he stood right beside Iwaizumi. They both looked out towards the city scape. The night was dotted with the lights of homes still awake. With people still up. With the stars covered by the darkened clouds hanging above the city. “I’m sure Tsu-chan will be out here any minute looking for you. And if you couldn’t tell from last time, me and him don’t get along. It might be a brawl.”

“I like brawls,” Iwaizumi reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a cigarette. “You smoke?”

Oikawa shook his head, “No. It burns my lungs and I rather like my lungs.”

“Understood.” A beat later, “You want me to put mine out?”

“No, you can keep smoking. I don’t mind it.”

Iwaizumi nodded. “Alright then. Go off, as the kids say.”

“The kids?” Oikawa scrunched his nose up. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-five. You?”

“Also twenty-five. But I don’t make a habit of talking like I’m fifty.”

“It’s not for everyone,” Iwaizumi said. Okay, excellent. He had wit and humor. Oikawa wouldn’t be bored, at least.

“You really want to hear me complain about school?” Oikawa could name seven other things he’d rather do than listen to someone go on about school, especially if he wasn’t in school himself. Wait, was Iwaizumi in school? Oikawa furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you do?”

“Two questions at once, very lawyer-y of you.” Oikawa scowled, which, apparently, Iwaizumi found hilarious, because he laughed. It was a husky, low sort of chuckle. That scraped at the corners of Oikawa’s sanity, right to the bone. He felt a burn, similar to the inhale of a cigarette, glow in the root of his chest. “To answer your second question first: I work at the coffee shop, but you knew that already. I’m also in school, so yes. To answer your first question,” Iwaizumi’s cigarette butt lit up like a firefly in the night. “I’m interested.”

He was interested. He was interested. Oikawa was transfixed on Iwaizumi and the light of his cigarette. On the rough way Iwaizumi spoke yet delivered his words so carefully. As if Oikawa was someone important, and as such deserved to be treated with tenderness. Oikawa’s lips pulled into a small grin despite himself. Slowly turning into a devil’s grin, a mischievous curl at the ends.

“Promise you won’t get bored?”

Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow, the one with the gap, before matching Oikawa’s smile. “Only if you promise to keep me entertained.” he replied, with a crooked grin and smoke trailing out on his exhale.

Oikawa’s heart stuttered.

/

Iwaizumi stared at Oikawa for a long time. Oikawa held back the urge to flinch. His mouth felt dry from how much he had talked. Just talked. On and on and on about the few highs and many lows of law school. It was weird. Oikawa usually didn’t talk about his struggles. Not because he wanted to pretend like he had it all together, because he didn’t. All he did was try, and try his best, and then do better than his best, and then keep polishing and working and fine-tuning his progress until he got the results he wanted.

He knew he wasn’t a genius. He knew he wasn’t a prodigy. But he knew he was the epitome of hard work. He knew his strengths, and capitalized on those to make up for his weaknesses. He sharpened his weaknesses so if they were to ever come to light, he could navigate them with ease. He worked relentlessly and restlessly to rise above. His rankings showed that. His test results showed that. His current social position at school showed that. His work reflected that.

There was a price to pay for all that success, however.

Oikawa's shoulders were tense all the time. He hadn’t gotten proper sleep in two weeks. He was more irritable (than usual, which to Suga was very surprising as he thought Oikawa couldn’t get any more irritable). His focus and concentration were slipping and falling through his fingers like sand. He hated it. He hated being burned out. His eyes burned. His shoulders felt heavy. In this moment, as he expelled all his frustrations over Mock Trial, how he felt like a failure of a captain to his team, of the pressures of balancing life and work and everything--how he just wanted to turn himself off for a few days--everything had just come out.

And Iwaizumi listened through it all. Without judgment. Without pressure. A force of nature that said, so quietly and present like the vapor trail of smoke that had long since gone out from Iwaizumi’s cigarette, I’m here.

Oikawa could have cried. But if he did, it wouldn't be around a (hot) stranger.

“So that’s…” Oikawa said, curling his fingers around the railing, “my story!” He managed a brilliant smile. That didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I didn’t bore you after all, right?”

Iwaizumi shook his head, “Nah. You were good. I was entertained,” and those words had no right making Oikawa shiver. But they did. And he’d blame it on the cold, early morning instead of the heat twisting in his gut.

“I think it’s only appropriate I ask if you need to vent, too,” Oikawa motioned towards the door leading to Atsumu’s apartment. “Unless, uh, you need to get back there. To Atsumu.” He wrinkled his nose. “Though if you ever need to vent about that, I’m all ears.”

“Nah, he’s asleep. I’m in no rush,” Iwaizumi said. Then a beat after he added, “You guys don’t get along.”

“We’re like two dumpster cats fighting over the last fish bone. Though I’m the prettier, fluffier, less smelly dumpster cat.” Oikawa said.

Iwaizumi threw his head back and laughed. The sound was glorious. Rich, deep, beautiful. Oikawa’s gut twisted. “He said something similar, that’s so funny. You guys are kind of the same,” Iwaizumi wiped at the corner of his eyes.

Oikawa gasped, like he was electrocuted. “We are not! Take it back, Iwaizumi Coffee Shop Worker and Student!”

“Now what the fuck was that?”

“I don’t know your full name.”

“Would you like to?”

Suddenly, Iwaizumi was very, very close.

A stutter in a heartbeat. “I-I. Well.” Oikawa licked his lips, dropping his gaze to Iwaizumi’s mouth and then shooting it back up to Iwaizumi’s eyes. “If you’d like.”

Iwaizumi tilted his head, eyes remained glued on Oikawa. His gaze, unlike Oikawa’s, was slow to crawl down to Oikawa’s lips. As if he was trailing the tip of his finger down the slope of Oikawa’s nose, to the curves of Oikawa’s lips, to touch and to feel. Oikawa sucked in a sharp breath. His grip on the rail tightened. Iwaizumi’s eyes widened slightly, then he smirked.

“I’d like,” came out slowly. “You can know my full name. It’s Iwaizumi Hajime.”

Iwaizumi Hajime.

“Yours?” Iwaizumi continued. Still so close. Still so hyper focused on Oikawa.

“Oikawa-” Oikawa exhaled heavily through his nose, “Oikawa Tooru.”

“Oikawa Tooru,” Iwaizumi repeated. Oikawa had never enjoyed hearing his name from someone else until this moment. The buzzing light above them flickered. The cars below them drove on and on. The lights were dimming from the windows of houses going to sleep. The world was going, and turning, and sleeping, and staying awake, and here was Oikawa talking to Iwaizumi Hajime against the railing with his apartment a few feet away.

He liked it.

He liked this moment, a lot.

“Thank you for listening,” Oikawa said quietly into the small space between them.

Iwaizumi’s eyes searched Oikawa’s face. He rubbed at one of his rings. “You want some advice?”

Oikawa snorted, “If it doesn’t involve dropping out of law school to join a circus or a pyramid scheme, I’m not sure I want to hear it.”

“No, it’s nothing that dramatic.” Oikawa wanted to say that his escape plans were not dramatic and instead well-thought-out when Iwaizumi kept going, “You need a stress relief.”

“That’s what my therapist said, too. I’ve yet to do that, but I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe that’s because you haven’t found an option for stress relief that’s…” Iwaizumi leaned forward, “worth your time.”

“Yeah?” Oikawa asked, completely oblivious. “Like what?”

Iwaizumi’s hand rested on the nape of Oikawa’s neck. It was the hand with his rings. Their coldness pressed against Oikawa’s skin, making him shiver. Iwaizumi was now consuming Oikawa’s space. Enough that, if Oikawa dared. If he tried. He could lean forward. He could lean forward and-

Iwaizumi kissed him.

Oikawa’s eyes slowly grew and grew, until they were the size of Jupiter’s moons. Iwaizumi’s eyes weren’t closed either. They were narrowed, taking him in. As his mouth gently pressed against Oikawa’s. The kiss was a bolt of fire, a blaze of lightning. Oikawa’s fingers twitched on the railing. He inhaled, and Iwaizumi pulled back.

For a second, neither of them moved. The cars kept going, and distantly Oikawa could hear someone’s alarm going off. The light above them kept buzzing and buzzing but everything was so faint. Everything was so, so damn faint.

But Oikawa could feel the cold metal of Iwaizumi’s rings still on his neck. Present and overwhelming.

Oikawa’s nostrils flared, “Iwaizumi Hajime?” His voice cracked.

Iwaizumi smirked, “That’s me. And my suggestion? You need to get laid. And my offer?” Iwaizumi pulled his hand until his palm cupped Oikawa’s cheek. And his thumb, the one with the ring on it, traced the lines of Oikawa’s bottom lip. Oikawa felt delirious and ready to pass out and was on the verge of exploding. “I’m a real good stress reliever.”

Oikawa’s brain shut down. At that very moment. He forgot what it was like to have rational thoughts that didn’t revolve around sex and Iwaizumi Hajime and wondering what it would be like to taste his lips again and how smoke had never tasted so good until Iwaizumi Hajime had kissed him and how Oikawa might get addicted to nicotine if kissing Iwaizumi, just lips along, was like that and-

“You in?” Iwaizumi’s soft question broke through Oikawa’s inner disaster of a monologue. “If not, that’s okay. I can also be here to listen, too. I just thought, y’know. You’re not ugly, and I think we’re attracted to each other, so I figured...” Iwaizumi pulled his hand away to scratch at his nose. He looked a little shy now. The audacity of this man to look sheepish after pulling off such a bold stunt like that.

“No,” Oikawa blurted out. Iwaizumi’s face shifted into shock. “No, I mean-Yes. Yes, I’m in.”

What happened next, Oikawa never anticipated. Iwaizumi’s face morphed from shock to utter delight. His eyebrows arched to his hairline. Three little crinkles formed in the corner of his eyes, closed with content. As he smiled, brilliantly, with the tip of his nose reddening just a bit. He was adorable. He was so fucking adorable. Oikawa was going to die. He was going to die and Iwaizumi would be his cause of death, this much he was sure.

“That’s good. I’m glad.” Iwaizumi tugged on Oikawa’s bag strap, pulling him forward. Oikawa stumbled a bit, making an ‘oof’ at the sudden gesture. Iwaizumi leaned his head up and gone was his boyish charm, his utter delight.

Now he had become a predator, and Oikawa was his prey.

“Wanna relieve some stress right now?”

Oikawa never liked being prey. Never enjoyed the thrill of being hunted. But under Iwaizumi’s gaze, dark and filled with playful mischief—filled with promises he intended to keep. Oikawa’s mind went to a million places at once. All of them were filthy. All of them were wonderful.

Oikawa fell. He wrapped his arms around Iwaizumi’s hips, his fingers digging in as confirmation. His own smile was wicked and sharp and full of wanting. “Only if you promise to make it worth my while.”

“I intend to.”