#he was so destructive probably he could have seriously injured himself and other people

[teethburger]

cosmo was a leash kid I’ve decided

[xcrimsonlunaticx]

Hello 🧍 your zombie apocalypse au gripped me by the shoulders. Would you mind if I wrote a small series of one shots based on it?

Following, do you have any specific ideas about this au? I'm obsessed and would love to know more if you've thought any further on it.

Hello! I'm so glad that someone liked the AU I made! I would love to see a fanfiction about this, so go for it! I do have some headcannons I have in mind/somewhat vague storyline I had in mind when thinking of the clusterfuck of angst

This is what I imagined they would look like. Bit badass with a snippet of angst, just the way I like it hah but you can put you're own twist on it

Headconnons! Oh boy, I have quite a few

Billy Numerous:

He's the brawler of the group, doing most of the heavy duty lifting and getting his hands dirty. He's a "act first think later" type of guy, and often puts his friend's safety over himself

While his personality remains somewhat his usual joking self, being the one that lightens the mood when things get dark, he's turns a bit more aggressive and protective due to the fear of loosing the only two people he has left. I would imagine he will have the most trouble trusting to strangers

He would think its his duty to protect the group and if they get seriously injured, he would probably beat himself up bc of it

He prefers mele weapons over guns. His main choice is an axe, finding familiarity using it due to chopping wood back in the countryside.

He keeps an extra pipe or crowbar on himself for his duplicates. But really, anything lying around that is relatively stick-like is a weapon

While he prefers mele, he can shoot shotguns from a decent range. But he's against it since guns makes too much noise.

Kyd Wykkyd:

Relies on stealth and speed to maneuver around his enemies. He prefers the least amount of confrontation as possible, only killing when its necessary.

Since he relies heavily on speed, I would imagine he's crazy fast when moving around the environment.

Because Kyd's powers are unexplored in the DCU, I would toned down his range of teleportation a bit. The further away he teleports, the more energy it consumes. This applies to people as well.

Sometimes he would sneak away for supply runs during the night, mostly as a therapeutic practice to detress by supporting the group. Billy is against this hobby and leads to many arguments. Ultimately he stops after a chessy conversation like "you don't have to do this by yourself" or something jdjf

While the rest of the group has basic medical knowledge, like stopping an small wound and wrapping it up, he is the medic for more serious injuries. He studies on medical books on his freetime

His personality is more empathic and understanding (with a hint of sass). While I think it would be more interesting if he was fully mute (like with a damaged voice box), it gives them the cool feature to use "Wykkyd talk" in more undercover situations and to prevent people overhearing their conversations.

(Personally, I would imagine if another survival group were to confronted them about a deal and they be like "wait a sec". Rather than turn for a group huddle like some noobies they start to gesture to each other in "wykkyd talk" and in some point their movements gets more exaggerated to the point that their failing their arms around while they're just there like 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️"are they arguing?" lmaoooo)

Gizmo:

The brains, the one that forms out strategic plans for every given situation. With experience, he is able to form plans on the spot if needed.

He is the most logical and destructive. Almost everything he builds are any type of explosives of some sort

He raids tech stores and junkyards for scraps. He becomes more imaginative in his inventions, using anything that he could get his hands on and turning it using a deadly weapon.

He prefers the long-range approach rather than hand-to-hand. Underneath his tough exterior, he is still terrified of zombies. He still gets nightmares about them most nights.

He gets rather clingy and developed attachment issues due to one instance where he had gotten himself lost near the beginning (like when you wonder off when you were little at a mall and nearly shat yourself) and nearly gotten himself mauled. Sometimes he holds onto either Billy's or Kyd's hands when traveling (Isn't that adorable?)

He carries around a backpack where he collects items and carries his inventions, essentially being his gizmo pac (now with pockets)

See-more:

Tragety strikes! Unfortunately, as much as I love him, he is the least likely to survive due to his lack of hand-to-hand combat skills and reflexes, especially during the early stages

I would imagine that he would turn at the beginning of the outbreak where the zombies are still fresh, new, and fast. Since their headquarters is in the city, they would very well be sitting ducks and headrushed with zombies. He most likely would have gotten overwhelmed by a hord and mauled or gotten bitten from behind while occupied.

Kyd would have been with him at the time, starring in horror to see his best friend sinking his teeth into a person and ripping out their intestines. Very scarring.

(Another version i imagined to where he slowly turned from getting bitten and was leaning over gizmo with a drooling mouth and gizmo just stood there looking at him unable to move until he was knocked to the side by Kyd. Idk. Way more traumatic if thats what ur going for hahh.)

Whether kyd kills seemore or keeps him alive deals with different forthcomings. If he kills him, he would definitely blame himself and would he grieving for some time. if he doesn't, he would start to delusion that seemore is still with them and the real challenge is to finally let him go and realize that he's gone.

Or it can be more comedic to where he's just like a companion they drag around for no reason. Its really open to imagination.

Mammoth:

Hes a bit vague, I have a few ideas for his disappearance. One is that he told everyone at the beginning that he wanted to search for his sister and everyone was like "yeah, we'll go with you." But bc Mammoth didn't want them going bc of him and leaving the lair, he left in the middle of the night with nothing but a note on his bedside (the nerve on that guy)

If he comes back later or is never seen again is really up to the author, but his size and fighting style makes him an easy target for zombies to bite him on his arm or something. He could be easily rushed by a horde and consumed.

They would sped the majority of their time scouring the streets to search for Mammoth, as well as anyone from the HIVE academy.

Second is that they had lost him when running away from a horde on the street and Mammoth simply had slipped away and disappeared without a trace.

Jinx:

Shes safely within the confines of the Titans tower, along with the rest of the titans.

She helps around with the surviving citizens, but her health will slowly deteriorate due to guilt eating away and endless nights spent worrying for their safety.

KF tries to comfort her and keep her occupied but it all becomes too much and she desides to break the rules and try to find them. Some titans might come with her due to wanting to look for survivors or something idk

Probs gets saved or something and offers them to stay at the titans tower

Billy would totally blow her off and deem her untrustworthy due to the fact that she had betrayed them once and then left them to die

He would think that theyve already survive this far and doesn't need their help despite the tower being the most logical and safest option

While it's pretty stupid to stay within a city, their lair is already with its very own power generator and plumming (bc come on, there's no way in hell they were paying taxes beforehand) and basically knows the ins and outs of the city

Jump city would very much be a territorial battlefield with gangs and criminals. Johnny Rancid would be one of the main villains, leading a biker gang of homicidal maniacs and going on killing spees on both zombies and survivors with no hesitation.

Other villains would also be secontioning off their own territory. Its really a hit or miss whether they're trustworthy. Or sane.

The amount of time they've spent by their own would be around 2 or 3 years, but could be more. They'll be in a habit of lots of things like not wasting food and always being on guard, when they ultimately take refuge in the tower, they are never able to rest and become comfortable. Maybe develope some ptsd. Kinda sad and they would all mostly likely need therapy hahh

For the rest of the hive, it's up to imagination. Personally, I think they would either form their own group somewhere in the other side of the city or find each of them on their own, whether as enemies or allies. Desperation and victim of circumstance can change a person, so I leave it up to you the meddle with it!

And kydnumerous obvi

Just two gay teens and an unhinged child. What a big happy family

[britishth0t]

Hyperactive (With slight homicide)

This is my first post on Tumblr (not my first post overall as I have Wattpad, but I'll post my username here when I've added my Klarion one-shots on there unless people want it lmao

You grabbed his interest when you were hanging out with your friends near the old cinema.

He seemed intrigued at first when even Teekl became slightly amused by your hyper personality.

Klarion may or may not have stalked you for a bit because of that

Eventually, Klarion did admit you seemed fun to Teekl, and wanted to get to you know you better in person.

Both of you finally met each other when you were walking around the harbour, taking photos of the sea and the horizon even if you knew you would delete them later.

Teekl thought this would be a great time for Klarion to introduce himself to you.

She half prayed that Klarion wouldn't freak you out, and the other half wanting you to not make Klarion too annoyed.

Somehow, it went really well.... A bit too well, as you two then talked as if you had known each other for years

Lets just say, you're both extremely hyper. I mean, it's Klarion.

You being a hyperactive person and him having chaos magic while also wanting mischief? It's a perfect yet dangerous match.

Teekl rethinks her choice about you two being together, as she now has to deal with two children and not one.

This also means that the Light have to deal with another 'kid' as well, since Klarion will definitely bring you to at least one meeting.

They're a bit cautious about you on first impression, not too sure if you're using Klarion to get information about the Light

But after a while, they see how much you deal with when you're with Klarion, and figure out that no one can put up a façade for that long

Yeah, even the Light know that you're one hyper son-of-a-b*tch

I wouldn't say you're obnoxiously loud, it's just being in a Light meeting no one is really talking except you, so it's dead quiet other than that. Nevertheless, you can be extremely deafening without realising it

Klarion's magical powers gives you a lot more freedom when being with him. Like, a lot more freedom, he's a lord of Chaos, you basically have no limits.

You can now do all the crazy sh*t you've ever wanted to do with Klarion by your side, and he's more than willing to join you in whatever ideas you have

A couple of times Teekl has to warn him that you're still a mortal, so he does lay off a bit from time to time to avoid getting you seriously injured

If you do get hurt, Klarion is gunna freak tf out, trying to play it off cool but failing

All adventures go out the window if you get hurt. And if you try to get up saying "I'm fine", he'll magically trap you in your bed to rest.

Don't test him, he will do it

A lot of things may break, and it's whether or not Klarion will fix it with his powers or not after... Probably not, it's not like either of you really care

If the Young Justice team do meet you, it's because you were in a forest with Klarion, messing around while climbing from branch to branch in the trees while Klarion floated next to you

The two of you were ambushed by the team, as Zatanna had sensed Klarion's power in that area while the team were nearby

They would have saved you, but you're surprisingly very good at climbing trees for any of them to grab hold of you, something that actually made them impressed

Klarion was very unhappy, so unhappy that you had to mention about going back home to hang out there to calm him down

Couple of times you'd wander off too far that Klarion isn't able to find you and would have to teleport you to him in order to know where you are, the only big thing that does get him slightly annoyed.

^ If you can make Klarion take responsibility (other than over Teekl) and act like a parent, my respect goes to you

You two don't have any rules apart from when you're injured, although there is one thing that bugs you both

2 hyper devils + "Calm down"= Death stare with Klarion hexing whoever said that

No one is allowed to tell you guys to calm down

Klarion x homicidal hyper reader ⚠️Mentions death⚠️

You met each other like the first one, except that you seemed more wanting to go into danger and edge your friends into doing bad things than actually have fun

This time, Klarion was intrigued before Teekl

He noticed your cold yet intense gaze on everyone that was near you

Something about you was odd. Klarion knew that but he didn't know what was making you seem so odd

It's not until you become best friends that he finally realises your love for murder

While you got along with Klarion before him knowing this, wow he's ecstatic that he finally knows what seemed off with you

He tempts you into murder as well, seeing that you showed to be very refrained from not doing anything about your homicidal thoughts

Catches on very quickly how manipulative you can be with your friends, friends that Klarion now wants to be your first kills

Unsurprisingly, it doesn't take that much convincing from Klarion to make you agree to killing your soon-to-be-dead mates

He helps of course, trapping them all and giving you all sorts of weapons to use on them

It's like a holiday for both of you

You even asked Klarion at one point to make their screams quieter since they were annoying you

And after you had finishing butchering your friends, Klarion realised that he like-liked you and confessed right there

Yep, Klarion did just admit to liking you while standing in the middle of dead bodies scattered around at your feet

Soon after that, you both start doing more destruction together

Limits? F*ck no

Hell, if you asked for half of the moon to be destroyed, Klarion would snap his fingers and bam, moon gone.

One time you asked Klarion to give you powers like superman, just so you could fly and mess around in the city

It started off as just throwing cars as far as you could, not exactly caring if people were inside or not

Which then turned into full blown 'lemme jump/crash into one sky scrapper to another', looking like a monkey swinging from vines in a jungle

While the heroes didn't enjoy your hyper and destructive personality nor Klarion, the news loved you. The amount of reports you and Klarion got in the news just boosted both of your ego's

"Double trouble strikes again!" "Witch boy causes havoc with anonymous villain" "League fail to stop villains, have they met their match?" "Criminals cause devastating downfall on the city" "61 lives lost in under an hour" You felt prideful in the last one, a new record in your books

If you two ever go out to have dates, it'll 100% always end with something, mostly a building, being completely destroyed

Whenever the 'kiddie' team as Klarion calls them, or the Justice League come; they're always too late to stop you two

Even if Batman claims they were so close to stopping you, he's wrong. The heroes don't even manage to get you two to notice them arriving, already going off to have some fun somewhere else

You've mentioned about wanting to kill at least one of the heroes out of spite and because you felt like it on multiple occasions

Klarion would love to snap his fingers to have every hero there for you to choose from, yet he couldn't do that because of Vandal wanting some of them alive. Especially Lex with Superboy.

You get along nicely with the Light, as they trust you enough to know that you can calm Klarion down and that you're classed as a criminal

Occasionally, you have unnerved them with the gory deaths about some of your kills, Klarion kissing your cheek out of pure happiness from hearing the defined details

Teekl doesn't really care about it as long as you get the blood off her fur if you get any on her later.

A lot of lives are lost when you two are together... Which is all the time

(Secretly, the young justice team have envied how much freedom you get when with Klarion-> This is after they have to tidy up the mess you two make)

Sorry if this isn't very good, literally made this and posted it the same day. I've loved Klarion's character for quite a long time now and saw that, although the fanfics are good, there isn't a lot of them. I'm down for requests, but right now I don't think I can do many. You can send me stuff and I'll write it down, just don't be upset if I don't post it in the next week or two. If this isn't up to your standards then srry aha, I realise I don't add much fluff and focus more on the storyline, but there's always room for improvement tho✌️

[tsu9live]

Before I start, this is in no offence to anyone else’s opinion. You are all valid and probably make more sense than me. This is a bit of a rant and then a short character study.

Warning: This got too long.

I tend to come online for manga updates and ended up reading through opinion posts because I am a curious cat. Most of the time I come across really well-thought out posts, really valid points. But then MHA is also a soap opera/family drama where the main character is not supposed to have any progress in his story unless its to bolster or move along the other favs . But then they shouldn’t be bolstering his story either because why is a story about Deku’s journey all about Deku?

But then there are people who are happy Deku is finally edgy and they want him to wipe the floor with his classmates who love him and are willing to fight him if only to get through to him. So there are both extremes and honestly there is validity in all these thoughts because despite the writer’s intentions, a reader brings the story to life.

I personally hate making my own predictions because most of the time I feel it ruins the experience of reading a work for me. I go in with different expectations and when the story goes a different way I don’t enjoy it as much but I feel its more my fault.

So I do understand and respect the difference of opinion because there is no fandom without discourse.

In my opinion though, this Deku solo arc was a long time coming and I think Horikoshi has handled it really weird. I’m still trying to understand what he wants us to think about.

A story about heroes and putting your life on the line for someone else is controversial, but, I thought it was a given. Recklessness had been part of Deku’s character but an overly-cautious character would do nothing. Deku’s lack of self-preservation wasn’t unnatural for a hero, he rushed in to save Bakugo from the slime-villain when Pros stood by putting himself at risk but it spurred AM to act. Katsuki experienced it as well during the war arc, when his body moved to save Deku.

Going to Kamino to save Bakugo was suicidal, reckless and potentially flawed but story-wise it made sense. How is hero-work anything than risky? Kirishima and Todoroki initiated it.

Disclaimer: Deku, Bakugo, Uraraka, Momo, Toga and Shigaraki are characters that are very dear to me because they have had me extremely invested since the beginning of the story. This is my personal opinion, flaws, rant... basically me working through my feelings about this manga I had been obsessed with recently.

1) There is an opinion where Bakugo had a right to be upset/angry/bully Deku because he wanted to be a hero but did nothing for it. Firstly, I don’t understand the need to justify his behaviour when he himself has expressed regret on it. People want others to move on from the “go jump off the roof comment” but won’t stop talking about how everything about Bully Bakugo was justified. Deku was weaker, but he had the same dreams, dreams that were the basis of their friendship earlier on. Regardless of how Deku wanted to achieve them, Bakugo had no right to keep trying to stop him from doing so. No, 5, 10, 14 year old Bakugo did not do so because he had the brilliant foresight that Deku would be self-sacrificial and it was for his sake, he was an angry kid and Deku was a timid, wannabe that confused him, intimidated him even. Taking out his anger was a way of working through those feelings. He was in Deku’s words “a punching bag”. In a world where the powerful reign, Bakugo couldn’t understand how a quirk less, weak little boy could think he could stand shoulder to shoulder with someone as gifted as Bakugo. Yeah, society is very much to blame. The change and maturity Bakugo goes through where he is humbled by a cast of amazing hero students who are just as gifted yet with inspiring personalities and then traumatic consequences of being kidnapped, watching his hero use the last of his powers to hold back a great evil, having that fight with Deku where he bared himself open, failing the licensing exam, training with todoroki, the internship... the war has changed him in a way that has brought out his full potential as a hero and a person. There is a lot to admire about him yet I see so many people fixate on headcanons that glorify his every action/word instead of praising the amazing person he has become/how well written his growth has been.

2) “Deku wanted to be a hero and he did nothing for it”. “He could have been a quirkless hero like Batman.” Listen, the story is about AFO vs OFA first and foremost. Hori has done a good job of worldbuilding and adding a cast of interesting characters that its easy to forget what the main plot point of the story is. But it really is about a weak/timid boy who was born with a sort of handicap who dared to dream to be someone strong enough to have others rely on him instead. A lot of the times people want to become something they feel they needed, someone who gave people hope just by existing. Its natural for someone who is ‘considered useless’ to want to be the most useful person ever. His mother didn’t believe he could do it, Bakugo told him repeatedly he shouldn’t even try, everyone else made fun of him, and his hero gave him a wake-up call, no... you can’t be a hero without a quirk. Deku studied heroes and quirks all his life, hoping he’d find something that could work for his advantage. Not every hero relies on physical strength, their bodies are adapted to the nature of their quirks. Deku’s analysis, quick-thinking and impulsive nature is what helped him progress even after getting the quirk because he didn’t gain control until really late. People act like he was handed power, seem to forget he has just learned to use it without consequences. His studies of quirks also made him the best candidate to get new quirks, quirks that he has learned to utilise as tools quickly and efficiently. He was doing what he thought was going to help him become a hero without guidance, without backing and constant discouragements. Its admirable and relatable. If you don’t relate to him that’s fine, your life was different.

Batman was loaded. Deku is not an inventor. The Editors shot that idea down because it would not have survived in a genre where power fantasies are the main hooks. Aizawa, sure he’s training Shinso because he sees his potential now but he would have either expelled Deku/moved him to General studies on that first day for scoring the least in that test. He changed his mind not because of Deku’s quirk but because of Deku’s ingenuity.

When Deku did find his guidance, he tried to do years of work/training in a short period of time. He acknowledges how far behind he is, that the rest are leagues above him and all he wants is to be able to stand side by side with those incredible people and he would go to all lengths to do so. DEKU has never said he wants to be the number one hero. He always says he wants to be one so reliable he saves people with a smile and later on, he wants to be a hero that can save without having other people worry about him. Bakugo works hard, he’s not just exceptional he works hard for it, all of 1A do but saying Deku does nothing when he is constantly shown, studying, training his body, understanding his shortcomings and working on it is just petty. You don’t like him because of his saviour complex, newsflash, that is a hero thing. Hero course is about that, Deku’s is just highlighted because of how often he gets hurt. How can you be a Todoroki stan and hate Deku (although to be fair its your right, I’m just making a point), the kid saw Shouto and decided that it was more important for Shouto to stop hurting and gave him a hell of a fight. I still remember Shouto’s smile, it gave me goose bumps.

Deku’s lack of self-preservation is a part of his programming so much that he hasn’t noticed it yet. Deku broke his bones, but he didn’t realise the permanent damage. When Deku got injured with Muscular, he was never intending to fight him alone. He wanted backup, his phone was broken and he wanted to get Kouta out and tried but Muscular gave him no opening. He was driven into a corner and fought his way out. Like Aizawa said, “He got that injured because he has no intention of dying.” Before rushing to find Bakugo, he informed his superior first, knowing she can spread the message.

The fight with Stain, he messaged his location to all his classmates, didn’t intend to fight Stain alone, just defend Iida long enough for help to come along. Fight with overhaul, he just wanted to get Eri away and when he understood Eri’s power, he gave her the opportunity to fight back against her oppressor by teaming up with him, keeping her secure with the cape made out of Lemillion’s hair. During the whole fight he was present-minded enough to take the fight away from civilians and managed to prevent damage and casualties. During Natsuo’s rescue he played support.

During the war arc, he realised with despair that Shigaraki was coming in all his destructive glory for him and tried to stop him before but he didn’t object to Bakugo joining him. In the movie Heroes Rising (the initially planned ending) he willingly gave OFA to Bakugo, because he trusts him with his life, and was willing to be quirkless again if that’s what it took to keep the kids safe, and himself and Bakugo alive. Its mostly been good decisions on his part.

Its the war arc that’s been his downfall. Watching his childhood friend/rival almost die, his best friend, his mentors almost die while he could barely hold Shigaraki back set off a fight or flight response in him. The seriousness of how Shigaraki came for him and left such death and destruction in his wake because he was not strong enough and AFO is a monster and the sight of Shigaraki and the reality of his situation pushed him down the current path. His solo arc started well because constantly training in the field has helped him master his quirk, and he had the backup of the vestiges who trained and guided him in learning to use it as a toolset instead of a one-punch solution. Then coming face to face with the flaws of hero society and the power, manipulative nature and destructive intentions of AFO has prepared him emotionally. He is not acting like AM, he hasn’t in a while. He is acting like NANA and i don’t blame him because she’s in his head. No adult stopped him from doing this, instead using him as bait to lure out the league.

When they started realising he’s spiralling out of control, that’s when they realised they messed up.

He’s running on adrenaline/fumes alone and I think he’s actually terrified.

“AFO is OFA’s responsibility” “Tell the world I am here” “You’re not as strong as me yet,” “You are not a worthy successor”

Deku isn’t self-centered and but I agree with the screw loose comment (its years of “you are useless, not good enough, not worthy and I bet a dozen or so concussions, bloodloss, dehydration lol). I know Bakugo means well and that’s how he talks. At the moment, he’s probably the only one whose sole goal is Deku’s survival. Deku’s like a wild animal, terrified, lost and as always backed into a corner. AFO has him where he wants him and I am curious to see how class 1 A are going to get through to him. I don’t want them to fight, all those fanarts of Bakugo reaching his hand out to Deku and then maybe punching him in the face would have been a lot better then the mocking (the slow clap was a little triggering for me) but again maybe it just bothers me and Deku needs it. I’ll just have to wait and see. Deku and his class together would be an unstopabble force and I am waiting for that to finally happen.

P.S. Class 1 A looks so mature, everyone going crazy about Bakugo and his tie and I’m here like, look at baby Kirishima and his roots <3

I’m sorry if I gave anyone a headache lol.

[palegoopbearlight]

Lumiere x Fem!reader

~Changed times~

Summary: Lumiere the talking candelabra from beauty and the beast becomes human again only to find his lost love in the croud of remembering people, but one problem remains. Plumette

Warnings: none i dont think, maybe a bit sad I guess

There you sat in gastons pub, head in the clouds as usual. You had been worried for a while ever since your friend belle had gone missing, you knew her father hadn't done anything even though others had tried to convince you other wise. He loved his daughter why would he do anything to her? You asked yourself that question on repeat.

You hummed to yourself alone in the pub, baybe two or three others were there, luckily no gaston. Hes always tried to use you to get to belle no matter how many times you told him to go away, mid thoughts a loud crash and yelling had come from outside. You gasped standing and raced to the town center when you saw almost everyone causing drama ripping things off stone walls to use and turn into weapons. You were beyond frightened, what was happening? Why is a riot happening? You didn't know the answer untill you looked around to see belle in a lovely yellow dress being man handled and pulled into the "crazy wagon" you called it. (Along with her father)

"No no!" You yelled as you ran towards her to try and help "what are you doing! Why is she off to the crazy house what had she done?"

The intaker looked at you with deep eyes and said "witchcraft." You gasped at his saying and then proceeded to beg him to let your friend go but no luck. You noticed everyone in the town getting on their horses and into their carriages leaving the village to hunt down the beast you remember hearing about from belles father.

You knew the only way to stop any more destruction you had to stop gaston first. But before that you had to help your dear friend escape.

//in the castle//

"Maybe she will come back..." chip sighed as he looked over to his mother Mrs, pot.

Mrs pot gave a sad smile. "I believe she will..." cogsworth scoffed and interrupted. "No she won't. This is the end for us. We won't be here much longer. As midnight approaches the last pedal is going to fall and we will be rubbish." He shook his head as he was hit in the back by lumiere "oh shut it you dont know if she will or not. I have a feeling she will. I beg that she will." He turned to plumette with a soft smile "I must kiss you again my love.. I hope she can come back so I can have that opportunity." He gave his charming smile and plumette chuckled "oh mon chér." She spoke only to be interrupted by the sound of angry villagers. Lumiere looked out the window to see them and glared yelling. "MAN YOUR STATIONS!" He rushed out with the others to find a good spot to sit untill time to attack.

Gaston had a deadly look on his face as he and others broke down the doors to the front castle they all steped in and raised a brow at the odd silence when lefou sat the tea cup and pot sitting on a tray. He smiled and slightly bent down. "You must be the talking tea cup" he then turned to the pot "and you must be its grandmother"

"Grand mother!" Mrs pots shouted "attack!" Just then every house supplies had become alive and started to attack the villagers. Lumiere had plumette spread gun powder everywhere as he lit it on fire causing explosions or other smaller ones. He fought well still with hope belle would return

//village//

You stayed behind to try and help belle as she explained her story and to why the beast was a good guy and not a monster like he's thought of. It almost brought tears to your eyes untill you gave a few more pushes on the door and it still didn't open. You breathed heavily and leaned back against the door

"Belle...this door isn't opening..I cant save you.." you gave up defeated but belle wasn't done yet. She looked at her father and pulled out the rose from her pocket and explained how and where she got it and that made you cry because of house sad it was. Moments after silence you heard the lock click unlatch. You pushed off the door and turned around to see belle quickly getting out of the carriage. You gasped holding onto her nearly breaking her as you jumped into her arms. "Oh my friend I've missed you!" You both confessed then turned to her father "go hurry before gaston does something drastic" he qoughed, you and belle nodded to eachother and hopped on her horse. You both rode as fast as you could to the castle where you noticed ruckus was emanating from. The castle gave you a wierd feeling. Like you've been there before. You gulped and quickly followed belle inside. "Dont hurt the objects there people!" Belle explained to you as you looked around shocked at the sight infront of you. You grew a confident face and nodded, she ran upstairs and you ran to find a weapon. Once you found one that wasn't alive you used it against the other villagers to protect the objects. You didn't kill or seriously injure anyone but you were doing your best to keep from doing that. Lumiere fought from the second floor railing as he looked down to see who was left only to see a beautiful girl he automatically knew from sight.

"Y.n?..." he whisperd to himself shocked malling off the railing and being caught by her aswell. "Oh dear are you alright?" You spoke to the candle but no response from the shocked golden man. You raised a brow confused and set him down going back to your fight when he said your name again. "Y.n..." you froze and turned around looking at the candelabra. "I-.." you couldn't answer untill you god a good look at his face. Even though it was golden you knew that face anywhere, "lumiere?..." you spoke your eyes began to water and your legs began to shake. You were face to face with your long lost love from over 20 years ago, who was now a candle. "Y.n i-" he spoke only for you be be pushed out of the way by a full grown man continuing the fight. Lumiere gasped as he rushed over to try his best to help you.

Once the fight was over the instruments cheered amd celebrated but that died down quickly once realizing it was too late. You were unconscious on the second floor somewhere and lumiere had lost you somewhere mid battle. He was worried he wasn't going to see you before he turned full candle and he was right. He wasn't going to it was too late.

He looked over to plumette giving her a sad nod goodbye then looked at cogsworth who was becoming his full clock

"Goodbye my friend..it was an honor working with you..."

He took one last breath and turned into the candle he was designed to be.

Upstairs you felt yourself wake up not long after they all turned to objects. You sat up and rubbed your head where you were hit. It was sore but you managed to push through it standing up and walking out of the room you were in. You stumbled for a moment but immediately remembered lumiere, you ran downstairs as fast as you could picking up pace with every step. You made your way to the outside to see frozen object that were 9nce people. Your hands raised to your mouth in shock and sorrow. You looked around and finally spotted him. You slowly approached and lifted the candle in your hand as a few tears slipped from your eyes.

"Ive waited all these years and finally found you...and now you're already gone.." you began to cry hysterically setting the candle down and putting your face into your hands. Your crying was ceased when you turned around to see the castle forming into its beautiful white and gold state. You smiled moving away and down the steps to get a better view of it, it made you feel slightly better when you heard his voice again "see my friend we beat the clock!" Your eyes widend and your mouth gapped open. You made your way up the stairs when you heard him say another woman's name. When he came into full view he was kissing another woman... and she was gorgeous. You felt insecure for a moment watching her pat smoke from lumieres head. You wanted to speak but hundreds of other village members came back to see their family members. You were lost in the croyd now towards the farther back. By time lumiere turned back he couldn't see you. He didn't know you were there, but you were, watching every loving moment he had with her like he did with you all those years ago.

Tears dare struck your eyes again but you took a deep breath turning to walk away. On such a happy day it lead to you being heart broken again.

"What was i thinking...I see him after 20 years and he's a candle. Then He becomes human again and chooses someone else over me...already?...no dont be rediculouse hes probably already known her. 20 years its been of course he would want a new companion.."

You felt replaced even though you haven't seen him in 20 years.. "if that pot lady can go back to her husband automatically why couldn't I go back to my lover...I notice shes been loyal to her husband...why couldn't lumiere be loyal to me?.." you were thinking illogicaly while lumiere was in the castle searching for you. But when he had not been able to find you his heart broke yet again. He made his way back to the others upset he worried he wouldn't see you again. And you were already on your horse going back to your village home heartbroken.

[classicaltrashical]

Okay I'm not pro-bakugou, but I'm not an asshole that's going to sh*t on you for liking him, but here are some reasons on why I really dont understand people shipping BakuDeku or liking Bakugou Katsuki in general. Not hating on you just stating some canon facts. By the way I tried to censor myself but I just stopped because I got so frustrated with the amount of abuse that Bakugou got away with in just the first few chapters of the manga.

1. Bakugou is abusive towards Izuku both physically and emotionally.

1. The first freaking page of the manga starts out with Bakugou punching Izuku (while probably using his quirk).

2. Page 12 of the first chapter Bakugou slams his hands onto Izuku's desk and uses his explosion to the point it blasts Izuku out of his desk.

- Also note Izuku's body language he is trying to be as small as possible because he already is acclimated to this treatment. He is also seen trying to be as small as possible.

3. Page 15 Bakugou destroys Izuku's notebook (destruction of property).

4. Page 16 Bakugou burns Izuku's shoulder. From the looks of this and Bakugou's attitude towards Izuku this appears to in some way be a common occurrence. Because obviously this is NOT the first time he burned Izuku.

5. Page 17 Bakugou tells Izuku and I quote from the VIZ My Hero Academia Volume 1 10th Printing September 2019 "You wanna be a hero so bad? I've got a timesaving idea for you. If you think you'll have a quirk in your next life... go take a swan dive off the roof!!" After this Bakugou makes small explosions on his palm in a threatening way and Izuku left in the classroom shaking in fear. Even his friends tell him that he went too far.

6. Of course you have the name Deku. Which when used in the context that Bakugou does in the anime means Defenseless Izuku and also uses it as the abbreviation of Dekunobou which roughly translates to "good for nothing."

7. In the flashback of Izuku and Bakugou after getting praised by their principal(?) Bakugou basically grabs Izuku by the collar of his uniform and shoved up against the wall all because Bakugou was jealous and mad that he was not the first and only student to go to U.A. from their middle school and mad because he thought Izuku was hiding his quirk all this time.

2. Izuku is still traumatized.

1. I've hinted at this above, but I don't think I would allow someone with a quirk that makes them sweat a nitroglycerin-like substance to put their smoldering hand on me. Seriously just that scene makes it clear that Bakugou has used his quirk to either frighten Izuku or to injure Izuku.

2. When going in for the entrance exam on page 2 of the third chapter Izuku is shown to turn away from Bakugou and appears to be even more nervous then before.

3. Izuku also thinks to himself about how he has to "stop flinching instinctively." Guys he flinches away from just hearing and/or seeing Bakugou. If you think this can become a healthy and stable relationship......??? Also a few pages after when everyone is gathering around their assigned testing locations someone says "he flinches at the slightest touch" after Iida grabs his shoulder.

- If you think that is freaking natural someone watching that unfold already freaking knows it's not f u c k i n g natural for some to be terrified of another person grabbing their shoulder when they even see the person performing the act. Startled perhaps, but not the way Izuku flinched. Once again in this scene (and like most throughout the first volume) Izuku tries to make himself smaller than he already is by tucking his chin towards his chest and looking away from Iida (who by the way is trying to meet Izuku's eye.) Izuku is so used to being physically abused by his peers that he flinches on contact.

4. Before entering the 1-A classroom for the first time Izuku prays that neither Bakugou or Iida would be in the same class and depicts Bakugou in a pretty demonic way.

5. After the meeting with the principal(?) Izuku instinctively raises his arms to try and block any explosions near his face.

6. After Izuku uses OFA through one finger in Aizawa's assessment test Bakugou is furious and when Izuku sees his barreling towards him he screams in fear. And guys this must be the first time someone has actually STOPPED Bakugou from tormenting Izuku because the look on Bakugou's face is pure shock. Meaning in the years (probably near a fucking decade) nobody has stopped anyone from bullying Izuku. Like that says it all, doesn't matter if you're pro-Bakugou or not Bakugou traumatized Izuku because his abuse and torment went from when they were just little kids after finding out Izuku was quirkless to right after the Sludge Monster.

Do I need to continue into Volume 2 with the whole Bakugou versus Izuku fight? But I will say this...

Izuku has started to heal.

As the manga and anime continue Izuku stops flinching everytime someone calls his name or touches him. He stops raising his arms to block a blow that won't come. He stops trying to sink in on himself. I think the best comparison of this is when Izuku first "raises" his hand in the first chapter to the one during Ectoplasm's math lesson where he stands up confidently and gives an answer.

But healing doesn't erase the past. Healing mentally doesn't erase physical scars (once again it is pretty obvious that Bakugou used his quirk on Izuku.)

Not to mention Bakugou has yet to confront what he did to Izuku. Hell he hasn't even changed much. The only change he did was not always call people somewhat derogatory names instead of their actual name. Don't give me that shit of "well he was kidnapped and felt guilty over All Might's retirement." That's just making a fucking excuse about why he should be forgiven. Was he held against his will for almost a fucking decade? No it was a handful of days and who got him out? Shockingly, but sadly not shockingly the one he decided to torment for years. Don't give me that shit about how apparently being a kid gets you out of trouble. Sure some of it was when he was a kid, but want to know something people age. Hell by the time he told Izuku to kill himself he would have been 14 and most likely almost 15. Which means he should have fucking known better! The only actual excuse I will allow to somewhat slide is the fact that as mentioned AIZAWA SHOTA WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST ADULT TO STOP BAKUGOU FROM HARMING IZUKU! Meaning every fucking adult that saw the way Bakugou acted didn't do jack shit which meant he was raised in a toxic system for years being told what he was doing wasn't something worth being punished for. But still Bakugou should have known better.

The fact that Izuku idolizes Bakugou shows how toxic even this "friendship" is. He is literally idolizing his abuser. And yeah Bakugou is an abuser sure he can be called a bully and a tormentor but he is an abuser. "A person who treats another person or animal with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly"- the fucking Oxford definition of abuser. I mean repeatedly throughout the series Izuku talks about how he has come to view Bakugou as an image of victory.

You want a character to be dating his past abuser? You really want that? I don't give a shit if you write a "they have a talk about their past" before they start dating in your story.

The fact that Bakugou's abuse and the trauma it did to Izuku hasn't been talked about yet in canon is also something that angers me a bit (hopefully Horikoshi has something planned for this). Because it's obvious from their fight during finals and their fight after the provisional license exam that they need to at least talk about it. And then get them both into fucking therapy because yikes they both need it.

And I do not fully agree with Bakugou being forced out of the Hero Course (as some people do), but at least some temporary removal. Mainly put him on probation for a while. Because I believe there are rules in Hero Society that prohibit even middle schoolers from using their quirks against someone(? Right these exist?)

Also if you think for one fucking second that Bakugou did not abuse Izuku and having them in a relationship is not toxic go read the manga and watch the anime both from the beginning because you are missing some cues.

I know that this is was supposed to be about why I don't see how people can ship this and it turned into a rant. I never really care about what other people ship but just think about this. I wrote this mainly because I have seen some people around saying that anti-bakugous overexaggerate and say that Bakugou want not an abuser when ah clearly he is. Like I could go onnnnnnnnn about how much damage Bakugou did to Izuku. We aren't exaggerating you just need to go back to the beginning and see how shitty Bakugou treated Izuku.

If you want to make an argument about how Bakugou is a good guy and how he has learned and changed and it's all good now come @ me I have volumes 1-23 and the other manga chapters on stand by and my Hulu is up and ready.

Not actually looking for an argument but I could have made this post longer but it's now almost 8am I haven't slept a wink and I'm tired.

[c-c-cherry]

HELL YEAH I HAVE SOME BRUNO :D

I fuckin love Bruno. Can’t really explain it, stoic/parental characters and found family tropes are just drawn to me and writing it just gives me immense joy! It’s time to dive right in this, babey >:)

Also I’m sorry for the recent inactivity. School’s been kicking my fucking ASS and I need to put in more time for that right now, so things might be slower until Holiday break. Hope y’all can bear with me a bit :)

//content warning for whump-related shit (sickness, major injury, drugs etc..)

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Pain Tolerance

-When it comes to physical injury, he can handle almost anything with grace

-With a job like his, it always helps to be quick on your feet and resourceful enough to save your life

-He’s not stupid, either. When he’s hurt in a way that he can’t fix himself, he doesn’t hesitate asking someone who actually can help

-He doesn’t particularly like it when people help him out because he’s supposed to be this omnipotent leader figure, but he won’t be stubborn when it comes down to it. He hates wasting time more than he hates showing weakness

-No one can tell him that Sticky Fingers ≠ instant stitches because that stand can get shit done

-Is it sanitary? Not really. Does it hurt a shit ton? Yeah. Does he care? Take a fucking guess y’all >:)

-This man is used to putting up with shit in order to survive and trained himself to take pain in waves. If he can just ride through it, he’ll eventually be able to function again

-Sometimes hesitating isn’t an option. Neither is acknowledging that the bullet wound in your side is bleeding out and logically you should be unconscious from how painful it is

-It takes a certain person to quite literally hold off on their own pain to help others (partly because they aren’t ready to acknowledge it) but Bruno is definitely that saviour-complex, martyr type

-He could have a fucking bullet still in his side but he’s too busy to worry about it because Narancia might have a concussion or Fugo’s arm is broken or they can’t find Giorno amid the stand battle the possibilities are endless

-The one thing he can’t seem to shake off? Getting drugged.

-He almost always has control over his surroundings with any other mishap but once his brain is messed with like that, he’s basically done for

-It doesn’t really help that he’s a lightweight with recreational things in general, but heavy stuff used for spiking or kidnapping absolutely fucks with him

-His stand completely shuts down, he loses control of all his surroundings,,,basically everything he relied on to get through stuff in the past is off the table

-It doesn’t happen very often, but when the gang has had to deal with him like that, its like watching someone’s entire self completely break down

-Suddenly any kind of feeling or pain is amplified and it’s unbearable. It’s awful seeing someone who’s usually so stoic act in such a manner, but it’s almost,,,,cathartic? It reminds all of them that he’s human and his stoicism shouldn’t be taken lightly

Injury

Rule #1 of Bruno’s moral code that doesn’t really make sense but you can’t really argue with him on it: DO NOT BRING HIM TO A FUCKING HOSPITAL.

-He’ll flat-out refuse to go

-Things are much easier now that Giorno is on their team, but things used to be borderline nightmarish during pre-canon missions that went awry

-He’ll have no problem recommending getting professional medical help to anyone else on the team, but there’s no way in hell you could make him go himself

-He hasn’t set foot in a hospital since his father was in one, and and plans to never go in one again

-To him, the medical system failed him (even though there was nothing they could virtually do)

-It’s an irrational way of thinking, but he refuses to talk about it either way

-Even when he is injured enough to require going to a doctor he can usually repress it, usually because he’s in shock, and his mind convinces him that he’s absolutely fine

-His refusal to acknowledge when he’s injured sometimes can get him in deep shit though

-Abbacchio is beyond counting on his fingers how many times a mission will be over and Bruno will be cooking dinner or reading a book and suddenly stop and get this look and Leone will be like “you good?”

-And Bruno just sets his book down and says:

“I fractured my arm and dislocated my elbow earlier today. I should probably look at it now, shouldn’t I?”

in the calmest fucking voice on the planet.

-Sometimes Bruno will just go on about his day and won’t have the chance to tell them calmly because suddenly blood is leaking out of the side of his head or they find him passed out oN THE FLOOR INSTEAD

-Needless to say it gives them all fucking heart attacks all the damn time

-Its actually so common post-canon that the gang has to do routine checks on each other to make sure no one is “withholding any injuries” (but they all know who the rule was really created for)

Sickness

-The. Most. STUBBORN MOTHERFUCKER

-Extremely irritable and hates not being able to do anything. Most people when they’re sick either get very clingy or very bitchy and we all know which one he’d be

-This is nothing like injury. He’ll KNOW he’ll be fine because it's just a fever, so to him that automatically means that no one is obligated to know and/or care regardless of how shit he’s feeling

-He either pretends it’s not happening at all, or he hides away in his room or some zipper dimension until he’s totally fine again

-Hates, and I mean HATES it when people try to take care of him

-Maybe he wants it. Maybe he doesn’t. Either way, he feels too selfless to “make someone do all that” for him

-Though Abbacchio and Fugo would refer to it more as self-destructive than selfless (but they aren’t exactly ones to talk)

-Seriously high fever? It’s just really hot in here, better turn the heat down.

-Can’t fucking breathe because he’s coughing so hard? No no, they still have another mission today to get through. Just have some tea and you’ll be fine

-So nauseous that he can barely stand up on his own? Probably just need to drink some more water today

-The KING of sick denial. The embodiment of the “parents don’t get sick because they don’t have time to” myth

-The times when they do catch him before he can disappear is when stuff is really bad. He’s gotta be too weak to move for them to pounce on him and force him to take care of himself, and even then he will only let Abbacchio do things for him because he doesn’t want to seem like a weak role model for the rest of them ;-;

-Bruno makes the best soup for when the rest of the gang catches something but Mista pulls out the good shit and makes the best fucking food for sick Bruno and it’s very wholesome and nice :)

Emotional Stress

-Bottles up everything, and I mean EVERYTHING until his limbs are fucking shaking and he’s unable to do anything else but sit there and cry

-He feels like he has to be stoic and emotionless most of the time, and although everyone knows that Bruno’s a bleeding heart, he’s also very reserved when it comes to what he really needs

-Things like nightmares or his father or things that happened to him in the past or things that you need to talk about to get off your chest are things that he keeps to himself

-Taking on too much and overworking himself is how he distracts himself from most things. He’d rather just pretend that things aren’t happening then confront it and end up breaking down

-It always comes out in the worst ways. He’ll start snapping at people when he normally would never, stops sleeping and eating, drinks too much even though he knows that it does nothing for him

-He hates the fact that he doesn’t tell people when he’s hurting, but he can’t bring himself to do it without thinking about how weak it would look on his part

-He zips himself away and cries in secret, but everyone can always tell when his nose is too red or the light is gone from his eyes later that day

-When things get bad, his hands will shake. It's almost an unconscious action that happens when he’s thinking too much about things or when he hasn’t gotten nearly as much sleep as he should, but it's extremely noticeable and he despises the fact that he can’t do anything to stop it

-His face and body will look completely put-together but the gang’s eyes will drift to the trembling paperwork that his hands are holding

-Fugo or Abbacchio will usually pull him aside and ask him if everything’s alright and the answer is always arguably a no

-It usually ends up with Leone dragging Bruno somewhere alone or kicking the rest of them out and just letting him let everything out

-Sometimes it’ll take hours and these giant “blow-ups” happen more often than they should, but Leone’s just glad that he’s communicating, even just a little bit

-Once things blow over, they actually talk. They find solutions as much as Bruno doesn’t want to, and things really don’t seem as bad once he starts actually talking about them

-The rest of the fam comes home and makes dinner/finishes up his paperwork for him and they all watch a warm-hearted movie together :3

-He loves giving people hugs because he’s all about that family love, but asking for one is a whole other story (good thing Narancia and his impeccable emotional intelligence always swoop in for a hug when Bruno looks like he’s on his last legs) :))))

-No one said opening up was going to be easy, but he’s got his supportive Passione fam to help him out when he needs it most :’)

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I actually had some fics in mind while writing this list! If you want some Bruno whump to inhale, here’s what I was thinking of while writing this: 

The Mighty Fall by @lady-wallace​

Only Bend When It Breaks  and Night go Slower by roktavor

and Yet here he was by Your’s Truly!!

[rengonemad]

5 Scars, 1 Decision to Heal

This is a gift for Dami over at the KakaGai Hell Discord! I hope you enjoy! >.<  Rating: General Pairing: Hatake Kakashi & Maito Gai (can be read platonic or as the prelude to romance) Warnings: None, Read More is just for length Word Count: 2k

5 Times Gai made Kakashi consider Scars, and 1 Time Kakashi Understood

1. 

The first time Kakashi heard hushed respect in his father’s voice, they were in the presence of Sarutobi Hiruzen. That made sense, Kakashi thought: he was a man famed as the Sandaime, the Professor, the strongest shinobi in Konoha, and the student of both the First and Second Hokages. If there was anyone that the legendary White Fang would respect, it would be Sarutobi Hiruzen. 

The second time Kakashi heard hushed respect in his father’s voice, it was quite different. He was about to start at the Academy and a bruised and scarred kid in a green bodysuit was thanking Kakashi for an insult. 

“At this rate, this kid could become even stronger than you.” Sakumo said quietly, his palm a heavy weight on Kakashi’s head. 

Kakashi didn’t understand. The kid was weak. Not only had he been rejected from the Academy even though he looked a little older than Kakashi, but he was covered in dirt and abrasions. That meant he was weak enough to get hurt, and stupid enough not to hide it.

Kakashi asked for the kid’s name anyway. If his father respected these people, then Kakashi could do that much. 

It didn’t make sense, but Kakashi trusted his father. 

He trusted his father when he suggested Kakashi make Gai his rival. He trusted his father when he said that Sarutobi Hiruzen was a great man. He trusted his father when he said that Kakashi shouldn’t worry about him—that Sakumo was fine, even if it looked like he hadn’t left his bed since Kakashi left for his mission five days earlier. Even if the dishes were molding and Kakashi heard whispers about the White Fang, about his fall from grace—

Kakashi trusted his father. 

He did, until there was no more father to trust. 

Maito Dai and Maito Gai were the only people who attended Hatake Sakumo’s funeral. 

They cried more than Kakashi did.

Two weeks later, Kakashi moved out of Hatake Estate and into a chūnin barrack. It was a cramped, one-room affair, but that meant it was easier to clean. 

Most importantly, it didn’t have blood-stained tatami. 

It didn’t have any scars.

2.

The first time Kakashi got a scar that couldn’t be hidden by clothes, he got a sharingan and ninety-eight pounds of guilt to go with it. 

They were all signs of his weakness. Signs of his failures. 

But that didn’t mean he was willing to get rid of them. 

The Uchiha petitioned for the removal of Kakashi’s sharingan. There was no proof it had been given willingly, Fugaku said. (Disregarding the fact that not only was Rin a witness, but that the Yamanakas could have proven it from both of their memories if necessary.) It was sacrilege for a kekkei genkai to be wielded by someone outside of the clan. (The entire notion of shinobi having honor was questionable, in Kakashi’s humble opinion.) Keeping a kekkei genkai without a matching bloodline would kill the host by chakra drain—

—that part actually had some validity. Kakashi nearly died of chakra drains three times in that first year, before he finally figured out exactly how far he could push himself, how to recognize the warning signs when the sharingan began to consume more than Kakashi had to give. Effectively losing an eye meant an imbalance in depth perception and narrowed field of vision, both of which were easily deadly for a shinobi. Reading gave him a skull-splitting headache for the first two months, and his handwriting suddenly went from precise to nearly illegible and always slanted at an angle no matter how he turned his head. 

Rin looked at him differently, too. Even with one eye, Kakashi could tell. Her smiles were brittle. They shattered the moment she looked away. 

She often looked away. 

The scar was a sign of his weakness. The sharingan, a mark of his greatest mistake. 

It was a mark he deserved to bear. 

3.

Gai wouldn’t leave Kakashi alone.

Part of that was probably Kakashi’s fault; Maito Dai didn’t leave a body behind, but Gai held a private funeral for him anyway. Kakashi was the only one to attend. 

Over the next few years, Gai kept accumulating scars—some of them drawn by Kakashi’s own hand. They never tried to seriously injure each other—if weapons were involved, they fought until one part was disarmed or forced to concede. If taijutsu was the arena, then a successful pin for five seconds constituted a win. Kakashi never used fatal ninjutsu techniques. 

But accidents happened. Sometimes Gai didn’t dodge as quickly as Kakashi thought he would. Not hurting Gai in those instances became part of Kakashi’s practice, although not one he ever told his “Eternal Rival”. Gai’s ego wasn’t as untarnishable as he claimed it to be.

Gai’s scars steadily grew in number, overtaking his body with rough lines and calloused flesh. Kakashi’s own scars were fewer in number, but they, too, accumulated as the years passed. 

Their scars were different. Gai’s were a show of his dedication, the effort he put into perfecting something that no one thought possible of him. 

Kakashi’s laced his skin with memories that couldn’t be shut out. 

4.

When they were seventeen, Gai got rejected. He had brought her dozens of bouquets, composed entire sonnets, exclaimed about her to Kakashi every rare chance he got. Apparently, she said he was too much for her. Kakashi could see her point, but Gai really didn’t deserve the daffodils thrown back in his face. 

Gai only mourned for one day before he got up again, the same as at the end of any fight, and poured his sweat and tears into taijutsu. He used that motivation to master the fifth gate. 

Two months later, he was interested in another girl. He courted her with exactly the same amount of gusto as he had the first time around. This girl accepted. When she broke up with him politely two months later, Gai was still certain that true love existed, and absolutely willing to have his heart broken a million times over in order to find it.

Kakashi pretended to read while listening to his rants. He pretended to read while Gai sobbed in passion or mourning. He pretended to read while watching how the accumulating scars on tanned skin never reached Gai’s humongous, tender heart. 

Kakashi pretended that he didn’t think Gai was just as cool as he was ridiculous. 

5.

The first time Kakashi saw Gai truly affected by a scar, it wasn’t his own. 

Rock Lee was probably the first person in the world (other than Hatakes) who truly respected Gai. Unfortunately, while Lee and Gai’s ostentatious personalities, bullheaded stubbornness, large hearts, and bushy eyebrows all gave them obvious similarities, there were important points in which the two differed.

Those points led to Lee’s self-destruction.

While Lee had grown up in peacetime, with romantic dreams of shinobi and what it meant to be one, Gai had been faced with the stark reality of it from the earliest time he could remember. 

Gai understood consequences, and he understood how to judge an acceptable loss—at least, most of the time. Gai had known death firsthand before even leaving the Academy, and had seen his own father make the ultimate sacrifice of the eighth gate. He understood risks, and he had the ability to weigh them, whether most people realized that or not. 

Yet, Gai gave such tremendous power as the gates to a child who was full of more idealism than reason, more impulse than temperance. He gave that power to a boy who certainly would one day become a fine shinobi, but who had never seen death or destruction or the scars shinobi so often didn’t survive. Gai gave that power to a child who had never had anything more precious on the line than his own pride—and Lee suffered a powerful price for it. 

Kakashi couldn’t be beside Gai for those early days after Lee’s injury, because Gai wasn’t the only one who had make a mistake. Instead, Kakashi spent weeks sleeping for mere minutes at a time on a sheer rock face, training himself and his own childish student—one who had seen far more than many full-grown shinobi ever did—in the vain hope that they would both survive whatever Orochimaru would bring them next.

He thought that Sasuke’s past would teach him how to use his power well. Naively, Kakashi thought he had chosen better than Gai, that Sasuke wouldn’t suffer the same consequences.

He was wrong.

Kakashi and Gai had both failed their students—but Gai’s was an error of judgement, one in which he had placed his own history and capabilities onto a kid that wasn’t quite ready.

It took less than two months for Kakashi to realize his own error had been far worse. His own error had been one of the heart: specifically, of neglecting Sasuke’s. 

By then, it was too late.

The most painful scars, Kakashi knew by that point, were the ones he could only see, and do nothing to heal.

+1

Four years later, scars mottled the Earth itself. Konoha carried more than her share of them. Even months after Pein’s attack, rubble stood in half the districts and gouges were still being filled in with dirt and cement. Tenzō had long since erected temporary and permanent structures for the village’s basic needs, but post-war, there were too many necessities and not enough resources to allocate to them. One of the only projects completed during the first few months of the Rokudaime’s tenure was an additional ward to the hospital, designated for rehabilitating physically debilitated shinobi. 

No one had come out of the Fourth Shinobi War without a scar. Some of them were simply more noticeable than others.

“Doesn’t the Hokage—” Gai wheezed as he struggled to pull himself into an upright position in the hospital bed. Kakashi remained by the window, listening to the sound of hammers banging in the distance. He knew better than to offer help for something Gai could do himself—no matter how much time, and pain, it could cost him. “Have better things to waste his time on than—visiting an old rival?”

“I’m hiding,” Kakashi shrugged. He glanced over his shoulder to see Gai’s expression. “Maa, no need to look so disapproving. It’s only until I make a decision.” He held a palm up in pacification. “I promise I’m not shirking my duties.”

“Ah.” Gai nodded wisely, but his voice was breathy, hoarse despite the water bottle he had already half-drained. “I have—every faith you’ll make the best choice!”

With entirely burnt chakra pathways, Kakashi could only imagine the pain and fatigue Gai was going through—at least a dozen-fold what Kakashi himself had ever experienced with the sharingan. It was a miracle he was talking at all. 

Well—not a miracle. Gai’s strength wasn’t the gift of any God. 

It was something he had formed himself.

“You still have faith, Gai?” Kakashi murmured. “Even after all this?”

Gai’s bushy brows descended towards the center, the corners of his lips tugging down as well to form a frown. He was always sharper than people knew.

Tanned and scarred fingers clenched around his bottle of water. Plastic crinkled beneath the grip that had lost decades of strength in a single, life-changing moment.

With Gai, Kakashi knew: it was strength that could be gained again.

“In you, Kakashi, I always have faith.”

Kakashi turned back to face the window. His fingernails dug into the meat of his palm, hidden within his pocket. The other hand rose. He brushed fingerprints against the scar that bisected where the sharingan had once sat—a constant reminder still of Kakashi’s biggest failures. 

But that scar no longer stole Kakashi’s sight.

That scar no longer stole Kakashi’s chakra.

That scar no longer blinded Kakashi to the changes he could make in the world, and in those around him. 

It had taken over twenty-five years for Kakashi to understand why Gai could be who he was—why he could accumulate scars that were only surface-deep, why he could take even worse ones in stride and use them to drive himself forward: 

Gai didn’t define himself by his scars.

Perhaps it was time that Kakashi learned how to do that, too.

(I, uh, also made this edit. xD I dunno why.)

[lo-55]

Lightning In A Bottle Ch. 2

Nanohana wasn’t changed much, to the point that Nao was beginning to wonder how long she had been inside her crystal prison. She had no idea how much time had passed, but if the boy who had broken her out of the rock hadn’t recognized her or her flag it had to have been a while. 

And that hat…

It had to be a duplicate, surely.

Nao tucked her hands into the pockets of her pants. Her high leather boots kept the sand out of her socks, at least, and when Luffy managed to burn whole sacks of Raindance powder her cape kept her dry. At her side, Odenta and Mikazuki hung as heavy comforts in their sheaths. They didn’t garner nearly as much attention in the city as Nao and the Gem’s had when they had arrived however long ago that was. Back there the city had emptied out as soon as they stepped foot in the sand covered streets of the Alabastan port. 

No, no one even looked twice at them, there were so many people going through the city. 

Not her, or Luffy in his hat. 

How peculiar. 

Nao made a mental note to get a hold of a newspaper as soon as she could, or maybe visit Ohara. They would have the best records about what she’d missed. 

It would have to wait. Ohara was a long ways from Alabasta, and it would be hard to sail Blood Stone without someone else helping her. The ship was just a little felucca, hardly big enough for fifteen people, but she was tough as nails and made for the roughest waters in the world. All the same, it wasn’t safe to sail alone in the Grand Line, where the weather might change without warning, when there wasn’t someone to stay awake and keep watch. Not to mention Marine’s, other pirates, and all sorts of other dangers. Sea Kings probably hadn’t gone extinct since she went under. She’d rather not deal with them. 

Nao was so busy contemplating her ship that she nearly walked right by the restaurant that Luffy went shooting into. 

She had to backtrack to poke her head inside. A crowd had gathered, and Luffy was ignoring it entirely in face of ordering lunch. A pair of unconscious bodies lay through several broken walls. 

Nao cocked her head. Had Luffy done that when hed stretched out and launched himself like a demented rubberband? She knew it had to be a Devil Fruit, but she didn’t expect him to go causing that much destruction mindlessly.  

What a weird kid. 

Ah well. Pirate.

Nao took a seat next to Luffy while the chef frantically started cooking. Whoever had been in before them had eaten a lot, with dirty plates stacked nearly to the ceiling. Now he was feeding Luffy, and her too. 

Nao made a mental note to tip him well. 

She casually elbowed Luffy’s face out of the way and stole a whole chicken to rip into. 

“Hey!” he shouted around a mouthful of food. His head stretched unnaturally away on his neck. “That’s mine!” 

“Finders keepers,” she said succinctly, and shoveled it into her face as fast as she could. Time hadn’t passed for her at all inside the stone. Her injuries from the battle weren’t healed, and she didn’t feel well rested. She was famished, but not starving like she’d spent months unconscious. 

Nevertheless, she’d always been a big eater. She needed the energy to keep up with her lifestyle, and to keep herself strong enough to fight. She wouldn't let her broad shoulders shrivel or her powerful legs grow weak if she could help it. It was a death sentence.  

She nearly bit Luffy’s hand inhaling spicy noodles next, and a hank of lamb. The chef was sweating and out of breath but he kept putting food on the counter and they kept eating. Luffy was chatting with the locals while he ate. 

“Why’s there a hole in the wall? Is that some weird hobby of yours?”

“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO PUT THE HOLE IN THE WALL!” 

She knew it. 

Nao was in the middle of a plate of roasted peppers when one of the formerly-unconscious men climbed out of the hole in the wall. She watched him get slammed back down by a man in a fur coat, and the next thing she knew she was getting dragged through the streets of Nanohara by Luffy. 

Why are we running? That guy isn’t even that strong...

“Tashigi!” the man chasing them shouted, “Stop them!” 

Nao looked forwards to see a girl with a sword. 

“I’ll handle her,” she offered Luffy, who nodded and let go so he could go bouncing up onto the rooftops like a ninja or something. In one smooth move Nao drew Odenta from her side and lifted it to block a blow from the other girl, Tashigi. 

“Nice sword,” Nao grinned sharply at the girl over their locked blades. Her form was good, but she wasn’t very strong. Too bad. 

“Yours is too. It’s a shame it’s being used by pirate scum!” 

“Xeshishishi, tell you what, if you can beat me you can have her.” 

 The man who’d been smashed into the floor landed next to the two. An orange hat rested on his head and he had a bad slung over one shoulder. Black hair fell in soft waves to frame his cheeks, which were covered with freckles. 

There was something familiar about him… 

“Excuse me, ladies,” he said politely, startling both of them into looking away from their crossed blades to him instead. He tipped his hat towards them, then the building that Luffy had jumped up onto. He was blocked from it by their swords. “I have to catch up with my brother now.” 

“Uh, sure,” said the marine girl. They pulled their blades away to make a path for him. 

“Why are you telling us this…?” the redhead countered, looking confused. She faltered when she got a good look at his face, recognition shooting through her. Nao sucked in a breath. He looked like- 

“Hey, hold on-!” 

“Sorry, I can’t,” Portgas waved to them and shot over the rooftops, after his brother and the marine. Nao shook her head. She would see him again, if he was chasing Luffy. 

Nao drew back and slashed again easily. Each move was economic and graceful. She spared no energy, partially because she simply didn’t have any. Tashigi blocked, but the force pushed her back a few feet. 

Nao parried her next attack and side stepped to smack her on the back of the neck with Odenta, sending her careening to the ground.  

Someone screamed, but no blood came from the fallen marine. 

She touched the back of her neck in confusion. “Wha-?”

Nao didn’t answer. 

She was already gone. 

Nao ducked around a corner and ran after Luffy, following his Haki until she caught up with him and a group of colorful people. Hadn’t he said he was a pirate? Or he was going to be King of the Pirates. That was what he’d said. Well, to be king of them you needed to be a pirate in the first place, right? 

That sounded right. 

So these people were probably his crew. 

When he saw her he grinned and threw his hand out. It stretched far enough to grab her by the wrist and yank her forwards. 

“Hey! You made it past the sword lady!” 

“Well yeah,” Nao landed beside him running. Her leg was starting to ache where a cut had caught her over the knee.  

“Who are you supposed to be?” A curly haired young man with a long nose demanded, eying her. 

“She’s a rock person I found,” Luffy said cheerfully.  

“That. About sums it up,” Nao felt herself smile involuntarily. “I’m Roche Nao,” she said for the second time that day. She really hoped they stopped running soon. Her leg was seriously starting to ache. 

“So Luffy picked up someone else weird,” an orange haired girl looked exasperated more than anything else. Nao felt like she should have been offended, but she just shrugged. She was too tired to be upset with people who hadn’t actually done anything to her.

Besides, she wasn’t wrong. 

They came upon a pretty caraval, with a sweet looking figure head. A sheep. Nao felt herself smile. It was cute and light hearted, like this crew seemed to be. Nothing at all like the swift, devil faced Blood Stone. Her eyes were two carved rubies, and a pair of snakes twined around her in a macabre necklace that matched the one that hung beneath Nao’s own shirt. 

“Permission to come aboard?” she asked Luffy lightly. The boy beamed at her and tipped the brim of his hat. 

“Granted!” 

They scampered onto the ship and in a whirlwind of motion they set sail. The caravel carried them away from the port. The pirate flag flapped in the wind, showing off a skull wearing a straw hat. 

Seriously, what was up with that hat? 

Had that up-and-coming volcano really given it to some upstart?

...actually. That sounded exactly like something he would do.

She realized that their little pet (a raccoon?) was staring at her only when he shouted suddenly. 

“Ah! You’re bleeding!” 

It was a testement to how tired she was that she hadn’t noticed that he was a mink, and not just a weird animal. 

“Hah? Where?” 

“Your leg! Quick, take off your pants and I’ll- ouch!” 

The orange haired girl smacked him over the head. “Don’t ask it like that!” she scolded. 

“But I need to see how bad it is! She might need a doctor!” 

“You’re the doctor!” 

Ah. Nao would have preferred they didn’t know she was actually injured, or weak, but there was nothing to be done about it. They seemed like good people anyhow, as far as pirates went. 

“Well then, mister doctor, where’s your office?” 

“A-ah! I don’t have a real office yet. We’ve been using the bathroom.” 

“Then lead the way.” 

The doctor, Tony Tony Chopper, guided her down to the bathroom. The Caravel was small without being cramped. Nao took off her boots and pants, now stained with blood, so he could clean and stitch her leg. He treated her smaller scrapes and bruises as well, and stuck bandaids across her cuts. 

He left so she could clean herself properly, wash her hair and get the blood off of her. She watched the pink water wash down the drain and wondered where her crew was. What had happened to Elba, Talisa, Adrien and Pearl? Were Rize and Hinami still injured? Had the marine’s tended to their wounds? Tier had escaped into the sea before a blast from a marine flagship had sent them hurtling out of the little cove they’d been hiding in and beached their ship. Had she made it back to fishman island? 

She needed to find out. She owed it to her crew after she  had failed them all.  

There was a knock on the door.  

She cracked it open to find the blond man standing outside, holding a bundle of clothes in his arms. Her red hair dripped across her shoulders, but in a few minutes it would be dry and wildly curly again. 

“I bought an extra outfit for Nami or Vivi, but now I see it was destiny that I have it ready for you!” 

He had literal hearts in her eyes when he presented them to her. 

Nao took them carefully. The clothes were lightweight and soft, so soft that they caught on the sword-callouses on her fingers. 

��Thank you?” Her clothes weren’t ruined, by any means. Did she really need a new outfit? 

“If you need any help changing I-” 

She shut the door on his face. “Nope.” 

They definitely didn’t recognize her. No one who did was stupid enough to flirt with her. Her dad would kill them. 

Nao changed into the clothes and was disappointed to find that they were dancers clothes. 

Yeah. No. 

She couldn’t fight in that! 

Instead she cleaned her pants as best as she could, used a small sewing kit she kept in her cape to fix the cut in them, and redressed. 

She'll have to find a hair tie eventually. 

When she came back up to deck the other man they’d run into was crouched on the outer rail. With his back partially to her while he chatted with someone else Nao caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his back. 

It was familiar, too. He nodded to Nao when she came to stand beside the green haired man. Solo? 

Most of his attention was on Luffy, not her. 

“Luffy. Will you come join the Whitebeard Pirate Crew? With your friends, too, of course.”

Whitebeard pirates. Whitebeard. Edward Newgate. 

Nao could feel a headache starting to throb behind her eyes. 

“No way!” 

The man laughed. “Just thought I'd ask! Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I've ever known. I want to make him the pirate king. Not you, Luffy.” 

Nao internally winced. Brutal. They were obviously close. Childhood friends? 

“That's okay! I'll just fight him.” 

Nao blinked at Luffy’s back. Was he stupid? Or just crazy? 

Either way, Nao liked him. 

She couldn’t start her hunt for her crew yet. She didn’t know how long she was trapped, and she didn’t know where everyone had gone. She also wasn’t in any shape to go rushing off and finding out. Her mother would have killed her for doing something as impulsive as grabbing the nearest Marine and demanding to know where her crew had been taken. And her dad… 

Her heart twisted in her chest. Nao shook her head. She wouldn't let herself have a breakdown yet. Not here. Not yet. 

“Hey, Luffy.” 

He turned his head to look at her. Nao offered him a half bow. “Sorry but, I’m going to have to take advantage of your hospitality for now. Until I can get in contact with my own crew.” 

Luffy shot her cheerful grin. “Sure, okay. You can hang out with us for a while.” 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” the blue girl stepped forwards. Nao really needed to figure out everyone’s names. She only knew Luffy and Chopper. “We’re not here for tourism. Where we’ll be going is bound to be dangerous.”

Nao cocked her head. Yeah. “I appreciate you worrying. But I’m a pirate as much as anyone else. I won’t change my mind just because it’s dangerous.” 

Besides, they were going to Yuba, where Nao was supposed to meet with her crew. 

Molly should have already gotten there and set up shop. 

“Wait for us, Moll. We’ll get there, even if it takes a while.”

Molly pursed her black-painted lips. “I don’t like it, captain. This splitting up stuff. You already sent Harry and Monty back to Zou. We’re stronger together.” 

“I know we are. But with dad-”  

“Don’t worry,” Nao looked the girl in the eye and lay her hand on Odenta’s hilt. “I won’t ask any of you to be responsible for me.”

“I am my own captain, after all.” 

[yandere-lovehotel]

Warning this includes mentions of stalking. It is implied that Reader gets changed and bathed while unconscious.

You have been warned.

(Y/n)= your name

(H/n)= hero name

Agreeing to work with Endeavor had been a mistake.

At first you had been excited to work with a high ranking hero. You yourself were only just starting to rise in the ranks after being so low for a while that working with the number two hero was considered an honor.

It was something higher ranked heroes did every now and then. Worked with lower ranked heroes that started to climb the ranks and helped them develop into better heroes. It was good for the general population to have more competent heroes. It helped ease the burden of top ranked heroes to have more strong heroes to help out. And it was also good publicity for both low ranks and high ranks. So you are happy to have THE Endeavor be the hero you worked with. That was until you met the guy.

At first he was content to ignore you and let you do as you pleased no matter how nice and polite you tried to be but slowly he began to start criticizing you.

The man was already a taskmaster but he seemed to be especially hard on you. He was never happy with anything you did. Always too slow, too weak, too stupid. It pissed you off, his high and mighty attitude. He corrected everything you did. From your hand to hand combat, to the "proper" use of your own quirk, hell even to the way you made your coffee! He was insufferable and it was pissing you off more and more as the days went by.

It all came to a head when he forced you to stay away from yet another battle. Saying you were too weak to fight the enemy. You had ignored him and fought anyways, which lead to a very loud and very angry argument once it was over and you were both in a private place.

"What was that (h/n)? I specifically told you to not get involved with that fight." Endeavor hissed.

"Screw that!" You snapped. "I'm a hero! I don't sit back and watch when I can help. Besides it's not as if this was some big threat. It was an easy battle!"

"It doesn't change the fact that I gave you an order! I told you to stay out of the fight but you intentionally ignored me! How can you be a hero if you can't even follow the simple order of 'stay put'"

You grit your teeth together in anger at that, "How can I be a hero at all when you won't even let me fight?! How can I be a hero if I'm not helping anyone?! I became a hero to save people, even if I'm not the best or the strongest. I'm not about to let some high and mighty asshole like you tell me that I have to 'stay put' when I know I can help."

Endeavor took a step closer to you, glaring at you."Just because you think you can do something doesn't mean that you can. You're weak (h/n) and you have no experience in battles like the one I fight."

"I know! I know that I'm not like you or all might or any of the other top rank heroes. My quirk isn't that powerful, and I'm still new enough to be making bad calls but how can I gain the experience and training necessary if you won't give me a chance? How am I supposed to become a better hero if I can't BE a hero?"

Enji smothered the growl that was building in his throat. You just didn't get it, did you? You just didn't see why he was doing this. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if you got hurt. If you got hurt he would lose it. If a villain ever managed to hurt you, he wasn't sure he would be able to hold back from seriously injuring them. God forbid if YOU were ever seriously injured. The offending party could very well become nothing but ash.

This...obsession with you has grown wildly out of his control and the worst part was that he didn't care anymore. Sure at first it downright disgusted him. The urge to follow you and take you and keep you was wrong. But it never stopped him. He had met you not long after he and Rei had divorced. He was content to just ignore you but your unwavering determination to be nice to him drew his attention. It was a downward spiral from there.

He wondered if you ever noticed how he would stare when he thought you weren't looking. How he would glare when he saw you get too friendly with someone. How he hit villains harder if they made threats towards you. If you ever noticed him following you.

He knew almost everything about you. He knew your favorite food. Your favorite places to go when not at work. He knew who you hung out with. He knew what you hated and what you liked. He became intimately aware of your personal life and it gave him the strangest sense of satisfaction. He didn't want you to be a hero. He couldn't stand the thought of you fighting and getting hurt. Of you being seen by others. Of you spending time with people that weren't him. But he also knew that this was the only way for him to spend time with you and the only way to buy time to carry out his plan. It would be too strange if he was seen with you. It would draw too much attention. He wasn't done with the preparations yet.

He drew his attention back to your tirade. God even angry you looked amazing. "If you can't respect the fact that I'm a hero then why am I even here?! I may as well go somewhere that will actually let me help!"

Enji felt his heart freeze. While logically he knew it would be better if he cut all ties with you so as to lower suspicion when he acted out his plan, the idea of not being near you every day...hurt. he couldn't let that happen. He drew a breath and knew that it was time to swallow his pride if he wanted. " You're...right (h/n)."

You paused, dumbfounded. You had been prepared for a sarcastic or cruel remark. Not...that.

"I've been treating you...unfairly. I haven't been giving any thoughts to your development as a hero and was more concerned with the fact that I believed you incapable of handling yourself. You are working with me and I fight dangerous battles. I was worried that your lack of experience in these types of situations would get you, me or someone else hurt. So I made you stay away. But now I see that it has only stunted your ability to grow as a hero. And for that I apologise."

Speechless you watched as Endeavor bowed slightly at the waist. He...he was really saying sorry? That wasn't something you really expected. You had been fully prepared for him to say 'leave then'. For him to tear you down verbally. You were... pleasantly surprised.

Enji hid the irritation from his face. Truthfully he wanted you out of this profession as quickly as possible so he could take care of you. But he had to wait. Wait for the right time, the right place, and the right villain.

_________________________________

After the argument, much to your surprise, things seemed to get better with Endeavor. He was still a critical, standoffish jerk but he finally started let you participate in battles. Your name was finally getting out there.

You were both surveying a mostly abandoned area where a villain was reportedly last seen. Someone with some kind of explosion quirk. He had gotten his hands on an experimental gunpowder. Extremely dangerous in hands like his.

Endeavor was, at first, unwilling to let you tag along. This time you could understand at least. You were a bit iffy on this as well, if you were to be honest. This wasn't just some chump, wanna-be villain. This was an honest threat with a high probability of serious injury or even death if handled improperly. There was little room for error and you weren't sure if you yet had the skill to deal with a situation like this. But a threat of this magnitude, even in an area with far less people, required him to be found as quickly as possible. Whoever found him was to contact the other heroes as quickly and discreetly as possible.

You and endeavor had been the closest, so you both naturally started patrolling for him. You had hoped that back up would arrive before you found him. Unfortunately it seemed like he was looking for the two of you.

"Well, well,well lookie at what I found." came a sneer from behind both of you. You both tensed, turning quickly to face the voice.

_________________________________

Everything hurt. That was the first thing you noticed. The second was that you were on a bed. You opened your eyes blearily. Everything felt sluggish and tilted on an axis. You attempted to sit up but your body quickly protested the movement. You settled on looking around what appeared to be a room.

It was windowless. The walls were a nice shade of red with the floor being a complimentary dark wood. A vanity, a dresser and three doors also decorated the room. A glass of water sat on the night stand next to you. Honestly, if you weren't in pain and quietly freaking out over where the fuck you were, you might have admired the decor. As it was, you were in pain and you were quietly freaking out over where the fuck you were, so you ignored the decor and tried to figure out how you got here.

The last thing you remembered was the battle with that villain.

After he spoke Endeavor wasted no time going after him, while you attempted to contact the other heroes. Only to find out that your device wasn't connecting to anyone. Once it was clear that you wouldn't be able to get a hold of anyone, you joined the battle.

The villain called himself Mayhem. He had a strange device mounted on his wrist that you very quickly discovered held the experimental gunpowder. The device allowed him to control the blasts for long range offense with hugely explosive results. Neutralizing it was the main imperative. You and Endeavor realized going in close was your best option. He wouldn't be able to use powerful explosions without risking his own safety which would hopefully give one of you an opening to disarm him.

The fight was difficult. Mayhem seemed to be no slouch when it came to hand to hand combat and just because he couldn't use more destructive explosions didn't mean he couldn't use small ones. In the end you had caught a blast in your side and were sent flying into a wall, knocking you out. And then you woke up here.

'Did Endeavor lose? Did mayhem win and bring me here to hold as a hostage? But that can't be right. Why would he put me in a room like this?'

Your thoughts were cut off when the door opened. And to your utter surprise it was Endeavor himself who walked through the door, holding what looked to be a small basin. He caught your eye and smiled.

"Ah so you're finally awake. Good, you've been out for a few days now. I was getting worried. The doctor I had take a look at you said you just needed to rest but I was still a bit worried. Your injuries were pretty bad." He said casually.

"En-...deav-...or?" Your throat felt dry and scratchy. It hurt saying even a single word. "Wh-...e-..re-"you cut off into a coughing fit, feeling like needles were stabbing your throat.

Endeavor quickly put down the basin and cloth he was holding and grabbed the glass of water, helping you sit up to take a drink. "There, there (y/n) don't overexert yourself. You're hurt and have been out cold for the past few days. You should keep resting."

You were surprised at the use of your name. Even when you were both off duty, he would refer to you by your hero name. Even more surprising, thought, was his soft tone. He was being very gentle right now. With anyone else and in any other situation it might have been comforting. But right now it just made the hairs on the back of your neck raise. You felt uncomfortable and anxious.

The water helped to ease your throat, which allowed you to get that burning question out.

"Whe-where am I?" You croaked."What happened?"

"You're in my home." He stated plainly.

You felt yourself go stiff with panic. "W-why am I in your house? S-shouldn't I be at a hos-hospital?"

"Why it was time for you to come home my dear. Besides, what use is a hospital for a dead person." He stroked your face lovingly.

"Wh-what." Fear began to tingle down your spine. Your thoughts ran wild 'Did…..did he bring me here to...kill me? Why? What did I do?' You started shaking as you thought of all the horrible ways he would kill you. You were injured and unable to fight back.

He seemed to have noticed your fear because he quickly began talking in a hushed tone. "Hey just relax okay? There's nothing to be afraid of? No one's going to hurt."

"Th-then w-why am I-I h-here? W-why di-did you say I w-was a de-dead person?

He chuckled "You're here because I brought you here. The truth is that I've been interested in you for awhile now. I've..grown feelings for you. When I realized that, I also realized that I hated the thought of you getting hurt. The thought of other people looking at you and getting close to you. I wanted you for myself, wanted to keep you safe and away from others. So I brought you here."

Slowly mounting horror froze you, rendering incapable of words. You wanted to scream and yell. About him being crazy. About how this was fucked up. But the words wouldn't come out and your body was still. He kidnapped you.

"As for the dead person part, well, faking a death is difficult. Faking the death of a hero is harder. But it's nothing that the right people and a bit of money can't accomplish."

He turned his attention towards the basin he had set down. "Oh it seems like the water has gone cold. I'll go get some warm water. Don't want to wash you with cold water now. You might get sick" he said. Your gut churned at the thought that he's probably been bathing and changing you for days now.

Endeavor leaned over, planted a soft kiss on your forehead and eased to lay down once again. You put up no fight. You couldn't put up a fight.

He stood gathered the basin in his arms and walked towards one of the doors. It revealed a bathroom when opened. He went in a closed the door. Leaving you to your thoughts.

________________________________________

Enji breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he closed the door. He was glad that you hadn't fought him. You were still injured and he didn't want to risk you hurting yourself further.

As he turned on the faucet and waited for the water to warm, he thought back to that day.

After you had been knocked out by mayhem he had stopped the fight. The villain had done the job he was told. As he began moving you to a hidden car, mayhem began to pester him.

'so when am I gonna see the money?'

'what'd they do that made ya so mad anyways?'

'how're you even gonna get away with this?'

He had told the fool not to worry that he got what he was owed and to not to worry about. He had the perfect cover up. Once he had placed you in the trunk of the car, he grabbed a crowbar, out of mayhems view. He turned quickly, bashing him across the skull he dropped like a sack of bricks, out like a light. He took the firing mechanism off of his wrist and handcuffed him inside of a warehouse. He made sure that it and the surrounding building were empty

He got in the car and drove carefully away so as to not jostle your injuries. He wasn't too worried about being seen. It had been easy to mess with your device, making it incapable of contacting anyone. He had carefully made sure that you had all been in an area where no one would hear the fighting, even with the explosions. The cameras had also been cut off, which he would later blame on Mayhem, once he was finished taking care of him. After all, he couldn't leave a loose end like that fool. He was too unpredictable and was too risky and volatile to put on his payroll. He didn't want to risk mayhem trying to blackmail him for more money later down the line.

Once Enji got you back and in your new room, he had the doctor take a look at you and heal you somewhat. Not all the way though. He jumped into a different car that had a prepared cadaver in it and returned to where he left mayhem.

The cadaver was incredibly convincing. It had taken the use of several specific quirks but now it was almost impossible to tell the fakes physical features apart from the real. It would even bleed. He had already paid off the necessary people to make this believable. He wasn't worried about them. They were professionals and this wasn't the first time they had done something like this. They could care less about what he's doing and didn't ask unnecessary questions.

He placed the cadaver in the correct spot and began pouring a small amount of gunpowder next to mayhem. Just a small pinch was needed for this step of the plan.

At this point mayhem started to wake.

"Wh-what the? Where-where am i? What happen?" He slurred, head wound making it difficult to talk. He tried moving his hands only to find them handcuffed to a pole behind him

"Wha-what the fu-fuck is this shit. What are you doing?"

Enji laughed quietly. "You didn't actually think I was just going to leave you to your own devices, did you? I can't have someone like you running around with the kind of information you have. So it's time to dispose of you now that you've done what I needed. I've already contacted the agency and told them that you've been subdued. They're on their way to pick you up now." He started walking away from the fool.

"You sonavabitch. We had a deal! They take me and I'll talk, I swear I will!" Mayhem snarled

Enji grinned at his words, stopping just far enough away for his next action. " I said that they were on their way to pick you up." A small amount of fire lit in his hand."I never said that they'd get you alive."

With a casual flick of his hand, he tossed the fire towards the pile of gunpowder.

__________________________________

The rest had been fairly simply after the resulting explosion. He had, after all, been planning this for quite some time now. He had made sure that he was far enough away to receive minor injuries but was ultimately unharmed. The cadaver was placed near enough to mayhem that death would have been an immediate result.

The story he gave the agency and the law enforcement was that he and (h/n) had been ambushed by mayhem, not giving them enough time to contact anyone. They had both worked together to take him down and handcuffed him after knocking him out, Endeavor then proceeded to contact the agency. After that mayhem woke up and used a suicide technique, blowing himself up. Endeavor had been far enough away to survive but (h/n) had unfortunately been too close.

He played the part of the upset hero well. Made the people believe that he was angry at himself for being unable to save you.

The medical team that gathered the fake body had been paid off by enji. As had the person who performed the autopsy. And the doctor he had take a look at your injuries in his home. He had taken every measure to pull this off and it finally came to fruition. The papers hailed you as a tragic death, the life of a promising and brave hero ended too soon. You family, friends, and fans mourned you.

You were finally all his.

[m-feys]

mp100 wip | ~ 5000 words | Teru POV | terumob + Reigen & Teru |  set in a fight with unknown espers, Teru struggles with mortaltiy, while Mob struggles to save him

-

"You have to let me go!"

He could see them charging the blast out of the corner of his eye and knew they couldn't last like this.

If Shigeo didn't focus on shielding himself, he would simply be shot out of the sky.

"Let me go or you're gonna die!" he screamed urgently at the boy suspended unnaturally among the clouds. Shigeo only stared, those ever intense eyes trained on him, teeth bared. His refusal unspoken but still palpable, just like the electricity in the air. They were trying to kill him.

It was a miracle on its own that the power blocking move had not worked on Shigeo entirely. But of course, miracles were Mob's average. But there was no way he would survive this, still holding onto Teruki. Miracle or not.

Mob wasn't holding him up with his powers. Teru may not have psychic energy at the moment— the move had it’s intended effect on him— so he couldn't sense Shigeo's energy like he always could. Even from great distances he could always feel him humming with power, it was unsettling to lack that feeling, especially so close. But still, he could tell the boy was only holding him by the iron grip on his wrist.

The tell-tale feeling of your body being held up by tiny cushions of power wasn't there. Instead, the whole of his weight was suspended by his arm. And his shoulder hurt, hurt, hurt. But only in the back of his mind was he aware of that. He could see Mob physically straining, and feel his grip tighten every time his sweat-slicked hand started to slip.

Teru couldn't overpower him in a psychic opposition. Especially not right now. But Mob wasn't holding him up with his powers.

For a moment it was like the world narrowed to only them and in a moment of clarity, knowing exactly what he had to do, Teru reached up with his free arm and grasped onto Mob's hand on his wrist.

Methodically, he started to pry those starch fingers away from his skin. He could feel himself slipping. He couldn't look away from Shigeo, even as the boy above him looked almost furious, eyes brimming with rage. Wait, no, maybe that was fear. Teru wasn't quite sure, even as he fell and Mob started to shrink from his view, oh, so quickly.

Still, falling like this, he felt an odd sense of calm. Either he would regain some of his powers before he hit the ground or he wouldn't. Still, either way, Shigeo would live.

What he didn't expect was to stop after few seconds of falling, coming to a painful halt.

It felt like he'd been dropped on the pavement but he was alive and he didn't think he'd broken anything. Yet he couldn't move, having been grabbed out of the air with someone's psychic powers as an iron fist. He was rising again and when Shigeo came into view he was shaking as he still had his hand reaching down in Teru's direction.

The moment of calm, probably very poor clarity, and maybe extremely bad judgement, was long broken, but it was then that all hell broke loose.

He stops falling suddenly once more. And once more, its not the ground that catches him. This time he can feel that familiar power. The unique aura that Mob has is holding him up. This time, its careful and unpanicked and he knows this is because Mob is at his full power.

A blast cuts through the air like a knife, deafening him as he sees Shigeo flung away like he's nothing more than an errant fly. The other boy goes careening through the clouds until Teru can't see him anymore. And he screams. Screams something. Has no idea what, barely even can hear himself to his muted ears as he screams for Shigeo. They were both falling now.

He's lifted again until he's level with the other boy and blinding star bursts of light explode around the espers attacking them, immense untamable energy hums through the air. And Teru feels his pulse beating staccato through the red handprint on his wrist, along with the thrumming in his ears. The flashes of power are dazzling but he finds his eyes going back to Shigeo and sees the boy suspended limply in the air. Eyes open slightlessly, wide and glowing as energy whipped around him and cast him in shadow. He's unconscious.

Teruki can only stare as their assailants are destroyed and cast back down to earth. He has no doubt, however, that Mob managed to leave them alive as he always did with humans, even while unconscious. Espers were never easy to kill, either.

They drift back to the ground with ease and once Teru is steady on his feet his picks his way past rubble over to Shigeo where he stays hovered just above the ground. His eyes are unsettlingly empty; Teru still doesn't look away, just watches and waits for him to wake up, clutching onto his inflamed shoulder all the while.

It's ironic. Right now when Mob is waking up from his unconscious explosion, he drifts back down to earth instead of getting up. He reaches out to steady him as he settles. He remembers how he lead the floating Kageyama back to his apartment by his hand, like a balloon on a string.

Then Teru is sitting down next to his shoulder, carefully balancing on his good arm and keeping his other still. His shoulder pounds a pulse beat as he feels the wrongness there. It must be dislocated. He reaches his hand back to it instinctively once he's settled and stares out at the destruction from their fight all around them. It's quiet, peaceful.

He glanced down to find Shigeo's eyes open staring mournfully up at the sky.

"Welcome back, Kageyama-kun," he says, trying for a smile.

"What did I do?" He asks blankly, eyes focused on nothing. "I can't remember."

"You saved me," is all Teru says, its simple. It's the truth.

For reasons he can't quite fathom, Kageyama’s eyes are welling up with tears now. There's nothing he can say and Teruki wishes the cinematic parallels to their first fight would just stop.

Shigeo starts to shift away from him, curling up on himself, lying on his side. And Teru knows nothing he can do to help. He hesitates for a moment as the boy sobs into his hands, then he falls forward, sort of half lying on him in his best attempt at a hug as he keeps his useless arm at his side while clutching at Shigeo's T-shirt with the other. He buries his nose in his shoulder and tries to muster a sadness to match Mob's but can only find fury that he can't do anything to fix it. And exhaustion. He squeezes his eyes shut and presses his forehead against him like he might could bore his head into him and seep the sadness out of him like a sponge. They were alive, that had to count for something.

"We're ok!" He reminds him desperately. He clenches his teeth as Shigeo’s sobs continue on with shuddering breaths shaking his shoulder beneath Teru's head.

Then the boy is shifting and his shirt, still held fast in Teru's fist, is twisting around his abdomen. Arms are wrapping around Teru's head and shoulder as Mob presses his tear soaked face into his hair and cries.

He stays folded on himself and in Shigeo's grasp, hand held tight onto his shirt, needing something solid.

"We're ok," he repeats.

---

In the end it’s Shigeo's master that gets him to the hospital.

Ritsu is the one who finds them, trained in on his brother like a bloodhound. So, they're found not too long after falling from the sky. And Reigen is in tow, sprinting frantically after the esper boy zipping around with telekinesis.

The swelling of his shoulder probably was easy to spot, but the twist of pain on his face likely even easier. They go to Mob first, which Teru understands entirely. Ritsu quickly hugs his brother before staring on about questions of 'who did this' and 'where are they Nii-san'. while Reigen hands him a a handkerchief for his tears, asking if he's hurt. And checking him over for injuries even after the shake of his head. Teru sits with his knees curled up and injured arm held close and careful by his body. He watches as Reigen brushes Mob's hair back to check for head injuries while Ritsu stays tensely by his side and wonders if this burning feeling means he's jealous or grateful that Mob has people who so genuinely care for him. Family. Maybe he feels both.

With no warning, the attention is turned to him. And he's supposed to be used having all eyes on him, has reveled in it, in fact, but right now he's caught off guard. His wound is easy to see so there's no real need to ask, he thinks.

"What happened?" Reigen asks soberly as they look to him. Oh, that must be why they're focused on him now. They need the story.

He starts to explain, brows furrowed as he tries to relay it all as best he can, "They ambushed us, and then they stripped me of my power and I couldn't do anything, Mob had to—" Reigen cuts him off with a wave of his hand as if brushing it all aside.

"No, don't worry about any of that right now." He tells him seriously, looking him in the eye. "You can tell us about that later. What happened to your arm? Are you hurt anywhere else?"

He hates the way his face crumples at the concerned words and all he can think is 'why bother crying now?' Don’t cry when they're looking at you. Don't show weakness. But he can't stop the well tears, even as he tries to blink them away. He swipes his good hand across his face quickly, trying to recover his composure and keep his voice steady, "My shoulder is dislocated," he admits miserably.

"Anywhere else hurt?" Reigen asks and all Teru can answer with this time is a shake of his head. He feels small and venerable— not for the first time. But its overwhelming to have someone trying to take care of him, that, he has not experienced in a long while.

Still, Shigeo's master leans over and brushes a hand across his head as he checks for injuries.

"Your nose is bleeding, does that hurt?" Reigen raises a concerned eyebrow at him and Teru reaches up to touch just above his lip and strangely enough finds it to be damp, pulling his fingers away to find deep crimson stained on their tips.

"I didn't even notice."

"Hm," Reigen simply nods with a frown and turns back to Mob, Teru barely hears what he asks him as he marvels how he didn't notice his nose bleeding. Then he's turning back to him, the handkerchief returned from Mob, "Sorry I don't have another, but you can use this and don't tilt your head back, let the blood drain out."

He nods and does as told, the cloth is not even damp, he thinks most of Mob's tears and snot must be in his hair. That's sort of funny.

"You think you can walk?" Reigen asks, still holding his crouch in front of him, hands braced on his knees.

"I can carry you," Ritsu offers quickly.

Teru shakes his head though. "No, I can walk." He answers readily.

Reigen nods and pushes himself to stand up before holding a hand down for Teru.

He looks at the hand, then up at the man offering it. He isn't entirely sure he trusts him. He admires him, just from having seen him in action that night at Claw and knows if he's Mob's master he must be someone good. But he's also an adult. And the way Teru sees it, adults either want to control you, and see you put into your place. Or, they abandon you. And they don't look back. The problem is, he wants so badly for an adult to see worth in him, especially someone good like Shigeo's master. But his brain is warning him he's only going to have his trust broken.

So be he hesitates, but in the end he takes his hand. He could use the help, he just hopes he isn't let down. Reigen holds him steady while he gets his legs under him without the use of his other arm. Then "You can lean on me if you need to ok?" The man offers.

"I can still lift both of you if you need," Ritsu adds, watching his movements sharply.

"Just let us know if you need help," Reigen decides.

He nods to acknowledge the words but Teru doesn't really ask for help. He watches as Ritsu helps Shigeo to his feet now. Their eyes catch as he stands and Teru takes the chance to study his face while Mob watches him in return.

"We just need to walk to the road then I can get us a car," Reigen says, clapping his hands together lightly, "hopefully," he adds under his breath.

Theres a small cut on the other boy's cheek that seems to have stopped bleeding already and one of his eyes is beginning to swell. His eye catches on the smear of blood on the shoulder of Shigeo’s dirty, roughed-up t-shirt where Teru had pressed his face into the fabric.

"I have to go find those guys," Ritsu declares dangerously.

Ritsu looks at his brother, brows furrowed, "Nii-san, I can go find them so they won't just get away," he offers more evenly.

"You need to stay with your brother," Reigen counters easily.

Shigeo shakes his head solemly, "... stay with us. Please, Ritsu."

"... Okay."

"Now," reigen says, stepping behind them to steer them forward gently. "Let's get you two to the hospital. I'll make sure nobody falls behind, Ritsu why don't you take the lead."

Little brother nods seriously as he walks up front, glancing back every now and then, while Reigen walks a few paces behind them.

Teruki glances over to Shigeo beside him. He looks tired, but Teru can't quite tell if he still feels all that despair he'd shown earlier. His gaze falls back to the blood stain on his shoulder. And he thinks of being curled up beside him. He thinks of trying to find some way to assuage all that pain.

Any and all risks Teru takes are calculated. When you see him fight he may not seem it, but he's careful. And he's always taking in information. So even if every move he makes might be a gamble, its one he knows he'll win. All his choices are careful and safe, except for when it comes to Kageyama Shigeo, apparently.

He starts to reach out, their hands are close as they walk side by side. and its easy to brush pinkies. He sees Mob's eyes flit down to their hands and then back ahead of them. And Teru honestly has no idea what he's thinking. What he might do. If he'll pull away, or brush closer. He does neither of those things though, simply keeps his hand where it is and walks. Teru takes another risk. He brushes his fingers past his palm and slots their hands together.

Mob blinks, misses a step and almost trips as he looks down at their hands. Then he's looking back up at him with wide eyes, and Teru waits for the backlash.

It doesn't come. Shigeo simply looks back down at his feet carefully studying their steps. And, he holds Teru's hand.

---

Their palms get sweaty and Shigeo starts to swing their hands stiffly between them like he doesn't know what he's meant to do. And Teruki feels like their hands were made to fit together.

Teru isn't exactly certain what information Reigen wrote on his sign-in form. He remembers answering a few questions for him, but recalls nothing about his parents.

The man is sat in a chair beside him in the hospital room now, idly flipping through a magazine. Teru is on the bed, his arm resting in a sling. They gave him pain medication and plan to release him in a few hours. But for now its just waiting, and stillness. He stares down at the spider web crack running across his phone screen, minimal damage considering what they'd been through.

"How ya feeling?" Reigen asks out of the blue, still looking at the magazine.

"Fine," he answers simply. The man is setting the magazine aside then, open-face on the small bedside table, focused on Teru now.

"That's one hell of a bruise."

He blinks and looks down at the purpling mark in the vague shape of a hand holding onto his wrist.

"Yeah," he agrees blankly.

"Wanna talk about it?" The question takes him off guard and he actually looks over at Reigen now. He looks serious; Teru considers it. He shrugs, feeling a slight twinge in his shoulder as he does.

"Mob did that?" He wonders, seeming concerned.

"Kageyama-kun just had to grab me." Something about Reigen's expression seems to sharpen at that.

"He had to, he saved me from falling."

"But he didn't catch you with his powers?"

"The power blocking, they had—" he starts, feeling impatient at having to explain this again.

"Oh, right, of course," Reigen nods, recalling.

It's silent for a moment again as he looks back down at his phone and traces the crack once more. For some reason he keeps talking, "I tried to save him too, but I couldn't."

"What do you mean?"

"When he had me I knew he couldn't protect himself if he was holding me so I tried to get him to let me go."

The room is dead silent then for a long moment. He looks over at Reigen after it goes on for too long, having expected a response.

He finds the man staring at him intently, eyes wide and horrified, "You did what?" He demands.

"I tried to save him," he clarifies but for some reason he's starting to feel guilty.

"You tried to throw yourself into a river to be someone else’s raft. That stuff doesn't work."

"He could have died trying to protect me!" He bites back feeling sick to his stomach at the thought.

"And you could have died from the fall!" Reigen responds, leaning towards him, looking furious.

"Why does that matter!?" He demands.

Reigen moves to perch on the bed beside his legs. He looks at him seriously, voice gentler now as he speaks, "you matter."

"Because you matter!" Reigen tells him sharply standing quickly, and Teru goes still with shock. "You matter! You're alive and you've got your whole life ahead of you. You don't just throw that away. You've got people who care about you and people who will down the line. Don't. throw. that. away." Teru wants to shrink away from the words. He stares up at the man and tears well up in his eyes.

Teruki had always lived a world that moved as game chips. Useful, well-liked pieces were kept, while unnecessary or threatening pieces were discarded. In the past he told himself he was an important piece because of his powers. One that could move other pieces as he liked. Then Mob came along and he wasn't so important anymore. 

Which was ok, really, if he didn't have to be special. It was ok that he wasn't perfect. Right? But he was just another piece then. Disposable. This Master Reigen seemed to think otherwise. That he had worth simply for being alive. Tears were streaming down his face but he wasn't quite sure when he had started crying.

A hand was on his shoulder, his uninjured one. "If Mob was trying to save you, don't try to take that choice from him." He continued sincerely, then sighed, "You're both alive and well, and that's what matters."

"Where is he?" Teru asks in a broken voice, too overwhelmed to be worried about seeming weak and getting choked up.

"He should be out of treatment soon or already is out." Reigen spoke, patting Teru's shoulder twice before standing from the bed and walking to the bathroom. "Do you want me to try and find him?" He asks, voice drifting out from the open door of the bathroom as he opens some cabinet drawers.

He steps back out with a roll of toilet paper, setting it down on the bed just next to Teru. He grabs it, wordlessly grateful for the immediate chance to wipe his face. He removes a length of it and sets the roll back down next to his phone. Something occurs to him.

"Did you have them call my parents?"

"No." Reigen answers simply moving to lean against the wall.

"But— how did you sign me in then?" He looks at him, bewildered.

"I said that I was your guardian." He responds like it makes the all the sense in the world and Teru balks.

"Why would you do that?" He demands.

Reigen considers him and Teru envies the way he keeps his demeanor his so unaffected even when he's being challenged.

"Mob told me you live alone and I have no idea what your relationship with your parents are like. And this way we don't have to wade thought the bullsh— the muck of trying to explain what happened before you get treatment."

That all... made sense.

"Want me to call them now?

He shakes his head quickly. Something else occurs to him, "You're paying for this?"

The man's mouth quirked in a smile, "Of course, I'm your dad now, aren't I?"

He couldn't help but snort at that. "Yeah... right."

---

Reigen had disappeared to talk to the front desk about payment but in his absence he'd sent Shigeo and Ritsu to keep him company in his room.

"Hey, Hanazawa," Ritsu spoke as he entered the room first, pushing the door open with Shigeo trailing just behind him.

"Hanazawa-kun," his older brother spoke, stepping out from beside him to stand just next to his bed as he looked him over intently. "How is your arm?"

Teru found himself smiling, "Hi, kageyama-kun and little brother. My arm is fine. Or at least it will be."

Mob nodded stiffly, examining the floor in great detail now. Teru was still focused only on him, concern knitting his brows when Ritsu spoke up.

"I'm gonna get get some water, anybody want some?" The door squeaked open as he spoke and both of them looked over to see him halfway out the door already, looking at them expectantly.

"I'm ok," Teru spoke and glanced at Mob's perplexed expression, adding, "We're ok."

Ritsu simply nodded and then he was gone, door slipping shut behind him. That was a little odd.

"Why didn't he get water before we came in here?" Mob wonders softly.

"Maybe he actually had to take a shit and didn't want to admit it?" Teru offered as explanation.

The line between Shigeo's brows deepened as he put a hand to his chin and considered this carefully, then, "maybe," he decided doubtfully.

Teru smiled at his serious expression but it started to fade as the worry on Mob's expression didn't ease.

"There are chairs if you want—"

Shigeo cut him off, which was a rarity in itself, "Can I see?"

"See what?"

"You arm." Teru tensed at the grave demeanor he was carrying, but shifted the arm in the sling towards him with no hesitance, so he could get a better look. Slowly, Shigeo reached a hand towards his, eyes focused on the purple bruise wrapped around his wrist.

Fingers brushed the discolored skin there with a feather light touch. Teru dared not move feeling like anything would startle this fragile moment, as if Mob might startle off like an injured animal. Which was ironic considering Teru was the hurt animal in this situation. Maybe Shigeo was feeling the same way towards him.

"Does it hurt?" The words were soft and Teru let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"No, not right now."

The hand lingered there for a long moment and he could only guess what was in Shigeo's head. But that wasn't enough for him.

"What are you thinking?" He wonders, barely above a whisper.

Dark eyes flit up to him, then back down. His hand moves away incrementally, no longer touching, but fingers still arrayed around his skin. "I... think I might could help heal you. But I don't want to mess it up," he supplied quietly, "And make it worse."

"You can try it," he answered immediately, trusting him entirely. "It’s just a bruise, so its not like you'll be trying to mend bone or something," he reasoned after the fact.

Shigeo hesitated for just a moment longer before a soft white glow started to emit from his hand held around Teru's wrist.

The feeling of it was hard to pin down, the power felt warm, uncomfortably so, almost like his body was running too hot just under the skin. And pinpricks were buzzing where the damaged blood vessels knitted themselves back together. It felt unnatural, but Teru kept himself still and let him work. When Mob did pull his hand away, he could see that the bruise was still visible in a few dark purpled spots and the rest faded to the brown of an old bruise. Like it had healed unevenly. Interesting.

"How does it feel?" Shigeo asked and when Teru glanced at him he could see the nervous tension around the boy's eyes.

He poked one of the brown places experimentally, nothing, "It feels better," he spoke, looking up to turn a smile on the other boy. In response, Shigeo’s shoulders relaxed incrementally as he took a step back to collapse into one of the chairs situated next to the bed. Teru relaxed back into his pillows in turn, still keeping his eyes on the other boy. As he settled into the chair, Mob curled in on himself, looking down at his hands as he twisted them together in his lap.

"Thank you, Kageyama-kun," he spoke sincerely, trying to calm whatever distressing thoughts he might be having.

"Why did you do it?" He asked in response, getting right to the thick of it.

Teru swallowed, "Do what?"

When Mob looked up at him his eyes were shining again and this time it was Teru who was staring down at his hands, unable to look at him.

"Why did you make me let you go?"

"I was trying to save you," he spoke, voice thick and nervous.

"You were hurting me," Shigeo responded simply and at those words Teruki's head snapped back up to look at him. The expression he wore was hard to parse and it was all Teru could do to hold his gaze, like whatever feeling was in his eyes was burning him just from looking at it. "I wasn't going to let you fall. But you just kept falling."

Teru froze at that, he hadn't thought of it from Mob's perspective, he'd watched him fall three times and three times he caught him, but the third he hadn't even been awake to see. His eyes drifted back down to his hands, curled instinctually around his phone and its dark, cracked screen.

"I didn't want you to get hurt protecting me," he said so softly and right now he couldn't bring himself to say 'die' when Mob had been so close to it and had seen him stray too close to it as well.

"I didn't. We're both still here."

"We are," he agrees brokenly, feeling like he's drowning in the smallest puddles.

"I'm always going to save you if I can. Please don't try to stop me." He requests. And Teru stares at his reflection in a cracked phone screen, face screwed up as tears well in his eyes. "Please, don't do that again," Shigeo asks of him once more and Teru can's speak as a drop of water lands on the reflective surface of his screen, another joins it as they run down the side and one seeps into the crack. He nods.

"Okay," he chokes out in agreement, managing to turn and look up at him. Mob has tear streaks running down his cheeks to match Teru's and he can't help but reach out his good hand towards him. Mob obliged him, standing and stepping towards the bed, and with no prompting he leans down to hug him. His arms are gently draped around him, as if he's trying to only barely be there. Teru holds onto him with his one arm as tight as he can.

"We're ok," Mob says, an echo of Teru's words earlier.

"We're ok," he repeats.

---

"He's just out in the hallway," Mob comments looking bewildered.

"Really?" Teru wonders, Shigeo had scooted his chair closer now and was allowing him to hold his hand. Though Mob had asked Teru if he was doing it right at first.

"Yes, he doesn't seem to be doing anything," he glanced up at Teru curiously, "can you sense him?"

"Maybe if I focused on him."

"Do you have your powers back yet?"

"I haven't tried yet," he admitted with a shrug. He could sense Mob's power again though, emanating from him like warmth from a radiator. Though there was really no telling if that spoke to the strength of his own power or the strength of Mob's. And Mob's psychic aura tended to drown out others, or at least Teruki was more tuned in to it than others. Maybe if he worked at it he could sense past the hum of power beside him into the hall where Ritsu was, but he had no real need or desire to. Instead he focused on his phone. It lifted easily and orbited in the air. He turned to look at Shigeo. "They're back."

Mob nodded, then gently tugged his hand away, quickly wiping it on his pants, "Sorry, my hand was sweaty," he spoke, but kept his hand in his lap. Teru quashed down his disappointment and nodded in return.

"Do you know how they did it?"

Mob's dark eyes shine in the cold lights as he looks at him from under his bangs.

"Did what?"

"The power blocking move."

“Not really,” he said, eyes still focused on Teru intently.

“What did it feel like to you? You still had some of your powers,” he points out, always wanting to know more.

Mob hesitates, staring down to study his hands in his lap before he answers, “strange... Like I was muffled.”

“It stopped working on you completely when you passed out,” Teru observed, already hypothesizing. It seemed to have some connection to the conscious mind, and they knew it was temporary.

“Maybe you have to be thinking about it,” Mob wondered.

Teru lit up at that, “you mean like perception block in your mind?”

Shigeo blinked at him, “maybe,” he agreed mildly, clearly not undestanding, but Teru smiled at him anyway, Mob may have figured out more than he knew, he’d have to work on this.

[thatonedoctorwhoau]

Chapter 8 folks! You guys can have some ambiguously flirty Wilbur and George content, as a treat. As always, special thanks to @dtvibez for all her help, so go send her all your love and support! 

Summary: 24 hours ago, George Ashworth lived a completely normal life, with completely normal people, and a completely normal job. 24 hours later, he was running for his life beside a man he had met mere hours prior from an otherworldly monster. Suffice to say, this was the start of something new and wonderful. And hair-pulling annoying

On Wednesday the 23, October 2015, at precisely 12:05 am, George Ashworth opened his eyes to the sounds of Tommy's scream of “He’s alive!” before two smaller bodies were thrown against him. George let out a groan of pain as the boys landed on his injured stomach. Reaching over with his right hand, he grabbed his oxygen mask and pulled it off of his face.

“Hi,” he muttered painfully, “Tommy, Tubbo can you,” he let out a sharp breath, “Can you please get off of me?”

“Oh, right.” Tommy muttered, getting off of him. “Tubbo, you heard the man, get off ‘im.” Tubbo quietly apologized and rolled off of him, but quietly took hold of Georges hand. “Man,” Tommy began, “You almost scared me half to death.”

“Yea,” Wilbur cut in. “How are you feeling George?”

George paused for a moment. “Like I’ve been hit by a truck.” He admitted. Wilbur barked out in laughter.

“That's a good way of putting it.” George grimaced, and pulled himself into a sitting position, staring around the room.

“Where are we?” He asked. “Because I don’t think a hospital is supposed to look like,” He gestured around the room. “This.”

Wilbur adjusted the collar of his shirt, looking slightly enthused. “Do you remember the blue box?” When George nodded, he continued. “Well, it's a lot less, snug, then it looks.”

George racked his brain, attempting to conjure up events from the attack. “Wait,” he paused, “I remember I said, ‘it's bigger on the inside.’ Are we actually still in the box?!” Wilbur nodded. “Holy shi-” He cut himself off, not wanting to swear in front of the children.

“Bit mad, innit?” Tommy said, grinning.

“You could say that again. “

+++

“Mind telling me what is going on exactly?” George asked. The four were in the main console room, Wilbur at the controls, Tommy and Tubbo leaning against one of the rails, and George sitting on a small bench, as not to further exaggerate his wounds. “Because I still don’t know what happened today, and I feel an explanation is in order.”

Wilbur paused at his request, and began pressing buttons on the main control panel. The structure let out a whine, causing the room to shake, before coming to a halt. “I’ve explained this to Tommy and Tubbo here already,” Wilbur began. “Those things that’ve been coming after you are called the Marcorx. They hail from a planet 5 universes away.”

“That doesn’t come as much of a surprise to me.” George remarked. “I mean aliens, it's not a hard story to believe. Why are they here in Brighton?”

“They’re hunting.”

“Hunting for what exactly.”

“The Marcorx are one of the best hunters in the galaxy. They have incredible senses, and can find any being, no matter how far. Distance means nothing to them, as they will dedicate their lives to hunting their prey down.”

As George listened, the wheels in his brain began turning. “When you say they hunt, I should assume it's a living being, right?” Wilbur nodded. “Then, considering I’ve had three run-ins with them in one day, I am probably their target, right?” Wilbur's silence served as his answer. “Why me?!” He cried. “Why are these things targeting me?!”

“I don’t know.” WIlbur replied. “Marcorx typically travel by themselves, so I don’t understand why three of them would team up to get you.”

“That's not exactly reassuring!” George yelled.

“I suppose it isn’t.” Wilbur muttered, placing a hand under his chin pensively. George let out a groan. “Look, it's been a long day for you three. And I think it's probably for the best if you guys stayed here tonight. We don’t exactly know when those things will be back. Tommy, Tubbo, follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

“What about me?” George asked, leaning forward slightly.

Wilbur glanced back at him. “You can stay here for now, I’d like to discuss tonight's events one on one.”

“What about us?” Tommy exclaimed. “We’ve got stuff to say!”

“You met the Marcorx once. George met them three times in one day. Whatever input you have is inconsequential to me.” Tommy pouted, crossing his arms. “Now, it's time to go to bed. Please follow me.”

“You can’t tell us what to do! You’re not the boss of us!” Tommy retorted.

“No, but I am.” George responded.

“George-”

“Bed, now!” With a moan, Tommy relented. Wilbur sent George a small smile, before leading the boys out of the main room and down the stairs. George sat in silence for several minutes, before footsteps began to echo through the room. Turning, George spotted Wilbur climbing up the stairs, drinks in hand.

“I figured you might want something to drink.” He handed the drink over. It was a shimmering midnight blue and George took a sip. It tasted odd, causing him to make a face, but slowly, George began to taste something else.

“It tastes like,” He paused for a moment, considering what to say next. “Like tortellini with pesto, with a salad on the side.”

“What type of salad?”

“Caesar.”

Wilbur chuckled. “It's always a Caesar salad.” He sat down beside George

“Wilbur, today has been very strange.”

“Indeed.” Wilbur took another sip of his drink.

“And considering where we are, what happened to me, whatever,” He gestured to his drink, “this is, I have to ask: you aren’t exactly human, are you?” Wilbur stared at him, a smile creeping across his face.

“You figured that out quick.”

George raised his eyebrows. “I mean, it's not that hard to believe. I seriously doubt any human could build a box that spans for miles.” The two sat in silence, looking up at the central pipe. George noted how the yellow crystals slowly bobbed up and down. “So, if you’re not human, then what are you?”

Wilbur glanced at him briefly, before looking down. His eyes seemed to glaze over, as if he were deep in thought. George noted how rigid his body became. Letting out a deep sigh, Wilbur began. “I come from a planet by the name of Gallifrey, located in a binary star system 250 million light years away. It's a shimmering red planet, home to the Time Lords, the smartest individuals in the universe.”

“Well, clearly not, considering you exist.” George grinned, taking another sip of his drink. A smile grazed Wilbur's face.

“Yeah, a smart bunch they were. Course, they’re all gone now.” There was a distinct sadness in his eyes, a loss of great magnitude.

“What happened to them?”

Wilbur took a deep sigh, and looked up at the console. “There was a war, a great war that threatened to end all existence.” He paused, as if contemplating what to say next. “In order to save all universes, I had to kill them. Every last one of them. I’m the only one left.”

George remained silent, unsure of what to say. How can you comfort a man who has lost everything?

“But that's all in the past.” Wilbur spoke quickly, attempting to alleviate the mood. “We aren’t here to talk about me, we’re here to talk about you.”

“Wilbur, are you alright?” George questioned softly, placing his drink on the ground.

“I’m fine.”

“It's just, I think that you should probably-”

“I don’t need to talk about Gallifrey's destruction any longer.” Wilbur cut in, raising his voice, “I’ve had 1800 years to deal with it. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” The two fell into an awkward silence, neither party willing to address the tension in the room. Quietly, George leaned over and rested his head on Wilbur's shoulder. Wilbur froze up for a moment, but made no objection.

“The Marcorx are hunters,” Wilbur began. “Typically, they travel by themselves, surviving off of the energy a living being produces. Every few hundred years, they find a living being with enough energy and hunt them down, before harvesting them.”

“And I’ve got three of them after me.”

“Two now.”

“Oh, that's right, Tommy killed one of them.” George muttered to himself. The previous hours events were still somewhat hazy.

“That he did.” Wilbur replied, chuckling to himself, before growing silent once more. “Look, I don’t know what it is about you that makes these things want to go after you so badly, but trust me when I say, I promise to make sure that these things never hurt you again.”

George remained silent, before lifting up his head to look the other in the eyes, his hand brushing against Wilbur's.

“Is that a promise?”

“Promise.” Neither made any comments about the way their hands had intertwined

[ceakip]

woahhh hybrid au?? :eyes: more info please??

Oooh yes of course!! I’ve had the idea for this one for ages but writing it is effort so it’s on the way but probably won’t be out til after the Guitar Strings Epilogue and Pirate!AU

Ok so there's basically two sides to this one. The main fic is sbi and is a Philza pov and the second part to the AU focuses on Quackity. 

I’ll give a small plot description under the cut! :D

Warnings/themes (only for the plot descriptions but including them to be safe): Dehumanization, captivity, imprisonment, distrust, manipulation, discrimination, emotional and physical abuse, implied violence

Main fic

The main fic follows Philza, a bird hybrid who has spent much of his life in a cage as a status symbol for wealthy humans. One day after a chance encounter with Techno, a pig hybrid, he makes his escape and starts a new life for himself. He manages to find Techno again some time later and they set off to find a home in a place they will be safe and away from the people out to hunt them down. They set eyes on a small cabin in the middle of a forest, sure that it is secluded enough that nobody will find them.

Meanwhile, L’Manburg (one of the only countries to allow a blended population of humans and hybrids) has welcomed its first hybrid president - the leader of the Schlatt administration. Wilbur and Tommy, humans and rival candidates to the Schlatt administration, see their country changing in concerning ways and decide to take a stand. This leaves them seriously injured and without anywhere to go. Luckily, they find a supposedly abandoned cabin in the woods just North of L’Manburg, where they can take refuge. 

With no other options, Philza, Techno, Tommy and Wilbur have to come together to learn how to trust each other while still having to face their past and move on.

And yep that’s kind of the premise of the main fic! The first part is gonna be pretty angsty but it will be followed up with loads of comfort and found family, I promise :D

Side Story 

Ok, so this one will be maybe half the length of the main fic but I had an idea for it and now I can’t get it out of my head so here goes!

Quackity is working under the Schlatt administration as his Vice President and is given the impossible task of taking down the pig hybrid rumoured to bring about the destruction of governments.

No matter how hard he tries, he can’t manage to do what he sets out to and begins to resent his position and the people around him.

In a moment of desperation, he runs away from his problems but before he gets very far, Quackity finds a new friend in the desert. 

A hybrid - who insists he is definitely, 100% human and not at all a slime - befriends him and Quackity begins to suspect his new acquaintance might be more useful than he thought and could even help him bring his boss down once and for all. 

So that’s the hybrid!AU so far! Things could change as I write them (I am awful for just making stuff up on the spot and then have to change the timeline so it makes sense XD) but that’s the rough premise!! :D

[crossdressingdeath]

I seriously think people need to stop being so hard on WWX for the whole core transfer thing. I agree that maybe WWX could have spoken to JC about it first, because even though he wasn’t in a great state of mind, he did calm down enough after WWX said that there was a way to restore his core, and he could have maybe mentioned his plan then. Whether JC wanted it or not, that'd be up to JC - so I do understand why some people have an issue with the consent side of it. However, I think the 1/8

extent of the reactions that some JC stans seem to have is pretty extreme. It's always a blatant, ‘WWX shouldn't have done that, it was a violation, he didn't get consent first,’ ect. and literally no empathy or understanding for his situation. Even if they can argue that WWX could have informed JC about what was going on first, you also need to consider the situation he was in. This was a teenage boy who had just had his whole home destroyed, the people who had raised him/he'd grown up with 2/8

killed; he had been blamed for the whole thing by both his brother and the woman who had abused him for most of his life, and YZY's dying wish was that he protect her son no matter what. Then, almost immediately after, his brother gets kidnapped, and is badly injured and has his core destroyed. WWX was in a terrible mindset by that point, was feeling heaps of misplaced guilt - and then JC wakes up and literally starts losing his mind. Of course I'm not complaining about this, JC had just 3/8

been tortured and had his life achievement taken away from him, of course he would be completely hysterical. But from WWX's side, watching this, of course he's completely freaking out. Just look at this scene. JC has literally completely given up by this point. WWX probably feels like he is about to lose his brother, and on top of that, YZY's words are probably replaying in his head. Then, when JC wakes up again, he is completely suicidal. He refuses to eat, he doesn't even want to move. 4/8

There's a moment when WWX asks JC, “Do you really want to die?" and I think that's the moment when he truly makes up his mind. Perhaps JC might have learnt to live with it in time, or perhaps WWX could have helped him cope with it, but that's not what we're talking about right now. We are talking about a teenaged boy who has been through horrible trauma, has been blamed for the destruction of his home, and is in a terrible place right now. 5/8

All he really has left at this point is JYL and JC, and he probably feels like he needs to protect them to make up for his 'mistakes' - and despite his best efforts, JC has been hurt, and is threatening to end his life. Even when you ignore all of that other stuff, just the amount of fear anyone - let alone a CHILD - would feel, watching someone they loved going through all of this. Of course he would want to do anything to make JC happy again. Overall, WWX was in a terrible place at the 6/8

time; he was in over his head, and he didn't know what else to DO to make the situation better. People who act like he was blatantly violating JC's consent, or whatever else they're saying, don't seem to take into account any of these extenuating circumstances, or the fact that this was a teenaged boy trying to handle a situation he should have never had to deal with in the only way he knew how to. I've seen so many people talk about how JC doesn't need to be grateful because he never 7/8

asked for this, but WWX never asked him to be grateful. He didn't even want JC to know - he only ever wanted him to be happy. And it's just frustrating how so many JC stans refuse to see any of the nuances in these events, or understand that there was just so much going on, and that any of their arguments against the core transfer don’t mean the exact same thing in that situation that they might, say, if the same thing had happened post-canon. 8/8

Yes. WWX was a teenager watching his brother die in front of him! JC refused to even speak to him! All WWX knew was that losing his golden core was killing JC, and giving up his own in return was the only thing he could think of that could possibly save him. It’s not a violation to give someone an organ when the alternative is letting them die; why should this be any different? WWX was raised in such a way that his reaction to a situation like this was... kind of inevitable, too. The Jiangs really did groom him to put them above himself in every respect, so of course his reaction to JC losing his golden core was to offer up his own! And JC did play a part in that grooming; he too very clearly believed WWX should always put himself second, and WWX took that to heart. Why is it such a surprise that WWX would give up such a huge part of himself to someone who always expected that from him without feeling the need to ask? JC had taught him that he expected that level of sacrifice from WWX. That’s a big part of why he was willing to give up his golden core, and it never seems to get brought up in these discussions, likely because it involves acknowledging that... yeah, JC was in fact abusive towards WWX and taught him to put JC ahead of himself in every respect.

And the whole “JC doesn’t need to be grateful because he didn’t ask for this” is like... sure, okay, but he should at least acknowledge what WWX gave up for him? He should recognize how much love and devotion such a huge sacrifice would have demanded? But he doesn’t. I really do get the sense that this was something he expected WWX to do. This was the required level of self-sacrifice. He doesn’t treat it as something incredible that very few people would have the will to do to themselves with such terrible odds no matter how much they loved the other person, he takes it as rightful payment for his family’s deaths. It’s not “Oh, how could you do such a huge thing”; it’s “It is right and just that you would sacrifice everything in payment for deaths that weren’t even your fault but also how dare you permanently outdo me and then not even spend the rest of your life as my servant”. So... yeah, the golden core transfer is a combination of WWX’s desperation on seeing his brother committing slow suicide right in front of him and JC himself teaching WWX that that level of sacrifice would be acceptable that led to WWX feeling that giving up his golden core would be something that JC would be okay with without even feeling the need to ask him (never mind that he didn’t have the ability to ask him because JC refused to speak to him.)

[noythe]

If a thing loves, it is infinte

A small story that I wanted to rewrite, to honor the mighty Vergil and his son. Reader is the mother of Nero.

Originally posted on Ao3, hopefully it is not too awkward. 

Pairing: Vergil/Reader

Warning/Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Torture, Slow-Burn, Awkward-Romance, Lots of Angst and Fluff

Chapter 1 Hell on Earth

There once was a man, feared and respected. Loved and hated just the same.

There was life and death, pain and happiness.

But despite every terror there was on the mortal world, there was some unholy powers, trying to rule.

But what should be ruled, if there was no one left?

There was a group of Hunters, known and led by the famous son of Sparda, Dante.

The Devil May Cry.

But what of the Legends if they go mising?

Heaven, Earth and Hell, what would be the missing piece in this chaotic mess?

The world was a mess.

Where once had been peace and the wonder of creation, was only despair and terror now. Angaelic beings have watched over the mortal realm long enough. Demons only caused chaos, destruction and pain. All they cared for was ruling the world only causing despair. No matter how often humanity had been at the brink of utter destruction, there always was someone to take a stand. One of the most honorable ones had been the Dark Knight Sparda. Had he once been the right hand of Mundus - the king of the underworld - he realised that justice needed to be brought to the world and rebelled against his king, defeating his army and sealing him away along with his own power, leaving him on the human world.

To take revenge upon Sparda, the Demon King ordered his loyal monsters to elimnate Spardas family, murdering his kin. During this attack, his mortal wife Eva got killed, the twins she had born and raised for a few years survived but lived through the trauma differently. And neither of them had a pleasant memory of it. Just loosing everything. Home and family. Years have passed and while one of the brothers became a danger for the world always seeking for more power, the younger twin became a hunter - later creating Devil May Cry.

Hunting Demons and fighting his brother over and over again that was something that never changed, no matter how many years passed. But of course even this time peace didn't last forever.

And again the world needed someone to save it. And one of them was Dante, the now legendary Hunter. Earning  himself quite a name over the past decades as a proud Son of Sparda, wielding the Rebellion and mastering many weapons over the decades. A new demon King alone would have been not a big deal, not for Dante if there wouldn't be that gruesome Demon Tree, now taking a hold of Red GraveCity. Emerging from the ground, raising high into the sky and slowly taking his childhood home apart. Dante did not take this job alone. By his side were Trish and Lady, the most dangerous Women the world had seen so far. If there was someone out there to cut the tree down, it would be them.

But for once, the Son of Sparda went missing.

And that murderous tree was still standing, sucking the blood out of the humans living in that city and as much as the military tried to protect the mortals of Red Grave, their strength was far from enough. And whatever manged to survive the roots, probably got devoured by demons or killed by debris and everything that got thrown around. But if the Qlipoth would collect enough blood, it would grow a single fruit that was forbidden and powerful. Fullfilling the true desire of Urizen: Endless Power, making him the new true King over the Underwold. But also it was rare. Only once every thousand years it could grow.

Over two thousand years ago it had been harvested by Mundus, and the tragedy that followed then lead to this day. But without the Devil Hunter, how should they prevent the tragedy to repeat itself? Maybe mankind never learned from it's mistakes... But for the divine and cursed, there was no such rule. As they remembered it all. Stored in ancient tomes and memory, never to be forgotten. Always to be told, even if mortals no longercared, They forgot so fast, life always passing by in a blink.

But not everything was lost. It was just a matter of time and perhaps a young Devil Hunter needed, who was desperate to beat the Demon on his stupid throne, polishing his ugly face. One failure was enough for the kid named Nero. Even after being called a 'Dead-Weight' he tried to help those that couldn't protect themselves, but for that he had to get stronger first. Recover. He was not all alone, yet it might took a little longer than he wanted to, knowing that this was not his final goal. He wanted Urizen. But after loosing his right arm, there was a lot for him to get used to.

And while the impulsive boy cursed Nico and her way to drive that van, the annoying screeching of a bird echoed through destroyed buildings over broken streets and people turned to dust.

"Ey, V! Ey, EY! Are you listening?", Griffon complained, landing on a broken door that was about to break in, caused by the weight of the monster bird. "Of course.", the thud of a closing book followed and the slender man moved into the direction of the bird, accompanied by the constant sound of his silvery cane, hitting the ground to support his steps.

"There's so much pollen here, I might be starting to be allergic!", the bird continued loudly and faked a sneeze.

"But as long as there might be a chance to find someone who is alive, we can buy the boy more time." "Time, time, time. Always the same chatter, You gotta move! Maybe we should get a vacuum. Ey V, can ya use one if I find one? Nah..Whatever.  No time for that, r-rrrright? ", the annoying voice askeed and distanced itself from V, the door finally breaking down as he left his fomer spot and revealing another room that was abandoned and covered in dust and pollen, the remainings of a couple was laying on a bed, their bodies curled around each other, trying to comfort themselves in their very last moments. V just silently passed the room, watching the pair dissolve into a cloud of pollen. It was all Urizens fault. So many lost souls, innocent humans forever gone, who would remember them? For a while it was all quiet and calm - until there was Griffons voice once more.

"Yo! V! You gotta see this!" Silence. "Seriously! I think someone's alive!" That actually made him hurry at least a bit. V knew that he certainly wasn't in shape to run around like the boy Nero. It actually took him long enough, that Griffon met him halfway, urging him to move faster. "Hurry, Shakespeare." The building was too fragile to bust through walls, the risk to injure or kill whoever survived was simply too high and V was on a 'Be-Nice-Trip'. Perhaps they couldn't save everyone, but every single soul that survived, was one less to feed the Qlipoth, even if he was not really the biggest fan of.. helping. It was simply odd for him, Griffon didn't really understand that. Didn't matter, he had a contract with V and did as he said.

His cane scratched over the ground now and then as he made his way over the rubble, trying very hard to not fall over his feet as he barely had the strength to keep up that fast. The screaming of Griffon got louder with every step, that bird certainly growing impatient with every moment that V didn't show up. Griffon flapped his big wings in front of a door, yelling annoyed as the black haired man finally made it to his side. The thing that had kept Griffon from the potential survivor was a door. V rolled his eyes and raised hsi cane to tap against the door. "Are we playin' ''Knock, knock'' or what? Now is not the time,V!", The Bird teased V.  But there was no sound coming from that room, not a single reaction. A black giant cat manifested in front of him and dashed against the door. It had been quite stuck, the frame no longer in shape but at least the door open.

And this had been the only option to get a look inside. He had tried to open it the normal way. But with a malformed frame and all the roots around it of course wouldn't be that easy. V huffed as he finally entered the room, having a quick look around. It had been used as an ballroom, he mused. A few big round tables at the side, surrounded by the equal amount of chairs. Unless they were flipped around, destroyed or pierced through by the Qlipoths roots. The giant chandellier in the middle of the room was no longer intact, half of the luxurious golden branches were wrapped by roots , a few glass shards below it, silvery petals and to Vs surpris: fresh drops of blood. Griffon was flying around and stopped in front of a tall window that was halfly covered by curtains. The drops gathered,until there was stain - as if something had been dragged along. More roots blocked the way outside, but he assumed that whoever had been a victim of the Qlipoth, was outside most likely about to die. Even if the blood was not complely dry.. If there was hope..

The painful scream of a woman pulled him out of his thoughts and made him pick up his cane once more, Griffon already looking for a clot of blood that could help them to make it through. Not in this room. But perhaps in the one below, as some of the roots had made their way through the ground. If they hurried, they might made it in time, finding whoever was standing against the Demon King as well. Chances never were big, but they had to start somehwere, he would meet Nero soon enough. A little detour would not change much, if he was honest. Shadow and Griffon at his side he hurried out of the room again, Shadow dissolving into mist below his feet to make V move without effort and much faster than before. Every second did count. Another scream, followd by a grunt. Metal that was hitting against a solid surface, Over and over again. But with time the beating got less, rapid. As if someone was loosing their power  or the will to fight back. It took him a good while to actually reach the exit of this place, having to face a few nasty demons on the way, but of those he and familiars quickly took care of and finally were able to proceed and stumble outside, walls behind them cracking and breaking down as the support of the roots slowly vanished, now that they were cut off from blood sources. It was bright outside, the sun still fighting against the looming shadow that was cast by the growing demon tree, clouds and rain usually controlling the mood of the day. So it was indeed a surpise that at least for once the sun made it's way through and reached the ground.

And there you were, in the middle of group of Empusa, blood dripping down the right side of your face, a deep cut hovering over your brow. You certainly had seen better days, like everyone who was alive lately in Red Grave City. Your hair was a mess, sprinkled with dirt and blood and stuck to your face. And it was you  who had been fighting, the weapon of choice a rusty pipe that nearly was as long as your entire arm. But to be fair, against the sheer amount of enemies you barely had a chance and every kind of weapon would do. Countless bruises showed up wherever your clothes had been ripped into shreds, your arms and legs suffering from deep cuts as well. It was not exactly a surprise that a civilian wouldn't make it among the Empusa. But it also explained the lack of your strength.

The pipe slipped from your bleeding hands and you forced youself to kneel down and pick it up, smashing it with a feral scream into the next Empusas head. V had the urge the help so he did send his familliars to support you. Those beasts were not a challenge for Griffon or Shadow, but they had to be careful not to injure you by accident. Your reflexes were so slow and it probably was just the adrenaline that kept you standing. "Ahah!", Griffon laughed and smashed against one of the demons, making sure to avoid your arm as you still tried to hold your ground. For a human you didn't do so bad. It could be better, but considering that you were a mere mortal in that mess of this city this was outstanding. With the help of Shadow and Griffon it did not take long and the fight was over, your breathing uneven and fast as the adrenaline still rushed through your veins. You nearly dropped your weapon of choice as Griffon sat on top of it, eying you closely.

"So Missy, why aren't you out of this city?", the bird asked and you seemed unfazed by the fact that there was a speaking bird. But if there were armies of demons attacking a city - a speaking bird should be the least of your worries. "No time." you panted and tried to brush some of your hair back but only made it worse. Ah right, the blood. "Perhaps you should leave now, while you can.", the young man suggested and you turned to the raspy voice, eyes staring at him.

"Your bird...is speaking, Sir.", was the reply you gave him as the said bird landed on his outstretched inked arm. For a while he held your stare, before the corner of his lips twitched up into a smile. "That he does indeed.", the bird ruffled his feathers and tried to present himself proudly. But you barely watched the bird, trying to flex your fingers and try to get a solid grip around the pipe again.

"But it would be best if you take your leave as soon as possible. We can offer you an escort, if you wish.", the man insisted while the bird complained that they had no time for that. But the man just assured the strange coloured avian that it was fine and you breathed through. "I am capable of taking care of myself, I am sure you have something else to do..", a polite decline but your muscles were sore and the cuts needed to be tended to. If there was a spot that wasn't close to falling apart you actully could take a minute. Running water would be great. And bandages. Maybe you should have thanked them. But your mood was as low as it could get. These insects were disgusting. And bug spray did not exactly help. A rusty old pipe wasn't working that well either.. "Let's go V! Missy doesn't need any help and the boy's waiting for us."

You wanted to wave them goodbye, wishing them a safe journey. You wanted to assure them that you could manage. But the ground started to shake and rumble below your feet, the street tipping to the side as another root made it's way to the surface -looking for another source of blood to feed the Tree. But while Griffon pulled V out of danger, you weren't so fast. The fair skinned man turned around as soon as he had solid ground below his feet again, risking a look to see if you made it as well."Oh shit, V. Guess that's it for her." Your upper body was pierced by one of the roots, the bloody tip facing downwards, your life essence slowly dripping down the plant. The impact left no air in your lungs to scream as there just was the shock and pain. The pipe creating a clattering sound as you let go of the weapon, closing your hands around the sharp end of the root as you tried to pull yourself from the pointy end, desperatlly forcing your muscles to make it work. No, you were not done yet. There was no fucking way that you would be stuck on a root and bleed out, No. Fucking. Way. V and his familiars moved again, hurrying to find the source of the root and destroy it. Even if Griffon was pretty sure that you wouldn't survive this. No one would survive that, humans dried out in no time and fed the Qlipoth by that.

"Slice them." Shadow moved quickly through the horde of monsters, Griffon cackling as he unleashed his power upon the enemies. You didn't know where they went but after a felt eternity, you lost your balance as the root dissolved and released your body. Coughing and spitting out blood you sank on your knees, watching the blood pool around you. The taste on your tongue was sweet and coppery, your breathing uneven. "Shit.", you cursed and blinked desperately to keepy our eyes open. You were well aware that if you closed your eyes now it would take long to open them up again. It was getting so cold. So dark. So painful. Slumping to the side you felt blood plastering your skin, starting to dry as you slowly drifted off. You couldn't give up now. There was so much that you needed to do. So much that you wanted to get done. You were going to be fine. Not. But there was not a minute that you could waste on that thought. You couldn't give in. Death was not a option.

"Ey, Shakespeare! She is still breathing!" A warm hand gently moved your chin to the side and your eyes fluttered open once again. Dark green eyes looking down at you. Was there the hint of a smile? Indeed. "Don't worry." What a gentle voice. Maybe it did sound a little different. Maybe just now, maybe it was something familiar... It was hard to tell with the drumming in your head. And while you felt incredibly light and comfortable right now, there was something that just seemed wrong. You didn't notice how the old phone in the distance was used to call for a Van that would pick you up, as he had more..pressing matters to follow. But there was something calming in his voice, as he nearly promised you that you would be fine. And while he waited, sitting right next to you Shadow curled around your form kept you warm company. V pulled the book from his jacked and started to read for you. Voice soft and melodic it was absolutely calming to listen. Neither V or Griffon knew if you would survive this and In case you would loose your life here, he at least stayed by your side  reading  poetry to you. Sometimes, even if only for a short moment of being wake you thought that he sounded as if he was sorry. But then there was the melodic tone again, enevloping you like a blanket, helping you to drift into so much better moments. Now and then a breeze graced your skin, whenever Griffn circled around to check for the Van or your state. What was it now, that made you cling to your life? It was your goal. Your memory, your dream.

"Seems like she doesn't want to die. Reminds me of someone. huh.", You wanted to return something, but your lips didn't move as you wanted to and your tongue was heavy. Your entire body was sluggish and unable to follow even the easiest command. At least somtimes you managed to move the thumb of yours. Just a bit forth and back, trying to focus on the nerves to not loose consciouness. That at least was a battle that you managed to win - no matter how much this man was reading to you. Another felt eternity passed and then even you could hear the sound of brakes, a car that rushed over the broken street and just came to a stop mere centimeters away from you. You would have been unable to move anyway. But that V at least hadn't seemed worried about that part. The sound of the cane retuned and stopped just right next to you.

"It does seem like she can make it." Did he sound relieved? It was so hard to tell right now. "Yo, chickee- out of my way!" Once again you felt even lighter than before, noticing the scent of cold smoke that now surrounded you like a cloud. Your feet bumped against a wall as you got carried somewhere, hearing a woman swear over and over again. At least she didn't try to make it worse, considering the state you were in anyway. "No peeking!" The arms that held you before awkwardly let go of you as you were placed on some sort of bench, your head hitting the rest for the back with a dull sound. And there was another curse from the woman as she tried to have a look at your wounds.

"This Lady had been hella lucky," Your forehead started to burn as something was applied on your cut, followed by a gauze. Same for your arms and legs. Tiredly you groaned and forced your eyes open, it took a good while to focus on something. The room was filled in a big cloud of smoke and the lightning was everything but good for the eyes. But it didn't take long and you noticed at least where you were. Inside a car: a van.  And the woman you looked at seemed friendly. Or surprised that you woke up so soon and stared at her. "Mornin' Sweety. You should take a good nap and I'll drive that Van to the border of tRed Grave, Here's no place for ya."

As much as you wanted to insist, a blanket was laid over you, carefully tucked into your side and it was so heavy and warm.. You didn't have an interest in fighting back anymore. It was so warm and cozy and the pain slowly faded. Still you noticed the constant chatter between the woman and the bird. Now and then the voice of the man breaking through the silence. But you weren't surprised that it was not quiet for long. The door to the Van got closed, a lighter was used and then the engine of the car started to howl. It didn't matter that you were supposed to sleep, your mind tried very hard to stay awake. And in the end, you lost. The next time you woke up, the car was no longer making a milkshake out of you. You felt much better than before. The pounding in your head was gone and the pain in your chest as well. Your skin itched caused by all the dried blood.

"Ey, sleeping beauty is awake!" You slowly tried to sit up, only to be hit with a towel right in your face. "take a shower, sweetie. Just go to the back of the Van." The woman introduced herself as Nico, before she started to fiddle around with a box. Besides the towel she also handed you bandages and some clothing that was not your size but at least it covered more of your skin, that what you were still wearing right now. "Thanks..", you muttered, overloaded with all the stuff that was given to you and bumped your head on a cabinet as you tried to get up. Oh great. The bird started to laugh with a cackling sound and you just growled weakly while squeezing yourself through the Van. Shower..Shower. Ah! Hidden behind that corner. It took a while to arrange yourself, telling the bird to not even dare to peek. V - apparently the guy that had saved you, didn't seem to be type to do something immodest. But the Bird.. Tsk. Stripping out of your clothes you stepped inside the shower, playing around  with the handles to adjust the temperature of the water. While trying to find the perfect setting for yourself, you took of the bloody bandages. The skin underneath was mostly smooth, the tissue of the your skin had been knitting itself together pretty fast. Only a few old scars showed up on your arms, legs and between your shoulder blades. The only scars that you still could feel.. But at least you managed to keep them out of the sight of strangers, so no one dared to ask.

Finally bare you used the water, working your hair with something that was supposed to be shampoo. But it took nearly forever to even get the all dirt out of your hair. The water remained red for a good while, just slowly turning lighter as the water turned cold. Leaning your forehead against the wall you breathed through, allowing the cold water to run over your back, the steady feeling of water drumming on your skin was able to comfort you. You couldn't even remember when you had your last shower. It didn't matter if the water was warm or cold. You just wanted to feel clean, wash all the gore and blood away. You could not stay here forever. Even if the thought was temping, so you hurried to clean yourself up as fast as possible and picked  the towel to rub yourself dry. This probably had been the best shower you ever had taken. Or at least in the last few weeks. Reaching outside to grab the clothes you stared at the bird and the bird stared right back at you.  Was that thing serious? Throwing the blanket at that thing you cursed it, promising it to make some soup out of it as you harshly grabbed the clothes and slammed the cabin of the shower again. Empusa? No problem. But a Demon Bird that had been waiting infront of the shower for you to finish?

Creepy as fuck. With damp hair and dressed you made your way outside and crossed your arms in front of your chest., judging the avian with a look, that made him flee with a screeching sound and landing on the shoulder of his master. "Whass' up, Missy? Afraid to join us?" Well, that didn't work as planned..You certainly wouldn't tell the bird that an apology was in order.. Instead you turned your attention towards the woman at the drivers seat and smiled grateful.

"Thanks for the shower..and the clothes. I will return that kindness to you." "It's fine, Miss. Got the boy to pay for me, ain't that right, V?" The man just huffed and agreed quietly, but didn't look up from his book. He simply turned the page and hit the demonic bird with the length of the cane to stop him from doing more nonsense. Or you really would make some soup out of him. Nico took a pull from her cigarette and leaned over her seat as she eyed you while puffing out some smoke.

You hated the smell, but she had cared for your and still planned to drop you off at the border of the city. As if there was a way for you to leave this place. You weren't done yet. No. The new Demon King needed to be stopped. And there still were people out there that could be saved. And you were able to protect yourself... Just not like this, "Lookin' much better without all the blood.", Nico hummed and eyed you really closely. Did she notice? The eyes behind the round glasses were sharp, but if there was something your host saw, Nico didn't mouth it all.

"And your overall state seems to be fine. You recoverd fast,", the mysterious man mused and you knew that you had to think of a story about that really, really quick. Unless they let the topic drop. By the looks of it he had a contract with demons. That you could see clearly.. But desperate times...

You shook of that thought and turned back to Nico who just inhaled deeply to start talking. "We'll move on tomorrow. If ya want, take a walk outside. V needs to clear the street for me." "Why don't you do that yourself?", the Bird asked and ducked as Nico threw some packaging at the Bird, who simply dissolved into ink and got absorbed by V's body, the small box meeting black hair. He didn't look all to happy with that situation, but you decided to indeed take a walk outside and leave them alone with the discussion.

It was darker than before, cloudy and even a bit chilly. The Van was rusty and severally damaged, now that you actually had a chance to have a look at it.

With a sigh you tried to fix the pants that you were given. Loose fit at least.. But maybe you needed a belt for them soon. Unlike the Van, the air smelled like rain. You couldn't help but inhale deeply. It certainly wasn't smart to get out with damp hair, but a cold in times like these couldn't be worse than demons and Trees from the Underworld. The street the Van was parked in was meant for one way only and there were some roots in the way, ah - the ones V had to get out of the way.You wondered how far...Oh. Nevermind, you could see the tree from here. A few fragile buildings left and right, cracked ground and so many inncoents that were dried out and leaving only shells behind. The bodies would dissolve fast enough and there was nothing you could do. Only keep the fallen in your memories. How many families were ripped arpart? If the Gates of Heaven would open for the victims?

Walking around the Van you hummed a familiar tune, until you were interrupted by a cloud of black ink, slowly building itself into that bird from before. "So..Miss.", you leaned against the Van and looked up to the Demon, his wings nearly hitting your face as he started to fly in front of you. "What is it, chicken?" "You're not human, are ya?" Raising a brow you crossed your arm in front of your chest and looked up to the bird. "What makes you think so?", was the only reply he would get. Griffon cackled and sat on top of the Van, ruffling his feathers proudly. "Your not dry like a raisin", he squeaked and used his beak to hit your head. As if to play 'Knock-Knock' .. Did his master not know about that birds own mind?

"It runs in the family." I was not even a lie. Just not the entire truth. But there was no reason to explain yourself to a Demon. "Nah, Nah. Not good enough, you hear me? You might fool the others, but you can't follow a Demon. Not the mighty Griffon!" That saved you the introduction. Griffon.. Didn't ring a bell in your head. Leaving the spot at the Van you took a few steps and turned around to face the avian, the hint of a smirk on your lips. "Smart little bird. But does it matter? There are more important matters to focus on." He cackled and there was electricity in the air, his position towards you didn't seem to be friendly at all. "Need to know if you cause any problems for V. So?" His eyes focused you and something was shifting in the air. Demons. "Listen, Demon.. We wish for the same. And now get your master, things are getting ugly."

The street indeed filled with all the nasties, you were unable to count the amount of demons, but thankfully V was leaving the van and regarded you only with a look, telling you to stay inside. "You just recovered, it might be best...to sit this battle out." "Don't worry..V. - I shall be fine." "You can't be serious, now Ihe two watch you both?! I'm not getting paid enough for this shit!" This time you smirked for real, but didn't even plan to go back inside. That bird was right. But thankfully he didn't know about your origin or the abilities that lurked deep within you. There was more to this world than just Devils and Demons.

It was time to bring back the light to this city.

[some-cookie-crumbz]

The Pidge explosion fic was awesome, thank you. If you are still doing prompts, how about a recovery/comfort Kidge fic set after pidge limps back to the castle.

Ah, thank you so much and I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! And a little bit of soft and sweet after something heart-wrenching is something I’m always happy to deliver! :3

Link to the first fic for those who haven’t read it can be found: [here] and please be mindful of the trigger warnings if you’re sensitive to them!

The call came in from Lance just as Keith finished up a mission on another planet. With the Galra mostly out of commission, Team Voltron had spread out to help some of the planets that were still struggling to get their bearings back. He had just settled into the Black Lion’s cockpit when his dash panel lit up with an incoming communication channel. He clicked it and a frazzled looking Lance took up the screen. “Dude, what the Hell? I’ve been trying to reach you for, like, thirty minutes!"

"I was finishing up my mission, Lance," he said, forcing himself to remain calm. It had been a while since he’d been this frantic and aggressive when reaching out. “Did something happen on the planet you’re at? Did you need backup?”

“Not me, Pidge,” Lance snapped frantically. Keith’s chest tightened at the thought, eyes widening. Pidge was in trouble? “She got really messed up on Shalphon. The Castle of Lions and I are on our way there, but I wanted to make sure to let you know, too.”

“How bad are we talking? Was she able to get the transmission out herself?” he asked, trying to keep from sounding too frantic.

“She was pretty banged up in the message she sent, to put it lightly. The leader of Shalphon, Jan’hua, was with her in the Green Lion’s cockpit when she called, too, because she was too banged up to get to Green Lion on her own. Jan’hua said their medics will do what they can for her until we arrive, but I still wanted to make sure you knew what was going on,” he explained, calming down just the slightest bit.

Keith nodded as he swallowed hard. “Thanks, Lance. I’ll make my way there immediately," he said quickly, reaching for the controls.

The other nodded. "I'll call you again if things are particularly bad," he promised before the screen blanked out and disappeared. Keith growled quietly to himself as he sent Black Lion spiralling up into the atmosphere of the planet. In the back of his mind, he could feel the Lion's presence trying to gently soothe him. He had learned long ago that trying to hide his feelings from his Lion was near impossible; especially when Red and Black were both incredibly pushy.

He smoothed his hand over the throttle and let.out a breath through his nose slowly. "I'm okay, girl," he breathed softly.

The low rumble that echoed in his mind sounded far from convinced and he couldn't blame her for her disbelief. Keith had come to see all the other members of the team as family, though his bond with Pidge continued to remain the deepest he had. She was the one most keen to encourage his choices when he was right and call him out when he was wrong. He had learned a long time ago that he could be vulnerable around her and not have that damper how she viewed him as a leader. Despite being the Paladin in charge of the left arm, she was his right hand in terms of the team. When he needed to make sure he was leading right or when he needed to have a moment to break, Pidge was his constant safe place to fall.

The idea that she could be in grave danger and he might lose her left his stomach roiling.

He was running on auto-pilot throughout the trip to Shalphon, his mind whirling through dire scenarios while Black Lion tried to put some of his fears to bed. After all, Green Lion wasn't sending waves of pure panic through the Lion Bond, so surely the Green Paladin was being well cared for. It was a fair point to be made but it still didn't work to completely appease Keith. The second her paws were on ground, he was tearing out of the hanger and she lowered her maw for him without needing to be told.

An avian-like creature with copper feathers perked up as he rushed towards them. They bowed at the waist and extended their wings out far in greeting. "Black Paladin of Voltron," they said gently.

"Are you Jan'hua?" he asked, forcing his voice to keep from wavering or hinting at his internal panic, as he repeated the action to them.

They seemed surprised but pleased by his imitation before nodding. "That I am. Though I am young by my peoples standards, I am sure you understand that matters little," she commented. He nodded before looking around. He nodded before glancing around and a fond look took over her features. “If you are looking for the Green Paladin, she is resting right now. The Red and Blue Paladins arrived along with your group’s large ship a short while ago and they took her for treatment. I can give you a ride, if you would like.”

He blinked then nodded, taking a second to observe his surroundings. The Red Lion was poised beside the Green Lion while the Blue Lion had flanked on Green's other side. Black had settled herself right next to Red’s other side. "Did the other Paladins also commute with you to where everyone else is?"

She nodded as she squatted down before him. "Yes. This area has better coverage for the Lions of Voltron, while the area the other ship is stationed at is in a larger clearing. It allows us for more space to move around the sick and injured to the healing pods that you have present,” she explained. Once he was settled, she pushed down with all her weight and sent them up into the sky.

“How did Pi- the Green Paladin get so badly injured? The reports we received said that the Galra had already evacuated,” he said as they climbed higher into the sky.

Jan’hua chuckled and banked to the side as she leveled out, turning them around. She coasted over the tattered remains of what had clearly been a Galra control tower. “This is what led to her injuries. The Galra had activated a high-pitched sonar frequency to force us under their control. When they fled, they turned it back on and then put up a force field to prevent us from shutting it down,” she explained, taking them in a grand figure eight to get them headed back in the proper direction.

“I’m sure she loved getting to tear that down,” he commented, casting one last glance over his shoulder at the site. The whole damn thing had been brought down, but it wasn’t something she had done intentionally, he reasoned. Pidge was always clever and calculating when it came to taking down things that could have a huge impact or damage radius like that.

“She certainly did,” she agreed. He watched as she coasted higher, taking them over a nearby peak that dipped down and revealed a few blank spots polka-dotting the lush forest beyond it. She peered at him with a thoughtful look as she shifted towards a spot farther back, the silhouette of the Castle of Lions slowly coming into view. “The tower self-destructed and she was caught in the explosion on her way out. It could have been much worse for her, but she was swift and vigilant.”

He jolted slightly and glanced at her in shock. “Are you serious?” he breathed in disbelief. How had that even happened? Of all the things he expected, Pidge being caught unaware by a self-destruction wasn’t on the short list. Hell, if he was honest, it wasn’t on his long list either.

Jan’hua nodded. “I do not know the specifics, but I am sure she can tell you herself once we get down,” she said, pivoting in slow spirals around the edges of the clearing as she started her descent. He could see many other Shalphonians milling about here and there, the doors of the Castle of Lions left wide open so they could come and go as they pleased. There were small canopies set up with what seemed to be other Shalphonians resting on them. As Jan’hua touched down, he spotted Coran helping an elderly one with greying feathers head towards the Castle of Lions.

He waved him down and rushed over, Jan’hua just a few paces behind him. “Coran!”

The other perked up and offered a small smile. “Ah, Keith! Glad to see you’ve already arrived!” he said, voice steeped in relief. He gestured around them with a tilt of his head. “As I’m sure you can imagine, Lance, Allura and I have had our hands rather full around here.”

“There’s so many sick and injured here,” he commented worriedly. A part of him knew he shouldn’t be surprised, considering how ruthless the Galra were, but seeing how many of them were unable to easily move on their own.

The other hummed quietly and nodded. “The sonar frequency the Galra were using was designed to cause them damage to keep them weak. It was of such a high pitch that it kept them from flying, but also had a huge effect on the health of the young and old,” he explained.

Jan’hua shifted closer, holding her wing-like arms out to the older Shalphonian. “Here, allow me to help them inside. That way, the two of you may focus on your conversation,” she offered.

Coran thanked her before following her inside. “So, how is Pidge doing? How long will she need in the healing pod?” Keith asked gently.

“Well, you see,” the orange haired man said with a small click of his tongue, “number five isn’t actually in a pod yet.”

“What?” he snapped, gawking at the other as if he’d just sprouted a second head and purple speckled horns. Well, actually, that probably wouldn’t have shocked him, since that had happened to Lance once before. “She was seriously injured, right? Why isn’t she in the healing pod?”

“Because she herself refused to be put in yet,” he said evenly.

“What? Why?”

Coran said nothing as the doors to the Castle hissed open to reveal the deck that housed the healing pods. All eight of them were called up and had Shalponians inside. Seated along the walls all around them were even more Shalponians waiting to go in, some appearing as young as the human equivalent of a toddler. Many of them had blood and nasty looking gashes along the sides of their heads, most likely where they had the ability to hear from, and some other hand what appeared to be battle wounds. Lance was darting between them, pushing along a tray, offering them small trays of food goo, drink pouches and presumably some medicine to help take some of the edge off as they awaited their turns in the healing pod. “This is why,” Coran breathed quietly.

“The Green Paladin was adamant that all of my people who could be treated by way of you healing equipment be seen to before she herself,” Jan’hua said softly, her voice thick with a mix of awe and gratitude as she looked around the room.

He opened his mouth to say something and then snapped it shut. Of course she had prioritized the innocent denizens before herself. Despite being someone who dealt more in facts and rational thinking, she was a genuinely compassionate young woman. It was part of what made her so special to him, that duality in her nature. “How are we doing in regards to stabilizing patients?” he asked, turning to look over at the Altean man beside him.

“Allura is doing checks in the medical bay proper to see who is well enough to come here and wait. The injuries are nasty, but most of them aren’t extensive. For now, any case that is beyond a certain point is being given immediate treatment with the equipment we have in the medical bay so that the time in the healing pod will be more effective,” he said, watching as Jan’hua carefully helped the elderly one to find a spot to settle in. He turned his attention back over to him once he saw they had found a spot. “Pidge is there as well, though we placed her in a private room following her treatment so she could rest peacefully. Our hope is that she shouldn’t have to wait much longer. The next round of Shalponians should be ready to take their turn in just a few doboshes.”

Keith nodded. "I'll go check on her and then I'll be back to help out here, okay?" he said. When he was answered with an affirmative, he turned and tore off for the medical bay. Knowing that she was coherent enough to protest going into a healing pod right away, as well as that Coran and Allura had both deemed her well enough to wait, helped to soothe some of his anxiety. He rounded the corner into the medical bay to see Allura carefully dabbing at a gouge on a younger Shalponian's arm. Their stomach was already wrapped up with gauze and medical tape, but they seemed alert despite their injuries.

Allura glanced up at his entrance, blue eyes twinkling briefly in surprise before shifting to almost amusement, as if she's been expecting him. "She's resting in the fourth room down. The lights are out, but I'm pretty sure she's still awake. She was when I checked on her a few doboshes ago, anyway," she commented without lifting her head from her work. After a moment she beamed at the young one and gave their head a small pat. "There, this should help until we can get it all healed up properly for you."

"Thank you," they said meekly. Keith watched as she guided the child along, presumably to whichever room was being used for them to wait in, before heading to the fourth one down.

He took a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever condition she was in, and walked in. He was unsurprised to see that she was awake, though she seemed like she was ready to doze off until the door slid open. Even from where she was laying, he could see the gauze wrapped all along her shoulder, as well as some on her face and other hand. He doubted that was the extent of her injuries but it was what he could gause right off the bat. Outside of that, there was still some grime and dirt on her face, and her hair looked like a literal rat's nest on the pillow. “Hey there, boss man,” she said with a tired laugh.

"You look like Hell," he commented as he walked closer.

She pressed her good hand to her chest. "Ah, such flattery, Kogane. You've been taking classes from Lance, haven't you?" she goaded dryly. She watched as he settled on the edge of the bed on her good side, smiling softly. "Though, I suppose I can't blame you. I know I've looked better than I do right now."

He hummed as he reached out and took her hand gently in his. "I heard you wouldn't take the healing pod trip,"

"I never said I wouldn't go in at all, you know," she said with an exasperated sigh, giving his hand a little squeeze. "I just… I want the Shalponians that need healing to get it first. My injuries are bad, but they're manageable. Allura said as long as I don't go a full day without going in, there shouldn't be any serious damage. And I've already accepted that there was some nerve damage to my shoulder and I can account for the delay I'll most likely have from it."

"Muscle damage?" he gaped, looking up at her sharply. She winced and averted her gaze. She must have assumed they told him more than they did. "Just how bad are your injuries?"

"Left shoulder got messed up; minor muscle damage that even the healing pod wouldn't have been in time to fix,but I'm not in risk of losing the arm or anything. Some burns on my left thigh, a gash on my left calf, and a small ringing in my left ear. Most of that'll be taken care of in the healing pod, though," she explained. She glanced at him guiltily before looking down, her eyes hardening a bit. "I don't regret it though. The Galra were hurting innocent people, Keith. They should be helped before me."

"I know," he sighed quietly, letting his thumb gently glide over the top of her hand, "but your health and safety is important, too."

She let out a little hum and gave his hand a small squeeze. There was still strength in the grip, reminding him that while it could have been better, it also could have been much worse. "Will you stay here? Just until I fall asleep?" she asked after a moment. He nodded, reaching over to gently brush some of her hair out of her face. "Thanks, Keith."

And if he lingered a little longer, just to be sure she was breathing even in the meanwhile, no one said anything about it.